here in toronto there was a show back in January.
there are also the members of the Lightfoot Tribute band that you can read about at:
www.gordonlightfoot.com.
they are excellent!!!
The Way We Feel - A Tribute To Gordon Lightfoot
Hugh's Room, Toronto
Sunday January 12, 2003
3rd of 3 nights (first was in Ottawa)
www.hughsroom.com
Well, where to begin.....
As those of you who know me know I am not keen on anyone performing Lightfoot stuff. (except our own exceptional Tribute Band of course) I must say that last evening was a night I will always look on with great fondness and much pride. It was amazing and uplifting and damned good!
Suffering from a head cold for two days, existing on 6 hours sleep in two nights and with a slight buzz from my extra strength tylenol cold meds and a cherry flavoured neo-citran I ventured to Toronto. My friend Judy was coming along with me and a bazillion thanks to Sue E. for passing her seats along to us. It is so very appreciated!
We arrived in time for the dinner crowd at 6:30 and enjoyed some fine food while we waited for the show to begin at 8:30. Not feeling well, I opted for the Italian meal of penne and tomato sauce and slices of grilled chicken. Nothing like an Italian meal to make a sick gal feel better is my motto!
It was quite a collection of folks in the room and made me miss all of you desperately. I was peering into faces hoping I would recognize someone but then realized that was silly seeing as I already knew none of you were there!
Mr. Bernie Fiedler (Gord's local promoter) was there and shortly after he arrived Barry Harvey came in. I also saw Dennie Doherty of the Mamas and Papas. The talent for the night were also wondering around and I must say I didn't recognize most of them. I spoke with Barry and gave him all of your hellos and regards. He said Gord is getting stronger every day and even thought of coming to the show the previous night but didn't because of the worry regarding catching a cold or the flu. I conveyed our concerns about everyone at EMP and hoped they were all doing well. I also gave him the gears again about still smoking....
He said John McDermott would not be there as he was tied up in the recording studio but would try to make it. He performed the night before though. I was hoping to see him and wanting to hear him sing "Song For A Winter's Night". I just may see him at Massey when his next tour rolls through the Toronto area. Ron Sexsmith was standing with Barry and I said Hi and asked if he was going to be performing. Very shyly and quietly, with his head bowed he said he was doing two numbers. Barry said, "Do three!" and Ron said, "I could have done all three nights myself".
The room held about 250 people and was on two levels. Almost everyone was at a dinner table and the stage was tucked into a corner. Quite an intimate place and one that would be great to see Lightfoot perform.
There was a house band consisting of some wonderful players. There was a keyboard, standup bass, guitar and a lady fiddle player. These musicians were amazing.
The guitar player, Jason Fowler,
http://www.coolname.com/go/jason_fowlerwas the first to sing and did an amazing rendition of "I'll Tag Along". I closed my eyes and saw Lightfoot in the video I have of him sitting on stage at Massey Hall singing this song and then walking out the side door as the song ends. I got a bit teary....
Terry Tufts
http://www.terrytufts.com/ then sang "Long Way Back Home" and "That's What You Get For Lovin' Me". He recounted a story about Gord being at a recording session for TWYGFLM and wanted a different beginning - something unusual as the version he had wasn't right. All he said was "Fix it". The changes are what we hear on the song now.
Each performer submitted two songs - one that would be recognizable - a hit, the other one was to be a bit more obscure. The first to submit would perform it.
Greg Lawless
http://www.geocities.com/prayersandlowsongs/ then took the stage and related how he learned that playing guitar meant there were different chords you could play. There was funk, blues, Hendrix style and "Chick Chords". For each of these he played a sample and when the chick chords were played it was unmistakably a "Lightfoot" chord. Everyone cracked up. He said that he was listening to CFRB in Toronto when a song came on the radio with chick chords but he didn't think it was Lightfoot. It also had a pause and he thought the radio station had gone off the air for a few seconds. He then realized it was Lightfoot singing "Daylight Katy" and when Greg played it he held the pause a bit longer than normal and said that's when he was waiting for the chicks to rush the stage! Each subsequent pause was a bit longer and the crowd laughed and sang along with the chorus.
In 1975 when he was 10 he attended his first concert at Massey Hall to see Gordon Lightfoot. It then became his musical dream to one day perform there as well and next month his dream comes true. He was just beaming with pride! He also mentioned that one day when he was sifting through stuff in an old antique/thrift store in Oshawa (my neck of the woods) he asked the lady if she had any old mandolins or guitars or other sorts of musical instruments. She told him about an old upright bass that was out back in the shed. She took him out there and he found a dust covered homemade bass made of plywood. He asked her what she wanted for it and she said to make an offer. He said he'd take it off her hands for free. She said that would be fine. As he was loading it she asked him if he had ever heard of a guitar player named John Stockfish. He said of course he did, he played with Gordon Lightfoot. She then told him that John was her brother and he had made the bass years ago! Greg has it still and his kids thump away on it now.
