My Lightfoot Story

[notemason]

It was the 70's and I had a letter of introduction to Gordon Lightfoot and I loaded my van with music equipment in South Carolina and headed for Toronto. Really excited for this man was my music idol; his amazing lyrics coupled with really tasteful chord progressions made him so. When I reached the Canadian border the guards there looked in my van at all my equipment and refused to allow entry. In their words I didn't look like a tourist, I looked like someone who would be staying in Canada and there were too many Canadians out of work for them to allow that. And so we never met, but I followed his career closely and still sing many of his songs . Today I shed a tear of love for this man and his music. Thanks for listening.

[MLAA]

1. Welcome to DU!

[notemason]

2. Since '04

but I genuinely appreciate the sentiment

[highplainsdem]

3. Welcome to Music Appreciation, anyway! I'd love to hear more

about your music.

I'm so sorry you didn't get to meet Gordon Lightfoot. But your story about the trouble you ran into at the border, before being turned away, reminded me of something record producer Tony Visconti wrote about in his biography. Thin Lizzy had hired him to produce an album for them in Toronto in 1977, but when his plane landed there (Tony was living in.England then) he ran into problems with Immigration. He's American and needed a work permit, and even though he'd already been hired, they told him he'd be putting Canadian producers out of work. Then they made him sit in a holding room with other people for three hours, and he wasn't even allowed to make a phone call. Finally they approved him because, incredibly, they didn't even have Record Producer on their list of professions that they were protecting.

It was such a weird story. But yours is as strange.

It was a shock to hear last night that Gordon Lightfoot was gone. His music was very much part of the soundtrack of so many people's lives.

[notemason]

5. Thanks for sharing!

Last edited Thu May 4, 2023, 12:13 PM - Edit history (1)

Someday I'll tell the story of the song I co-wrote that was recorded by O. B. McClinton and published by the band of a country superstar for which I received a check for $2.50. Still have the check

[ggma]

7. Please do!

Bated breath and all over here! I love cool memories...

gg

[highplainsdem]

13. I'd love to hear that story.

My only Lightfoot story (which isn't nearly as interesting as the story about Tony Visconti that your story had reminded me of) is about seeing him in concert in the mid-1970s. He sounded great, and I was sitting only about 30 feet from him, but my main memory of that concert was that my boyfriend was singing along, quite loudly. Don could sing well. He'd been a folk singer in the early 1960s, when he lived in NYC and played at some of the same clubs Dylan had appeared at. He sang much better than Dylan, and he was much better looking, but he didn't ever get a recording contract and hadn't done any professional singing for years, though he'd entertain friends.

But I wanted to hear Gordon Lightfoot, and I assumed the other people there did, too. I didn't hear anyone else singing along. So I tried shushing Don, who just told me Gordon was smiling at him so he must like it, and he kept singing, at least on some songs.

I broke up with Don not long after that, though of course it had nothing to do with that; he was several years older than me and wanted more commitment. He married someone else a couple of years later, and they were still happily married when he passed away several years ago.

Even with all my other memories of him, the one really burned into my mind was that concert. Probably because those early Gordon Lightfoot songs always remind me of it. If Gordon's giving any concerts in heaven, I suspect Don's singing along happily.

[notemason]

14. For Gordon and Don

My thoughts, and I'm pretty sure I would have been singing along with Don

When I grow cold, bless my soul, and pray that wherever I land
They’ll give me a home with a microphone and a 5 piece folk rock band
Give me a bandstand, plug me in and stand back and let the good times spin
Heaven or no let’s get ready for the show, time to kick it off again

[highplainsdem]

15. Sounds like heaven. :)

And I hope that Don - and you, and all musicians with similar dreams - will get to share stages with your heroes there.

I couldn't blame Don for wanting to sing along with Gordon. And I was used to his singing along with records we were listening to. But no one else was singing along at the concert - at least not loudly enough that I could hear them - and Don was singing loudly enough that I could hear him more than Gordon at times. I was guessing the same was true for others nearby. It was still much better than someone singing loudly and badly, but people weren't there to hear him. We got some less-than-friendly looks.

Usually, unless artists clearly indicate they want the audience to sing along, I want audiences to be quiet during songs, then make lots of noise to show their appreciation after each song - well, and maybe at the very start of a favorite song. I know people disagree on that. Saw a long thread on Steve Hoffman's music forum, with some people saying that if they paid for a ticket, they had every right to sing as loud as they wanted, and people who wanted to hear the artist clearly should just listen to the records instead. Others there disagreed strongly.

But I can understand professional singers especially being tempted to sing along.

Btw, are those your lyrics? I like them, and I couldn't find them by googling.

[notemason]

16. I think most of us

wouldn't sing at a volume that would disturb those around us.

And yes, those are my lyrics.

[highplainsdem]

17. They're good! And now I'm more curious than ever to hear about the song you

wrote that O.B. McClinton recorded...

[notemason]

18. Thank You!

and Ok, I'll share the story in a new thread.

[MLAA]

9. Ahhhh, way longer than me! I just saw the 200 or so posts and though you were pretty new!

[ProfessorGAC]

4. Bummer That You Couldn't Get There

Back when he was major, I still only played keyboards. Didn't start playing guitar until '76. So, Gordon wasn't a influence for me, but I was fond of the hits.

[notemason]

10. You know

most of the gold I mined from his works came from album cuts, songs that never made the markets. I found quality in all his efforts. Tried to follow in his footsteps, Nashville and all, and that led to a treasure trove of other stories to tell.

[vapor2]

6. Sorry you didn't meet him

I saw him at the Troubadour in LA and he broke a string on his 12 string guitar on The Canadian Railroad Trilogy. For whatever reason I went upstairs to his room where he was standing at the door and chatting with a few people. Boldly asked him if we could stay for the 2nd show and he politely said sure so what a night to actually meet him.

[notemason]

11. Cool!

Glad you had this chance to share; that's a memory to treasure.

[erronis]

8. Consolations for your missed opportunity. Congrats for Gordon giving you it in the first place.

We all are living in worlds of missed/wished/should/shouldn't/etc. Yours was special and I hope you found lots of other opportunities taken, perhaps shouldn't, etc.

[notemason]

12. Thanks

Life seems to have it's own ideas of what to do with you and I'm OK with that.