Roll Call - Page 9

03-14-2003, 07:08 PM

Hi, I,m new here,very interesting site I see we all share the same affliction....apparently there is no cure.

03-14-2003, 07:08 PM

Hi, I,m new here,very interesting site I see we all share the same affliction....apparently there is no cure.

Mist O' The Morn' · 03-14-2003, 11:47 PM

present

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restless shadows

walls · 03-14-2003, 11:47 PM

present

------------------
restless shadows

emmitt jackson · 03-15-2003, 02:05 AM

Hello
I'm Graham from Scotland...
have not been here for a lonnnnng time...but still am listening tonight...as I type...to the Man...
cheers to you all..

Graham · 03-15-2003, 02:05 AM

Hello
I'm Graham from Scotland...
have not been here for a lonnnnng time...but still am listening tonight...as I type...to the Man...
cheers to you all..

emmitt jackson · 03-15-2003, 02:17 AM

Hello all out there again..
I've travelled from my home in Dundee , Scotland..to Victoria BC..Canada...
one of the reasons...and a big one...
Lightfoot's lyrics...
Followed the man's music from the early sixties...saw him in Glasgow in the 70's...he was booed off the stage...he was a bit gaga wi' the booze...but for me..an avid fan..he could do no wrong...
Have seen him again here in Victoria...a lot older...but with the same majik he has never lost...
I've played my 12 string Fender for 30 years...still trying to capture something of him....which still eludes me...

Graham

Graham · 03-15-2003, 02:17 AM

Hello all out there again..
I've travelled from my home in Dundee , Scotland..to Victoria BC..Canada...
one of the reasons...and a big one...
Lightfoot's lyrics...
Followed the man's music from the early sixties...saw him in Glasgow in the 70's...he was booed off the stage...he was a bit gaga wi' the booze...but for me..an avid fan..he could do no wrong...
Have seen him again here in Victoria...a lot older...but with the same majik he has never lost...
I've played my 12 string Fender for 30 years...still trying to capture something of him....which still eludes me...

Graham

Wes Steele · 03-15-2003, 08:12 AM

Hello Grahm...

Why was GL booed off the stage? You say he might have been typsy?

What else did he do...or didn't do to get all the boos???????

Wes

emmitt jackson · 03-15-2003, 02:45 PM

Hello Wes...
I was in the mid-70's...I travelled with three friends from Dundee to Glasgow to see GL in concert.
We were all fans of him and this was the first opportunity we had to see him live..so I was a wee bittie excited.
I forget the venue..but the place was packed..When he came on stage with the band...the place erupted in cheering and waving.. I was in wi' the best o' them....my hands were sore with the clapping and he had not yet started to sing....but ...we hushed and then he began to belt them out....After a few songs he began to talk to the audience..and he seemed a bit, well slurry..then he began 'Endless Wire'....

I have often thought that his diction on some songs is a bit unclear, but my enjoyment of them has never waned. .on this night , his lack of vocal clarity was extremely noticeable..

A couple o' other numbers on...he launched again..into Endless Wire...I don't know how the band felt...but they looked a bit concerned...all the quizical looks to one another ..they did not LOOK comfortable and their discomfort was definitely transmitted to the audience...
He again began talking to the crowd...he was a bit miffed at someone shouting up a request...and then...suddenly ...heated words were exchanged......I don't know what happened then....he signalled to the band....and then attempted..yet again...Endless Wire.....well...that was all that Glasgow crowd needed..slow handclaps..and then a big booming voice shouted over the din.." Gordon..you are a *** banana"...
There followed confusion...people began vacating their seats..hissing and booing...
I looked up..The stage was empty.....

How could it have gone from wild enthusiasm at the beginning....to this angry resentment......
But all was not lost....
Gordon re-appeared..by himself to centre stage...then a hush spread...people looked..a few barbs hurled at him...but he waited until the calm...and said something like.....'just to prove this guy can still sing'....that 's what I remember him saying....then he began his fingerpicking...no band....just him alone on that stage...
My greatest regret about that night !!...
I cannot for the life of me..remember the song he sang...only that there was, in that theatre, a majick woven by his singing and playing, that can still give me shivers and goose bumps when I think upon it..
I cannot describe the reaction of the crowd when he finished...I myself was hoarse with cheering, hands weary with the clapping and the tears spilling from my eyes...
He waved...then left.....

I feel foolish of the telling of how I felt that night..It seems a bit silly now..my total hero worship of the man...

I read in one of the local papers that week following that he vowed he would never return to perform in Scotland ...I think he has kept his word.....

