Although the man is considered to be an absolute legend/national treasure in his native Canada, singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot is best known elsewhere for a string of hit records he had in the 1970s, some of which (“Sundown,” “If You Could Read My Mind,” “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” among others) are still played on “classic rock” radio stations to this day. His double platinum Gord’s Gold greatest hits collection is one of those albums that everyone’s parents seemed to have back in the ‘70s. It’s one of the strongest anthologies by anyone, ever, in the history of popular music, or so sez I. Seriously, it’s like those red and blue Beatles comps or Endless Summer, not a bad track to be found on it. Whenever I pull that album out, I know, for sure, that it’s going to be in the “speed rack” next to the stereo for a long time to come.
When I was a kid, still a pre-teen, I went to a Gordon Lightfoot concert. I can still recall being very impressed by the beautiful chiming of the acoustic guitars and the almost telepathic communication he had with his backing musicians. I’ve read in interviews that some of his band members have been with him for more than four decades. You can’t fake that.
In the video below, a performance shot for the BBC’s In Concert series in 1971 (but aired in 1972), you can see the man in his prime with a set including several of his classics:
Summer Side Of Life
Saturday Clothes
That’s What You Get For Loving Me
Affair On Eighth Avenue
If You Could Read My Mind
Steel Rail Blues
Your Loves Return
Ten Degrees And Getting Colder
Early Morning Rain
Farewell Nova Scotia
Miquel
Me And Bobby McGee
Nous Vivons Ensemble
Minstrel Of The Dawn
Talking In Your Sleep
Canadian Railroad Trilogy
Lightfoot is accompanied here by Red Shea on guitar and Rick Haynes on bass. You will please note how great of a guitar player the guy is!
If you are too young to have much of an idea of who Gordon Lightfoot is, well, rejoice kiddo, because you’ve got some great music to discover. If you’re old enough (or perhaps Canadian enough?) to be hip already to Gord’s golden baritone, then you’ve probably already stopped reading this and have hit the play button.
Bonus, “Sundown” on The Midnight Special in 1974: