Re: R.I.P Gord
 

https://barrie.ctvnews.ca/lightfoot-...life-1.6382878

VIDEO at link.

Lightfoot's impact felt in his hometown of Orillia, Ont. as fans mourn and celebrate his life.

Fans of Gordon Lightfoot are mourning his death and revelling in his life in his hometown of Orillia, Ont., after news of his passing broke Monday evening.

Many stopped by Alleycats Music and Art record store on Mississaga Street to bask in the memories.

"When a musician passes away that people love, they want to talk about it," said Alleycats owner Mike Rothwell.

Across the street, local business owner Bill Cook turned an empty storefront into a tribute to Lightfoot.

"I just felt that we need to do a little setup on the street to have people stop and think about him," Cook said.

The storefront is adorned with memorabilia, and visitors have been leaving notes and flowers to grieve and celebrate the most beloved musician to ever come out of the Sunshine City.

"They almost have tears in their eyes, but they're also smiling because they're so happy to see various pictures of Gordon, and they all have good memories of him," Cook added.

The iconic folk musician made appearances at the Mariposa Folk Festival over the years, often performing without having been hired, to the delight of his fans.

Lightfoot headlined the festival several times, singing his famous songs, including "If You Could Read My Mind," "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," and "Sundown."

Alleycats record store, where Rothwell displayed only Lightfoot records on his 80th birthday, said his customers helped him realize how adored Lightfoot was to people of all ages.

"Sometimes it surprises me that people in their 30s and 20s would know about Gordon Lightfoot," Rothwell said. "So that helped me understand how important he was."

More than 500 people signed the Opera House's books of condolences.

"His name is synonymous with Orillia," said Cook. "I've been many places in the world, from Japan to Australia, and if I tell people I'm from Orillia, even the locals, they will say, 'Oh, that's where Gordon Lightfoot is from'."

Lightfoot will be laid to rest in his hometown of Orillia at St. Paul's United Church.

The public is invited to pay their respects on Sunday at the church on Peter Street North from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2203500611510

video of RICK HAYNES at llink

Gordon Lightfoot was 'a loyal and good friend,' longtime bassist says
1 day agoNewsDuration 4:37

Rick Haynes, who attended the public visitation for his friend Gordon Lightfoot in Orillia, Ont., described the late Canadian troubadour as humble and shy, an adventurer up for any challenge and one of the greatest songwriters who ever lived.

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

pics - I went to Orillia with David Newland - artist and emcee at the HUGH'S ROOM trib shows and Jane Harbury - long time freined of Gordon and Bernie-Riverboat Jane - Jane Harbury.. One snap is of Meredith and David having a hug..
https://www.orilliamatters.com/local...e1f3-318369853

Visitation for Gordon Lightfoot captured in photos
Hundreds have come to Orillia to pay their respects to the beloved singer/songwriter who got his start as a choir boy at St. Paul's
Kevin Lamb

It has been a sombre Sunday afternoon in Orillia, punctuated by rain and a mix of emotions.

Hundreds have come to Orillia, the hometown of Gordon Lightfoot, to pay their respects to one of Canada's most iconic singer/songwriters.

A public visitation for Lightfoot, who died at a Toronto hospital May 1, began at 1 p.m. at St. Paul's Centre in downtown Orillia. People are welcome to come and pay their respects until 8 p.m. A private funeral for Lightfoot will be held in Orillia next week.

There has been an outpouring of affection for the beloved troubadour this week as people from all over the world have shared their love and passion for the gifted singer who began his career as a choir boy at St. Paul's.

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

https://www.orilliamatters.com/local...e1f3-318369853

'He was Canadiana': Lightfoot's music, humility resounded loudly
'I really loved how authentic he was and how real he was,' said Karen Hilfman-Millson, a former St. Paul’s minister, who will be officiant at Lightfoot's funeral

As hundreds of friends and fans made a pilgrimage to St. Paul’s Centre on Sunday to pay tribute to Orillia-born folk music legend Gordon Lightfoot, countless memories of friendship and fandom emerged.

Orillia residents, Canadians from far and wide, and travellers from the United States came to bid the folk music legend a final farewell during a public visitation that ran from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.. By three in the afternoon, more than 1,000 people had already paid their respects to Lightfoot, who died May 1. He was 84..

Karen Hilfman-Millson, a former St. Paul’s minister and long-time friend of Lightfoot’s, has been chosen as the officiant of his upcoming funeral, a private function for family and close friends.

“It feels like such a blessing because I have this deep sadness, and almost like a wound at his death,” she told OrilliaMatters. “To have the opportunity, to think about who he's been in my life and in the life of Canada and the life of Orillia, it means a lot. It really does.”

Hilfman-Millson, who served as St. Paul’s minister for 17 years, had the opportunity to interview Lightfoot on numerous occasions.

She said she loved how authentic and humble he was.

“I really loved how authentic he was and how real he was,” she said. “He didn't want to be a superstar – he wasn't particularly interested in that. He was a very shy person; he was a very humble person, but he was very committed to his craft and his musical lyrical poetry.”

Recalling how Lightfoot began his musical career at St. Paul’s in the choir, Hilfman-Millson said it means a lot to know how much the church meant to him, and she said it signifies the impact the church can have on people.

“The whole idea of him choosing to come home to here for his visitation means a lot,” she said. “It just warms people's hearts, that this meant so much to him, and I think we begin to see the difference we can make as a community, both the church community and the Orillia community.

“He walked through that door a lot, and it made an impact on his life, so it's, it's very touching to be reminded how much of a difference that makes when we welcome people and we encourage their gifts, and we celebrate who they are,” she said. “It's a good reminder that as a community, that's what we need to be doing.”

Just as the church impacted Lightfoot’s life, so, too, did he impact the hundreds of people who showed up for the public visitation.

Siblings Fred and Lisa Krohn travelled all the way from Minneapolis to pay their respects.

Fred said Lightfoot was a key part of building his career as a music promoter in Minneapolis.

“He was the first artist that I ever promoted as live entertainment ... He sold out shows, and I stayed in the business,” he said. “The guy is a legendary performer and probably the best songwriter that I've ever had … Lightfoot outclassed them all, as far as I’m concerned.”

Through their friendship, Lightfoot penned the foreword to Fred’s book, Standing in the Wings, and became a family friend, as well.

“Our mom used to … bring Gordon and the guys brownies, and he called our mom ‘Mom,’ and he's known our family through Fred for all these years,” added Lisa.

When not involved in music, Lightfoot would often take to adventure, and his old friend Ingo Schoppel spoke of numerous canoe trips the two had been on over the years.

“We have a canoe group out of Cambridge, all kinds of prominent people – prime ministers, and so forth – have been part of it, and he was very enthusiastic. I did a bunch of trips with him up north and (in the) Northwest Territories,” Schoppel said. “(There were) some very long trips, longest one I did with Gord was 1,000 kilometres long.”

When you spend weeks together in nature, Schoppel said, you get to know someone fairly well.

“Gord’s music is fantastic, and when you have stayed some five, six weeks together in the bush alone, you know, you get talking with him and you have a fantastic exchange,” he said. “He was very persistent, very strong, never gives up.”

Others had more humourous memories of the late folk legend.

Orillia resident Peggy Little came out to pay her respects to Lightfoot, as she went to school with him once upon a time.

“We both went to ODCVI, and a chap called Terry Whelan, who has a beautiful Irish voice, he and Gordy sang together. I always called them the ‘Two Timers,’ but it was the Two Tones, because they were two timers,” Little said, stirring plenty of laughter in the lineup outside St. Paul’s.

“I never went out with him.”

Jeff Day, former managing editor of the Orillia Packet & Times, recalled meeting Lightfoot numerous times in Orillia, as well as in his role as a journalist down in Hamilton.

“When Even Steven … came back to play after touring out west, Gord would come and listen to them at various bars in Orillia, including the old Howard Johnson's,” he said. “The most fun part I remember about him, was he came one night … with his mom, Jessie, and she was just a riot. We ended up sitting with her. What a light she was.

“I got to meet him several times when I went to Hamilton as the entertainment editor at the Hamilton Spectator, so he played there several times, and we got to meet him again,” he said. “He was Canadiana. He's just ingrained in what we do and how we do it every day.”

Orillia’s Andrea Town said her husband once gifted her a record of Lightfoot’s, and said she has been a fan for years.

“I listened to it all the time, and as I'm standing here in the rain, I'm thinking of "Early Morning Rain",” she said. “I don't have that record anymore, so I'm kind of sad about that, but I love his music. It's reflective. It's just a beautiful sound that he brings in every song.”

George Young, who travelled from Huntsville to pay his respects, said he became a fan of Lightfoot’s through his career in radio.

“Of course, when I started back in the ‘60s, he was one of the big singers of the time,” he said. “A lot of his stuff was local Canadian: history, people, personal, and he was unique in that way, and he wasn't afraid to sing it and express himself. I think that's what set him apart from some other singers.”

Edith Molnar, from Toronto, said she became acquainted with Lightfoot back in the ‘hippie’ days of the 1960s, as well.

“I was a hippie then, walking down Yorkville, and he was in the Riverboat Coffeehouse for 25 years, and he was like a staple down in the village,” she said. “We loved his music and I saw him at Massey Hall many, many times, and to me, he's like a Canadian icon.”

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

https://www.orilliamatters.com/local...htfoot-6965184

A community, a nation bids heart-felt farewell to Gordon Lightfoot
'I wouldn't be exaggerating to say that Gordon Lightfoot put Orillia on the map,' longtime band member says as hundreds line up to say goodbye to iconic singer, songwriter

Fans, family, and friends flocked to St. Paul’s Centre Sunday to mourn the passing of Orillia’s favourite son, the internationally renowned singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot.

Travelling from across Ontario, Canada, and the United States, people began lining up this morning, hours in advance, in anticipation of the public service that runs from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.

