Gifted singer, songwriter and the connective thread that runs through the memories of our lives, Gordon Lightfoot, has died. He was 84.
A gifted Canadian artist from ordinary means, Mr. Lightfoot’s hits include, “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Early Morning Rain,” “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” and “Sundown,” which reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts in 1974.
“Sometimes I wonder why I’m being called an icon, because I really don’t think of myself that way,” Mr. Lightfoot told The Globe and Mail in 2008. “I’m a professional musician, and I work with very professional people. It’s how we get through life.” (NYT)
One of his great song lines, …”the hero would be me, but heroes often fail.” Gordon Lightfoot’s songs are sprinkled throughout multiple links in the chain of our lives. Each song reminding us of our memory attached to the moments of it. This passing hits a little harder.
.
One of my favorite singer/songwriters. Funny, I was just listening to his playlist last week. One of my favorite songs is Canadian Railroad Trilogy. Wonderful music with great memories attached.
Rest in Peace..
Don Quixote:
“Standing like a prophet bold, he shouts across the ocean to the shore – til he can shout no more…”
Sundance, we hear ya!
Ah, Don Quixote! One of my favorites from college days.
They’re all going to be gone in 5 years. We grew up in one of the most incredible times for music in the history of the world. The combination of the bleakness of post WW2 Britain, the electric guitar (easily the most expressive instrument ever invented), quantum leaps in recording technology, anger about the Vietnam war and the proliferation of mind-altering substances combined to incubate an outburst of music making creativity like the world had never seen. And they’re all going to be gone. RIP, Gordon Lightfoot. You were one of the good ones.
Yes we did – Gordon Lightfoot was one of my favorites as way another unique singer/writer Roy Orbison …. But there were so many more who were so innovative and creative. And the unique musical sounds they could produce with a guitar – even with an acoustic guitar or mandolin. I had so many favorites, another beauty Sounds of Silence from Simon & Garfunkel.
The 4 men I give the most credit for this 20th century musical renaissance are Leo Fender, Orville Gibson, and the Ludwig brothers. By the early 80s, pretty much everything that could be done with these new instruments they created, had been done. There is unlikely to be another musical era to rival it until some other people come along and create some more new instruments.
You forgot Les Paul, the man who invented the electric guitar, and the master of some of the world’s most skilled fingers.
also Rickenbacker….. Beatles, Chris Squire, GEDDY LEE, Mary Chapin Carpenter, GEDDY LEE, Smithereens, GEDDY LEE…… and specifically about the Les Paul, RANDY RHOADS, Ace Frehley, RANDY RHOADS …. 🙂
…CHRIS SQUIRE…
Plus multi tracked vocals, especially for his wife Mary Ford
someone on Pawn Stars brought in her Les Paul SG. It had all the documentation, photos, letters, authentification papers….
I can’t remember the price, but it was pretty high….. $350,000……popped into my head though that could be wrong.
And say “Hello” to Harry Chapin, we lost him a long time ago.
Please YouTube “The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald” by Canadian band The Headstones. And TURN IT UP.
This thread is honoring Gordon Lightfoot – poor taste to promote another band in this thread
I disagree. This band is covering a Lightfoot song.
Is he, or is he promoting a song written by Gordon Lightfoot?
I did. It’s crap compared to Gordon.
I liked the cover of Edmund Fitzgerald by The Headstones. Remember, each time it’s viewed the Lightfoot estate receives royalties. A good tribute to Gordon Lightfoot, the writer.
The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald was my favorite of the three songs mostly talked about followed closely by If You Could Read My Mind.
Never knew he was Canadian until the day he died. Weird. And it doesn’t matter one bit.
We passed his hometown every year we went to Canada. He was born in Orillia, Ontario. Love his music.
After all these years, I still love his music. RIP Gordon Lightfoot.
Quintessentially Canadian, as much as Neil, Joni, the other Neil, and Rush, and The Guess Who. Tim Bachmann, Randy’s brother and another guitar player, just passed away as well.
Gordon Lightfoot had that quality of songwriting and voice that made you want settle down and listen to.
