Songwriting heavyweight Lightfoot in Lowell
By Ed Hannan, Sun Correspondent
UPDATED: 07/30/2015 09:11:06 AM EDT
His is one of the most enduring voices of not only Canadian music, but music in general.
Indeed, Gordon Lightfoot - who comes to Boarding House Park at 7:30 Saturday night as part of the Lowell Summer Music Series - has written and sung some of the biggest songs in music history, and penned songs for some of the biggest acts of all time.
Let's start with his songs, all of which you'll hear in one form or another on Saturday night at Boarding House Park as we'll explain later: "If You Could Read My Mind," "Sundown," "Carefree Highway," "Rainy Day People" and "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." He wrote each of those songs, some of the biggest songs of the 1970s, and still performs them today.
Now, here's a very partial list of acts who have recorded his songs: Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Barbra Streisand, Johnny Mathis, Richie Havens, The Replacements, Harry Belafonte, The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, Sarah McLachlan, Eric Clapton, Jim Croce, John Mellencamp, Glen Campbell, Olivia Newton-John and Paul Weller.
And if you think they just recorded his songs, think again.
Robbie Robertson of The Band called Lightfoot one of his "favorite Canadian songwriters and is absolutely a national treasure." Likewise, Dylan once said that when he heard a Lightfoot song, he wished "it would last forever."
Lightfoot performed during the opening ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary and has received numerous awards in his native Canada, including the Companion of the Order of Canada, that country's highest civilian honor, in 2003. He's been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (2012) as well.
The 76-year-old Lightfoot told The Sun earlier this week in a phone interview from his Toronto home that he still plays 75 to 80 shows a year and keeps himself in performing shape with a balanced diet of eating well and an exercise regimen that includes weights, stretches, and fast walking. He gave up alcohol a few years ago, but says his exercise routine does not travel with him. "I don't do anything on the road having to do with exercise. I just play and travel. It's like being on vacation."
While many people on vacation would flee the city when it's as hot as it will be Saturday (forecasters are predicting 90-degree temperatures during the day, but a bit cooler for show time), Lightfoot will be at the venue hours ahead of time. "I get there at 2 p.m. That gives me lots of time to get climatized."
Lightfoot's career dates to 1958 and after having written and recorded (by his count) 220 original songs on record, picking and choosing which ones make the set list for the two-hour show with a 20-minute intermission is as difficult as getting ready to perform in 90degree weather.
"We cover a lot of material. We do abbreviated versions of some of the songs. Some of them are in medley form where you lose a verse here and a verse there, not like 'Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald' where you would lose part of the story, but some of them can be shortened a bit."
Ever the consummate professional, Lightfoot has a sound approach to making his selections.
"I have three different ways of going about a show. I alternate them each and every night. It gives the band a variety of ways of going at things. All shows are different. Some songs only get played once every three nights. Other songs get done two nights out of three."
Though he's been doing this for longer than most people have been alive, Lightfoot does not rely on his accomplishments.
"It makes me work harder. It makes me want to get better prepared. You can't be a couch potato because you're not working three or four weeks. I practice, I keep getting ready. Every time I get on stage, I want to get up there and knock it out."
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