Where were you when?

[joveski]

>1. You heard your first Lightfoot song?

lying in bed at 5am on a really hot night, not being able to sleep. sundown came on on an AM station and the catchy tune struck me instantly. this was the summer of 97/98.. i'm in australia!

>2. Attended your first Lightfoot concert?

never.. gordon hasnt toured australia since 1974 and i was born in 77.

>3. Bought your first Lightfoot record?

veery early 98, i saw summertime dream LP in a 2nd hand record shop for 50 cents. snapped it up and played it repeatedly.. in the following months, i collected them all

[jj]

1) no clue at all, no brain salad here

2) "it was back in '84, when i was one year old", i mean when i went to my first concert (thanks to Francis and Fowles I found the review of the concert) - now, may i get the setlist?

"Back in the saddle again, Gordon Lightfoot opened his week long concert for the sixteenth year in a row at Massey Hall last night. There is hardly a comparable display of fan loyalty in the entire entertainment world. Think of it: there are kids who were carried in their mother's arms when he first played there in 1968, who are old enough to get their driver's licences this year. And probably a few of them will be driving down to see him this week.

With no new album's worth of material to show off, it was a more or less predictable run through of the Lightfoot repertoire, digging into a few areas he hasn't touched in some time (Did She Mention My Name, Race Among The Ruins), but generally offering the usual line-up of rough-hewn emotionally-romantic lyrics and lilting melodies, with the same cluster of musicians (keyboards, guitar, drums, bass and steel guitar) straightforwardly serving up request after request.

If there's a major change, it's that he looks better - slimmer by a good twenty pounds, so that the cheeks have regained their hollows and the waistline has returned. Before the first intermission, he dressed in dark clothes, and when he emerged wearing white in the second half, the audience cheered as he walked out to pick up the dozen requests and roses at the foot of his microphone. After a slow start, the vitality grew as the evening moved along.

When the songs are matched side by side - If You Could Read My Mind next to The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald next to Christian Island - the lyrics spark off a series of remarably consistent images of lonliness, a quasi-religious search for acceptance and a romanticism so extreme it can only be described as unsalvageable.

Here and there, a lyric heard for perhaps the 1500th time, still has impact. From, The Last Time I Saw Her, for example, on which Lightfoot gave his most emotionally satisfying performance of the night, there's that extraordinary line: "And if time could heal the wounds, I would tear the threads away that I might bleed some more." The audience hung on every word and exploded with applause at the end of the song.

No easy or cynical explanation for his continuing popularity suffices. He is certainly not fashionable, but in some senses, he never was. In his awkward and romantic way, Lightfoot speaks for Canadians' secret, awkward and romantic selves in a way few artists are able to speak to any audience. His tunes about women, trees, drinking and sailing are vintage Canadiana.

He's not a national institution for nothing"

3) no clue on this either, we sort of had a family collection of Gord LP's, great having big bro and big sis's to take in the hand me downs... i do remember buying the album sheet music book for "Lightfoot" though, i just remember that it cost $2.50, pretty long ago it was, love that cover, Chuck Connors-ish

[WishingWellGhost]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by classicmixdj:
[B]Where were you when?:

1. You heard your first Lightfoot song?

2. Attended your first Lightfoot concert?

3. Bought your first Lightfoot record?

With regard to the above what thoughts, feelings and experiences did you have?

Surely Gordon is as much religion as recreation for me.

I first heard Lightfoot a week or 2 after my parents separated. It was New Orleans, where I spent the first 30 years of my life, December 1970, & I was 14.

My mother, who has always been gifted for song and animals, gave me the album "Sit Down Young Stranger". She circled the song "If You Could Read My Mind", which became a #5 hit and thus caused the album to be retitled. Mom had written from "DJM" (her initials) to HJM (my Dad's).

I was hooked completely and forever. I bought the next album "Summer Side of Life" when it came out, got all the early stuff on United Artists, and kept buying albums up through 1982's "Shadows".

I got caught up in raising children, work & other pathways, and didn't buy a new Gordon album 'til "Harmony" came out late this spring.

As a result, I've been listening for the first time to "Salute", "East of Midnight", "Waiting For You", and "A Painter Passing Through." I was initially shocked by the nasalization of Gordon's voice, partially because this is the first thing I noticed when I met him backstage in the 70s (more on this in a bit), but the melodies and lyrics are simply stunning!

My first (and regretably only) Lightfoot concert was Feb 15, 1978 in New Orleans. It was the "Endless Wire" tour and the ticket was $7.50. My wife was working, so my Mom (Donna), my 13 year old sister Gwen (now a professional singer herself) & myself went.

After the show we snuck backstage (what a different era!). Gordon was there drinking Heinekens & security was just about to throw us out. I said, "Hey Gordon, it's Donna". Gordon played along, throwing his arms open wide, embracing my mother with an gleeful and elongated "DONNA!". We got to stay.

I am looking at my autograph from that night (To Craig, Best Wishes, Lightfoot)and reading my scrawl beneath it:

"From Gordon Lightfoot concert, Feb 15, 1978, Wed. My mothe, sister, & myself met Lightfoot backstage after the show. Not nearly as remote, serious or ethereal as his photos and music suggests, Gordon spoke with a nasal twang quite rapidly, patted his beer gut, and made a few nervously corny jokes. Altogether, he came off like someone you'd meet at the office picnic, and I loved him."

