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Old 11-18-2014, 04:16 PM   #1
lighthead2toe
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Default Hugh's Room Birthday and Book event for Gordon Lightfoot

It was a most memorable event despite the winter wind turning heads and the gales of November remembered.

However, I would to start with saying how thankful a feeling it is to have Gordon Lightfoot with us at 76 years of age, looking real good and still out there performing for his huge fan base. Kudos to you Gord!

Celebrations for Gord's birthday began at our home during the Early Morning Rain on Sunday, Nov 16th as Marian from the Mountains and I made preparations for a family get together.

During the prep work we like to listen to works of great composers which would be a mix of Bach, Beethoven, Lizst and Lightfoot. And maybe a little Vivaldi.

So needless to say, "a feeling was there is the still morning air and outside was the song of the birds."

Kind of a "Christmas Eve" feeling sort of.

The day turned out to be a truly great family gathering, all is well, and now it's Monday, Nov 17th, the Gord birthday event day and indeed it was.

Monday morning began with a musical session of Gordon Lightfoot songs with my good friend Paul Bartlett, student of Red Shea, Gord's former lead guitar player. I couldn't find a better way to begin Lightfoot birthday celebrations than to just strap on the the big boomin' B45 and just let them roll off and hear Paul's great licks comin' in there. All is well, Ive made my peace where highways never end!

So here we are sitting on a bar stool sipping on a pint of ale at Hugh's Room close to the entrance, taking in the comings and goings while occasionally turning the pages of my newly purchased book "50 + Poems for Gordon Lightfoot." How could you top that eh?

Patrons and poets, performers and players all entering the room, thankful to be in from the cold November wind.

A familiar face arrives and comes to give me a big hug. It's Charlene, our moderator and does that gal look really great. She's keeping herself in top shape.

She's anxious to get seated inside the room in order to be able to use her camera without obstructions. She invites me in but I'm one of those Never Too Close type guys so I decline as I prefer to hang out at the bar in my observation point.

The moment arrives.

It's Gord and his very beautiful lady coming through the entrance. A most graceful and dignified couple they are as they smile and greet patrons and eventually get themselves seated.

There's now a line forming to where they are seated as folks are asking for their books to be autographed. Gord is most obliging though and signs them all despite the slight delay in the opening of the show.

There were many familiar faces in the crowd tonight and one in particular was Karen Hilfman Millson, a poet and friend of Gord's from Orillia, who appeared at the recent Gordon Lightoot Tribute celebrations there.

Karen's very moving poem is called "The Interview" and it's on page 76 in the book.

The evening was interspersed with powerful recitations of poems; songs and stories and the ambiance in the room was sustained from beginning to end.

A very very special event it was indeed.
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Old 11-19-2014, 12:05 AM   #2
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Default Re: Hugh's Room Birthday and Book event for Gordon Lightfoot

Ron, you should have been up there just speaking… what comes out is always poetic…bravo!
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Old 11-19-2014, 09:25 AM   #3
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it was such a wonderful event!! - I wasn't sure what to expect but the poems were beautifully read and a few were real gems. Some made me teary and some made me laugh. Gordon enjoyed everyone of them and all of the fine musical performances. I took video of the musical offerings so there's no stills of them onstage but I will look for them online. I did get a few pics tho! It was terrific to share the night with Ron and ride back into the city with him! Here's some pics I did get:Jory Nash and Ron Sexsmith.
IMG_2999 - Ron Sexsmith and Jory Nash by char Westbrook, on Flickr

IMG_2984 by char Westbrook, on Flickr
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Old 11-19-2014, 09:28 AM   #4
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more:
IMG_3007 by char Westbrook, on Flickr

IMG_3010 by char Westbrook, on Flickr

IMG_3011 by char Westbrook, on Flickr

IMG_3012 by char Westbrook, on Flickr

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Old 11-19-2014, 09:39 AM   #5
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VIDEOS - EVENT - 50+ Poems for Gordon Lightfoot-Hugh's Room- Monday FULL PLAYLIST: (individual videos are in following posts-watch on YOUTUBE - click on bottom right corner of video)
Nov.17,2014

