Gordon Lightfoot (born November 17, 1938) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved international success in Folk, Folk Rock, and Country music and has been credited for helping define the Folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s. He has been referred to as Canada's greatest songwriter and, internationally, as a folk-rock legend.

Gordon Lightfoot's songs, including "For Lovin' Me", "Early Morning Rain", "Steel Rail Blues", and "Ribbon of Darkness" (which hit Number 1 in the US with Marty Robbins's cover in 1965) brought him international recognition in the 1960s. He also experienced chart success in Canada with his own recordings, beginning in 1962 with the Number 3 hit "(Remember Me) I'm the One". Lightfoot's own recordings then made an impact on the international music charts in the 1970s, with original songs such as "If You Could Read My Mind" (1970) (Number 5 in the US), "Sundown" (1974), "Carefree Highway" (1974), "Rainy Day People" (1975), (all hitting Number 1) and "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" (1976) (hitting Number 2).

Some of Lightfoot's albums have achieved gold and multi-platinum status internationally. His songs have been recorded by some of the world's most renowned recording artists, including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Jr., The Kingston Trio, Marty Robbins, George Hamilton IV, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Barbra Streisand, Johnny Mathis, Viola Wills, Richie Havens, The Dandy Warhols, Harry Belafonte, Tony Rice, Sandy Denny (with Fotheringay), The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, Scott Walker, Sarah McLachlan, John Mellencamp, Toby Keith, Peter, Paul and Mary, Glen Campbell, Anne Murray, and Olivia Newton-John.

Robbie Robertson of The Band declared that Lightfoot was one of his "favourite Canadian songwriters and is absolutely a national treasure." Bob Dylan, also a Lightfoot fan, called him one of his favourite songwriters, and in an often-quoted tribute to his fellow songwriter, Dylan once observed that when he heard a Gordon Lightfoot song he wished "it would last forever." Lightfoot was a featured musical performer at the opening ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Alberta. He received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree (arts) in 1979, as well as the Companion of the Order of Canada — Canada's highest civilian honor — in 2003.

Early years

In high school, Lightfoot performed extensively and eventually became largely self-taught in playing folk guitar. He was influenced during this time by 19th-century master American songwriter Stephen Foster. He was also an accomplished high school track-and-field competitor and set school records for shot put and pole vault.

Lightfoot moved to California in 1958. He studied jazz composition and orchestration for two years at Hollywood's Westlake College of Music, which had many Canadian students. To support himself, he sang on demonstration records and wrote, arranged, and produced commercial jingles. He was influenced by the folk music of Pete Seeger, Bob Gibson, Ian and Sylvia Tyson, and The Weavers. He rented a place in Los Angeles for a time, but missed Toronto and moved back. He has never lived in the United States since then, though he has done a lot of work in the United States, all under an H-1B visa.

Returning to Canada in 1960, Lightfoot performed with The Swinging Eight, a group featured on CBC TV's ''Country Hoedown,'' and with the Gino Silvi Singers. He soon became known in the Toronto coffee houses promoting folk music. In 1962, Lightfoot released two singles that were local hits in Toronto and received some airplay elsewhere in Canada as well. "(Remember Me) I'm the One" reached #3 on CHUM radio in Toronto in July 1962 and was also a top 20 hit on Montreal's CKGM, then a very influential Canadian Top 40 radio station. The follow-up single was "Negotiations"/"It's Too Late, He Wins"; it reached #27 on CHUM in December. He also sang with Terry Whelan in a duo called the Two-Tones. They recorded a live album that was released in 1962 called ''Two-Tones at the Village Corner'' (1962, Chateau CLP-1012).

In 1963, Lightfoot travelled to Europe. In the United Kingdom he hosted, for one year, BBC TV's ''Country and Western Show''. In 1964 Lightfoot returned to Canada; he appeared at the Mariposa Folk Festival. During this time he began to develop a reputation as a songwriter. Ian and Sylvia Tyson recorded "Early Mornin' Rain" and "For Lovin' Me"; a year later both songs were recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary. Other performers recording one or both songs included Elvis Presley, Chad and Jeremy, George Hamilton IV, The Clancy Brothers, and the Johnny Mann Singers. Established recording artists such as Marty Robbins ("Ribbon of Darkness"), Leroy Van Dyke ("I'm Not Saying"), Judy Collins ("Early Morning Rain"), Richie Havens and Spyder Turner ("I Can't Make It Anymore"), and The Kingston Trio ("Early Morning Rain"), all achieved chart success with Gordon Lightfoot's material.

