[geodeticman]

Thanks for the article Char.

Regarding the Dylan versus Lightfoot strengths, or stand-alone merit of either, the question of the ubiquitous word genius comes up again.

I personally believe Lightfoot to be a genius in both his music, and his presence and delivery.
I know of course I am not alone in this.
His ability to captivate people is startling.

My comments in another thread on the merits of a song being based on "hummable, hummable, whistleable" pale to vapid when the real criteria that occurs to me now why I find GL's music to be genius.

Virtually every other artist or group i have listened to is lucky to ever approach the quality of any one song of Gl's spun at random, but noteably, say, a title song. So many artists for years, and currently, sell albums where one or two songs are comparatively good, versus the rest of their album that is so often forgettable. As a whole, usually forgettable, to me.

Then, on the other hand, forget Gordon's title song for a moment, generally speaking to me, the whole damn album is astonishingly good. You don't feel burned by one or 2 listenable songs, but an entire album where, when its new, you listen with every new song hanging in waiting, to start. And I am waiting, for that brief 2 seconds or so between songs on a new album excited to try and guess what the next song will sound like.

His music is a package deal to me that captures your senses and vivid imagery in your mind's eye that is painted with such amazing feel for style, lyrics, beauty of instruments and melody, and GL's voice that is still uplifting.

While he may appear frail by comparison to former years, and his voice is not the "burled oak tenor" (I'd of said bird's eye maple baritone) it may have been in the past, the whole deal together still captivates as for what he may have lost in age and medical events, he continues to age like a fine wine and his presence, and character simply seem to grow with every year.

Dylan has never captivated me musically or in presence this way, not even close. I realize he is an icon of perhaps immeasurable impact, such as Gord's respect for him as a mentor (in Gord's mind it sounds, versus in Dylan's, it sounds more to be "damn I wish I had wrote that song - near quote" versus himself as a mentor.

Dylan is a folk and rock institution, and we all have our varied mix of favorites. His influence is legendary, but I don't think he holds a candle to Gord in any way except when his great material is covered by other artists with sound and presence that exceed his own by comparison.

Also, admittedly at times, Dylan's astonishingly good lyrics that place him in Lightfoot's league of poetry on its own merit certainly have him in the living legend category, genius as well. But..... if he could only sing !

I'm not callously referring to Dylan's tragic loss of voice quality after the accident, rather, I never thought he could sing. You can take the finest piano concerto in the world, and play it on Linus' children's piano (harsh, I know, but makes the point), and nothing will ever come out at at its true potential.

And so it is I compare, however harshly, Dylan's voice. Lightfoot's voice I liken to a fine Strativarius at his peak vocally, and even with aging, medical events, and tragic occurences, he seems to readily adapt (in our minds?),(and probably with extreme pain and effort to sing in his mind) with amazingly good quality in concert.

And the voice still captivates us on so many favorite songs despite breaks, creaks, and strains, like an ageing but fine sailing vessel with a sound hull but creaky mains'l to these changes with aplombe that took arguably 2-4 albums or so to adapt at various stages of change , but an aging and warped Strativarius always sounds better to me than an alderwood knock-off.

In concert, my God, he still captivates the audience with a mix of his presence and his voice, then enter the superb material, and the finely-tuned Swiss watch of his road band. The concerts are still pure magic, even though we still maybe leave with some mixed emotions.

Sometimes, if he had difficulty, those feelings can include that hard lump in your throat when you leave your Dad at the nursing home and he sounds each time like he may not be able to talk at all upon the following visit.

While that is an extreme case, and not a fair comparison in magnitude and qualitative aspects as well, the ageing voice of Lightfoot, despite brilliant adaptiveness to it in Painter and noteably about 3 songs in Hsrmony, I still get a little lump in my throat when I hear what I think is still a miracle AND hard work that the man can perform with such excellence.

Unfairly I think, I sadly feel such things for what he's been through, but the inspirations from his work remain rife. The lyrics from "Inspration Lady" and all the others in Harmony still convey a Lightfoot full of life to me, and is truly a walking lesson in character and strength. It conveys a sense of true work ethic and a man's life passion in his music the way he finished recording Harmony.

No resting on his laurels for that man, although when the time comes, I dunno, 20 - 30 years from now, I 'spect we'll understand ! LOL

A lesson in keep on keepin' on to me,
geo steve

geo Steve

[ July 30, 2006, 13:58: Message edited by: geodeticman ]