SOCAN award For Lightfoot-June 2014

[charlene]

http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1370...y-socan-awards

The SOCAN award is the world's first music industry trophy that is an actual playable instrument.

TORONTO, June 10, 2014 /CNW/ - Hugely successful Canadian songwriters Drake, Gordon Lightfoot, Ian Thomas, Bill Henderson and Carly Rae Jepsen will be among the prestigious award-winners at the 25th anniversary SOCAN Awards on June 16th at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto.

The SOCAN Awards recognize the accomplishments of Canadian songwriters in Pop/Rock, Dance, Urban, Country, Jazz, Folk/Roots, Classical, Film & Television, and International categories, celebrating Canada's highest achievers in music creation and publishing.

Drake has sold more than five-million albums worldwide, topping Billboard's Hot 100 Chart with each of his last three records. The Toronto-native will receive the inaugural "Global Inspiration Award" at the June 16th gala. As an unofficial ambassador and tireless promoter for Canada, and the Greater Toronto Area, Drake has created a vibrant and thriving hip-hop music industry in this country, with more than 60 collaborators who also will be honoured at The SOCANs.

Gordon Lightfoot is a recipient of 16 SOCAN Awards, 16 JUNO Awards, a Companion of the Order of Canada, and the writer of almost 300 published songs, including some of the world's most loved works such as "Early Morning Rain," "Sundown" and "Carefree Highway." Lightfoot will be presented with the SOCAN Lifetime Achievement Award for an extraordinary career that spans more than 50 years.

Carly Rae Jepsen has exploded on the music scene worldwide, and the video for her song "Call Me Maybe" has now been viewed more than half-a-billion times throughout the globe on YouTube. The song reached the Number One spot on both the Canadian Hot 100 and U.S. Billboard charts, while also topping lists in no fewer than 19 other countries. Jepsen, with her co-writers Tavish Crowe and Josh Ramsay, will be celebrated with SOCAN's International Achievement Award.

A consummate songwriter, Ian Thomas will be fêted at the gala with SOCAN's National Achievement Award. His best-known hit song, "Painted Ladies," reached the Top Five on the Canadian charts, and he attained four other Top 40 hits as a solo artist in the 1970s and '80s. Thomas's songs have been covered by Santana, Bette Midler and Chicago, while the group America had a Top 20 U.S. hit with "Right Before Your Eyes," and Daryl Braithwaite had a Top 10 hit in Australia with "As the Days Go By."

Bill Henderson is best known for his work with Chilliwack, and will be honoured with the SOCAN Special Achievement Award. As lead singer, guitarist, producer and songwriter with one of Canada's top recording groups of the 1970s and '80s, Henderson was a driving force in the success of Chilliwack. Songs such as "Fly At Night" and "Whatcha Gonna Do" earned their places in the Top 10 on the Canadian charts, while "My Girl (Gone, Gone, Gone") went straight to Number One in Canada and the Top 20 in the U.S.

"We're thrilled to honour such a wide variety of exceptional songwriters with SOCAN Achievement Awards," said Eric Baptiste, CEO of SOCAN. "Each music creator exemplifies what is so fantastic about Canadian songwriting, and each has earned every accolade he or she is receiving on June 16th."

At the event, SOCAN will present for the first time its unique new trophy for achievement award recipients. "The SOCAN" is the world's first music industry trophy that is also a serious musical instrument, incorporating five custom bronze crotales in the key of C handcrafted by New Brunswick-based SABIAN, makers of the world's finest cymbals.

Canada outpaces many other countries for the number of high-achieving and popular songwriters and composers per capita, and music creation is the lifeblood of a multi-billion-dollar industry in Canada. The SOCAN Awards are a who's-who of the Canadian music industry, with performances by several prominent artists.

The full list of this year's SOCAN Award winners will be announced the morning of Tuesday, June 17th.

This year's sponsors are Gowlings, SiriusXM, Stingray Digital Group, KPMG, RBC and NOW.

