July 2, 1999 - taken from www.duluthnews.com
Lightfoot leaves folk behind as contemporary artist
By Joan Crowder
New York Times
"Near the end game of the career, it's OK to reflect back on
what a time it's been. I turn 60 this year. I've settled down now and
I'm in the great position of being able to make my own albums. I enjoy
being able to have that ability to keep touring and keep writing.''
Gordon Lightfoot's audiences are a mixed bag these days. Three decades
after the singer-songwriter's coffeehouse beginnings as a stalwart of
the folk era of the early '60s, his music is now pegged as ``adult
contemporary,'' Lightfoot said in a telephone interview from his home
in Toronto.
"When we tour, there are always quite a few folkies in the
audience and there is a certain curiosity quotient.''
Lightfoot and his backup musicians, currently on a month-long tour,
perform in concert about 50 times a year. He takes the stage at
Bayfield's Big Top Chautauqua for two shows Saturday. ``We like to
keep the pressure on. There's not a man among us who doesn't love to
play,'' Lightfoot said.
His band includes guitarist Terry Clements, bassist Rick Haynes,
keyboardist Mike Heffernan and drummer Barry Keane. They have been his
core group for several years. Lightfoot plays a variety of acoustic
guitars.
The songs on the CD "A Painter Passing Through,'' which was
released last year, have a strong autobiographical tone -- only
natural at this point in his life, Lightfoot said.
"Near the end game of the career, it's OK to reflect back on what
a time it's been. I turn 60 this year. I've settled down now and I'm
in the great position of being able to make my own albums. I enjoy
being able to have that ability to keep touring and keep writing.''
The title track, "A Painter Passing Through,'' is the most
autobiographical, the songwriter said.
The lyrics tell his story: "I was in my stride, always at my
game/here comes Mr. Cool, along the walk of fame/I was in demand,
always in control/The world was in my hands, my touch had turned to
gold.''
But the refrain brings it into perspective: "If you want to know
my secret don't come runnin' after me/For I am just a painter passing
through in history.''
Lightfoot has recorded 19 albums, but he's most excited about a
four-CD anthology that will be released in the fall by Rhino Records,
a division of Warner Bros., which has produced all but a few of his
earliest recordings. In addition to his well-known songs, such as
"If You Could Read My Mind,'' "Sundown,'' "Carefree
Highway'' and "Summertime Dream,'' the anthology will include 16
previously unpublished songs. "These are songs that were cut from
albums or were in demo stages previously,'' he explained.
When he returns to Canada next month, Lightfoot will perform a
55-minute live anthology on a Toronto television station.
Lightfoot's songs have been recorded by an array of legendary singers,
including Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul and Mary and Barbra Streisand. Marty
Robbins had a hit with Lightfoot's "Ribbon of Darkness'' and
Elvis Presley with "Early Morning Rain.''
A dance club cover of "If You Could Read My Mind,'' which was a
hit in the early '70s, was on Volume 2 of the soundtrack of the movie
"Studio 54'' last year and ended up on the charts again, he
noted. "It was even on the charts in Europe. It was No. 1 in
Spain. For some reason, the movie didn't do too well, but the song
sure did.''
Lightfoot's sound has changed with the times. Although the lyrics on
"A Painter Passing Through'' have the personal tone of his
earlier folk songs, the musical mix is contemporary and the beat more
lively. Lightfoot says he has mixed feelings about the technical
quality of his early recordings and he takes the blame. In those days,
he eschewed the refined, big studio sound.
"We would go in with our own little unit to retain our identity
by trying to keep the folk-country sound. That was the intention, but
in many ways it ended up underproduced,'' he said.
He recorded five albums in four years in the late '60s and early '70s,
but then slowed down the pace. "Your plate gets full, with the
responsibilities of family and your work takes longer.''
Lightfoot has been married twice, first in 1970 and again in 1989. He
has six children. "I keep in touch with everybody,'' he said.
Lightfoot's long career has had its ups and downs. In the late '80s he
went through a period of reflection on both his music and his life, he
said, but he never dropped out of sight. "There was a time when I
threatened to stop, but it became a rumor, so I changed my attitude.''
He tried acting, but is his own worst critic. "I didn't like what
I saw,'' he said. "I took a couple of shots at it, with Bruce
Dern in 'Harry Tracy' and on TV's 'Hotel' with James Brolin and Connie
Selleca, where I played an itinerant country musician. Brolin was a
good director and it was a lot of fun, but I'm not going to do it
again.''
Lightfoot has received five Grammy nominations and 17 Juno Awards, the
Canadian Grammy. In 1997, he received Canada's Governor General's
Award for "international efforts in spreading Canadian culture.''
His music has ranged "up and down the musical totem pole,'' he
noted. "My recent work is classified as adult contemporary,
though some people still refer to me as a folkie. But I've had stuff
in the mainstream and in the country field, so I guess I'm in the
middle somewhere, but anywhere on a totem pole in this business is
fine by me.''
