A neat little factoid

[Brian 57]

You may already know this, but the line in The Wreck that goes "and farther below, Lake Ontario takes in what Lake Erie can send her" refers to the water that passes over Niagara Falls.

Anybody else have factoids about GL songs?

Nothing's too trivial

[james hill]

we all know that gorgeous classic rock song "Layla" by Derek & the Dominos, right? what a lot of people don't know is that that pretty piano section that closes the song is played by Jim Gordon, who was the drummer for D&TD. He was also Gordon's drummer on the "Sundown" & "Cold On..." & briefly on "Summertime Dream". casual fans might not care about this info, but i find the idea of Gordon Lightfoot & Eric Clapton having a bandmember in common to be fascinating & weird.

sweet baby james

[Jenney]

That is pretty neat. I know it's gone around before, but here's an article on Jim Gordon and his tragic story. http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~splat/J...e_article.html

I often frequent the thrift stores, and once in a great while if the mood hits me, sift through some of the records. Every now and then I find a cover of a GL song that I didn't have before, and I pick it up. About a year ago, I got an interesting cover of Kenny Rankin doing Mountains and Mary Ann that I never knew existed. This week I picked up a Claudine Longet lp. still sealed, with her cover of Pussywillows, Cat-tails on it. Jim Gordon is the drummer on this, and the strings and horns were done by Nick DeCaro.

Someday, after a few glasses of wine, I might play this. Maybe.
Jenney

[Cathy]

What was that terrible cover that we listened to at your place Jenney, the one that made us cringe? Was it Bobby Sherman?
I just remember, whatever it was, it was very, very bad!

Cathy

[Jenney]

Gee, there are so many bad covers that I have. I think it may have been the Bobby Sherman cover of Wherefore and Why.
Jenney

[Rebecca]

Jenney,
I got the Claudine Longet album ("Colours") that has "Pussywillows, Cattails"
on it for Christmas when I was ten years old.
I've heard Claudine's version of the song too many times. Drink the whole bottle of wine before you listen. Vicodin would be even better.
Rebecca

quote:Originally posted by Jenney:
That is pretty neat. I know it's gone around before, but here's an article on Jim Gordon and his tragic story. http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~splat/J...e_article.html

I often frequent the thrift stores, and once in a great while if the mood hits me, sift through some of the records. Every now and then I find a cover of a GL song that I didn't have before, and I pick it up. About a year ago, I got an interesting cover of Kenny Rankin doing Mountains and Mary Ann that I never knew existed. This week I picked up a Claudine Longet lp. still sealed, with her cover of Pussywillows, Cat-tails on it. Jim Gordon is the drummer on this, and the strings and horns were done by Nick DeCaro.

Someday, after a few glasses of wine, I might play this. Maybe.
Jenney

[Jenney]

quote:Originally posted by Rebecca:
Jenney,
I got the Claudine Longet album ("Colours") that has "Pussywillows, Cattails"
on it for Christmas when I was ten years old.
I've heard Claudine's version of the song too many times. Drink the whole bottle of wine before you listen. Vicodin would be even better.
Rebecca



Uh oh. With that recommendation, I just might leave it sealed!
jenney

[johnfowles]

Re one time Lightfoot band drummer Jim Gordon
I wanted to post this but found the earlier topic that covers the same ground so am replying to that instead of starting a new topic
A MSN pop up brought me this page entitled
" 10 most romantic gestures of all time" at:-
http://msn.match.com/msn/article.asp...44657&menuid=7
for once a pop up was worth reading as it answered a long held question of mine "why Layla was so named"
6. Eric Clapton's Love Song Layla
Talk about annoying neighbors: When guitarist Eric Clapton moved into best friend George
Harrison's neighborhood, he fell in love with Harrison's wife, fashion model Pattie Boyd. Clapton pleaded for her to leave her Beatle, but Pattie tuned out his requests. Despondent, he began recording a song, fueled by the words of the ancient Persian love poem, The Story of Layla and Majnun. The resulting tune, Layla which included the lyric "Please don't say, we'll never find a way, and tell me all my love's in vain" was a hit in more ways than one. Pattie soon left her husband and got hitched to Clapton. Even though they divorced nine years later, the popularity of "their song" will probably last forever.
Now to discover why the group that recorded it was called Derek And The Dominoes?
in googling for an answer on:-
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.lasso?id=785
which I repeatedly found was reluctant to open so try the "cached" version at:-
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cachep60L0PcaoIJ:www.songfacts.com/detail.lasso%3Fid%3D785+derek+dominoes&hl=en
There I discovered that Derek And The Dominoes was formed after Eric Clapton, Bobby Whitlock, Carl Radle and Jim Gordon worked on George Harrison's first post-Beatles album, All Things Must Pass.
Jim apparently is(or was*) now prisoner C89262 in the California Men's Colony at San Luis Obispo. He killed his mother on June 3, 1983, by pounding her head with a hammer
I also read on that page that it was in fact Jim who played the superb piano ending of the full length version of Layla . Other contibutors said it was Phil Spector.Whatever for me one of those riffs that you never want to stop
Finally an answer from:-
http://www.artistfacts.com/detail.php?id=100
"Tony Ashton, real funny guy, was going to introduce us, but we didn't have a name, so we said, "Well, we're The Dynamics." We used to call each other nicknames, and Eric was "Derek," so we said, "How about Derek and The Dynamics." He said, "That's fine" and went out on stage to introduce us - he said "Ladies and gentlemen, Derek And The Dominoes."