The United Artists years

Lightfoot was commissioned by the CBC to write the "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" for a special broadcast on January 1, 1967, to start Canada's Centennial year. Between 1966 and 1969, Lightfoot recorded four additional albums for United Artists: ''The Way I Feel'' (1967), ''Did She Mention My Name?'' (1968), ''Back Here on Earth'' (1968), and the live recording ''Sunday Concert'' (1969). During those years, he consistently placed singles in the Canadian top 40, including "Go-Go Round", "Spin, Spin", and "The Way I Feel". His biggest hit of the era was a rendition of Bob Dylan's "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues", which peaked at #3 on the Canadian charts in December 1965. ''Did She Mention My Name?'' featured "Black Day In July", about the 1967 Detroit riots.

Internationally, Lightfoot's albums from this time were well-received, but did not produce any hit singles. Outside of Canada, he remained better known as a songwriter than as a performer.

Lightfoot's success as a live performer continued to grow throughout the late 1960s. He embarked on his first Canadian national tour in 1967, and also performed in New York City. Between 1967 and 1974, Lightfoot toured Europe and was well-received on two tours of Australia.

UA would later consistently release "Best of" album compilations in the 1970s, after Lightfoot became a success on his next label Warner Bros./Reprise.

The Warner Bros./Reprise years

Over the next seven years, he recorded a series of successful albums that established him as a singer-songwriter:

During the 1970s, Lightfoot's songs covered a wide range of subjects, including "Don Quixote" about Cervantes' famous literary character, "Ode to Big Blue" about the widespread killing of whales, "Beautiful" about the simple joys of love, "Carefree Highway" about the freedom of the open road, "Protocol" about the futility of war, and "Alberta Bound" which was inspired by a lonely teenaged girl named Grace he met on a bus while travelling to Calgary in 1971.

In 1972, Lightfoot curtailed his touring schedule after contracting Bell's palsy, a condition that left his face partially paralyzed for a time. Despite his illness, Lightfoot had several major hits during the 1970s. In June 1974, his classic single "Sundown" from the album ''Sundown'', went to No.1 on the American and Canadian charts. It would be his only U.S. #1. He performed it twice on NBC's ''The Midnight Special'' series. "Carefree Highway" (about the actual highway in Phoenix, Arizona) was the follow-up single from the same album. It charted in the Top 10 in both countries. Lightfoot wrote it after traveling from Flagstaff, Arizona on Interstate 17 to Phoenix.

In 1976, Lightfoot had a hit song about a shipwreck on Lake Superior. In late November 1975, Lightfoot had read a ''Newsweek'' magazine article about the tragic loss of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald which sank during a severe storm on November 10 with the loss of all 29 crew members. His song, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", most of the lyrics of which were based on the facts contained in the article, reached #2 on the United States ''Billboard'' charts, and was a #1 hit in Canada. "Sundown" and "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" continue to receive heavy airplay on many classic rock stations. In 1978, Lightfoot had another top 40 hit on the United States Hot 100, "The Circle Is Small (I Can See It in Your Eyes)," which reached #33. He continues his practice of meeting privately with the family members of the men who perished in the Fitzgerald sinking when his touring schedule takes him near them.

During the 1980s and 1990s, Lightfoot recorded six more original albums and a compilation for Warner Bros./Reprise: ''Dream Street Rose'' (1980), ''Shadows'' (1982), ''Salute'' (1983), ''East of Midnight'' (1986), another compilation ''Gord's Gold, Vol. 2'' (1988), ''Waiting for You'' (1993), and ''A Painter Passing Through'' (1998).

The album ''Dream Street Rose'' has the folk-pop sound that Lightfoot established during the previous decade. In addition to the title song, it produced songs such as "Ghosts of Cape Horn" and "On the High Seas". He also included the Leroy Van Dyke's 1950s composition "The Auctioneer," a bluegrass-like number that for Lightfoot was a concert staple from the mid 60s to the 80s.

The album ''Shadows'' represents a departure from the acoustic sound of the 1970s and introduces an adult-contemporary sound. Songs like "Shadows" and "Thank You for the Promises" contain an underlying sadness and resignation. The 1982 American released single "Baby Step Back" marked his last time in the top 50 in that country. The 1983 album ''Salute'' produced no hit singles; the 1986 ''East of Midnight'' album had several Adult Contemporary songs like "A Passing Ship","Morning Glory" and "I'll Tag Along" (East of Midnight). A single from "East of Midnight", "Anything for Love", actually made the Billboard Country & Western chart.

In April 1987, Lightfoot filed a lawsuit against composer Michael Masser, claiming that Masser's melody for the song "The Greatest Love of All" — recorded by George Benson (1977) and Whitney Houston (1985) — stole 24 bars from Lightfoot's 1971 hit song "If You Could Read My Mind." The transitional section that begins "I decided long ago never to walk in anyone's shadow" of the Masser song has the same melody as "I don't know where we went wrong but the feeling's gone, and I just can't get it back" of Lightfoot's song. Lightfoot later stated that he did not want people thinking that he had stolen his melody from Masser.

