Gordon Lightfoot

[edit] Guide Note

Gordon Lightfoot is a Canadian-born singer and songwriter of folk, country and classic rock. He appeared on the popular music scene in the early 1960s.

[edit] Fast Facts

1. Name: Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr.¹
2. Born: November 17, 1938²
3. Birthplace: Orillia, Ontario, Canada¹
4. Parents: Gordon Meredith and Jessie Vick Trill Lightfoot¹
5. Resides: Toronto, Ontario, Canada¹
6. Genres: Folk, country, rock
7. Active: 1962 - present³
8. Label: Unsigned⁴

• 1966: Lightfoot!
• 1967: The Way I Feel
• 1968: Did She Mention My Name
• 1968: Back Here On Earth
• 1970: If You Could Read My Mind
• 1971: Summer Side of Life
• 1972: Old Dan's Records
• 1972: Don Quixote
• 1974: Sundown
• 1975: Cold On The Shoulder
• 1976: Summertime Dream
• 1978: Endless Wire
• 1980: Dream Street Rose
• 1982: Shadows
• 1983: Salute
• 1986: East of Midnight
• 1993: Waiting For You
• 1998: A Painter Passing Through
• 1999: Songbook
• 2004: Harmony

Gordon Lightfoot exhibited his musical talent early in life. Encouraged by his mother, he learned to play a variety of musical instruments, including piano and drums. In school, he performed in plays, sang in quartets and went on to study orchestra at Westlake College in Los Angeles.¹

As one half of the duo, the Two Tones, he recorded a live album in 1962 titled Two Tones at the Village Corner. The same year he recorded 11 songs that wouldn't be released until almost a decade later.³

In 1964 Ian and Sylvia performed and recorded two songs written by Lightfoot. It was this connection with Ian Tyson that led him to eventually sign on with manager Albert Grossman and five albums for United Artists.²

In 1976 that his title track of the album Sundown won him wide acclaim, selling over 1,500,000 copies in the first year alone, as did the well-known 1976 recording ofThe Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, the true story of a ship and its crew that sank in 1975 on Lake Superior.¹

His 20th album, Harmony, was released in 2004, after spending some time recovering from an abdominal hemorrhage, which he suffered while on tour in Canada in 2002.⁵

Throughout his career of more than 40 years, Gordon Lightfoot has been the recipient of multiple Juno awards for top male vocalist, folk singer and composer, consistently appearing on the Canadian top 40 charts. He was inducted into the Canadian Music (Juno) Hall of Fame in 1986.¹⁶