Has this happened to anyone else?
 

Let me start this off by admitting that I am one of the more 'mature' Lightheads around, having been a huge fan of Gordon's since my college days in the late sixties.

I saw my first G.L. concert in 1972 in Houston, and have seen him about eight more times since then, the last time being in 2006 in Fort Worth. (The count would have been higher except that Gord and the boys decided not to come to Texas for about 14 years, starting in 1992, I believe.)

Like any good G.L. fan, I can usually identify one of Gordon's songs by the time the first three or four notes are played. Like many of you, I'm sure, it's a skill I developed after a few hundred hours of listening to 'The Man'.


So here's the dilemna. Last week, I was driving into town and a song came on the radio and I thought - "Here comes Gordon". I was sure the song was one of his, but I wasn't able to identify it in the usual reflex-like manner.

But it turned out not to be one of Gordon's songs. The song that started to play was 'Gentle On My Mind', written and performed by John Hartford. (John's version is much better to me than the over-orchestrated Glen Campbell one, although I'm sure John greatly appreciated that Glen recorded it.)

At first I was a bit disappointed not to get to hear Gordon, but at the same time, "Gentle On My Mind" is a really fine song. John's voice wasn't great, but the instrumental arrangement was simple and pleasant, and the lyrics seem to have a sort of 'Gordon-like' quality to them. (And two out of three ain't bad!) As I was listening to it, I began to think "Gordon could have written that song if he had wanted to -- he just had some other fish to fry."

So, has anyone else had this sort of thing happen to them? Are there other songs out there that sound like they should have been penned by Gordon? I've often thought that Gordon has pretty much of a corner on his style of music, but maybe that's not necessarily true. If he doesn't strictly control that market, however, he at least has a very strong monopoly on it, IMHO.

Rocky Fugate
Noonday, Texas


P.S. - If this subject has been broached before, please excuse the preceding rambling.

Re: Has this happened to anyone else?
 

well i had been playing and listening to On Susan's Floor for about 6 months before I realized it wasn't written by Gord. I was a bit bummed out. Sure sounded like a typical and wonderful Gord tune to me.

the best example for me is the one written by Sal Joseph (we chatted about him here before and asked about his health after seeing nursing home video... he sadly passed away last year)

it was the last studio recording Croce did. They had tried to capture the Gord feel and sound. Reminds me of Steel Rail Blues groove.


Brain E does a very wonderful cover version....well, I could list many more

Going on a tangent here (just because Thursday reminds me of it): Too Much To Lose seems like the song that was most overlooked as a radio release or album inclusion because it's got that same great signature Gord groove and air about it. In the league of Worth Believing and Ordinary man. Same with Gentle on My Mind. There, now we're back on track:)

Re: Has this happened to anyone else?
 

Whoa! I agree with you,JJ.Thursday sure DOES sound like it could have been penned by Gordy.I've always liked Jim Croce.I wonder how I could have not known about/heard this song before.
patybear

Re: Has this happened to anyone else?
 

hey pb, yes that's a beauty song...i really like Sal's down tempo version here


this is why i would love to hear Gord have some tasty low fiddle in his live band...maybe Heffernan could use some sampled violin sounds now and then

again i digress, lol

btw, they say Sal died on a "Thursday: :cool:

Re: Has this happened to anyone else?
 

I agree Thursday does sound like one of Gordon songs. But instead of Steel Rail Blues...
It reminds me of Did She Mention My Name.

Re: Has this happened to anyone else?
 

Just this afternoon, I was listening to some Dylan on my 40 mile commute across the Wyoming desert. I was thinking as I listened to "When the Ship Comes In" that it easily could have been a GL song from the UA years.

Re: Has this happened to anyone else?
 

It is so Lightfoot, it's amazing! All the parts, bass, lead, drums, etc., sound like it could be Rick, Terry and Barry playing. I'm a big Croce fan, but I must admit I've never heard this song before.

Cathy

Re: Has this happened to anyone else?
 

Rocky,
Could the Lightfoot song you thought you'd be hearing be "It's Worth Believin'"?
The opening chords are somewhat similiar.

Re: Has this happened to anyone else?
 

What a wonderful commute.

Re: Has this happened to anyone else?
 

You haven't lived until you've driven across the vast deserts of SE Oregon, northern Nevada and northern Utah, listening to vintage West German electronica group Tangerine Dream. Truly a hypnotic experience.

Re: Has this happened to anyone else?
 

It is a wonderful commute at that. A good way to prepare myself for what's to come in the early morning, and to unwind from the busy day on the way home. Gordon Lightfoot is a big part of the daily soundtrack.

Re: Has this happened to anyone else?
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by RockyF (Post 178186) Let me start this off by admitting that I am one of the more 'mature' Lightheads around, having been a huge fan of Gordon's since my college days in the late sixties.

Ha!ha one of the younger ones then!!

OK not quite on subject but I submit closely related is hearing recordings that at the time you or somebody else thought were by Gord but after mature investigation proved go be just similar in sound and quality
Those with memories of a certain ilk will no doubt recall those days long ago, before YouTube was invented or we learnt how to utilise the torrent system there were still active file sharing websites with names like Napster WinMX and Limewire.
To spice up ones searching a sizeable number of recordings were commonly misidentified as being by some geezer named Lightfoot. amongst these was one particular recording by The Chad Mitchell Trio of the great Song For Canada, written by Ian Tyson and the late great Peter Gzowski In fact If I Remember Correctly in the great 1998 Gzowski/Lightfoot interview this was dicussed.
I do well remember 1960's parties in Montreal at which a friend's folk group played for a singalong and other than a smattering of Lighfoot two popular songs were Song For Canada and that other great Tyson song Four Strong Winds.Both of those songs also popped up on file sharing sites attributed to Gord. one such recording was by The Chad Mitchell Trio (that I had acquired from WinMX as a Lightfoot recording)
Because of those associations when I started a thread back k in 2005 about Peter Paul and Mary at:-
http://www.corfid.com/vbb/showpost.php?p=96898&postcount=1
I mistakenly referred in that posting to a recording as being of Four Strong Winds and remarked that the lead singer Mike Kobluk (a Canadian from Trail BC) sounded to me and some others uncannily like Gord. I have now found and heard a Chad Mitchell Trio recording of Four Strong Winds on YouTube and looked at an old email of that vintage and realised that it was Song for Canada not Four Strong Winds that I had meant to bring to readers attention
I have now uploaded a "video" with a single still picture
of the trio Mike is on the left
Whilst trying to find if there was possibly a Gzowski/Lightfoot video on Youtube I stumbled upon this tribute to the Great White North that might amuse those Canucks here (at 2:59 the narrator mentions both Peter and Gord)