I'm Not Sayin' it's the Gordon Lightfoot listening thread (but it is)...new album every Thursday

yeah, that was so good I actually want to check out *his* music!

nothing to add, just echoing the other comments. that was a really great read.

great article indeed, i echo Simon's point that i definitely want to check out Robbie's music now. It was really interesting to read about Gord's tuning obsession and his detailed look at the mechanics of the music was really illuminating, my own understanding of music theory is small so this was really helpful in understanding the songs more deeply.

my only thing is on this point he makes...

“Sometimes I think it’s a shame, when I get feelin’ better when I’m feelin’ no pain.” Regret over feeling better, while a neat irony, isn’t a known emotion in the human repertoire.

'feelin' no pain' means getting drunk to everyone else right? Not sure if its just something i heard from the old guys at the bars in my small hometown. I can definitely understand that the line makes no sense if you don't know the euphemism.

that was always my assumption

a lot of times when I don't understand a particular line I just assume it's about drinking or groupies

wait did he just surprise drop a new album in the middle of coronavirus panic

Ok boomer moment?

"Return Into Dust" was on my Release Radar this week. Sounded good and spooky...I'll have to check out the rest.

I've read the Robbie Fulks article on Lightfoot a couple of times now. It's very well-written, contains a lot of insights and obviously was a lot of work, but I still take exception to how he characterizes Lightfoot's later work as an example of the perils of the artist in decline.
First, he's "debunking" a bunch of records that have been heard by nobody except the people on this thread and a subset of Lightfoot fans; his new albums stopped getting airplay even on Canadian MOR radio by the time of Salute. It's not like he's John Prine, whose voice and skills arguably suffered an even steeper decline, but continued to receive critical plaudits and ever-increasing sales. I mean, if Prine had written the verse that Fulks quotes from "Wild Strawberries", it would have been cited as an example of his warm, self-deprecating humour. It's true that Lightfoot is not Paul Simon in terms of striving for originality and innovation, but in 1986 they both made records that stretched the boundaries of their music in new ways, and at least East of Midnight doesn't have that horrible booming snare sound from Graceland.
I do feel sorry for Fulks, force-feeding himself these albums over the course of a month or two in order to write his article; Lightfoot is not really noted for the diversity of his songs, and cramming dozens of them in short order is certainly not the best method of appreciation (it's taken me more than thirty years to get around to them all). I would agree that the records post-Sundown and pre-sobriety (1975-1982) are a drop-off (despite some great songs), but Salute and the following albums are, to me, good examples of late-career work from an artist who does not necessarily want to push for innovation. David Bowie, for example, sweated and slaved over 1. Outside, but it doesn't even have as many good songs as Waiting for You, and Bowie's strain looks effortful compared to Lightfoot's ease and modesty (and I'm a Bowie fan). Lightfoot's voice has declined over the period (not as much as Elton John's, I'd say), and he certainly should not be doing shows like the one linked in the article, but I think he has adapted to his limitations on record and still conveys a lot of feeling and nuance.
I still haven't heard Solo, but will do in a week or two, and, since no-one else seems to be doing it, I'll be back to provide a conclusion to this thread (unless Gord releases a final, final album of originals in 2036) and hopefully won't be taking back all my effusions above.

I don't know enough about Lightfoot to make a comparison, but I disagree about Prine having a steep decline. I actually think he's a rare example of a songwriter who made it to old age without a really noticeable decline; his great songs came less often after the eighties but they continued to come. It's hard to say for sure, but I don't think that verse he quotes would have impressed me in a John Prine song. It feels forced, and Prine's humor has always felt very natural and unforced to me, like it's just a natural result of seeing the world at an odd angle most of the time.

OK, I was mostly trying to say that the latter-day Lightfoot records don't have any particular acclaim for Fulks to deflate. Lightfoot has put out seven albums in the last forty years, mostly unheard, so Fulks accusing him of "watering down his legacy" makes little sense (meanwhile, Neil Young has released about thirty over the same period, many of which are disliked even by his fans). Has anyone (other than, maybe, Robbie Fulks) had their enjoyment of "Sundown" ruined by "Ringneck Loon" or "Shellfish"?
I find Prine gets corny post-Common Sense, I find Lightfoot open and thoughtful by contrast. I know a lot of people would reverse those judgments.

hey somehow i missed the new album coming out last year!

I just listened to it last night for the first time and I don't know if I liked it as much as Harmony, it was strong in the Return Into Dust thru Just a Little Bit section especially I think. His voice is real thin at this point of course, which is a shame 'cause I felt like I couldn't always hear the lines he was delivering, but the quiet man & guitar production definitely was the right choice considering.

I think I liked it better than A Painter Passing Though, though I will admit I haven't gone back to that one at all since we listened to it in this thread so maybe i should give it a re-listen.

