A whole Night of Lightfoot music - That won't work - Timothy's Pub

[JohnStinson]

Just spoke to an owner of Timothy's Pub on Brown's Line in Toronto. He has all sorts of live music on wed thur friday sat. Went to see two very good females play last Wed night. Acoustic songs, one guitar, nice harmonies..some Crow..some Amanda Marshall.etc. Well, I introduced myself, let him listen to what I do. ...and he said " ..a whole nite of Lightfoot.. that won't work here". WOW! It seemed to me that it might. The place was not full..age of the patrons was reasonably older....ANyway... Thought I might share how some people view one of the best song writers of the century. I get that reaction alot..."a whole night of Lightfoot" ...weird world.

[charlene]

I know where that is..older homes/a bit of industrial area.. I used to work at Brown's Line and Horner Ave..
Maybe if you mixed it up with some Chapin/Denver/Dylan/Kristofferson etc..??
Not everyone is an 'all night long' sort of Lightfoot fan I guess..go figure..
sheesh..

[RM]

Originally Posted by JohnStinson

Well, I introduced myself, let him listen to what I do. ...and he said " ..a whole nite of Lightfoot.. that won't work here".

Do you have any of your own material to toss out ?

[JohnStinson]

This post/thread is just a rant. Could play other stuff... but don't want to.
But if you guys, fellow true lightheads think that way maybe I am wrong. Is a whole nite of Lightfoot music out of the question for semi-mainstream (somewhat mainstream) local pubery, and such.

[RM]

Compromise might be the way to go. This is along the same lines as dedife's thread about recruiting fans.

But you might want to think about just SLIGHTLY over-weighting Lightfoot's music in your performance and then see where it goes from there. Just a thought.

You might introduce a whole new group to his catalogue of music.

[Nightingale]

Hey, I'd love an entire evening of Gordon Lightfoot music but I guess some people wouldn't.
I don't think there is any right or wrong to it, just different taste in music.

I am sure that many people wouldn't recognize all the songs as Gordon Lightfoot music. I know I wouldn't have as a casual fan of his so that might be something to consider too.

[JohnStinson]

OK ..I am listening..

Took a long drive up north... "lee of Christian Island"...I'll try a picture that I took today.

So maybe an answer to my no "Lightfoot all night" issue could be...

A Canadian Songwriters Tribute.

Starting with
Paul Anka
Lightfoot (heavy on the Lightfoot)
Murray Mcclaughlin
Blue Rodeo
The Band (Robertson etc)
Bare Naked Ladies
..

I don't know any others that I would do..or do I..

Wouldn't do
Bryan Adams
Anne Murray (maybe)
Shania Twain
Amanda Marshall
Bruce Cockburn (maybe a tune or two)
Ian Tyson ( oh yea ...i really like this guy..he might go to the other list

????

[RM]

Great idea ! Now you're talkin'. (just curious...what Cockburn tunes do you play ?)

[JohnStinson]

well I cnly think of 3 that I even know of off the top of my head.

"wondering where the lions are" ...is that one.
One that Naked Ladies coverd...can't remember the name...
One that Jimmy Buffet covered "pacing the cage" ..is that Cockburn??...i thought it was

[JohnStinson]

Oh its

Lovers in a Danagerous Time..yea its a Cockburn... I liked that one.

??

[RM]

"Pacing The Cage" is Cockburn ( I didn't know Buffet covered it). I think you're on the right track with this idea. Dare I ask what Paul Anka songs you play ?

[JohnStinson]

See the other idea is to do Lightfoot influences or covers he's done.

So could play any Dylan song.
Of course...Bobby Mcgee and then any Kristofferson..(like Charlene mentioned)..of course isn't the story there that Gord was the first one to record it...but delayed release when requested by Kris because...Roger Miller was recording it.

what are Gord's other influences and covers??

[vlmagee]

Well, if you are interested, John, I can probably dig up the set list for the Lightfoot Tribute Band's Singer/Songwriter Tribute. John F. mentioned that they filled Caffe Lena twice, but it was actually 3 times. In April 2003, they did concerts two nights in a row, the first being "singer/songwriter', the second being their 2nd Lightfoot tribute (the first was in March 2002).

A lot of people can give you his influences. There really aren't many. Tyson, Dylan, Bob Gibson, Segovia, Shea, ... uhhhh .... I may have missed somebody, but it's a select group. I suppose that to an extent Foster was an influence as well.

Then there are the covers ... Ewan MacColl, Phil Ochs, Hamilton Camp, Buddy Black and Leroy Van Dyke, Kris Kristofferson, Shel Silverstein and Vince Matthews, Bob Dylan, Ewan MacColl, Ian Tyson. (Did I miss any?). This doesn't include Anything For Love, for which David Foster wrote the music, Hail Hero (for which Lightfoot again wrote the lyrics), or the stuff he did before United Artists, most of which was traditional or covers.

[RM]

Just to add another twist : how about the artists who have mentioned Lightfoot as one of THEIR influences ? Buffet, Croce, and Fogelberg come to mind. In other words, there would be a Lightfoot connection in a 3-way approach.Variety would definitely be offered.

[charlene]

Originally Posted by RM

Just to add another twist : how about the artists who have mentioned Lightfoot as one of THEIR influences ? Buffet, Croce, and Fogelberg come to mind. In other words, there would be a Lightfoot connection in a 3-way approach.Variety would definitely be offered.

and Billy Joel...

[Jesse Joe]

Originally Posted by RM

Just to add another twist : how about the artists who have mentioned Lightfoot as one of THEIR influences ? Buffet, Croce, and Fogelberg come to mind. In other words, there would be a Lightfoot connection in a 3-way approach.Variety would definitely be offered.

JP Cormier

George Hamilton IV

[Patti]

Do what you want to.

[Jesse Joe]

Originally Posted by Patti

Do what you want to.

Hi Patti,

Do you want to what ?

[Patti]

Jesse Joe? Where did you go?
John, I think your Gordon Lightfoot music sounds real good and if that is what you really want to do, I encourage you to go for it. It might help if you were able to meet some other tribute singers and/or bands. I saw some tribute bands before and they were great and everyone seemed to enjoy them.