Gordon Lightfoot on the Johnny Cash Show (1971)

[Jesse Joe]

I remember watching this that year, I recorded it on a Reel to Reel tape recorder, and was wondering if I would ever get to see it again.

YouTube - Gordon Lightfoot - The Canadian...

37 years later ! I know that intro by Cash word for words...

[charlene]

Great stuff..so so young looking.. he's about that size again (maybe lighter) and maybe even wearing that black shirt too..

[Jesse Joe]

What a guy eh Char ! Now & Then...

Man that 12 string sounds good I hope lighthead2toe gets to view this before it is taken off ?? It does look like they were playing the recording tho, and Gord was singing over it, dont know for sure ? But the guitar and the voice are still awesome.

This brought me back to 1971, the following day going to school. RATS !

[formerlylavender]

Thanks for posting this, Jesse Joe. I'd read about it here on corfid a number of times, and it was great to finally see it for myself.

[Jesse Joe]

Glad you enjoyed it formelylavender. I have been waiting for this performance, to be on You Tube for a long time. Now if someone would have Gord's appearance on The Ian Tyson Show, (Nashville North ?) I remember Gord doing 2 songs one being, "Me and Bobby McGee", and at one point he told the audience "If you dont sing I'le be angry," during the song... No VCR in those days.

[johnfowles]

Brilliant although I was still in Montreal in 1969 at the time Gord first appeared on Johnny's show in episode 2 June 14 1969. I returned to England the following November so I missed the second 1971 appearance.
So it was very gratifying to see this at last
per
http://www.lightfoot.ca/tvappear.htm
on the 1969 show Gord sang
Ribbon Of Darkness and Softly by himself then dueted with Johhny on For Lovin' Me
in 1971:-
Lightfoot does Canadian Railroad Trilogy and a snippet of Steel Rail Blues.

[lighthead2toe]

What a treat to have this back after all those years. Thanks Jesse Joe. It's great having you aboard this ship let me tell ya'. Watching this transported me back into an era that I continue to long for and to go back and live in again. But it is without a doubt the original performance. I was living in the east end of Toronto at the time, glued to the TV set, and left somewhat hypnotized when it was over. Those flashbacks sure were bright ones believe me. So great to see Red Shea there, and boy does that ol' B45 ever ring out and Gord really knows how to drive it so it fires on all twelve strings. The inspirational mark I was left with from hearing that song for the very first time still lives with me today. Today the Canadian Railroad Trilogy is my favorite Gordon Lightfoot song. Cheers, Ron J.

[SherylKat]

Hey, Jesse Joe! Thanks so much for posting this You Tube of GML on the Johnny Cash show. Recently, our public tv station had a fund raiser and part of the deal was if you contributed, you'd get a DVD of clips from the Johnny Cash show. Knowing that GML had been a guest on that show, I contributed; unfortunately, it didn't contain any GML material. I think there must be another clip hanging around, where he's sitting down and singing with Cash, so I figured it was that clip. Nice surprise! Thanks again -

SherylKat

[SherylKat]

Ooops - just saw johnfowles clip with the duet - thanks to you, too, Sir John! Darn, I could have saved my money...

[Jesse Joe]

All very good lighthead2toe and Sherylkat...

I knew you would like this Ron, and I agree with you when you say,

"So great to see Red Shea there, and boy does that ol' B45 ever ring out and Gord really knows how to drive it so it fires on all twelve strings."

Man you have a way with words...

[joveski]

Originally Posted by Jesse Joe

What a guy eh Char ! Now & Then...

It does look like they were playing the recording tho, and Gord was singing over it, dont know for sure ? But the guitar and the voice are still awesome.

thanks for posting this!

its definately not completely live. where are the strings and the harmonica coming from? still good to see. I wonder why it wasnt included on the official DVD that came out from Cash's show?

[Jesse Joe]

It's what I figured when I heard the strings also, but the performance doesn't suffer because of it. The strings were maybe added for the video? But when he did the show in 1971 my guess is, it was only guitars & bass.

I contacted the guy who posted it on You Tube, and thanked him very much. I also told him if you have more "PLEASE" do post them...

[SherylKat]

I'd like to know that, too, since I shelled out $100 to get the DVD! All for nought!

Sheryl

[Jesse Joe]

Dont know what to tell you on that matter, Sherylkat & joveski ??? I would pay $100 just to get every Lightfoot performance on Cash's show. That would be real nice to have. I do understand your frustration tho...

There was another one that was posted here on Corfid, where Lightfoot did a snippet of "Steel Rail Blues" sitting down. It was all about trains with different signers doing a train song. Johnny Cash did "One More Ride", but I cant find it anywhere.

[Tim]

Originally Posted by SherylKat

Ooops - just saw johnfowles clip with the duet - thanks to you, too, Sir John! Darn, I could have saved my money...

Okay, I saw the CRT clip from the Johnny Cash show -- absolutely outstanding. I read John Fowles reference to another video clip of the Cash-Lightfoot duet, but I never saw a link to the clip itself. Is there a second clip of a duet???? Please share it for those of us who are slow on the uptake.

Thanks in advance for your patience.

[SherylKat]

Hi - I think when I wrote that I was in too much of a hurry - it sounded like a link. Somebody somewhere has got to be able to get that footage. At least from Sir John's info we knoow what year it was in.

Sorry for the confusion!

SherylKat