People, many sporting umbrellas during a brief rain shower, lined up outside the church entrance, up Peter Street to Neywash Street and then back and forth twice more on the closed street.

Just as a church bell long ago chimed at the Mariners' Church of Detroit for each of the 29 lost souls aboard the Edmund Fitzgerald, so, too, did St. Paul’s Centre toll its bell — a total of 30 times — capturing the loss of those sailors and the man who immortalized that harrowing wreck on Lake Superior 48 years ago.

Lightfoot, 84, died of natural causes at a Toronto hospital on May 1.

Both Lightfoot, the man, and Lightfoot, the musician, had an immeasurable impact on the hundreds that lined Peter Street to bid the folk legend a final farewell.

“He wrote some songs about the territory here, Lake Couchiching, and he's mentioned Indigenous things in his music,” said Myeengun Henry, who travelled from the Chippewa of the Thames First Nation, near London. “That really got people to learn about Indigenous history, so he's huge in the Indigenous world and we respected everything he did.”

Bernie David, a fan of over 50 years, drove from Toronto this morning to pay his respects to the man he credits for, in a way, introducing him to his future wife.

“In high school, she had tickets for Lightfoot, and I went, and I’ve loved him ever since,” recalled a misty-eyed David, who went on to marry his high school sweetheart.

“All my friends used to sit by the campfire and play the guitar, and every time he came out with a new album … I learned all the music,” said David.

For many, Lightfoot's music was the soundtrack of their youth.

“I grew up with it. I grew up singing to it, and my brother’s first guitar tunes were Gordon Lightfoot,” said Lisa Langill, who came down from the Muskoka area. “So we thought we’d come down. How can you not?”

Lightfoot’s longtime bassist credits the late musician with putting Orillia on the map, and remaining humble despite his fame.

“I wouldn't be exaggerating to say that Gordon Lightfoot put Orillia on the map, and he's also been a great supporter of Orillia as a philanthropist,” said Rick Haynes.

“He was a humble man considering his fame,” Haynes said. “He was very engaging, he was very caring, and he really had time for everyone. He really did.”

The visitation continues until 8 p.m. this evening. A private funeral will be held next week in Orillia.

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

https://en.newsner.com/celebrity/dog...0WRDNxvh4sLWxQ


Dog curls up next to Gordon Lightfoot’s casket during memorial service: “Gordon loved dogs”

Kevin McCarthy

Last week, the legendary singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot died at the age of 84. One of the most successful folk artists of his era and a Canadian national hero, countless fans grieved at his passing.

A memorial service for the musician was held on May 7 — and in a heartwarming sight, one old friend gathered by his side.

Lightfoot, whose hit songs include “Sundown” and “If You Could Read My Mind,” was memorialized at St. Paul’s United Church in his hometown of Orillia, Ontario, Canada.

The singer, who stayed true to his Canadian roots even as he achieved international stardom, reportedly requested that his funeral be held at the Orilla church, where he sang in the choir as a teenager.

“He is the one that wanted it to be here, in this church that he grew up in,” St. Paul’s choir director Blair Bailey told CTV News.

Lightfoot’s funeral yesterday was reportedly a small, private affair with 50 close friends and family members attending, but local fans had an opportunity to pay their respects at a public visitation on Sunday.

Those who did witnessed a bittersweet moment as an unexpected mourner curled up by the late musician’s side: a dog named Taurus.

According to Lightfoot’s longtime publicist Victoria Lord, Taurus belongs to one of Lightfoot’s tour people, and they bonded while on the road together.

“He used to go on the road with him and wait for Gordon side stage,” Victoria Lord told Newsner. “Gordon loved dogs.”

It’s not uncommon for dogs, loyal til the very end, to lay by the graves or caskets of their departed loved ones — a heartbreaking, bittersweet tribute.

You can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat animals. Taurus may not have been Lightfoot’s own pet, but it’s clear they had a real bond and the dog will miss him a lot.

Gordon Lightfoot died on May 1 at the age of 84. The news was first reported via the musician’s Facebook page; he reportedly died of natural causes.

Lightfoot achieved his greatest international success in the 1970s, with hits like “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Sundown” and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” Several of his albums went platinum.

One of his generation’s folk music superstars, Lightfoot was widely respected by his fellow musicians and regarded as a national hero in his native Canada.

“He is our poet laureate, he is our iconic singer-songwriter,” said Rush singer Geddy Lee in the 2019 documentary Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind, per CBC.

“I can’t think of any Gordon Lightfoot song I don’t like,” Bob Dylan once said. “Everytime I hear a song of his, it’s like I wish it would last forever…. Lightfoot became a mentor for a long time. I think he probably still is to this day.”

“Gordon Lightfoot captured our country’s spirit in his music – and in doing so, he helped shape Canada’s soundscape,” Trudeau wrote on Twitter after Lightfoot’s passing, calling him “one of our greatest singer-songwriters.”

Rest in peace to the incredible Gordon Lightfoot. He will be missed by so many — including loyal dog Taurus. ��

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

you can catch me at the end in the yellow coat..(and Trib.show emcee David Newland hugging Meredith on the other end of the casket as I walk by)

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

https://www.orilliamatters.com/local...-lives-6964571

COLUMN: Lightfoot's fingerprints touch all of our lives
Writer's ties to 'The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald' story still echo decades later, just as Lightfoot's music and lyrics continue to resonate today
Ian McInroy Ian McInroy
May 7, 2023 1:30 PM

Orillia and the rest of Canada are remembering Gordon Lightfoot.

His music triggers lots of memories and emotions for me, probably not unlike millions of other Canadians.

My first introduction to Lightfoot’s music was the "Canadian Railroad Trilogy," released in 1967. I remember listening to it in Grade 8 the following year (our teacher was a huge Gordon Lightfoot fan) and, along with my classmates, loved the story it told and how it was told through words and music. I would hear it a few more times later in high school where we dissected it even further.

Lightfoot’s next musical imprint on my teen brain later in 1968 would be political, poignant and hit a lot closer to home.

When "Black Day in July" — Lightfoot’s ode to the 1967 summer race riots in Detroit, Michigan — was released in 1968, I was living just a few miles away in peaceful south Windsor. The previous summer we’d been house hunting along the Detroit River: manicured lawns and suburbia to the right, billowing smoke and emergency lights across the river to the left.

The mile in between didn’t seem far enough.

Lightfoot’s song nailed that summer of discontent at least as well as any black or white American musical act did and he took quite a bit of heat for it. I liked the song immediately: it was revealing truths and made me think that music could have power.

I had the opportunity and pleasure to meet Lightfoot’s friend and longtime guitar player Terry Clements in 1989 during a photo shoot while I was working at a Newmarket newspaper.

Clements had been busy in Los Angles before he began playing with Lightfoot in 1971 after a lineup change in the band. His guitar is featured on Lightfoot’s most memorable work, including his solos on The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, which spent 21 weeks on the U.S. Billboard charts.

There may have been gold records scattered around the walls of his home studio and guitars everywhere, but he was just a really nice guy. Easy to talk to.

He passed away in 2011 after a stroke — just weeks prior he was still rehearsing with Lightfoot — and was always remembered by Lightfoot as one of his best friends.

Whenever I hear "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" and his amazing guitar, I think of him.

I also think of my father-in-law.

Hmmm.

Within months of the Edmund Fitzgerald going down, Jack Kennedy — the Canadian Coast Guard’s district manager in Parry Sound — got a call from Lightfoot, who wanted information around the ship’s sinking. The singer was renowned for his attention to detail (along with an appropriate amount of artistic licence) so a call up to ’The Guard’ for some background must have seemed in order.

“His name didn’t ring a bell to me,” says Jack with a grin. “I didn’t know who it was to tell you the truth. I just had a nice long chat with him and told him what I thought about different things. We talked back and forth about some other stuff, too.”

No need to be star struck.

“I came out of my office where the other staff were and said, ‘I just got a call from this Gordon Lightfoot fellow about the Fitzgerald. Who is he?’ They kind of laughed and said, ‘Don’t you know who Gordon Lightfoot is?’ And I said, ’No, I don’t.’”

But the musician went to the right place if he wanted some background on one of Canada’s most famous nautical disasters, with Jack spending 38 years in the Coast Guard, including 16 on the water. Starting as a deck hand, he worked his way up to captain, then became superintendent of lights, then superintendent of navigational aids and then district manager for about 10 years.

“In the meantime I did go on a steamship (laker, freighter) for a year-and-a-half and I actually ended up in a big storm similar to what the Fitzgerald encountered,” says Jack from his Bay Street home on Parry Sound harbour.

“We did the same thing. We had to go north of Cariboo Island and follow the shore and try to get away from the heavy seas. We really got racked up good,” he adds. “That was my biggest storm for sure and it was the same trip the Fitzgerald had made. They had to go along the Canadian shore to try to avoid the heavy seas.

“We didn’t figure we’d survive that night really. It was pretty horrendous.”

Lightfoot utilized his previously-mentioned artistic licence when drawing upon some of their conversations for the song, adds Jack.

“At first there were many different theories about what happened,” he says, “and there are a lot of presumptions because nobody survived.”

The musician’s original lyrics — ‘At seven p.m., a main hatchway caved in’ — was later disproven (Lightfoot altered the words in later performances) and also contained some possible, but not likely, scenarios, says Jack.

Another memorable line — ‘The captain wired in he had water comin' in. And the good ship and crew was in peril.’ — was also a little off the mark.

“The captain never indicated he was in peril. The last thing the captain said just before it went down was, ‘we’re holding our own’. Just prior to that he said, ‘we’re taking on water and we hope our pumps are keeping up’,” he says. “You don’t know if your pumps are keeping up or not. You can’t go down into a bilge and see how much water is in there.

“You can’t go outside. You just hang on for dear life. Anyway, she probably was sinking but you don’t know the boat is sinking if it’s loaded with iron ore because you’re really down in the water.”

