'Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr.,'
CC,
O.Ont,
LL.D (hon.)
[1] (born
November 17,
1938) is a
Canadian folk singer,
composer,
lyricist and
poet.
Life
Lightfoot was born
November 17 1938, to Jessica Lightfoot and Gordon Meredith Lightfoot in
Orillia,
Ontario,
Canada. As a youth, he sang in the choir of St. Paul's United Church under the direction of choir-master Ray Williams. During this time as a "boy soprano" Lightfoot made several appearances on local radio and local operetta and oratorios as well as
Kiwanis music festivals. Lightfoot remarked in 2005 that it was choir master Williams who taught him how to sing with emotion and how to have confidence in his voice.
[2] As a teenager, Lightfoot studied piano and taught himself drums and percussion instruments.
Lightfoot moved to
California, where he studied jazz composition and orchestration at
Hollywood's Westlake College of Music in 1957-58. He returned to Canada and through 1958 to '61 he was performing with
The Swinging Eight a group that appeared on
CBC TV's ''Country Hoedown'' as well as performing with the ''Gino Silvi Singers''. He also began performing in the coffee houses of the
Toronto folk scene, playing guitar and singing folk songs. He sang with Terry Whelan in a duo called the Two Tones and they recorded a live album that was released in 1962 called ''Two Tones at the Village Corner'' (1962, Chateau CLP-1012).
[1] In 1963 Lightfoot travelled to Europe and became for one year the host of
BBC TV's ''
Country and Western Show.'' By 1964, he was back in Canada and that year he appeared at the
Mariposa Folk Festival.
Lightfoot was gaining some recognition by this time as a songwriter and two of his songs ("For Lovin' Me" and "Early Mornin' Rain") were covered by
Ian and Sylvia Tyson. "For Lovin' Me" was covered again a year later in 1965 by
Peter, Paul and Mary, who had a hit with it. That song was again covered by
Chad and Jeremy as well as the
Johnny Mann Singers. During this time, other artists such as
Marty Robbins ("Ribbon of Darkness"),
Leroy Van Dyke ("I'm Not Saying"),
Judy Collins,
Richie Havens,
The Kingston Trio and
Harry Belafonte were racking up hits with Lightfoot's songs. In 1966, his debut album ''
Lightfoot!'' was released and it brought him recognition as a singer as well as a songwriter. It featured many now-famous songs including "For Lovin' Me," "Early Mornin' Rain," "Steel Rail Blues" and "Ribbon of Darkness."
On the strength of this album, which mixed Canadian and universal themes, Lightfoot became one of the first Canadian singers to achieve real stardom in his own country without moving to the
United States. The album was released internationally and was also well-received. It was followed by numerous other albums through the late 1960s. But he remained better known as a songwriter than as a singer, with cover versions of his songs recorded by artists such as
Bob Dylan,
Johnny Cash and
Elvis Presley.
Lightfoot embarked on his first Canadian national tour in 1967. It included performances in
New York City. Between
1967 and
1971, Lightfoot toured internationally through
Europe as well as two well received tours of
Australia. He curtailed his touring schedule in
1972 after contracting
Bell's palsy, a condition which left his face partially paralyzed for a time.
It was not until
1971 that his own version of "
If You Could Read My Mind" became a Top Ten hit. The song was originally featured on his
1970 album ''
Sit Down Young Stranger,'' which had not sold well. After the success of the song, the album was re-released under the new title ''
If You Could Read My Mind'' to capitalize on the success of the song. It was also in 1971 that, on a bus bound for
Calgary, Gordon met a lonely teenage girl named Grace on her way home from
Toronto. The following year, the song "Alberta Bound" found its debut on the ''
Don Quixote'' album.
In 1974, his classic single, "
Sundown," from the
album of the same name, went to
No.1 on the
American charts. "Carefree Highway," the followup single from the same album, charted in the Top Ten.
