IT's time for a QUESTION:Fave track leading off an album??

[jj]

WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE TRACK LEADING OFF AN ALBUM?

the choices are :

Rich Man's Spiritual
Walls
Wherefore And Why
Long Way Back Home
In A Windowpane
Minstrel Of The Dawn
10 Degrees And Getting Colder
Don Quixote (*title track)
Farewell To Annabel
Somewhere USA
Bend In The Water
Race Among The Ruins
Daylight Katy
Sea Of Tranquility
14 Karat Gold
Salute
Stay Loose
Restless
Drifters
Harmony (*title track)

( honourable mention to GG2 with If It Should Please You, but we'll stick with the 20 standard releases…. no GG1, Songbook or All Live )

[formerlylavender]

Oh wow this is a great question. So many of the leading tracks are among my favorites. I wonder if that's a coincidence? Anyway, I'd have to say 10 Degrees and Getting Colder because I love the fade in. Also I think it really sets the mood of the SSOL album.

If I could do 2nd and 3rd, they'd be:

Rich Man's Spiritual
Race Among the Ruins

[joveski]

is this a trick question!?. everyone has the same 'leading' song off an album. you've answered it for all of us :). i agree with 5 of those :). i'll do it differently - favourite track from each album?

steel rail blues
crossroads
wherefore and why
if i could
in a windowpayne
sit down young stranger
10 degrees and getting colder
2nd cup of coffee
old dans records
watchman's gone
bend in the water
race among the ruins
hangdog hotel room
the auctioneer
in my fashion
broken dreams
a passing ship
if it should please you
much to my surprise
river of light

[jj]

good pics, L… not the obvious ones… I like how Farewell to Annabelle fades in also…who would have thunk it as a way to start and album, eh?

my pic would be Minstrel… runners up are tough… Somewhere USA and 14 Karat Gold …how I didnt pic, Restless, I'm not sure! … I'm not a Drifters fan

Joveski, I'm not sure what your top 5 are that you agree with, or your top pic?

there must be something in the water down there, lol

your list deserves a new thread… i think we did that but i can't find it… such a challenge… it's hard to find the right key word to revive some threads

i assume your choices are Bend in the Water and Wherefore and Why


you are missing an album… there are 20 standard ones… you have 20 songs listed but included GG2

[charlene]

I have no idea what JOveski is talking about...and trying to figure it out gave me a headache. lol

but yes, start a new thread with your question Joveski..

[Melissa]

Hmmm, seems to me he/she (I don't know who Joveski is, sorry) meant something different by "leading" - the "leading" song, as in, the best song, whereas I think JJ meant the "lead off" song, as in, the first track of the first side. Right, JJ?
Two totally different things.

So, to respond to JJ's original thought, mine will be a toss-up between "10 Degrees" and "Race." Several others tie for second place - "Somewhere," "DQ," "Minstrel."

Just my 12 cents, adjusted for inflation. :)

Oh, one last thought - I'm jealous of all you guys heading up to TO in a few days!!!!!!

(Hey, JJ, I sent you an email......)

Melissa :)

[T.G.]

It comes down to Bend in the Water, Race Among the Ruins and Salute ... I'll say Bend in the Water.

[Dan O'Malley]

Walls always gives me a boost!!

[JohninCt.]

Somewhere USA.

[Lisa J]

Walls always gives me a boost!!


walls is my last name, so I was leaning towards this song as my first choice... but I have to say somewhere usa is my first choice, and walls is second.

[paskatefan]

Daylight Katy. Sea of Tranquility is a close second.

other favorite openers - Race Among the Ruins, Salute, 14 Karat Gold, Farewell to Annabelle

Gail

[joveski]

i think i misread the question!. and jj, last time i checked, i was a HE. :) but from the from the first list in this thread, it'd be 'Bend in the water'. so simple, catchy and so definate at the end of every verse. 10 degrees would be a close second

[imported_Ordinary_Man]

Aw man, what a toughie. I gotta go with Somewhere USA, a song I never get tired of. But honorable mention to Farewell to Annabel and 14 Karat Gold.

[Jim Nasium]

I agree with Dan O'Malley, when I first heard the intro to Walls, my immediate thought was, this guy is going somewhere. I was right.

[Don Quixote]

If I had to rate the "leadoff" songs of each album, it would be:

Don Quixote (what did you want me to say?)
Restless
Race Among the Ruins
Rich Man's Spiritual
Drifters
Minstrel of the Dawn
Walls
Long Way Back Home
Wherefore and Why
Farewell to Annabelle
In a Windowpane
Daylight Katy
Bend in the Water
Salute
Sea of Tranquility
14 K Gold
Somewhere USA
Harmony

DQ
Stay Loose

[TC]

I tried but I can't do it!

[Dave, Melbourne,Australia]

Good thread, JJ. My favourite Lightfoot album openers are Restless, Stay Loose, 14 Karat Gold and Sea Of Tranquility.

A previous thread that included "favourite song from each Lightfoot album" was
http://corfid.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=25552

[2silent2breal]

I haven't been around for a while, but I'll chime in. I really like the question. I didn't have to think very long to say that for me it is 10 Degrees and Getting Colder. I think that the entire flow of Summer Side was perfect and that song was an ideal beginning.

For those of us old enough to remember most if not all of these on LP's, the song that opened the second side also enters the equation. For example, for my tastes, Bend in the Water never has flowed well into Rainy People. I love both songs, that transition just doesn't work for me. However, on the second side, A Tree too Weak to Stand transitioned beautifully into All the Lovely Ladies and through the whole second side. With CD's and now digital music formats, it's hard to remember the days where the two sided of an album were kind of like a first and second set.

[jj]

love the feedback here… the pondering involved by an artist and record label in deciding on the lead off song for an album is really fascinating to me… and arriving at the Title track / album title (which may not be one and the same) …Back Here on Earth is exceptional from that perspective as well … not an actual album track (same with Lightfoot!)

[Off Yonge Street]

Good question, jj.

My favourite three opening tracks from the 20 non-compilation GL albums are (in order):

1. Don Quixote
2. Minstrel of the Dawn
3. Walls

[pmwinters]

For me, it's definitely Somewhere USA, with Drifters coming in second.