About SOCAN
SOCAN is a member-based organization that represents the Canadian performing rights of more than three-million Canadian and international music creators and publishers. SOCAN is proud to play a leading role in supporting the long-term success of its more than 120,000 Canadian members, and the Canadian music industry overall. SOCAN licenses more than 125,000 businesses in Canada, and distributes royalties to its members and music rights organizations around the world. SOCAN also distributes royalties to its members for the use of their music internationally in collaboration with its peer societies. www.socan.ca

SOURCE SOCAN

Image with caption: "Achievement award recipients to receive "The SOCAN", the world's first music industry trophy that's an actual playable instrument. (CNW Group/SOCAN)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/dow...O_EN_41216.jpg

For further information:

Media Contacts
SOCAN: Michael Critchley, 416.445.8700, ext. 3784, critchleym@socan.ca; Amal Yassir, 416.445.8700, ext. 3747, yassira@socan.ca

Touchwood Public Relations (for SOCAN): Jennifer Rashwan, 416-593-0777 ext. 205, jennifer@touchwoodpr.com

[charlene]

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment...ce=twitterfeed

Gordon Lightfoot says he's never heard a cover version of one of his songs that he didn't like.

By: Ben Rayner Pop Music Critic, Published on Tue Jun 10 2014

Gordon Lightfoot’s trophy room must be fairly cluttered already, but he’s got another one coming his way on Monday when the SOCAN Awards hand him a lifetime-achievement award in recognition of the more than five decades he’s spent as Canada’s preeminent folk-pop ambassador.

It’s a pretty cool trophy, too. For the prize’s 25th anniversary, the Society of Composers, Artists and Music Publishers of Canada has commissioned a brand-spankin’-new hunk of hardware, the “SOCAN,” created by the folks at esteemed New Brunswick cymbal manufacturer Sabian. It doubles as an actual, playable percussion instrument. Take that, Junos!

Anyway, in advance of the annual SOCAN Awards gala at Toronto’s Westin Harbour Castle next week, the Star had a chance to chat with the living Can-con legend, now 75 years old, about various matters related to SOCAN’s stock in trade: songwriting.

Here are his observations…

…ON THE ONE TUNE IN HIS 300-SONG CATALOGUE THAT REALLY STICKS OUT.
“My very first album on United Artists, after I signed with the (Albert) Grossman office around 1966, had a song on it called ‘Early Morning Rain’ and we still do it. We still do that song. We don’t do it every night, but we do it about every other night. ‘Early Morning Rain,’ it’s a keeper. It was done by Peter, Paul and Mary, but even before them it was done by Ian and Sylvia. And at the same time it was done by the Kingston Trio, and Judy Collins had one. There were several that came all at the same time.

“It’s a good one and it holds water. It’s stood the test of time. It’s a good song. I was very happy with that outcome of that one. It’s a great closer, like in a baseball team. It’s a great closer. It’s just one of those tunes. It can be done in different ways, too. Elvis Presley did a little bit different version of it, which was good. He changed a chord . . . And Neil Young just did it. I was deeply honoured by that because, as well as being a friend, I am a fan of his music. He’s such a brilliant guitar player, along with his songwriting ability. He’s a giant of the industry. I’m very proud indeed and I’m very happy that he honoured me by doing that.”

…ON SOME OF HIS OTHER FAVOURITE GORDON LIGHTFOOT COVERS.
“Glen Campbell did a couple of my tunes. He did tunes that nobody else did of mine, like ‘The Last Time I Saw Her.’ He did a beautiful job on that one. There was Barbra Streisand doing ‘If You Could Read My Mind’ when I finally got over to Warner Brothers by 1970. There was ‘Ribbon of Darkness’ by Marty Robbins that went up to No. 1 on the country chart at one point. We still do that one. Some of these things, they just keep going.”

…ON HIS LEAST FAVOURITE GORDON LIGHTFOOT COVERS.
“Oh, I’ve never heard one that I didn’t like. It amazes me.”

