Songbook & A Look Back.
 

Had I had the time last year,I'd have done a thread marking the 10th anniversary of the Songbook box set. ( Not to mention the 5th anniversary of "Harmony" last May).

Hard to believe isn't it? For me it's not so much because I didn't know of it until 2001. Still,this upcoming August 7th,2010 will mark *gulp*! 9 years since I made my final "layaway payment" and brought it home.
That's without knowing more than about 10 songs on it for that matter.

I had spotted it that June at the now long gone Sam Goody's store at the mall (the one next to the library I used to post at.)
I thought,"A Gordon Lightfoot box set?"
"Are they kidding?"
"He only has 6 hits!" LOL! I used to think if you didn't have many hits,the rest of your stuff must be gosh awful. :biggrin:

Somehow though,my curiosity got the better of me,because my next thought was,"Well....there's got to be some reason they bothered". Especially with the big price tag of $60 + tax. So I took a big gamble that paid off thankfully. I mean,what if I had hated what I heard?

Record stores don't always readily accept," I think the music I heard was lame",as a reason for return. When I got home,on that oddly overcast day in August.....
I played all four CDs in one sitting and as we know,this was the beginning of me becoming a Lightfoot fan for life. Over a year before I came to this site.

Aside from being a fan,do any of you guys have a story to go with your "Songbook"? ;)

Re: Songbook & A Look Back.
 

Sort of......I was blindsided by 'Canary Yellow Canoe'......my faith was tested.

Re: Songbook & A Look Back.
 

Amen to THAT! When I heard the loons at the beginning I was expecting another "Whispers of the North"....Yipes!

Re: Songbook & A Look Back.
 

OK I'll bite
Yes I do have a story about getting the fabulous Songbook boxset.
Having discovered the old Chat room and the wonderful fans therein sometime in May 1999 we were soon spending a lot of time chatting about the upcoming box set and against the perceived wisdom of the assembled motley crew of American ladies ( I was still living in Dorset England) I decided to risk ordering my copy on line from a CD dealer in Florida. I remember being able to use the completely new to me UPS tracking system that one takes so much for granted nowadays and was quite thrilled to be able to see that my package had been sent out on the Monday (the day before the official release date I seem to remember then it traveled initially to the UPS hub in Memphis thence to their UK hub at the Midlands Airport at Castle Donnington then remarkably quickly the final 200 miles South to me at my office address arriving on the Wednesday morning in a Brown delivery van .
I was so impressed that I posted on the Newsgroup (this being BC Before Corfid) of course in a new thread catchily entitled:-
"A Box Set arrives in England"
which you can read at:-
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.m...91840792550503
one by one many of my fellow chatters acquired their own Songbook copy; including of course a certain young lady from New Jersey and Susan, yes it was she, soon had us all counting down to press in unison the play buttons on our computer CD players so that we could all be listening to the same track on the same CD at the same time. Read her great posting in another new thread on June 15 2000 almost exactly a year later and a week before our wedding in England during which we had three Gordsongs played "Whisper My Name" "Pussywillows Cattails" and "Same Old Loverman" to which of course we danced
http://groups.google.comIgroup/alt.m...b5211542c70802
In 1999 the following November I made the pilgrimage to the House Of Gord and met up with Susan and the other synchro players
most of whom are in this Orillian picture
http://johnfowles.org.uk/LIGHTFOOT/9.jpg
and on the first night Remembrance day November 11 I was very lucky to get backstage as Jenney's guest. In my coat pocket I had a fine tip white marker pen and both my own and Susan's Songbook booklet,which are now both nicely autographed by the entire Orchestra
http://johnfowles.org.uk/LIGHTFOOT/songbook.jpg
[SIZE=2] I was extremely fortunate to be selected to be Jenney's guest, that night my friends pushed me forwards as they thought that this might very well be the only chance I would get of meeting my hero of so many years (since 1967 in fact)

Re: Songbook & A Look Back.
 

Aside from being a fan,do any of you guys have a story to go with your "Songbook"? ;)[/QUOTE]

I bought my Songbook at the now defunct Tower Records. I don't remember what the release date was but I drove to Tower at a few minutes before midnight so I could get my copy at 12:01 am and start wearing it out.

Re: Songbook & A Look Back.
 

I wasn't aware of "Songbook" until after I discovered this website, which was around the start of 2008. I ordered it through Basement Discs in Melbourne for around Aust$100 and it remains the only box set I've ever bought. I think Gord and the producers got the selection of songs about right. Every major fan would say it omitted some of their favourites. (In my case, "Is There Anyone Home?", "Spanish Moss", "Whispers Of The North", "Restless", etc.) I found the best feature, along with Gord's notes about the songs, was the previously unreleased tracks. An album of these alone would have stood up and passed the test of time. Of these, my favourites are "Never Say Trust Me", "Always On The Bright Side" and "Stone Cold Sober". I now listen to "Songbook" more than any other Lightfoot album.

Re: Songbook & A Look Back.
 

I didn't know that it existed until fairly recently. I ordered mine through Barnes & Nobles Bookstore, and like you, I had no idea what to expect. I was thouroughly blown away after hearing it, and it marked the first time I'd ever heard Canary Yellow Canoe. There were numerous other tunes in the collection that I absolutely fell in love with, and I got to thinking afterwards that, like the first time I ever saw The Man in concert, that was the best money I'd ever spent. And for what it's worth, like you, I paid a little over $60 And I STILL get a thrill out of it every time I put in a disc.