[3] Two years later, Lightfoot had an unexpected hit with a song with the unlikeliest of subject matter. In late
November 1975, Lightfoot read a ''
Newsweek'' magazine article about the
Great Lakes ore carrier ''SS
Edmund Fitzgerald'' sinking during a severe storm. Tragically, all of her 29 crew members died. His song, "
The Wreck of the ''Edmund Fitzgerald''," most of the lyrics of which were taken from the article, reached #2 on the U.S. ''
Billboard'' charts. "Sundown" and "Edmund Fitzgerald" continue to receive heavy airplay on many classic rock stations. After "Edmund Fitzgerald" Lightfoot would have one more top 40 hit on the Hot 100, "The Circle Is Small (I Can See It In Your Eyes)" which reached # 33 in early
1978.
Through the 1990s, Lightfoot released two albums and played about fifty tour dates a year. In the fall of
2002, he was in Orillia when he suffered a near-fatal
abdominal hemorrhage that left him in a
coma for nearly two months. He recovered and later returned to the music business with the album ''
Harmony'' and an appearance on ''
Canadian Idol.'' In
2005, he made a low-key tour called, with characteristically droll humour, the "Better Late Than Never Tour."
A large part of the Lightfoot sound was accomplished both in the studio and on tour with the help and expertise of guitarist Red Shea (most lead work) and the bassists John Stockfish and Rick Haynes. These steadfast acompianists were utilized by Lightfoot on many occasions. Whether they were actual contributors or scale employees is not known. The discography of Shea indicates that he was on hand for most of Lightfoot's released studio work. Additionally Shea was on board for many of the hits and tours with Lightfoot. Red Shea also hosted his own Canadian variety show (the exact dates of this show are unknown).
Honours
Lightfoot has received 15
Juno Awards and been nominated for 5
Grammy Awards. He was inducted into the
Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1986 and the
Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame in 2001. Lightfoot was inducted into
Canada's Walk of Famein 1998. In May
2003 he was made a Companion of the
Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian honour. Lightfoot is also a member of the
Order of Ontario, the highest honour in the
Province of
Ontario.
Awards Time Line
Winner of Canadian Juno Awards for top folk singer, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, and 1977, for top male vocalist, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972, and 1974, and for composer of the year, 1972 and 1976; recipient of awards from ASCAP for songwriting, 1971, 1974, 1976, and 1977; decorated Order of Canada, 1970; ""Sundown"" named pop record of the year, 1974, by Music Operators of America; recipient of Vanier Award by Canadian Jaycees, 1977; named Canadian male recording artist of the decade (1970s), 1980; named to Juno Hall of Fame, 1986.
Trivia
★ "Beautiful", found on Lightfoot's 1972 album ''
Don Quixote'', is featured in the
Vincent Gallo's 2004 motion picture ''
The Brown Bunny'' starring Vincent Gallo and
Chloë Sevigny. The song is also found on the accompanying soundtrack album.
★ Lightfoot's song "
Sundown" was written about his one time girlfriend
Cathy Smith (who had worked for a time as a bus driver on his tours). Her claim to infamy, however, is that she's the same Cathy Smith who shot up
John Belushi when he died from an overdose (a combination of cocaine and heroin known as a
speedball).
[4]
★ In Elvis Presley's cover of Lightfoot's "Early Morning Rain", Elvis changed the lyrics in the 4th verse from "...as cold and drunk as I ''can'' be..." to "...as cold and drunk as I ''might'' be...". Gordon has remarked, while performing live, that he is amused at this change, and he now sings the song this way.
★ Lightfoot filed a lawsuit against composer Michael Masser in April 1987, claiming that Masser's melody for the song "The Greatest Love of All" (recorded by George Benson (1977) and Whitney Houston (1986) stole twenty-four bars from Lightfoot's 1971,#5 hit "If You Could Read My Mind." The transitional section that begins "I decided long ago never to walk in anyone's shadow..." of the Masser song has the exact same melody as "I don't know where we went wrong but the feeling's gone and..." of Lightfoot's song. Although the disputed section is not part of the hook (i.e., the money-making part) of the Masser song, Lightfoot stated that he didn't want people thinking that he had stolen his melody from Masser.
[5] The case was settled out of court, with a public apology from Michael Masser.
★ Lightfoot is referenced in many episodes of the animated TV series
Mission Hill, by character Kevin French.