…ON WHETHER HE’S WORKING ON NEW MATERIAL THESE DAYS.
“I could be. Yes, I can. I still can. I know I can. I have a very extended family obligation here in Toronto, I really do. I like to spend a lot of time with my kids and I like to look after everything. Really, I haven’t got adequate time.
“I would want to do an album, of course, but it would probably take about three or four years. And when you’re doing that you don’t think about anything else. That’s the unfortunate part about it, and it’s had an effect on my entire personal existence over the last 50 years. My marriages, my divorces, all this business. It’s all gone down. But I can noodle. For the last three or four days, I’ve been writing a song along with my daily notes. It’s mixed in with my ‘things to do.’”

…ON WHETHER HE CAN CONTEMPLATE RETIREMENT.
“Yes, I can. I’m prepared for that, too. Just as I prepare to go to work, I’m prepared to stop. I’m really serious. I will be prepared to stop when it comes time to stop. But I’m going to stay with everybody in spirit.”

…ON WHAT’S GOING THROUGH HIS HEAD AS HE PREPARES TO ACCEPT HIS LIFETIME-ACHIEVEMENT AWARD ON MONDAY.

“You want to say something that’s meaningful, so I’m gonna to think about that. I’m gonna have to prepare for that one, too. I don’t want to write anything down. I used to try to write down what I was going to say at the awards presentations and it didn’t work out so well because, after a while, I had to get out my reading glasses. I’m just going to get up and talk a little bit about what it was like back in the early days and what it was like back then in Yorkville and all that stuff.”

[jj]

Q Your music career pre-dates Canadian content regulations. How hard was it to get on radio in the early going?
A It kind of happened on its own. I was looking for rehearsal space here down in the city when I was about 20 years of age, and I’d just moved here. It happened the person who ran the rehearsal studio, Art Snider, also had a recording studio. We did some recording and he said, “Hey, let’s give it a whirl and let’s … do something in Nashville,” because I was writing songs by that point, I started doing that in Grade 12.

The response we got at that early stage provided me with quite a bit of incentive — and got me involved in a couple contracts early on which I later had to negotiate my way out of. I was married with a couple babies by that point. My first wife (Brita Ingegerd Olaisson) was a really good person and strong, too. We worked together. I finally got around to the point where I got a really good contract by the time I was 25 or 26.

Q You had your first major hit in 1970 with “If You Could Read My Mind,” and exactly 40 years ago had your first No. 1 in Canada and the U.S. with “Sundown.” “Carefree Highway” came out the same year. What do you remember about that time?
A Well one thing I had to do was hire a drummer, finally. Right up until that point that we had “Sundown,” we’d done everything else without a drummer. It was all folk oriented. So we brought in Barry Keane and he’s been with me a long time.

The crowds got bigger. I can remember that time playing in front of 9,000 people at the Anaheim Convention Center.

I really love the feeling that I get when I perform
I had another management deal, which I backed out of, which probably would have vaulted me into another stratosphere. But I think I was happy with my position on the totem pole at that time. I really wanted to do it my own way. It was being suggested that I should get in there with an orchestra and really do something with my vocals … and I didn’t want to get involved with orchestras. I would have been pushed toward more of a Kenny Rogers approach or something like that.

Q Did you ever regret passing on those opportunities?
A Well I couldn’t see doing it that way anyway. Linda Ronstadt did it and quite a few people did it. I really preferred to work with my band at the time, because I had a great group of people working for me at that point. I just didn’t want to mess around with what we were doing. I was making an album every year and a half or so at that point. I was on a roll, going right up until about 1982.

Then I slowed down. I only did four more after that. I’d only done 15 to that point. (laughs)

Q And now you’ve been pretty firm about not recording new stuff.
A Well I know. And then there’s family obligations. My personal life has given me an extended family. And boy, they eat some time.

Q Well, you have six children —
A They’re spread out, too. There’s the mothers too. There are also four mothers involved there.

Q How much do you think about your setlists?
A We could keep people there for three and a half hours. But it’s not fair to people. Everybody is not as into it as everybody else is when we’re doing these shows. I realize that.

A lot of people get hooked on (my) music when they finally get the chance to hear it (live), which is where we shine. We couldn’t possibly (perform) everything that’s stage-worthy. Right now there are 38 songs that are ready to pop right out there. We can field the odd request as we go along without spoiling the pace and I’ve learned how to do that, but I have to think ahead.

