Posted on 09/04/2014 5:17:30 PM PDT by Squawk 8888
At age 75, the legendary songwriter and beloved recording artist Gordon Lightfoot is still working hard and enjoying it more than ever. The creator of such standards as If You Could Read My Mind, Early Morning Rain, Carefree Highway and Sundown still performs upwards of eighty concerts a year in North America.
"We love the work" is the joyful mantra his associates hear him say all the time. Even after waking up from a six-week coma following a burst abdominal artery in 2002, Gordon worked from his hospital bed and polished the final tracks for his twentieth album. It would take exactly two and a half years before he would take the stage again, overcoming temporary hearing loss, vocal strain and diminished motor skills from the illness. "I could hardly play when I started getting into recovery. I practiced and practiced and kept practicing the guitar," Gordon recalled. "I think actually my guitar playing improved during that time." His voice alone took six months to hone back into performance quality.
These days, a schedule of mostly one-nighters that would grind down artists half his age is energizing for Gordon thanks to a fine tuned approach to living that he has perfected during the fifty plus years he has performed. The end result is a well-oiled, streamlined and virtually problem-free machine where neither resources nor time are wasted. The intention behind it all is to ensure the highest quality experience for every concertgoer.
(Excerpt) Read more at huffingtonpost.com ...
Carefree Highway :)
“Sundown” was about a wild party girl in Hollywood who, as legend has it, was with John Belushi on his last fateful night.
Just can’t recall her name...
egad
The Canucks had a lot of talent back then. In addition to Lightfoot there was Ian and Silvia.
How can one forget ‘Someday Soon’?
Quite of few of them fought with us back then by enlisting in the US military.
I think there was actually a Medal of Honor Winner if memory serves.
A lot of Canadians did enlist with US military to serve in Vietnam, just as a lot of Americans joined our military 1939-1941. Shared values trumps government policy.
IIRC she was a Canadian named Cathy Smith.
As Churchill phrased it, ‘The five English-speaking Democracies’.
We’re responsible for the modern world.
Yes he did. One of my favorites of his.
M4L
Very beautiful, humane and intelligent songs. Countercultural in their day. Thank you, Gordon.
I thought Gordon Lightfoot was a boat.
Well, that makes at least two of us who remember. I still listen to Ian and Sylvia while gardening.
“Saw him in college in concert early 70’s”
I wish I could have seen him back then. I finally got to see him last July when he played at Twin River casino in Rhode Island.
I came away feeling very sad. Everything that has happened to him and his fight to get back took such a toll on him. His band was really tight but they could only cover so much. It was apparent that he was often struggling.
That being said, I’m glad that I finally got to see him as I’ve enjoyed his music for most of my life.
Why do you say that? “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” is one of the manliest tunes ever written.
GAH! Where is THAT??
Good stuff.
Mr. niteowl77
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