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Old 02-26-2000, 12:53 AM   #11
Kenton
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Gordon Lightfoot has so many good tunes that I could never pick one but among my guitar playing friends Steel Rail Blues is pretty much on everybodys list. I mean the original version not the one on Gord's Gold. A lot of players like Alberta Bound also.I've always enjoyed Redwood Hill, Brave Mountaineers and 10 Degrees and Gettin Colder to play on guitar. I was very ill one winter and confined to bed for 10 days the only thing I could do was listen to a radio. I was 14 years old at the time . A local station played If You Could Read My Mind a couple of times a day and that was a time I looked forward to and I forgot about my pain for those few minutes when that song played. That was my inroduction to Gordon Lightfoot.Christian Island is another one of those songs that takes me away to another place and paints pictures in my mind so srongly that I feel transported to the place Gord is singing about and I'm onboard ship with him sailing down the western wind and liking the mood I'm in. Brave Mountaineers makes me feel like a young boy again and the scenes Gordon describes are very much like my own childhood. The run of great albulms from Summer Side Of Life,Don Q.,Old Dan's,and Sundown is so strong that few other singer-songwriters come close except fellow Canadiens Neil Young and Joni Mitchell and the great body of work Elton John put together in the 70's and Bob Dylans run in the 60's. Gordon Lightfoot is truly one of the greatest as singer,songwriter,performer and what a natural God given voice! I saw many concerts in the 70's at the Syria Mosque in Pittsburgh, Pa. but my favorite was 75 or 76 I can't remember for sure. I think it was the tour to promote Cold On The Shoulder and I witnessed something at Gord's show that I had never seen before. During any show the police or security guards would look bored out of their minds or dead serious about being the authority figures in charge. At that show I actually saw them listen and respond to Gordon Lightfoot like he was their grandson stopping by to sing a few tunes. They were just mesmerized by his performance as we all were. I remember telling my friends that it felt like we were all in this big living room and Gordon was giving a private concert to some old friends. I guess that's what it was. I remember a fan had done an oil painting on a huge canvass and presented to Gordon during the show. Also,Gordon brought his daughter out to sit on the piano bench with him while he sang Fine As Fine Can Be to her. It seemed like she was about 10 years old at the time but my memory might be off there. What I do remember is it was my favorite Syria Mosque show. They tore down the Mosque some years ago but they're not getting that show from me, I'm gonna carry that one with me till I'm tore down. It's the Same Old Loverman signing off for now. I could go on and on about the man and his music but so could you so I'll Go My Way.
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