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 ...
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Didn’t he do the Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald?
The legend goes round from the Chippewa on down and something about Lake Gitcheegoomie.
Jeez, after going to the Huffington Post and scrolling down, I feel like I need a shower.
Chick tunes.
Carefree highway, I love that freakin song. It reminds me so much of the time my car broke down in the backwoods of Alabama in the 1970s and all I had was my handheld transistor radio, and I was stripped to my shorts walking to the nearest gas station and that song came on and I got one of the few times in my life that feeling of pure bliss. To this day I can remember every step, the dirt road, the woods, sitting on a log to rest, and I had this starving obsession with hard boiled eggs “Oh with salt! Oh!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewhM7I9gD4U
Still have some of his recordings & that of Ian & Sylvia.
Saw him in college in concert early 70’s
‘The Edmund Fitzgerald’ and ‘The Circle is Small’.
My favorites.
‘The Edmund Fitzgerald’ and ‘The Circle is Small’.
My favorites.
I’ve always loved his music. It’s clear he’s one of those lucky souls who have found his life’s calling.
Thanks for posting. Gordon Lightfoot’s music is some that I remember from my earliest childhood memories.
Yeah there will be a thread about it on or around November 10th. Count on it.
Embrace your inner chick!
He did indeed. It was a monster hit at the time, probably his biggest as it resonated on both sides of the border.
He has the face of a sailor.
“Sundown” was a pretty big hit.
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