Well played, Gordon Lightfoot.
No computerized bells and whistles.
Last saw him in Concord NH. Between songs he asked ,”How long is the hair on a rabbit?- – about 3 seconds”.
My son was born in concord NH in 1972. Just sayin. Love gordon lightfoot , If You Could Read My Mind, was my favorite.
I love Gordon Lightfoot’s music. I also like rock. I’m 61, and I’m beginning to realize that I lived during about the best times available. We grew up without the internet. We are the last of a great generation of people who could make stuff happen with our own two hands and a brain that worked.
We all have a great work ethic as well. We are a diminishing breed. BabyBoomers? We are the ones the Democrats are trying to get rid of.
I’m 69 and glad I’m on my way out, sooner than later. Great memories from the music in my lifetime, and always happy to hear them.
Me too. Since I don’t know what happens after death, the only thing I really fear is reincarnation back to this future world.
I’m 70, loved the music of the 70s and agree we grew up during the best of music. I am a little sad that some of my favorites, actually most of them I guess, are hard-core leftists. They started out as musical warriors for the common man, became millionaires and lost touch with the people they inspired. I still listen to their music though.
I’m with you at 72. So many of them I loved so much until they were ‘interviewed’. I wish I never knew some of the things revealed so, like you, I still listen and love the songs for the songs and not for the artist.
One of the best musicians of generation. So many memories!
“Ribbon of Darkness” was written by Gordon Lightfoot. Marty Robbins has a great version.
Wow, I never knew that Lightfoot was the songwriter for that tune.
Amazing song!
Thanks for that info. I never knew the song was written by Gordon Lightfoot. Such great talents both Gordon and Marty Robbins. RIP Gordon you will always be loved and missed.
Connie Smith did “Ribbon of Darkness” well also.
On Youtube there is a video of Connie and Marty singing it together.
May God rest your soul Gordon. Enjoy Whitefish Bay.
A nice tribute by Rick Beato
https://youtube.com/live/4Iw7Jei8XOo?feature=share
Nice to see. Rick Beato is the most important man on YouTube of anyone else. He is recording interviews with all the greats, before they pass. Stunning and touching, deep and wide…
https://www.youtube.com/live/4Iw7Jei8XOo?feature=share
My oldest brother used to fly him to his gigs back in the day. There were some good stories and my brother said Lightfoot was always a nice and humble man. Now both are gone to be at peace in the realms that matter. He was an icon in Canada when Canada was the true North strong and free.
Recall him playing in TORONTO
CONCERT REVIEWS
Toronto, ON
Massey Hall – March 14, 1980
https://www.lightfoot.ca/800314r.htm
RIP Gordon Lightfoot!
Legendary song writer, singer, poet. RIP Gordon.
Look up the late Tony Rice covers of Gordon’s songs.
Did a complete album- Cold on the Shoulder was especially good!
Great tribute to an amazing and one-of-a-kind artist. I was an instant fan from the first time I heard him on our family’s stereo when I was a kid.
Thank you for posting Sundance, thank you for sharing your talents with the world, Mr. Lightfoot, and may you Rest In Peace Sir.
I hope that he has moved on to a new audience.
Another great talent lost to this world but thankfully his music lives on and hopefully so does he.
My favorite song during my early youth was “Black Day in July” (released in 1967 during the costly Detroit riots) but soon it was considered too controversial and was banned by many U.S. radio stations.
Yep
R.I.P.
Lightfoot is the venue’s most frequent performer, having played the venue on Victoria St., near Yonge and Queen Sts.. more than 165 times — thus its “House of Gord” nickname.
Massey Hall Toronto
https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/gordon-lightfoot-to-reopen-massey-hall-after-three-year-reno
The world always seems different when one of these gifted souls passes on………..
The ’70s were a great time for music (and film), and Gordon Lightfoot was an important part of that….
I can hear his sweetly smooth voice in my head along with every word to the songs I listened to over and over during my college years. As Sundance says, each song holds a memory for many of us. Go with God, Gordon. We loved you while you were here.
