Quote:
Originally Posted by jj
oh steve, i hope i didnt imply that he was a fall drown drunk on stage or anything like that...he handled liquor pretty well, maybe that was part of the problem...and nerves, etc...or it was an ugly part of his personality surfacing
i would have liked to have seen GL live, regardless, back in about 1975, primo
hey, speaking of misheard lyrics...how about mis-sung lyrics...poor gal, but still one up on rosanne barr...no disrespect intended
2013 Memorial Cup - American National Anthem Butchered - Alexis Normand - YouTube
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Hey
jj, naw, you didn't lend that impression at all. I just overstated my case, with what doesn't matter anyway to most of us,right? I'm familiar with the basics of what he's said in interviews regarding his alcoholism, and his amazing canoeing summer to beat it (awesome, no panty-waist "spa" HollyWood rehab clinic for him).
While I don't know the depth and breadth of knowledge of his life details as much as some uber-fans do, I've never personally found that the personal struggle he had with the booze to interfere with any concerts
I've been to, and I really just
meant to indicate that. In overstating the case of peope I know; some well and some not, and the corresponding weight I assigned to their comments about what they
claimed to be the case by their observations of Gord when performing, and how this influenced to varying degrees their opinions on him as a performer.
Ultimately, one person I did not know well at all commented on a 1975 concert that "they decided they would never go to another concert of his".
Phooey on them. I
did attend a concert in '75 and it was
magnificent, and whether he was holding liquor well or not, I could not detect and didn't care, because it was
outstanding, as has been every single concert I've ever gone too of his. Admitttedly, I didn't go to any concerts between 1976 through 1988 (Gord help me, LOL), so I can't speak to how he presented in them. I do vaguely recall reading of an alcohol problem in Swizerland at the Montreaux Jazz Festival, if I remember correctly. And one show in the states, in the Great Lakes area as I recall, where the "carrying him off stage" took place. Minnesota, or Wisconsin, maybe.
There was a local story here in the Denver area (which sadly I missed) where they booked him in MacNichols Arena "The Mack", when TWOTEF was at #2. Supposedly, the story went, that it was (in an arena-sized venue) but at just half-volume, and "1/2 of
them left mid-show", and "those who stayed boo'ed and yelled at him mid-songs". Local legend, ostensibly as Irecall from a (now defunct) Rocky Mountain News article. I have no idea how exaggerated the story is, and again, the fact that he had what is widely regarded now as a brain-allergy in alcoholism (or an addiction, I don't know) doesn't diminish in my mind the staure and caliber
of his remarkable talent and showmansip.
I'mm sure you guys know, and I have forgotten. I;d imagine we coud agree was a [Folk] "Rock Star", in an era where drugs and alcohol were so prevalent among the touring arena-rock (and other genres of that stature; presumably Lightfoot too) that it must have been tough to avoid - what with rigors of time on the road, away from wife and family, and subjected to temptations of the women swooning over him, and roadies, etc. (who knows)
So, bottom line, setting aside what what I've read of
one case of Gord having to be carried of the stage. It sounds like The Man had a bad day. I've heard a
few people say he seemed to not care about his hits, and even perhaps slur though them in a few late 70's concerts. Never heard one like that. Even
if I had, in thinking this over more,
had I had seen him slur through some concerts like you described jj, I still
would take Lightfoot's music on a bad day for him over a good day for any other performer on their best day.
SO...since the '75 concert I went to was fantastic, I'd say: No jj, I didn't take you to mean he was a falll-down drunk. I only meant I was glad that I didn't see him impaired substantially-enough to not be able to perform to
his stringent standards. I've been fortunate enough to have enjoyed seemingly-flawless performaces, and that's more than I could ever ask for.