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Auburn Annie · 09-23-2005, 02:24 PM

Lightfoot returns from brink of death

Photo by Marylin Newton
Reno Gazette-Journal

Who: Gordon Lightfoot
When: 8 p.m. Sept. 15-17
Where: John Ascuaga’s Nugget, Celebrity Showroom
Cost: $48
Details: 356-3300 or (800) 648-1177

Show business is rife with stories of so-called comebacks, but the recent story of Gordon Lightfoot goes beyond record sales: the Canadian singer/songwriter came back from the brink of death.

According to All Music Guide, Lightfoot was performing in his hometown of Orillia, Ontario, in 2002 when he suffered an abdominal hemorrhage while on stage. He slipped into a coma and awoke weeks later, ready to work on “Harmony,” his 20th and latest CD.

Lightfoot returns to the area for three shows at John Ascuaga’s Nugget, Sept. 15-17.

“My memory and my thinking felt pretty much normal, as my mind recalled a day in the distant past when a muse would say, ‘Don’t spin your wheels,’ ” Lightfoot said in a record company bio about his post-coma experiences.

In fact, Lightfoot asked his producer and bandmates to complete his solo versions of songs he had recorded the year before to make up the tracks for “Harmony.”

“Perhaps my radar was telling me to get ready for a rainy day, I don’t know,” Lightfoot said. “I remembered that quite a few of those performances had sounded reasonably valid at the time, and (I) wondered if they would hold up.”

Indeed, “Harmony” became a critically-acclaimed addition to a long career that mixed traditional folk and mellow rock.

Like other Canadians such as Joni Mitchell, Lightfoot first came to prominence as a songwriter, as “Early Morning Rain” became an oft-covered folk standard in the mid-1960s.

He released several solo records around that time, but it took 1970s “If You Could Read My Mind” to give him his first Top 10 hit in the United States. The front half of the ’70s featured other radio and sales hits for Lightfoot, including “Sundown” (a No. 1 hit) and “Carefree Highway.” One of his biggest hits was “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” a waltz-time story-song about a shipwreck on Lake Superior.

Although that was the peak of his commercial success, Lightfoot has continued to perform and release albums.

Another tie Lightfoot has to the Reno-Sparks area was his 2000 PBS concert special, which was recorded at the Pioneer Center.

“I’m still interested in songwriting,” Lightfoot told the Reno Gazette-Journal in 2000, before the concert was taped. “I don’t have as much time as I would like to do it, but I’m still doing it.”

09-23-2005, 02:24 PM	#2
Auburn Annie Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Upstate New York Posts: 3,101	Lightfoot returns from brink of death Photo by Marylin Newton Reno Gazette-Journal Who: Gordon Lightfoot When: 8 p.m. Sept. 15-17 Where: John Ascuaga’s Nugget, Celebrity Showroom Cost: $48 Details: 356-3300 or (800) 648-1177 Show business is rife with stories of so-called comebacks, but the recent story of Gordon Lightfoot goes beyond record sales: the Canadian singer/songwriter came back from the brink of death. According to All Music Guide, Lightfoot was performing in his hometown of Orillia, Ontario, in 2002 when he suffered an abdominal hemorrhage while on stage. He slipped into a coma and awoke weeks later, ready to work on “Harmony,” his 20th and latest CD. Lightfoot returns to the area for three shows at John Ascuaga’s Nugget, Sept. 15-17. “My memory and my thinking felt pretty much normal, as my mind recalled a day in the distant past when a muse would say, ‘Don’t spin your wheels,’ ” Lightfoot said in a record company bio about his post-coma experiences. In fact, Lightfoot asked his producer and bandmates to complete his solo versions of songs he had recorded the year before to make up the tracks for “Harmony.” “Perhaps my radar was telling me to get ready for a rainy day, I don’t know,” Lightfoot said. “I remembered that quite a few of those performances had sounded reasonably valid at the time, and (I) wondered if they would hold up.” Indeed, “Harmony” became a critically-acclaimed addition to a long career that mixed traditional folk and mellow rock. Like other Canadians such as Joni Mitchell, Lightfoot first came to prominence as a songwriter, as “Early Morning Rain” became an oft-covered folk standard in the mid-1960s. He released several solo records around that time, but it took 1970s “If You Could Read My Mind” to give him his first Top 10 hit in the United States. The front half of the ’70s featured other radio and sales hits for Lightfoot, including “Sundown” (a No. 1 hit) and “Carefree Highway.” One of his biggest hits was “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” a waltz-time story-song about a shipwreck on Lake Superior. Although that was the peak of his commercial success, Lightfoot has continued to perform and release albums. Another tie Lightfoot has to the Reno-Sparks area was his 2000 PBS concert special, which was recorded at the Pioneer Center. “I’m still interested in songwriting,” Lightfoot told the Reno Gazette-Journal in 2000, before the concert was taped. “I don’t have as much time as I would like to do it, but I’m still doing it.”