Re: Songbook & A Look Back.
 

You guys have neat stories too. :) Cool. :cool:

I guess though , I'll never see why poeple don't like Canary Yellow Canoe. :rolleyes:

Re: Songbook & A Look Back.
 

All EXCELLENT posts everyone... I especially liked yours John.

I have just gotten the time to read them all, and I enjoyed every one.

I don't have a story on my end, but I can remember how happy I was to pick up the set. I cannot believe it is 10 years. YIKES!

I really wonder what thoughts were going thru GL's mind when he was going thru the old recordings and picking out the ones he wanted for the set. So many memories, I can only imagine.

Re: Songbook & A Look Back.
 

for those who don't have the collection, the liner notes are interesting (just an excerpt here):

"Some earlier judgment calls had to be reversed and emotions kept at bay. By the time the sleuthing was done, we had uncovered a number of tracks that surprised even me. Shocking, too, was the possibility of some of these tracks finding their way into the ether. I finally realized I shouldn't worry so much--some of the rarities were a little too rare and wound up, so to speak, on the cutting room floor. Within two months we had uncovered 18 respectable rarities, and the anthology wheels were, at last, in smooth rotation."

GL also echoes some of these thoughts when commenting during the MMM 1999 appearance

anyhow, nothing much to add here...picked up the set at Sam the Record Man's on Yonge St. the morning it was released then read the liner note/booklet at work...that night I went to an old friend's who has the best audio setup I know of and premiered the tracks in order and not allowing a repeat of any track (even the new rarities) until we'd made it through the entire comp...we did pause between a few tracks and chat...once done, was anxious to go back and take in a select dozen of the rarities once again...next morn had a musical buzz lingering as if i'd been at a GL concert the night before

i really enjoyed hearing the remastering of the many productions...i figure GL assumed the type of fan putting out substantial cash for the set would already own the UA collection plus GG1 and GG2...some omissions still puzzle me, same true of a few of the inclusions

i imagine he wanted to avoid many of the less than optimal production efforts and to be sure to include those that would showcase his impressive versatility in songwriting, arranging, etc

here is a question: with the above in mind, which few tracks (or none) from Harmony would you append to Songbook?

note to GL: we are all more than ready for the Massey Live release

Re: Songbook & A Look Back.
 

Ahem Ahem I say to you all again see the old thread at:-
http://www.corfid.com/vbb/showthread...ngbook+booklet
in which I gave what are still functioning links to all the text from the various sections of the songbook booklet
especially
2 A Word From Gordon Lightfoot
(background to the compilation in Gord's own words)
quick easy to remember link to the complete archived Rhino pages
http://www.songbook.notlong.com

Re: Songbook & A Look Back.
 

terrific the way you archive those now extinct pages but i actually go to the http://www.lightfoot.ca/songnote.htm typically, mainly cos the font is a bit bigger (even though i do prefer black text on white background)...i do find the Songbooklet itself hard to read

aside, i find it quite irritating that so many cd booklet liner notes are printed on backgrounds that have a watermarked image (some sections even have colours that are the same as the superimposed text!) behind the text...and with the smallest fonts sizes you could imagine...that's one reason i will spend $9.99 for an album download WITH liner notes from iTunes..v ery readable even without manipulating fonts in your viewer

Re: Songbook & A Look Back.
 

I think I went to the local SAM's and bought my set..

I do remember opening it and loving that the discs were all coloured to match the changing maple leaves (symbol of canada) over the seasons.. very well thought out visual for an audio compilation spanning a recording career and its changes from beginning to end. (what was the end at that time that is).

Re: Songbook & A Look Back.
 

I thought I was the only one who couldn't read the titles on CD's and their covers. I don't feel so alone anymore...LOL.

Re: Songbook & A Look Back.
 

I didn't know that. Thanks.

Re: Songbook & A Look Back.
 

you're welcome...

Re: Songbook & A Look Back.
 

There's something to be said for cheapo reading glasses-"the kind the drug stores sell"

Re: Songbook & A Look Back.
 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... Thats the ONLY kind I use!!!!!!!!!

Re: Songbook & A Look Back.
 

Clouds of Loneliness

Re: Songbook & A Look Back.
 

that's my pick too...

Re: Songbook & A Look Back.
 

I saw mine being advertise on TV & sent for it got a poster to go with it. Then maybe about a month later found it @ my favorite music store.

Wondering if those of you who bought it @ a music store also got the poster ?

My song would be Flyin' Blind.

Re: Songbook & A Look Back.
 

I have the poster..

Re: Songbook & A Look Back.
 

Which tracks from "Harmony" would I add to the Songbook compilation?

1. End Of All Time
2. Clouds of Loneliness
3. River of Light.

Re: Songbook & A Look Back.
 

From Harmony to Songbook:

River of Light
Sometimes I Wish

Re: Songbook & A Look Back.
 

I just wish they had used the larger format packaging like Cat Stevens' Box Set, or the Moody Blues "Time Traveler" set. Would have made for a larger book. But, that would have probably increased the price.