Lightfoot rounded out the decade with his follow-up compilation ''Gord's Gold, Vol. 2'', in late 1988, which again contained re-recorded versions of his most popular songs, including a re-make of the 1970 song, "The Pony Man". The original had been brisk in pace, acoustic and only about three minutes long. This new version was slower, clocking in at around four minutes plus.

During the 90s Lightfoot returned to his acoustic roots and recorded two albums. ''Waiting for You'' (1993) includes songs like "Restless", "Wild Strawberries" and Bob Dylan's "Ring Them Bells." 1998's ''A Painter Passing Through'' reintroduced a sound more reminiscent of his early recordings, with songs like "Much to My Surprise", "Red Velvet", "Drifters", and "I Used to Be a Country Singer". Throughout the decade, Lightfoot played about 50 concerts a year. In 1999 Rhino Records released ''Songbook'', a four-CD boxed set of Lightfoot recordings with rare and unreleased tracks from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s plus a small hardback booklet for his fans that described how he created his songs and gave facts about his career.

In April 2000, Lightfoot taped a live concert in Reno, Nevada — a one hour show that was broadcast by CBC in October, and as a PBS special across the United States. PBS stations offered a videotape of the concert as a pledge gift, and a tape and DVD were released in 2001 in Europe and North America. This was the first Lightfoot concert video ever released. In April 2001, Lightfoot performed at the Tin Pan South Legends concert at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, closing the show. In May, he performed "Ring Them Bells" at Massey Hall in honor of Bob Dylan's 60th birthday.

Illness and return to performing

In 2003, Lightfoot underwent follow-up surgery to continue the treatment of his abdominal condition. In November, he signed a new recording contract with Linus Entertainment and began rehearsing with his band for the first time since his illness. Also in 2003, Borealis Records, a related label to Linus Entertainment, released ''Beautiful: A Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot''. On this album, various artists, including The Cowboy Junkies, Bruce Cockburn, Jesse Winchester, Maria Muldaur and The Tragically Hip interpreted Lightfoot's songs. The final track on the album, "Lightfoot", was the only song not previously released by Lightfoot. It was composed and performed by Aengus Finnan.

In January 2004, Lightfoot completed work on his album ''Harmony'', which he mostly recorded prior to his illness. The album was released on his new home label of Linus Records on May 11 of that year. It was his 20th original album and included a single and new video for "Inspiration Lady." Other songs were "Clouds Of Loneliness," "Sometimes I Wish," "Flyin' Blind" and "No Mistake About It." The album also contained the upbeat yet reflective track called "End Of All Time", reminiscent of the style of the Marshall Tucker Band and The Allman Brothers Band.

In July 2004, he made a surprise comeback performance, his first since falling ill, at Mariposa in Orillia, performing "I'll Tag Along" solo. In August, he performed a five-song solo set in Peterborough, Ontario, at the flood relief benefit. In November, he made his long-awaited return to the concert stage with two sold-out benefit shows in Hamilton, Ontario.

Lightfoot returned to the music business with his new album selling well and an appearance on ''Canadian Idol'', where the six top contestants each performed a song of his, culminating in a group performance - on their own instruments - of his ''Canadian Railroad Trilogy''. In 2005, he made a low-key tour called the ''Better Late Than Never Tour''.

On September 14, 2006, while in the middle of a performance, Lightfoot suffered a minor stroke that eventually left him without the use of the middle and ring fingers on his right hand. He returned to performing nine days later and for a brief time used a substitute guitarist for more difficult guitar work. Since early 2007, however, Lightfoot has regained full use of his right hand and plays all of the guitar parts in concert as he originally wrote them. He has continued to perform into 2011.

While a tour was being planned for 2008, Lightfoot's manager, Barry Harvey, died at age 56 on 4 December 2007. In late 2009, Lightfoot undertook a 26-city tour.

In February 2010, Gordon Lightfoot was the victim of a death hoax originating from Twitter, when a prankster spread a rumor that Lightfoot had died. Lightfoot was at a dental appointment at the time the rumors spread and found out when listening to the radio on his drive home. Lightfoot dispelled those rumors by phoning Charles Adler of CJOB, the DJ and radio station he heard reporting his demise, and did an interview expressing that he was alive and well.

Legacy

The Lightfoot sound

In 1975, Pee Wee Charles added the important pedal steel guitar element to the band's sound, applying this traditional country instrument in a unique and creative way to Lightfoot's songs. Drummer Barry Keane joined the following year and in 1981, keyboardist Mike Heffernan completed the ensemble. This five-piece backup band remained intact until 1987, when Pee Wee Charles left the band to operate a radio station in Southern Ontario. Haynes, Keane, and Heffernan continue to tour and record with Lightfoot to this day. Terry Clements died on February 20, 2011, at the age of 63, following a stroke. Gordon Lightfoot will continue touring in 2011 with his new guitarist Carter Lancaster from Hamilton Ontario whom he calls a "great player".

