Which members have experienced the 'early' Gord, live?

[jj]

I can't include myself...but I have seen buried in other posts, comments about Sir John's attending Montreal university gigs, or rm doing same south of the border...and Bru (who we miss, think of and send well wishes) having been perhaps the champ when it comes to taking in Yorkville coffeehouse type gigs, no?

Wayne's site starts listing sets/reviews back to '74...any to share from before then?

and did he use a capo back then? (ok, just a little joke)

[charlene]

Ron Jones has some tales to tell...

[sunshine]

I was first introduced to the music of Gordon Lightfoot in the Summer of 1969 when he was an opening act for Peter, Paul and Mary. That was unusual because PP&M just about never had an opening act. Their performance model was the same one that Gordon uses now, which is to do the whole show themselves with one 20-minute intermission. I believe the reason was that Gordon had just signed on with Albert Grossman, who was PP&M's manager and he was trying to introduce Gordon to PP&M's audience, who he believed was the same audience. I know Gordon played the Carter Barron Amphitheater in Washington, DC, Red Rocks, Denver and the Hollywood Bowl in August of 1969. I can't seem to remember if he appeared unaccompanied, which is my best recollection but I could be wrong, or if he had a bass and rhythm guitar accompaniment. Not too many Americans had heard of Gordon in 1969, even those who were fans of the folk scene, except as the writer of PP&M's versions of Early Morning Rain and That's What you Get for Lovin Me. That changed big time shortly thereafter.
________
BMW R100RS

[jj]

that wonderful response was a beautiful ray of sunshine...thanks so much

char, odd how i overlooked the obvious...maybe the master will poke his head in

[charlene]

the 60's:
http://www.lightfoot.ca/chron02.htm

This is who he has always been: very insightful observation:
http://www.lightfoot.ca/thall68.htm
A curious aspect to Lightfoot, however, is that no image of the person has spun into the public's data bank of personalities. There is almost an anonymity to his performance. This is quite rare, especially in the folk field, and one must wonder why he is holding back that extra something that his audience, and the larger one to be tapped, demands to embrace a star.

Maybe he has chosen to retain some of himself rather than to splash big and briefly, feeling that other personalities overplay their hand and become public property. He must have his motives, for obviously he is aware that he has the talent to turn the trick "overnight."

[Wes Steele]

Hello,

I don't know if this would be "early" GL, but I first saw him in November 1973 at John Carroll University in University Hts, Ohio, which is an Eastern suburb of Cleveland.

Just Gord, Rick & Terry.

I flat out LOVED it...so did my girl friend. He even sang my favorite "It's Worth Believn' ", which is the only time I saw him sing it.

The mostly "college" crowd was VERY enthusiastic.

Ya know... that was almost 40 years ago.... YIKES!!!!!!!!!

Looking forward to seeing tomorrow (Sunday) in Tiffen, Ohio

[lighthead2toe]

Originally Posted by charlene

Ron Jones has some tales to tell...

There were so many Char.

Problem was, in those days many of us all drank to excess and I did my fair share so the memory factor might not be as accurate as I would like it to be to put anything up in print.

It just seemed to be the "in thing" at the time and it really wasn't a "good thing," but we have to live with our embarrassing moments.

The line I use now is:
"In the early days I used to go out for a drunk,
These days I go out for a drink."

And the legend lives on.

RJ.

[charlene]

Well JJ and I will buy you that drink at McVeigh's and you can TELL us the tales..

[dad2mak]

I was in college in Southern California in the late 60's and saw GL for the first time at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Paid $3.50 for my ticket and sat in the 3rd row center on the aisle. It was GL, Red Shea, and Rick Haynes. I still have the program.

In 1970 I saw him at the Pasadena City College auditorium. Memorable evening. When he did "Sit Down Young Stranger," at the end of the song there was no response at all for a few seconds, which caught GL off guard, then a collective sigh, and then thunderous applause.

The concerts then were totally acoustic, no keyboards or drums. Some terrific memories of those shows.

[charlene]

Originally Posted by dad2mak

In 1970 I saw him at the Pasadena City College auditorium. Memorable evening. When he did "Sit Down Young Stranger," at the end of the song there was no response at all for a few seconds, which caught GL off guard, then a collective sigh, and then thunderous applause.

.

wow - that song leaves me breathless every time..Back then it must have been quite something to hear it in the times of the 60's. It's relevance is still breathtaking.

$3.50 ticket price. that's sure changed tho!

[johnfowles]

Originally Posted by dad2mak

I still have the program.

