King Ganam

Early Life

Ameen Ganam was the second of three children of Sied Ameen Ganam Kadri and Chelsea Ganam (née Pritchard). Sied came to North America from his village of Lala in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley. Ameen’s mother, Chelsea, was American of English ancestry and came from Kennard, Nebraska. The couple met when Sied was in Omaha, Nebraska. They married in South Dakota against the wishes of Chelsea’s family.

They moved to Canada and eventually settled in Sheho, Saskatchewan (roughly 160 km northeast of Regina). There, their first son, Saleem, was born in 1911. Saleem would go on to become a central figure in Edmonton’s Al Rashid Mosque, Canada’s first mosque. Ameen’s younger sister was Lila Fahlman (née Ganam), an educator, social justice advocate and founder of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women. (See also Council of Muslim Communities of Canada.)

Ameen was born on 9 August 1914 in Swift Current, Saskatchewan. By the age of five, he was playing the fiddle. He learned from old-time fiddlers in the area and received formal instruction from the likes of W. Knight Wilson, Gregori Garbovitsky and Jack Thornicroft. By the age of 13, he was playing live on CHWC radio in Regina and had performed at local dances.

Did you know?
Ameen thought that his Arabic name confused his audiences, so he used the stage name King Ganam.

The Ganam family then moved to Edmonton, where a relatively large Muslim community was present around the Al Rashid mosque. In addition to playing the fiddle, Ameen taught Islam and Arabic at the mosque and babysat in the community.

Professional Music Career

After relocating to Edmonton, Ameen Ganam helped form a band known as the “Sons of the West” in 1942. Ameen and other band members began touring throughout Western Canada. They played at, among other places, weddings and dances. They also performed other special entertainment shows, such as CBC Radio’s Alberta Ranch House. (See Music at the CBC.) In 1950, the band won the World Open Western Band Competition in Vancouver. At that point, Ganam signed a recording contract with RCA Victor and became known as “Canada’s King of the Fiddle.” Ganam and his band recorded primarily with RCA.

Ganam and his band toured Canada. They relocated again, this time to Toronto. There, in 1952, the band became regular performers on various CBC TV and Radio shows, including Holiday Ranch. From 1956 to 1959, alongside Tommy Hunter, they appeared on CBC TV’s Country Hoedown with Gordie Tapp. The show was broadcast nationally across Canada. Ganam would open each show playing his fiddle, at which point the camera would zoom in on him just as he winked for the television audience.

A 1954 article from the Raymond Recorder, in Southern Alberta, described him in the following terms:

“With his dark good looks, flashing brown eyes and Syrian background, King Ganam looks as if he’d be most at home dashing across the desert on an Arabian steed. But says he, the only plains he has ever dashed across are those in Southern Saskatchewan where he was born and grew up.”

In 1956, his fan club had over 1,000 members. He played both traditional tunes and his own compositions, such as “Ridin’ The Fiddle,” “Alberta Stomp,” and “King Ganam’s Special.”

In 1961, Ganam starred in his own show on CTV, The King Ganam Show, which was also broadcast nationwide. In 1972, he decided to move to California to be closer to his family (though he returned frequently to Canada to perform).

Did you know?
One year after Ameen Ganam’s death in 1994, his sister, Lila Fahlman, published a biography of his life titled Fiddler With a Wink. Much of what we know about Ameen comes from the work.

Awards and Honours

In 1989, King Ganam was one of the original inductees to the Canadian Country Music Association Hall of Fame. In 1990, he received the Saskatchewan Country Music Association (SCMA) Legend and Legacy Award.