http://www.timminspress.com/2015/08/...ightfoot-in-69
TIMMINS - It was a bad winter weather day in Timmins when Gordon Lightfoot landed for his first-ever headlining show in the City with a Heart of Gold.
It was Jan. 25 1969, recalls J.P. Aubé.
“If I recall correctly, they had to circle Timmins airport three times before they could land,” said the well-known area entrepreneur.
“It was cold and stormy and it was going to be their last attempt at a landing and my heart was racing. what will we do now? Why I had not thought to check the weather report I don’t know. I mean, it was the Canadian winter in Timmins,” he added with a twinkle in his eye.
“But here we were, a bunch of teenage students ready to welcome one of Canada’s biggest musical stars who was starting to gain world-wide attention but had not risen to his iconic status.”
Lightfoot has been long regarded by his peers and friends such as Bob Dylan as one of the greatest songwriters of his generation.
The Orillia native hit his commercial peak from 1970 till 1977 with huge international hits such as If You Could Read My Mind, Sundown, Rainy Day People, Cotton Jenny, Carefree Highway,The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Daylight Katy and many others
Since his abdominal artery burst and a six-week coma in 2002 and two years of recovery, Lightfoot has been back out playing to world-wide audiences.
There is genuine excitement knowing Lightfoot will be back in Timmins with his band on Aug. 26th at the Archie Dillon Sportsplex.
It could shape up to be one of the most important and engaging musical events since Jeff Healey packed them at the ’Plex in the ’90s and then topped it off by encoring at the Maple Leaf Hotel with yours truly and the regular weekly touring band.
Lightfoot’s importance to Canadian musicians is massive.
If the Beatles and Rolling Stones made you feel you wanted to start a garage band, then Lightfoot showed you could sit in your room in South Porcupine, Vancouver or St John’s, Nfld., and write songs about Canada or your hometown.
Growing up locally, I picked up my first Lightfoot vinyl albums around 1968 after I heard Early Morning Rain, The Canadian Railroad Trilogy, Go Go Round and the protest song Black Day In July on radio.
The lyrical detail and storytelling was amazing. Even before my own future songwriting started around 1970 with our local band Nustone, I could feed off of those songs as inspiration.
The initial idea of the Lightfoot 1969 concert in Timmins was to raise money for renovation and expansion for La Lanterne, recalled Aubé
“La Laterne was our youth cultural group and we had some contracts in 1968 and had made money hiring this great band from Kirkland Lake called Kristopher Khan.
“Our youth club also was formed with great pride. We had original artwork, a jukebox that featured francophone artists. We hired local artists/bands and it was jam-packed at about 150 people.
“Cut to one day in study class, I picked up Maclean’s magazine with Gordon Lightfoot on the cover. I believe and I sent a note to my twin brother Jean-Francois who was, I should say, more academically inclined than myself and later would became a lawyer, saying, ‘We should book him.’
“He sent a note back saying, ‘You’re crazy it would never work.’
“However, we did do the contract but ran into a major roadblock because we did not have $1,600 which was the 50% required amount of the $3,200.
“We had went to the Royal Bank and J. Conrad Lavigne (Timmins and Canadian media mogul and owner of CFCL TV) who would later mentor us in great ways but they thought the idea was risky.
“Mrs. Guenette, who owned The Timmins Flower Shop and her husband who ran the Guenette funeral home came to our rescue by writing us a cheque.”
Lightfoot would return the favour by actually dropping in at the home of Mrs Guenette while en route via Algonquin Boulevard in Timmins.
“Basically he asked me where she lived and wanted to meet her. We were in disbelief but we did stop and Gordon went in, shook all of the staff’s hands and proceeded to talk to her and thank her for making it possible for him to gig here. It’s a moment I will never forget.”
As I recently witnessed on a Lightfoot concert special, his legendary shows are now with an 18-wheeler full of personal gear, lighting and equipment. Lightfoot’s attention to concert-sound detail is of a high standard many artists would not even bother with.
All that that modern equipment will be on display at the new Timmins show.
This is of course is a much different equipment situation and means of transport than what Aubé’s personal experience was over 45 years ago
In fact, at the 1969 Timmins show, Aubé remembers a unique vehicle to escort Lightfoot to his hotel room at the Senator Hotel and McIntyre Arena
“We used the lead funeral car and hearse with the panels taken off to pick him up on the tarmac,” he said with a smile. “Gordon and his two band members sat in the lead car and the band’s gear, which was minimal, went into the hearse which was like a station wagon. And we may even had the Timmins Flower Shop van.
“There are always unknowns and life experiences that prepare you for things whether you’re 17 or 70. But the fact is, I remember Mr. Lightfoot was very impressed by the whole situation and could not believe we did all this with no management; simply a youth club.”
At 65 years of age, J.P. Aubé still maintains the everyday charm, intelligence and community-minded spirit as he always has as he sits across from me in the boardroom at the Timmins Daily Press.
Aubé’s achievements are many but as a founding member of the Timmins Economic Development Corporation, campaign chairman of the Timmins and District Hospital Foundation, owner of franchises including the local McDonalds, Aubé is almost in sense of a visionary of all things Timmins.
He would later purchase the Escapade Hotel and in the early ’80s hired Longshot featuring Eileen (Shania) Twain, thus giving her her first extended platform to hone her stage skills, long before her global stardom.
And, readers that’s a whole other interesting story.
“Tickets, if you can believe it John, were $3 a piece for the show,” Aubé said as he pointed to an ad from our Daily Press newspaper from 1969.
The ad reads in part See and Hear Canada's top folksinger Gordon Lightfoot. Tickets available Alfies Cigar Store, Esquire Grill, Timmins Flower Shop, $3 in advance, $4 at the door.
Lightfoot had, however, one more special event after the show had sold out to nearly 2,000 people, Aubé recalled.
“We had been invited to a small gathering in his hotel room after the show at the Senator Hotel and were treated to almost one hour of new songs that he had been writing. The songs were so good and I can’t remember the titles but we just sat there in awe.”
By the end of the night, someone noticed that Lightfoot’s famous leather coat was missing. It was recovered by the OPP in Hearst and returned to Lightfoot.
Aubé has been in touch with both promoters and is hoping to meet up again with Lightfoot
“I’m not sure if he will remember myself and his experience in 1969 in Timmins,” Aubé said.
There are still tickets available for this once-in-a-lifetime show. For more information, contact the Timmins Museum where the tickets are being sold.
— John Emms is a local singer/songwriter and long-time writer of Timmins music scene.
TIMMINS,Ontario - Aug.26 concert info
