When I was a kid, I used to have a fascination with trains. So my dad used to make me "Train Tapes" with music all about trains for the car. Steel Rail Blues was probably the first Lightfoot song I ever heard, as it is about a train that will take a lonesome guy back to his lover. He also included "Sixteen Miles" and "Early Morning Rain" on these train tapes, and I used to listen to these tapes not only in the car during our long summer holiday drives to Algonquin Park in northern Ontarion, but also when I fell asleep at night. This would have been about 1985 or 1986 when I was 5 or 6 years old. I kind of lost touch with Gord's music after the late 1980s as I moved to Germany for three years. Upon returning to Canada as a teenager, I took up the guitar and was reminded of these old songs I used to listen to while falling off into dreamland. I got the United Artists Collection for my 15th birthday, and from that moment on, I was captivated yet again with Lightfoot's music, and proceeded to buy every album, every bootleg, and go to every concert I could.
The first time I saw Lightfoot in concert was in Orillia in 1997 when the Orillia Opera House was re-named the "Gordon Lightfoot Auditorium". This night was a particular treat because Pee Wee Charles sat in for Mike Heffernan, and it was like seeing the music exactly as I had pictured it over the years. Wasn't able to get backstage after the show, but I waited by the stage door for what seemed like forever. Out came Gord and he autographed a bunch of records for me. It was a real treat! Since that time, I've seen Gord in concert about 10 times, and can't wait for him to come back to the stage! A highlight for me was getting to go back stage at Massey Hall in 2001 to meet Gord and the band!!! I'll never forget that!
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