R.I.P.: Gordon Lightfoot

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www.reuters.com/world/americas/canadian-singer-songwriter-gordon-lightfoot-has-died-84-cbc-2023-05-02/

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From The Second Disc —


theseconddisc.com/2023/05/02/in-memoriam-gordon-lightfoot-1938-2023/

[Dianna]

Very Sad News. I have many of his songs on my playlist. Such a talent. RIP Gordon Lightfoot.

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[erik]

Yes, this one hurts because his music was both among the best of the 1960's folk music movement/scare both here in America and his native Canada, and then with the singer/songwriter movement of the 1970's ("If You Could Read My Mind"; "Carefree Highway"; and his big #1 hit of 1974, "Sundown") .

This was his second biggest U.S. hit, a true-life "saga" song:


Such a great talent. He will be missed.

[rick]

Jimmy Webb's post on the passing of Gordon Lightfoot:

" In 2012 when I was Chairman of the Board of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, I was privileged to preside over the induction of one of my longtime favorite singers and songwriters, Gordon Lightfoot. Those of you who know me well know that I can be as starstruck as the next fellow when the occasion arises, and I was zoned out to be standing next to Gordon Lightfoot pre-show. When the photographers were firing away. I kept looking at him to make sure he was really there. He responded with a convivial Canadian grin, and honestly, he seemed like someone I had known all my life.

Upon reflection, it is apparent that I had known him all my life through his music and his commanding, ever-so-slightly sandpapered vocals. His voice conveyed immediately the impression of a strong and hip rambler of the roads. In fact, the last I saw of him that night, he was walking around on the stage packing up his own gear and laughing with his crew as they stuffed the truck and boarded the bus for the next one-nighter. It’s a life I have lived myself and I have a special attachment to the real troubadours who, in effect, devote their entire lives to performing in places like Butte, Montana, Kansas City, Kansas and all roads and venues in between.

I went over to say goodbye to him, and he laughed as I praised my favorite "Sundown," and there was just a twinge of sadness when he and the band finally walked out. I only met him once but I was deeply impressed with him, and I have the feeling that if you tapped him with a silver hammer his note would ring true like a giant anvil. I fancy that I can read people, but I think any person who came in contact with Gordon Lightfoot must have realized that he was the real deal. He lived what he sang and he sang what he lived.

What are we going to do without all these golden personas who are leaving us in droves? As I said when I wrote about Charles Watts, “who banged the drums slowly and played the pipes lowly,” another inestimably great artist and authentic figure has left the building.

Love to all,
Jimmy "

[erik]

Quote by rick, quoting Jimmy Webb:

What are we going to do without all these golden personas who are leaving us in droves? As I said when I wrote about Charles Watts, “who banged the drums slowly and played the pipes lowly,” another inestimably great artist and authentic figure has left the building.

Yes, that's the question I think all of us ask every time someone of such high stature leaves us, regardless of how long they've lived. I sometimes wonder if maybe we don't live in a time now where we have all these people who call themselves "artists" but who are doing this for the fame, the notoriety, the awards, and a big paycheck. As Linda said, "If you're working for prizes, you're in big trouble."

[sliderocker]

May 4, 2023 8:22:09 GMT -5 erik said:

Quote by rick, quoting Jimmy Webb:

What are we going to do without all these golden personas who are leaving us in droves? As I said when I wrote about Charles Watts, “who banged the drums slowly and played the pipes lowly,” another inestimably great artist and authentic figure has left the building.

Yes, that's the question I think all of us ask every time someone of such high stature leaves us, regardless of how long they've lived. I sometimes wonder if maybe we don't live in a time now where we have all these people who call themselves "artists" but who are doing this for the fame, the notoriety, the awards, and a big paycheck. As Linda said, "If you're working for prizes, you're in big trouble."

I knew Gordon's death was coming because of his age, but it still registered as a total shock. It didn't help when the hoax announcing his death in the past and you wanted this time to turn out to be a hoax. It wasn't and the world was all the sadder for it. I watched a lot of Gordon Lightfoot obituary videos and came across one video from 1963 where 24 year old Gordon was introduced by a 22 or 23 year old disk jockey who would later go on to become something of a legend himself, Alex Trebek!

Gordon was, I think unquestionably, Canada's biggest contribution to music. Bigger than Neil. Bigger than Ian and Sylvia (although for a time in the 60s, it may not have seemed so), bigger than the Bachman-Turner Overdrive - sadly, Randy Bachman lost a second brother this year on April 28th, his brother Tim, who played guitar alongside Randy. Gordon seemed determined to just keep going and never determined to quit, even though he'd had some health scares over the years that probably gave rise to the rumors he had passed away.

Likewise, I believe some of the so called "artists" are doing it for the fame, the notoriety, the awards and the big paycheck, but I also believe that was true of some of the artists in each generation. Maybe a few of them didn't care about such things as the awards, but wanted the fame and the big paycheck and the notoriety. I know David Crosby grumbled in the 90s about the artists not getting bigger royalties, something along the lines of getting a quarter when they should be getting a dollar.He had a point, I thought, but I believe his point was the artist should be getting a dollar per album from the get go. But, the record company was a business and they couldn't give a starting artist a one dollar royalty when an artist didn't have a million selling single or a gold selling album.

