Where is gordon lightfoot now

Joan Baez, Donovan and I, we all stood around and watched. It was over the drum kit. They were trying to stay traditional, and somebody brought the drum kit onstage for the first time. It was quite a kerfuffle over it. It was a hot day in Newport. And a dry day. And I remember the dust was flying. That night, Lightfoot stood by the side of the stage and watched as Dylan plugged in. I guess they were trying to insult him, but they did not succeed. He carried right on through. The Eighties were a rough time for Lightfoot as well as many of his peers.

The hits began to dry up during this time, and long before it became fashionable as it is now, Lightfoot became one of the first pop stars to be awarded a Vegas residency, at the MGM Grand in Lightfoot flashes a bemused smile. Good fun. Lightfoot is on his fifth marriage and has several children. In the Seventies, he was also briefly in a relationship with Cathy Smith, who was with John Belushi on the night he overdosed.

The singer-songwriter known for songs such as If You Could Read My Mind has been forced to reschedule a number of upcoming concert dates after undergoing emergency surgery in Toronto. Social Sharing. Gordon Lightfoot on crafting his greatest hits 1 year ago But when it came time for a new record, he realized those stripped-down recordings from more than 22 years ago represented the best of what he had to offer.

He admits that there was some motivation to make all new recordings of those songs, using his band. And he had another fleeting concern. All those years had gone by, and then he returns with a simple, unadorned album? Compared to the highly polished East of Midnight , Solo would represent a radical departure. He had largely forgotten about the existence of the demos he recorded at home in But there it was.

It got buried in there somewhere. The breathy whistling that occupies the spaces where lead guitar breaks might go serves to underscore the you-are-there feel of the recording. Lightfoot says that the austere, intimate quality of Solo is what makes it special. After more than a half century as a singer, Lightfoot has almost certainly developed a regimen to keep his baritone voice in shape. Not so, it happens. Gordon Lightfoot has had many years to figure out what works for him.

And though to listeners in the U. By he had landed seven songs on the Canadian Top 40, and even scored the No. Lightfoot did play high-profile festival dates, and earned a spot on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in , but his success remained limited to Canada. He continues the story. What difference would it make? The record was up to number five or something like that. Things took off from there.

For others, music is a means of forming a bond with their audience. Gordon Lightfoot is squarely in the latter camp. When we spoke in mid-March, Lightfoot was looking forward to adding a selection of songs from Solo to his scheduled concert dates. And country artists, as well—Buck Owens and Johnny Cash.

Lightfoot began writing his own songs when he was seventeen years old. It was about the hula hoop. I was very adventurous. I was very entrepreneurial. Keep doing it. I did it professionally for other people, too.