Gordon remains golden
WADE TATANGELO Herald Staff Writer
He's back in the saddle, playing regular concert appearances such as his upcoming stop at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota on Sunday. However, Gordon Lightfoot's long, distinguished career as a somber singer/songwriter with a knack for sweet melodies nearly ended in 2002.
Before the second of two concerts in his hometown of Orillia, Ontario, Lightfoot was crippled by severe stomach pain and airlifted to McMaster Medical Center in nearby Hamilton, reads the artist's Web site. He underwent surgery for internal bleeding in his abdomen and was placed in the intensive care unit. The singer spent three months in a hospital bed before being allowed to finish his recovery at home.
After a another surgery, Lightfoot managed to finish "Harmony," an album of new original material that cracked the Top 20 on the Canadian pop chart in May 2004. The 66-year-old slowly regained his strength and started doing live guest appearances before committing to 30 dates in 2005 that included a performance at the globally broadcast Canadian Live 8 concert in July.
In addition to songs from "Harmony," concertgoers should also be treated to Lightfoot's self-penned folk gems from the 1960s and '70s, such as "Ribbon of Darkness," "Early Morning Rain," "Carefree Highway," "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" and "Sundown," which was a No. 1 pop hit in 1974.
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