High praise for Gordon Lightfoot.

[Jim Bow]

I just listened to an interview or Herb Pederson. He is a banjo player. Played with the Burrito Bros, Emmy Lou, Eagles, Linda Ronsdadt, Byrds, John Prine, Dylan, etc. and on and on.

The interviewer then asked a series of “first thing you think of” type questions. #3 was “Best Songwriter.
His instant response was “Gordon Lightfoot”. He went on to say that Lightfoot was also at the top of Bob Dylan’s list. He went on to say that “Song For A Winter’s Night” is simply a classic.

[Dan McCosh]

I'd go for "Early morning rain".

[Jim Bow]

I’ll see your “Early Morning Rain” and raise you “Canadian Railroad Trilogy”.

[sandtown]

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vST6hVRj2A

I have heard him play it in person - twice actually.

I think he is still around.

[goodbasil]

Saw him in person in 77-78.
It was good.
He’s still vertical.

[Dan McCosh]

Saw him play once in the late 1960s, in a Southfield MI shopping center. He was something of a fixture on the Great Lakes sailing scene.

[AlanMc]

i like lightfoot, but i'll stab my eardrums out before i listen to that edmund fitzgerald song again.

[JimD]

i like lightfoot, but i'll stab my eardrums out before i listen to that edmund fitzgerald song again.

Not even to hear:

When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin'
"Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya"
At seven PM, a main hatchway caved in, he said
"Fellas, it's been good to know ya"

PS - I feel the same way about Zeppelin's Stairway To Heaven. Might make a good thread: Great songs you never want to hear again...

[Nicholas Scheuer]

This, this, this !

i like lightfoot, but i'll stab my eardrums out before i listen to that edmund fitzgerald song again.

[SaltyD from BC]

i like lightfoot, but i'll stab my eardrums out before i listen to that edmund fitzgerald song again.

I see you and raise you the Beatles - Hey Jude. And definitely Stairway to Heaven!

[sandtown]

i like lightfoot, but i'll stab my eardrums out before i listen to that edmund fitzgerald song again.

You need to ration it. Around the Sweetwater Seas all sorts of radio stations play it on the anniversary of the loss.

Nov. 10th

[CWSmith]

Song for a Winter's Night is a classic. It's about as close to perfect as a song can be.

And Gord's Gold got me through college.

[Breakaway]

No votes for Sundown?




Kevin

[Ron Williamson]

You need to ration it. Around the Sweetwater Seas all sorts of radio stations play it on the anniversary of the loss.

Nov. 10th

Truth.
Watching Great Lakes storms roll in can be pretty chilling.
R

[bamamick]

SiriusXM radio has helped me discover an appreciation for Gordon Lightfoot that I never had these last fifty years or so.

Mickey Lake

[JayInOz]

How about Wreck of the E.F. for people with short attention spans - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwrGISW8IpM JayInOz

[L.W. Baxter]

or, if you have too much time, nothing to do, and fondly recall the absolu 80. (tip o the cap peter lemonhands)

[Jimmy W]

https://www.absolu80.com/

[Tom from Rubicon]

or, if you have too much time, nothing to do, and fondly recall the absolu 80. (tip o the cap peter lemonhands)

The Bard of the Bilge returns and sorely missed. More please.

[JayInOz]

I see you and raise you the Beatles - Hey Jude. And definitely Stairway to Heaven!

Could be worse. It's a public holiday here- Australia Day. The neighbours over the hill to the north are having a party. I'm staying inside so I can't hear Neil Diamond echoing off the hills any more.

[WX]

[Dan McCosh]

Ought to add Lightfoot sailed a boat built by Vic Carpenter, who was one of the finest yacht craftsmen to ever live. One song about his sailing was "In the lee of Christian Island".

[TomF]

This, this, this !

Can I get an "Amen"?

[CWSmith]

Wow! How did he get away with that? It's a blatant rip off of Lightfoot's song.

[Breakaway]

^ Those lyrics were written as poem by Bobby Sands, theIRA leader, while in prison.

Kevin

[CWSmith]

^ Those lyrics were written as poem by Bobby Sands, theIRA leader, while in prison.

Kevin

It's not the lyrics that were stolen.

[AlanMc]

It's not the lyrics that were stolen.

you can't steal music riffs that are that old. i would imagine that droning sea shanty tune is 100's of years old. so in that case, gordon also stole it.

[Dan McCosh]

FWIW, the wreck of the Fitz was a major story in 1975, when the boat broke up in a Lake Superior storm It was the third such sinking of one of the ore boats in three decades following WWII. The small town of Rogers City, at the tip of Michigan's lower peninsula, was home to most of the lake freighter crews. The sinking left a quarter of the families in town without a father. Coincidentally, we have attended a presentation on the sinking, and services at the Maritime Church in the past year, along with seeing a couple of documentaries. The church does an annual service honoring all the lives lost on the Great Lakes, which have claimed something like 5,000 commercial vessels. The song became something of a cliche, but still rings true about the combination of boredom and potential disaster that is a working life at sea. The captain of the Anderson, who took an enormous risk turning his boat around to get to the scene where the Fitzgerald had sunk, said. "Sailors tend to be fatalists--they know you can get your feet wet."

[Dan McCosh]

you can't steal music riffs that are that old. i would imagine that droning sea shanty tune is 100's of years old. so in that case, gordon also stole it.

All music is stolen. The style of the song is some kind of Celtic form. Dunno about the melody itself.

[CWSmith]

you can't steal music riffs that are that old. i would imagine that droning sea shanty tune is 100's of years old. so in that case, gordon also stole it.

All music is stolen. The style of the song is some kind of Celtic form. Dunno about the melody itself.

I question both of these statements.

First, plenty of good folk music is inspired by Celtic songs, but inspiration isn't theft.

Second, the song in question steals from Lightfoot note-for-note.

Third, we're talking about a recording that is younger than I am. It isn't part of the Irish tradition. It's theft.

I like Moore, but I don't like note-for-note theft.

[Ron Williamson]

Maybe royalties were paid,credit was given and it's all good.
R

[Durnik]

and perhaps folk singers generally haven't the ego/greed issues of rock stars & their owners.

[Breakaway]

^ Lightfoot has sold multi-platinum albums and is worth 40 million USD and has owners in the form of Warner Bros, Reprise, and United Artists. He IS a rock star in the broader sense of the term.

That being the case, I am sure his people/ team would have addressed the other song appropriately, perhaps without even Lightfoot knowing. Its almost a guarantee that this didn't get by them and that all is well for some reason.

Kevin

[Osborne Russell]

With a pocket full of sand

[L.A Marche]

i like lightfoot, but i'll stab my eardrums out before i listen to that edmund fitzgerald song again.

You got that right.