Just as it asks...in YOUR opinion, not what the idiotic magazines who shunned him all these years have said. http://www.corfid.com/ubb/mad.gif Songs that his fans appreciate and love but ones that were generally ignored by the powers that be because they were too ignorant to really understand anything about the man other than how much $$ he could make for them.

My choices in no particular order;

Song - Album

Love and Maple Syrup - Summer Side of Life
Sweet Guinevere - Endless Wire
A Lesson in Love - East of Midnight
Protocol - Summertime Dream
The Watchman's Gone - Sundown
Someone To Believe In - Salute
Ghosts of Cape Horn - Dream Street Rose
and my choice for not only Gord's most underrated song ever, but most unappreciated is The Pony Man from Sit Down Young Stranger(If You Could Read My Mind to you newbies LOL http://www.corfid.com/ubb/wink.gif

Soon we'll do his most overrated songs (if there is such as thing to some of you). There is to me as much as I love him.
Mike from North Bay




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"You know living a life of ease don't make your meals taste better..." G.L.

Second Cup Of Coffee

Bill http://www.corfid.com/ubb/smile.gif

Where I come from, they're all underrated, as is the artist himself.
I'd have to agree with the Watchman's Gone.

Certain songs got airplay in Canada (as I've deduced by reading past threads) that NEVER saw airplay in the NW US.
When I started getting his albums, I was amazed at the lack of airplay compared to his huge library of material.
Where I come from, they're all underrated.

It's Worth Believin'
Lazy Mornin'
Ordinary Man
Too Late For Prayin'
I'm Not Supposed To Care

Talking In Your Sleep
Mother Of A Miner's Child

Two great songs that are somewhat underrated I guess...

in no particular order:

I'm Not Supposed to Care
Mother of a Miner's Child
Tattoo
Only Love Would Know
Too Late for Prayin'
Blackberry Wine (my husband's choice, not mine, though I like it)

Lazy Morning
Circle is Small
Same Old Loverman

great topic!
I have to agree, the whole shadows album
A passing ship

Edited to add more fav's.

[This message has been edited by brink (edited August 22, 2004).]

Anything For Love
I'll Tag Along
A Passing Ship
Romance
A Lot More Livin' To Do (Salute)
Tattoo
If Children Had Wings
Sweet Guenivere
Never Too Close
Race Among The Ruins
Make Way For The Lady
Whisper My Name
Ghosts Of Cape Horn
Your Love's Return
Nous Vivons Ensemble
.... and
The Whole "Shadows" LP! http://www.corfid.com/ubb/wink.gif



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"A knight of the road,going back to a place where he might get warm." ;) - Borderstone

crossroads
if i could
magniicent outpouring
caberet
farewell annabel
slide on over
auctioneer
passing ship
i'd rather press on

quote:Originally posted by jj:
It's Worth Believin'
Lazy Mornin'
Ordinary Man
Too Late For Prayin'
I'm Not Supposed To Care

JJ,
same choice here!
It's Worth Believin'
I'm Not Supposed to Care
plus
On the Bright Side
I'll Tag along
A Passing Ship
and
Christian Island.

there are many more.

The Watchman's Gone
A Passing Ship
If You Need Me
Never Too Close
The entire Shadows album!
Restless--This song should have been on the radio.
End Of All Time, Harmony, Sometime's I Wish. All 3 of these songs should be playing as I write this.

There are so many talented musicians writing such good music and the public never gets a chance to hear them. Instead they play singers who don't even write their own lyrics, much less the music. If radio stations would bite the bullet and play some new Lightfoot and others, people would love it. You can't hit the ball if you don't swing the bat. People only think they want to hear the crap they play on the radio now because that is what they're fed. It's a vicious cycle I guess.



[This message has been edited by TheWatchman (edited August 22, 2004).]

Protocol
Ordinary Man
Too Late For Prayin'
Seven Island Suite

all combine excellent songwriting with a soulfull, passionate performance.