Jack’s own theory is that the Fitzgerald was taking on water from a crack.

“A ship takes a lot of strain in heavy seas,” he says. “I can remember looking back aft from the wheelhouse when we were coming down the same area and you could see the whole boat twisting. So you could easily get a fracture in the hull doing that overtime.”

But when she did go down, she went down immediately, he adds.

“The guy was talking on the phone and then ‘boom’, he’s gone. So it didn’t take a long time; it was sudden.”

But one part of the conversation between the sailor and the song writer did come across in the tune.

What would you say to a group of sailors who could be hours or minutes away from dying?

“We talked about a lot of different things but that was definitely one of them,” Jack says. “He asked me specifically what the crew would say to each other, how they would act, that sort of thing. I said something like, ’So long boys. It’s been good to know you’.

“It was a cool song. I do recall hearing it and going, ‘oh, that’s the guy I had the talk with’.”

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/...I17GRHQ8V9C0Zg

Family, friends gather at private funeral for Gordon Lightfoot in his hometown
Close friends and family of Gordon Lightfoot came together for a small, private funeral on Monday held at the Orillia, Ont. church where he was once a choir boy.
DF
By David Friend The Canadian Press
Mon., May 8, 2023

ORILLIA, Ont. - Close friends and family of Gordon Lightfoot came together for a small, private funeral on Monday held at the Orillia, Ont. church where he was once a choir boy.

A group of roughly 50 people assembled inside St. Paul’s United Church for the nearly two-hour ceremony that included a choir performance accompanied by an organ.

Underneath the virtually cloudless sunny sky, the local community went about the day as any other, with some doing yard work and a few curious onlookers wandering past the church to observe the activity.

One neighbour set up a lawn chair outside his house to see if Canadian rock royalty the likes of Joni Mitchell and Neil Young might pull up.

They didn’t seem to, however. Most of the visible mourners appeared to be Lightfoot’s extended family, band mates and others who worked with him over the years.

After the ceremony finished, Lightfoot’s casket was loaded into a hearse and left the church grounds as a small crowd of people gathered to observe the proceedings from across the street.

Lightfoot is to be laid to rest alongside his parents at St. Andrew’s and St. James’ Cemetery.

On Sunday, a public visitation was held at St. Paul’s United Church that drew more than 2,400 people, according to estimates from security for the event.

Elsewhere, a book of condolences could also be signed at Toronto’s Massey Hall, a venue where Lightfoot frequently performed throughout his career.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 8, 2023.

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

https://www.orilliamatters.com/local...YnHUIMz47v1xOc

COLUMN: 'Rest easy, Mr. Lightfoot. We will never forget you'
After an emotional week of tributes and rites, Orillia shifts gears, moves back into a 'whirlwind of arts and culture events,' says columnist
Anna Proctor

Well, it’s certainly been quite the week here in Orillia. Our hometown hero, Gordon Lightfoot, put us on the international stage this past week, no doubt about it. And Orillia, and St. Paul’s United Church in particular, did him very proud.

All of the arrangements were handled perfectly, and I have heard from more than one source, everyone was so very kind, respectful, and welcoming.

Lightfoot planned this 10 years ago, and he knew what he was doing. He knew Orillia and St. Paul’s was where he wanted to be, and where he wanted his loved ones to be taken care of with love and respect. Hats off to you, Orillia. You did good. Rest easy, Mr. Lightfoot. We will never forget you.

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

https://www.orilliamatters.com/local...htfoot-6981022

BEHIND THE SCENES: The world says goodbye to Gordon Lightfoot
OrillaMatters reporter Greg McGrath-Goudie takes us behind the scenes as Orillia and the world bid adieu to Gordon Lightfoot
Village Media

The community of Orillia gathered at St. Paul's Centre Sunday to mourn the loss of their beloved favourite son, Gordon Lightfoot.

Fans, family, and friends from all over Ontario, Canada, and the United States lined up for hours outside the church entrance, braving a brief rain shower while paying their respects to the renowned singer/songwriter at the seven-hour-long public service.

As a tribute to Lightfoot's iconic song about the Edmund Fitzgerald, St. Paul's Centre tolled its bell 30 times, honouring the memory of the sailors lost and the man who immortalized their tragic fate on Lake Superior 48 years ago. Lightfoot, aged 84, passed away from natural causes in a Toronto hospital on May 1.

The impact of Lightfoot, both as a person and a musician, was immeasurable for the hundreds of mourners who lined the streets of Orillia to bid farewell to the folk legend. His songs resonated with people on a personal level, as he often incorporated local themes and Indigenous history into his music.

For many, Lightfoot's music was the soundtrack of their youth, evoking cherished memories and moments shared with friends and family.

Rick Haynes, Lightfoot's longtime bassist, recognized the profound impact the late musician had on Orillia. Haynes described Lightfoot as a humble and engaging individual who genuinely cared for others and always made time for them.

Fans, family, and friends of Canadian music legend Gordon Lightfoot gathered from all over the continent to attend his visitation in Orillia this past Sunday. OrilliaMatters reporter Greg McGrath-Goudie was present at St. Paul's Centre to capture the emotions and heartfelt goodbyes during the visitation, which drew more than 2,400 people who came to pay their respects to Orillia's favourite son.

Lightfoot had a profound impact on the attendees, evoking a mixture of sadness and admiration.

Many attendees shared personal connections and stories about Gordon Lightfoot. One woman, who had gone to school with Lightfoot and was a year younger than him, recalled their time together in a group called "The Two Tones."

Another attendee, a promoter from Minnesota, attributed his successful career to Lightfoot's influence and even wrote a book about his promoting career, which Lightfoot supported. There was also a gentleman from Cambridge who had gone on canoe trips with Lightfoot for several years. These stories reflected the impact Lightfoot had on people's lives, whether through his music, personal connections, or inspiring journeys.

Gordon Lightfoot's impact on his hometown of Orillia was profound and enduring. Unlike many famous musicians, Lightfoot consistently paid homage to his roots and remained connected to the city throughout his career. He generously donated the proceeds from concerts to causes such as Soldiers' Memorial Hospital, and he began his career as a choirboy at St. Paul's Centre. Lightfoot's desire to be buried in his hometown further emphasized his strong ties to Orillia.

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

https://en.prothomalo.com/entertainm...sic/0xolk1htsw

Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian folk legend, dead at 84
AFP
Washington
Published: 02 May 2023,

Canadian singer and performer Gordon Lightfoot, who rose to international fame as a folk music star in the 1960s and '70s, died on Monday. He was 84.

"Gordon Lightfoot passed away this evening in a Toronto hospital at 7:30pm (2330 GMT)," a post on his official Facebook page read, as obituaries started pouring in from the Canadian press.

The immediate cause of death was not made public. "More info to come," read the post.

Lightfoot, born in Ontario, made his performing debut in 1943, at the age of five, singing "I'm A Little Teapot" at a local church Sunday school, according to his website.

He later found himself immersed in the Canadian and American folk scene, amid contemporaries like Joni Mitchell and Neil Young.

While he is known as a folk and folk-pop star of the late 20th century, Lightfoot's popularity -- and continued songwriting -- meant he was touring internationally until just last month.

In April, the singer canceled his 2023 tour dates, citing unspecified health issues.

Lightfoot's songs -- dealing with everything from a failed marriage to the beauty of the Canadian countryside -- were covered by artists including Elvis Presley, Harry Belafonte, Bob Dylan and The Grateful Dead.

The singer, known for hits such as "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," "Early Morning Rain," and "If You Could Read My Mind," was often hailed as a modern-day poet in his native Canada.

Dylan once called Lightfoot one of his favorite artists, saying "I can't think of any (songs) I don't like."

Lightfoot, on the other hand, was more reserved about his talents, once telling Canadian paper The Globe and Mail: "Sometimes I wonder why I'm being called an icon, because I really don't think of myself that way."

But his modesty was to no avail.

"He is our poet laureate. He is our iconic singer-songwriter," Geddy Lee, the lead singer of Rock band Rush, told a 2019 documentary about Lightfoot.

Lightfoot "was hailed as Canada's folk troubadour for his soulful music and stirring lyrics," broadcaster CBC wrote in its obituary.

Lightfoot is survived by his third wife, Kim Hasse, according to music publication Billboard.

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

https://www.thestar.com/entertainmen...te-friend.html

Burton Cummings, Tom Cochrane among musicians who say they’ll play Gordon Lightfoot tribute: friend
Plans for a star-studded night of music celebrating the legacy of Gordon Lightfoot are already taking shape, according to his longtime friend and concert promoter.
DF
By David FriendThe Canadian Press
Mon., May 8, 2023timer1 min. read

ORILLIA - Plans for a star-studded night of music celebrating the legacy of Gordon Lightfoot are already taking shape, according to his longtime friend and concert promoter.

Bernie Fiedler says several prominent Canadian musicians who counted themselves among Lightfoot’s friends, including Burton Cummings, Tom Cochrane and Murray McLauchlan, have already committed to performing at a tribute show.

Fiedler says while it’s too early to predict when the event might happen, he hopes it’ll take place at Toronto’s Massey Hall, a venue Lightfoot frequented.

He says he’d like the show to include Lightfoot’s original band as the accompaniment “if they’re willing.”

Fiedler outlined the details at a public visitation for the folk singer on Sunday in his hometown of Orillia, Ont., where an estimated 2,400 fans attended.

The “If You Could Read My Mind” and “Sundown” singer died last week at 84.

“His last words to me were, ‘Bern, we had a great ride and I’m ready to go,’” Fielder told reporters alongside Rick Haynes, Lightfoot’s bassist.

Haynes, who worked with Lightfoot for 55 years, described the musician as being at peace in his final days.

“The last months were rough but Gordon was resolved,” he said.

“One of the things he said very recently was, ‘My life’s work is done and I’m ready.’”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 8, 2023.

