Warner Brothers 1964 to 1966 Demos Artwork

[johnfowles]

A new ebay auction at:-
http://cgi.ebay.com/GORDON-LIGHTFOOT...QQcmdZViewItem
features some innovative imaginary artwork for the jewel case of this unofficial album

front insert booklet

back insert with track list
John Fowles
Note the entirely fictitious and unlikely United artists logo in the corner!!

[ December 10, 2005, 09:52: Message edited by: johnfowles ]

[Auburn Annie]

That's 1*9*64, right? And if you mean the UA symbol on the bottom right of the second cover, it looks like it was lifted and adapted from the current UA logo (except the A in the real logo has 3 bars instead of one.) See the wikipedia article on United Artists for their current logo. This is way too sleek for the 60s which IIRC was more like stylized alphabet blocks with a triangle-shaped A, no bar.
I know, TMI.

[Borderstone]

You pegged it Annie! :D Looks like United Artists has found a new way to market their "lost" artist.

If it's actually him and his originals,I'd go for it but I really don't trust the idea of buying music without being able to "check it out" first. I don't trust E-Bay much for that matter. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Looks pretty cool though!

[Affair on Touhy Ave.]

huuum. ebay says Warner Bros.but the label says UA.

[johnfowles]

Originally posted by Affair on Touhy Ave.:
huuum. ebay says Warner Bros.but the label says UA.

Er Um..... Mike (?)
That's as may be but although the desciption actually says
"demos made for Warner Brothers"
AFAIK this collection of demos was never officially released by ANYBODY as IYCRMM was definitely Gordon's Warner Brothers debut album. My point was that if it were a real UA release it would be unlikely to have a subtitle publicising their competitor to whom of course Gord defected in 1970

I showed the artwork mainly because it pleased me since whoever designed it decided to forgego the prosaic "WB demos" title it is usually known by and instead used the standout track "Echoes of Heroes" as the title track. Incidentally those of you who have heard both will already know that the "demo" recording here is not the same one as the great "live" one on the La Cave Cleveland 1965 bootleg.
I have put the artwork jpgs from the auction through some fettling in a graphics programme separated and enlarged the front

and back


the text on the other half of the "booklet" appears to be as reproduced in the auction's blurb
(see text below this picture:-

"From the booklet "Lightfoot was born November 17, 1938 to Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Sr. and Jessica Lightfoot in Orillia, Ontario, Canada. He moved to Los Angeles, California during the 1950s where he studied at Hollywood's Westlake College of Music. He returned to Canada by the 1960s and performed in coffee houses on the Toronto folk scene. In 1966, his debut album Lightfoot! was released. In the mid-1960s he was more known as a songwriter than for his own work, as his songs were recorded by artists such as Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley. In 1971, on a bus bound for Calgary, Gordon met a lonely teenage girl named Grace on her way home from Toronto, and in 1972, the song "Alberta Bound" found its debut on the Don Quixote album. He is one of the first Canadian popular singers who achieved real stardom in his own country instead of moving to the United States. In 1972 his song "If You Could Read My Mind" became a top ten hit. The song was originally featured on his 1970 album "Sit Down Young Stranger" which had not been selling that well. After the success of the song, the album on which it was originally featured was re-released under the new title "If You Could Read My Mind" to capitalize on the success of the song. In 1974, his classic single, "Sundown", went to No.1 on the American charts. Nearly two years later, Lightfoot had an unexpected hit with a song with the unlikeliest of subject matter. In late November, 1975, Lightfoot read a Newsweek magazine article about the Great Lakes ore carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald sinking during a severe storm. Tragically, all of her 29 crew members were killed. His song, "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", most of the lyrics of which were taken from the article, reached #2 on the U.S. Billboard charts. Both songs continue to receive heavy airplay on many classic rock stations. In the fall of 2002, Lightfoot suffered a near-fatal abdominal hemorrhage, which caused him to go into a comatose state for a short period of time. He later returned to the music business with the album Harmony and an appearance on Canadian Idol. Lightfoot has received 15 Juno Awards and been nominated for 5 Grammy Awards. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1986, the Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame in 2001, and in May 2003 was made a Companion of the Order of Canada. Lightfoot is also a member of the Order of Ontario, the highest honor in the province of Ontario"

Note the reference to "Grace" who allegedly inspired "Alberta Bound" an attribution that I do not recall reading before

Finally I note that the track list includes a 32nd track "Crossroads" which I believe does not usually appear on the actual WB demos CD and in this case just might be a straight copy from the 1967 The Way I Feel album
John Fowles
Oops I take some of the above back
As another auction just started this morning puts it
"unreleased demos that Lightfoot recorded in 1964 for Warner Brothers who...TURNED HIM DOWN!!! Lightfoot signed with United Artists the next year and recorded five albums before Warner Brothers signed him for the remaining major part of his career."
so in 1964 UA did not yet to have Gord in their stable anyway
I have started this topic and posted the various images this as a service to Gord's fans.I am fully aware that these demos on whatever CD and with whatever artwork are strictly unauthorised.
So I have no idea if there are copyright issues here or not.