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...cTA3z228GrvxO3
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Old 11-19-2014, 09:39 AM   #6
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SONG FOR A WINTER'S NIGHT:
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Old 11-19-2014, 09:40 AM   #7
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I'LL BE ALRIGHT:
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Old 11-19-2014, 09:40 AM   #8
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RACE AMONG THE RUINS:
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Old 11-19-2014, 09:41 AM   #9
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EARLY MORNING RAIN:
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Old 11-19-2014, 09:41 AM   #10
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MOTHER OF A MINER'S CHILD:
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Old 11-19-2014, 09:41 AM   #11
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STORIES - PART 1:
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Old 11-19-2014, 09:42 AM   #12
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STORIES - PART 2 -
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Old 11-19-2014, 09:42 AM   #13
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I'LL TAG ALONG:
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Old 11-19-2014, 09:42 AM   #14
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POEM:
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Old 11-19-2014, 09:43 AM   #15
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ANYTHING FOR LOVE:
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Old 11-19-2014, 09:43 AM   #16
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BEAUTIFUL:
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Old 11-19-2014, 09:44 AM   #17
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Old 11-19-2014, 11:55 PM   #18
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Default Re: Hugh's Room Birthday and Book event for Gordon Lightfoot

Dear friends,

We would be remiss to not highlight Jory Nash with a huge debt of thanks for the very diligent work he does in organizing events of this nature and making them successful.

Having delved into similar undertakings on a much smaller scale of course I can honestly say that only those most appreciative of the works of Gordon Lightfoot would be willing to take on and be part of such a daunting task.

I witnessed though, from the vantage point on my bar stool, after all was said and done, the handshake Gord and Jory exchanged as Gord and his lady were leaving. There are handshakes and there handshakes. What I saw was a magnificent outpouring of emotion. Thanks Jory.
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Old 11-20-2014, 12:58 PM   #19
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Jory certainly go into event management if he tires of being a sensational songwriter/singer and performer!
He's a lovely person too...
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Old 11-20-2014, 02:20 PM   #20
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i don't see any or much mention of the man behind all of this… long story how it all unfolded, but i hope at the event, they gave Fred his due … I'm sure Gord did

http://www.quillandquire.com/booksel...don-lightfoot/
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Old 11-20-2014, 04:04 PM   #21
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Don't know of or much about him - the night was about Lightfoot! lol

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Old 11-20-2014, 04:24 PM   #22
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great you got this clip too! there was some article about how this came about and all his pulling of it together (I'm sure Jory took care of the contacting his Friends, and old pro now ) BUT i've looked in the few threads starting with Lightfoot Days (and on FB pages too) and can't find it at all… think it was a Packett article … question: are there Orillians, or even south Ontarians as members here? (besides char, RJ, jj, TG?)

Last edited by jj; 11-20-2014 at 07:32 PM.
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Old 12-01-2014, 03:38 PM   #23
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http://www.orilliapacket.com/2014/11...t--laugh-a-lot

Monday night, 50+ Poems for Gordon Lightfoot was launched at Hugh’s Room in Toronto. Fred Addis put together a great program of readings mixed with music.

What will go unnoticed by many, until now, is Addis created a gradually intensifying night. Each reading and musical number got better, capping with Ron Sexsmith doing a fantastic rendition of Lightfoot’s Beautiful.

Jason Fowler also knocked off a version of I’ll Tag Along that was almost indistinguishable from Lightfoot’s original.

As chance would have it, I ended up sitting next to Lightfoot for the evening and he expressed approval of many of the poems and, in particular, the musical bits.

Fowler had mentioned he’d never seen Lightfoot in concert when I’ll Tag Along wasn’t performed, so I said to Lightfoot, “He’s right; I can’t think of any concert I’ve seen when you haven’t done that song.

“Well, you know, it fits so nicely with a group of about five other songs that I enjoy playing,” he said.

Cyrus Sundar Singh was there to accompany George Elliott Clarke’s reading of his poems and because he’s also a Gemini Award-winning filmmaker, he shot a fair amount of video that will become a short about the event.

The CBC is planning to post some of the poems on its website as well.
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Old 12-01-2014, 04:27 PM   #24
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Quote:
Originally Posted by charlene View Post
... I ended up sitting next to Lightfoot for the evening and he expressed approval of many of the poems and, in particular, the musical bits.

Fowler had mentioned he’d never seen Lightfoot in concert when I’ll Tag Along wasn’t performed, so I said to Lightfoot, “He’s right; I can’t think of any concert I’ve seen when you haven’t done that song.
I'm lost… i don't think I've ever seen a concert where he HAS played it … I must have seen 20 concerts… hmmm

who is speaking in this post? "I" isn't you, is it, Char? then again, I think you were sitting beside Gord, no?
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Old 12-02-2014, 01:46 AM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by charlene View Post
Fowler had mentioned he’d never seen Lightfoot in concert when I’ll Tag Along wasn’t performed, so I said to Lightfoot, “He’s right; I can’t think of any concert I’ve seen when you haven’t done that song.

“Well, you know, it fits so nicely with a group of about five other songs that I enjoy playing,” he said.

I was looking at the website's tour Summaries section (albeit, only a sampling form submitted set lists) and seems he's only done I'll Tag Along about 5 times in the past 15 years… maybe it was more commonly performed from the EOM tour til late 90's
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