★ In the Strong Bad E-Mail "army" on
Homestar Runner, Homestar tells Strong Bad, "We'll see if those trees you're always hugging save you when Gordon Lightfoot's creeping 'round your back stair." This is a reference to the song "Sundown", which has the line, "Sundown, you'd better take care, if I find you've been creepin' 'round my back stair."
★ If You Could Read My Mind is featured in
Trigger Happy TV (The one where the public go to have a picture drawn of them then Dom walks away). For legal reasons this was not added to the soundtrack.
Best-selling songs
★ "
Alberta Bound"
★ "Beautiful"
★ "
Bitter Green"
★ "
Canadian Railroad Trilogy"
★ "
Carefree Highway"
★ "
Cotton Jenny"
★ "Did She Mention My Name"
★ "Does Your Mother Know"
★ "Don Quixote"
★ "
Early Morning Rain"
★ "Ghosts of
Cape Horn"
★ "
If You Could Read My Mind"
★ "I'm Not Supposed To Care"
★ "In My Fashion"
★ "
Me and Bobby McGee" (first recorded version of
Kris Kristofferson song)
★ "Protocol"
★ "
Rainy Day People"
★ "Shadows"
★ "Steel Rail Blues"
★ "
Song for a Winter's Night"
★ "
Sundown"
★ "
The Wreck of the ''Edmund Fitzgerald''"
★ "
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"
★ "The Pony Man"
Tribute and covers
★ In 1965
Nico covered "
I'm Not Sayin'" which featured a pre-Led Zeppelin Jimmy Page playing 12-string acoustic guitar.
★ In 1968, Canadian rockers
The Guess Who wrote a tune about Lightfoot entitled "
Lightfoot", which includes references to Lightfoot's songs.
★
Bob Dylan covered "
Early Morning Rain" on his
1970 album ''
Self Portrait'' and has been known to perform "
I'm Not Supposed to Care" in live performances.
★
Fotheringay - a band featuring
Sandy Denny of
Fairport Convention - covered "The Way I Feel" in 1970.
★ In 1971,
The Country Gentlemen covered "Redwood Hill" at a live show in Japan.
★
Elvis Presley also covered "Early Morning Rain" in 1972 on the "ELVIS NOW" LP, also as an additional track on his
1973 NBC
★ via satellite
★ TV Special '', and on his last CBS-TV Special in 1977 "Elvis in Concert".
★
Anne Murray had a big Country hit with her version of "
Cotton Jenny", which went #11 Country and #71 Pop.
★ Country artist
Glen Campbell recorded versions of "
If You Could Read My Mind" and "The Last Time I Saw Her." He also recorded "Wherefor and Why" which was released only on a 45rpm, not on any albums.
★ Australian singer
Olivia Newton-John recorded a version of "
If You Could Read My Mind" on one of her early country-flavored albums.
★ The same song was also covered by
Barbara Streisand on her 1971 album ''
Stoney End''.
★ Canadian band
Rheostatics cover "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" on their 1991 album ''
Melville''.
★
Nanci Griffith covered the song "10 Degrees and Getting Colder" in 1993 on her Grammy Award winning album ''
Other Voices, Other Rooms''.
★ American band, the
Dandy Warhols, also cover "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", on their 2004 album ''
Come On Feel The Dandy Warhols''.
★
Sarah McLachlan included "
Song for a Winter's Night" on her 1996 release ''
Rarities, B-Sides and Other Stuff'', and again in 2006 for her first ever Christmas album, ''
Wintersong''.
★ Netherlands-based singer
Viola Wills released a disco version of "If You Could Read My Mind" in 1980, an attempt that was repeated by
Amber (with techno-dance group
Stars on 54) in 2000.
★
Elwood made a rap version of "Sundown" which is the first track on the 2000 album ''
the parlance of our time''.
★ In 2003, a tribute album '' was released featuring cover versions of Lightfoot songs by various artists including
The Tragically Hip,
Blue Rodeo,
Cowboy Junkies,
Ron Sexsmith,
Jesse Winchester and
Aengus Finnan.
★
Johnny Cash covered "
If You Could Read My Mind" on '' released in 2006.
