"Lightfoot: If You Could Read His Mind"

[loveandmaplesyrup]

I have been searching for the book "Lightfoot: If You Could Read His Mind" by Maynard Collins for about eight years now.

Does anyone have a copy they would be willing to sell or do they know where I can find one? I would be so grateful if anyone can help me out on this.

Thanks

LAMS

------------------
"Love and maple syrup
go together like the
sticky winds of winter
when they meet....
If you go into the forest
Gaze up through the trees
The sky is white.
You can understand
What makes the forest
Greet the man
Like a mother's only
child ..."

I like going to used bookstores so I will keep my eyes open for you. Have you read it yet? I don't own the book but I ordered it in from another library. If you haven't read it yet, you might want to check with your library and see if they can find it at another branch or maybe even another state. ...just an idea while we're looking for it.

[loveandmaplesyrup]

Annette,

Thank you so much. I really appreciate you looking for it. No, I haven't read it, but I want to very badly.

I have tried the library and though they have a copy in the catalogue, it doesn't exist in the building and I have had no luck with them tracking it down for me even at other branches. Methinks perhaps someone "borrowed" the copy they had permanently from the library (and without checking it out first.)

So, once again, thank you for looking for me. Hopefully, you can come up with something. It would be most appreciated.

LAMS

------------------
"Love and maple syrup
go together like the
sticky winds of winter
when they meet....
If you go into the forest
Gaze up through the trees
The sky is white.
You can understand
What makes the forest
Greet the man
Like a mother's only
child ..."

[Florian]

Hi LAMS,

I own a copy of "If You Could Read His Mind". It is even signed by Maynard Collins.

I'd be more than willing to make a copy of it and to send it to you via mail.

If you privately mail me your address, I can copy the book (245 pages) on monday morning and get it in the mail to you.

[chris]

LAMS
I routinely see that book up for auction on ebay. It varies but it usually seems to go for between $50 and $75. I think I recently saw one there that STARTED at $100! Haven't checked to see what happened. I have a copy. It is sometimes a little painful/difficult to read. It gave a good picture of the recording industry and its a good snapshot of that period of time (60s and 70s). It's a sort of detached view of an artist and if you feel very strongly about GL's music, it sometimes seems Collins didn't quite get him. Unfortunately, the book concludes right at the time in Lightfoot's life when he was getting alot of things straightened out and musically he was reinvigorated. I hope you get a copy and would like to hear what you or others think of the book.

------------------
"It took most of my time to do what never was done" -- GL

[loveandmaplesyrup]

Florian,

Thank you so VERY MUCH!! Almost like a Christmas miracle. I'll e-mail my address to you today.

I just can't get over how many nice people I've come in contact with in just the little time I've been on the "net." Especially the people associated with Gord.

Thanks again, Florian.

And by the way, with the holidays upon us, I don't know how often I'll be around here, so if I don't "see" you before Christmas, please all of you have a very special and wonderful Christmas and lots of happiness and cheer in the New Year!

(Who knows, maybe Gord will show up under one of our trees on Christmas morning LOL! Be sure and tell us about it if he does!!)

LAMS


------------------
"Love and maple syrup
go together like the
sticky winds of winter
when they meet....
If you go into the forest
Gaze up through the trees
The sky is white.
You can understand
What makes the forest
Greet the man
Like a mother's only
child ..."

LAMS, I'm so glad it worked out for you and if I ever see a hardcover copy in the stores I'll let you know. Please don't read the rest of this message until after you read the book.

Chris, you put in words exactly how I felt about the book! Part of me wished that I didn't read parts of the book. I have the impression that Maynard Collins was writing about Gordon Lightfoot much like one would write about a politician and even though as you said, I learned a lot about the music industry and that time era, the style in which he wrote it was more as a historian or distant observer rather than someone who actually knew Gordon. There were parts I found downright cynical and I almost stopped reading the book a couple of times. The saddest thing is what you mentioned Chris - the book stopped just before or around when things were working out for Gordon on all fronts so none of it was recorded. Maybe it's good that the book is out of print. Maybe I'm being too harsh, I hope I don't deter anyone from reading it. I have noticed a couple of other people have written books about GL. Has anyone read them and if so what did you think of them? Maybe I can give one of them a try. Annette, the book critic.

