gord the best singer/songwriter ever?

08-23-2002, 11:11 PM

Is there anyone else who agrees that Gord is probably one of the best and most original singers around?

08-23-2002, 11:11 PM

Is there anyone else who agrees that Gord is probably one of the best and most original singers around?

myweim · 08-24-2002, 12:39 AM

Gee, let me give that a neo second to think
ok I thought about it.
Amen to that brother

lightbunny · 08-24-2002, 12:39 AM

Gee, let me give that a neo second to think
ok I thought about it.
Amen to that brother

james hill · 08-24-2002, 04:41 AM

Ditto!

BILLW · 08-24-2002, 04:32 PM

I thought about it and you may be right.

Bill

mtheeb · 08-24-2002, 10:27 PM

Lightfoot may be one of the finest singer/songwriters, but it's hard to top Lennon/McCartney in their prime. They are what I would describe as "the best."

Restless · 08-24-2002, 10:27 PM

Lightfoot may be one of the finest singer/songwriters, but it's hard to top Lennon/McCartney in their prime. They are what I would describe as "the best."

myweim · 08-24-2002, 11:36 PM

I would still have to say Gordon. Are you taking about there early 60's work when they where the mob top or there later six's work.
The beatles are a differnt type of music then Gordon's. Both good in there own way but hads down for Gordon
lightbunny

lightbunny · 08-24-2002, 11:36 PM

I would still have to say Gordon. Are you taking about there early 60's work when they where the mob top or there later six's work.
The beatles are a differnt type of music then Gordon's. Both good in there own way but hads down for Gordon
lightbunny

mtheeb · 08-25-2002, 12:28 AM

Lightbunny,
Lennon/McCartney earn my vote all the way from Please Please Me to Long and Winding Road. (Their solo work is more sporadic, in quality, and I have to ignore the drugs and Lennon's politics...but musically they're hard to outshine.) By the way, what is a "light bunny"?

Restless · 08-25-2002, 12:28 AM

Lightbunny,
Lennon/McCartney earn my vote all the way from Please Please Me to Long and Winding Road. (Their solo work is more sporadic, in quality, and I have to ignore the drugs and Lennon's politics...but musically they're hard to outshine.) By the way, what is a "light bunny"?

joveski · 08-25-2002, 12:53 AM

are we talking singer or songwriter?. if it's songwriter, it has to be Bob Dylan. If it's singer, forget dylan for a moment

Stew · 08-25-2002, 05:01 AM

Personally, GL is my favorite singer/songwriter. His music has always touched me; it seems effortless, as if these songs have always existed, and he is simply uncovering them. Michaelangelo said his statues were in the block of stone, he just had to chip away the outside. Am I off base in believing that GL is the same sort of "natural" artist? Objectively, I would say the Dylan is the greatest singer/songwriter, but we all have preferences. Mine happens to be Gordon Lightfoot.

dscam31 · 08-25-2002, 11:38 AM

HE INDEED IS ONE OF THE BEST, IM NOT SURE IM ONLY GUESSING BUT IF JAMES TAYLOR, NEAL DIANMOND, CARLY SIMON, JIM CROCE WERE SINGER/SONGWRITERS THEN THEY ARE SOME OF MY OTHER FAVORITES.

RBENGALS · 08-25-2002, 11:38 AM

HE INDEED IS ONE OF THE BEST, IM NOT SURE IM ONLY GUESSING BUT IF JAMES TAYLOR, NEAL DIANMOND, CARLY SIMON, JIM CROCE WERE SINGER/SONGWRITERS THEN THEY ARE SOME OF MY OTHER FAVORITES.

SilverHeels · 08-25-2002, 01:03 PM

IMO Gordon Lightfoot is MOST certainly one
of the best - and very near the top of the
list. Again IMO he completely outwrites and out sings The Beatles and several of the
others mentioned so far. But it is all about
preferences.

Shane · 08-25-2002, 09:12 PM

Well he is my favorite too! That is not to take anything away from Bob Dylan, Lennon/McCartney, Michael Nesmith, John Prine, Kris Kristofferson, Norman Blake et al. But to answer the question: Yeah, Gord is the best!

Scott Mac · 08-25-2002, 09:12 PM

Well he is my favorite too! That is not to take anything away from Bob Dylan, Lennon/McCartney, Michael Nesmith, John Prine, Kris Kristofferson, Norman Blake et al. But to answer the question: Yeah, Gord is the best!

Bill Allen · 08-26-2002, 12:16 PM

Hmmm...in terms of songwriting, this is always sort of a tough one. As some people have alluded to, there is a subtle difference between who is one's favorite, and who is "the best." Yes, Gordon Lightfoot is my personal favorite: his songs are the ones that speak the clearest to my heart, soul and mind. But if I take a step back and try to be dispassionate about it, then the field becomes a bit wider. I probably would rank Lennon/McCartney's work with the Beatles (as individual and collective composers) at the top of the list of popular songwriters. It's easy to say something like "I Want to Hold Your Hand" is just a cute, early 60s pop song, but you have to keep in mind just how revolutionary that song was in terms of its melodic and harmonic components. They basically broke new ground with every album, but it's their sheer progression that always amazes me. To go from something like "Please Please Me" to "Strawberry Fields" in four years is remarkable. Dylan would have to rank right up there too, although he's not a personal favorite of mine. His songs may not speak to me, but I recognize his importance. If I take that dispassionate step back and look at GL, I rank him up there with the great songwriters, but not at the top. I don't consider him a groundbreaker or anything like that. However, in the context of what he does, he is a supremely skilled craftsman--I love the way he constructs his songs, and the chord movements...there is an inescapable logic to everything he does. And as an artist, as a lyricist, he is top-notch. My GL "epiphany" song was Don Quixote--when I first heard it back in '72, I thought I had never heard anyone marry such a simple and yet exquisite melody with such meaningful, deep and beautiful lyrics. He shot to number one in my personal pantheon of singer/songwriters.