★ Bluegrass guitarist
Tony Rice has covered numerous Lightfoot compositions and has released an album called ''Tony Rice Sings Gordon Lightfoot''.
★ British artist
Paul Weller covered "Early Morning Rain" for his album ''
Studio 150'', released in 2004.
★ Mens ensemble
Cantus covered "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" on their maritime album ''
There Lies The Home'' released 2006.
★
Tori Amos has covered "
If You Could Read My Mind" in live concert.
★ Canadian country-rock supergroup
The Unintended covered "Rosanna", "Redwood Hills", "Walls" and "The Way I Feel" on the 2006 split album ''
Constantines play Young/Unintended play Lightfoot''.
★ In the
Seinfeld episode "Andrea Doria", Elaine erroneously thinks that Gordon Lightfoot was the ship and that Edmund Fitzgerald is the singer.
Discography
Original albums
★ 1966 ''
Lightfoot!''
★ 1967 ''
The Way I Feel''
★ 1968 ''
Did She Mention My Name''
★ 1968 ''
Back Here on Earth''
★ 1969 ''
Sunday Concert'' (live)
★ 1970 ''
Sit Down Young Stranger'' (re-released as ''If You Could Read My Mind'', 1971)
★ 1971 ''
Summer Side of Life''
★ 1972 ''
Don Quixote''
★ 1972 ''
Old Dan's Records''
★ 1974 ''
Sundown''
★ 1975 ''
Cold on the Shoulder''
★ 1976 ''
Summertime Dream''
★ 1978 ''
Endless Wire''
★ 1980 ''
Dream Street Rose''
★ 1982 ''
Shadows''
★ 1983 ''
Salute''
★ 1986 ''
East of Midnight''
★ 1993 ''
Waiting for You''
★ 1998 ''
A Painter Passing Through''
★ 2004 ''
Harmony''
Compilations
★ 1969 ''Early Lightfoot''
★ 1970 ''The Best''
★ 1971 ''Classic Lightfoot: The Best of Gordon...''
★ 1974 ''The Very Best of Gordon Lightfoot''
★ 1975 ''
Gord's Gold''
★ 1976 ''Early Morning Rain''
★ 1985 ''Songbook''
★ 1988 ''
Gord's Gold, Vol. 2''
★ 1989 ''The Best of Gordon Lightfoot''
★ 1992 ''Original Lightfoot''
★ 1993 ''The United Artists Collection''
★ 1994 ''Lightfoot!/The Way I Feel''
★ 1999 ''
Songbook''
★ 2002 ''
Complete Greatest Hits''
Other
★ 1975 ''2 Originals of Gordon Lightfoot''
★ 1976 ''Gordon Lightfoot Hudba a Slova'' Czech release of ''Cold On The Shoulder''
[2]
★ 1987 ''
If You Could Read My Mind'' (re-issue)
★ 1994 ''
Sunday Concert''
Bear Family (live)
★ 2002 ''
Live in Reno'' (DVD)
★ 2003 ''
Sunday Concert'' [Capitol 2003] (live)
References
1. Alphabetical List of Honorary Graduates and Eminent Service Award Recipients Honorary Doctor of Laws degree received in 1979.
2. MacFarlane, David, Gordon Lightfoot feature in "People" column, ''The United Church Observer,'' January 2006
3. Lightfoot! The Gordon Lightfoot Internet Companion. www.lightfoot.ca/chron03.htm, retrieved Nov, 3, 2006.
4. Everett-Green, Robert. "Gordon Lightfoot: The way he felt." ''The Globe and Mail'', June 26 1999. Reprinted at http://www.corfid.com/gl/press/press04.htm, accessed 2007-03-03.
5. MacDonald, Meg. ''Contemporary Musicians'' Volume 3 (June 1990). Reprinted at http://www.corfid.com/gl/biography.htm, accessed 2007-03-03.
External links
★
GordonLightfoot.com
★
Lightfoot.ca
★
Order of Canada Citation
★
Lightfoot page at Canadian Encyclopedia
★
CBC Digital Archives: Gordon Lightfoot: Canada's Folk Laureate
★
★
Wild 1970 interview with underground press rock critics Rick McGrath and Mike Quigley
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
