Global Courant 2023-05-02 06:52:46
TORONTO (AP) — Gordon Lightfoot, Canada’s legendary folk singer-songwriter whose hits like “Early Morning Rain” and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” told a story of Canadian identity that was exported worldwide, passed away Monday. He was 84.
Representative Victoria Lord said the musician died in a Toronto hospital. His cause of death was not immediately available.
Lightfoot is considered one of the most renowned voices of the Yorkville folk club scene in Toronto in the 1960s. He went on to record 20 studio albums and wrote hundreds of songs, including ‘Carefree Highway’ and ‘Sundown’.
Once called a “rare talent” by Bob Dylan, dozens of artists have covered his work, including Elvis Presley, Barbra Streisand, Harry Belafonte, Johnny Cash, Anne Murray, Jane’s Addiction, and Sarah McLachlan.
Most of his songs are deeply autobiographical with lyrics that candidly explore his own experiences and explore issues surrounding Canadian national identity.
His 1975 song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” describes the sinking of an ore freighter in the Great Lakes, and the 1966 “Canadian Railroad Trilogy” depicts the construction of the railroad.
“I just write the songs about where I am and where I’m from,” he once said. “I take situations and write poems about them.”
Often described as a poetic storyteller, Lightfoot remained keenly aware of his cultural influence. It was a role he took very seriously.
“I just love staying there and being part of the totem pole and taking care of the responsibilities I’ve been given over the years,” he said in a 2001 interview.
Although Lightfoot’s parents recognized his musical talents early on, he had no intention of becoming a famous ballad player.
He started singing in his church choir and dreamed of becoming a jazz musician. At age 13, the soprano won a talent contest at the Kiwanis Music Festival at Toronto’s Massey Hall.
“I remember the thrill of standing in front of the crowd,” Lightfoot said in a 2018 interview. “It was a stepping stone for me…”
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The appeal of those early days lingered and in high school his barbershop quartet, The Collegiate Four, won a CBC talent contest. He strummed his first guitar in 1956 and began songwriting in the months that followed. Perhaps distracted by his love of music, he failed algebra the first time. After taking the class again, he graduated in 1957.
By that time, Lightfoot had already written his first serious composition – “The Hula Hoop Song,” inspired by the popular children’s toys that swept the culture. Attempts to sell the song came to nothing, so at the age of 18 he left for the US to study music for a year. The trip was funded in part by money saved from a job delivering linens to resorts in his hometown.
However, life in Hollywood was not a good fit and it wasn’t long before Lightfoot returned to Canada. He vowed to move to Toronto to pursue his musical ambitions, taking every available job, including a bank job before landing a gig as a square dancer on CBC’s “Country Hoedown”.
His first appearance was at Fran’s Restaurant, a downtown family restaurant that warmed his folksy feelings. There he met fellow musician Ronnie Hawkins.
The singer lived with some friends in a dilapidated building in Yorkville, a bohemian neighborhood at the time where future stars like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell would learn their craft in smoke-filled clubs.
Lightfoot made his popular radio debut with the single “(Remember Me) I’m the One” in 1962, which led to a number of hit songs and collaborations with other local musicians. When he began playing the Mariposa Folk Festival in his hometown of Orillia, Ontario that same year, Lightfoot forged a relationship that made him the festival’s most loyal returning performer.
By 1964, he was getting positive word of mouth in the city and audiences began to gather in growing numbers. The following year, Lightfoot’s song “I’m Not Sayin'” was a hit in Canada, spreading his name in the United States.
A few covers from other artists couldn’t hurt either. Marty Robbins’ 1965 recording of “Ribbon of Darkness” reached No. 1 on the US country charts, while Peter, Paul and Mary brought Lightfoot’s composition “For Lovin’ Me” into the US Top 30. he wished he had recorded has since been covered by hundreds of other musicians.
That summer, Lightfoot performed at the Newport Folk Festival, the same year Dylan rocked the crowd when he shook off his folkie persona by playing an electric guitar.
When the folk music boom came to an end in the late 1960s, Lightfoot made his transition to pop music with ease.
In 1971, he appeared on the Billboard chart for the first time with “If You Could Read My Mind”. It reached number 5 and has since spawned dozens of covers.
Lightfoot’s popularity peaked in the mid-1970s when both his single and album, “Sundown”, topped the Billboard charts, his first and only time doing so.
During his career, Lightfoot collected 12 Juno Awards, including one in 1970 when it was called the Gold Leaf.
In 1986, he was inducted into the Canadian Recording Industry Hall of Fame, now the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. He received the Governor General’s Award in 1997 and was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame in 2001.