I have fond memories of this song. The first time I heard it I was ten years old. The family was packed up and heading to the beach with the top down on the car, wind blowing in our hair. By the time we had our third day trip to the beach my sisters, and I knew the words by heart.
RIP Gordon Lightfoot.
Mr. Lightfoot was a songwriter with soul. His lyrics made us think and imagine. I remember all of those songs. Listening to many of these tunes was like becoming a feather on the wind. I was taken on a journey in my mind. God rest him.
Very appreciative of the story and remarks. Have always loved Wreck of the Edmund
Fitzgerald especially. Had to load his CD into my ancient player and listen to it loud.
RIP Gordon! 😉
I have lots of favorite Lightfoot songs and can’t think of one of his that I didn’t like.
One of those is the little remembered:
“Walls”:
“It’s alright for some, but not alright to be
Where the one that I’m lovin’ can’t be found
The city where we live might be quite large
But the circle is small, why not tell us all and then all of us will know”
My favorite line from the song “The Circle is Small” when speaking to his cheating partner.
My favorite song is “If You Could Read My Mind”.
He actually had a tour schedule set up for 2023. Bless his heart for still wanting to perform his music.
Like so many of his songs, The Circle is Small is one I can listen to over and over.
Me too. 😓
“Each song reminding us of our memory attached to the moments of it. This passing hits a little harder.”
So true Sundance…growing up listening to the music in the 60’s and 70’s brings back a lot of memories when hearing those songs now.
Gordon was a great storyteller making you ‘feel the moment’ those lyrics were conveying…RIP Gordon Lightfoot.
For some reason, this did hit me a little harder. They are really going fast now.
I love my family, my children and grandchildren, but I miss those days before all that, when I was young and felt so free.
Coastermomohio, I feel exactly the same way, and have felt this way for a long time. Sometimes I think about the Bible verse that says “…then I saw a New Heaven and a New Earth”, and I think well maybe I can be in this place where I can be young again, with my childhood friends, and listen to the great music that was here on this Earth, and be in places I used to be which no longer exist, etc.
I always wax nostalgic during times of reminiscing, especially on the death of Gordon Lightfoot, and others of his caliber. Sigh…
Gordon Lightfoot’s music always gets my attention when the radio is playing. A very sad loss RIP.
Saw him several times, most notably in August 1983, when my future wife and I saw him in NJ on our first date (I still have the program). We had tickets to see him in June, but the venue announced a few weeks ago that the tour had been canceled because of his health issues. One of the great artists of the 20th century. May he rest in peace.
When my son was in his early 20s in 2001 he was in a bookstore with a friend and music was playing in the background. Suddenly, he ran up to his buddy and said I have to have this song. Who is singing it?
His friend looked perplexed and said, you mean Gordon Lightfoot??? The song? Carefree Highway ……”let me slip away on you..”—became one of my son’s favorites 🙂
Music is timeless….
I grew up loving and singing Gordon Lightfoot’s songs. Like Dylan, Gord came out of the old Folk Scene. They were both pre-War, pre-Boomers, closer in age to my parents than me. But his talent made him timeless.
‘Christian Island’ is one of my favorites. It’s a kind of flip side to ‘Edmund’, portraying the “summer side of life”-the peaceful summer serenity of the Great Lakes versus the wintry danger of ‘Fitzgerald’. I like that he’s singing with a sense of place, out of his pure love for Canada. That’s a joy that globalists and #Fake Prime Ministers will never know.
Father God, bless the Troubadour.
May he Rest in Peace.
Beautiful.
Also a good song!
God bless, him.
Carefree highway
Let me slip away on you
Carefree highway
You’ve seen better days
The morning after blues
From my head down to my shoes
Carefree highway
Let me slip away, slip away on you.
Cheers Everyone! This round is dedicated to Gordon Lightfoot. Have ordered my listening device (Alexa) to serenade me. Love this guy’s sound. God Bless this man!!
RIP GL. My favorite was Carefree Highway.
Edmund Fitzgerald is an all time classic story song, painting the picture masterfully – “… The old cook came on deck, and said ‘Fellas, it’s too rough to feed ya” and then “fellas, ti’s been good to know ya” – may we each and all meet our deaths as ladies and gentlemen, with dignity and grace.
