Beverley Lightfoot Eyers

[rainydayperson]

On several of the LP covers after Endless Wire: Dream Street Rose, Shadows and Salute Gord's sister Bev was singled out for 'special thanks'. I am interested to know why that was and if she played any role in his recordings. I understand she did accompany him as a child star. What is she doing now?

It's interesting to see the changing list of 'special thanks' over the albums.

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Hi derry day in the month of May

[Silver Heels]

I believe Bev managed Gord for sometime during the 80s. If I'm wrong about this, somebody will put me right.

[Rob Wells]

Beverly is Gordon's sister and has been more of his office manager for quite sometime. She handles his fan mail, phone calls and that sort of stuff.

For more news on Beverly we turn to Valerie Magee. Valerie?

Rob

[This message has been edited by Rob Wells (edited May 20, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by Rob Wells (edited May 20, 2000).]

[Dan]

I remember hearing or reading somewhere that Bev was instrumental in getting Gord to realize he was alcoholic. Something about parallels to Elvis' addiction and his early passing...I remember being at a couple concerts in the late 70's where Gord forgot the words and had to humm a few bars kinda like Elvis did when he was really wasted.

Speaking of drinking... I have always wondered about the line in Christian Island:

"...and when the gale comes up I'll fill my cup with the whiskey of the highlands'

I think he must have been talking about 'Gail' the women coming up from below decks, not 'Gale' the wind since a gale force wind would have capsized old Silver Heels and he would have spilled his whiskey.

[This message has been edited by Dan (edited May 20, 2000).]

[Rob Wells]

The Whiskey of the Highlands in question, is Bushmill's Irish Whiskey. The only thing he drank. I think even over water. Drank Irish Coffees all day long. It was amazing to watch because it never seemed to effect his judgement or his abilities. in any way.

If I had tried to keep up, I would have been under the table, puking my guts out, but he just cruised along like it was nothing.

Rob


[This message has been edited by Rob Wells (edited May 21, 2000).]

[Rob Wells]

Gordon related in his concert here in SLC back in the mid Eighties that he had met a very special woman, she more or less laid down the law about his drinking and womanizing. So to dry out he moved to someplace way up North in Canada where he couldn't get his hands on his vices. Spend six months there cleaning up. Can't say for sure, but I do believe it is the woman he is now married to and has been for some time.

Rob

I think you might be mistaken Rob. I'm no expert, but Gord quuit drinking in 1982 and I don't think he met his wife until '86 or '87. I don't see any six month tour gap at that time either.

Anyone else know?

[vlmagee]

Catharine is correct about the timing. He quit drinking in the late summer/fall of '82, several years before he even met his second wife. He quit cold turkey, spurred on by the August concert in Saratoga which he was unable to finish. He has said in interviews that he realized that alcohol was destroying his personal life, his health, his songwriting and his performances. He credited his sister Beverley with helping him give it up. And, as mentioned earlier, she did work as his business manager for a number of years (I believe before then, although I'd have to research the timing). At the time he quit drinking, he was still involved in a long-term on-again/off-again relationship with the mother of his now 18 year-old son Eric.

I believe that Gord met Liz in 1986.

And to comment on something that rainydayperson said in the first message on this thread, yes, it is very interesting to read the lists of people whom Gord thanks on each of his albums. It does a very good job of outlining his whole life, in fact, both professional and personal. He thanks family, other musicians and people involved in the production of the album, the people who work for him at EMP, and occasionally others whose role or relationship isn't that obvious. For example, one person in the long list of dedications in Songbook was a DJ out of LA, Skip Weshner - the first person to play Lightfoot's music on the radio in the LA area in the "early" years, and instrumental in getting Lightfoot to appear at the now famous Troubadour. And, as they say, the rest is history.



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Valerie Magee

[Bob from Westphalia, Mich]

Hey Dan...if a person is an alcoholic...the wiskey won't be in the cup long enough to spill it...believe me....I've seen more than a few friends die from it....

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The house you live in will never fall down, if you pity the stranger that stands at your door.....GL

[Bob from Westphalia, Mich]

also...to Rob Wells. I saw Gord in Windsor in the mid to late eighty...and he told the same story of a woman who was a great help in his kicking the alcohol and drugs....he also introduced her as his wife.

Does anyone else know of this...I've heard that the woman Gord was with during his "alcohol" years is the same woman that was charged in John Belushi's over dose.

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The house you live in will never fall down, if you pity the stranger that stands at your door.....GL

[Dan]

It's amazing how this thread about album credits has turned into a discussion of 'wine and women'!

Bob from Mich,

I know what you mean about the whiskey but what about the bottle?

Yes he supposedly had quite a relationship with Cathy Smith the same women who shot-up John Belushi.