[joveski]

whats the quality of these like?. i seem to have a different version where its all on one disk.

crossroads is there too but it does sound like an inferior sounding version of the album one

[johnfowles]

QUOTE]Originally posted in part by Auburn Annie:
That's 1*9*64, right? And if you mean the UA symbol on the bottom right of the second cover, it looks like it was lifted and adapted from the current UA logo (except the A in the real logo has 3 bars instead of one.) See the wikipedia article on United Artists for their current logo. This is way too sleek for the 60s which IIRC was more like stylized alphabet blocks with a triangle-shaped A, no bar.
I know, TMI. [/QUOTE]
Thanks Annie for spotting my deliberate typo
Yes I was indeed referring to the UA logo bottom right
as you said the current logo has three bars

In contrast the 50's logo was

and

or even

John Fowles
she said "please, please, i've lost my way
the current is too strong

[vlmagee]

In spite of the fact that most people don't include it, Crossroads is one of the tracks on the WB demos. I have the original records, which consist of two LPs, one of which is a "normal" two-sided record, and the other is only one side (the second side has nothing recorded on it).

There are 23 songs on the first record and 9 on the second, and Crossroads is one of them. Although most bootlegs of the material include only 31 songs, there were in fact 32.

[Cathy]

Hmmmm.... I'm visiting Val next week. I wonder where she has those stored?

Hmmm... I wonder if she'll let me play the D-18GL?

Cathy
http://www.cathycowette.com

[charlene]

now Cathy - do you reallly think she's gonna let you get your mitts on that geetar???
lol
If you do get to play it make sure you record it with audio and video tape and still shots!

Char

[Sheryl]

I second that!

[Cathy]

Originally posted by charlene:
now Cathy - do you reallly think she's gonna let you get your mitts on that geetar???
lol
If you do get to play it make sure you record it with audio and video tape and still shots!

Char

Actually, I've played it a few times while visiting. I was careful not to leave any fingerprints on it.

That's why I like that old D15, you know. It's had booze spilled on it, has been laid in the wet grass, has been handed around from person to person and dropped by several of them, and got thrown from a flat bed truck during a parade, and the thing STILL sounds great. It just proves, you can't kill a good guitar.

Cathy

[johnfowles]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by johnfowles:
A new ebay auction at:-
http://cgi.ebay.com/GORDON-LIGHTFOOT...QQcmdZViewItem

AmazIngly this item sold for $81.00.As the bidders and winners names were hidden it is not possible to see who won.
I do hope somebody with conections to future Lightfoot official relesases sees this and realises the highs that some fans will go to acquire interesting additional material



a jewel case back insert

This also must make Val's original vinyl discs truly priceless (Mastercard or Visa).
So Cathy if you get the chance to handle them be very very careful!!!
John Fowles
He prayed all night
Then he walked into a house
Where love had been misplaced
His chance to waste

The power that is stored in the no man’s land of chance
Is the someone who knows what they’re doin’
The old soldiers say in they’re own crusty way
We’ve got too many troops in this room

[vlmagee]

Actually, I have an extra copy of the first record. At the time, I didn't know what it was (buy now, ask later). Even had I known there were two in the full set, I probably would have bought it. Better one record than none at all.

The demos were also released on acetates (a type of record that is less durable than vinyl, and intended for demos not for playing repeatedly). I have an acetate with 7 of the demos (I think it is 7, but perhaps it is 6), and I corresponded with someone in the UK who had an acetate with some of Gord's WB demos PLUS some Dylan demos. He is a Dylan collector and wouldn't part with the disc.

But the net is that WB distributed the demos in more than one form, so there could be still other combinations. However, I know of no additional songs; just the 32.

[T.G.]

Are these available in bootleg form?

[jj]

here is the mp3

http://archive.org/serve/gordonlight...64-66demos.mp3

Gordon Lightfoot
Warner Brothers Demos
Nov.'64-April '66

01. River Gal
02. The Martyred Children
03. Anything My Woman Does
04. Too Much Too Lose
05. The Lost Children
06. When Spring Is O'er The Land
07. Echoes Of Heroes
08. A Love That's True
09. Things They Say
10. A Ring And A Secret
11. Try To Count The Tears
12. That Innocent Look
13. Two Kids From Cabbage Town
14. Somebody Told A Lie
15. Yes I Will
16. Red Roses And You
17. Betty Mae's A Good Time Gal
18. A Few Moments Ago
19. Rosey And Me
20. The General Store
21. Sands Of Time
22. Prettiest Time Of Her Life
23. Sweet Temptation
24. New Day
25. The Last Hand
26. Don't Be Sorry
27. Roll On
28. An Old Friend
29. Fox Fire
30. It's Better That Way
31. Weep Not For Me
32. Crossroads

[johnfowles]

Originally Posted by T.G.

Are these available in bootleg form?

yes try
http://www.guitars101.com/forums/f14...rdon+lightfoot
slow (1 hour plus) download of a 309MB rar archive file containing the 31 files probably in flac (lossless) format from the File Factory

[johnfowles]

u

Originally Posted by johnfowles

yes try
http://www.guitars101.com/forums/f14...rdon+lightfoot
slow (1 hour plus) download of a 309MB rar archive file containing the 31 files probably in flac (lossless) format from the File Factory

Update7 June 2016
I have just downloaded the rar file
Yes it is still available on the File Factory website it took only about 30 minutes to download all 309MB of the rar file. I then "unrarred" it using the trusty JZIP freeware proggie to get all 31 songs (totalling 309MB) as FLACs (Free Lossless Audio Codec) and played a sample successfully so ignore the "fake flac " comment on the guitars101 thread
I have now resurrected this old thread to help Dan O'Malley (who I will later be messaging with some pertinent advice on how to fettle his important RAH and two other bootlegs, then what to do with them, if that should please him!!

[jj]

fun to listen to, once or twice a decade.... or click the mp3 link for background listening when a friend is over who hasn't heard them... the LP sounds like a nice collector peice