And lo and behond, he's still there!

Derek

telekidd · 08-26-2002, 12:16 PM

Hmmm...in terms of songwriting, this is always sort of a tough one. As some people have alluded to, there is a subtle difference between who is one's favorite, and who is "the best." Yes, Gordon Lightfoot is my personal favorite: his songs are the ones that speak the clearest to my heart, soul and mind. But if I take a step back and try to be dispassionate about it, then the field becomes a bit wider. I probably would rank Lennon/McCartney's work with the Beatles (as individual and collective composers) at the top of the list of popular songwriters. It's easy to say something like "I Want to Hold Your Hand" is just a cute, early 60s pop song, but you have to keep in mind just how revolutionary that song was in terms of its melodic and harmonic components. They basically broke new ground with every album, but it's their sheer progression that always amazes me. To go from something like "Please Please Me" to "Strawberry Fields" in four years is remarkable. Dylan would have to rank right up there too, although he's not a personal favorite of mine. His songs may not speak to me, but I recognize his importance. If I take that dispassionate step back and look at GL, I rank him up there with the great songwriters, but not at the top. I don't consider him a groundbreaker or anything like that. However, in the context of what he does, he is a supremely skilled craftsman--I love the way he constructs his songs, and the chord movements...there is an inescapable logic to everything he does. And as an artist, as a lyricist, he is top-notch. My GL "epiphany" song was Don Quixote--when I first heard it back in '72, I thought I had never heard anyone marry such a simple and yet exquisite melody with such meaningful, deep and beautiful lyrics. He shot to number one in my personal pantheon of singer/songwriters.

And lo and behond, he's still there!

Derek

Wingdrops · 08-26-2002, 01:12 PM

For singer, there are quite a few who top Gord, as I'm sure he'd admit. Elvis and Sinatra, to name but two. Not that the young Gord didn't have a beautiful voice.

For songwriter (NOT including Bach, Beethoven and their ilk), he's behind very few in this century. I personally like him better than Dylan as a songwriter, although he was not as influential. You'd have to consider that the top tier of popular songwriters of this century would include Dylan, Irving Berlin, Woody Guthrie, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Lennon/McCartney and Paul Simon as top songwriters. I'd put them all ahead of Gord. I think Duke Ellington, Andrew Lloyn Webber, and Bruce Springsteen belong in Gord's class too (you HAVE to hear Springsteen's new album, an incredibly mature and moving response to Sept 11).

As for singer/songwriters, I'd take Lennon/McCartney as tops, a clear level above the others. A nudge behind them, I'd put Gord. I'd also include Paul simon, Joni Mitchell, Billy Joel and Elton John in his tier.

So I don't think Gord is the "best ever." HOWEVER, he is the only one currently writing in his genre, the songs of the sea, of the land and of the wanderer. The songs of break-up, of sorrow and of surprising joy and beauty. Those of us who LOVE that genre, find Gord to be incomparable.

Count me as one of those.

------------------
"And the laughter came too easy for life to pass me by."

2Much2Lose · 08-26-2002, 01:12 PM

For singer, there are quite a few who top Gord, as I'm sure he'd admit. Elvis and Sinatra, to name but two. Not that the young Gord didn't have a beautiful voice.

For songwriter (NOT including Bach, Beethoven and their ilk), he's behind very few in this century. I personally like him better than Dylan as a songwriter, although he was not as influential. You'd have to consider that the top tier of popular songwriters of this century would include Dylan, Irving Berlin, Woody Guthrie, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Lennon/McCartney and Paul Simon as top songwriters. I'd put them all ahead of Gord. I think Duke Ellington, Andrew Lloyn Webber, and Bruce Springsteen belong in Gord's class too (you HAVE to hear Springsteen's new album, an incredibly mature and moving response to Sept 11).

As for singer/songwriters, I'd take Lennon/McCartney as tops, a clear level above the others. A nudge behind them, I'd put Gord. I'd also include Paul simon, Joni Mitchell, Billy Joel and Elton John in his tier.

So I don't think Gord is the "best ever." HOWEVER, he is the only one currently writing in his genre, the songs of the sea, of the land and of the wanderer. The songs of break-up, of sorrow and of surprising joy and beauty. Those of us who LOVE that genre, find Gord to be incomparable.

Count me as one of those.

------------------
"And the laughter came too easy for life to pass me by."

Wingdrops · 08-26-2002, 01:16 PM

I didn't see Derek's reply as I was writing mine (above).

I agree with everything he said.

2Much2Lose · 08-26-2002, 01:16 PM

I didn't see Derek's reply as I was writing mine (above).

I agree with everything he said.


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