Sunday Concert

[MaryEllen]

If this ain't one of the greatest live concert albums of all time, I don't know what is. The Eagles Live was a great one, The Band's "The Last Waltz" another, of course. There are so many...more, in fact, in the jazz idiom. But, looking at the litany of great live albums, I can't recall one with a greater ratio of intimacy-to-fullness than Lightfoot's "Sunday Concert." His performances of his standards (up to that time) were note-perfect, and the dramatic reading of "Ballad of the Yarmouth Castle," a song every bit as good (if not better than?) as "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," causes the hair to stand up on your forearms (provided you HAVE hair on your forearms). There is just the right amount of echo on the recording of the entire album. I guess that is owed to the acoustics of Massey Hall. We'll call the hall the co-star of the show. But the real stars, apart from Gord himself, are his bandmates, who have always been nearly perfect any time I've ever heard them. I remember when Red Shea was just about to leave Gord, at least as far as the "road" commitment went. I never thought this new "kid" Terry Clements would "get" it, but he has been wonderful too. If you don't have this album (Sunday Concert) do what you must to find it. It's a must-have if you're a fan of Gordon Lightfoot. We have to treasure the guy and his work at this point. We may not see him commercially again, although something tells me that he'll recover just fine and continue to do what he does until the actual "big one," some time off in the future--hopefully, a long way off in the future.

Rick

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Rick

[Brian 57]

I absolutely agree on all counts!! I've heard some great live albums, but many seem to lack that feel of being in the audience that "Sunday Concert" has. For anyone that wants to know what he sounds like in concert, get a copy of it.

I agree, I especially like the song "Leaves of Grass" on that album....in my estimation, one of his great creations lyrically.

I agree, I especially like the song "Leaves of Grass" on that album....in my estimation, one of his great creations lyrically.

[Borderstone]

I finally got this LP last year. I would like to know,just what are,"Leaves Of Grass?" Just curious. I have to slightly disagree about Yarmouth being better than,"The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald". Then,of course,being only more recently familiar with his complete works,I could be wrong. I was only 1 years old when th LP came out. Well,this has been Borderstone. Outta here and Alberta Bound!

[Brian 57]

I assumed that "Leaves of Grass" reference had some tie-in with Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass". If there really is a connection, it's hard to tell (as it is with a lot of early Ligtfoot material) just how deep a connection there is- if any. He may be indepently using the metaphor of something trampled underfoot and ground by millstones to represent soldiers sent to war to die, while the actual thing (the real grass) can grow again. No wonder he wrote "If You Could Read My Mind" since that's what we would have to do. But then, we wouldn't have as much fun trying to figure this out.