New album out

[Gord Fan]

?
Ok, that my have got your attention. Has anyone heard if Gord is releasing any new music soon. He's surely the only artist I have ever run the day a release is made for a purchase!

Russ from Seattle

[charlene]

simple answer - NO.
possibility of some LIVE recordings from concerts from the past several years..no dates are known..

[Gord Fan]

Any live music would be terrific. I have been to 12 of his concerts and I think he still puts on an awsome show...

[charlene]

when and where did you see him..??
you'll get no arguments here about how terrific he is!
lol

[Gord Fan]

All near Seattle ; the first I think around 1975 in the Opera House and the last in Aug. of 2007 at Tulalip outdoor concert series.

[Moosedog]

No, but Burton Cummings has a new CD coming out on November 4th.

Vickie

[Gord Fan]

of the Guess Who? I assume he's solo? Interesting, I will check it out.

[charlene]

http://canadianpress.google.com/arti...QUK_TY2v5qD5NA
Burton Cummings bares soul on frank new disc, 'Above The Ground'
5 days ago

TORONTO — When he's alone, Burton Cummings can become consumed by the past.

He says he ruminates on his fame, the drug-fuelled hippie days, friends that he's lost. A few years back, such reflective moments might have pulled him into depression, says the legendary rocker. But lately, they've served as musical inspiration, resulting in Cummings's most candid album yet.

"Above The Ground" is Cummings's first solo release in nearly 20 years, a 19-track opus with remarkably frank lyrics that delve into life in California ("Couldn't face the folks/tired of bein' the butt of jokes"), disillusionment with show business ("I knew someday the music might get evil/I knew someday I'd be a helpless pawn") and the consequences of a life of excess ("Been wakin' up with my nose in the eggs now/And I suppose that I could use a shower").

While many of his rock 'n' roll contemporaries from the 1960s have quit drinking and drugging, the former Guess Who frontman admits he still indulges in both.

"I still drink, I still drink with great gusto, whether it's a problem or not, that's really other people's opinion," Cummings says during a recent interview in a posh hotel lobby.

"I still stay up and I like to smoke a joint and I don't go nuts anymore.... I think when you reach a certain age, you have to kind of grow up professionally and personally and I'm kind of trying to stay positive about everything now and focus on the future and this record is a big part of that. I know how lucky I am. Not everybody gets to have a new release at this stage in life."

The comments came just as one of Cummings's former party pals - shock rocker Alice Cooper - happened to walk into the hotel, stopping by to shake hands with his old friend. Cooper has been dry for more than two decades.

Another friend of Cummings, Guess Who guitarist Kurt Winter, had his own bout with substance abuse and died in 1997 of kidney failure.

Still shaken by that death, Cummings wanted to honour his late bandmate on the new album with the track "Kurt's Song."

The moustached singer says the new disc marks the first time he's written all material on his own, and he found the experience to be a cathartic one.

"Lyrically, I think it's the strongest album I've ever done because I am not pretending in any way, I am not trying to be anything I'm not," he says.

"The lyrics just deal with having lived now six decades, a reflection back on a very interesting life - ups and downs, triumphs and failures and the title really comes from that old joke: 'Every day above the grass is a good day.' ... I feel pretty ambitious still, for an old codger my age."

By Cummings account, he's "lived 50 lifetimes by most people's standards."

There may be some hyperbole there, but there's no disputing that the Winnipegger is among the most successful rock singers to ever come from Canada.

With the Guess Who, Cummings's soulful voice was at the forefront of a string of international chart-toppers in the '60s and '70s including, "American Woman," "No Time," "No Sugar Tonight," and "These Eyes."

Cummings's early solo successes include the '70s rock radio classic "Stand Tall," but he hasn't put out his own disc of material since 1990's "Plus Signs." More recently, he has reunited with his Guess Who partner Randy Bachman for last year's cover album "Jukebox" and fan-friendly greatest-hits tours as the Bachman-Cummings Band.

Cummings says he pursued a solo disc when Bachman was sidelined by shoulder trouble last November. While the project gave him a chance to explore guarded parts of his persona, it allowed for some fun, too, such as the album's bizarre tribute to a rollaway bed, called "Rollaway." Now 60, Cummings says he's grateful for having led a charmed life overall, but there's been disappointment, too, and he's only recently been able to view darker times as opportunities to grow.

