Gordon Lightfoot - Gordon Lightfoot - Complete Greatest Hits
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Free Music Notes for Gordon Lightfoot - Complete Greatest Hits
Free Music Review: A Fine General Sampling of Lightfoot's Work
Hit: 5 Stars
Gordon Lightfoot is difficult to categorize. His voice, a richly masculine baritone; his delivery introspective and cool, sometimes to the point of being dismissive; his choice of material never quite folk, never quite pop, never quite rock, but at different points in that triangle of musical styles. Needless to say, he has never been a commercial artist. Surprising to say, he has had a fair amount of commercial success--and with some of the most unlikely material imaginable.
If you are a determined Lightfoot fan, this single "best of" CD will give you endless grounds for complaint, for it leaves out several of Lightfoot's most critically acclaimed but less widely known works. For the rest of us, however, COMPLETE GREATEST HITS is a solid sampling of his work that mixes the obvious hits with a host of less obvious cuts, all of them rendered in the artist's unique style.
Among the obvious cuts are Lightfoot's most radio-popular hits, the dramatic "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" and the sultry "Sundown." Certainly these are classics of their kind, and most people who purchase this CD will likely be led to it by a desire for these two songs. Strange to say, however, they are both actually a little atypical of his work, which is perhaps best characterized by such songs as "Carefree Highway" and "If You Could Read My Mind," the latter of which has been recorded by a host of artists but never better than by Lightfoot himself.
Overall, the melodies and lyrics of some songs pop a bit more than others in your ear, but one thing is true of all: whether it is one of the celebrated cuts or something you've never before heard, Lightfoot's voice and style are quite unlike any other male artist; his is a manly voice strangely suited for an emotionally rainy day, and he makes virtually everything he touches memorable. A worthy collection, particularly recommended for those approaching his work for the first time.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Free Music Review: More of a "Sampler" than "Complete," but great anyway!
Hit: 5 Stars
Trying to whittle down the 40-year career of a music legend like Gordon Lightfoot into 20 songs is a formidable, next-to-impossible task. For every song that is included, there will be questions such as, "Why did they leave (fill in the blank)off this album?"
Good question-- and nearly impossible to answer. Thane Tierney did an admirable job of compiling a (as he puts it) "one-stop shop" retrospective of Gord's prolific career. Of all the songs on "Gordon Lightfoot - Complete Greatest Hits," the only one I have a quibble with is "Go Go Round." This one always struck me as a filler tune, one of very, very few clunkers in the Lightfoot catalog. Why not "Ribbon of Darkness" or "Did She Mention My Name?" from the UA years instead of that one? Other than that, this is an exceptional disc, with awesome sound quality. All the big hits are there: "If You Could Read My Mind," "Sundown," "Carefree Highway," and of course, the epic "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," arguably his greatest song and the one Lightfoot himself hopes people remember him by. There are also some lesser known and underrated gems like "Baby Step Back," "Daylight Katy," the re-recorded "The Circle Is Small," "Cotton Jenny," and one of my all-time favorites, "Summer Side of Life." "Summer Side.." was written during the Vietnam era, and sadly is as relevant as ever today in the aftermath of the war in Iraq. Lightfoot's deep, mellow voice is prominent in the mix, as well as his crisp acoustic guitar work and the performances of his wonderful band.
While I would say that this is more accurately a "Sampler" than a "Complete" album, it nevertheless fulfills the requirements of a compilation disc in that it gives the neophyte as taste of Lightfoot's incomparable artistry. Hopefully, the listener will be hungry for more and will go out seeking other offerings from Lightfoot's decades-spanning discography. He is truly a legend and a treasure, and this disc is a fitting tribute to his greatness.
Free Music Review: Salute (Gordons Gotta Lot More Singin' To Do)
Hit: 5 Stars
Trying to make a single disk Anthology from a catalog this large is virtually impossible, and can only be called a "sampler", especially with an artist of this caliber.. This single disk, with 20 great songs all remastered from his United Artist, Reprise and Warner Brothers days are well represented here. For the price, the amount of tracks, the quality, and the artistry represented here is one of the best buys on the market today. If you have no Gordon Lightfoot CD's, this is the place to start. (There is Gordon's Gold Volumes I AND II, but they contain remakes). There is a Rhino multi disc-all inclusive sampler (A Painter Passing Through) which is also recommended, but will cost, so this is a great starting point. With over 19 albums to his credit, from the 60's till now, its difficult to put this on just one CD. He was not just a "singles" artist, he was an "album" artist, with the 'cuts' being just as good as many of the singles. Again, a sampler. A "Greatest Singles Hits" if you will. But for some reason, some singles are left out "Summertime Dream" for flip sides "Cherokee Bend".