He then performed "Carefree Highway" and the audience sang along.
Dan Kershaw
http://www.deepbluefunk.ca/broscosmoline.htm (front row -first on left)- 2002 Songs From The Heart Winner - A very intense sort of guy, unusual song styling and a voice not unlike Ricky Skaggs - that sort of higher, bluegrass sound. He sang "Walls" and "Somewhere U.S.A." "Somewhere" had quite a Latin rhythm happening. He was quite good and the crowd loved it.
Catherine Wheatley
http://www.interlog.com/~kwheat/biography.htm - hails from Parry Sound, home of Bobby Orr and when she was young the fastest tow rope in Canada!
lol
She had a very hard time choosing a couple of songs but knew she wanted to do the one with PUMA in it.
She did an amazing version of "16 Miles". After skiing (or "apres ski" as her mother would say) they would have mulled wine and play Lightfoot songs and her favourite was "Wherefore and The Why". She sang this accompanied by Ian Tamblyn playing the accordian. It was amazing. She has a great voice.
Dave Matheson (member of Moxy Fruvous)
http://www.fruvous.com/ (the bald fellow) said that Gord could write with a bit of a mean streak at times and ripped into a powerful version of "Don't Beat Me Down" with a very bluesy feel to it. The first time he heard Lightfoot was when he was 5 and on Saturday mornings he would play his albums with his headphones on so he wouldn't wake his parents but singing at the top of his voice. He then sang "Steel Rail Blues" accompanied by a fiddle. We all sang the woo-hoo-hoo hoo parts with him. He sounded at times like Gord.
Hart Rouge, a French Canadian family group from Saskatchewan was up next.
http://www.chanter.com/cnc/hart-rouge.htm There were only the two sisters and one brother performing.
One sister related her first memory of hearing a song by Lightfoot on the radio and thinking it was very cool. It was about fast women and being ten years old she thought it was about lady sprinters! They then sang "Sundown".
There are 6 girls in the family and thankfully Lightfoot songs offer such rich chord structures that arguments about who would sing a particular note didn't happen when they sang a Lightfoot song.
Accompanied by cello one sister then sang a haunting version of "Your Loves Return."
Ian Tamblyn - played keyboard, accordian, guitar. He talked of the vast array and types of songs Lightfoot writes. These include social protest songs and love songs. He always seemed to take Lightfoot for granted but knows he gave Canada a voice. He sang "Pussywillows-Cattails". He recalled being at home in Fort William (Thunder Bay) at his grandmas and having Swanson TV dinners on TV trays and watching Country Hoe-Down with Gord as one of the dancers!
His next song was a powerful rendition of "Home From The Forest".
Aengus Finnan (one of the organizers of the tribute) sang a capella - "Affair On 8th Avenue". It was stunning. He recalled listening to Lightfoot and looking at the cover of "Lightfoot" and this man with golden curls smelling a flower. When he went to college he made a tape of Lightfoot songs that he would fall asleep listening to and wake up with it still playing on a continuous loop. 10 years ago he saved enough money to see Lightfoot in Montreal at Place D'Arts, to see the man, the being that this voice came from. He then knew he had to meet him. After the show he saw people with backstage passes and realized he'd never get to meet him so he wandered out to the side of the building and just sat and thought about his life and the music he had just heard. The door opened and Lightfoot came out. He had seen him standing there throught the glass door. He asked him if he sang and he shyly said "yep - I sing your stuff". Lightfoot then said to him "write your own". LOL
When Lightfoot was taken ill in September Angus then wrote his own song - "Lightfoot", a beautiful tribute to Gord as a singer, songwriter and Canadian. I got a bit teary.....
Connie Kaldor
http://www.conniekaldor.com/index.html
She spoke of the eclectic, inspirational songs of a true artist. She sang "Sit Down Young Stranger" (which took me back to May 2001 at Massey) and "The Way I Feel". She did this with a bit of a blues feel and had 3 part harmony as well. It was terrific. She has a very soulful sound.
Jory Nash (another organizer)
http://www.rambles.net/nash_finnan_live.html A funky looking kid with curly black hair and wearing a black felt top hat of sorts. He sang "Early Morning Rain" like I have never heard it before. Fabulous. When he was 9 years old he saw Lightfoot for the first time. The next time was when he was 16 and he skipped school to buy tickets so he could get good seats. His parents didn't like to fly so any vacations they took were always by car. There wre 5 of them so there was a variety of musical tastes but they narrowed it down to 3 choices - Pete Seeger, Lightfoot and ABBA!
lol
He then sang "Minstrel of The Dawn" accompanied by Ian Tamblyn on accordian.
