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Laughlin, Nevada article

GORDON LIGHTFOOT IN CONCERT AT AQUARIUS OUTDOOR AMPHITHEATER

Tuesday, October 20, 2009 5:09 PM PDT

When you sing a song about a boat wreck in Lake Michigan and it reaches No. 2 on the Billboard charts, you're a special kind of songwriter. And you also wrote those songs in a special time on the American music scene. A time when a song about a boat wreck on Lake Michigan could get heard at all, let alone make it to the top of the charts.

Gordon Lightfoot is that special songwriter. Just read some of his lyrics:

“He was raised up in Milwaukee though he never was that famous” from “Ten Degrees and Colder” in an oblique reference to the old slogan “the beer that made Milwaukee famous”; and

“He was standing by the highway with a sign that just said, ‘Mother' when he heard a driver comin' about a half a mile away. So he held the sign up higher, so no decent soul could miss it...”...also from “Ten Degrees and Colder”; or

“...what a tale my thoughts would tell; just like an old time move; or a ghost from a wishing well” from “If Could Read My Mind.”

And on and on. Lightfoot combines poetry with music for a sometimes haunting tapestry of sound and emotion, and at other times, like in his “Cotton Jenny” and “Carefree Highway,” simply the joys of living.

Ironically, a song with the least lyrical quality became one of his biggest hits and is the one many casual listeners know Lightfoot by. That would be the 1974 hit “Sundown,” about a girl with an attitude and tight-fitting jeans that got Gordon “feeling mean.”

Lightfoot is basically a folk singer with more approachability by mainstream audiences. His music catches your ear; his easy gliding baritone voice soothes you, as opposed to assault you like his friend and fellow troubadour, Bob Dylan.

Thus, his music transcends the genres of country, pop and rock without Lightfoot ever changing his style. He attained success because his music easily fit in so many places people embraced it no matter what radio station they happened to tune into. His songs were in such heavy rotation and on so many dials, people knew all of the words. Their hardy renditions have been sung at many a pub gathering around the jukebox.

A native of Ontario, Canada, Lightfoot began his performing career on the stage of the Massey Hall in Toronto at only 12 years old and has continued to perform there throughout his lifetime. And over the course of those years, he has never really changed his approach to his music-it always reflected what was going on in his life or in the news at the time-with those powerful storytelling lyrics never hidden behind overpowering drum beats and guitar licks.

He came into prominence in the 1960s and became part of the international music charts in the 1970s with hits such as “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Sundown,” “Beautiful,” “Carefree Highway” (which was written after Lightfoot stumbled on the actual Carefree Highway outside of Phoenix during some desert wanderings), “Alberta Bound,” “Rainy Day People,” “Cotton Jenny”-and that song about the sinking boat, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”

Just about every established artist who recorded his songs achieved chart success including Marty Robbins (”Ribbon of Darkness”), Leroy Van Dyke (”I'm Not Saying”), Judy Collins (”Early Morning Rain”), Richie Havens (”I Can't Make It Anymore”), and The Kingston Trio (”Early Morning Rain”).

Gordon Lightfoot has receive some high praise from impressive circles. Robbie Robertson of The Band once said that Lightfoot was one of his “favorite Canadian songwriters and is absolutely a national treasure.”

Dylan called Lightfoot one of his favorite songwriters, and in an often-quoted tribute to his fellow songwriter, Dylan observed that when he heard a Gordon Lightfoot song he “wished it would last forever.”

Of his many awards and credits, Lightfoot has won 16 Juno Awards (the Canadian equivalent to the Grammy) and been nominated for five Grammy Awards. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001. In May 2003 was made a Companion of the Order of Canada and in 2004 was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. His song “Sundown” was named pop record of the year by the Music Operators of America. In 1980, he was named Canadian Male Recording Artist of the Decade. He's also been inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.

Even after a life-threatening stomach condition that required four surgeries in 2002, a follow-up surgery and a lengthy recovery time, he still continued to work on his 20th album Harmony consisting of all new original material. The album was released in 2004 and he returned to touring the same year. To this day, Lightfoot shows no signs of slowing down.

GORDON

LIGHTFOOT

AQUARIUS OUTDOOR

AMPHITHEATER

AQUARIUS CASINO RESORT

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24

8 p.m.