July 20th, 2010
We’ve been Gordon Lightfoot fans for a long time. Even back before it was hip.
But asking us to name our favorite from his 250+ song catalog is like, well, asking us to choose a favorite child. We can, however, easily place “Canadian Railroad Trilogy” in our top five without having to second guess, simply because THE ACOUSTIC GUITAR ARRANGEMENT AND PERFORMANCE OF THIS TUNE IS AWESOME, whether it’s a studio recording or live version. The song demonstrates how Gord basically put the word “song” in “songwriting.”
So what do we care that the Trilogy, which Lightfoot was commissioned to write by the CBC for a 1966 television documentary commemorating the railway’s centennial, will be made into an illustrated book for release later this year?
Because the lyrics are damned awesome as well. You see, Lightfoot was also responsible for putting the word “writer” in “songwriter.”
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"There was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run. When the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun. Long before the white man, and long before the wheel. When the green dark forest was too silent to be real."
Re: Don Felder-formerly of The Eagles praises Lightfoot
Quote:
Originally Posted by charlene
the artwork is not to everyone's liking probably but I like it a lot.
i'm one who is not into that style much (although i like the cover!) but that is here nor there, great little timeless packaging of the classic, congrats Gord...and Ian (who I need to google)
i've not heard Jory put his bluesy vocal stylings to CRT, they should really have Stuart MacLean do a reading on Vinyl Cafe with Jory as the supporting musical guest...with that said, why not Gord himself doing an acoustic version...my least fave thing about current CRT live arrangement is the attacking electric piano sound
nice to hear the song's been charted in it's actual key signature F, but i suppose the most guitar friendly score (and artwork, lol) is the one rj posted in the Gord Chord thread which has been transposed down three semitones to D to offset the capo positioning
what's next? Wallace now doing etchings of The Wreck going down? Big Blue?
any other GL pennings that you think would work well? Canary Yellow Canoe?
Re: Don Felder-formerly of The Eagles praises Lightfoot
replied in wrong thread I suppose...this one doesn't even mention the book in the subject
i was not crazy about the style of the CP posters either, similar, imo...but i do still display this one paying homage to the composition of the tune... and the rails
lastly, if the Empress train went through the backyard then I missed it, wouldnt' that have been a neat video clip...i've not seen the actual last spike
Re: Don Felder-formerly of The Eagles praises Lightfoot
same reason i don't like videos, i prefer to have the images that Gord put into my mind with his words, rather than someone else's interpretation...but I'll bet Gord never heard a cover he didnt' like (nor a book that uses his lyrics )
when i leafed through the book i thought the first image was of Ian Wallace...from what Mac is saying, it's supposed to be Sir John A MacDonald rising from the soot
GL usually mentioned William van Horne in CRT intros..maybe didnt' make the cut
should be a fine performance by Jory and look forward to CBC's taping/video
that set of autographs you get from Wallace and Lightfoot will be nice, char!