http://www.emckemptville.ca/20110505...kville+concert
Gordon Lightfoot looking forward to Brockville concert
Posted May 5, 2011
By Jeff Maguire
Gordon LightfootEMC Entertainment - There have been many adjectives used to describe legendary Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot. The most appropriate perhaps is "enduring."
Entering his sixth decade as a performer, the Orillia, Ontario native is still going strong and has no immediate plans to slow down.
In March Lightfoot (he turns 73 in November) did 14 shows in the United States. From Chattanooga, Tennessee to Raleigh, North Carolina and from Gainesville, Florida to Portland, Maine he visited 14 cities in 17 days. The marathon ended in Oneonta, New York March 31.
Later this month Lightfoot embarks on a short Ontario tour which includes a stop at Brockville Memorial Centre Saturday, May 21 at 8 p.m. The night before he will be in Cornwall and May 22 he visits Napanee. The 'Gordon Lightfoot Spring 2011 Tour' starts in Windsor May 19 and concludes with a four-day residency at Toronto's venerable Massey Hall May 25-28.
"I'm looking forward to it," Lightfoot said of the Brockville visit and the Ontario tour during a comprehensive telephone conversation with the EMC from his Toronto home recently.
"We (he and his band) love the work," he says enthusiastically.
"I wonder why it didn't happen sooner," he muses, referring to the upcoming tour of medium to smaller centres.
Last year Lightfoot did 82 concerts and so far there are more than 40 dates on his 2011 performance calendar with more likely to be added.
The start of this year's performing schedule in mid-March was tinged with sadness following the death of Terry Clements, his long-time lead guitarist. Clements, who played with Lightfoot for 40 years, died Feb. 10 several days after suffering a stroke. He was 63.
"Terry's loss was terribly sad. He was a good player and a good friend."
Just over a month later the veteran performer was back on the road for a concert in Greensboro, North Carolina which opened his American tour. Joining the band was guitarist Carter Lancaster.
"He's from Hamilton (Ontario). He's done a couple of his own albums. He's a real pro."
Lightfoot is incredibly loyal to his band mates and they to him.
Newcomer Lancaster is now part of a tight-knit group that includes bass player Rick Haynes, drummer/percussionist Barry Keane and Mike Heffernan on keyboards.
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 aboard in 1980.
On Lightfoot's website Keane and Heffernan both list concerts at famous Royal Albert Hall in London, England and New York City's Carnegie Hall as their "highlight concerts" with Lightfoot's band. Haynes points to shows at Toronto's SkyDome (now Rogers Centre) and the MGM Grand in Las Vegas as his personal favourites.
"They (band) are the glue," Lightfoot says, underlining the contribution of his fellow musicians.
It's been a long and highly successful road for Lightfoot who wrote songs that were recorded by other musicians before actually moving into the studio himself. His debut album, entitled simply 'Lightfoot', was recorded in 1966.
Among the 14 tracks were 11 of Lightfoot's own compositions including such well known classics as Early Morning Rain, For Lovin' Me, I'm Not Sayin' and Ribbon of Darkness.
Popular songs
The latter was also recorded by the late Marty Robbins one of many popular artists to record cover versions of Lightfoot's songs. Others on the impressive list include folk music pioneers Peter, Paul and Mary and such greats as Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. Also among them is celebrated American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan who remains a fan (and friend) of Lightfoot.
Originally he recorded for United Artists, doing five albums for the label in the 1960s.
The CBC commissioned Lightfoot to write a song which was aired Jan. 1, 1967 to help kick off Canada's Centennial Year. The song was entitled 'Canadian Railroad Trilogy' and it remains a popular tune which the singer performs in concert to this day.
Asked about his loyalty to Canada the performer says he has never wanted to leave his native land, despite opportunities to move to the U.S.
He admits performing in the States has been huge for him.
"I rode that gravy train for 35 years."
Besides his many North American performances he has toured the United Kingdom five times, Europe on two occasions and was well received during appearances in Australia.
He has always remained in Canada however!
"I love the cold. I grew up with it," he chuckles.
In 1970 Lightfoot signed a recording deal with Warner Bros./Reprise. Soon after, in 1971, 'If You Could Read my Mind' became a Top 10 hit. In 1974 his classic 'Sundown' went to No. 1 on the American charts.
The 1970s were huge years for Lightfoot both on tour and in the recording studio. He released nine albums including Old Dan's Records, Don Quixote, Sundown, Cold on the Shoulder, Summertime Dream and Endless Wire.
Still, it is a song from Summertime Dream which remains his most requested composition and one that clearly underlines his longevity.
The No. 2 track, on side one of the vinyl album is 'The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald', Lightfoot's ballad about the ill-fated freighter that 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.
The singer-songwriter's 1976 tribute was generally well accepted by the families of the victims and Lightfoot has attended five of the commemorative ceremonies held to mark the anniversary of the disaster.
He told the EMC one line in the now famous song haunted him because of its impact on two of the victim's families. They were the men responsible for securing the hatches on the massive vessel which was heavily laden with a cargo of iron ore pellets at the time of the tragedy.
Lightfoot was moved to write the song after reading reports about the sinking including an article in Newsweek magazine.
"I went down to the Toronto papers and read the stories right from their archives. There was no Internet or e-mail in those days," he observes.
A line in the original recording is, "At 7 p.m. a main hatchway caved in, he (the ship's cook) said, "Fellas, it's been good t'know ya...."
In the aftermath of the disaster that was the most widely accepted theory about why the vessel suddenly sank - that the holds flooded and she suddenly keeled over and sank. There were no distress signals sent and no bodies were ever recovered!
Line modified
There have been many studies done subsequently. Last year in light of new evidence about the possible cause of the sinking Lightfoot modified the line in question for all future live performances.
Now, 35 years after the song was first released Lightfoot says he sings, "At 7 p.m., it grew dark, it was then he said, "Fellas it's been good t'know ya...."
It seems unlikely any other performer would be faced with such a dilemma, more than three decades after recording a song. Further testimony to Lightfoot's enduring popularity!
Songs which tell stories have been part of Lightfoot's repertoire from the beginning. Canadian Railroad Trilogy is about the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway which linked the country from coast-to-coast and helped build a nation.
continued in next post:
Brockville, Ont. Article