I really love the feeling that I get when I perform.

Q By the end of the year you will have performed in every Canadian province and a couple dozen U.S. states. Isn’t the travel a bit much?
A I worry about the band. I have worries about the band travelling so much. Occasionally we’ll get a hard landing or something like that. You wonder. You say, can we keep doing it? There is a lot of flying involved.

Q Do you think about when you’ll decide to stop touring?
A The time came earlier, several years ago, when I couldn’t do it for two and a half years (after a stroke in 2006). I had an illness that kept me off for two and a half years and put me out of business. And after I got back, I didn’t want to stop.

Q Last time we talked, you said you were going to the gym almost every day.
A Almost every day is correct. It’s impossible to go every day. I plan it around family events on the weekends, you see. I want to see my kids. Two of them are on the West Coast right now. One’s in Vancouver and the other’s in Los Angeles. So I have to worry about them now. (laughs) But they’re working. They’re doing stuff.

I’ve been going (to the same Toronto gym) for 32 years. I just come and I go down there and I’m always approached by people both in the corridors and the lobbies and coming across the City Hall parking lot.

Q You don’t mind chatting with fans or strangers?
A I don’t have any trouble with that at all. If somebody recognizes me and walks up to me, I just start talking with them automatically. I try to be as polite as I can be.

Q How did you celebrate your 75th birthday in November?
A I spent it with my family up in Uxbridge, Ont., which is 50 miles away from where I am right now. Thank goodness they’re moving back into town. My God. That’s my erstwhile family. That’s my second family. My two grandchildren are both older than my two youngest kids.

Q You begin your next tour June 18. How do you prepare?
A I’m practising quite a lot. I’ve got one of my old guitars out that had been in mothballs for about 15 years and it just sounds great. I remember trying to tune it and it was like the sword and the stone, but I’ve learned better ways to tune my instrument the past few years.

It’s getting everything out of the way here, on the family side, in this world, that’s part of that preparation. Because when I leave town to go on these trips I like to have everything settled down with the family back here in Toronto.

I have an office. I get tons of fan mail. I get tons of stuff sent to me to listen to. And I try to respond. I do the best I can.

You gotta stay on top of everything that’s coming down. There’s the out flow. The in flow. That’s constantly going on.

[jj]

http://arts.nationalpost.com/2014/06...es-in-the-biz/

[charlene]

TOM COCHRANE introduced Gordon... twitter pics:

[charlene]

Tom Cochrane presents Gordon Lightfoot with the new SOCAN musical instrument trophy for Lifetime Achievement at the 2014 SOCAN Awards. (Photo: Grant W. Martin Photography) - See more at: http://www.socan.ca/news/25th-annive....zZGegac7.dpuf

[jj]

great pic, char… higher res version here

[charlene]

http://www.socan.ca/news/25th-annive...music-creation

June 17, 2014
Winners List

The Canadian music industry gathered at the Harbour Castle Hotel in Toronto on June 16, 2014, to honour Canada’s most successful songwriters, composers, lyricists and music publishers at the 25th anniversary edition of the SOCAN Awards. The gala was hosted by CMT Canada’s Paul McGuire and SiriusXM Canada’s Andréanne Sasseville, and sponsored by Gowlings, SiriusXM Canada, Stingray Digital Group , KPMG, RBC and NOW weekly.

Major achievement recipients were:

Drake – Global Inspiration Award, directly responsible for a music ecosystem propelling the careers of dozens of songwriters, beat-makers and producers.
Gordon Lightfoot – Lifetime Achievement Award, author of nearly 300 published songs, including many of the greatest in the Canadian repertory of classics.
Carly Rae Jepsen, Tavish Crowe and Josh Ramsay – International Achievement Award, for the worldwide phenomenon of the instant pop classic “Call Me Maybe.”
Bill Henderson – Special Achievement Award, for his work as the creative genius behind Chilliwack and his prodigious contributions to Canada’s music industry.
Ian Thomas – National Achievement Award, the writer of such enduring Canadian radio hits as “Painted Ladies,” and “Right Before Your Eyes,” who’s had songs covered by Santana, Chicago, Bette Midler and America.

