quote:Originally posted by gordon20:
[B]Many of those songs sound like they possibly have been recorded in Nashville and his voice is so much different than his usual albums. Sincerely your true Gordon friend, Maheen.
B]
OK Maheen and others who may not have read the following on the Newsgroup and/or do not have the Songbook box set:-
there is a thread on the Newsgroup re Early Lightfoot started by Yuri who a few of you will have seen or met in Hamilton
recently.The thread starts at:-
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/...ca80229decb2ef
Also the following words by Gord written in 1999 appear in his Songbook booklet:
"A Word From Gordon Lightfoot
In 1962 I recorded the first two songs burned onto this anthology. Those two, and a few others less likely, were recorded in
Nashville with a group of handpicked musicians. I came out of the sessions sounding like a cross between Jim Reeves and Pat Boone. Deciding not to follow that route, I chose to gamble on the folk revival of the early '60s and began working in bars
and coffeehouses. By 1966 I had found a niche in the singer/songwriter category. I had also found a production company in
New York to record and represent me. I then pursued a career in live and recorded musical performances, which has carried me
through, right up until the present day."
And about the two tracks from "early Lighfoot" on Songbook Disc 1
Gord has these explanations:-
"1/1. REMEMBER ME (I'M THE ONE)
This was part of the American Metropolitan Enterprises catalog. A gentleman named Art Snider was trying to get a record
company going, and he set up the sessions. It's maybe the third song I ever wrote. I think the first song I wrote was done at
the age of about 17--a topical song about the hula hoop craze that was sweeping the nation. I took it down to BMI Canada to
Harold Moon and he encouraged me to continue writing. So I did. By the time I was about 19 or 20, I got a job as a backup
singer on a television show, and four of us drove to Nashville to cut some material. Chet Atkins put together a great backup
band on those recordings that included Floyd Cramer and Grady Martin. The general feeling was that the songs sounded too much
like Jim Reeves or Pat Boone"
"2. IT'S TOO LATE, HE WINS
The song is a love triangle; one guy wins, one guy loses. It's a theme I have returned to on many occasions. It was recorded
in those same Nashville sessions. Very innocent in its approach"
John Fowles