Great stuff Dad
any chance you could scan it and display pix here if worthwhile??
That is one thing missing at GL concerts nowadays a good old fashioned souvenir program .Indeed at Sewell on Thursday it was most irritating to plough through the fat issued booklet thingy and find it was 100% advertising with absolutely no mention of Gord. So we fairly promptly gave our three copies back to the usher who was rather surprised! I stlll have two copies of the June 1972 London Royal Albert Hall brochure.I will try to make time to recheck but my recollection is that it was almost exactly the same as the
earlier 1969 London program as shown on this website at:-
http://www.corfid.com/gl/frank.htm
with two principle differences
1 the 1969 concert was at The Royal Festival Hall

whereas three years later it was at The Royal Albert Hall

Different organs entirely!!!
2 on my 1972 program's title page both Terry and Red are listed as on guitars

[Auburn Annie]

May 3 1974 Rochester NY (I was a grad student at SUNY Geneseo) - great show for what I remember as a gymnasium complete with Frisbees skipping from one corner to another while we waited for the show to begin. He broke a guitar string midway through a song and paused to re-string on stage, chatting about the perils of live performance.

[Jenney]

Mine wasn't as early as some others,I guess it was 1973. I kept thinking it was 1971 because of who I went with, but 1973 seems more logical. I only had two albums at the time, IYCRMM and Summer Side of Life, and he did a lot from both of those. Terry and Red were both on stage, and I really, really wish I could remember it better!
It was my first concert seeing anyone and I was beyond thrilled!

[johnfowles]

[size=3]

Originally Posted by johnfowles;166029! I stlll have two copies of the June 1972 London Royal Albert Hall brochure.I will try to make time to recheck but my recollection is that it was almost exactly the same as the[/size

earlier 1969 London program as shown on this website

OK I have now scanned the 12 pages of my old 1972 program and will attach them below.
several are as said repeats of the older 1969 program at:-
http://www.johnfowles.org.uk/LIGHTFO..._June_1972.htm
thr original scans were very large (1800+ pivels wide) therefore the file sizes were around 700+KB so to save problems for those still nursing dial up connections i resized them all to a uniform 640 pixels wide.I checked that those pages with text on them were readable
You should be able to see that I had a hugely expensive seat in row C the price of £1.25 (nowadays a bit less than $2.00) seems ludicrously cheap especially compared to Red Banks Basie Theater's excessive price of $120.00 for rows A to M last week!!
Note also that both Red and Terry are listed as "guitar"
In fact I think that Gord introduced them as lead and second guitar
(i suspect that Bru was somewhere in front of me but of course I did not know her then) In fact like so many others I fondly thought that I was the only serious Lightfoot fan in the UK but The Royal Albert Hall as i recall was pretty well full to its 6000 or so capacity
i have just compared the song menu on page 8 with the actual setlist at:-
http://www.johnfowles.org.uk/LIGHTFO..._June_1972.htm
Gord sang 11 of the 21 listed plus another 11 including the ultra rare unreleased toe tapper
"Rock My World to Sleep"
This was also before perfectionist Gord stopped performing Miguel when he realised there is no St Augustine's Cathedral in Mexico, but the other night he added that the chords in that song are too rough on his fingertips so it is highly unlikely that this great song will ever get back into rotation

[dad2mak]

John, I'm afraid I couldn't find that program if my life depended on it. So much stuff in boxes in storage. I do remember he was wearing a multi-colored vest with a bit of "puff" on it. It's a stock photo I've seen many times. There was a short bio and then the words "Mr. Lightfoot will announce his setlist from the stage."

And yes, Charlene, the final line to SDYS, "John loves Mary, does anyone love me?" absolutely held the audience in silence for about 12-15 seconds before they erupted in applause. GL seemed pleased.

[lighthead2toe]

Originally Posted by charlene

Well JJ and I will buy you that drink at McVeigh's and you can TELL us the tales..

Drink? Drink? Did I hear someone say drink?

You'd need to be a fan of "Father Jack" on the "Father Ted' TV show series to get that one.

But yes, there's a story here and drink is involved of course.

Can't recall the year but it was prior to the release of "The Summer Side of Life" album. Probably, 70, 71 and Gord was doing Massey Hall.
During the concert he acknowledged that his friend Doug Kershaw, the Cajun fiddler was in the audience and Doug stood up and took a bow. He was sitting right behind us.

Doug Kershaw was advertised in the paper to be performing the following week at "The Colonial Tavern," a mainly jazz venue located on Yonge St. in the entertainment district of downtown Toronto.

So off we go to The Colonial Tavern, suspecting of course that Gord would be there to see his friend perform, and sure enough, he was there with his wife, Brita and some friends.

So we enter and the question pops up: "where shall we sit?"

Without hesitation I said we will sit close to the men's washroom. That way we can nab Gord as he walks by and have a chat with him.

And within a short while it did happen. He was very open and even put his arm around one of the friends (Bob) with us. Bob said later that he will treasure that jacket he was wearing forever.

I was really into "Miguel" and "Summer Side of Life" at that the time but he had not yet recorded those songs and I asked him if he planned on recording them.

He told me they were working on them but they were having difficulty getting them right.

I don't recall the exact words but the emphasis certainly would be something of encouragement for him to try and get them out there as we all loved those songs.

