the voice...
I have only this to say: wow!
Gord is not very well known here in Sweden, although his first wife was from these parts. Too bad! My fellow swedes is missing out on one of the best singer-songwriters/folk musicians ever to have wandered the face of north america! He is awsome! His voice lets us know that he is no stranger to suffering the agonies of lost love, or the noble art of courtin' young maids in the morning oh so early for that matter! His guitar picking is outstanding. The only flaw on this solidly talented boy of 60, is that he has a dreadful taste in production techniques! I can say nothing of this cd featuring two classic lp's but that it is one of the most played cd's in my collection (which is of some significance, I might add...). It contains all the emotions you can expect from a die-hard romantic with a gift for song writing. But the production... These were released in the 60's so the fashion of the sound carried him through the worst of the pitfalls, but wait until he hits the 80's... He persists in having a fat reverb on the vocals (which are way in the back, anyway) and his excellent guitarplaying is often too low in the mix to be enjoyed properly. e is always best when he is alone in the track with only his guitar backing him.
...now you know...
Lightfoot's romanticism has always been his trump. He captures wanderlust, love's longing, and unfulfilled dreams as well as any songwriter of his generation. And though it's tempting to call him a confessionalist, his best songs have a timeless folk quality, making them certain hits for artists like Marty Robbins and Peter, Paul & Mary, as well as near standards in bluegrass circles. This 1968 album finds him experimenting with a slightly bigger sound and offering his strongest political tune "Black Day in July" and the whistful "Mountains and Marian," not to mention the title cut, recorded memorably by Frank Christian and J. D. Crowe and the New South. --Roy Francis Kasten
His 1968 Third United Artists Label Release, 'did She Mention My Name,' was Produced in New York by John Simon, who Had Previously Produced Leonard Cohen and the Band. The Songs Include a Commentary on the 1967 Detroit Riots, Black Day in July. Late in '68, Lightfoot Returned to Nashville for the More Acoustic Sound of his Fourth Ua Album, 'back Here on Earth'. The 24 Tracks Here Present the Entirety of Lightfoot's Third and Fourth Albums plus the New York Remake of Spin, Spin. Other Lightfoot Classics on this Set Include Does Your Mother Know, Bitter Green, the Mountains and Maryann, and I Want to Hear it from You.
