GL Albums going out of print!

Only GL albums not out of print according to Amazon are

Complete Greatest Hits
Gord's Gold (Re-issue)
Songbook - Boxset
United Artists Collection
A Painter Passing Through
The Very Best Of..... Vols 1 & 2
Best Of....
Classic Masters
Harmony
Did She Mention My Name/Back Here On Earth (Bear Family)
The Way I Feel
Early Lightfoot/Sunday Concert
Over 60 Minutes With....
Did She Mention My Name/Back Here On Earth (BGO)
Original Lightfoot (Box Set)
Gord's Gold Vol. 2 (RPKG)
The Best Of .....

Ultimate dissapointing! It seems to me that there is higher demand for his EMI (United Artists) CDs, than his Warner/Reprise CDs, and there isn't any there, other than his most recent 2 albums and a few greatest hits.

Also the same goes for the catalog at CD Universe - Unfortunately.

I wonder if these discontinuations are due to downloading of MP3 sites, and itunes.

What are people who are new to Lightfoot's music going to think, if they want to buy one of his Warner/reprise original albums?

[youngstranger]

Sometimes things just get deleted so they can be re-issued but it seems possible because of the advent of iTunes and downloading that albums such as these will never be available on CD again. It's a scary thought.

For me there is no comparison in dowloading the tracks and burning your own CD compared to actually having the nice CD and box in your hand.

I think iTunes is leading to the single-isation of music again like in pre-Beatles days. So somebody goes and downloads Sundown and Carferee Highway and never hears the rest of the album.

And in the case of Sundown it would be crazy if that album was missing on CD. A big hit album with two two hit singles including a number one!

One new interesting trend has emerged albums are being issued on vinyl and include a digital download for your money. So you get the beautiful big packaging and record to play on your turn table and to look at while you still have the digital audio to download and play on your PC/ iPod. I've seen this for both new albums and re-issues like Beach Boys '70s albums.

[Yuri]

Y.S - those are issues I've brought up several times in this forum. Downloads are so sterile. The album concept rarely exists as tunes are mixed, matched and overlooked. The 'theme' album is dead. Icons instead of artwork, no liner notes of musician credits, studio credits, instruments used etc.

After many years I can tell you where I bought a particular album, who I was with and what were the circumstances. There is an excitement in finding an album in a bin, purchasing it and when home reading it front to back while you give it a spin. Hard to get excited over a series of downloaded 'ones & zeros' which you can't grasp in your hand, nor is there anything special about clicking the 'purchase' tab on an iTunes site.

Some of my favourite tunes have been the ones that didn't get air time and weren't promoted. Had I only bought the hit, I would have missed out on some real gems.

I guess in this 'fast food' society where " u r 2 slow" if you can't reduce paragraphs to letters, where sound bites rule and insufficient time has TV credits roll at unreadable nauseating speeds and our daily rush promotes road rage - well I guess albums and CDs were sure to follow. Perhaps songs are too long to hold our attention and should be reduced in time or limited in notes. As goes our society, so goes our music....and vice versa...

[RM]

Originally Posted by Yuri

As goes our society, so goes our music....and vice versa...

Amen.

[gretschviking1967]

Except for a few best of's and a handful of albums that can be downloaded, looks like all of Gord's CD's are out of print. What's the deal with "Dream Street Rose"? Did it sell so poorly that it is now being sold for such stupid money? Aren't all his albums now available on iTunes?

Originally Posted by gretschviking1967

Except for a few best of's and a handful of albums that can be downloaded, looks like all of Gord's CD's are out of print. What's the deal with "Dream Street Rose"? Did it sell so poorly that it is now being sold for such stupid money? Aren't all his albums now available on iTunes?

Here is a list of all the Lightfoot CDs iTunes currently carries

Rhino Hi-Five EP
If You Could Read My Mind
Gord's Gold Volume II (Half of the re-recordings have been replaced by the original versions off of the original albums)
The United Artists Collection
Harmony
Classic Masters
Summer Side Of Life
Sundown (Beware: GGVII version of High And Dry is in place of original one)
Cold On The Shoulder
A Painter Passing Through
Summertime Dream
Endless Wire
East Of Midnight
Waiting For You
Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald/The House You Live In (Digital 45)
If You Could Read My Mind/Poor Little Allison (Digital 45)

Some CDs iTunes No Longer Carries:

Gord's Gold
Old Dan's Records - Partial Album - Title Track, It's Worth Believin
Dream Street Rose - Partial Album - Ghosts Of Cape Horn
Complete Greatest Hits - No EMI recordings
Songbook - No rarities, GGVI & II recordings are however in place of original recordings.

That being said, I don't know if it is the law of supply and demand, or if the TPTB find Gord and his audience/generation to be 'dinosaurs'. But whatever the case it seems like the TPTB are looking for an opportunity to obliterate Gord's catalogue from the consumer menu. If we want any chance of TPTB changing their minds and re-issue or re-release CD versions of his albums for the future perspective purchaser, then we will have to take action.

[ELizabeth]

What exactly do they mean by the United Artists Collection? How, aside from buying hugh numbers of GL cds, can we prevent obliteration of his catalogue?

[imported_Next_Saturday]

I just wonder if the CDs going out of print and unavailable as downloads relates to Early Morning Productions now owning rights to all the songs. I don't know if that refers to just the publishing rights or if that extends to the recorded masters? Perhaps they will be released with an Early Morning Productions copyright? Anyone know?

[Cathy]

Originally Posted by ELizabeth

What exactly do they mean by the United Artists Collection? How, aside from buying hugh numbers of GL cds, can we prevent obliteration of his catalogue?

Elizabeth, it's a 2 disc set of his songs from the United Artist years, before he switched to Warner Brother's. It's a great compilation.


cathy

[ELizabeth]

Thanks Cathy. That's what I thought it meant. I have ther compilation. I agree with you 100 % its great.

[Kelly Davis]

I am purchasing a few of the essentials for my 3 kids for Christmas. They have each met Gord and the band 5 or 6 times, so I feel they need to be well-stocked for the approaching 'Gord c.d. drought' !!!

[gretschviking1967]

Maybe someone could ask Gordon himself?

[Cathy]

Originally Posted by Kelly Davis

I am purchasing a few of the essentials for my 3 kids for Christmas. They have each met Gord and the band 5 or 6 times, so I feel they need to be well-stocked for the approaching 'Gord c.d. drought' !!!

If I bought my sons Gord CDs for Christmas, they'd disown me.

Cathy

[gretschviking1967]

Originally Posted by Cathy

If I bought my sons Gord CDs for Christmas, they'd disown me.

Cathy

LOLOLOLOLOLOL!