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

VIDEOS at link:
https://everythingzoomer.com/arts-en...eid=790cd0a653

Gordon Lightfoot’s Music Raised Awareness of Great Lakes Maritime Disasters
JACK L. ROZDILSKY | MAY 11TH, 2023

On May 1, the 84-year-old Canadian folk music icon Gordon Lightfoot died at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Hospital. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau commented that Lightfoot’s legacy will live on in the dynamic Canadian soundscape he helped to shape.

In his over 500 songs, Lightfoot was one of Canada’s most beloved chroniclers. Upon his death, we can reflect on Lightfoot’s many impacts on Canadian culture and society.

Music Chronicles

One small aspect of Lightfoot’s broader impact was his skill as a purveyor of the popular culture of disaster through music.

One of his most recognized songs was the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. That 1976 folk ballad was a six-minute documentarian’s song about a tragic 1970s Great Lakes shipwreck disaster.

Lightfoot’s work popularized the Great Lakes bulk cargo shipping transport disaster through song, bringing the story of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald to millions of music fans. Without the song, that specific maritime disaster would not be as well known and might have faded into obscurity.

Lightfoot’s Disaster Music

Lightfoot is one of many Canadian musicians, albeit the most popular, who has carried forward the tradition of Canadian folk music providing a reliable narrative about disasters. Lightfoot’s contributions to disaster music include a well known and a lesser known ballad about contemporary shipwrecks, along with a song about a civil disturbance.

On Nov. 13, 1965, the SS Yarmouth Castle caught fire and sank, killing 90 people while en route from Florida to the Bahamas. The passenger ship — built in 1927 — had a wood superstructure making it dangerously susceptible to fire. In 1969, Lightfoot’s the Ballad of Yarmouth Castle detailed that maritime tragedy.

In June 1967, a police raid on an unlicensed bar triggered a series of racial grievances, leading to the Detroit Uprising. From the Canada side of the international border along the Detroit River, Windsorites lined the waterfront and watched the riot from afar as Detroit burned.

In his 1968 song, Black Day in July Lightfoot memorialized the civil disturbance with his music.

On Nov. 10, 1975, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald broke apart during a Lake Superior storm killing 29 sailors. Lightfoot was inspired to write the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald after reading an article in Newsweek called “Great Lakes: The Cruellest Month.”

This song was by far Lightfoot’s most popular disaster song. While he took some artistic licence describing the shipwreck, the song was factual and timely.

A Special Role

Lightfoot had a special role in contributing to the legend of the Edmund Fitzgerald. In a 2010 interview, he said of the hundreds of songs that he has written, he was most proud of that 1970s shipwreck song.

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point, Mich., holds artifacts retrieved from depths of the Canadian portion of Lake Superior, including the Edmund Fitzgerald’s bell. The museum’s director stated that if it was not for Lightfoot’s song, awareness of the Edmund Fitzgerald would not be what it is now.

There is scant public awareness that historically 6,000 vessels have sunk in the Great Lakes, causing an estimated 30,000 deaths.

Lightfoot’s song also highlighted the role of Great Lakes shipping, which is taken for granted. Even in present day downtown Toronto, one can witness the unexpected sight of a bulk sugar carrier arriving from South America.

Bulk cargo carriers — servicing the North American industrial and agricultural heartland via the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway System — contribute to the $45 billion in economic activity from water transportation activities.

Increased Awareness

While shipwreck disasters in the Great Lakes are not frequent, bulk transport by lake is not risk-free. Lightfoot’s ballad highlights the fact that Great Lakes shipwrecks are not only events of the distant past, but they also can have significant human costs in modern times.

In addition to artistic merit, entertainment value, or adding to the list of Canadian disaster songs, Lightfoot’s contribution to increased public awareness of Great Lakes maritime disaster risk is invaluable.

So significant was his contribution that, upon his death, Detroit’s Maritime Church rang its bell in memorium. In the ceremony, the bell rang 30 times: one chime for each of the 29 sailors lost on the Edmund Fitzgerald, and one additional chime to honour the life and legacy of Lightfoot.The Conversation
Jack L. Rozdilsky, Associate Professor of Disaster and Emergency Management, York University, Canada

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RwkDTxqHJk

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

VIDEO:
Pianist spends night at St.Paul's with Lightfoot casket.

https://barrie.ctvnews.ca/video?clip...29&jwsource=em

http://barrie.ctvnews.ca/video?clipI...29&jwsource=em

RIP, and questions going forward
 

RIP Mr Lightfoot. And thanks Char for the articles posted here.

Now, after a couple of weeks have gone by, I have not heard anything about the band members. A couple of quotes from Rick is about all.

In the case of Gordie, I'm sure he had disposition of his estate tastefully spread across friends and family. The particulars, really is none of my business. I'm not a gossip monger.

Having said that, from a business perspective, I do have to wonder as to who will be the caretakers of the Lightfoot Library going onward?

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

I'm still coming to terms with this news. One thing I've done is email relatives and friends who knew Gord's music with my favourite videos of an early live song performance and a late-years live song performance (like bookends of Gord's long, admirable career). The two I chose were as follows.

"Saturday Clothes" from BBC concert 1972:


http://www.google.com/search?q=youtu...id:eJFHTutvv8E


"Ring Them Bells" from Mariposa Folk Festival 2012:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKJC...=RDqKJCf6kXdxc

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

VIDEO:
https://barrie.ctvnews.ca/video?clip...29&jwsource=em

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

I will have photos/video asap..
I spent time with Carter and Michael, Ed (Pee Wee) and Chuck the stage manager after the visitation...They were at the Sunday visitation as was Rick and his family. Barry was attending the funeral on Monday along with everyone else.. A small gathering - 50 or so people as well as a few long time U.S. promoters.

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

https://www.orilliamatters.com/local...7825-318369853

REMEMBER THIS: When Lightfoot was underestimated
Before Lightfoot became a musical icon, charging $60 to perform was 'far too expensive' for local business

Now lost among thousands of other comments, I once came across a social media gem that pointed to the fact we didn’t always know what we had in the person of Gordon Lightfoot.

Having had no luck in hunting down the original comment, I will have to resort to paraphrasing. Essentially, a contributor to my favourite Barrie-centred Facebook nostalgia group shared a telling nugget from a time when Lightfoot had not yet burst into fame.

The story goes that a larger business entity in Barrie was looking for some kind of musical entertainment for a company function when a staff member suggested Lightfoot. The idea was not well received.

“What? That Lightfoot kid? No way. He charges 60 bucks. Far too expensive. Forget it.”

By 1952, Lightfoot had appeared in Barrie on a number of occasions. He was becoming known locally but was far from being a household name at that time.

A notation in the local happenings section of the Barrie Examiner of June 2, 1952, mentioned a recent performance by the 14-year-old singer.

“Special soloist at the morning service at Collier Street United Church here yesterday was master Gordon Lightfoot of Orillia, boy soprano prize winner for the past two years at the Kiwanis Music Festival in Toronto. He was also soloist at the evening service at Essa Road Presbyterian Church.”

Lightfoot’s mother, Jessie Vick Trill Lightfoot, is credited with noticing her son’s natural talent and encouraging it. Lightfoot himself recognized his voice was a gift but his voice alone might not carry him through, so he began to teach himself to play a variety of musical instruments.

The next step was a formal education in music. Gordon moved far from small-town Orillia and travelled to Los Angeles, Calif., to attend the Westlake College of Music. For two years, the young musician supported himself with small gigs and by writing advertising jingles.

Most Canadian musicians who go to the United States never come back. Lightfoot was an exception. He’d had a taste of America, and it wasn’t for him, so he returned to the place he knew best, the source of so much of his lyrical inspiration.

1963 was spent travelling through Europe. The following year, Lightfoot returned to Canada and began to make the connections that would launch him into Canadian folk music prominence. American artists such as Bob Dylan, Judy Collins and Elvis Presley were also eager to record his work.

Lightfoot appeared at the Mariposa Folk Festival for the first time in 1964. The event had originated in his hometown of Orillia but had been banished to Toronto the previous year after numerous complaints about large and unruly crowds at the Orillia venue.

The 1960s were breakout years for the lad from Orillia. Lightfoot toured nationally and, in 1967, became a big part of the Canadian centennial celebrations. It was a bit of a miracle, then, that Barrie North Collegiate managed to secure the rising star for a centennial concert of its own.

Somehow, the graduating class managed to gather Lightfoot’s fee of $1,750 and book him to perform at the auditorium at Central Collegiate.

Lightfoot did not disappoint. More than 1,100 people filled the auditorium to hear the songs and the stories of this down-to-earth local man who was surely going places. The next week, he was off to Expo 67 in Montreal.

In 1969, the students at Barrie North Collegiate attempted to book Lightfoot once again but were unsuccessful due to “financial reasons.”

By then, Lightfoot was becoming a much-sought-after musician, and the 1970s saw him become established as a folk music icon.

He performed until shortly before his death at the age of 84. At the time of his passing, he was booking performances for fees in the range of $40,000 to $75,000 a show. Sixty bucks sounds like a pretty sweet deal now, doesn’t it?

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

PHOTO at link"
https://www.saobserver.net/community...FJWfXVWksmomhw

The treble clef at the end of Alexander Street in Salmon Arm has held a banner with the words “Our Musical Laureate - Gordon Lightfoot” since the Canadian icon’s death on May 1, 2023. The banner will be coming down during the weekend of May 13. (Martha Wickett-Salmon Arm Observer)
‘Absolutely wonderful writer’: Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot added to Salmon Arm’s treble clef
Visible reminder of iconic songwriter to come down this coming weekend
MARTHA WICKETTMay. 10, 2023 5:00 a.m.

Bill Laird, the man behind the huge orange treble clef at the end of Alexander Street in Salmon Arm, was met with a question first thing on the morning of May 2.

