LOCAL TRIBUTES TO LIGHTFOOT SHOW HOW FOLK LEGEND INSPIRED THEM
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
MUSKOKA — Muskoka musicians are wading in with tributes to fellow “local” legend Gordon Lightfoot, with concerts and a You Tube recording.
Neil Hutchison, Sean Cotton and Peter Wainwright are all singing the Canadian folk hero’s praises.
This Saturday Hutchinson continues his “Lightfoot Lunch” at Fine Thymes Bakery and Bistro, in Bracebridge, 12:30 to 2 p.m.
A regular at the bistro every second Saturday, he’s calling it ‘Warm Canadiana Acoustic.’
On June 8 Hutchinson joins Cotton and a “collection of the best musicians in Muskoka” for a ‘Lightfoot Tribute’ at the Rene Caisse Theatre, also in Bracebridge.
Wainwright, meanwhile, wasted no time in sharing his feelings Tuesday, a day after the “great Canadian ambassador” died on Monday May 1.
“I’ve always been a huge Lightfoot fan,” he in an email to us.
“He was always so inspiring. Great work ethic and astounding output. Also a great Canadian ambassador,” said Wainwright who posted the video, video, of himself playing Lightfoot hits below.
We asked guitarist and singer Hutchinson his thoughts on the Orillia icon whose music he has been playing for years.
He said Lightfoot “was the reason I picked up the guitar in the first place.”
Here’s more of what he had to say:
“Where to start ? I was in Grade 7, maybe 11 years old and my older brother had borrowed the first Lightfoot album ‘Lightfoot’ from a girlfriend.
“From side 1, cut 1 (“Rich Man’s Spiritual”), I was there. Every song spoke to me like nothing else — the great voice, the great lyrics that belied the apparent simplicity of the songs. As you dig in they get more and more outstanding in melody, lyrics and presentation.
“And the local references, this guy was Canadian, from Orillia for Pete’s sake!
“Sixteen Miles to 7 lakes, way up among the pines, in some hidden valley … pussy willows … cattails.”
“That song screams Orillia and I often refer to it as “Lightfoot does “Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.”
“The wet snow turns to rain, the roof leaks and the home team is on fire in ‘Did She Mention My Name’ and the young girls,” does the laughter on their faces still put the sun to shame” – these lyrics are genius.
“Many artists change direction over the years. trying out different hats. Lightfoot just continued to hone his craft along the same lines he’d always followed. Consistent and great at it. No need to follow trends and confident in it.
“Consistency. He had the same band for 55 years and paid them on salary year-round, not just when they were touring. I wonder what they will do now?
“And so many good songs and not a dud album. Many albums with all the songs were outstanding
“And the masterpieces: “The Canadian Railroad Trilogy, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Sundown, If You Could Read My Mind … and dozens more.
“I took a lot of ribbing from my kids about Gord and have now found out that they all have lots of Gord on their play lists!
“Gord is one of my ‘Holy Trinity’ of songwriters, along with Ian Tyson and Stan Rogers.
“He was the reason I picked up a guitar in the first place – bought the songbook from his first album and “Early Morning Rain” was the first song I learned.
“Everywhere you go people knew Lightfoot songs and were glad that you did too. (So I never played rock and roll.
“I have never played a set (except Sean Cotton’s Songs and Stories at the Gravenhurst Opera House, which is all about original music) that did not include a couple of Lightfoot songs.
“When the Edmund Fitzgerald sank, I tore the story out of the Toronto Star and put it away in my scrapbook, thinking: “That would make a good song…” and then went back to my schoolwork. The next March, there I am at the Massey Hall show and he introduces this new song about a shipwreck on Lake Superior.
“Glad he wrote it — no one would have heard mine.
“I have seen him 25 times from 1969-2021. I used to make the annual March pilgrimage to Massey Hall (I grew up in Richmond Hill), 3-4 times in Orillia, plus Guelph, Kingston and the Mariposa Folk Festival.
“I waited after an Orillia show in 2009 and shook his hand, said “thanks for the great music” and got him to autograph a copy of an album of my original recordings. I also gave him a copy, but he never got back to me.
“Several people have told me that some of my songs ‘sound like Gordon Lightfoot.’
“I am flattered. I try for that quality, but usually fall short.
“Your quote from Thelma Marin is awfully nice — she has also told me that I do the ‘Railroad Trilogy’ and ‘Wreck of the EF’ better than Gord does. But I am sure she is referring to his later years. At any rate she and Jim are always there and I always play the Trilogy for her and she always gives me standing O for it.
“I am, of course, saddened by his death. But he lived such a complete life, performing till the end. It is hard to think of anything else he had to accomplish, other than a quiet retirement. But I think his constant touring showed that he did not want that.
“His songs endure and the legend lives on.”
Hear Wainwright’s tribute here: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02bxC9PVpE212nX6NLk43ULGGWN1jAUaMSEGEK8mg8NsRsNM6MyYys5QtVfozYSrShl&id=100005993013605&mibextid=qC1gEa
EMAIL: [email protected]
29 years of ‘Local Online Journalism’
Twitter: @muskokatoday, Facebook: mclairmont1
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