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On my second cup of coffee and I still can't face the day

quote:Originally posted by TheWatchman:

<snip>
There are so many talented musicians writing such good music and the public never gets a chance to hear them. Instead they play singers who don't even write their own lyrics, much less the music. If radio stations would bite the bullet and play some new Lightfoot and others, people would love it. You can't hit the ball if you don't swing the bat. People only think they want to hear the crap they play on the radio now because that is what they're fed. It's a vicious cycle I guess.

[This message has been edited by TheWatchman (edited August 22, 2004).]

Absolutely - those of us who came of age in the 50s-70s were blessed with real radio airplay, based on call-in requests and DJs who had at their fingertips a wildly eclectic selection of music to play, ranging from Perry Como to Procol Harum and everything in between. There's may have been a Top 40 (not a puny Top 10) but even that featured titles as different as novelty songs like "They've Coming to Take Me Away" (Napoleon XIII) and rock like the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" - which were on the charts are the same time, if I remember corectly - something for almost everybody. Now there's almost never a live DJ, just a canned program. The suits have gone about it ass-backwards: instead of putting everything out there to see what folks actually like and buy, they market-research to the eyeballs, select the artist and cut-most-likely-to-succeed and sell, sell, sell - hoping the public buys it. That's why you can have millions spent pushing, say, a Mariah Carey album that tanks, but have an unknown like Norah Jones bubble up from below.

If I sound cranky it's because I am - I used to be a big radio listener but, boys and girls, it's boring. It's not simply that I'm not into rap or hip hop (which I'm not - they're too repetitive, but that's another rant <g> ); it's limited, lacking. That's why digital companies like Sirius and XM are gowing by leaps and bound - you can find the kind of music or talk that you like at the push of a button. It's the way radio used to be.

Okay, rant off.

Go Annie!
They do that because, believe it or not, the biggest chunk of change comes from preteen and teenage girls...They spend the most money. Same goes for clothes.

quote:Originally posted by LSH:
Go Annie!
They do that because, believe it or not, the biggest chunk of change comes from preteen and teenage girls...They spend the most money. Same goes for clothes.

Sadly, this is true. http://www.corfid.com/ubb/frown.gif

quote:Originally posted by LSH:
Go Annie!
They do that because, believe it or not, the biggest chunk of change comes from preteen and teenage girls...They spend the most money. Same goes for clothes.

Yeah but a lot of them DON'T buy CDs - they download or stream over the computer while they IM each other. The only CDs my 15 year old has gotten this year are as gifts for her birthday. I won't let her download but she's got a couple of places where she can listen to whatever she wants while she noodles around online. It can't be ripped but she doesn't care. And she's a typical teen; what money she has she gets either as allowance or from babysitting for a neighbor's kids.

Ah, yes, but a lot of them shop, shop, shop.
They live at the mall, if they didn't direct entertainment traffic, our music and movie choices wouldn't be so banal.

the malls have become babysitters. hordes of pre-teens and early teens hang out in large groups until mum or dad comes and picks them up 2-5 hours later. these kids make serious shoppers wary and clog up aisles and food courts when they essentially are buying very little. i don't listen to radio at home at all becaue it is so bad. and even the "oldies" station gets annoys me after a while becaue it's the same stuff over and over again.i don't own a car so there's no radio question there. i play my lightfoot music, a few others and the rest of the time i savour the silence in this noisy world we live in.
char

I agree the Shadows is a superb album, in particular
14 Karat Gold
In My Fashion
Shadows

Others I would include are
Too Late for Prayin'

Black Day in July (when you know what it's about it really is an amazing sony lyrically)

Song for a Winter's Night

Affair on 8th Avenue

And the whole Summer Side of Life album. Nous Vivons Ensemble in particular for me. It's about the French/English Canadian question and I think is an incredible song

quote:Originally posted by charlene:
the malls have become babysitters. hordes of pre-teens and early teens hang out in large groups until mum or dad comes and picks them up 2-5 hours later. these kids make serious shoppers wary and clog up aisles and food courts when they essentially are buying very little.

