Gordon Lightfoot is 75 years old today. Lightfoot is a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock and country music, and has been credited for helping define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s. He has been referred to as Canadas greatest songwriter and internationally as a folk-rock legend. Lightfoots songs, including For Lovin Me, Early Morning Rain, Steel Rail Blues, Ribbon of Darkness—a number one hit on the U.S. country charts with Marty Robbins cover in 1965— and the 1967 Detroit riot-generated Black Day In July brought him international recognition in the 1960s. He experienced chart success in Canada with his own recordings, beginning in 1962 with the Number 3 hit (Remember Me) Im the One. Lightfoots recordings then made an impact on the international music charts as well in the 1970s, with songs such as If You Could Read My Mind (1970) (Number 5 on the US charts), Sundown (1974), Carefree Highway (1974), Rainy Day People (1975) and The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (1976). Some of Lightfoots albums have achieved gold and multi-platinum status internationally. His songs have been recorded by some of the worlds most renowned recording artists, including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Jr., The Kingston Trio, Marty Robbins, George Hamilton IV, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Barbra Streisand, Johnny Mathis, Viola Wills, Richie Havens, The Replacements, Harry Belafonte, Tony Rice, Sandy Denny (with Fotheringay), The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, Scott Walker, Sarah McLachlan, John Mellencamp, Toby Keith, Peter, Paul and Mary, Glen Campbell, Anne Murray, The Irish Rovers and Olivia Newton-John. Robbie Robertson of The Band declared that Lightfoot was one of his favorite Canadian songwriters and is absolutely a national treasure. Bob Dylan, also a Lightfoot fan, called him one of his favorite songwriters, and in an often-quoted tribute to his fellow songwriter, Dylan once observed that when he heard a Gordon Lightfoot song he wished it would last forever. Lightfoot was a featured musical performer at the opening ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Alberta. He received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree (arts) in 1979 and the Companion of the Order of Canada—Canadas highest civilian honor—in 2003. On February 6, 2012, Lightfoot was presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. In June of that same year he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Here, Lightfoot performs “Early Morning Rain” in Chicago in 1979.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Nov 2013 05:06:47 +0000
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