“Linda got up Tuesday morning and said, ‘You’re going to do something, right?’” explained Laird, referring to his spouse.

She was talking about iconic Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, 84, who died on Monday, May 1, in a Toronto hospital.


They talked about a banner and argued whether it should say ‘musical laureate’ or just ‘laureate.’

Then things got rolling.

“My wife gets the credit for the idea and everybody else gets the credit for pitching in,” said Laird, emphasizing his part was minuscule.

He reached Lew Dies and Jamie Walters at Spectrum Signworks, who immediately went to work creating a banner. He also contacted Joe Chartier at Shuswap Rentals, who provided a hoist. The banner was hung on the treble clef by 3 p.m. that day.

“I want to stress how much they helped,” he reiterated.

Read more: Legendary folk singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot dies at 84

Laird explained that Linda grew up in Ontario, where she and her brother Roger taught themselves to play guitar by listening to Gordon Lightfoot.

“Linda was playing Lightfoot before I met her,” he said, but Lightfoot songs soon became a common soundscape in their home.

The couple also went to see him perform a couple of times and to his hometown, Orillia, Ont.

Linda has been singing Lightfoot tunes steadily since his death, Laird said.

“He’s been a big part of our musical life. It is a big thing for Canada. He was absolutely a wonderful writer. Some of his ballads are amazing.”

This weekend, the “Our Musical Laureate – Gordon Lightfoot” banner will be coming down, but his musical creations won’t be soon forgotten, not at the Lairds’ home, nor, undoubtedly, in many others across the country.

more about the Treble Clef: https://www.saobserver.net/news/in-p...in-salmon-arm/

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e62c55e3_o.jpg32654147_web1_230517-SAA-treble-clef-lightfoot-640x432 by char Westbrook, on Flickr

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSKyYXPc7ro

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

May 17, 2023:
Linus Entertainment releases At Royal Albert Hall, a Gordon Lightfoot double live performance set recorded in May of 2016, on July 14. It will likely become a companion piece next to All Live recorded at Massey Hall and released in 2012. In 2002, Linus released Live in Reno, a 22-song video. The same label released Harmony, his last studio album, recorded in 2001 and released in 2004.

In the week following his death May 1, Lightfoot had the top three placements on Billboard’s Rock Digital Song Sales chart with Sundown, If You Could Read My Mind and The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Carefree Highway placed 5th on the chart. Meantime, Linus Ent’s Geoff Kulawick reports that the Royal Albert Hall pre-order has been a Top 15 album overall on Amazon.com in the US and #1 Folk, outselling all other Lightfoot albums.
The same week, Luminate Ent. reported that Lightfoot's best-of album, Gord's Gold, debuted on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart at No. 6. and his best-of album, Gord's Gold debuted on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart at No. 6.

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

The Happy Camper: Remembering Gordon Lightfoot, Avid Canoe Tripper
by Kevin Callan /
May 8 2023

Over a dozen years ago I received a note from a Toronto film producer asking me to help with a documentary on all the wild places that legendary Canadian musician Gordon Lightfoot wrote and sang about. What a cool idea. I quickly answered back.

I can’t remember a canoe trip where Gordon’s songs weren’t dancing around in my head while paddling across a large lake or carrying a canoe across a lengthy portage. “Early
Morning Rain” was a given during a damp paddle. And who wouldn't have “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” in their thoughts while paddling the expanse of Lake Superior? Even his not-so-famous song “Canary Yellow Canoe” was a favourite of mine to bellow out while J-stroking down some wild river.

“In my canary yellow canoe, my yellow canoe
I want to go tripping in my canary yellow canoe
The Eastmain, Coppermine, Back River too
In my canary yellow canoe…”

Gordon Lightfoot was a canoeist! He preferred the far North, paddling Canada’s wilderness rivers like the Nahanni, Coppermine and Back. He did annual trips throughout the 70s and 80s and his Canary Yellow Canoe he used is now on display at the Canadian Canoe Museum.

The film producer wanted to meet me for coffee in Toronto and browse over maps and such. He said he’d pay for the coffee, so I said yes. I was heading to the city anyway to do my syndicated CBC Radio show at the time, “The Happy Camper,” and the coffee place was just across the street. So, why not. Conversing about canoe tripping and Gordon Lightfoot goes hand in hand for me.

It was 6:30 a.m. when I walked into the coffee place. My CBC show was an early one, so the plan was simple: I would gulp down a decaf and pinpoint places on topographic maps where a film crew could capture Lightfoot moments on camera.

I sauntered in, groggy from the two-hour drive through city traffic, and noticed the producer waving his arm to indicate I was at the right meeting place. Leaving the table where the producer sat was Gordon Downie from The Tragically Hip. He walked past me, said, “Hi Kevin,” and calmly strolled out the front door of the coffee house.

Holy shit! It seemed I was in the big leagues when it comes to Toronto film producers trying to document a Lightfoot history. Gordon Downie also loved the canoe, and Gordon Lightfoot. He believed both were Canadian icons.

I attempted to stay cool about the Gordon Downie encounter during the meeting with the producer. But I failed miserably. I had the jitters the entire time I unrolled maps and showed possible logistics problems for his film crew.

The producer kept up to his promise and paid for the coffee, and then I moved on across the street to the CBC Radio building to do my show. The producer joined me. It seemed he was meeting others to chat about the documentary project. And there, standing in what’s called the “green room”—a meeting place for performers with cozy couches and refreshments—were a few more Gordon Lightfoot fans, all who also happened to be canoeists: Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo, the three members of the classic alternative band The Grapes of Wrath and… Gordon Lightfoot.

Again I tried to keep my cool. It’s not something I do well. I’ve met some legends in my time. Red Green was awesome, Pierre Burton was unforgettable, Farley Mowat was inspirational, Mark Brown from Monty Python was the highlight of my life. They all loved the canoe as well.

Gordon wasn’t saying much. He was just standing there listening to them go over the film project. So, I went over and asked him where his next canoe trip would be. That got his attention. He loved talking about canoe tripping. So did all the others.

What a privilege to have a friendly chat with a group of Canadian legends about the joy of wilderness canoe tripping.

You can’t get more Canadian than that!

Gordon Lightfoot passed away recently. He will be missed by us all. His songs truly characterized the Canadian identity—including his “Canary Yellow Canoe.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ-5b...e=emb_imp_woyt

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

https://www.orilliamatters.com/local...7TeBrgJ6AhXLcY

VIDEO at link

Gordon Lightfoot was a Canadian music icon who loved his hometown as much as it loved him back.

Lightfoot passed away on May 1 at the age of 84 and was laid to rest in Orillia, the city where his musical journey began as a choir boy at St. Paul's United Church.

Lightfoot's death triggered an outpouring of affection across the country and beyond — and countless memories of a man who was as humble as he was talented. In his case, the legend truly does live on.

This podcast features two long-time friends who knew Lightfoot better than most: Pam Carter, president of the Mariposa Folk Festival and Foundation, and Karen Hilfman Millson, a retired minister who was the officiant at Lighfoot’s private funeral (at his request, in the church where it all started).

They talk about the origins and life of this most "reluctant superstar" and remember a man who "has left a huge legacy for generations to come."

While his mark on the music world is immense globally, so, too, is the legacy he left in his hometown, its people and its institutions.

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

https://www.orilliamatters.com/local...s-died-6937128

Gordon Lightfoot, Orillia's favourite son, a world-renowned singer/songwriter and folk legend, has died.

His publicist announced Monday night that Lightfoot had passed away at a Toronto hospital at 7:30 p.m. He died of natural causes. He was 84.

"I'm shocked," Pam Carter, president of the Mariposa Folk Foundation that is behind the hugely successful Mariposa Folk Festival, said Monday night.

Lightfoot's name was synonymous with the "grand old dame" of folk festivals. When it returned to Orillia in 2000, Lightfoot was the headliner and he performed for free.

"I think that speaks to his generosity and his humility and his love for Orillia," said Carter.

In the years since the festival returned to Tudhope Park, Lightfoot was ever-present and often took the stage. Last summer, he was inducted into the Mariposa Folk Festival Hall of Fame.

He was moved to tears during the tribute performed by Tom Wilson, Blue Rodeo and the Good Brothers.

"That meant a lot to him," said Carter. "I was in the golf cart with him to take him to the green room after and he was just so moved. He had a kind word for everyone and signed autographs. It was really beautiful."

Tom Wilson told OrilliaMatters following the induction ceremony at Tudhope Park that Gordon Lightfoot had a huge impact on the festival and the music industry.

“There’s been a lot of great artists that we have seen on this stage that impact us in so many ways, people that have opened up the doors of possibilities, but Gordon Lightfoot lives in our blood, he’s the soundtrack to some of our greatest and most beautiful memories as well as some of our biggest disasters and has comforted us in those times," Wilson explained.

"He lives in our blood, he’s a part of us and that’s what unites us a community here at Mariposa.”

Artists from far and wide joined in the tribute as video messages were played for Lightfoot and the audience, including heart-felt tributes from Julian Taylor, Sarah McLachlan, Ron Sexsmith, Judy Collins, Steve Earle, Don Mclean, and Andy Kim.

Carter said the death of the Canadian icon is a huge loss.

"He will surely be missed by the Mariposa Folk Festival, by his beloved fans, by Orillia and the world," said Carter.

A few weeks ago, Lightfoot cancelled his 2023 concert dates.

"The singer is currently experiencing some health-related issues and is unable to confirm rescheduled dates at this time," said a brief statement issued that day by Lightfoot on his Facebook Page.

Lightfoot was born on Nov. 17, 1938 in Orillia and is often referred to as Canada's best songwriter.

As a youth, Lightfoot sang in the choir of Orillia's St. Paul's United Church. The boy soprano performed periodically on local Orillia radio stations, performed in local operettas and oratorios, and gained exposure through various Kiwanis music festivals.