So...I had to leave Dundee and travel to Canada....take the bus from downtown Toronto....and spend the next two weeks travelling west...listening to his tapes...and trying to see what he was all about....."Saskatchewan..here's mud in your eye"..I sang along with him through Alberta..and over the Rockies..to BC....
Living here on Vancouver Island..
."I've come home...to the forest."..

Sitting in a Victoria theatre, seeing and listening to him again..after all those years....he still is The Man..

Cheers..Graham

Graham · 03-15-2003, 02:45 PM

Hello Wes...
I was in the mid-70's...I travelled with three friends from Dundee to Glasgow to see GL in concert.
We were all fans of him and this was the first opportunity we had to see him live..so I was a wee bittie excited.
I forget the venue..but the place was packed..When he came on stage with the band...the place erupted in cheering and waving.. I was in wi' the best o' them....my hands were sore with the clapping and he had not yet started to sing....but ...we hushed and then he began to belt them out....After a few songs he began to talk to the audience..and he seemed a bit, well slurry..then he began 'Endless Wire'....

I have often thought that his diction on some songs is a bit unclear, but my enjoyment of them has never waned. .on this night , his lack of vocal clarity was extremely noticeable..

A couple o' other numbers on...he launched again..into Endless Wire...I don't know how the band felt...but they looked a bit concerned...all the quizical looks to one another ..they did not LOOK comfortable and their discomfort was definitely transmitted to the audience...
He again began talking to the crowd...he was a bit miffed at someone shouting up a request...and then...suddenly ...heated words were exchanged......I don't know what happened then....he signalled to the band....and then attempted..yet again...Endless Wire.....well...that was all that Glasgow crowd needed..slow handclaps..and then a big booming voice shouted over the din.." Gordon..you are a *** banana"...
There followed confusion...people began vacating their seats..hissing and booing...
I looked up..The stage was empty.....

How could it have gone from wild enthusiasm at the beginning....to this angry resentment......
But all was not lost....
Gordon re-appeared..by himself to centre stage...then a hush spread...people looked..a few barbs hurled at him...but he waited until the calm...and said something like.....'just to prove this guy can still sing'....that 's what I remember him saying....then he began his fingerpicking...no band....just him alone on that stage...
My greatest regret about that night !!...
I cannot for the life of me..remember the song he sang...only that there was, in that theatre, a majick woven by his singing and playing, that can still give me shivers and goose bumps when I think upon it..
I cannot describe the reaction of the crowd when he finished...I myself was hoarse with cheering, hands weary with the clapping and the tears spilling from my eyes...
He waved...then left.....

I feel foolish of the telling of how I felt that night..It seems a bit silly now..my total hero worship of the man...

I read in one of the local papers that week following that he vowed he would never return to perform in Scotland ...I think he has kept his word.....

So...I had to leave Dundee and travel to Canada....take the bus from downtown Toronto....and spend the next two weeks travelling west...listening to his tapes...and trying to see what he was all about....."Saskatchewan..here's mud in your eye"..I sang along with him through Alberta..and over the Rockies..to BC....
Living here on Vancouver Island..
."I've come home...to the forest."..

Sitting in a Victoria theatre, seeing and listening to him again..after all those years....he still is The Man..

Cheers..Graham

Wes Steele · 03-15-2003, 05:32 PM

Thank you Graham for the detailed account of that night.

You have to wonder what happened. I have been to over 30 of his concerts and I never saw anything like that.

I guess something we never think about is all of the pressure he was and is under. Travel, Record Companies, Band problems, etc...

Was it a full concert? Did you get your money back? Was everything left on "good terms"?

Anyway thanks again...

BILLW · 03-16-2003, 09:08 AM

Thanks again to all of you who keep signing the roll call, it's great to know what a large group we actually are. Let's hope we can start discussing more recent concert experiences in the future, in the meantime all your memories are really interesting to read. Graham, your story is a hoot, and I mean that in a nice way. Since this is about Gordon, I'll skip the names, but I too have seen people on stage too drunk to perform. It happens, it's also a reason a lot of them stop drinking. Keep the stories coming everyone!

Thanks again,
Bill

SilverHeels · 03-16-2003, 11:07 AM

Wes,

I've been trying to email you but they keep bouncing back. Have you changed your
addy?

03-16-2003, 02:06 PM

Graham, I wonder if you are refering to Gordon's last tour of this Green and pleasent land in 1980. I did not get to see him that time, I was at sea. However I did get to see him a couple of years ago in Milwaukee. I was lucky enough to meet him backstage. I spoke to Rick Haynes first, and when I mentioned that I had missed the UK tour in 1980 Rick said, "we weren't at our best then". I spoke to Gordon soon after and he used the exact same phrase. I think that it sticks in Gordon's mind, and he is not proud of it. As he related it to me: as he was trying to perform, somebody down front kept shouting up to him, "play The Patriot's Dream, play The Patriot's Dream". Gordon said that he stopped singing and tried to talk to the guy from the stage. A bad move.
I have seen him 3 times and have always been nothing less than impressed with his performance. A great artist

Growing older is compulsory, growing up is optional.

