banner.gif (3613 Byte)

Corner.gif 1x1.gif Corner.gif
1x1.gif You are at: Home - Discussion Forum 1x1.gif
Corner.gif 1x1.gif Corner.gif
      
round_corner_upleft.gif (837 Byte) 1x1.gif (807 Byte) round_corner_upright.gif (837 Byte)

Go Back   Gordon Lightfoot Forums > General Discussion

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 09-20-2007, 05:28 PM   #1
Blackberry John
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: NYC
Posts: 70
Default Post-Bulletin: Lightfoot's Never Far From Home

http://news.postbulletin.com/newsman...?a=308519&z=35

Even on tour, Lightfoot's never far from home

By Tom Weber

Gordon Lightfoot has never left Canada, and his fans will tell you Canada has never left his songs.

Now 68, and apparently completely recovered from an aneurysm that nearly killed him in 2002, Lightfoot lives in Toronto, about (or "abowt" as he says with his gentle Canadian accent) 70 miles from his hometown of Orillia, Ontario. Five of his six children also live in Toronto.

Early on, Lightfoot was unfairly labeled "the Canadian Dylan." There will never be another Dylan, of course, but for 40 years Lightfoot has staked out his own ground as a songwriter, singer and, yes, Canadian.

Tunes like "Song for a Winter's Night,""Alberta Bound,""Early Morning Rain,""The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" and, of course, "Canadian Railroad Trilogy," are shaded with references to the landscape of his home country.

In advance of his sold-out concert Friday at Mayo Civic Center, Lightfoot talked by phone from his Toronto home.

You were able to break through in America without moving to L.A. How?

Well, I did in fact rent a house in L.A. In the late '70s, I lived there for a number of months. I went there to write songs. But my relationship with my girlfriend broke up and it upset me so much that I came home.

When my career began, my first opportunity came in New York. I found it was simple for me to hop on a plane and go there. We learned how to get a green card and work permits and it really wasn't necessary for me to make that move. I like Toronto a lot.

How do you prepare a set list of songs for a concert?

We do about 25 or 26 songs. The ones I choose are the ones that work best on stage, that have the best feel, and that I enjoy playing.

Is your audience receptive to new songs?

There are songs I've tried to introduce over a year or two and they don't seem to elicit that same kind of response. The ones we're doing right now sort of won that race.

Your most recent album, "Harmony," came out in 2004. Are you recording anything new?

I like the songs on "Harmony" quite a bit. But I would have to lock myself in a room to do it at this point. And we have the tours. The touring is a passion, really. We do about six a year. We go out for about 12 days and then come home again.

On this tour we're going to be in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and we'll connect with some of the families (of Edmund Fitzgerald victims) again. I established a scholarship at the maritime academy in Traverse City, Mich., in 1976 because I wasn't going to take and not give back.

Do you find that the songs take on different meaning for you over the years?

Well, a lot of them do bring back a lot of memories, that's for sure. When I'm doing the songs, I usually think about where I was when I wrote it. But really, I'm too busy thinking about the playing and the singing, you know?
Blackberry John is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-20-2007, 07:09 PM   #2
charlene
Moderator
 
Join Date: May 2000
Posts: 15,877
Default Re: Post-Bulletin: Lightfoot's Never Far From Home

You know?
lol
no 'aboot' for him..it's 'abowt' - just as i say it...'owt' and abowt' not "oot" and "aboot"..
(The Canuck buck and U.S. buck were at par today for the first time since 1976..- for you folks heading up here in May the 'half off' deal with the money is no longer available.. lol)
charlene is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-21-2007, 07:35 AM   #3
Jesse Joe
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 6,862
Default Re: Post-Bulletin: Lightfoot's Never Far From Home

Jesse Joe is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-21-2007, 08:04 AM   #4
Gord H
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: Brantford
Posts: 203
Default Re: Post-Bulletin: Lightfoot's Never Far From Home

Hmmm, newer songs won't illicit the same response? I think GL underestimates his audience!

There are plenty of unofficial songs floating about on the WWW that GL has sung in concert from years gone by that I would love to hear him sing again. Ie, Tennesee Stud and Pleasures of the Night and Partners.

Gord H is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Gordon Lightfoot's home phone # jj General Discussion 2 03-28-2011 09:09 AM
Lightfoot's Looks ricky Jay General Discussion 101 01-04-2011 07:44 PM
IMPORTANT NEWS !!-Celebrating Gordon Lightfoot's 70th - POST your website wishes charlene General Discussion 23 11-12-2008 11:18 PM
Lightfoot's Alliterations GitarGrl General Discussion 27 11-23-2005 01:56 PM
Lightfoot's Label... TheWatchman General Discussion 13 04-27-2003 11:16 AM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:42 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
downleft 1x1.gif (807 Byte) downright