Hey Valerie what is the low-down on that relationship?

Speaking of women Gord has loved and lost and loved and lost: For years my wife and I always thought his first wife died and cited as proof the song The Last Time I Saw Her Face. We believed he was married to this women before the wife who took him for the biggest Canadian divorce settelment of all time. This isn't true, Right?

Just for the heck of it can you guys tell me to whom he has been married and when and how many children and who they are from and how old they are....whew??

[Rob Wells]

Dan,

I have, as recently as the last 24 hrs, had information from LAMS about this very subject. She informs me that Cathy and Gord's relationship happened long before the Belushi incident. Also, that the book, "Chasing The Dragon" is totally incorrect in it's content and account. Gordon has confided in her about the relationship and she informs me that it is an issue that is best left alone and end right here, right now! That's a pretty telling statement and I think that it probably involves details that are just better left to Gord and his very personal life.

Catherine your right! Thanks for the memory jog. It was 1982. And it wasn't six months, it was something like two or three, during his summer break.

Rob

[loveandmaplesyrup]

Hi, all,
Going back on these posts, I'll try and clear up a few of the questions you have. First of all, Catherine, you're right. Gord quit drinking in 1982. I saw him in concert that year at Concord Pavillion and he made an announcement that he had stopped drinking officially and had been sober (at that time) for six months. He got quite a cheer from the audience and seemed very pleased at the reaction. So, I don't think Elizabeth played a part in that because, as you said, she didn't come into the picture until several years later. (When you were mentioning how Gord likes to thank people on his album jackets, if you look, Elizabeth and Miles were not mentioned until the "Waiting For You" album which came out after a very long dry spell of no records from him at all. He seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth.)

He stopped drinking before the "Salute" album came out. In fact, at the same time he made his announcement that he had stopped drinking (in Concord), he also made the announcement that his newest album "Salute" would be released shortly. (And he added wryly that he hoped "THIS album wouldn't be one of the best kept secrets in the country"). If you look on the back of "Salute", you will see that he was still giving thanks to Cathy (Coonley) and Eric.
So, I'm sure Elizabeth hadn't come along yet. Cathy tried very hard to get him to stop drinking and finally had to leave because she didn't want her son to be raised in that kind of environment. It was her leaving him that actually was his wake-up call and he did stop. But he was always good to Cathy and had Eric with him every weekend. They tried to get back together, but for some reason, it didn't happen. To this day, Gord and Cathy are still close and Eric has his own band (HIP-HOP of all things! -- lol). Gord, of course, helps him out. Rob, the woman you were talking about who laid down the law to him, was, I think Cathy.
But he DOES have a cottage in the north country (his inspiration for "Boathouse", by the way.), but he claimed just recently (in Santa Rosa) he bought that to "amuse his little family". And he had long quit drinking by then.
As for a wife who passed away, I'm pretty sure that's not true. Britta was his first wife. She never remarried. She was with him through the tough times when he was trying to break into the music business. She was from Sweden.
Dan, to answer your question, Gord was married to Britta (Olaisson) and they had two children, Fred and Ingrid. I haven't done the math, but they are grown now. Ingrid has children of her own, so Gord is a grandfather. He doesn't speak much about Fred. He has a son, Eric, who is eighteen. Cathy Coonley is Eric's mother. He is currently married to Elizabeth (Moon) and they have two children, Miles who is seven or eight and Meredith who is around five.
Now that I've put you all to sleep, I'll stop my motor mouth (or my motor fingers.)

Stay loose, eh?

LAMS

"Love and maple syrup go together like ..... well, you know!

[Bill]

I saw Gord for the first time in June 1982 (Shadows tour)in Nashville...solid show. Saw him the next day in Louisville, Ky...Tom Chapin opened...Gord was noticably drunk on stage, but never missed a beat. He was also fat and sweaty. I'll try to dig out some of my photos of that concert to post (not 'cause he's lookin' nasty! The photos were really quite nice.

He appeared on "Thicke of the Night" soon after he quit drinking (promoting Salute)..still seemed off his game. I didn't have a VCR back then, so I shot the TV screen with a Super 8 movie camera...came out pretty good too!

Saw him years later in Ft. Worth...clean, sober, and slim...best show ever. He hasn't been to Texas in nine years. We're moving to Virginia this summer and hope to catch the Wolftrap show. From the postings here, I gather he is a much more amicable fellow than in years past.

[Bill]

I saw Gord for the first time in June 1982 (Shadows tour)in Nashville...solid show. Saw him the next day in Louisville, Ky...Tom Chapin opened...Gord was noticably drunk on stage, but never missed a beat. He was also fat and sweaty. I'll try to dig out some of my photos of that concert to post (not 'cause he's lookin' nasty! The photos were really quite nice.

