http://www.ottawasun.com/2012/06/11/...nac-june-15-16
Gordon Lightfoot
When: June 15, 16
Where: National Arts Centre
Isn’t it funny how a life-threatening crisis can make a person focus on what’s important?
It took a near-fatal abdominal aneurysm in 2002, a stroke in 2006, and a premature rumour of his death in 2010 to make iconic Canadian folk singer and songwriter Gordon Lightfoot realize that he has to get into better shape before something really serious happens.
Since he’s become a fitness fanatic with daily trips to the gym, not only is the 73-year-old in the best physical shape he’s been in for years, but he’s also performing like ye Lightfoot of olde.
And he’s loving every minute of it.
“People think I’m a recluse,” Lightfoot laughed during a call from Toronto. “I’m the busiest SOB you can find anywhere. I don’t eat lunch, so I go to the gym every afternoon. I used to hate working out but now I don’t mind it. But I have to be careful what I do because they rearranged so much of my lower abdomen.”
“Time is precious to me. I’m fortunate, my health is good because I work at it. It reflects itself in my performance. Two hours is a long time to sing at my age. The voice is good. I sometimes have problems with my inner ear, so it’s hard to hear. I have to keep going. Railroad Trilogy is at the end. I might not hit a couple notes like I used to, and there are a few songs I don’t sing anymore, like The Last Time I Saw Her, but we don’t lose any of the energy.”
He sounded tired, frail, and very un-Lightfoot when he played the National Arts Centre — one of his favourite places to play, he adds — in 2008. But when he returned in 2010, miraculously, he sounded strong, much like he did in his prime.
“I hope we sound better next time,” he said, as if issuing a personal challenge.
All that energy and confidence means Lightfoot won’t be going gently into that good night anytime soon. In April, he released his 21st album, All Live, a collection of live songs from his annual Massey Hall performances over the years.
And he’s planning an extensive tour of the Maritimes in 2014.
If Canada had a Hall of Great Canadians, Lightfoot would be somewhere near the top, between Wayne Gretzky and a prime minister. So gifted was he, that by the late 1960s, major American stars like Glen Campbell, Peter Paul & Mary and Bob Dylan were singing his songs. Ian & Sylvia had two major hits with Lightfoot’s That’s What You Get For Lovin’ Me and Early Morning Rain.
Lightfoot established himself as his own star in 1970 when If You Could Read My Mind went No. 1 in Canada, and No. 5 in the U.S. And he did it without the help of Canadian content regulations for radio, or having to move to the U. S.
He wrote and recorded many of the songs that defined the era, including Black Day in July, Ribbon of Darkness, Canadian Railroad Trilogy, Carefree Highway, Beautiful, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald and many others and was a regular here in the capital, playing the Le Hibou coffeehouse as early as 1965 before moving over to the larger NAC. He played at its opening on June 2, 1969.
“Every time you walk into the place it looks brand new,” he said. “We were thrilled to play there. It’s got a great sound.”
denis.armstrong@sunmedia.ca
Ottawa SUN article