Lightfoot has never stopped performing since, with the exception of a health scare in September of 2002. In between sold-out concerts at the Orillia Opera House, Lightfoot suffered severe stomach pain and was airlifted to McMaster Medical Centre in Hamilton.

He underwent emergency surgery for a ruptured abdominal aneurysm and stayed in the ICU for several weeks. He was in a coma for six weeks and required four surgical operations.

Two months later, he was released and continued his recovery at home. All his 2002 concert dates were cancelled.

However, he made a full recovery and returned to live performances.

More recently, in 2021, he had a fall at his home that resulted in a fractured wrist.

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

https://www.orilliamatters.com/local...htfoot-6965184

Greg McGrath-Goudie
May 7, 2023 2:45 PM

A community, a nation bids heart-felt farewell to Gordon Lightfoot
'I wouldn't be exaggerating to say that Gordon Lightfoot put Orillia on the map,' longtime band member says as hundreds line up to say goodbye to iconic singer, songwriter

Fans, family, and friends flocked to St. Paul’s Centre Sunday to mourn the passing of Orillia’s favourite son, the internationally renowned singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot.

Travelling from across Ontario, Canada, and the United States, people began lining up this morning, hours in advance, in anticipation of the public service that runs from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.

People, many sporting umbrellas during a brief rain shower, lined up outside the church entrance, up Peter Street to Neywash Street and then back and forth twice more on the closed street.

Just as a church bell long ago chimed at the Mariners' Church of Detroit for each of the 29 lost souls aboard the Edmund Fitzgerald, so, too, did St. Paul’s Centre toll its bell — a total of 30 times — capturing the loss of those sailors and the man who immortalized that harrowing wreck on Lake Superior 48 years ago.

Lightfoot, 84, died of natural causes at a Toronto hospital on May 1.

Both Lightfoot, the man, and Lightfoot, the musician, had an immeasurable impact on the hundreds that lined Peter Street to bid the folk legend a final farewell.

“He wrote some songs about the territory here, Lake Couchiching, and he's mentioned Indigenous things in his music,” said Myeengun Henry, who travelled from the Chippewa of the Thames First Nation, near London. “That really got people to learn about Indigenous history, so he's huge in the Indigenous world and we respected everything he did.”

Bernie David, a fan of over 50 years, drove from Toronto this morning to pay his respects to the man he credits for, in a way, introducing him to his future wife.

“In high school, she had tickets for Lightfoot, and I went, and I’ve loved him ever since,” recalled a misty-eyed David, who went on to marry his high school sweetheart.

“All my friends used to sit by the campfire and play the guitar, and every time he came out with a new album … I learned all the music,” said David.

For many, Lightfoot's music was the soundtrack of their youth.

“I grew up with it. I grew up singing to it, and my brother’s first guitar tunes were Gordon Lightfoot,” said Lisa Langill, who came down from the Muskoka area. “So we thought we’d come down. How can you not?”

Lightfoot’s longtime bassist credits the late musician with putting Orillia on the map, and remaining humble despite his fame.

“I wouldn't be exaggerating to say that Gordon Lightfoot put Orillia on the map, and he's also been a great supporter of Orillia as a philanthropist,” said Rick Haynes.

“He was a humble man considering his fame,” Haynes said. “He was very engaging, he was very caring, and he really had time for everyone. He really did.”

The visitation continues until 8 p.m. this evening. A private funeral will be held next week in Orillia.

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

PERTH, Australia:
https://www.perthnow.com.au/entertai...ies-c-10522387

Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot dies at 84
Steve Gorman and Dan WhitcombReuters
May 1, 2023 11:17PM

Canadian musician Gordon Lightfoot, the prolific singer-songwriter known for such folk-pop hits as "If You Could Read My Mind" and "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," has died in Toronto aged 84.

He died in hospital on Monday of natural causes, his family said in a statement released by publicist Victoria Lord.

Known for his evocative lyrics and melodic compositions, Lightfoot received five Grammy nominations over the years and won 17 Juno awards, Canada's equivalent music honour.

Lightfoot achieved the height of his popularity in the 1970s, with songs from albums such as "Sundown," "Summertime Dream" and "Dream Street Rose" that built on his guitar-driven folk roots to produce more rock and pop-oriented songs.

He retained a loyal following in Canada and the United States through extensive concert touring.

Lightfoot's catalogue of compositions tops 200 songs, a number of them covered by such performers as Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Judy Collins, Barbra Streisand, Glen Campbell and Richie Havens. His "For Lovin' Me" and "Early Morning Rain" became hits for the folk trio Peter, Paul & Mary.

Lightfoot emerged from the folk music movement of the mid-1960s with signature tunes such as "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" and "Pussywillows, Cat-Tails."

In the 1970s, he picked up an electric guitar to pen pop ballads such as "Beautiful" and "I'm Not Supposed to Care."

Lightfoot's 1976 epic, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," about the drowning of 29 sailors when a freighter sank in a storm on Lake Superior, remains one of fans' most loved songs.

In it, Lightfoot coupled a soaring melody with poignant lyrics about the sailors' last hours.

He also topped the singles charts with such titles as the wistful 1974 song "Carefree Highway" and the ballad "If You Could Read My Mind," his first major international hit from 1971, about a dissolving marriage.

"If You Could Read My Mind" launched a successful run at Warner Bros Records, after Lightfoot defected from his previous label, United Artists.

He had been unhappy there in part over a lack of support he felt when many US radio stations banned his 1968 single "Black Day in July," about riots in Detroit the previous year, seeing it as too incendiary.

Two other major 1970s hits, "Sundown" and "Rainy Day People", were reportedly inspired by his volatile romance with backup singer and rock groupie Cathy Smith.

Smith died in 2020 after serving time in prison for injecting comic actor John Belushi with a fatal dose of heroin and cocaine in 1982.

Aside from writing lyrics and music, Lightfoot performed his songs in a warm tenor suited to ballads, though his voice grew thinner over the years, and he was known for his clear articulation as a vocalist.

He survived a major health crisis at age 63 in 2002, when he collapsed from severe stomach pain before a concert in his hometown of Orilla, Ontario, and had emergency surgery for abdominal bleeding caused by a ruptured aorta.

He endured weeks of hospitalisation and multiple operations before returning to the recording studio and live performances.

At the time of his illness, Canadian country singer and admirer Ian Tyson saluted Lightfoot as a national treasure.

"I don't think anybody before or since has, or will have, the impact on Canadian culture, through popular music or folk music, that Gordon Lightfoot had," Tyson told Reuters then.

Following news of his death, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted that Canada "has lost one of our greatest singer-songwriters".

"Gordon Lightfoot captured our country's spirit in his music and in doing so, he helped shape Canada's soundscape. May his music continue to inspire future generations, and may his legacy live on forever," Trudeau wrote.

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

It's a pity The West Australian newspaper's Perth Now entertainment section just copied what they had seen on an overseas website rather than doing a little research into the local connection. Perth is apparently the most remote state capital in the world, being 1300 miles from Adelaide and 1600 miles from Darwin. For that reason, Perth's concertgoers often miss out on music events that tour the eastern two-thirds of Australia. That situation existed even more back in 1974 when Gord did his one Australian tour. But despite Sydney, Melbourne and the other big, travel-friendly cities only getting one Gordon Lightfoot concert, Perth was blessed with two on consecutive nights. (And Gord mentioned Perth in his later song "Ecstasy Made Easy", recalling a midnight boat cruise he did there straight after the first concert.)

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmci...h=4cbff45875e6

Gordon Lightfoot Charts Back-To-Back Posthumous No. 1 Hits

Gordon Lightfoot passed away on May 1 at the age of 84, leaving behind a remarkable body of work that continues to captivate fans. Since his untimely death, there has been a surge in the popularity of his music, a common occurrence when beloved artists depart. However, Lightfoot has accomplished a feat on the Billboard charts this week that is uncommon for any musical act, especially for artists who have left us.

In a remarkable achievement, the Canadian musician currently holds the top spot on Billboard's Rock Digital Song Sales chart this week. What makes this even more noteworthy is that Lightfoot has replaced his own hit with another. His single "Sundown" climbs to the coveted No. 1 position, while his former chart-topper, "If You Could Read My Mind," now settles for second place. The two titles trade places, with each taking a turn in the spotlight.

"Sundown" and "If You Could Read My Mind" are the only two songs by Lightfoot that have reached No. 1 on the Rock Digital Song Sales chart. This is not entirely surprising, considering the ranking was introduced long after his heyday.

Out of the five tracks that Lightfoot placed on the Rock Digital Song Sales chart, three only debuted after his death. This week, Lightfoot controls the top three positions on the purchase-only list. In addition to "Sundown" and "If You Could Read My Mind," his track "The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald" remains firm at No. 3.

While his three highest-ranking songs dominate the upper echelons of the Rock Digital Song Sales chart, another fan favorite, "Carefree Highway," has slipped from No. 5 to No. 11.

Lightfoot still has one more album coming, and since it’s set to drop shortly after his passing, it might produce more charting wins. Billboard reports that his live recording At Royal Albert Hall is due July 14.

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

https://sunonlinemedia.ca/2023/05/08...aying-goodbye/

Gordon Lightfoot – Saying Goodbye
May 8, 2023 Sunonline/Orillia

By John Swartz

Thousands lined up Sunday afternoon to pay respects to Gordon Lightfoot, who was lying in state at St. Paul’s Centre in Orillia. A light sprinkle turned to rain at about 1:30 p.m. but that didn’t stop many from joining the line. Many people reported the wait was up to one hour to get into the church.

At 2 p.m. the bells at St. Paul’s and St James’ Anglican Church across the street rang in his honour. Lightfoot’s family and close associates were present, though there wasn’t a formal receiving line and the public was not allowed to interact with them.

Some came from further afield than Simcoe County, with at least one person travelling from Ohio and another from British Columbia. Some travelled from other parts of Ontario, several of whom grew up in Orillia.