[loveandmaplesyrup]

Annette,

Sorry ... my curiosity got the best of me. I had to read the rest of your post. It's interesting that both you and Chris feel the same about the book (Now I REALLY can't wait to read it!) It's also interesting that there was some bad feeling between the Lightfoot group and Maynard Collins over that book. I've always been curious to read it and see what it was all about. Gord does acknowledge that it's out there somewhere, but refuses to say anything more about it.

When I read it, I'll let you know what I think ... if you guys are interested.

And thanks for promising to keep looking for the hard copy.

There is another book out (and out of print, too, I think) called "Lightfoot". It's by Alfrieda Gabiou and while it has some fairly good photos, most of it is just copied from magazine articles and clippings that she just put together in biography form. Not a whole lot of original writing. (She does tell one cute anecdote about a time when Gord had two roommates where had a penchant for bullwhips and used to square off with one another. One night, he came home after a gig and they were drunk and he just went to bed. Sometime in the night, one of them went into his room and laid a snake whip across the bed and told him to get up and play them some music. Needless to say, he did.)

It's okay if you happen to run across a copy of it and it's not too expensive, but just my own opinion, I wouldn't go on a mad search for it.

Stay Loose!

LAMS

------------------
"Love and maple syrup
go together like the
sticky winds of winter
when they meet....
If you go into the forest
Gaze up through the trees
The sky is white.
You can understand
What makes the forest
Greet the man
Like a mother's only
child ..."

[loveandmaplesyrup]

Okay, okay ... I know you're sick of hearing from me LOL ...

But after I pushed the button for the last post, I just remembered another book. "Chasing the Dragon" by Cathy Smith. I DO have a copy of that if anyone wants to read it (LOL we'd better be careful or our little group here just might wind up in the slammer for vioation of copyright laws!!!)

But fair warning: If you read it or want to read it, DON'T TAKE IT AT FACE VALUE. It contains a lot of exaggerations and some of the incidents just plain are not true at all. (This is true of the others she writes about in addition to Gord.) But it IS entertaining reading. One disappointing thing about it is it ends with John Belushi's death and it lets you down because you kind of want to find out what happened to her after that since she just dropped out of sight.

Anyway, sorry to be a pain. I'll be going now ....

LAMS

[Florian]

Hi,

*Beware LAMS* Spoilers ahead!

What I totally dislike about the book is that Maynard Collins speaks about almost everything in terms of money.

Some Quotes:

When Gordon was very young:
quote:
Although only a child, Gordon was often paid for his singing. He once joked that he had so many bookings as a child singer, at five dollar a wedding, that he almost had to pay income tax.


In the early years when Gordon Lightfoot appeared on 'Country Hoedown':
quote:
But he did make a hundred dollars a week, which was a decent salary for a strugling musician those days.


About Gordon Lightfoot's first wife
quote:
Brita came from a poor Swedish family..


After the successful covers by Peter, Paul & Mary and Marty Robbins:
quote:
In the blink of an eye, Lightfoot was a major international songwriting success. The royalties started rolling in. He was becoming rich.


Gordon Lightfoot's performances at Riverboat
quote:
A thousand a week was an astronomical sum for a single performer in those days.
...
All of a sudden he was becoming a rich man.


When Gordon Lightfoot has won the music industry's MIDEM award in 1967:
quote:
Winning the award is less important than making all the money that comes in for the same reason.


and so on and so on...

Argh... is really hurts to read that!

But I agree with Chris and Annette that the book ends too early (in 1988).

To LAMS: I have received your address and will mail you the copy of the book on monday morning.

Florian, you're totally right about the money theme and I don't buy (oops! that's a money term, does that mean I'm money centred too? ) it! Maybe money is really important to Maynard Collins and that's why he makes such an issue of it - who knows. Of course Gordon Lightfoot would have made more money as he became more famous, but isn't that how it normally works. It's the inuendos that Collins makes that would cause someone to believe something that may not be true that bugs me. As you can probably tell, I never read any of the "rags" that are at the checkout stands. It would be interesting to read one of Collins' other books and see if he uses the same style for them. Anyway, I think I've got it out of my system now - thanks everyone! And LAMS, we love hearing from you and I'll see if the other Lightfoot book is in the library - thanks!

