http://www.emcstlawrence.ca/20110519...tario+concerts
Lightfoot talks about hit songs as he prepares for Eastern Ontario concerts
Posted May 19, 2011
By Jeff Maguire
Gordon Lightfoot plays in Brockville this Saturday night.Gordon Lightfoot plays in Brockville this Saturday night.EMC Entertainment - Gordon Lightfoot says he has no plans to record an album of sea shanties.
"I think at this point that would be a little contrived," the iconic Canadian singer-songwriter says with a chuckle.
Although he had once considered a similar project and mentioned it during a past interview, the legendary entertainer says it is not on the radar at this stage of his long and illustrious career.
Lightfoot has recorded songs about enjoyable days exploring Canada's lakes which, for many years, were among his favourite pursuits. He has paddled the country's great rivers during numerous wilderness adventures. He has also explored the Amazon, one of the world's great rivers.
"Oh, I'm sure I could easily find a dozen (songs about big water) in the catalogue."
Reminded about one of his early compositions about another Maritime disaster 'Ballad of Yarmouth Castle' he says, "That was a good one.
"George Hamilton IV recorded that.
"Too much fire for me," he laughs, referring to Hamilton's cover version of the ballad. The song was part of Lightfoot's fifth album for the United Artists label entitled 'Sunday Concert.' It was recorded live at Massey Hall in Toronto in 1969.
The Yarmouth Castle was an aging cruise ship that caught fire on a cruise between Miami and Nassau, in The Bahamas, on Nov. 13, 1965. A total of 90 people, mainly passengers, died in the inferno or from injuries sustained during the incident.
The Canadian connection was that, prior to World War II, the vessel sailed regularly between Boston and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, although under her original name 'Evangeline'.
The tragic fire led to new safety laws for vessels at sea.
Saturday night (May 21) Lightfoot plays the Brockville Memorial Centre at 8 p.m. The concert is part of a short tour of smaller Ontario centres. Friday night he's in Cornwall and Sunday he visits Napanee.
The 'Gordon Lightfoot Spring 2011 Tour' starts in Windsor tonight (Thursday) and concludes with a four-day residency at venerable Massey Hall (May 25-28) one of the veteran entertainer's favourite venues.
"I'm looking forward to it,"
Lightfoot said of the Brockville visit and the Ontario tour during a telephone conversation from his Toronto home recently. Another story from the comprehensive interview appeared in many editions of the EMC earlier this month.
"We (he and his band) love the work," he says.
One song his Ontario audiences can expect to hear this week tells the story of another Maritime tragedy. Lightfoot's 1976 classic 'The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald' quickly became an audience favourite.
It has become his most famous composition.
The song and its aftermath have had a profound effect on Lightfoot.
In last week's article he outlined how he recently changed one of the lines in his now famous ballad because of newly released information about the most likely cause of the sinking.
The Edmund Fitzgerald, a huge freighter, sank in Lake Superior on Nov. 10, 1975, during a vicious fall storm, with the loss of all 29 crew members. The Fitzgerald remains the largest vessel ever to sink in the Great Lakes.
Lightfoot was moved to write the song after reading reports about the tragedy including an article in Newsweek magazine. Interestingly the Fitzgerald sinking occurred in the same month (three days apart) as the Yarmouth Castle fire 10 years earlier.
The singer-songwriter's 1976 tribute to the Fitzgerald's lost crew was generally well accepted by the families of the victims. Lightfoot has attended five of the commemorative ceremonies held to mark the anniversary of the disaster.
"One of them in Soo, Michigan (Sault Ste. Marie) drew over 500 people," he recalls.
He remains in touch with Ruth Hudson, the mother of deckhand Bruce L. Hudson who went down with the Fitzgerald. "I just spoke to her the other day," says Lightfoot. "She's over 80 now."
Hudson, a native of North Olmsted, Ohio (near Cleveland), was one of the five youngest victims of the sinking.
During their most recent conversation Lightfoot says they talked about Bruce's Dodge Challenger automobile which is still in the possession of the family.
After hearing Lightfoot perform his now famous song during a 2005 concert at the Fox Theatre in Detroit (she also met the singer backstage), Mrs. Hudson spoke to the USA Today newspaper.
Mrs. Hudson, who now lives in North Ridgefield in Lorain County, Ohio said the song is special to the lost seamen's families.
