I had the good fortune to see Gord in 1966, on a warm night in NYC. The Wollman Memorial Skating Rink had been resurrected as a concert venue seating 4,400. It was a wonderful setting, with Central Park surrounding you, and the Manhattan skyscrapers lit up in the distance, against the summer darkness.
Gord was the opening act, just him and his guitar. I was familiar with a few of his songs that had been recorded by Ian and Sylvia and Peter, Paul and Mary. I remembered being impressed by his fingerpicking prowess - I was a young folksinging type, and had just learned Travis picking. Soon after the concert, I bought his first album.
There were two other acts that followed Lightfoot: The Jim Kweskin Jug Band and The Pozo-Seco Singers. It was a memorable evening, and the next day my folksinging partner and I started a jug band!
Ticket price: $2.00
Later that summer I saw Wes Montgomery playing solo, and The Lovin' Spoonful.
His voice goes straight into the heart. I realize I'm a hermit and not plugged into modern music much, but (though I'm sure they are out there) I can't think of an artist now that has that raw honest sound.
Robert - congrats on a fantastic homage to Gordon Lightfoot, a tremendous talent and Canadian; I attended his last Calgary concert - and wrote about what I saw:
Beautifully penned remembrance of Gordon Lightfoot. You’ve given depth and context to his music and his life that I have seen nowhere else.
If I've done that, I've done what I hoped to have done with it. Thanks, as always, for the kind words.
Outstanding article. Thank you so much!
Thank you so much for reading!
I had the good fortune to see Gord in 1966, on a warm night in NYC. The Wollman Memorial Skating Rink had been resurrected as a concert venue seating 4,400. It was a wonderful setting, with Central Park surrounding you, and the Manhattan skyscrapers lit up in the distance, against the summer darkness.
Gord was the opening act, just him and his guitar. I was familiar with a few of his songs that had been recorded by Ian and Sylvia and Peter, Paul and Mary. I remembered being impressed by his fingerpicking prowess - I was a young folksinging type, and had just learned Travis picking. Soon after the concert, I bought his first album.
There were two other acts that followed Lightfoot: The Jim Kweskin Jug Band and The Pozo-Seco Singers. It was a memorable evening, and the next day my folksinging partner and I started a jug band!
Ticket price: $2.00
Later that summer I saw Wes Montgomery playing solo, and The Lovin' Spoonful.
Good times!
Oh wow! What awesome memories. Wish I had been around back then to experience it.
Wonderful tribute and insight to one of my all time favorites, thanks for a great read and even heard a few I had never heard before.
Thanks so much - glad you enjoyed it.
His voice goes straight into the heart. I realize I'm a hermit and not plugged into modern music much, but (though I'm sure they are out there) I can't think of an artist now that has that raw honest sound.
I'm not sure either. Certainly Lightfoot's voice was unique and a key to why his music reached so many.
What a great post, so appreciate your analysis and learning about songs of Lightfoot's that I hadn't heard before.
You're very welcome - thank you for the kind note!
Great really enjoyed this. GL was a real talent didn't appreciate him then but have been since. Thanks
Thanks so much!
Robert - congrats on a fantastic homage to Gordon Lightfoot, a tremendous talent and Canadian; I attended his last Calgary concert - and wrote about what I saw:
Time to say goodbye - http://markmusing.com/october312022column.html
And, when he passed, I posted this piece along with links to my favourites:
R.I.P. Gordon Lightfoot - https://markmusing.substack.com/p/r-i-p-gordon-lightfoot
I hope you enjoy them - happy to add to the post-life legacy of someone so tremendously worthy of our respect and fan/worship!
Cheers,
Mark
Thank you Mark - will read these.