Is this true?

[Jim Nasium]

On September 14, 2006, while in the middle of a performance, Lightfoot suffered a minor stroke that eventually left him without the use of the middle and ring fingers on his right hand. He returned to performing nine days later and now sometimes uses a substitute guitarist for more difficult guitar work.

I have just read the Wikipedia, Lighfoot biography and was surprised to read the above.

Is it true? After all, if it is in Wikipedia it must be true.

[charlene]

which part are you wondering about?
He did suffer a small TIA as stated. When he has moments of trouble that's when the boys step it up and fill in. He has use of all digits as far as I've seen and know..

[byKimberly]

Originally Posted by Jim Nasium

[i]After all, if it is in Wikipedia it must be true.

Wikipedia is written by regular folks and is not substantiated. Always take any information from Wikipedia with skepticism and not as absolute fact. You or I can register to write an article there on any subject.

FYI
Kimberly

[3pennies]

http://www.onmilwaukee.com/music/art...lightfoot.html

http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/L/...2/2326377.html

http://www.lightfoot.ca/chron06.htm

These are the references used on Wikipedia.

[vlmagee]

For a period of time after the TIA, he did not have use of all his fingers, or at least not to the point that he could fingerpick reliably with them. Through November of that year (Massey), he was doing very limited fingerpicking. By the time he retured to touring the next year, in February, he was back to his normal picking patterns. I remember how thrilled I was to see a vido on You Tube of Gord playing DQ, Travis picked normally. That was not the case in November, although it appeared to me that he occasionally did pick with those fingers. Terry was filling in.

Somebody should get energetic and fix that article in Wikipedia. Anyone who watches more recent videos can see that he is picking normally.

[seafarer62]

Yes, my wife and I were there that Friday night - Sept. 15, 2006. At the casino in Harris, Michigan- about 15 miles west of Escanaba. Upper Peninsula. We were in the first eight rows or so with a great view.

No announcement - but Gord came out on stage with his 12-string strapped around him starting Cotton Jenny. About 10 seconds later, we looked at each other and wondered why Gord wasn't strumming.

By the second song, he had explained to the audience and there was a noticeable gasp. When he was singing 14-Karat Gold, In My Fashion and Painter Passing Through, I had a massive lump in the throat. If there was ever the picture of perseverance and courage, this was it. He probably shouldn't have kept going. But he made it through the shortened casino setlist. He kept trying to move his hand. He would tried to strum or pick but would wince in pain. Terry Clements adjusted magnificently.

Interesting, we had tickets for the next night. When we arrived at the casino, the exterior concert tent flat as a platter. The signs said that the concert was cancelled due to a structural failure of the tent and was not related to Gordon's illness. We did receive a refund and apology letter a week or so later.

On Sunday night, I was back in the Twin Cities and my son and I went to the State Theater in Minneapolis to see Gordon again. This time, he had an opening act (Adam Levy) and played a shortened set list. He appeared slightly better but did announce his illness to the crowd. It wasn't Gord's best performance ever but still a miracle he even kept going on the tour.

I gave Wayne Francis the set list so you can go out to his website and see what he played at those shows.

I think he played shortened set lists for the next week or so, but apparently was better after that. To my knowledge, he has not had any reoccurance of the mini-stroke.

John- Minnesota

[seafarer62]

P.S. I just saw him three straight nights (Fargo, Omaha and Sioux Falls.) No evidence of any problems. He picked Minstrel of the Dawn and Don Quixote wondefully.

[jj]

Originally Posted by seafarer62

By the second song, he had explained to the audience and there was a noticeable gasp

thanks for this, John....i don't recall any post about this at the time...can you elaborate on what he 'explained'?

Gord health aside, sounds like it would have been an interesting arrangement(s) anyhow...way to go Terry...maybe Mike did some alt stuff also...

[Jim Nasium]

Thanks for the response everybody, Charlene, I was wondering about the whole item, especially the "substitute guitarist" part, I envisaged another guy leaping on stage to help out. After all he has a great guitarist on stage with him.

Kimberly, I am aware just how Wikipedia works, the statement was ironic. I did put (irony) after the sentence but deleted it as I thought readers would realise it was not to be taken seriously. But thank you for the response.

[jj]

Originally Posted by Jim Nasium

Is it true? After all, if it is in Wikipedia it must be true.

i thought the sarcasm was pretty much right in our face, lol...but i heard that there are some new regulations whereby facts are going to somehow be checked before future tidbits are published

apparently some celeb took offense and action cos it said he was deceased...it probably just needs an edit to instead read, 'all washed up'

[3pennies]

I'm a little confused (happens a lot)

Wiki says the mini stroke occurred in the middle of a concert on Sept 14, 2006. Lightfoot.com has no mention of a show on that date.

Seafarer62 said they were at the show on the 15th, and he was having difficulty.

So did the show on the 14th stop mid way through? And on the 15th was he just giving it his best shot?

It looks like he did play short shows until the 24th, when he returned to full shows with intermission.

So what happened?

[charlene]

http://www.corfid.com/vbb/showthread...september+2006

[Jesse Joe]

I did look for this thread but could not find it. I remember we had a discussion about this issue. Merci Madame Char !

[seafarer62]

Follow-up for Harris, Michigan concert.

The Friday Sept 15 concert in Harris was the first night of a tour. After the opening song, (Cotton Jenny) Gord told the audience that he had had a mini-stroke (TIA) that afternoon. He said he felt good enough to try to want to do the show but that his fingers were not obeying brain commands, something like that. He then said that they were considering going back to Toronto after the show to get checked out. If you go out to webmd.com there are good explanations of what a TIA is.

I don't know if they actually went back to Toronto or not. During the Sunday Sept. 17 show in Minneapolis, he said that they had been at the hospital in Escanaba, Michigan Friday night.

He was scheduled to play Sat. Sept. 16 again in Harris. However, the concert was cancelled after the tent fell down during the night.

As I related earlier, he couldn't hold a guitar pick and was in noticable pain while picking for any length of time. On Sunday night in Minneapolis, it was much the same. Both concerts were shortened set lists. No Canadian Railroad Trilogy, but Early Morning Rain. While the concerts were not lifetime highlights for performance, they have a great place in the category of courage and "pressing on." Most performers would have cancelled for much less.

He was in Wisconsin for several shows after he left Minneapolis. I had tried to get tickets for Sept. 19 in Wausau but the darn show sold out when I called two hours after the tickets went on sale. ( I was stuck in a work meeting before then, not thinking that would matter.)

Having seen Gord in concert about 10 times since then, he has not mentioned it to my recollection. I do notice Terry frequently stretching his hands during concerts but he keeps going too.

[Cathy]

I had the same problem after the aneurysm. I couldn't hold on to a pick to save my soul. I tried everything, from buying picks with big ridges, to building the picks up with tape. Even tried 'Gorilla Snot', a product made for stringed instrument players. It helped me hang on to a fiddle bow better, but was just too gooey for me, and messed up my strings when I tried to finger pick. I haven't noticed it lately. Must have recouperated from it.

Cathy