Gordon Lightfoot Forums - View Single Post - SOCAN award For Lightfoot-June 2014

charlene · 06-10-2014, 01:51 PM

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment...ce=twitterfeed

Gordon Lightfoot says he's never heard a cover version of one of his songs that he didn't like.

By: Ben Rayner Pop Music Critic, Published on Tue Jun 10 2014

Gordon Lightfoot’s trophy room must be fairly cluttered already, but he’s got another one coming his way on Monday when the SOCAN Awards hand him a lifetime-achievement award in recognition of the more than five decades he’s spent as Canada’s preeminent folk-pop ambassador.

It’s a pretty cool trophy, too. For the prize’s 25th anniversary, the Society of Composers, Artists and Music Publishers of Canada has commissioned a brand-spankin’-new hunk of hardware, the “SOCAN,” created by the folks at esteemed New Brunswick cymbal manufacturer Sabian. It doubles as an actual, playable percussion instrument. Take that, Junos!

Anyway, in advance of the annual SOCAN Awards gala at Toronto’s Westin Harbour Castle next week, the Star had a chance to chat with the living Can-con legend, now 75 years old, about various matters related to SOCAN’s stock in trade: songwriting.

Here are his observations…

…ON THE ONE TUNE IN HIS 300-SONG CATALOGUE THAT REALLY STICKS OUT.
“My very first album on United Artists, after I signed with the (Albert) Grossman office around 1966, had a song on it called ‘Early Morning Rain’ and we still do it. We still do that song. We don’t do it every night, but we do it about every other night. ‘Early Morning Rain,’ it’s a keeper. It was done by Peter, Paul and Mary, but even before them it was done by Ian and Sylvia. And at the same time it was done by the Kingston Trio, and Judy Collins had one. There were several that came all at the same time.

“It’s a good one and it holds water. It’s stood the test of time. It’s a good song. I was very happy with that outcome of that one. It’s a great closer, like in a baseball team. It’s a great closer. It’s just one of those tunes. It can be done in different ways, too. Elvis Presley did a little bit different version of it, which was good. He changed a chord . . . And Neil Young just did it. I was deeply honoured by that because, as well as being a friend, I am a fan of his music. He’s such a brilliant guitar player, along with his songwriting ability. He’s a giant of the industry. I’m very proud indeed and I’m very happy that he honoured me by doing that.”

…ON SOME OF HIS OTHER FAVOURITE GORDON LIGHTFOOT COVERS.
“Glen Campbell did a couple of my tunes. He did tunes that nobody else did of mine, like ‘The Last Time I Saw Her.’ He did a beautiful job on that one. There was Barbra Streisand doing ‘If You Could Read My Mind’ when I finally got over to Warner Brothers by 1970. There was ‘Ribbon of Darkness’ by Marty Robbins that went up to No. 1 on the country chart at one point. We still do that one. Some of these things, they just keep going.”

…ON HIS LEAST FAVOURITE GORDON LIGHTFOOT COVERS.
“Oh, I’ve never heard one that I didn’t like. It amazes me.”

…ON WHETHER HE’S WORKING ON NEW MATERIAL THESE DAYS.
“I could be. Yes, I can. I still can. I know I can. I have a very extended family obligation here in Toronto, I really do. I like to spend a lot of time with my kids and I like to look after everything. Really, I haven’t got adequate time.
“I would want to do an album, of course, but it would probably take about three or four years. And when you’re doing that you don’t think about anything else. That’s the unfortunate part about it, and it’s had an effect on my entire personal existence over the last 50 years. My marriages, my divorces, all this business. It’s all gone down. But I can noodle. For the last three or four days, I’ve been writing a song along with my daily notes. It’s mixed in with my ‘things to do.’”

…ON WHETHER HE CAN CONTEMPLATE RETIREMENT.
“Yes, I can. I’m prepared for that, too. Just as I prepare to go to work, I’m prepared to stop. I’m really serious. I will be prepared to stop when it comes time to stop. But I’m going to stay with everybody in spirit.”

…ON WHAT’S GOING THROUGH HIS HEAD AS HE PREPARES TO ACCEPT HIS LIFETIME-ACHIEVEMENT AWARD ON MONDAY.

“You want to say something that’s meaningful, so I’m gonna to think about that. I’m gonna have to prepare for that one, too. I don’t want to write anything down. I used to try to write down what I was going to say at the awards presentations and it didn’t work out so well because, after a while, I had to get out my reading glasses. I’m just going to get up and talk a little bit about what it was like back in the early days and what it was like back then in Yorkville and all that stuff.”