03-16-2003, 02:06 PM

Graham, I wonder if you are refering to Gordon's last tour of this Green and pleasent land in 1980. I did not get to see him that time, I was at sea. However I did get to see him a couple of years ago in Milwaukee. I was lucky enough to meet him backstage. I spoke to Rick Haynes first, and when I mentioned that I had missed the UK tour in 1980 Rick said, "we weren't at our best then". I spoke to Gordon soon after and he used the exact same phrase. I think that it sticks in Gordon's mind, and he is not proud of it. As he related it to me: as he was trying to perform, somebody down front kept shouting up to him, "play The Patriot's Dream, play The Patriot's Dream". Gordon said that he stopped singing and tried to talk to the guy from the stage. A bad move.
I have seen him 3 times and have always been nothing less than impressed with his performance. A great artist

Growing older is compulsory, growing up is optional.

emmitt jackson · 03-16-2003, 02:56 PM

Hello folks..
I.ve always thought this concert took place sometime in the mid 70's...but perhaps my time frame is warped...
The concert ended..albeit, on a sour note...but there were those of us who truly loved being there for the very experience of the live performance...sadly..I still think it is Scotland's loss...but perhaps one day he will return..and gie us a rare treat..to see him on stage..

Wes..I'm slightly envious of the amount of times you've seen him : )

Cheers..
Graham

Graham · 03-16-2003, 02:56 PM

Hello folks..
I.ve always thought this concert took place sometime in the mid 70's...but perhaps my time frame is warped...
The concert ended..albeit, on a sour note...but there were those of us who truly loved being there for the very experience of the live performance...sadly..I still think it is Scotland's loss...but perhaps one day he will return..and gie us a rare treat..to see him on stage..

Wes..I'm slightly envious of the amount of times you've seen him : )

Cheers..
Graham

Wes Steele · 03-16-2003, 07:12 PM

Yes Graham, I have seen GL many times, probably even more than 35 or 40 times, but I can kick myself you know where.... Last year in May, GL came to a small theatre in Akron, Ohio which is less than 20 miles from my house. It was my sons birthday and he did want to go see GL (my two older kids saw GL in Erie Pa, two years before), but I just could not afford to pay for all five of us, plus his birthday presents, etc... Well, I missed the concert and looked what happened to GL now....

Who knows if I will ever see him again....

But I do have a lot of fond stories and memories over the years...

Wes

TheWatchman · 03-16-2003, 08:31 PM

I was at that concert in Akron as well as the one in Erie, Pa. 2 years earlier. Both great concerts.

emmitt jackson · 03-16-2003, 11:22 PM

Hey Wes.....

I raised my two boys..singing songs to them...
the Stones..Fairport Convention...
The Corries...Gerry Rafferty...
and picking my 12 string..to songs by a Canadian guy....
Thirty years on....my lads quote to me Lightfoot lyrics...
haha...

There is another topic ...
Favourite GL song..

I'll gie mine here...

I have in my hand ..a small book..
t'was given to me by someone I loved so dearly..
this was 1978..
a wee book..

"I wish you good spaces"...

Selection of songs by Gordon Lightfoot..
..edited by Susan Polis Schutz..
illustrations by Stephen Schutz..

The lady is long gone....but I still have the wee book....

To all Lightfoot lads and lassies...

"I wish you good spaces
in the far away places you go..
If it rains ,or it snows
may you be
safe and warm...

Graham

Graham · 03-16-2003, 11:22 PM

Hey Wes.....

I raised my two boys..singing songs to them...
the Stones..Fairport Convention...
The Corries...Gerry Rafferty...
and picking my 12 string..to songs by a Canadian guy....
Thirty years on....my lads quote to me Lightfoot lyrics...
haha...

There is another topic ...
Favourite GL song..

I'll gie mine here...

I have in my hand ..a small book..
t'was given to me by someone I loved so dearly..
this was 1978..
a wee book..

"I wish you good spaces"...

Selection of songs by Gordon Lightfoot..
..edited by Susan Polis Schutz..
illustrations by Stephen Schutz..

The lady is long gone....but I still have the wee book....

To all Lightfoot lads and lassies...

"I wish you good spaces
in the far away places you go..
If it rains ,or it snows
may you be
safe and warm...

Graham

04-04-2003, 04:09 PM

hello it's me.

04-04-2003, 04:09 PM

hello it's me.

05-07-2003, 09:43 AM

I love any songs about airplanes


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