Gordon Lightfoot: Aging troubadour of the heart draws a crowd

[imported_Next_Saturday]

http://www.napavalleyregister.com/ar...1754022589.txt



By KEVIN COURTNEY
Register Staff Writer
Singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot entertained at the Napa Valley Opera House Saturday night, his songs telling of loves lost, loves pursued and the winds that blow colder with advancing years.

Lightfoot, whose ’70s hits included “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Sundown” and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” drew an enthusiastic, near sell-out crowd, mostly of his generational peers.
With his wiry frame, craggy features and shoulder-length hair, Lightfoot was very much an iconic presence, commanding the stage as beloved figure from an earlier time.

Approaching his 71st birthday, this Canadian folk/pop artist sang about the romances of youth and how quickly life passes. His baritone voice is now rough and reedy, giving added poignancy to many of his old songs.
Lightfoot’s songs have been covered by a Who’s Who of singers, including Bob Dylan, Barbra Streisand, Sarah McLachlan, even Elvis. Lightfoot, especially now, trumps them with authenticity. These are his songs, his life.

Lightfoot didn’t banter much with the crowd or share many anecdotes. He’s an all-business guy.
When he did comment on songs, the gist often boiled down to this: Women departing his life, women entering his life, a longing for the special woman back at home.

“If You Could Read My Mind,” an account of his first marriage going bad, drew the strongest audience response and a partial standing ovation halfway through the second set.

“I don’t know where we went wrong/But the feeling’s gone/And I just can’t get it back,” Lightfoot sang. Lightfoot has since departed Napa, but the puddle of heartache deposited by this song on the Opera House floor will be a long time dissipating.

Since his hit-making years, Lightfoot has become an ardent conservationist and celebrant of things Canadian. He treated his Napa audience to “Alberta Bound,” “Canadian Railroad Trilogy” and the very Canada-centric “Ringneck Loon.”

His Opera House performance was sponsored by Canada-born Moira Johnston Block and her husband Dr. Lee Block and attracted a coterie of Canadians waving tiny Canadian flags.

Moira Johnston Block recounted first hearing Lightfoot sing 21 years ago at a rally to save a forest endangered of being clear-cut. The forest was saved.

Lightfoot, who opened the concert wearing a dazzling red jacket, was backed by a four-piece band, veterans who have been with him 30 to 40 years. Their crisp musicianship provided a high-energy backdrop for the aging troubadour of the heart.

[Jesse Joe]

Thanks Next Saturday for sharing this good article.

[charlene]

a puddle of heartache... oh yeah...every time..

another sponsored concert..interesting..
they seem to be very active patrons of the arts in Napa..
Alvin Lee Block earned his MD from the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA. He served in the US Army Medical Corps and completed his residency in hospitals in San Francisco, CA and Miami, FL. He is a member of numerous associations, including the Napa County Medical Society, the American Medical Association, and the American Bar Association, as well a Fellow in the American College of Physicians and the American College of Legal Medicine. Currently, Mr. Block is a Board Member of the Napa Valley Opera House and the Newport North Homeowners Association, an Advisory Board Member of the Junior League of Napa-Sonoma, and a Member of the Senior Lawyer Committee of the State Bar of California. He is a lecturer and consultant to the Napa State Hospital, and his medical writings are widely published. He was the first President of the Napa Valley Wine Train and the founder of The Jewish Community of Napa Valley, a cultural philanthropic organization. His son Kevin is a Napa City Councilmember and his wife Moira is a writer. An active and engaged community member, Block brings to the Board of Arts Council Napa Valley his passion for the arts and his deep belief that arts and culture are a vital component of a healthy community.

Moira Johnston books. she is also the force behind cleaning up the Napa River.
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/...ston&sf=Author

[Cathy]

My nephew, Justin, is a graduate of Emory, but I think he graduated from Florida's Emory University. He originally planned on becoming a pilot, or an astronaut, but he didn't pass the physical for either or those. He was born premature, and never really caught up, growth-wise. He stands about 5"4'. I think he's now working in the research department of a University, somewhere in Louisiana, making the big bucks.

Cathy