Profile of Gordon Lightfoot on Famous Like Me

Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, CC, O.Ont (born November 17, 1938) is a Canadian folk singer, composer and lyricist.

Life

Lightfoot was born November 17, 1938 to Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Sr. and Jessica Lightfoot in Orillia, Ontario, Canada. He moved to Los Angeles, California during the 1950s where he studied at Hollywood's Westlake College of Music. He returned to Canada by the 1960s and performed in coffee houses on the Toronto folk scene. In 1966, his debut album Lightfoot! was released. In the mid-1960s he was more known as a songwriter than for his own work, as his songs were recorded by artists such as Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley.

In 1971, on a bus bound for Calgary, Gordon met a lonely teenage girl named Grace on her way home from Toronto, and in 1972, the song "Alberta Bound" found its debut on the Don Quixote album.

He is one of the first Canadian popular singers who achieved real stardom in his own country instead of moving to the United States. In June of 1974, his classic single, "Sundown", went to No.1 on the American charts. Nearly two years later, Lightfoot had an unexpected hit with a song with the unlikeliest of subject matter. In late November, 1975, Lightfoot read about the sinking of a Great Lakes ore carrier called the SS Edmund Fitzgerald during a severe storm in a magazine article. Tragically, all of her 29 crew members were killed. His song, "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", most of whose lyrics were taken from the article, reached #2 on the U.S. Billboard charts. Both songs continue to receive heavy airplay on many classic rock stations.

In the fall of 2002, Lightfoot suffered a near-fatal abdominal hemorrhage, which caused him to go into a comatose state for a short period of time. He later returned to the music business with the album Harmony and an appearance on Canadian Idol.

Lightfoot has received 15 Juno Awards and been nominated for 5 Grammy Awards. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1986, the Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame in 2001, and in May 2003 was made a Companion of the Order of Canada, the country's highest honour. Lightfoot is also a member of the Order of Ontario, the highest honour in the province of Ontario.

Best-selling songs

• "Alberta Bound"
• "Bitter Green"
• "Canadian Railroad Trilogy"
• "Carefree Highway"
• "Cotton Jenny"
• "Did She Mention My Name"
• "Does Your Mother Know"
• "Early Morning Rain"
• "Ghost of Cape Horn"
• "If You Could Read My Mind"
• "I'm Not Supposed To Care"
• "In My Fashion"
• "Me and Bobby McGee" (first recorded version of Kris Kristofferson song)
• "Protocol"
• "Rainy Day People"
• "Shadows"
• "Sundown"
• "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"
• "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"
• "The Pony Man"

Tribute and covers

In 1968, Canadian rockers "The Guess Who" wrote a tune about Lightfoot entitled "Lightfoot", which includes references to Lightfoot's songs.

Bob Dylan covered "Early Morning Rain" on his 1970 album Self Portrait.

Netherlands-based singer Viola Wills released a disco version of "If You Could Read My Mind" in 1980, an attempt that was repeated by Amber (with techno-dance group "Stars on 54") in 2000.

In 2003, a tribute album Beautiful was released featuring cover versions of Lightfoot songs by various artists include The Tragically Hip, Cowboy Junkies, Ron Sexsmith and Jesse Winchester.

Discography

• 1966 Lightfoot!
• 1967 The Way I Feel
• 1968 Did She Mention My Name
• 1968 Back Here on Earth
• 1969 Sunday Concert (live)
• 1970 Sit Down Young Stranger (renamed If You Could Read My Mind)
• 1971 Summer Side of Life
• 1972 Old Dan's Records
• 1972 Don Quixote
• 1974 Sundown
• 1975 2 Originals of Gordon Lightfoot
• 1975 Cold on the Shoulder
• 1976 Summertime Dream
• 1978 Endless Wire
• 197? Gordon Lightfoot Hudba a Slova
• 1980 Dream Street Rose
• 1982 Shadows
• 1983 Salute
• 1986 East of Midnight
• 1987 If You Could Read My Mind (re-release)
• 1993 Waiting for You
• 1994 Sunday Concert [Bear Family] (live)
• 1998 A Painter Passing Through
• 2003 Sunday Concert [Capitol 2003] (live)
• 2004 Harmony

Compilations

• 1968 Early Lightfoot
• 1970 The Best
• 1971 Classic Lightfoot: The Best of Gordon...
• 1974 The Very Best of Gordon Lightfoot
• 1975 Gord's Gold
• 1976 Early Morning Rain
• 1985 Songbook
• 1988 Gord's Gold, Vol. 2
• 1989 The Best of Gordon Lightfoot
• 1992 Original Lightfoot
• 1993 The United Artists Collection
• 1994 Lightfoot!/The Way I Feel

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