The funeral to follow at a later time is closed to all but family, so friends and acquaintances also took the opportunity to say goodbye. Mourners were ushered into St. Paul’s in groups of 20 and given a moment before Lightfoot’s casket to contemplate their reason for being present.

In the accompanying video are comments from fans, and a few who had a closer relationship, worked for Lightfoot, or as in the last segment, have an incredible tale to tell.

They are David Newland, who along with Jory Nash and Aengus Finnan organized a 15-year run of an annual Lightfoot tribute night at Toronto’s Hugh’s Room, and Ollie Strong, who played steel guitar on Lightfoot’s Old Dan’s Records album – notably featured on the hit You Are What I Am.

The last comment, from Timothy Crumb, sounds fantastical. He also said he went to school with Lightfoot’s wife, Kim and remained friends with the Lightfoots over the years. The information he provided is opposite to what is generally known about the song, If You Could Read My Mind, and the veracity of his story will never be able to be verified, but this reporter observed Crumb to be warmly embraced by Lightfoot’s wife, giving credence to at least some parts of the story.

(Photos and Video by Swartz – SUNonline/Orillia) Main: Gordon Lighfoot’s Visitation at St. Paul’s Centre, Orillia, May 7, 2023.

https://barrie.ctvnews.ca/video?clip...29&jwsource=em

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3PIHkqszoQ

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

https://www.monroenews.com/story/ent...d/70225621007/

SUZANNE NOLAN WISLER The Monroe News
After returning from the Vietnam War, Tom Treece joined a band named Brussel Sprout.

One winter night in 1976, the Brussel Sprout band members were in Canada to record their first album when they met a music legend.

Gordon Lightfoot and his band also were recording at Toronto’s Eastern Sound Studio. Thanks to a game room with a back entrance, Treece got to watch the famed Canadian folk singer/songwriter record his hit song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” Lightfoot died earlier this month at age 84. His famous song recounts the November 1975 sinking of the freighter the SS Edmund Fitzgerald during a storm on Lake Superior. All 29 men aboard died.

“Gordon Lightfoot was in the studio, just finishing the ‘Summertime Dream’ LP,” Treece, of Monroe, recalled. “He didn’t have enough time to finish the last song and asked us if we would consider letting him buy one day of our reserved time in the studio. Instead of letting him buy it, we asked if he could play on one of our songs as a guest artist.”

Lightfoot never sang on the Brussel Sprout’s album, but Treece witnessed music history that night.

“The rest of my band left. I stuck around and snuck into a side room. There was a game room all the artists waited in to record. I hung out there. It was dark, and nobody was around at all. I sat there silently. It was late in the evening,” Treece said.

Then, Lightfoot entered the recording room.

“I was 10 or 12 feet away from him. He didn’t know I was there. He would have kicked me right out of there. He was adamant, nobody in the studio. He turned out all the lights in the studio and got as far away from the glass as he could be. Just the overhead light was shining down on his paper, where the lyrics were scribbled on. You couldn’t have scripted it better,” Treece recalled. “I was silently watching through the window as he recorded the song.”

Lightfoot sang the final version of the nearly six-minute “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” in just one take. Then, he noticed Treece.

“He showed me the ‘Time’ magazine and told me how he had written the song based on reading about the sinking of the ship. We had a half-hour discussion on that song. It was a wide-eyed young kid’s and songwriter’s dream to be able to sit there and just enjoy talking with one of the great songwriters of history,” Treece said.

Lightfoot even asked Treece to come to the band’s after-album party.

“He invited me to his house to hang out with him and his band,” Treece said. “There were gold records all over the walls and three grand pianos on the main floor. It was in downtown Toronto and was a mansion. It was just a magical time for me.”

The next day, back in the studio, Lightfoot played “Summertime Dream” for the Brussel Sprout band members and asked them which single he should release first to radio stations.

“The others said, ‘Summertime Dream,’ the title cut,” Treece said. “I was just enamored with ‘Edmund Fitzgerald.’ It was so haunting and so perfect. I said, ‘I think that’s the one.’ But it was long. Hit songs then were 3 minutes to 3 minutes, 20 seconds,” Treece said. “’Edmund Fitzgerald’ shouldn’t have been a hit."

Treece still enjoys hearing and singing Lightfoot's song.

“It was just a beautifully recorded and produced song. It certainly was one of his great songs and a real classic. It’s stood the test of time. It still gets played. I still get requests to play it,” Treece said.

Three weeks after the Lightfoot encounter, Brussel Sprout recorded its first and only self-titled album. The seven-man band also included fellow Monroe residents Roger Manning, who sang and played harp, and John Vass, who sang and played drums. Treece sang and played rhythm guitar.

“We toured coast to coast and in Canada. It was a great experience. We wrote all our own music. I just loved it. We got a recording contract with MCA Records. Our labelmates were Lynyrd Skynyrd, Elton John, Conway Twitty,” Treece said. “But our music never caught on. It was ahead of its time.”

Treece and his wife, Renee, went to several Lightfoot concerts through the years. Their last one was about six years ago in Toledo. Treece said Lightfoot didn’t seem well then.

“He was not in good shape. That he was able to continue playing at an advanced age and condition kind of shocked me. But he got up on that stage and cranked them out. We were able to go backstage and connect with him. I tried to remind him of our time together. He didn’t even remember it. He just wasn’t in a condition to remember it. He signed Renee’s shirt; she was all excited,” Treece said. “He sure loved singing and performing his songs. I think he couldn’t quit. It was in his blood, in his soul. I could almost see him doing what I want, having a heart attack and dying on stage doing what I love doing.”

About a year ago, Treece got a book in mail. It was a biography on Lightfoot. The author found Treece’s 2006 Monroe News column about meeting the music legend.

“He found my column online and used an excerpt in the book. He sent me an autographed copy. It said, ‘Tom, in appreciation for our shared stories about this amazing man,’” Treece said. “I was honored that he used some of my writing to describe Lightfoot in his book.”

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

https://flic.kr/p/2oERpbD

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6a43f6cc_o.jpgg&m - lightfoot-may 3 2023 copy 3 by char Westbrook, on Flickr

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6831194?fbc...15B7Ow_RE1k1n0

Prince Edward Island
Islanders join in celebration of Gordon Lightfoot's musical legacy

Lightfoot's songs are 'part of the Canadian landscape,' Catherine MacLellan says

CBC News

Posted: May 06, 2023

Gordon Lightfoot touched the hearts of many Canadians throughout his decades-long career. In light of his death earlier this week, some Prince Edward Islanders are among those sharing how the folk music icon's songs impacted their lives.

Lightfoot died at a Toronto hospital on Monday at the age of 84.

The Orillia, Ont.-born singer-songwriter has left behind a musical legacy that inspired generations of Canadian musicians.

In 2010, Summerside singer Catherine MacLellan was invited to perform at a Canadian Songwriter Hall of Fame event that featured Lightfoot and The Tragically Hip's Gord Downie having a conversation in which they reflected about their respective careers.

MacLellan said that performance was probably one of the most anxiety-inducing experiences she's ever had as a musician.

"They asked me to come and sing a couple of my own songs and to sing a Gordon Lightfoot song while both of them were on stage behind me — and it was terrifying," MacLellan said.

"I couldn't believe two of my greatest heroes [were] on stage behind me while I was performing. I was just so nervous that I was going to mess it up and just, I don't know — it's one of those moments I'll never forget."

MacLellan performed a song by Lightfoot at the event, along with some of her own music. She would go on to win a Juno Award in 2015 for her album, The Raven's Sun.

But 13 years ago, she was still a relative newcomer to the music industry. MacLellan said Lightfoot was sweet and very generous when they met that "terrifying" night — and offered her some career advice backstage.

You always got to give 'em a toe-tapper.
— What Gordon Lightfoot told Catherine MacLellan in 2010

"You always got to give 'em a toe-tapper," MacLellan recalls him saying.

"Anytime I got to see him perform after that, I realized he really meant it ... It might be a sad song or it might be these intimate songs that he would sing always, [but] people were always tapping their toes and having a great time listening."

Other Islanders agree with MacLellan.

"My wife and I saw him on the Confed Centre stage in 1989 as the 'surprise guest' on the old CBC-TV show Front Page Challenge," Mike Stratton said in reply to a CBC P.E.I. Facebook post asking people to share their memories of Lightfoot.

"Nobody in the Charlottetown audience knew he would be on the show and it was such a treat! Supposedly, Gord liked the venue so much, he arranged it to be a stop on his 1990 tour. My wife and I were lucky to get tickets to that as well. What a magical night that was ... I've been to many shows since, but Wendy and I agree that Gordon Lightfoot's concert that evening still ranks as the best."

Like MacLellan, Paul Pettipas wrote that he grew up listening to Lightfoot's music.

"It's so evocative. It transports me to different places and times," he said. "Only got to see him in concert once, sadly. But so glad I did. The older I have gotten, I have grown to appreciate his genius level more and more."

Other Islanders said they were very fortunate to have encountered Lightfoot in person.
"Had the privilege of meeting him in 2014 after his Summerside show. Just a class act," wrote D'Arcy Ellis.

"I met Gordon Lightfoot at a birthday party for Stompin' Tom that band Whiskey Jack throws every year since Tom passed," said Alan Dalton. "He liked the hockey jersey I was wearing and I talked to him about hockey for over 25 minutes.

"What a great man. Really made everyone he met feel special."
Still more Islanders shared the special occasions — and people — Lightfoot's music reminds them of.

"In the early '70s, his songs were all over the AM radio," Ed Terrell said. "We spent our summers on P.E.I. listening to these now-classic hits."
"Years ago I bought his music book with many of his songs in it," wrote Jane Wilson. "I learned to play many of them on my guitar ... Christian Island is one of many that I loved to play. A true legend whose songs and stories will remain with us."