Basically, they did leave off most of his latter albums, which is a shame. His career DID NOT STOP after "The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald" It continued and he is touring today.
Some of the great 80's & 90'S tracks omitted here include
"Dream Street Rose" "Dring Your Glasses Empty" "Ghosts Of Cape Horn" "Hey You" "In My Fashion" "Salute" "Sea Of Tranquility" "Whispers Of The North", most which are on the "Rhino" Larger anthology mentioned. Many of his United Artist tracks are not here, (NO ROOM!), but you can get them on a two disk Greatest Hits for this era only, or the EXCELLENT Bear Family reissues(two-fers). There are so many more ("Sit Down Young Stranger" et. al.).
I am just pointing out that this is a superb sampler of a GREAT artist, well worth the money, and worth your consideration, and if you like him..there is much more out there.
Good Listening!
Free Music Review: A brilliant compilation
Hit: 5 Stars
Gordon was first and foremost a folk singer but his music contains elements of pop, rock and country music. It is, therefore, no surprise that his songs have been covered by a variety of performers in several genres of music.
You can't do full justice to Gordon's music with a single CD but, given that, the track selection here will surprise a few people - in particular, the omission of two of his famous early songs, Did she mention my name and Ribbon of darkness. These songs were not hits for Gordon, but for other people. It didn't do Gordon's reputation any harm to have Marty Robbins record Ribbon of darkness and be successful with it. Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan also covered his songs, while country singer George Hamilton IV recorded a lot of his songs.
While it would have been great to have those two songs included, every song here is entitled to its inclusion. Perhaps the best known tracks are Sundown and If you could read my mind, two very contrasting songs that helped to establish Gordon's reputation in the seventies. Those two songs were both huge hits in America, where he had plenty of hits. His UK chart history was very modest, with just four entries (Sundown, If you could read my mind, Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald and Daylight Katy), none of which got very high.
Apart from those songs, this set includes plenty of other classic songs including Early morning rain, For lovin' me, Canadian railroad trilogy, Cotton Jenny, Carefree highway and Rainy day people.
As an introduction to Gordon's music, this serves its purpose brilliantly. If you are interested in Gordon's sixties music, you should look for a compilation devoted to that period alone - very few tracks from that period are included here.
Free Music Review: Enduring, Timeless Collection of Incomparable Songs
Hit: 5 Stars
There was a time, between 1960 and 1980, when the song was the thing. It didn't matter if you were short, tall, thin, fat, male, female, sexy or not (though it didn't hurt)--if you could put together chord changes, melody, and lyrics in a way that sounded appealing when heard over a cheap AM radio--you could be a pop music star. No Spandex, profanity, steroids, T&A, or fake vocals required. The advent of MTV and music video killed the star songwriter; musical talent became unnecessary to a Pop Star's success. More's the pity. Blessed with an abundance of vocal ability, taste, intelligence, and productive self-discipline, Canadian Gordon Lightfoot became one of the three-minute folk-pop song's greatest masters. As a matter of fact, it's him and Dylan . . . and for my money the nod for sheer skill and professionalism goes to Lightfoot. No celebrity shenanigans or dilletante-ing with the critically hip. The man is world famous soley for the quality of his product. The only thing wrong with this"Greatest Hits"-type collection is that it necessarily omits literally dozens of wonderful Lightfoot songs that were not hits and can only be found on his numerous original albums. Fortunately, most remain in print. This collection is a good place to start, but there is much more wonderful Lightfoot available. Like Stephen Foster, Irving Berlin, and Hoagy Carmichael, they will be singing Gordon Lightfoot songs 'til the end of time. For the uninitiated: buy this collection, and delve into the archives of one of the great masters of popular song. "If you find me feedin' daisies, Turn my face up t'ward the sun, And leave me be, Watchin' the clouds roll by, Whatever I was, You know it was all because, I've been on the town, Washin' the bulls**t down . . ."