Jim Gordon of course has a Lightfoot connection as he played drums on the Sundown album and on COTS's "The House You Live In"
and on Summertime Dream
John Fowles
picture from:-
http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Jim_Gordon.html
which has links to mp3s of both Layla and Carefree Highway

* his sentence was 18 years in 1983 so presumably he is now free anybody know???

[Auburn Annie]

On ejazznews http://www.ejazznews.com/modules.php...le&%20sid=1182

From: DLowell (DLowell@aol.com) May 15, 1998 Update After several years of looking for Jim Gordon I finally found him in the Atascadero State Hospital. I have spoken with Jim on a number of occasions and he seems to quite content and has become in his words "institutionalized". He looks forward to one day being released and retiring to a home overlooking the mountains. I was surprised by his contentment and am happy that he seems to have adjusted so well to prison. I tired to speak with his Doctor regarding his prognosis but was unable to reach him and Jim told me that "he" turned down his last parole hearing. He has not played drums in a couple of years and I got the feeling that he has no intention of revisiting his career as a Drummer if he is ever released. He was very soft spoken, pleasant and I enjoy speaking with him. He is 53 years old, weighs 183 lbs. and seems to be in good health. He does complain that he has trouble sleeping occasionally but other than that seems to be doing just fine. I plan to visit him in person later this year if I travel to California.

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Haven't found anything later

[Borderstone]

Well a have very few "factoids" but I'll post 'em anyway. Some,some of you,might already know...but for those that don't......

1. "Anything For Love" was not a pop hit in the U.S. but did make the lower reaches of the Country & Western charts. (Huh?! )

2. Peter,Paul & Mary not only did GL's,"For Lovin' Me" but they also recorded "Early Morning Rain" (like a lot of other artists).
_________________________________________________
3. Gordon was "one of" the first to "record/cover" Kris Kristofferson's,"Me and Bobby McGee".

(Janis Joplin can be heard singing this acapella at the end of the 1970 "Festival Express" DVD. She recorded it soon after.

Roger Miller got to it first in 1969. Check out my next message to find out how.
_________________________________________________

4. "If You Could Read My Mind" was made into a "disco" version in 1998 by the girl group Stars On 54 for the movie "54" (about said '70s nightclub in New York.)

5. "If I Could" stands as the lowest charting U.S. "pop" single (aside from non-charters) reaching #111 on the "Bubbling Under The Hot 100 Chart."

That's all I have!

[ November 28, 2005, 14:14: Message edited by: Borderstone ]

[Auburn Annie]

Re: #3, from this list in November 2003:

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Auburn Annie:

Having said that, Roger Miller ("King of the Road") recorded "Me and Bobby McGee" on his 1969 self-titled album. So I think Roger got there first. Janis Joplin didn't record it until summer 1970; it was on the posthumously released PEARL in January 1971 - and was, I think, her only #1 hit.
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You are correct that Roger Miller's recording was the first one out there; however, as I understand it, Gord was the first to record it but held back releasing it when asked to, so that the much better known Miller would be the first one to release it on a record.

I don't know the exact timing in 1969, but I can say that as of the summer - August 9th, to be specific - folk DJ Skip Weshner in LA had never heard of Kris Kristopherson. Lightfoot sang the song live on Skip's show that day, perhaps the first broadcast performance of it (along with a number of Lightfoot originals including Looking At The Rain which wouldn't even be on the next album).

------------------
Valerie Magee

[Borderstone]

Hi Annie! Well,I wasn't aware that Roger Miller had done the song,so I went to Roger Miller.com the official site. Check out this connection ;

http://rogermiller.com/about19js.html ...you wont believe what you read! ..but it's true!! Turns out,you are right!

I know Gordon had recorded SDYS/IYCRMM during most of 1970,so it was a close call.

Yes,also,"Me and Bobby McGee" is her (Joplin's) only #1 hit and is her only other venture into the Bilboard top 40. She also made the top 20 while part of Big Brother and The Holding Company with,"Piece Of My Heart" (#12 I believe in '68.)<--I'll correct that later if I'm wrong.)

[ November 28, 2005, 14:11: Message edited by: Borderstone ]

[Sheryl]

Hey, B -- Annie's always right!