[chris]

Well, I couldn't resist weighing in one more time on the book - Lams and others who haven't read it just skip this -. There were a few times I almost decided to stop reading it also but of course couldn't. Collins does acknowledge some positive things about GL - like his loyalty to friends and his dedication to his craft and art - but seems to give these short shrift compared to his almost obsession with writing about GL's problems. Having known a few people who have struggled with addictions, I don't think Collins does enough to acknowledge GL's accomplishment in conquering his. I also agree that there was a huge emphasis on money.

I guess to a writer that's what is interesting to write about and I'm sure writers and publishers know what sells books. I noticed that parts of the book were serialized in a Toronto newspaper before it was released. I've often wondered how the book was received critically and by the public. Anyone know?

------------------
"It took most of my time to do what never was done" -- GL

I thought I just had to have the Collins book...couldn't find it, so used inter-library loan to check it out for free. (WE FORGET LIBRARIES ARE A GREAT RESOURCE)

Glad I didn't pay for the book. I had an earlier biography by someone whose name escapes me now...it has lots of pics and goes up through Endless Wire (?). Picked it up at huge bookstore in downtown Toronto in 1980. A much more positive book.

Collins dwells on juicy, gossipy details about Lighfoot's unfortunate excesses. The ugly details I don't mind, but there seemed to be no balance.

Hi glad to find this place, long time fan short time computer owner. I live in phoniex AZ. any info on Gordon would be nice
ESP. The book. "If you could read his mind." If not some excepts would be nice. Thank you
bye
njdbunny@aol

[loveandmaplesyrup]

Chris, now, let's be nice and not start bashing writers LOL. (Just joking) I'm a writer and I certainly don't feel that the only way to present a biography is to find all the dirt you can on someone. And believe it or not, that isn't really what sells a book. Usually, people read a biography because they have some special interest or they care about the person they're reading about and the reaction to a lot of back-biting is just what you're seeing here in this discussion forum. So it really does a writer no good to write mostly negative things about someone. It also makes it difficult to get other people to trust you when you want to write another biography. This is probably why Collins has only written one other book (and I forget who that was about. I found it listed in the library catalogue when I was looking for this one.) I think the Lightfoot book did his writing career in. It certainly caused some hard feelings between him and the people on Gord's side of the fence. Gord has never made a comment about it, but he doesn't often say something derogatory about anyone, so maybe his silence speaks for him. I'll tell you more of what I think when I read it.

And, Bunny, welcome to the fold. It's good to see a new Gord follower. E-mail me anytime. I'll send you some stuff on Gord.
Loveandmaplesyrup@yahoo.com.

Have a great Christmas!

LAMS


------------------
"Love and maple syrup
go together like the
sticky winds of winter
when they meet....
If you go into the forest
Gaze up through the trees
The sky is white.
You can understand
What makes the forest
Greet the man
Like a mother's only
child ..."

[steeler]

While reading this book I was struck by a sudden thought:

It should be against the law to write a book about someone you obviously hate.

Though I'm sure there may be a germ of truth to some of the fiction, I believe it was always interpreted in the worst possible light.

I would recommend not trying to get hold of this book. It's not worth the trouble.

I had been looking for a copy of If You Could Read His Mind for a while in used book stores just for fun while browsing. It had become kind of a game. I had taken from the library in the past and although I didn't think it was great, it was better than nothing. I couldn't beileve I found it today in a used book store, brand new for $5 - Canadian! I bought it just for fun and my book collection or my GOrd collection whichever, but I couldn't believe it when I read it was going for $75- $100 on ebay!

I'll continue my search for fun and if I ever find another I can send it to anyone who wants it.

[Pirate Queen]

Wow! $5? Apparently they don't know about Ebay....insane what people will pay for things. I am not actively looking for a copy because I will not pay such insance prices for a book I did not even enjoy all that much, BUT if you find one for a reasonable price, I would be happy to buy it off of you.