As to your point Halfway. I will admit I have hardly listened to John Prine (though much like Tom Waits I assume I will like him when I finally get around to it), but I agree that I don't think Gord's really hurt his legacy. Also, I will ride pretty hard for East of Midnight at this point, I still go back to it a lot since we listened to it on this thread, A Passing Ship is one of my favourite of Gord's songs now.

I didn't mean to turn this into a referendum on poor John Prine, just that he was, by contrast, an older artist whose acclaim and sales climbed even as his voice withered.

It was East of Midnight that inspired my revival of this thread, it was the last of the older Lightfoot records I hadn't heard. There was an interview where he suggested that it was an underrated album that he would like more people to listen to. "Anything for Love" is probably his worst, but there is some unusual stuff like "You Just Gotta Be", with syncopated drum machines and a bewildering array of chord changes. It also has his classic folk style on "Let It Ride" and "I'll Tag Along", and some of the AOR of Salute on the title track and "Ecstasy Made Easy".

Gord doesn't really have a high-profile commercial failure - Endless Wire is the one post-"Edmund Fitzgerald" album that a lot of people bought and apparently only listened to once or twice (you can find pristine copies of it everywhere for two bucks), the other ones you almost never see which suggests that no one really bought them. Unlike Bowie I don't think anyone really expected much out of him after the 70's, and obviously you know he's not going to start delving into industrial technopop or anything. Even the people I know who are really into him don't listen to those albums. If not for this thread I never would have either.

Did you got anything out of the later records, or do you feel they were justly ignored?

not much, if I never heard them again I wouldn't mind. but I thought Dream Street Rose was at least pretty fun and gladly paid $2.99 for it - it was actually the only time I've seen a post-Endless Wire LP in a shop. and "Restless" is a fitting, would-be beautiful swansong. it's just kind of hard to stomach his voice at a certain point - not because of how great it once was, but because his delivery is straight up bad sometimes. he flails around and hits bum notes and on the last few albums it's hard to even make out what he's singing.

I guess the other good thing about East of Midnight is it's the last record before his singing really does start to suffer.

fwiw Shadows, Salute and East of Midnight have all been on my mental "give this another shot" list, though they've been sitting there for a couple years now :/

"Shadows" the song is in my top 10, maybe top 5 Gord.

picked up a "very best of" comp for three bucks, since it has a bunch of early material I don't have on vinyl. very odd cover design, isn't it?

https://dalescollectibles.com/products/gordon-lightfoot-the-very-best-of-gordon-lightfoot

forgot how much of his first album was "sorry babe, big Gord's gotta fuck"

He hates "For Lovin' Me" now, associates it with the end of his first marriage. I like the way he undercuts it on Gord's Gold, by performing it as a medley with "Did She Mention My Name".

"Can't Depend on Love" has been on repeat a lot for me lately. his lyrics are easy to relate to because the specifics of the scenario have pretty much all been stripped out, but there's something in his delivery that gestures at some kind of meaning, and so even little nonsense filler phrases like "I'm right or wrong" seem to have some kind of import. In other words, he's an ideal artist for people who project their emotions and experiences onto the music they listen to (and I'm one of those people).

Love "Saturday Clothes", just scratching the surface with this guy.

Whew, glad it’s not a mortality revive.

It's got such a nice mood, discretely sad or something

its that autoharp

Whew, glad it’s not a mortality revive.

Gord's used to those kind of rumours; he heard a Toronto radio station announce that he had died while he was in the chair at the dentist. He called them up and went on the air to prove he wasn't.

It's partly about the lyrics because it sounds to me like someone who is admitting to being a little sad but there's much more disappointment and sadness than he's willing to admit. Maybe putting a brave face on.

It's true; he has lots of melancholy songs and lots of "quotidian" songs, but they're usually not one and the same.

Here's a deep track that I've been listening to a lot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FihE2nwkLVw

I was also thinking that his career ending with Solo is like a long highway travelling through cities, towns, and countryside that eventually ends in a muddy one-lane track leading to a broken-down abandoned shack. It's like a gesture of humility on his part.

Sadly, now passed on after some recent health issues

https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/gordon-lightfoot-dead-1.6828991

Wow. So much will be written in the next few days, especially up here. Bob Dylan seemed to revere him.

RIP

I'd have to check, but I think I had this on my music-video list:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PINZNB6knaA

yeah, when I saw his shows had been postponed I kinda had a feeling that would be it. gonna miss ya Gord, glad you loved Wisconsin enough to hit it multiple times on each tour

A terrible day. Rest in peace Gord.

RIP

Big part of my childhood years. He meant a lot to my mother, who I can remember being very excited when she told me that she finally got to see him live for the first time. "Go My Way" holds a special place for her and me.

Unrelated, but I spent a portion of my youth years in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Goes without saying we did the uper trip to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and get a layout of where all the famous shipwrecks are in Lake Superior. Jump to not long after and a little league teammate's dad invites my younger brother and I to a ride back from our baseball game in Escanaba. Only we're taking his private plane.

