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Lightfoot keeps at what he loves
By DARRYL STERDAN, QMI Agency
Last Updated: November 17, 2011 3:58pm
Gordon Lightfoot is hardly resting on his laurels. In fact, he’s hardly resting at all.
Nearly a decade after surviving a life-threatening aneurysm that kept him offstage for almost two years, the Canadian folk legend still seems to be making up for lost time.
“I love to keep things moving,” insists Lightfoot. “I want to keep doing what I do. It is such a privilege to still be able to do it. I take it very seriously and I appreciate it. I love the work.”
Clearly. Lightfoot — who marked his 73rd birthday on Nov. 17 — still spends nearly 100 days a year on tour with his band. Even a minor stroke onstage in 2006 couldn’t keep him off the road for more than nine days. His latest Canadian jaunt begins Nov. 20 in Vancouver and heads east across the Prairies and into Ontario, wrapping up with a two-night stand in Stratford on Dec. 8 and 9
From his home outside Toronto, the plainspoken singer-guitarist — still sounding pretty good for a man who was pronounced dead on Twitter last year — took a stroll down memory lane, downplayed his iconic status and discussed living by the Boy Scout motto. Some highlights:
Do you still enjoy travelling? A lot of older performers get sick of it.
Oh yeah? Well, we’ve got a pretty good system worked out. The band uses a rented airplane. And sometimes you count the odds with takeoffs and landings. You think about the wives and children and what would happen if the airplane went down. But we haven’t had a Nantucket sleigh ride now for two years. (Laughs) That’s when it gets really rough on the plane.
How do you feel about being an icon?
Well, I’m flattered. I’m honoured. Sometimes I really don’t know what I did that was so impressive. Maybe it was just the amount of work that I did. Let’s take it from that angle. There’s a lot of work — 20 albums is not bad. But really, it just spurs me on. I want to do great shows. And if iconic is the adjective, I want to live up to it.
How do you do that? What’s the secret?
Be prepared. I was a Scout. (Laughs) I can’t just walk out there and step on the stage like I used to. I have to be prepared. And part of staying prepared is working out. I go almost every day to a gym and work out for an hour and 45 minutes. I was in the gym 187 times last year. It makes me strong. It keeps my energy up. It gives me endurance. It helps my singing. It helps my playing. It helps my attitude. It helps me deliver the energy I must deliver to the audience. It helps everything. My entire schedule — my family, my office and business, my staff — is built around my workout. It’s what has kept me going for the last 30 years, since I gave up alcohol in 1982. I feel stronger now onstage than when I was 50 years younger.
Do you remember your first gig?
Yeah, that was when I was 10 years old. I started doing weddings.
Those were my first gigs. I was singing solo and my sister was playing keyboards. I had four songs. There was The Lord’s Prayer, which I really did handle well. And I did I’ll Walk Beside You, Bless This House and Oh Promise Me. People could make their choice. And we were pretty good. We were doing so many weddings that I couldn’t handle all the jobs at one point.
How did you evolve from that into the Gordon Lightfoot we all know?
Well, when I got into high school, I got in with the barbershoppers and I did some operettas all through high school. Then I started singing with a dance band. That’s when the real fun started. It was a very romantic time. I would drive a truck all day and work with the dance band at night. I was probably 19 years old. Then I went down to Los Angeles because I wanted to learn to write music. I studied at Westlake College on Sunset and LaBrea for two semesters. Then I came back and moved to Toronto. I landed a job as a copyist at a publishing company, transcribing songs. And my Buddy Terry Whelan and I got a duet going, and we started to have some success. We made an album called The Two-Tones at the Village Corner, which is actually an underground item floating around the Internet, which is quite funny.
Eventually, I went out on my own. Then I got turned onto Bob Dylan, and I wrote Early Morning Rain right after that.
When you’re playing some of those songs now, are you thinking about what to order from room service after the show?
No, I’m still thinking about the song. Every time I sing If You Could Read My Mind, I try to sing it as good as I possibly can. That’s a great one to play. I feel really good singing it. Well, I feel good with everything I sing or I wouldn’t be singing it. Fortunately, the audience seems to agree with me most of the time.
You’ve said you have no desire to write new material. What if you woke up tomorrow with a song in your head?
That still happens. It’s getting it from there onto a record that’s the problem. To make an album would take me four or five years, and life is short. I have other obligations, other responsibilities to look after in the twilight of my years. I don’t want to spend that time writing songs. It’s a waste. It keeps you away from your family and friends. It ruined two marriages and two engagements for me.
Gordon Lightfoot tour dates:
Nov. 20 | Vancouver | Centre for Performing Arts
Nov. 22 | Kamloops | Interior Savings Centre
Nov. 23 | Prince George | CN Centre
Nov. 24 | Dawson Creek | EnCana Events Centre
Nov. 25 | Edmonton | Jubilee Auditorium
Nov. 26 | Banff |Eric Harvie Theatre
Nov. 28 | Calgary | Jubilee Auditorium
Nov. 29 | Medicine Hat | Arena
Nov. 30 | Saskatoon | TCU Place
Dec. 1 | Regina | Casino Regina
Dec. 2 | Winnipeg | MTS Centre
Dec. 4 | Thunder Bay | Community Auditorium
Dec. 5 | Sault Ste. Marie | Essar Centre
Dec. 6 | Sudbury | Arena
Dec. 8 & 9 | Stratford | Festival Theatre
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Nov.17 - article/interview