06-10-2014, 01:51 PM	#2
charlene Moderator Join Date: May 2000 Posts: 16,001	TORONTO STAR interview http://www.thestar.com/entertainment...ce=twitterfeed Gordon Lightfoot says he's never heard a cover version of one of his songs that he didn't like. By: Ben Rayner Pop Music Critic, Published on Tue Jun 10 2014 Gordon Lightfoot’s trophy room must be fairly cluttered already, but he’s got another one coming his way on Monday when the SOCAN Awards hand him a lifetime-achievement award in recognition of the more than five decades he’s spent as Canada’s preeminent folk-pop ambassador. It’s a pretty cool trophy, too. For the prize’s 25th anniversary, the Society of Composers, Artists and Music Publishers of Canada has commissioned a brand-spankin’-new hunk of hardware, the “SOCAN,” created by the folks at esteemed New Brunswick cymbal manufacturer Sabian. It doubles as an actual, playable percussion instrument. Take that, Junos! Anyway, in advance of the annual SOCAN Awards gala at Toronto’s Westin Harbour Castle next week, the Star had a chance to chat with the living Can-con legend, now 75 years old, about various matters related to SOCAN’s stock in trade: songwriting. Here are his observations… …ON THE ONE TUNE IN HIS 300-SONG CATALOGUE THAT REALLY STICKS OUT. “My very first album on United Artists, after I signed with the (Albert) Grossman office around 1966, had a song on it called ‘Early Morning Rain’ and we still do it. We still do that song. We don’t do it every night, but we do it about every other night. ‘Early Morning Rain,’ it’s a keeper. It was done by Peter, Paul and Mary, but even before them it was done by Ian and Sylvia. And at the same time it was done by the Kingston Trio, and Judy Collins had one. There were several that came all at the same time. “It’s a good one and it holds water. It’s stood the test of time. It’s a good song. I was very happy with that outcome of that one. It’s a great closer, like in a baseball team. It’s a great closer. It’s just one of those tunes. It can be done in different ways, too. Elvis Presley did a little bit different version of it, which was good. He changed a chord . . . And Neil Young just did it. I was deeply honoured by that because, as well as being a friend, I am a fan of his music. He’s such a brilliant guitar player, along with his songwriting ability. He’s a giant of the industry. I’m very proud indeed and I’m very happy that he honoured me by doing that.” …ON SOME OF HIS OTHER FAVOURITE GORDON LIGHTFOOT COVERS. “Glen Campbell did a couple of my tunes. He did tunes that nobody else did of mine, like ‘The Last Time I Saw Her.’ He did a beautiful job on that one. There was Barbra Streisand doing ‘If You Could Read My Mind’ when I finally got over to Warner Brothers by 1970. There was ‘Ribbon of Darkness’ by Marty Robbins that went up to No. 1 on the country chart at one point. We still do that one. Some of these things, they just keep going.” …ON HIS LEAST FAVOURITE GORDON LIGHTFOOT COVERS. “Oh, I’ve never heard one that I didn’t like. It amazes me.” …ON WHETHER HE’S WORKING ON NEW MATERIAL THESE DAYS. “I could be. Yes, I can. I still can. I know I can. I have a very extended family obligation here in Toronto, I really do. I like to spend a lot of time with my kids and I like to look after everything. Really, I haven’t got adequate time. “I would want to do an album, of course, but it would probably take about three or four years. And when you’re doing that you don’t think about anything else. That’s the unfortunate part about it, and it’s had an effect on my entire personal existence over the last 50 years. My marriages, my divorces, all this business. It’s all gone down. But I can noodle. For the last three or four days, I’ve been writing a song along with my daily notes. It’s mixed in with my ‘things to do.’” …ON WHETHER HE CAN CONTEMPLATE RETIREMENT. “Yes, I can. I’m prepared for that, too. Just as I prepare to go to work, I’m prepared to stop. I’m really serious. I will be prepared to stop when it comes time to stop. But I’m going to stay with everybody in spirit.” …ON WHAT’S GOING THROUGH HIS HEAD AS HE PREPARES TO ACCEPT HIS LIFETIME-ACHIEVEMENT AWARD ON MONDAY. “You want to say something that’s meaningful, so I’m gonna to think about that. I’m gonna have to prepare for that one, too. I don’t want to write anything down. I used to try to write down what I was going to say at the awards presentations and it didn’t work out so well because, after a while, I had to get out my reading glasses. I’m just going to get up and talk a little bit about what it was like back in the early days and what it was like back then in Yorkville and all that stuff.”