Gordon's luck in the US was almost like Linda's. His own hit records were hit and miss. Some did well on the charts, some tanked on the charts. Warners even put some pressure on Gordon in the late 70s or 80s to be more electric.I remember seeing him on some TV show, probably Solid Gold or The Midnight Special playing an electric guitar instead of his acoustic six or twelve-string guitar. The image just wasn't him and I'm sure the reason gordon was playing an electric guitar was that Warners or Reprise wanted more hits.

Maybe Gordon's music was out of style and maybe the WEA (Warners-Elektra-Atlantic) should've given his music a bigger push and promotion. I'm surprised they didn't tell him to go write with this songwriter or that songwriter because they needed hits from him, and that was the name of the game. His music didn't need any filtering through another musical genre or another songwriter's ears. He could've written songs for other artists and those artists' recordings would've been all the richer for the inclusion of a song or two written by Gordon Lightfoot. I just wish Linda could've covered some of Gord's gold, knowing she was a fan of Gordon's music.

Rest in peace, Gordon.

[erik]

Quote by sliderocker:

Gordon's luck in the US was almost like Linda's. His own hit records were hit and miss. Some did well on the charts, some tanked on the charts. Warners even put some pressure on Gordon in the late 70s or 80s to be more electric.I remember seeing him on some TV show, probably Solid Gold or The Midnight Special playing an electric guitar instead of his acoustic six or twelve-string guitar. The image just wasn't him and I'm sure the reason gordon was playing an electric guitar was that Warners or Reprise wanted more hits.

Maybe Gordon's music was out of style and maybe the WEA (Warners-Elektra-Atlantic) should've given his music a bigger push and promotion. I'm surprised they didn't tell him to go write with this songwriter or that songwriter because they needed hits from him, and that was the name of the game. His music didn't need any filtering through another musical genre or another songwriter's ears. He could've written songs for other artists and those artists' recordings would've been all the richer for the inclusion of a song or two written by Gordon Lightfoot. I just wish Linda could've covered some of Gord's gold, knowing she was a fan of Gordon's music.

It should be mentioned that he had tons of fans among his peers, including no less than Bob Dylan, who admitted to trying to emulate Gordon's weathered tenor on his 1968 album John Wesley Harding, an attempt that, by his own admission, he failed at.

And much like John Denver (who was a songwriting success first, with "Leaving On A Jet Plane", prior to his being a success as his own performer), GL got his stuff covered by a lot of heavyweights, including Peter, Paul, and Mary ("For Lovin' Me"; "Early Morning Rain") and Marty Robbins ("Ribbon Of Darkness"). He did all right for himself here in America with a solid body of work, including the hits, and all that peer respect. He may have been too "folk" for some; too "easy listening" for others; and even a bit too "country" for still others, but so many would have done everything short of homicide to write songs the way he did. He was, like any really good artist, someone who took a lot of influences from elsewhere and then made then his own.

[Dianna]

Interesting that he has not been inducted into the rock & roll hall of fame yet.. or has been overlooked. With the induction of several pop, rap and even country artists You can't use the excuse anymore that an artist is not 100 percent pure rock and roll to not be considered.

[erik]

Quote by Dianna:

Interesting that he has not been inducted into the rock & roll hall of fame yet.. or has been overlooked. With the induction of several pop, rap and even country artists You can't use the excuse anymore that an artist is not 100 percent pure rock and roll to not be considered.

I'm of the opinion that they've often made up the rules as they've gone along from year to year to suit their whims. If the criteria were followed really to both the spirit and the letter, then Linda would have been inducted along with The Eagles in 1998, instead of 2014.

And yes, Gordon Lightfoot certainly warrants a hell of a lot of consideration for that place, to say the very least (IMHO).

[sliderocker]

May 8, 2023 13:18:55 GMT -5 erik said:

Quote by Dianna:

Interesting that he has not been inducted into the rock & roll hall of fame yet.. or has been overlooked. With the induction of several pop, rap and even country artists You can't use the excuse anymore that an artist is not 100 percent pure rock and roll to not be considered.

I'm of the opinion that they've often made up the rules as they've gone along from year to year to suit their whims. If the criteria were followed really to both the spirit and the letter, then Linda would have been inducted along with The Eagles in 1998, instead of 2014.

And yes, Gordon Lightfoot certainly warrants a hell of a lot of consideration for that place, to say the very least (IMHO).

If the R&RHoF followed its own rules, Linda would've been eligible for induction to the R&RHoF in 1990, the first criteria being 25 years must have passed since the artist's first record. In Linda's case, they could've pointed to Linda's and the Stone Poneys' first recording produced by Mike Curb in 1965, So Fine backed by Everybody's Got Their Own Ideas. There was nothing in that first criteria that it had to be a solo record or a group record, but in Linda's case, it would've counted as her first recording on which she appeared, even if she wasn't the lead singer!

I think it's possible the R&RHoF will posthumously nominate Gordon next year and that he will be inducted next year, another shameful induction by the hall of waiting until it was too late to nominate and induct Gordon. It's even sadder that with Jann Wenner gone from the R&RHoF, the hall members responsible for nominating artists tend to come from the record business, record label executives and managers more concerned with getting their artists inducted than in getting the rock legends nominated and inducted.

Michael Noland, who constantly critiques the artists nominated and inducted makes his case here. And he has made a point of criticizing the hall for failing to nominate and induct rock artists and bands instead of country singers, rap artists and others with questionable rock credentials.

Here are his criticisms for 2023:

[eddiejinnj]

RIP Gordon. I always think of and sing the sad lyrics "sometimes I think it's a shame when I get feeling better when I'm feeling no pain." eddiejinnj