GL has one of those outdoor voices - like J.Denver or Glen Campbell - though he can sound intimately urban as on Affair on 8th Av. He is surely a songwriter's songwriter. The man has taste and talent oozing like maple syrup from every pore. A favourite song would be The Circle is Small, preferably in its original version, on Back Here on Earth. It has a beautiful chorus, where Gord's voice is at its most emotional and taut. There's a story behind the second version (on which album please?) which I may have had a hand in. (GL, if you ever check out this site, please confirm yea or nay!)
I saw GL at the Albert Hall, London c. 1970. I called out a request for The Circle... which was then one of his lesser-known songs I guess. He heard me, and said something like, 'Hell, we haven't done that one in years'. He didn't do it then, either - couldn't remember it? However, not that long after, the fuzzier, slightly slower version turned up on an album (Endless Wire?) I'm almost certain my request from the darkness of the auditorium inspired GL to seek out the song again and rerecord it...
Oh, and I also love Approaching Lavendar, Carefree Highway, Miguel (what a great chorus), Go My Way (archetypal Gord, that), Somewhere USA... Gord - I love your songs, music, voice, taste, integrity. Your legacy will remain with us always. Thankyou.
Glyn Morrow
|