"I think what happened is, five or six years ago I got to a point in my life where I started being more appreciative of what I did have and started worrying less and less, if at all, about what I didn't have," says Cummings, dressed all in black in loose jeans and a long-sleeved shirt thrown over a Doors T-shirt.

"Once I got to that point, life got a little bit less complicated mentally for me and I think that's where I am now and probably where I'll stay."

Cummings says he hopes the disc gives longtime fans a sense of his rocky relationship with stardom and his struggle to remain as artistically honest as he can.

"I've been knocked down a few times career-wise and I've had unbelievably heart-breaking failures - things that I put out that I thought were going to just take the world by storm and they did exactly the opposite," Cummings says of his decades-long music career.

"And I think what makes you strong is getting back up from those times you get knocked down. And everytime I was able to do that, I thought, 'OK, this will creep intrinsically into my songwriting,' and I think it has."

"Above the Ground" comes out on Nov. 4.

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Today/Mu...88146-sun.html

Cummings may join U.S. but he's Canadian first

Fri, October 24, 2008
By DARRYL STERDAN, SUN MEDIA

In a few years, American Woman could be sung by an American Burton Cummings -- or at least a Canadian-American one.

The Canuck rock legend and former Guess Who frontman told Sun Media yesterday he is planning to apply for U.S. citizenship.

"I probably will at some point in the next few years," Cummings said. "I'll get dual citizenship."

But the 60-year-old Cummings -- who has long maintained houses in both Los Angeles and Winnipeg -- stresses he's not turning his back on his home and native land.

"It's not that I have any allegiance to America," he said while promoting his upcoming solo CD Above the Ground. "I will always be Canadian. It's just that with all the extra security since 9/11, going across the border has become more arduous than ever.

"When you have both passports, it's just a breeze; whichever way you're going, that's the passport you pull out. I've seen my manager do it 100 times. And (the U.S. citizenship exam) isn't a really horrendous test; you just really have to know about the setup of the American government and the history.

"But it's really more of a detail for me than an allegiance thing."

The Guess Who's American Woman burned up the rock charts in April 1970, giving the Winnipeg band a Number One hit in the U.S.

No word on whether Cummings is working on a new tune called Dual Citizenship Woman.

[Moosedog]

Originally Posted by Gord Fan

of the Guess Who? I assume he's solo? Interesting, I will check it out.

Yep, solo. 19 songs, all written by Burton - no cowriters. It's a fantastic CD, and Burton's very proud of it! It will be packaged together with a "behind the scenes" DVD that is sure to have some hilarious footage - all shot by Lil Sarafian.

[Yuri]

Lightfoot
Lyrics & Music (Bachman/Cummings/Matheson)
-The Guess Who-



(Photo - Burton, Gord & Randy)

Sidemen come out first
John Stockfish bass guitar
Looks at the world through the eyes of Nashville,
The Riverboat and Charlie McCoy
He's just a boy

The lead guitarist Red Shea who's really come a long, long way
Since rythym rocker jingle jangle
And go Red!

And Lightfoot
Edwardian, suddenly striped
His hair blondish and poetic
He is less than vinyl perfect
His foot is a precise anchor for the husk and vibrance of his voice

He is the image of Alberta
The side street near Chicago
The grim beauty of Toronto

He is an artist
He is an artist
He is an artist painting sistine masterpieces of pine and fur and backwoods
Still echos long ago the winter night of black july and then the outcome
Of an early cleveland rainfall

I sit softly among the rest waiting there for him to paint his pictures
And as the go-go girl went round and our heads were in a spin I thought about
The Crossroads, In the Early Morning Rain and Rosanna

I'm not saying that I'm sory
I'm just telling you this story
And when Lightfoot's magic calls
You can write it on your walls
'Cause that's what walls are for

He is an artist.
__________________________________________________ ______________
for those who haven't heard the song or seen the lyrics
from their 1969 album 'Wheatfield Soul'

[Moosedog]

Love that picture, Yuri! I've got it sitting right here on my desk, signed by all three of those guys.

