I was going to buy Songbook .. but.

[<Tony F.>]

When I looked on the list of titles on Songbook and I noticed Blackberry wine , Fading away ,The watchman's gone , Daylight Katy ,Rainbow trout and If you need me were not included ,I was very surprised . I am biased , but I don't know why these were left out , because they are some of his best and strongest songs.Is there anybody out there who would take some out and insert there own as I would do , if they could.?

[GJM]

I always thought "The Watchman's Gone" was one of his best and strongest songs. I was also surprised and disappointed to see it missing from Songbook. It never seemed to get the recognition that it deserved.

[Dan O'Malley]

"The Patriot's Dream" , "Triangle", "Miguel" and "Cherokee Bend" would have definitely been on my list!

[BILLW]

Hi Tony,

I had assumed most of us here bought Songbook for the 'unreleased' and 'rare' songs that were included. I never even noticed what was not included to be honest. Oh and we bought it to help support our favo(u)rite artist maintain the lifestyle that he's accustomed to, LOL. I don't think Songbook was intended to be a 'every track ever recorded' type thing like Bear Family puts out, IMO.

Bill :)

[<formerlylavender>]

I agree, Bill. I bought songbook because of the rare, unreleased songs and for the accompanying book. I love the commentary on each of the songs. Also, at the time, Old Dan's Records, Shadows, Salute and Dream Street Rose weren't yet available on CD, so the songs from those albums that were profiled in Songbook were all like new songs to me.

Regarding what a previous poster said about listening to each individual album, I totally agree! Each album has it's own "feel", and listening from start to finish really gives the listener a sense of where Gord was in his life.

[Borderstone]

First off,Tony...buy it! It's so worth it,trust me! :) The longer you wait the harder it'll be to find someday.

If I recall correctly,I bought "Songbook" because I thought,"Wow..if he actually warrants a box set,there must be more to his music than I think!"

So at Sam Goody's,I made a down payment of $20.00 (when my wages were better) and once a month did so until i picked it up Aug. 7th,2001. Like all of you,it sure didn't dissapoint me. :)

True,there's a ton of songs that could have been on here but I think if they had done that it would have been even more expensive. :rolleyes: Not to mention cutting into sales of the old LPs available on CD. I think when Gordon is truly ready to hang it up,we'll see a box set that runs from A to Z (including more rarities. (Like,"You'll Still Be Needing Me", which I listened to last night,along with others. :cool:

[Rob1956]

Avove all else, remember that Gord had a hand in picking what songs went on this boxed set. So even if he left off "The Watchman's Gone" which is my favorite Lightfoot song of all, then we have to respect the fact that with unreleased songs included on the set, there was less space, and he decided that some songs were ok to overlook.

[Highwayman]

Originally posted by Borderstone:
First off,Tony...buy it! It's so worth it,trust me! :) The longer you wait the harder it'll be to find someday.

If I recall correctly,I bought "Songbook" because I thought,"Wow..if he actually warrants a box set,there must be more to his music than I think!"

So at Sam Goody's,I made a down payment of $20.00 (when my wages were better) and once a month did so until i picked it up Aug. 7th,2001. Like all of you,it sure didn't dissapoint me. :)

True,there's a ton of songs that could have been on here but I think if they had done that it would have been even more expensive. :rolleyes: Not to mention cutting into sales of the old LPs available on CD. I think when Gordon is truly ready to hang it up,we'll see a box set that runs from A to Z (including more rarities. (Like,"You'll Still Be Needing Me", which I listened to last night,along with others. :cool: Same here. I believe there were eighteen unreleased songs, not to mention the ones from 'the final four' that were not yet available. But I also like to have plenty of songs on one disc to pop in the CD player, and when i'm traveling, I don't have to keep switching CD's over and over again. :D

i do wish, however, that Triangle, Hey You, The Gypsy, and a few others had been included. But you can't include em' all. :D

[Ophelia]

I, too, love the rarities and the book included with the "Songbook." There are songs I would have left out, and others I would have included; but we have the individual albums for that. "Songbook" is worth the money, IMO.

"Gordon Lightfoot: The United Artists Collection" is another good one. A lot of the songs can also be found on "Songbook" and "Gord's Gold," But it also has rarities I haven't found anywhere else -- most notably "Home From the Forest," my all-time favorite GL song.

[Borderstone]

Ophelia,I had already bought (on vinyl) all of Gord's UA LP's,when I finally got "The UA Collection". (The version with just the studio LP's.)

That meant I could keep the originals in good shape and not have to play them and run the risk of "scratching" them any further.

I even got "Sunday Concert" on CD,so all of his UA period is represented in crystal clear sound,as the should be. ;)

Now,if i could just get "all" of his Reprise/WB's on CD! :)

[Ophelia]

Borderstone, try amazon.com. I just looked, and I think they've got just about every one of GL's recordings.

[Robby Lake]

Originally posted by Frkmry:
I am not a fan of "greatest hits
" albums because there's tooooo many songs that are missing. If someone wants to know the "real Gordon" they need to know each album individually! I just recently found "Looking at the Rain". Love the song. I have been a long time fan of Elton John and you just cannot learn to appreciate him unless you hear his "other stuff" same goes for Gordon. Looking at the rain is great.Red Shea on classical guitar.Second cup of coffee-lightfoot is also a great country songwriter!

[culverd]

Just bought songbook from Amazon.com. I hope in is worth the sixty two buck I paid.

[BILLW]

Originally posted by culverd:
Just bought songbook from Amazon.com. I hope in is worth the sixty two buck I paid. IT IS !

Bill :)

[Winter's Claw]

I would remove exactly 70 songs. I would rather buy a single disc collection containing only the rare or unreleased songs. Isn't it strange how avid fans of music artists who want to obtain rare recordings often have to buy box sets filled with tracks they already have?

Nobody really wins here: Casual fans would be better served by a box set that eliminates the 18 rarities and replaces them with missing gems such as "The Watchman's Gone," and hardcore fans would be better served by a separate single disc. If such a disc were available, I would buy it in a second. I can't really justify spending 50 or 60 dollars on a set containing A LOT of stuff I already have. I know many of you have bought it, but does anyone agree with me?

[paddletothesea2]

I think you all missed the point.
Gord is the actual person who picked out which songs to be on the cd of which he thought were standouts for "him" or of his work etc.
The record company didnt do it.
Besides songbook is worth more for the book you get with it which contains dozens of photos and a play by play about each song from Gords own words.
NM

[culverd]

I bought Songbook over a month ago from a amazon.com partner and have not received it yet. When I buy directly from amazon the products arrive is a couple of days. Has anyone else had problems or delays with buying with the partner companies.

thanks

[Auburn Annie]

Not here but I usually buy from highly recommended partners located somewhere near my home state.

BTW, they don't post it on their website anywhere but there is a toll-free number for Amazon so you can talk to a live person. It's 800-201-7575. Maybe they can direct you to the number for the partner company so you can track the order.

Also, for anyone interested, here's the address of a "cheat sheet" for a way to bypass phone tree hell and get to a human being. It's http://www.paulenglish.com/ivr/ and I've found it to be pretty reliable.