Those songs are a part of the Canadian landscape.​​​​​
— Catherine MacLellan.

"Long drives coming home from my grandparents at Christmas time. My Dad would play Gordon Lightfoot as we dozed full of candy with gifts on our laps," Misty-Lynn Tomkins Caseley said.

"We played Gordon Lightfoot at my father's memorial. Hopefully they have met up on the other side."

MacLellan said she can't remember the first time she heard Lightfoot — but his music was always there for her.

"Those songs are a part of the Canadian landscape," she said. "I might not even have known that they were Gordon Lightfoot songs. They were just songs that were surrounding me."
With files from Mainstreet P.E.I.

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainmen...gacy-1.6829139

What made Gordon Lightfoot great: Remembrances from musicians, writers
Lightfoot's enduring songs, love for performing and a 'typically Canadian' humility are being praised.

Chris Iorfida · CBC News · Posted: May 02, 2023 12:28 PM EDT | Last Updated: May 2

Gordon Lightfoot's death at the age of 84 after six decades of songs that have resonated with Canadians and music fans worldwide has led to an outpouring of tributes.

Lightfoot led the way for Canadian performers to follow at a time when the music industry in Canada was in its infancy, legend Anne Murray told CBC's Q on Tuesday.

"He was a role model for people," said Murray. "He was really proud of the fact that he and I stayed at home and had international careers.

"Neither one of us wanted to go anywhere. He thought that was wonderful."

For Jim Cuddy, Lightfoot's music has been an inspiration for a half-century. The singer-songwriter remembers performing (That's What You Get) For Lovin' Me as a 10-year-old for family members, and his group Blue Rodeo contributed Go-Go Round to 2003's Beautiful: A Tribute To Gordon Lightfoot, an album also featuring tributes from Cowboy Junkies, Tragically Hip and Quartette.

"He showed us how to embrace our Canadian-ness and how to be ourselves," Cuddy told CBC News Network. "He was an inspiration in that right to his dying day."

Lightfoot's music has been part of the fabric for many Canadians, including musicians J.P. Cormier and Lori Cullen.

Cormier vividly recalls his brother buying the 1976 single The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald "the day it came out" and wearing out his own vinyl copies of Lightfoot records.

Lightfoot was the "only touchstone I needed to become a writer and performer," Cormier said.

Cullen's introduction to the music came when a Grade 3 teacher at her Mississauga, Ont., school strummed a version of Pussy Willows, Cat-Tails.

"To hear that song when I was so young and to immediately feel how authentic it was, it felt like a part of where I came from, even when I was that young," said Cullen.

Musician-author Dave Bidini wrote an entire book about the Canadian bard's music as connective tissue, in 2011's Writing Gordon Lightfoot: The Man, the Music, and the World in 1972.

"Everyone talks about how you provided a cultural bridge: how you bridged town to city, country music to folk, folk to pop, old to new, square to hip, Canadian music to hit radio, and, later, sixties sound to the seventies," writes Bidini. "Even now, when people see you or hear you, they see the past being bridged to the present."
Songs built to last and to be shared

Nicholas Jennings, author of 2016's Lightfoot, said whether it was as a chronicler of Canadiana through songs featuring the outdoors or trains, or on matters of the heart, Lightfoot "managed to write from a deeply personal place but make it universal in such a way that everyone … could relate to those songs."

Cuddy found that to be the case, as well.

"There are some perfect songs where you can't imagine any alteration of the melody, any alteration of the lyrics or any alteration of the performance, even though many people have done it. If You Could Read My Mind is one of those songs," said Cuddy.

To Cuddy's point, the adaptability and sturdiness of that particular classic has been proven through the years. In addition to faithful covers that hew closely to Lightfoot's 1970 original there was: Skeeter Davis's country weeper featuring steel guitar, a disco version by Viola Wills, a 90s house update performed by Stars on 54 that hit the pop and dance charts worldwide, and a number of instrumental versions — including an elegiac horn arrangement from Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass and a classical version by the Saint John String Quartet.

The roots musician Cormier, meanwhile, released The Long River: A Personal Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot, an 18-song collection featuring songs like Steel Rail Blues, Home from the Forest and Early Morning Rain.

While many terrific songwriters can put together enough work for a greatest hits compilation, Lightfoot compiled "an incredible catalogue of songs," said Jennings.

As such, in 2012 he became one of a select group of Canadian performers to be inducted into the U.S.-based Songwriters Hall of Fame, joining Paul Anka, Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell.
A true craftsman

While songwriters often speak of channelling songs that come to them in a burst, Jennings said listeners should understand Lightfoot was more often than not a true craftsman.

"He struggled over them, he was such a perfectionist," said Jennings. "He laboured over the words, wanting to get every single phrase, every poetic turn right."

Cuddy chuckled at that trait, relaying a story of Lightfoot advising him of the exact beats per minute for a drummer to follow throughout if Blue Rodeo planned on tackling the seven-minute epic Canadian Railroad Trilogy.

"He didn't want us to be around that [tempo]; he wanted it to be exact," said Cuddy.

'Lived to perform'

While some older songwriters of his esteem could rest on their laurels or concentrate on studio work, Lightfoot endured the rigours of touring to continue to play his favourites before appreciative audiences. At the time of his death, he had upcoming shows on his schedule.

"Gordon Lightfoot lived to perform. He was known as a songwriter, but what he cherished most of all was his time on stage with his audiences," said Jennings.

Lightfoot was born and raised in Orillia, Ont., at a time when its population was about half the size of its current 33,000.

Jennings, who remained in touch with Lightfoot long after writing a biography, said the musician stayed a "small-town guy until the very end."

"He never really understood why people made such a fuss about him," said Jennings.

Murray agreed that Lightfoot was hardly effusive about his talents, describing the attitude as "typically Canadian."

"He really didn't think himself to be anything special at all, but he certainly was."

Re: R.I.P Gord
 

https://www.cbc.ca/music/gordon-ligh...ongs-1.6809171

Gordon Lightfoot's life in 10 songs

From 'Early Morning Rain' to 'Sundown,' we look at highlights of the songwriter's prolific career
CBC Music · Posted: May 01, 2023 9:43 PM EDT | Last Updated: May 15

Award-winning singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot died on May 1, 2023, aged 84, ending a career that spanned more than five decades and included honours such as the Order of Canada and an induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

Lightfoot once called songwriting "15 per cent inspiration and 85 per cent perspiration," and penned iconic hits including "If You Could Read my Mind" and "Sundown." His musical catalogue is rich with songs that help illustrate his journey from a burgeoning Orillia-born talent to one of Canada's greatest musicians.

A veteran performer into his 80s, Lightfoot helped shape the canon of folk music with his heartfelt and historical songs that touched so many. He released 21 albums and numerous compilations, selling more than seven million records worldwide and earning a slew of awards, including 16 Junos and inductions into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, Canada's Walk of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Below are 10 songs that showcase how Lightfoot became one of the pioneering forces in Canada's music scene.

'Early Morning Rain'

This folk song was written by Lightfoot in 1964, but the seeds of inspiration for it were germinating years prior, according to an interview with American Songwriter. While watching airplanes on a rainy day, Lightfoot recalled the imagery of "an airplane climbing off into overcast," and five years later while watching his first-born child, the song finally took shape.

The famous tune would go on to be covered by artists including Ian & Sylvia, Bob Dylan, Judy Collins and even rock star Elvis Presley.


'Ribbon of Darkness'

Lightfoot released his debut album, Lightfoot!, in 1966, which included his single "Ribbon of Darkness." Although Lightfoot originally wrote the song and released it in 1965, it was covered that same year by Marty Robbins — and gave Robbins a No.1 hit on the U.S. Country Singles chart. Despite the song's cheerful melody and bright whistling, Lightfoot's lyrics told the melancholy story of a lost lover: "Oh how I wish your heart could see/ how mine just aches and breaks all day."

In later years, Connie Smith, Jack Scott and Bruce Cockburn also covered "Ribbon of Darkness," with the latter recording the song as part of a Lightfoot tribute album.


'The Canadian Railroad Trilogy'

To commemorate Canada's centennial in 1967, Lightfoot penned what has become arguably one of his most iconic songs of all time. "The Canadian Railroad Trilogy" was commissioned by CBC for a New Year's Day broadcast, and mentions the Rockies, the Prairies and Gaspé. Through his vibrant lyrics, Lightfoot details the majestic beauty of nature and the climactic construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway: "For they looked in the future and what did they see?/ They saw an iron road runnin' from the sea to the sea."

"The Canadian Railroad Trilogy" won a special award from the Canadian Railway Hall of Fame in 2003, and seven years after that it was transformed into an illustrated book.


'Black Day in July'

In July 1967, the Detroit race riots began after a police raid of an illegal after-hours drinking club. The resulting protests and confrontation between the city's Black residents and the police force lasted five days, and resulted in 43 deaths and numerous injuries. Lightfoot wrote "Black Day in July" to recount the bloodshed, with vivid lyrics illustrating the destruction: "And the people rise in anger and the streets begin to fill/ and there's gunfire from the rooftops and the blood begins to spill."

"Black Day in July" was released around the same time as the assassination of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, causing many radio stations in America to ban the song.


'If You Could Read My Mind'

One of Lightfoot's biggest hits was the heartbreak-driven "If You Could Read My Mind," which was inspired by the dissolution of his first marriage. The song was written in 1969 and released a year later on the album of the same name, hitting No. 1 on the Canadian Singles chart. Covers of the song spanned genres from country to disco, with musicians including Barbra Streisand, Olivia Newton-John, Kenny Rogers, Liza Minnelli, Johnny Cash and Stars on 54 putting their spin on the ballad.

The song also shares a title with the 2019 documentary Gordon Lightfoot: "If You Could Read My Mind," directed by Martha Kehoe and Joan Tosoni. The film earned a Canadian Screen Award nomination in 2020.