So here I am, in joyful rediscovery of absolutely the most important recording artist of my life- 34 years, 6 children, 3 grandchildren after the initial discovery, keeping sane with Gordon in the midst of a campaign for the city council of Anaheim (home to Disneyland, Angels baseball, and Mighty Ducks Hockey.

Gordon played Anaheim the night before my wedding, August 3, 2002 (my sweet lady and I finally tied the knot after 14 years), but could not go due to the nuptial schedule. Really wish I has, since his health collapsed the next month.

This website is a pure joy for me, and I hope to hear from y'all soon!

------------------
Craig Merrihue

[BILLW]

Hey Craig,

Great story. Welcome aboard !

Bill

[Kenyon]

When I was a kid, I used to have a fascination with trains. So my dad used to make me "Train Tapes" with music all about trains for the car. Steel Rail Blues was probably the first Lightfoot song I ever heard, as it is about a train that will take a lonesome guy back to his lover. He also included "Sixteen Miles" and "Early Morning Rain" on these train tapes, and I used to listen to these tapes not only in the car during our long summer holiday drives to Algonquin Park in northern Ontarion, but also when I fell asleep at night. This would have been about 1985 or 1986 when I was 5 or 6 years old. I kind of lost touch with Gord's music after the late 1980s as I moved to Germany for three years. Upon returning to Canada as a teenager, I took up the guitar and was reminded of these old songs I used to listen to while falling off into dreamland. I got the United Artists Collection for my 15th birthday, and from that moment on, I was captivated yet again with Lightfoot's music, and proceeded to buy every album, every bootleg, and go to every concert I could.

The first time I saw Lightfoot in concert was in Orillia in 1997 when the Orillia Opera House was re-named the "Gordon Lightfoot Auditorium". This night was a particular treat because Pee Wee Charles sat in for Mike Heffernan, and it was like seeing the music exactly as I had pictured it over the years. Wasn't able to get backstage after the show, but I waited by the stage door for what seemed like forever. Out came Gord and he autographed a bunch of records for me. It was a real treat! Since that time, I've seen Gord in concert about 10 times, and can't wait for him to come back to the stage! A highlight for me was getting to go back stage at Massey Hall in 2001 to meet Gord and the band!!! I'll never forget that!

[killemwithkindness]

Where were you when?:
1. You heard your first Lightfoot song?

2. Attended your first Lightfoot concert?

3. Bought your first Lightfoot record?

1. In my Dad's old Volvo. The year was probably '88 or '89, I was no older than 8 or 9. We where on our way home from my baseball practise and had just stopped to grab a ice cream. While driving and listening to a Jays game I began to fidget in my seat and open up his glove compartment box. Inside was a assortment of "Solid Gold Hits" tapes, a few others and one of Gordon's albums. I picked it out of the bunch and laughed at his moustache. My Dad turned to me and said something like " that is one of daddies heros", of course being a kid I wanted to know all about it. He put it on and sang every word of the album. I thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen.

2. I have yet to experience that pleasure.
3. Haha, last night, Sonic Boom, Bloor st. in Toronto, thanks to some help from you all.

Some really nice stories in here guys.

[Bill]

1. 1st heard a Lightfoot song?

I'm sure I was vaguely aware of IYCRMM when it was big, and I saw Marty Robbins in concert, so I'm sure I heard ROD. But really it was when I stumbled on my brother's copies of Sundown, Don Quixote, and Lightfoot! I wore them out, then went out and bought Summertime Dream (it came out a few months after I first laid hands on the other albums).

First album: Summertime Dream...then it was a quest to go to all record stores in a large radius to get all old albums...took a few years, but I got 'em.

First concert: Nashville, TPAC auditorium 1982, then the next night in Louisville, KY at Majestic Theater. Then 1989 in Ft. Worth at Billy Bob's.

[krazykritik]

1. Heard first Lightfoot song...I was riding around in my Uncle Donny's huge Chrysler with a push button transmission (yes, I said a push button transmission). I must of been 7 or 8 and a song was playing on the radio and my Uncle was singing to it like a crazy man. I didn't care for the song or the singing but since I adored my Uncle Donny and driving around in his car I asked him what that song was and he said, "Steel Rail Blues by Gordie Lightfoot Mikey"! so I tried singing it too. Now it's the only memory I really have left of my Uncle Donny who drove the car into the lane of an oncoming transport, taking his own life, approximately 6 weeks later.

2. First Lightfoot concert I ever saw was in March 1981 at Old Massey Hall in Toronto. I saw him there 9 more times. I was so excited I nearly let my bladder go! LOL I sat on the right side, floor level, 4 rows back, and 1 seat from the aisle. I could see his nose hairs! It made my hair stand on end. He played 2 and a half SOLID hours with a 15 minute break with an encore to a huge standing ovation. He played Steel Rail Blues earlyin the second half of the show which made me remember my Uncle Donny thereby causing me to quietly bawl my guts out. The greatest concert experience of my life and I've had a lot. Pure entertainment magic.

3. First Lightfoot Album I bought...In 1976 I had finally procured a little cash of my own from a part-time job at Dominion so I went out and bought several. The first one picked out was Sundown, then in random order, Summertime Dream, Sit Down Young Stranger, Cold on The Shoulder, and Summer Side of Life. I picked up Lightfoot in a yard sale a couple of weekend's later which probably saw more play than any of the others, especially, "Steel Rail Blues."