Gordon toured and performed constantly up until the end, when he finally laid down and closed the guitar case. A poet, a storyteller, a toucher of hearts and teller of tales, God Bless ye, Gordon, and keep your family in this time.
Loved his music, so gifted.
Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, love the haunting music and lyrics, still gives me the chills. Fear of drowning is my greatest fear, and that song does it for me. The man was and is a great, he will be missed. The likes of him do not come around often.
A True Poet and Musician
Fair Winds , Mr Lightfoot
Thank You for being part of the Playlist of my youth
TY, Gordon,… for giving Elvis the best cover he ever performed! RIP, with the King.
Thanks to Les Paul, Ampex and so many others, this generation’s lighting strike on musical creativity will live forever, at the dawn of the Age of Aquarius!
I enjoyed listening to that, thanks! For me, Elvis’ cover of Bridge Over Troubled Water is hard to beat.
Not long ago I did a lot of research about EP. Buying his own plane to fly him to his numerous gigs was one of his major life decisions. His choice of this cover seems somewhat related.
So glad to see Sundance honoring this fine musician and songwriter. Loved his music then and now. Many songs are timeless classics that will carry on for as long as people appreciate such qualities.
A great concert!!! Thank you for posting it!!!
The music, the voice, story telling, the production, the recording…
Listen to his inflections, how he trails the notes into each other, some are nasal, some are from the chest… the guitar picking, the strings, the rather sparse production, the layering of instruments… the natural dynamics.
Right now I’m listening to it over Tidal HiFi in my home office… tomorrow I’ll dig up the LPs and will play them. ( Yep, I got records, turntable, tubes, etc… ).
The 70s were indeed a Golden Age for songwriters and music.
“Song for a Winter’s Night” always on my Christmas Playlist.
“Is There Anyone Home”
“Talking in Your Sleep”
“Make Way for the Lady”
“The Watchman’s Gone”
“Seven Island Suite”
“Canadian Railroad Trilogy”
“Protocol”
“Too Late for Prayin'”
…that’s a great start to a playlist of great GL songs not usually heard on the radio
Music is what keeps the memories alive. RIP Gordon.
A while back I watched a documentary on dementia. Long story short it isn’t just the music, but the kind of music. They went into the nursing homes to do part of the study. One elderly man that was in the zone, just out of it sitting in his wheel chair. They played several kinds of music w/no response, they put on Detroit music and his face lit up, he tried to talk a bit and started moving his hands. Another lady same thing, played a variety of music but when they put on The Beach Boys she jumped up out of the chair and started dancing, smiling bigly.
Maybe the reason the Bible has so many songs is because they have power to heal.
Interesting that you posted that. My Mother was in a home primarily for people with dementia. Every week they would have local people come in and play live music and as you said people reacted.
One lady had played the piano all her life and her daughter would bring in sheet music when she would visit. The lady could sit at the piano and play as if she was young. It brought tears to my eyes one day when I went in and she was playing Memories, yet the music was one of the few memories she had left.
Thanks for sharing that story. It brought tears to my eyes!
I read a lot about this while caring for my mom with dementia. She always loved Elvis, had seen him live the first time he performed in Texas (not sure if it was Houston, where we live in the area). We played some Elvis songs, and suddenly she’s excited and telling stories, able to recall vivid memories none of us kids had ever heard. I’d not spent much time with mom during my young adult years, but reconnecting and hearing about how going to see Elvis in that zoo of fan(atic)s what a moment to cherish.
Interestingly, unique or rare smells can do the same thing for me. We had a house fire when I was a kid. Charred burns of building products still instantly produces a visual recollection of walking through the house a day after the fire. Smell of a unique shampoo of a girl I was in love with that I had to try “to understand the feelings that she lacked” brought back several vivid and happy memories. If only I could figure out how to create a vivid and positive memory with a unique smell, then inject a unique smell that someone would buy in candle form for decades as a way to go back…
It’s interesting the songs that induce the memories… wish I could somehow write that down as a reference should I have dementia issues.