May 2, 2008
Recording sundown
Gordon Lightfoot is done with recording new songs, but he's hitting the road with vigor
By JANE STEVENSON, SUN MEDIA
http://www.torontosun.com/Entertainm...49611-sun.html
Once a troubadour, always a troubadour. So says Canadian folk-pop legend Gordon Lightfoot.
The road still beckons for the 69-year-old Orillia, Ont., native, especially now that his recording career essentially ended with his 2004 CD Harmony, released independently after his 28-year-major-label contract had expired.
Playing live is his thing now.
"That's what I did at the start, that's what I do now. For the first five years of my career that's all I did was play in bars and lounges and coffee houses," Lightfoot said in Toronto this week.
DOING GREAT SHOWS
"(After) I finished my recording contract in 1998 at Reprise, I've said, 'No, I'm going to leave it alone now. I'm going to get back to doing some great shows.' Well, we made one more album (Harmony) as an after-thought. It was something to keep me busy while I was getting better."
Lightfoot was referring to his much-publicized brush with death in 2002. He suffered a stomach aneurysm and fell into a coma, which took him 19 months to recover from after multiple surgeries.
He's now back to a touring schedule of roughly 60 shows a year. This week he's in the midst of a four-city Ontario tour that continues tonight in Hamilton and tomorrow in Kitchener before wrapping up May 7-10 with a four-night stand at Toronto's Massey Hall. He played April 19-20 in Ottawa. Western Canadian dates could be ahead.
A healthy exercise regime certainly seems to have helped Lightfoot's longevity as a performer.
"I started in 1980, around about the same time that I gave up alcohol. It sort of became a lifeline for me at that time and I kept it up, and after a while I found out it was making me sing better and breathe better."
Turning 70 in November will be a milestone, Lightfoot says, but he doesn't plan on being "over-celebratory" about it.
"Maybe someone is planning a surprise party for me or something and I don't even know about it," Lightfoot said. "I'd hate that, I don't like surprise parties at all. But you know, whatever will be, will be."
Still, you've got wonder if the man who penned such classics as Early Mornin' Rain, Sundown, If You Could Read My Mind and The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald, isn't itching to still write more.
"I have fun dealing with several ideas that I use for little practice horses," he said. "I could go ahead and do it (make another album). I could tie myself up and present myself with that situation of isolation again for another three or four years, (but) some of my kids, they're getting on there. They're into their early 40s ...
"You must put the time in (to record a CD), even if it's somewhat divided. It would be terrible for me to try and make another record right now. It would be just an absolute waste of time, of valuable time, for me right now."
Reminding Lightfoot of time's value was the sudden death last December of Barry Harvey, his manager of more than 25 years who was only age 56.
"He was a great guy," Lightfoot said quietly. "He helped me make a lot of decisions, and you know in a kind of a way, too, he was very protective of me. He was great with dealing with requests from people. There's a lot of stuff that comes in that you try to be involved in and I'm one of those people that can't say no. And Barry used to be able to help me do that. Just say no."
'FAMILY' REUNION
Lightfoot has been performing on one of Canada's iconic musical stages for 40 years.
"Every year is an important one at Massey Hall," Lightfoot said. "For one thing it's like a great big family reunion, first all of all. Secondly, it's the audience and it's the people and we know how much they love it and we know how much is expected, and we are always well-prepared and we're always ready. I can remember times in the past in my career when I was not ready."
Lightfoot is talking again about his battle with booze.
"Back in the early part of my career, there was a lot of difficulty in sort of dealing with life in general, so to speak, and you can't really work at maximum capacity.
"Now that I've been in sort of a state of repentance for the last 28 years, I do a much better job. And I take things much more seriously."