Gordon Lightfoot Forums - View Single Post - Writing GORDON LIGHTFOOT

charlene · 10-22-2011, 11:37 AM

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/art...132369668.html
BooksWinnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Gordon Lightfoot as imagined by Dave Bidini
Reviewed by: Jim Millican

Posted: 10/22/2011 1:00 AM |��
Writing Gordon Lightfoot

The Man, the Music and the World in 1972

By Dave Bidini

McClelland & Stewart, 264 pages, $30

TORONTO-BASED musician and writer Dave Bidini lays out the gist of his latest endeavour in the prologue.

He wanted to write about the life and times of Gordon Lightfoot, arguably Canada's most successful folksinger. The artist will have nothing to do him. This leads Bidini to instead address Lightfoot through a series of "letters to Gord."

These letters form alternating chapters -- questions for Lightfoot, supposition about his life, rumour and innuendo picked up by Bidini through his research.

Bidini posits that the year 1972, leading up to the Mariposa Folk Festival in July in Toronto, saw a series of events that would in hindsight transform Canada "politically, psychologically and musically."

That year Mariposa drew Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Lightfoot, although none of these pop-music icons was officially on the bill. Bidini devotes a chapter to the events of each day of the festival.

He provides numerous lists and descriptions of events from '72 to back up his premise that something magical was in the air that year (a jailbreak at Kingston Penitentiary, the Canada-Russia hockey summit, Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky's chess showdown in Iceland, the eclipse of the sun Carly Simon wrote about in You're So Vain).

Founder of the rock band the Rheostatics and author of numerous books on music and sports, Bidini manages to work in large swaths of prose not related to Lightfoot, not related to Mariposa and, for that matter, not related to 1972.

This hallucinogenic blending of fact and fantasy, with Bidini himself often at the centre, reminds one of the late American writer Hunter S. Thompson's so-called gonzo journalism.

The information about Lightfoot is largely contained in the pseudo-letters with Bidini's own skewed take on the man. It paints him as the general sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll-loving stereotype of the era.

This is particularly in the details of Lightfoot's alcohol abuse, broken marriages and his long, troubled affair with Cathy Evelyn Smith, a groupie, his longtime mistress and a drug dealer famously convicted of procuring the drugs that killed John Belushi.

"A deep fog of booze and pain and drugs" is Bidini's description of Lightfoot's life through the period of his greatest success in the late '60s and well into the '70s.

Bidini approaches biographical detail as a chore. He writes that he "should serve the interests of readers who are going to want to know about the mundane particulars of (Lightfoot's) life." He proceeds to list 10 of these details, all trivializing.

The book is, annoyingly, studded with typos, and Bidini even gets the name of one of Lightfoot's most important early songs wrong. It's For Loving Me, not You.

There's very little illumination about the music, although Bidini does have his insights. In one of his letters to Gord, he writes, "In the lyrics -- and in your persona, really -- you create a place where tough and sad meet, where the strong man is weakened by the world's forces."

Lightfoot, who turns 73 in November, deserves a serious all-encompassing overview of his music and life, but this is definitely not it.

Read Writing Gordon Lightfoot as a creatively penned journal centred around its subject rather than as a true biography.

Jim Millican is a Winnipeg writer and music journalist.

10-22-2011, 11:37 AM	#37
charlene Moderator Join Date: May 2000 Posts: 16,004	Re: Writing GORDONLIGHTFOOT - book excerpt http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/art...132369668.html BooksWinnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION Gordon Lightfoot as imagined by Dave Bidini Reviewed by: Jim Millican Posted: 10/22/2011 1:00 AM \|�� Writing Gordon Lightfoot The Man, the Music and the World in 1972 By Dave Bidini McClelland & Stewart, 264 pages, $30 TORONTO-BASED musician and writer Dave Bidini lays out the gist of his latest endeavour in the prologue. He wanted to write about the life and times of Gordon Lightfoot, arguably Canada's most successful folksinger. The artist will have nothing to do him. This leads Bidini to instead address Lightfoot through a series of "letters to Gord." These letters form alternating chapters -- questions for Lightfoot, supposition about his life, rumour and innuendo picked up by Bidini through his research. Bidini posits that the year 1972, leading up to the Mariposa Folk Festival in July in Toronto, saw a series of events that would in hindsight transform Canada "politically, psychologically and musically." That year Mariposa drew Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Lightfoot, although none of these pop-music icons was officially on the bill. Bidini devotes a chapter to the events of each day of the festival. He provides numerous lists and descriptions of events from '72 to back up his premise that something magical was in the air that year (a jailbreak at Kingston Penitentiary, the Canada-Russia hockey summit, Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky's chess showdown in Iceland, the eclipse of the sun Carly Simon wrote about in You're So Vain). Founder of the rock band the Rheostatics and author of numerous books on music and sports, Bidini manages to work in large swaths of prose not related to Lightfoot, not related to Mariposa and, for that matter, not related to 1972. This hallucinogenic blending of fact and fantasy, with Bidini himself often at the centre, reminds one of the late American writer Hunter S. Thompson's so-called gonzo journalism. The information about Lightfoot is largely contained in the pseudo-letters with Bidini's own skewed take on the man. It paints him as the general sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll-loving stereotype of the era. This is particularly in the details of Lightfoot's alcohol abuse, broken marriages and his long, troubled affair with Cathy Evelyn Smith, a groupie, his longtime mistress and a drug dealer famously convicted of procuring the drugs that killed John Belushi. "A deep fog of booze and pain and drugs" is Bidini's description of Lightfoot's life through the period of his greatest success in the late '60s and well into the '70s. Bidini approaches biographical detail as a chore. He writes that he "should serve the interests of readers who are going to want to know about the mundane particulars of (Lightfoot's) life." He proceeds to list 10 of these details, all trivializing. The book is, annoyingly, studded with typos, and Bidini even gets the name of one of Lightfoot's most important early songs wrong. It's For Loving Me, not You. There's very little illumination about the music, although Bidini does have his insights. In one of his letters to Gord, he writes, "In the lyrics -- and in your persona, really -- you create a place where tough and sad meet, where the strong man is weakened by the world's forces." Lightfoot, who turns 73 in November, deserves a serious all-encompassing overview of his music and life, but this is definitely not it. Read Writing Gordon Lightfoot as a creatively penned journal centred around its subject rather than as a true biography. Jim Millican is a Winnipeg writer and music journalist.