This is yet another song that I hadn't heard in over half a century. Listening to it now, I find it too earnest for my taste.
Dave Nicol was from St. John's, Newfoundland. "Goodbye Mama" reached #19 on the Canadian national chart; as far as I know, it didn't chart elsewhere. He had a few other songs on the Canadian adult contemporary chart between 1972 and 1974 but didn't get any more airplay in Toronto. He did well enough, however, to win a Juno Award for Most Promising Folk Singer in 1974, becoming the first artist from Newfoundland to earn this honour.
Nicol eventually moved to Kelowna, British Columbia. He left the music business for awhile but produced an album in 1993. In 1997, he and Gordon Pinsent combined to create the album Harbour of Dreams: A Tribute to Newfoundland. I couldn't find a date of birth for him and I do not know whether he is still alive.
Created August 6, 2026.