Gordon Lightfoot

[ohioguy2]

My wife and I went to a Lightfoot concert a couple of days ago. Very sad. He is barely a shadow of his former self. While we had a good time with friends and a good preconcert meal, we all agree that we were witnessing the end of an era. He forgot words, and could barely be understood. I do not see how he will finish the tour. We have seen other performers on the decline, but this was the worst.

BTW--I know there is another thread somewhere of this sort, but we argued after the "concert" about the Sundown lyrics meaning--what is this "creeping around my back stairs" business?

[rthomas]

Jeez, I thought he had cancer and died a couple years ago. I saw him around 1972 - he was great and sang behind Brewer and Shipley but before Iron Butterfly when I saw him.

[ohioguy2]

Nope, he is alive. At least as of a couple of days ago. The voice is gone, and he is skin and bones. I enjoyed him for years, so this was painful.

Who is this Sundown person anyway? What do we do in the room we can't confess?

[cspan37421]

Sorry to hear about it, though reports of his decline have surfaced for decades. My dad was a huge fan of his, and went to see him sometime in the late 70s or early 80s. He was a wreck even back then, due to alcohol, IIRC. However, this time the damage to his body might be for good.

[dukemomLA]

So sorry to hear of your experience. I suspect that sometime soon we will be mourning RIP Gordon Lightfoot. He was a wonderful Canadian light (no pun intended), and ...if you could read my mind, I feel pain at his lack of providing his current concert viewers the best.

[duke74]

My wife and I went to a Lightfoot concert a couple of days ago. Very sad. He is barely a shadow of his former self. While we had a good time with friends and a good preconcert meal, we all agree that we were witnessing the end of an era. He forgot words, and could barely be understood. I do not see how he will finish the tour. We have seen other performers on the decline, but this was the worst.

BTW--I know there is another thread somewhere of this sort, but we argued after the "concert" about the Sundown lyrics meaning--what is this "creeping around my back stairs" business?

So sorry to hear that. Some of my best memories of Duke (1970 -1974) were spent with GL in the mix. If asked my "favorite" artist for years, I would have mentioned his name (sorry for that). As another poster mentioned, he's battled alcohol problems for years.

Look back at his body of work and you'd be impressed (pre Edmund Fitzgerald, If You Could Read My Mind, etc.). Tremendous history recorded by others as well (PP&M, John Denver, etc). My iPod is filled with his earlier works.

Again, sad...

[ohioguy2]

I burned a CD of his songs for one of the couples that went with us. They were amazed at how good he was "then" as compared to the shell of a person "now". I made a copy for myself and now have it in my car. Still no answer or guess as to whom "Sundown" is?

[OldPhiKap]

I burned a CD of his songs for one of the couples that went with us. They were amazed at how good he was "then" as compared to the shell of a person "now". I made a copy for myself and now have it in my car. Still no answer or guess as to whom "Sundown" is?

I believe it is warning that he better not catch another man cheating with his wife. A "back-door man" is an old blues metaphor for sneaking around with another man's wife.

Sundown is just the time of day, not a person's name.

[duke74]

I burned a CD of his songs for one of the couples that went with us. They were amazed at how good he was "then" as compared to the shell of a person "now". I made a copy for myself and now have it in my car. Still no answer or guess as to whom "Sundown" is?

Just counted..76 GL songs on my iPod. Feel like a groupie!

"Summer Side of Life" still is one of my favorite albums of all time. And throw in "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" for a history/sociology lesson.

We need Colchar, our CA friend, to chime in.

[OldPhiKap]

I heard GL on Bill Anderson's show recently (XM). GL was talking about transposing some tune, and where the flats and sharps fell on a certain scale. He asked Anderson if he was right. Anderson's response: "I only know three chords and where to buy a capo."

I almost drove off the road laughing.

[cspan37421]

I heard GL on Bill Anderson's show recently (XM). GL was talking about transposing some tune, and where the flats and sharps fell on a certain scale. He asked Anderson if he was right. Anderson's response: "I only know three chords and where to buy a capo."

I almost drove off the road laughing.

I've heard such stories many times about many artists, and I never believe it. Or at least, I never take it literally anymore. The rank beginner will know three chords by the end of their first lesson. It's quite possible the guy doesn't know scales by name, but I'll bet that they a) know a lot more than three chords, and/or b) they know scales as patterns, but not by name.

Same with self-taught. No one is literally self-taught. They might learn from a book or magazine, or informally from a friend. When people say they're self taught I interpret that to mean they didn't take lessons from a teacher.

Put me down for 43 GL songs on my iPod. I have If You Could Read My Mind, Sundown, Summertime Dream, and Cold on the Shoulder. My stepbrother got the other half of my dad's GL vinyl LPs. Of those 43 songs, I am partial to Carefree Highway.

[rthomas]

I burned a CD of his songs for one of the couples that went with us. They were amazed at how good he was "then" as compared to the shell of a person "now". I made a copy for myself and now have it in my car. Still no answer or guess as to whom "Sundown" is?

"Sundown" was inspired by his then girlfriend, Cathy Smith, later more infamously known for her involvement in the death of John Belushi.
wiki

[rasputin]

I have many of the same faves others have noted, particularly Carefree Highway, Cold on the Shoulder, Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Canadian Railroad Trilogy. There's another ship-going-down song, the Ballad of the Yardmouth Castle (IIRC) about a ship that catches fire and sinks. GL definitely had a melancholy bent. Also add Too Late for Praying. I think I like Nous Vivons Ensemble only because half of it is in French. GL's Song for a Winter's Night turns me into a puddle.

Lightfoot did some great anti-war song writing: The Patriot's Dream; Protocol; and Don Quixote (with the line, "See the soldier with his gun, who must be dead to be admired"). Circle of Steel is interesting social commentary.

Not all of his writing is this way. I enjoy Old Dan's Records which is more of a lark.

[ohioguy2]

Beautiful--very romantic song. Don Quixote is worth listening to over and over. The Boulder Dam song, Trilogy--I could go on and on. These songs and more are why I was sad to see the state he was in.

[cspan37421]

Well, let us remember him at his best. He owes us nothing. Well, unless you're paying to see him under the assumption he's stageworthy.

[duke74]

Beautiful--very romantic song. Don Quixote is worth listening to over and over. The Boulder Dam song, Trilogy

10 Degrees & Getting Colder -->From "Summer Side of Life" 1971

[ohioguy2]

Well, let us remember him at his best. He owes us nothing. Well, unless you're paying to see him under the assumption he's stageworthy.

I agree.

[fadero]

I always thought sundown was some sort of drug reference. My favorite song is Cotton Jenny.

[Bluedawg]

Sorry to hear about it, though reports of his decline have surfaced for decades. My dad was a huge fan of his, and went to see him sometime in the late 70s or early 80s. He was a wreck even back then, due to alcohol, IIRC. However, this time the damage to his body might be for good.

I was a huge fan in the 70's although I never got to see him live.

[budwom]

In the summer of 1972 I worked at a resort in Brainerd, Minnesota (home of Fargo and Jerry Lundegard). Gordon was a very frequent visitor to the bar, which I happened to tend. He was a seriously bad alcoholic back then, and based on what I saw, I'm somewhat amazed he's still alive. Pleasant and engaging when he was sober, but that wasn't too often. Looks like he did an Edmund Fitzgerald to his life in many ways.