"It kept the men and the memorial to the men alive. I think it's been good for the families. They have felt comfort in it.
"I have talked to just about all of them and I haven't talked to anyone who didn't like the song," she told the national newspaper.
As for the change in the lyrics of the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald the verse in question (as mentioned in the earlier feature in the EMC) referred to a hatchway cover coming loose, leading to the loss of the freighter. That was the most plausible explanation for the disaster following the initial investigation.
No emergency call was received from the freighter and no bodies were ever recovered!
A more recent probe determined the massive ship probably broke in half when massive force was exerted on her during the violent Lake Superior storm.
The song verse Lightfoot now uses in concert is:
"When suppertime came the old cook came on deck sayin'.
'Fellas, it's too rough t'feed ya'.
At 7 p.m., it grew dark, it was then he said,
'Fellas, it's been good t'know ya.'"
Lightfoot has an interesting explanation for the line "Fellas, it's been good t'know ya."
"I borrowed that from Woody Guthrie (the late American singer-songwriter).
"I don't think Woody would mind."
Not all of Lightfoot's songs about oceans, lakes and rivers are sad!
His 1960s song 'Christian Island (Georgian Bay)' is a soothing tune about summer sailing on Georgian Bay, part of Lake Huron, not far from his hometown of Orillia.
The troubadour recorded 'Triangle' a ballad about sailing ships on his 1982 albumShadows.
Amazon adventure
His 1989 South American adventure on the Amazon and its tributaries inspired 'The No Hotel', a descriptive tale of his accommodation in the Brazilian city of Manaus.
A live performance of the song from 2001 is part of his 20th and most recent original album 'Harmony' released in May 2004.
On the album Lightfoot tells his audience that arriving at 'The Nobo Hotel' in Manaus at 4 o'clock in the morning, "I noticed that two of the letters in the sign were burned out. So it was just 'The No Hotel'.
"That stuck with me as a song title over the number of years that ensued. And three months ago (2001) I finished the song."
Most of the entertainer's impressive catalogue of work is based on his own experiences.
"But people send me ideas all the time - and I appreciate it," he told the EMC.
Lightfoot has written scores of original songs and first began recording in 1966 with the release of his first album entitled simply 'Lightfoot'.
He acknowledges the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald remains his most requested song.
If possible he will work other requests into his concerts, although many of his songs are no longer included in the repertoire.
"I would say it's rare for people to holler up requests. But it does happen occasionally. I don't like to stretch things out too much though."
For the Ontario tour he and his band, which now includes lead guitarist Carter Lancaster from Hamilton (he replaces veteran member Terry Clements who died of a stroke in February at age 63), prepared during sessions at Lightfoot's Toronto home.
"We hold our practices here at the house," he observes.
In terms of concerts he says each show is carefully rehearsed and orchestrated.
"We do two shows in rotation. But there are some (songs) we do every night."
Lightfoot still enjoys the road trips and says the logistics of the Ontario tour are interesting.
"There are 12 (people) on the bus.
"But for the Cornwall show we (band) will fly up from Windsor."
The other members of his band are veteran bass player Rick Haynes, drummer/percussionist Barry Keane and keyboardist Mike Heffernan.
Haynes, the longest serving, joined Lightfoot in January 1969. Keane, the first full-time tour drummer, played during two recording sessions in the 1970s before joining permanently. Heffernan came on board in 1980.
"They (road crew) will drive most of the night. They'll probably sleep on the bus in Cornwall (before the concert)."
The next day it is a short ride to nearby Brockville and the following day to Napanee.
He is also looking forward to the Massey Hall concerts in Toronto (May 25-28) where he has lived for so many years.
"I used to play (Massey Hall) every year. But now it's every year and a half.
"It will be fun. There'll be lots of family and friends there."
Last year Lightfoot gave 82 performances and so far there are more than 40 dates on his 2011 concert calendar with more likely to be added.
Long-term the 72-year-old Orillia, Ontario native says he's looking forward to performing, at least in the immediate future.
For details about Gordon Lightfoot's Brockville performance this weekend (May 21) visit the website
www.brockvilleartscentre.com
He will also appear at the Cornwall Civic Complex Friday, May 20 and at SPC Centre in Napanee Sunday, May 22. For complete information about the legendary singer-songwriter visit the website
www.lightfoot.ca.
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