Vickie

[Jesse Joe]

Great pic Yuri this is the first time Im seeing this one. Thanks for posting it.

[Jesse Joe]

He says he ruminates on his fame, the drug-fuelled hippie days, friends that he's lost. A few years back, such reflective moments might have pulled him into depression, says the legendary rocker. But lately, they've served as musical inspiration, resulting in Cummings's most candid album yet.

Must be really great for a songwriter to be able to turn a bad moment in life, into a musical inspiration... He has said this in other interviews before.

Thanks for posting that article CHarlene... I always did like Burton & Randy.

[geodeticman.5]

Originally Posted by Gord Fan

?
Ok, that my have got your attention. Has anyone heard if Gord is releasing any new music soon. He's surely the only artist I have ever run the day a release is made for a purchase!

Russ from Seattle

Gord Fan,

These albums should be no surprise to you or any ardent fan, but for some reason they escaped my attention recently, since Harmony. Perhaps one or the other I'll mention here came out B4 Harmony; not sure. Hope this helps you assess the completeness in any event of your collection, as it did mine when they came to my attention.

A. High Five ! - His 5 biggest-selling 70's hits, I think:
- Going to buy it myself as Christmas Sampler Stocking Stuffers to my friends with short attention spans...lol.. good songs !
While of course I could burn a better "Baker's Dozen of Gord's Best of Breed"
- as a gift, somehow, the actual packaging of the no-jewel-case ala 3-New Eagles songs that came attached in a carboard sleeve to Hell Freezes Over CD, High5! seems more tasteful to give than a 'Here I burned these' - to a Newby ONLY....but make no mistake...to the existing fan.. we all know how great it is to be overwhelmingly gifted with home-burned Rarities and Hard-to-finds, as in da88 near immposible ! I've been blown away a few times that way, and the Last thing on my mind was the "hey this is home burned" lol yee-haw !

B: A newer live album I did not know existed as am authorized studio release; I am at a loss as right now I can neither remember the name of it nor the year (its on the last 6 years) nor can I remember when it came out, or where/when it was recorded Live ! duhhhh - will research Amazon etc. I was surprised, and I pride myself on knowing every studio and authorized release of Gord's ever made !

One hint; its NOT the 2002 (?) Live at Reno DVD - which by coincidence I must replace myself now after moving - the black hole of belongings that occurs when you move into and out of the same boxes; things dissappear like sock(x) from the washer ! - Oh - and I was surprised and pleased to see an audio-only release of Reno Live NOTE: If I am Remembering Correctly.

And for the the techno-hip on disc technology: A Q - can you not play a DVD in the CD Player , eg making the Audio-only of Reno superfluous for the penny-pinching Scotsman like me ?

I hope sincerely I have remembered these two right for you, Gord Fan, as I KNOW the excitement...every new album....I count the years.....re-calculate the probability of a release in any given year each year...and when I see it, I about pee my pants ! Good luck

lol....

Note: If you are reading this for the second time in disbelief over the first gaff...lol... I saw I had lef t in 5 Everybody Knows and has albums that I pasted accidently from another thread that is up - my favourite 5 albums - I should have named it "Gord's alleged Broad-Brimmed Period BBP"- that's what a very sharp and witty, complimentary Rolling Stone reviewer said of the ODR - Cold On the Shoulder + GGI 'period' ! I sorta hear what he means.... sorry those 5 and reference to got stuck in this A or B, not 5 + A or B post...oooOOPS ! If anyone reads THIS, maybe try checking out the 5 albums thread, cause one more noteworthy set of comments, relatively speaking to old blabberty of mine, asre some new attempts at interpretation of COTS - incuding notably 'The Soul is the Rock'

Thanks, and sorry for the gaff for readers of this previously before edit !

[Gord Fan]

Geo Steve,
Hey , by any chance is the live release you are thinking about the 2003 CD release of the 1969 Sunday Park?

[spocksbrain]

Hi,
To date, Sunday Concert from 1969 is the only official audio live release from Gordon Lightfoot. There are numerous unofficial live releases, the most common being the Montreau 1976 album and the considerably better Avery Fisher Hall recording from 1977. In addition, there are several good quality soundboard recordings from that era and others.