So my teammate's dad is flying us back and as we get towards the airfield, he offers to take us over Lake Superior so we can see nearby shipwrecks visible at the bottom of the lake. To this day, it was amazing how clear the water was and how much detail you could see of the boat wreckage up in the sky. It was right then my brother asked "Does this plane go any faster?" The dad joyfully said, "It sure does!," and immediately took the plane into a nose-dive, towards the oncoming Superior ship wreckage.

Whew, glad it’s not a mortality revive.

― The land of dreams and endless remorse (hardcore dilettante), Sunday, 2 April 2023 22:22 (one month ago) bookmarkflaglink

:(

Very sad. He was the best.

my story is kind of odd, but bear with me

when I was a teenager there was this hidden camera show called Trigger Happy TV, which obviously originated in the UK, as the dude was clearly British. anyway I thought it was pretty funny but what I really liked was the soundtrack. in particular there was this really pretty song that played when he was doing these pranks as a suicidal artist in the park.

I looked up what it was and it was "If You Could Read My Mind". the next time I went to the record store I looked him up and there was a CD called Complete Greatest Hits for $11.99. I figured what the hell and bought it.

Skipped right to Track 7 and guess what...the song actually was NOT "If You Could Read My Mind"! It was one of those soundalikes they do for US TV in order to get around having to pay royalties. So that was disappointing, but it was made up for - I was working at Burger King at the time, and there was this one country/folk song they played over the PA I really liked, but I never heard enough of the lyrics to figure out what it was. I thought it was something from the 90's...turns out it was "Sundown"

as part of the BK closing crew I brought this CD in a lot. there were a couple guys who really dug it. everyone else thought it was lame as shit, but when you're 17 that's also funny in its own way. I grew to really love it and when I started getting into vinyl I bought a ton of his records because they were all so cheap. lo and behold most of them were really good! there's treasure on all those albums. at least to a certain point. actually I think Gord is what made me really get into vinyl, I kinda loved how you were rescuing these beat up things that were clearly once important to someone, at least judging by how the covers would be written on or certain bits of the lyric sheet clipped out. felt like time travelling a bit.

I got to see him 3 times. obviously it was in his later years, but he really loved touring the Midwest and actually hit Manitowoc twice. one time he was playing literally down the street from me, which was cool. yeah his voice wasn't there but the shows were fun. he had a pretty good attitude and told some funny stories. and the band sounded nice. I wanna say it's tragic he's gone, but in reality the dude lived a lot longer than anyone would've thought. I felt bad since in those later years it was clear he was just touring to pay the medical bills. oh well. you're free to haunt the old shipyards now, bud.

guess what...the song actually was NOT "If You Could Read My Mind"! It was one of those soundalikes they do for US TV in order to get around having to pay royalties.

I'll use that as a cue to post this; I'm sure, as your post indicates, he had a great sense of humour, so I bet he loved this (favourites: "Dueling Banjos," "Theme from Mannix," and "White Rabbit").

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZpk0A4hZes

I'm in a really good grade 1 class today, so I've been playing Lightfoot all morning as they work.

is that Rick Moranis singing?? he sounds almost exactly like him!

Could be--never really thought about who's doing the singing. Something tells me Moranis joined a season or two later than the others, and I think this is early, so not sure.

oh, I mean to say the singer sounds like Lightfoot, at one point I actually wondered if it WAS Gord

drove from north bay down to toronto today and listened to gord along the way in homage, passing orillia and hearing the watchman's gone choked me up tbh. he had a superb talent for taking a thing like RFK's funeral train and merging it with his own ruminations on death, throw in train & sea references and you have maybe his most perfect *gordon lightfoot* song.

also the orchestral build and transition from part 2 to part 3 of CRT is a thing of beauty. the second half of cabaret is a simple, lovely tune to listen to while coming down highway 11.

in those later years it was clear he was just touring to pay the medical bills

With the Canadian health system, this isn't really a factor.

it is moranis who was singing in the sctv lightfoot thing, i think i have posted a link to that at least 3-4 times over the years here, how he finds the mellow gordo groove in every song is remarkable

Coverage up here was as extensive as I'd hoped. Huge front page stories on the Star and the Sun (bought my Star out of town--the variety store here has stopped carrying newspapers!), lots on the radio and CBC. One station yesterday interviewed a Timmins MPP or MP who grew up with Lightfoot. And everyone you knew seemed to post on FB.

Globe and Mail, too. He got the Canadian Newspaper Trilogy treatment.

the variety store here has stopped carrying newspapers!

dang. There's a song in there

My version of that SCTV sketch consists of fingerpicking Gmaj7 and Cmaj7 chords and singing the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen" à la Gord .

Here's another parody/tribute:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rh5slFWPlY

Contacted a friend in Toronto about going up to Orillia on Sunday, but getting this friend to do just about anything is an ordeal, so that's not going to happen.

https://www.orilliamatters.com/local-news/huge-event-orillia-prepares-to-say-goodbye-to-gordon-lightfoot-6954286