All Gord, All the Time
For those who have known me for more than, say, a few days it will come as no surprise that I have been basking in an embarassment of riches for the last few months when it comes to a certain Canadian icon. Not Canadian Idol, but icon - Gordon Lightfoot, to be exact. I first heard his music in the mid 60s (gasp! has it been 40 years??) and have been a fan ever since.
Until this year the only time I saw him perform live in concert was on May 3, 1974 in the gym at Monroe Community College. I was supposed to have seen him at Massey Hall in Toronto in November 2002 but .... Having decided in August of that year to FINALLY see him at Massey (Lightfoot equivalent of the Mother Church) before one of us kicked the bucket - please note I said ONE of us - I bought tickets. And then fate stepped in, in the form of a near-fatal abdominal aneurysm which had him knock-knock-knockin' at heaven's door and put him out of commission for months. A couple of years, really.
Lightheads held their collective breaths as heavily-guarded reports on his health, various surgeries and slow recovery were released in bits and pieces. Eventually he announced that he had been working on a new CD (Harmony) from his hospital bed, and released in May 2004; he planned on trying to return to performing (hurrah!) and finally making a few tentative one or three song appearances at a couple of benefits. Gearing up for the real thing, he set up a tour for 2005, with a handful of shows in the US southwest before hitting the stage in May for what had until 2003 been the annual MH shows. The man was back! And in wonderful voice. And he followed Massey up with a three-song set for Live8 ("Restless,""If You Could Read My Mind," and "Let It Ride.") Click here for these songs:
http://music.aol.com/artist/main.adp?tab=songvid&artistid=2053&albumid=0
Next comes the 45th anniversary of the Mariposa Folk Festival, a brief break, then an autumn full of performance, finishing up with the December benefit concert in Orillia cut short in 2002.
Until this year the only time I saw him perform live in concert was on May 3, 1974 in the gym at Monroe Community College. I was supposed to have seen him at Massey Hall in Toronto in November 2002 but .... Having decided in August of that year to FINALLY see him at Massey (Lightfoot equivalent of the Mother Church) before one of us kicked the bucket - please note I said ONE of us - I bought tickets. And then fate stepped in, in the form of a near-fatal abdominal aneurysm which had him knock-knock-knockin' at heaven's door and put him out of commission for months. A couple of years, really.
Lightheads held their collective breaths as heavily-guarded reports on his health, various surgeries and slow recovery were released in bits and pieces. Eventually he announced that he had been working on a new CD (Harmony) from his hospital bed, and released in May 2004; he planned on trying to return to performing (hurrah!) and finally making a few tentative one or three song appearances at a couple of benefits. Gearing up for the real thing, he set up a tour for 2005, with a handful of shows in the US southwest before hitting the stage in May for what had until 2003 been the annual MH shows. The man was back! And in wonderful voice. And he followed Massey up with a three-song set for Live8 ("Restless,""If You Could Read My Mind," and "Let It Ride.") Click here for these songs:
http://music.aol.com/artist/main.adp?tab=songvid&artistid=2053&albumid=0
Next comes the 45th anniversary of the Mariposa Folk Festival, a brief break, then an autumn full of performance, finishing up with the December benefit concert in Orillia cut short in 2002.
posted by Blue Norther at 5:59 PM
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