Carousel Center in Syracuse recently instituted what they call MB-18 (for "must be 18") restricting unaccompanied minors on Friday and Saturday evenings from 4pm until closing. If you're under 18 you have to be with an adult over 21 on those nights - or you're out the door, and each adult is limited to no more than 4 teens, I think. They have 'hosts' at each entrance to turn away groups of unaccompanied teens.

There was a lot of grousing on the part of the teens as you can imagine. Families and older shoppers (not to mention merchants) were thrilled not to have to dodge marauding gangs of kids moving blob-like through the mall harassing, fighting, shoving and otherwise terrorizing them. They also were *not* spending money, just hanging - but driving off the spenders. The kids muttered darkly that they'd take their business elsewhere, but if the crowds I saw Friday night are any indicator, the rest of us have made up for it in spades. Very family friendly now, less of a drop-off place for irresponsible parents.



[This message has been edited by Auburn Annie (edited August 22, 2004).]

hmmm. maybe someone ought to get this information to the marketing research departments of record companies...

OH MY! My heart is crushed. No one agreed with me that "The Pony Man" is by far one of Gordy's most underrated sons EVER!

I just feel that it's a testament to the lost innocence of youth, and regardless of how old the song will get, it will always read the same.
I actually used to read this song to my song as a poetic bedtime story and he loves it to this day. He has the original set of words that I wrote out to read to him and ay age 16, has vowed to read it to his children also, so I guess there's a particularly important message in it that may not ring true for others, thereby explaining the song/story'/ballad's importantance to me.

Thanks Gord http://www.corfid.com/ubb/smile.gif

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"You know living a life of ease don't make your meals taste better..." G.L.

KrazyKritic,
I felt it was obvious that The Pony Man was under-apprecited,as well as over 80% (rough guess) of his catalouge. Don't worry,we agree but we all can't write it.

Hey,Annie! http://www.corfid.com/ubb/smile.gif I was only a kid in the 70s but when they were over and the 80s music camee,I did adapt to a good deal of it but missing (from a good deal of it) was true heartfelt emotions. Like hope,happiness,joy & other positives.

It really made me miss the 1970s and so,even though I was an 80s teen,I kind of "adopted" the 70s as my "real" decade. Truth be told,I have more Seventies music,than from any other time. http://www.corfid.com/ubb/smile.gif That's one of the main reasons I have learned about and come to appreciate Gordon Lightfoot's music and lyrics.

I've said it before,I now wish I had been listening to it all from at least within the 1st 10 years after hearing Sundown. Makes me wonder why I held Neil Duiamond in such high regard. He was a pretty good sing./songw. too but then he went kinda Vegas and ruined it. Another great thing about Gordon,and we've all said it,he's been as true to himself more than a lot of artists could ever say. http://www.corfid.com/ubb/smile.gif Been me. Later. http://www.corfid.com/ubb/cool.gif

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"A knight of the road,going back to a place where he might get warm." http://www.corfid.com/ubb/wink.gif - Borderstone

[This message has been edited by Borderstone (edited August 23, 2004).]

Gords most underrated tunes?
They'll half to be:
Wherefore And Why
May I
High And Dry
Too Many Clues In This Room
The House You Live In
Triangle

Most underrated? ok, lets see...
6.Ordinary Man, (Don Quixote)
5.Harmony, (Harmony)
4.The Way I Feel, (The Way I Feel/Lightfoot!)
3.Anything For Love, (East Of Midnight)
2.Steel Rail Blues, (Lightfoot!)
1.If You Could Read My Mind (Sit Down Young Stranger/If You Could Read My Mind)



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Sidney Freedmen

'Sit Down Young Stranger' and visit The Home Page Of Gordon Lightfoot