SOCAN members such as Dragonette, Kathleen Edwards and Jill Barber were also on hand to receive their awards.

The packed house was numerous live performances, including those by 2013 SOCAN Songwriting prize winner Mo Kenney, who played her winning song “Sucker”; Stephan Moccio, who played a stripped-down version of his huge hit co-write “Wrecking Ball,” which won an International Song Award and SOCAN’s first-ever Online Streaming Award ; Rose Cousins and Whitehorse, who each paid tribute to Gordon Lightfoot with versions of “If You Could Read My Mind” and “Sundown,” respectively, and who were thanked for their strong perfomences by Lightfoot himself; Mia Martina, who played her dance-pop hit “Burning”; and Johnny Reid, Alan Frew, Marty Dodson and Glass Tiger, with vocal group Countermeasure, who rocked the house with Reid’s powerful worldwide smash, “Fire it Up,” which won a Country Music Award.

"SOCAN has been my partner for 20 years," said five-time 2014 winner Stephan Moccio. "I think I speak for everyone in this room when I say we could not do what we do without this organization." National Achievement Award winner Ian Thomas said, "Performing rights have fed my family and put my kids through university," and added that in the current digital era, SOCAN members need to "stand on guard" to protect those rights. Special Award winner Bill Henderson said that the thing that's truly special is "when I write and sing a song and it really connects with people." Drake producer Noah "40" Shebib, who (with Boi-1-Da) accepted the rapper's Global Inspiration Award, made the point that almost all of Drake's music is "written by Canadians, produced by Canadians, and recorded by Canadians... We make a conscious effort to keep this here [in Canada and Toronto]."

Rose Cousins and Whitehorse, who each paid tribute to Gordon Lightfoot with versions of “If You Could Read My Mind” and “Sundown,” respectively, and who were thanked for their strong perfomences by Lightfoot himself; Mia Martina

SOCAN members receiving songwriting honours included: Serena Ryder for "Stompa" and “What I Wouldn’t Do,” and members of Walk Off the Earth for “Red Hands,” all in the Pop/Rock category; Mark Pellizer of MAGIC! for co-writing "Inner Ninja," in the Urban category; and Deric Ruttan for co-writing the Blake Shelton U.S. No. 1 hit "Mine Would be You," in the Country category. Lawrence Gowan received three SOCAN Classic Awards for “A Criminal Mind,” “Dancing On My Own Ground” and “(You’re A) Strange Animal,” each of which have earned more than 100,000 radio airplays. Similarly, Harlequin won three Classics and Fludd won two.

- See more at: http://www.socan.ca/news/25th-annive....zZGegac7.dpuf

[jj]

i though the crowd was cardboard cutouts (borrowed from HOV lane drivers ) until i saw one move slightly to the groove… hard core folkies maybe not liking Luke's (Whitehorse) interpretation, lol

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFPC8SlQddA

[charlene]

that video wasn't last night tho.. -I'm hoping for a video from last night..they performed it...

[charlene]

ZUMA Press photo-http://www.etcanada.com/blogs/etc_100941/gordon-lightfoot-drake-carly-rae-jepsen-were-honoured-at-last-nights-socan-awards/

[charlene]

RUDY BLAIR photo-https://twitter.com/Rudy680News/status/478886540760715264/photo/1

[charlene]

GETTY images: http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/Search/...AN+Awards+Gala

[jj]

that video was from Shelter Valley… just to get a flavour of what their performance and interpretation sounded like ( let me know if you find Cousins doing IYCRMM…anywhere, anytime )

[charlene]

CITY TV Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INftLHQ91I4

You Tube

[charlene]

2 more;

[T.G.]

Gordon Lightfoot Interview 25th SOCAN Awards...

[charlene]

another video-

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNms3Za0drY#t=21

[charlene]

You Tube

[paskatefan]

Great pictures, beautiful award. I loved reading the interview. Now I'll have to watch all the Youtube videos. Thank you!

BTW, I had NO idea that Carly Rae Jepsen is Canadian.