It was a great night and Gord eventually got up there with Doug on the stage and they did "Me and Bobby McGee."

I remember also it was a Shure sound system they were using which was the top one at that time and it was clear that Gord was skilled in how he adjusted the system to ensure he got the sound right before he did his tune.

The place went wild of course as it was a double treat for all there, especially for us.

Those were the good days.

Now, pint of Guinness please.

Cheers,

RJ.

[jj]

simply awesome stuff, rm and everyone else replying and having me hanging on every word

i think there should be a survey taken around, say, north america and the resulting anecdotes be assemble into a booklet called

The First Time Ever I saw Lightfoot

[fezo]

I can't match having him pop by the washroom story.... but -

From the Lightfoot.ca site under 1971 - "- Lightfoot caps another successful year with an appearance at Carnegie Hall."

I was there. November soimethingorother. Gord, Rick and Red. He was doing several songs from Don Quixote which hadn't quite come out yet. Did Kristofferson's "Loving Her Was Easier" which, given the company that night turned out to be entirely appropriate.

Saw him the next spring doing a benefit concert at County College of Morris here in NJ. Discoevred right away that the acoustics of a college gym are quite different from Carnegie Hall.

I didn't make the Count Baise this year. That had much to do with the $120 ticket price. I saw him there in 1998 which was my first trip to that theater that I'm now a member of. Wonderful sound and since they have finally restored in a really pretty venue to boot.

[dad2mak]

I do remember this, I couldn't get any girls from the college to go with me to any of the concerts. No one else had heard of him, and so it wasn't anything they wanted to do. This was before "If You Could Read My Mind" had hit it big. In fact, SDYS was a bigger audience pleaser than IYCRMM at that point. Probably because of the Vietnam War going on.

I also remember that there was little if any talk from GL during the concert. It was just song after song, and a little subtle humor: "What did the 3-headed dragon say to the fair damsel? 'Judy, Judy, Judy.' "

Perhaps the only better memories are sitting next to Jenney Rivard in the second row at Massey Hall a few years back. Ever since I've had the "Sunday Concert" album I bought in the late 60's, I've wanted to see him at Massey Hall, and I finally got to do it.

[johnfowles]

I had meant to reply to this thread with a scan of my most recently autographed record a copy of Gord's breakthrough (For me anyway) 1966 hit single "Spin Spin"
I am away at present but will scan the 45 when I get home and display the scan here.
However in trying to find an old thread on the Newsgroup I found a very relevant thread subject "Lighthead Seniority" that had started at:-
https://groups.google.com/group/alt....fda5f050ff555e
I posted twice to that thread the first time to recount my own initiation at:-
https://groups.google.com/group/alt....d0df611?hl=env
in which I had displayed the October 1966 canadian hit parade charts by saying
Anyway I clearly remember my ears perking up upon hearing "Spin Spin"
(probably at about the time it was a top 10 hit see:-
http://www.webfitz.com/lyrics/Charts/1966/Ch196610.html
scroll down to:-
Chart #503 - Monday, October 10, 1966
number 6!!!


the second of my two postings was on the subject of some British coloquialisms/word entemologies at:-
https://groups.google.com/group/alt....d0c0?hl=enhisc
that had a link to a rather naughty BBC web page at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A753527 which includes
"Brits will say 'b******-naked' while Americans will say 'butt-naked'. Why Brits verify nudity from the front and Americans verify it from the rear is anyone's guess'

[dad2mak]

I can remember in the late 60's/early 70's hearing GL do "Summer Side of Life," but the lyrics at that live event were not "He came down through fields of green," but rather, "He came down to save us all on the summer side of life."

At first I thought it was about Jesus Christ, but someone else said it was about John F. Kennedy. Never did hear a definitive answer, and then the lyrics were changed for the album.

[jj]

more interesting posts, thanks guys and thanks for the link sir John, fun stuff

char, where did you see GL in 1970 if it wasn't at Massey?

hey, dad2mak...here's the scoop on summerside of life (per GL) "It's about guys going away to fight in Vietnam; that's the whole driving thought behind it. It's about saying goodbye to your girlfriend and your mother and not knowing if you're coming back--going through God knows what."

apparently not one of Gord's faves, nor mine

[dad2mak]

If that's true about "Summer Side of Life," then the words make less sense to me than they did before!

[charlene]

Originally Posted by jj

char, where did you see GL in 1970 if it wasn't at Massey?

I didn't see a Lightfoot concert at Massey till 1975 I think..
altho I have pics from a 1973 concert at Massey.
It's possible I saw him then and don't remember...it would have been with my boyfriend at the time. SO long ago....

in May 1973 he got up and sang with Kristofferson at Massey and I was with the same boyfriend when I saw that concert.

[jj]

Originally Posted by dad2mak

If that's true about "Summer Side of Life," then the words make less sense to me than they did before!

it's right from your Songbook liner notes

"Then he walked into a house
Where love had been misplaced"

how many films can be named that had that type of premise/or scene?