Any love for Gordon Lightfoot?

Met him in Port McNicoll where he was having his sailboat custom built by Pete Carpenter. He said that he needed a hit to finish paying for it as the custom woodwork was expensive. (The transom inlay was beautiful and the table was the shape of a grand piano.) His next album was Sundown. The boat got finished and I can see how his love of sailing previously provided fodder for the songs on Don Quixote.
BTW a very unassuming guy.

 

I saw him in 1983 and he played just about every one if his radio hits. Mostly during the second half of the show. An amazing show he gave us.

When did you see him?

 

So allegedly Gord goes to (or at least a couple years ago used to go to) this gym in downtown Toronto near the Sharaton Hotel. There is this underground walkway in Toronto called "The Path" and there is this guitar player who busks at one of the entrances near the Sharaton. I pass him every day to and from work. One day I think I see Gord chatting with him. A couple days later I ask if that was Gord, and he says:

"Yes, Gord often stops to chat. He gave me a ticket to see his upcoming show at Massey."

Love Gord. Humble guy who remembers where he has come from.

 

That's excellent.

Always lovely when your heroes turn out to be decent blokes!

 

Saw him 25 years ago & 6 years ago. Always a good show. But none of us are getting any younger.

 

I've been debating whether to go see him here in September. Tix are fairly priced. Always loved his hits but don't know much else. I'll probably go, why not?

 

I celebrate his entire catalog.

 

I just scored a great copy of Summertime Dream, so I have all the Reprise albums,
and a UA comp. Sundown is my favorite.

 

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
In the maritime sailors' cathedral
The church bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald

 

Just remember that time moves on... he is no longer 25. But he does give his all every show.

 

I immediately thought of Office Space, lol

 

So much love.

 

I have Sundown on vinyl. Great album. I plan on picking up Gord's Gold or Complete Greatest Hits on CD. Any advice on these is appreciated!

 

This is genius:

If you've got a heartache
Of the kind that will not pass by
Even if you don't see the end
Of what lies around the bend
Don't stay that way
It's all in a day believe me
Even the best of dreams must end
Even so it grieves me
Stay loose, don't fight it
Let it take you all the way and
If it's wrong, you will right it
Do not waste these hours away
How many times have I told you
These are the tears I've shed
Could it be that I need help
Is it maybe I've come undone
And one thing more
You know it don't come easy
Even the best of friends must part
Even so it grieves me
Stay loose, don't fight it
Let love take a holiday
If it's wrong, you're gonna right it
Do not waste these hours away
Soon the storm will be over
And the clouds will all pass by
To be insane beyond belief
Is sometimes the best relief
And one thing sure
Love never did come easy
Even the best of dreams must end
Even so it grieves me
Stay loose, don't fight it
Let it take you all the way and
If it's wrong, you will right it
Do not waste these hours away
Stay loose, don't fight it
Let love take a holiday
If it's wrong, you're gonna right it
Do not waste these hours away

 

Great song from a sadly under-appreciated record!

 

Yeah, it also has Morning Glory, Tag Along and a few other good ones. I used to have the lyrics to Stay Loose on my fridge: it seemed very profound to me.

 

Don't know how it fared elsewhere, but "Black Day in July" got lots of Canadian airplay when released... a great record!

 

It was a big deal in Okanada, I remember my parents playing it and talking about it

 

I'm new to the forum - joined this Sunday - and so far it's been extremely interesting and enlightening.

This thread has got me thinking back - somewhere (I'm got to hunt it up) I've still got a copy of his "Back Here on Earth" album. Way back when I listened to that over and over. I can still hear "Cold Hands From New York."

Got to find the album and get re-acquainted with all the songs.

Reeves

 

I had to go to a deposition in AZ, and I stayed in Scottsdale the night before. I rented a Dodge Charger, just because it's big and it's a car I'd never buy (although one of my best friends just bought one, so I better keep that to myself). Anyway, I'm heading I believe north out of Scottsdale to some isolated sand patch where the deposition will be held. As I'm heading out of town, I see a sign for the Carefree Highway and I think,"Oh, that must be named after the Gordon Lightfoot song, cool." As a New England native, with all the ancient American history I grew up around, I always assume everything west of the Mississippi was constructed 30 yrs. ago. As it turns out, Gordon wrote the song about the Highway.

I don't remember if I was ever on it, I just know I saw the sign. One thing I'll never do, but would if time and money were zero object, is fly back, rent another big car, and play "Carefree Highway" on a loop while traveling up the Carefree Highway.

 

I just pulled up Cold Hands from New York on YouTube and figured out why I was so attracted to it. (I will locate my Back Here of Earth album when I get a chance.)

Please understand if you are from New York, that I'm writing this from the perspective of someone from Texas encountering NYC for the first time back in the 1960's as a teenager.

Lightfoot's word captured that first impression I had at that time. All the hustle and bustle - all the impersonal lack of interaction - that was what I felt. His lyrics so elegantly captured those emotions of a country boy in the big city for the first time - overwhelmed like I was.

I've been back many, many times since that day - and my perspective has changed - just as NYC has changed - and I have an appreciation for the city that I didn't have back then.

Part of Lightfoot's magic is his ability to capture emotions in music.

Reeves

 

Been a fan since I was a kid. He sat behind me at a Bob Dylan concert in Toronto a few years
back. I ignored him but did listen in on how he dealt with the fans who approached him. Class
act. I finally saw him live for the first time in Detroit about 6 or 7 years ago from the front row.
My first thought: `man, he really needs those eyebrows trimmed'. Odd, I acknowledge. In any
event, a Canadian treasure.

 

How can anybody not like a man who has sung every song ever written?



In all seriousness, though, Gordon Lightfoot is an absolute treasure. There's fantastic stuff on everything he's put out.

 

He's also written every song ever written

 

The real deal -- He's all-original. He copied nobody and nobody copied him.