I am excited about the possibility of a new live release, but I also wish Gordon would go back and release some of the 1983 and 84 shows he recorded as well. That was a great era for the band, with both steel guitar and keyboars to supplement the music.

Personall, I would like to see Gord and the boys recruit PeeWee and an orchestra to give us a special concert for such a release. His music is well deserving and ripe for such a treatment. But, alas, he is a purist and will probably not do such.

BTW, I love Sunday Concert. It is a very well done LP. One of my professors once said he felt it was the greatest recording ever. Well, I don't necessarily agree with that, but it is certainly damn good.

[joveski]

Originally Posted by spocksbrain

Hi,
I am excited about the possibility of a new live release, but I also wish Gordon would go back and release some of the 1983 and 84 shows he recorded as well. That was a great era for the band, with both steel guitar and keyboars to supplement the music.

dont forget Gord playing electric guitar at those shows. it was a great era!

[geodeticman.5]

Originally Posted by Gord Fan

Geo Steve,
Hey , by any chance is the live release you are thinking about the 2003 CD release of the 1969 Sunday Park?

Hi Gord Fan - Russ ? - and Spocksbrain , too - Nope , I've got that one 'Sunday Concert' on LP from way back.....gate fold and all - the 'moss green' release.

No , I read of, and saw (sounds like I am describing Bigfoot...lol.)- oddly, what appeared on-line of course... to be a studio release live album -don't remember which, (Rhino, ?), I'm not sure.

I know as well as the next rabid fan the official releases as well, and this one has me stymied.......I'll look around some more.... you never wha Kr88-co et al are gonna release next with a hand-painted Gord on it -or bootlegs -for sale in stores i mean - no the friendly 1's or 3's in the nail to friends and things - I'm appreciative of that. I mean in-the-rack and EMP goes after 'em as well - I know. As well they should.

So as to keep all the well-studied Lightfoot fans from jump'n on me here, Russ, let me say this - I have read it in hear after my post, starting allready...lol- the posts of the official releases from others, well-meaning, and its not good to get anyone's hopes up.

But dang it I did see this one on line and read of it. You know what it might have been.... I read of a CD-only copy of his Reno Live DVD - superfluous for a lot of players(machines)that can play DVD audio only (I think), but never-the-less, read of it. All most all of us in corfid know the offical releases by heart, and grind and crack our teeth wating for the next release, fearfully wrought with the sense of urgency due to Gord's ageing and what he has been through

- to tell you the truth, I was not the only one who was very surprised to see anything after WFYA ! I was so relieved, then on the back-photo he looked so healthy, what a relief. Then APPT - my God, what a great album as well as WFY. APPT to me had much of the vibrancy and (sp?) Joi-de-vie of say, DSR, and songs such as "If You Need Me" - I likened to 'Drifters' - allthough a tale of warning, nevertheless seemed to be happy, upbeat - I was cheering him on in that one. And Restless...man-o-man from WFY - A lifetime great in many ways.


Sorry Russ - good guess, but no cigar....dang it - I wish I knew -at this point until I see anything else substantive - I'll place my bets only on the possibility of a CD only of Reno live ! - maybe in the offing, despite the official list we all know.....he does have a semblance of executive order around EMP - not so with the studios I'm sure - not quit the weight he could throw around (I don't know that he did at all, just envisioning that he COULD have.) ..in the 'Here comes Mr. Cool', & 'down the walk of fame', and 'IN his prime' days.

Course - he was always prompted and prodded to let loose of a live recording as I understand it; such things as the broken fingernail he could hear from the live recording at the Massey Hall near-annual mecca series causing Gord to 'thumbs-down' the release - I'd still kill to hear that -wouldn't you ?

Oh well , despite all almost all of us "know" as avid fans, there is always the possibility of surprise, and we can allways hope. Personally - I am intrigued by some other kind of potential release more - that of 'more of the rarities and publisher's demo's not chosen for given albums, etc, as we heard on Songbook. Reading some of the lyrics in Lightfoot! - Wayne Francis' Site, under un-released, publisher's demo, otherwise yada yada - man I would REALLY like to hear a whole album of ..even 'Basement tapes" - as were the Harmony songs in greater part until Gord waved his hand from the hospital bed and said 'go to my house and get the tapes - do it ! And add tracks - we're making that album whether I am here or not ! - Incredible indomitable will. So we can hope, despite official lists, almost all of us know.

