The album and singles success came after Reprise issued the compilation disc Gord’s Gold, which went double-platinum remains his best-selling set in the U.S. It came from the album Summertime Dream, which peaked at No. 2 for two weeks behind Rod Stewart’s “Tonight’s the Night.” Reprise trimmed about 30 seconds from the album version, but it still became one of the longest singles to reach the U.S. Based on the shipwreck of the titular American ship - “As the big freighters go, she was bigger than most” - on Lake Superior in 1975 that cost 29 sailors’ lives. That would come in the unlikely form of “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” a six-minute story song/dirge adorned with mournful electric guitar and folksy melody that often crammed several extra syllables into a line. 1s on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary/Easy Listening chart., and his third in a row after “Sundown” and “Carefree Highway.”īut he had one more stateside smash to deliver. Top 10, and its single “Rainy Day People” reached the Top 30. Lightfoot’s 1975 LP Cold on the Shoulder made the U.S. Sundown, his first of three platinum albums, also spawned the top 10 U.S. Smith, who died in 2020, is credited as a backup singer on one track, “High and Dry.” Lightfoot wrote the song about his tumultuous, extramarital and occasionally violent relationship with Cathy Smith, who years later admitted to injecting John Belushi with the heroin and cocaine “speedball” that led to his death at age 33. Its dark lyrics are masked by a lilting, bluesy melody: “Sundown you better take care/If I find you been creepin’ ’round my back stairs.” Lightfoot’s Sundown LP also hit No. 1 here, and its title track became Lightfoot’s lone Hot 100 chart-topper and went gold. chart before roaring back with the 1974 LP Sundown. He released three more Reprise albums - Summer Side of Life (1971), Don Quixote (1972) and Old Dan’s Records (1972), all of which were huge hits in the Great White North - and singles to middling U.S. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, drawn from his Reprise LP Sit Down Young Stranger, which later was retitled as If You Could Read My Mind. Inspired by his divorce, the song hit No. In late 1970, he scored with “If You Could Read My Mind,” a gorgeous, ethereal track featuring his acoustic guitar and supple but assured vocal. In it, fellow Canadian music legend Geddy Lee of Rush says of Lightfoot, “He is one of greatest examples of timeless singer-songwriter.” Bad Religion s Greg Graffin added, “He’s a Canadian national hero, but he also speaks to a voice for anyone.” Watch a trailer below.īorn on November 17, 1938, in Orillia, Ontario, Lightfoot went from rural choirboy to part of the Canadian folk scene for several years before he burst onto the international music charts amid the singer-songwriter craze. May his music continue to inspire future generations, and may his legacy live on forever.” Read his full remarks below.Ī documentary about the singer, Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind, was scheduled hit theaters in May 2020 via Greenwich Entertainment, but those plans were was scuttled amid the early days of the Covid pandemic. Gordon Lightfoot captured our country’s spirit in his music – and in doing so, he helped shape Canada’s soundscape. Along with the Grammy noms - including Song of the Year for “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” (it lost to “I Write the Songs”) - he earned 13 career Juno Awards in Canada on 29 total nominations.Ĭanada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement late Monday: “We have lost one of our greatest singer-songwriters. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2012 and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1986. Lightfoot received the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award, Canada’s highest honor in the performing arts, in 1997 and was appointed Companion of the Order of Canada in 2003, one of fewer than 500 ever to be so honored. Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |