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RockyF · 04-04-2012, 07:08 PM

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.

04-04-2012, 07:08 PM	#1
RockyF Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 10	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.