He appeared on "Thicke of the Night" soon after he quit drinking (promoting Salute)..still seemed off his game. I didn't have a VCR back then, so I shot the TV screen with a Super 8 movie camera...came out pretty good too!

Saw him years later in Ft. Worth...clean, sober, and slim...best show ever. He hasn't been to Texas in nine years. We're moving to Virginia this summer and hope to catch the Wolftrap show. From the postings here, I gather he is a much more amicable fellow than in years past.

[Dan]

LAMS,

Thank you for the information on Gord's wives and families. I know Fred and Ingrid are pictured on the Sunday Concert LP. So was he ever married to Cathy the mother of Eric?

I know in the SongBook book Gord says that The Last Time I Saw Her is about unrequited love. I always thought it was about a love of his that died, you know 'beneath a battered marking stone it lies forgotten'. I guess I was interpretting the lyrics literaly instead of symbolicly.

How do all you gals and guys (maybe I mean lovely ladies and handsome gentlemen) know so much about Gord? I am amazed at the depth of knowledge you all have about the man and his life.

[loveandmaplesyrup]

Hi, Dan,
No, Gord never married Cathy Coonley. I think "The Last Time I Saw Her" is, as he says, about unrequited love. But it's a general theme. As a writer, I write with a certain idea like that in mind, but the characters are fictitious (although sometimes LOOSELY based on real people). He may have gotten the inspiration from a story that someone had told him. Or perhaps it WAS something that really happened, only not to him. Perhaps to a close friend and it touched him enough that he put it into a song.

I have some photos of Ingrid and a couple of Miles. I'll e-mail them to Florian and perhaps he will post them. Also, one or two of Eric as a young child.

Stay loose, eh?

LAMS



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"Love and maple syrup
go together like the
sticky winds of winter
when they meet....
If you go into the forest
Gaze up through the trees
The sky is white.
You can understand
What makes the forest
Greet the man
Like a mother's only
child ..."

[Dan]

Hey LAMS,

Thanks, I will look forward to the photos.

Ok LAMS, tell me why you like Love and Maple Syrup so much?

I will definitely try to stay loose but only if you promise to do the same!

Have a great day, night or whatever.
Dan

[loveandmaplesyrup]

Lol, Dan ....

My mother claims I'm subconsciously making a personal statement ("Love and Maple Syrup ... hot and sticky .... (but she is mistaken, I assure you.)

The truth of the matter is I was just looking for a "different" user name and that one just kind of ... well... "stuck".

Stay loose, eh?

(I will do the same)

LAMS

------------------
"Love and maple syrup
go together like the
sticky winds of winter
when they meet....
If you go into the forest
Gaze up through the trees
The sky is white.
You can understand
What makes the forest
Greet the man
Like a mother's only
child ..."

[theotterjudy]

I remember Alan Thicke saying that Gord serenaded Alan's (ex?) wife while she was in labor. Guess Gord could make THAT a lot more bearable, eh?
Wonder what he sang? How about "The Way I Feel"? (LOL),"Something Very Special"? "Ten
[centimeters] and Getting [closer]" (Sorry about that one...)"Make Way for the [Baby]"
"Baby Step Back" or "Waiting for You"?
No, this one: "A [baby] Passing Through"!

Ok, I better stop now. Getting silly. Sorry.

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"the mornin' after blues, from my head down to my shoes..."
-------------------------
"Laughing eyes and smiling face..."

[Dan]

LAMS,

Hot and sticky, eh?

Dan

[loveandmaplesyrup]

OtterJudy,

No.


Not even GORD could make that more bearable.


LAMS

[charlene]

Leslie, you have no idea how true that is. When I went to the hospital 16 years ago to have my first child I took all of the "STUFF". Tennis balls in a sock, a focal picture, lip balm, and soothing music etc. On my tape I had Gord songs, including some from the just released "salute" album but I never took any of the stuff out of the bag. I wanted silence, silence and silence and don't anyone dare touch me unless it was absolutely imperative in getting that child out of me! My husband thought I was nuts but did not offer to trade places.
Alas, not even the sound of Gord's voice would have eased my "discomfort!"
I gave my ob/gyn a bottle of wine and a copy of "Salute" because he was a Gord fan too, when I came to my senses a few days later!
LOL

Char

[Wes Steele]

My wife will take an epediral (I don't if it is spelled right) any day!!!!!!!!

And I don't blame her...

Wes

[PhiladelphiaKate]

I believe Gord was invited to Alan Thicke's home because (now ex) wife Gloria Loring's
baby was overdue and Gord was called in to get things a rockin' & a rollin'. It worked.