Later

[Yuri]

Cummings & goings
Canuck icon has a new solo album, the first, he says, for which he wrote every song
By JASON MACNEIL, SUN MEDIA
Last Updated: 4th November 2008, 4:36am

http://www.torontosun.com/entertainm...96281-sun.html

Having just come off the road following a tour with Randy Bachman last year, Burton Cummings considered getting back to work on a new solo record, one he thought about releasing five years ago.
But while mulling it over, those who knew him best were actually setting things in motion.
"My road manager Sam Boyd and my manager Lorne Saifer, they phoned me up one day around November 2007 and said, 'Alright, the studio is booked in California, the flights are booked, so is the band and you start on January 11th,' " Cummings says. "I was like (gulps), 'What? I guess I'm doing a new album.
"So once I reached that point, I felt a little bit relieved. It was like a weight was taken off my shoulders. It was like okay, it's going to be real now, we're going in on the eleventh and everything was concrete. It was laid out in front of me."
The new album Above the Ground, in stores today, features 19 songs.
But perhaps most surprising about this record is Cummings wrote all the material himself, something he couldn't say about an album before.
"The fact that it's so many and they're all mine, that's the first time I've ever seen that in print on any of my album covers -- all songs by Burton Cummings. That's kind of a neat little personal milestone for me," he says.
After spending most of the past decade touring as The Guess Who and then as Bachman Cummings, Cummings says Father Time influenced the album's direction, hence the album title.
"I think all of my years of living have crept into the lyrics, so this is more of an album of reflecting and growing up and being a little older," Cummings, 60, says.
DUAL CITIZENSHIP
"I don't think there's a lot of fluff on here, the lyrics are far more ... I wouldn't say serious but I am more concerned now at this stage in my life. I don't want to put something out that will haunt me or embarrass me in a few years."
Although American Woman was a huge hit, Cummings remains a Canadian citizen living in Los Angeles part of the year. However, in late October Cummings revealed to Sun Media he planned on getting dual citizenship.
Maybe the idea came from We Just Came From the USA, a single Cummings describes as "Caveman stuff" that's getting lots of airplay Stateside despite not being the most praiseworthy song about Uncle Sam's land.
"It's a reflection on a Canadian's idea on how insane the United States is and yet wonderful at the same time," Cummings says. "I love the whole concept of the United States, but they're obsessed with celebrity, power and money, it's a crazy country.
"I'm not putting America down. God knows it's been good to me. In the bridge I'm saying I'll cut you open for a nickel, sew you back up for a dime, for a quarter I can testify that someone else did, for a dollar I'd do it all one more time. So it's the obsession with money and power down there."
The person Cummings might have to thank most for Above the Ground being released is his longtime cohort Randy Bachman.
After touring this summer (sometimes in severe agony), Bachman underwent shoulder surgery, the result of having a Gibson guitar slung over his left shoulder for four decades.
"Thank God he's okay again, but my next few months certainly will be centred on Above the Ground. I'm at a stage in life where that's a real privilege. A lot of people don't get that chance when they turn 60. And it's not an old lame guy just putting out an album for the sake of putting out an album."

__________________________________________________ __

Caption for photo: "All of my years of living have crept into the lyrics, so this is more of an album of reflecting and growing up," Burton Cummings says of his new album, Above the Ground. (Mark O'Neill, Sun Media)

[Moosedog]

I love Burton...but I think I've mentioned that before. LOL

Vickie

[spocksbrain]

Yipe! Burton looks like hell in that pic. Lol. He might have partied hearty the night before. I love Burton's music and the Guess Who as well. They do Canada proud.

[charlene]

the last few pics of Burton in the papers have been much the same..
a little bit worrisome I'd say!

[Moosedog]

Here's some better ones. Not at all worrisome to me!

[charlene]

much better!! - i wish i hadn't tossed the papers in the recycling bin already - they were quite alarming...he's always looking so adorable and they were nothing close to adorable..

[Moosedog]

Glad I could help out! He's singin' his heart out right now, in downtown Toronto. A friend of mine just called from her cell phone and let me hear a bit of it.

Vickie