It was quite amazing to me that someone so young (as were most of the performers) was so aware and so dedicated to Lightfoot.
The emcee for the evening mentioned that one day where he works (CFTO TV in Toronto, at the Discovery station) he met Chris Hatfield. He is the first Canadian astronaut to walk in space. (Marc Garneau was the first to go into space) He was thrilled to meet him and then found out that Chris was a Lightfoot fan. When he went up in the shuttle he took a small guitar and sang "Early Morning Rain" 400 miles above earth in the space shuttle. That gives "see the silver wing on high" a whole new feeling!
Rick Fines
http://www.rickfines.com/ This guy was incredible! Voice, slide guitar, the whole deal.
When he was a kid his mum took him to Lightfoot concerts only. His own musical styling is blues with the slide guitar and his version of "Boss Man" blew the roof off the place. He also sang "Did She Mention My Name" and the audience enthusiastically sang along. This is one talented guy.
Ron Sexsmith -
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/revie...855677,00.html British paper)
http://www.bluerodeo.com/ron_sexsmith.html He performed "If You Could Read My Mind" at the Canadian Country Music Awards a couple of years ago when Lightfoot was inducted. Ian Tyson and Anne Murray also performed that night. He's a very shy, unassuming young guy it seems. The emcee called him the world's only human Lightofot juke box. Ron then said he could have done all three nights of the tribute by himself. He is obsessed with Lightfoot and always has been. It must have been a tremendous thrill for him to perform in front of him that night at the CCMA show.
He then sang a moving version of "Restless" and then a touching version of "Softly".
Valdy
http://www.valdy.com/ He's a perpetually happy kind of performer and was very much so tonight.
He informed us that Gord at one time also composed music to go with lyrics of poems. One such poem was by Robert Service.
http://www.robertwservice.com/verse/verse.html(The Shooting of Dan McGrew and The Cremation of Sam McGee) lyrics at:
http://www.bushpoetry.com/Lost%20Poe...iddlin_pup.htm there is some dispute over who wrote the lyrics to The Piddling pup.
A long time ago Valdy spent a lot of time practising his guitar to audition to be a player for Lightfoot. Then he heard Red Shea. He remembered that Gord always had good taste - he invited Gord, Red and John to his place for dinner and Gord hit on his girlfriend! LOL
He did a rousing rendition of "Bitter Green" and we all sang along.
The whole cast of performers came on stage and we all sang "Alberta Bound" with an encore of "Rich Man's Spiritual".
After the intermission the emcee was reciting a very moving "Ode to Lightfoot" sort of free form poem. Part way through we all could hear some poor guy downstairs in the washroom "blowing chunks" as Mike Meyers would say. He would stop and the emcee would continue and sure enough, during a pause the guy downstairs would let go again. It was hilarious and the poor emcee wondered if he did something wrong in a previous life... LOL! At one point he suggested calling the St.John's Ambulance for the poor bastard in the basement. It was quite funny....
It was an amazing evening and I am very glad I went. It made me very proud to see these performers who obviously are dedicated to Lightfoot and carry his music forward with such dignity. There was a palpable sense of that pride and thankfulness that Gordon Lightfoot has been in our lives.
The greatest part came during the intermission however. I was bear hugged by Jimmy Jones!! Yes - our bad little Jimmy was there! He had his back to me at the next table all through dinner and saw me when I went to speak to Barry! He was with his lovely wife of two years, Michelle, and his brother. It was so wonderful to see him. He is never on-line anymore and answers my e-mails months later. He makes me crazy! LOL ! I knew he was looking for a new home and was busy with that and he just moved in a the beginning of December. He says to say hi to all of you and thanks for the birthday wishes on the 8th. He does check in on the NG and corfid from time to time. It was SO great to actually have someone there that I knew out of all of you folks! I was thrilled! It was a big night for me in many ways - my first night out "on my own" in over 28 years, and seeing a tribute to Lightfoot seemed fitting to that new beginning. I dearly wish you all could have been there though. I think I hugged Jimmy hard enough and enough times for all of you though! My friend Judy took a couple of pics of us so I hope they turn out. I did manage a few pics of the whole cast on stage during the encore and I hope they turn out as well. We shall see.
I am still suffering from my head cold and hating this winter with a passion. Warming my soul at the Tribute to Lightfoot last night was the best medicine I can think of.
Char
Where ya been, 2M2L? 
Borderstone,O.H. & A.B.
