Another obit- Gordon Lightfoot

[dockmurgw]

My all-time favorite, I could never understand why this song was never released. From the movie Harry Tracy, in which he played the sheriff.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt5TG4SDBg4[/ame]

 

[jeffrefrig]

Always liked the song "Summertime Dream." I had that on an 8-track tape. That whole album was good. Not the kind of music I was into at the time but I wore that tape out. Every song, except for the boat wreck, hit home one way or another. What a voice. RIP...

 

[mtgianni]

Gordon's 1967 Gibson B-45-12 guitar was nearly as famous as him.

I saw him in Salt Lake City about 73. He had a tee shirt that looked wrinkled and old Levi's on. He said the airlines lost his luggage and he hit the pawn shops until he found a decent guitar. Implied with out saying that it was a lot more important than clothes.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Wow.Just wow.

 

[Rule3]

So sad



One of the best singer songwriters of all time! His songs had such a mellow tone to almost haunting on some. Don't think he had a bad song.
The are all memorable.

 

[mckenney99]

Always enjoyed his music, which brought peace to my soul. I have his greatest hits playing in the background of my computer as I type this. May he Rest In Peace.

 

[Chuck24]

When you watch the documentaries about the shipwreck his song is surprisingly accurate

 

[timjake]

My mother had some of his stuff in the late 60s, so I knew him before If You Could Read My Mind hit the charts. As an adult, the one that stands out is Did She Mention My Name. There's a specific person that I think of every time I hear it, someone I haven't seen in over 30 years.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n1a2TQnorQ[/ame]

 

[venomballistics]

there's someone I'd have liked to sit down and have a beer with

 

[Valmet]

He had a good, long run and was a great songwriter. Early Morning Rain was probably my favorite tune of his.

 

[OLDSTER]

Always a big Lightfoot fan. I was at his concert on a riverboat casino at St. Louis around 2002. He looked like walking death, but his voice was as good as when He recorded The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. My favorite is Rainy Day People. I couldn't imagine he'd live this long.---RIP

 

[bovw]

Not unexpected but still hate to hear this. Saw him for the last of five times a little over a year ago. He was frail and the voice was gone, but the crowd loved him anyway.

A giant among prolific songwriters. Talent and drive that made everything else in his life take a back seat until he was well up in age and gained a different perspective that many of us attain with age and hard experience.


Like I said, not unexpected, but he's one I shall miss greatly. Thankfully his body of work will survive him and be enjoyed for a long time to come.

We saw him again last year as well, figuring it would be the last.

 

[glowe]

The bell still rings 29 times all across towns from Duluth Minnesota to Sault Ste. Marie Michigan every November 10th. In a little over 2 years it will be the 50th Anniversary of the tragedy.

 

[jughed440]

Sad news. R.I.P., Gordon

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2JV0vVuKCY"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2JV0vVuKCY[/ame]

 

[JohnRippert]

Sundown has always been my favorite of his. Some splendid guitar work on that one.

 

[quikdraw67]

Sundown and Edmund Fitzgerald.

The former I can say I lived that.

The latter is a haunting song.

 

[snowman]

He left his mark, that's for sure, and now a big hole. This brings back some fond memories; my youngest sister and I affectionately called him Gordon Heavyhand -probably my doing due to my lifelong fascination with what could be done with English words in order to amuse myself.

From what little I understand he was known to be a gentleman as well as a talent, and I have no reason to doubt it. My memory may be faulty here, but it seems I read somewhere that prior to releasing the song about the Fitzgerald he first contacted a number of surviving family members of the crew to ask them how they felt about it. But you may want to look that up if you're interested in getting more accurate details. That song I'm sure did more than anything to keep alive the memory of the tragedy for those of us who weren't close to the people involved.

My favorite single of his probably was "If You Could Read My Mind", largely because of the contribution of the string section of the studio musicians to the arrangement. They add tremendously to the sense of sadness Lightfoot was trying to convey in the lyrics. You might give it a listen and see what you think.

Oh well -I'll wrap this bit of nostalgia up. Time to be jolted back into my current reality.

Regards,
Andy

 

[Golddollar]

From growing up in the Great Lakes region "The Wreck of the Edmunds Fitzgerald" has a special meaning for me. Watching the ore boats on Lake Erie was one of my dad's favorite pasttimes.

The Great Lakes Brewing Company came up with a tribute beer in their line called "Edmund Fitzgerald Porter."

 

[oldbrownhat]

...The Great Lakes Brewing Company came up with a tribute beer in their line called "Edmund Fitzgerald Porter."

"Robust and complex, our Porter is a bittersweet tribute to the legendary freighter’s fallen crew—taken too soon when the gales of November came early."

I'll drink to that

 

[Golddollar]

"Robust and complex, our Porter is a bittersweet tribute to the legendary freighter’s fallen crew—taken too soon when the gales of November came early."

I'll drink to that

It's a great beer. Only problem right now is my medical providers have me on the wagon.