Personal life

"When you're away from the woman, continually confronted by other women, you suddenly find yourself in a weak moment. Then you've gone and stepped over the traces and you gotta go home and confront your old lady. It's a two-way street. You're going to have to offer her the same deal. You can't ask the woman to be faithful if you're not going to be faithful to her. That's where it's broken down for me twice."

The song "If You Could Read My Mind" was written in reflection upon his disintegrating marriage. At the request of his daughter, Ingrid, he performs the lyrics with a slight change now; the line "I'm just trying to understand the feelings that you lack" is altered to "I'm just trying to understand the feelings that ''we'' lack." He has said in an interview that the difficulty with writing songs inspired by personal stories is that there is not always the emotional distance and clarity to make lyrical improvements such as the one his daughter suggested.

After being alone for 19 years between marriages, he married Elizabeth Moon in 1989, and they have two children: Miles and Meredith.

He has played with some of his band members for more than 30 years.

Honours and awards

Lightfoot was chosen as the celebrity captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs for the NHL's 75th anniversary season in 1991-1992.

Lightfoot was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame in 2001. He was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 1998.

In May 2003 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian honour. Lightfoot is also a member of the Order of Ontario, the highest honour in the Province of Ontario. In 1977, he received the Vanier Award by Canadian Jaycees. In 2007, Canada Post Corporation honored Lightfoot and three other legendary Canadian music artists (Anne Murray, Paul Anka and Joni Mitchell) with postage stamps highlighting their names and images.

Between 1986 and 1988 Lightfoot's friend Ken Danby (1940–2007), the realist painter, worked on a large (60 x 48 inches) portrait of Lightfoot dressed in the white suit he wore on the cover of the album ''East of Midnight''. The picture was backlit by the sun, creating a visually iconic image of the singer.

Discography

See also

References

External links

Category:1938 births Category:Living people Category:People from Orillia Category:Musicians from Ontario Category:Writers from Ontario Category:Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame inductees Category:Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductees Category:Canadian country singers Category:Canadian folk singers Category:Canadian pop singers Category:Canadian male singers Category:Canadian singer-songwriters Category:Companions of the Order of Canada Category:Juno Award winners Category:Members of the Order of Ontario Category:Members of the United Church of Canada Category:United Artists Records artists

Family background

Career

Radio broadcasting

MuchMusic

''The Greatest Canadian''

''Strombo Show''

The show moved to CBC Radio 2 on November 8, 2009.

''The Hour / George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight''

For the 7th season of the talk show, CBC announced that beginning September 20, 2010, the show was being renamed and shortened into a daily half-hour show called ''George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight''; the revised program is broadcast weeknights at 11:05 pm local time, 11:30 pm in Newfoundland.

''The One: Making a Music Star''

Reportedly the most expensive summer series in the history of the ABC network, its first episode, on July 18, 2006, scored a low audience of 3.08 million viewers. Subsequent episodes had even fewer viewers. The series was cancelled after just two weeks (four episodes) with the final results undecided on July 27, 2006, with no plans for any further episodes. Stroumboulopoulos returned to ''The Hour'' after the failure of the reality television show ''The One''.

Charity and public awareness

Stroumboulopoulos has also been involved with numerous charitable initiatives, such as hosting the 'HipHop4Africa' Mandela Children's Fund Canada and CapAids February 2006 Toronto benefit. He has traveled to the Arctic for a special on literacy, youth culture and the loss of Inuit identity. He has been to Sudan with War Child Canada, and Zambia for a World AIDS Day special documentary. He also supports Make Poverty History. He joined other prominent Canadians in sharing views on global issues in the March 2010 issue of Upstream Journal magazine.

He was co-host of ''Canada for Haiti'' television with Cheryl Hickey and Ben Mulroney to help the humanitarian crisis in Haiti after a devastating earthquake.

Stroumboulopoulos became the first Canadian Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations World Food Programme in March 2011. Since then his network has fed more than 3,000 hungry kids through the WeFeedback campaign and donated over 7 million grains of rice through Freerice.com.

He also presented at Vancouver's EPIC Expo in May 2011 where he showed support for Fair Trade and the work of the non-profit organization, Fair Trade Vancouver.

Awards

References

External links

Category:1972 births Category:Canadian game show hosts Category:Canadian radio sportscasters Category:Canadian people of Greek descent Category:Canadian people of Ukrainian descent Category:Canadian talk radio hosts Category:Canadian television talk show hosts Category:Humber College alumni Category:Living people Category:MuchMusic personalities Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:Participants in Canadian reality television series Category:People from Mississauga Category:People from Toronto Category:CBC Radio hosts