[geodeticman.5]

RM - was the San Diego concert at one of Gord's admittedly favourite venues - "Humphrey's By The Bay" ? - I use to usually stay at that when the ESRI mappers (groan) GIS conference each year took place there (San Diego), formerly in Palm Springs.

When I stayed at Humphrey's, drivin the rental car (never went so far, but with each passing mile, one more map had...turned to clay-coat preeezentation paper) to the conference center in San Diego (Humphrey's is on an "isthmus" of sorts, almost an island , and boats can dock 30 feet from the stage and outdoor seating area - is why I think Gord likes it....).

I asked people at Humphrey's, after reading there were semi-regular concerts there typically in winter or colder months (who can blame Gordon for apparently arranging concerts to be in warmer areas during the colder months, I would..) if they liked Gord, they all, having heard his concert rather well in the restaurant, replied for the most part - yes... and either they did not know who he was , but they knew a few of the songs... the usual 5, or they were in a few cases ardent fans and knew the stroke of fortune of working there durning the concert.

The psuedo Polynesian fern-bar and Thatch-roof "Huts" for some of the structures is bit humorous, but its fun and part of the sea-faring island ambience. One of the employees, a rather effite maitre-D, was the only dissenter I heard... he said something like "He is SUCH..a ladies man....but his songs seem to alternate from "Manly" (hmm) pirate-like stuff... to MAUDLIN' (maudlin !!!!) sad love affair stuff that seems more SENSITIVE, but SO boring....." . I did my best to not stuff him head first into the giant fake fern terra-cotta urn next to him and bind his anlkes with thatch from the inside fake thatch roof of the bar , and gag him with neatly-folded and in my pocket BLUE-BANDANNA (one of my last hold-outs in acoutrments from the early 70's....headbands) LOL . Everyone is entitled to his opinion.... but this guy appeared to be able to give change for a nine-dollar bill in three's, and , not liking Lightfoot was, as such, an abherration of nature...LOL

I do remember as well one of the waitresses, with big blonde hair up in a "beehive" - I think they call them....who coughed alot, and on my club-sandwich, apparently from smoking guaging by her voice, you know the type of nice waitress that maternally calls everyone "Honey", well she says to me "Gor-done Light-foot, hmm chuckle... he could Read My Mind any day he wants to...." LOL a fan, of either the man, or his music, or both. ?

The only other comments I remember, either way, are:

70's - one of my friends, girlfriend of my best friend, says, chewing gum.."his sungs are like, sort of OKayyeeee.. but they ALL sound alike"- (fake animated yawn). It has occurrred to me that its common it seems for when people know only a few songs from an artist with a distinctive "sound" , which admittedly Gordon SUCCESSFULLY achieved to HIS liking apparently in the early 70's to begin with, tend to think having a "sound" means all their work sounds alike.... when all they really know is 3 or so tunes by them...
I've been guilty of that with artists who I did not like at first, or not at all...As another said above, you have to sit them down, and listen to the albums....

One of whom I did JUST that, he, unbelievably, in '75 , had never HEARD of Gordon Lightfoot - my friend who is now a Monk, but he was a Rennaisance guy of sorts, read Tolkien and had a map of the Shire in his room, and a rack of Pipes for *regular* pipe tobbaco....so I figured he was ripe for hearing Arthurian-oriented tunes. so of course I started with - you guessed it "Don Quixote"... by the end of the song, not to mention the album, he was jumping up and down, saying " I can't believe I never heard this guy, this is very cool.... "a shining knight !" I love it man.... I gottta get this LP.... 'wait, wait, check this out" - I added, and put Sundown LP on "yes! I know that song... I didn't know he did such poetic and.... and....historical lyrics..... and stuff...." - a less than erudite, but enthusiastic response.... he almost overnight became the biggest GL fan I have known in person besides myself.

He would put 2 -3 LP's in the ubiquitous day-packs we carried in High-School , with cigars and white-whine (er....NO not that) and we'd zoom from one girl's house to another on his motorcycle while visiting in his home town in Lafayatte, Indiana, where we both spent time at Purdue there later... and he'd play the music and pour wine for the ladies....smoke the cigars until he turned green, for aesthetic appearance, trying to look like the cover of Summertime Dream, i think. I figured out fairly quick that his M.O. was to use Gordon's music as an ...aphrodisiac... around the ladies.... it seemed to work for him... me... not as well.... I spent alot of time waiting outside houses and dorms during that visit.... LOL.... yes because of THAT....

But, HE'S NOW A MONK in a MONASTERY for over 25 years, Russian Orthodox, in Brookline, Massachusets.....where he runs the icon studio, makes cast precious metal crosses, and is responsible for the gardens..... and is now... Father Sergius.... . I once, several years ago, asked him if he missed dating, girls, and etc., and he replied "yes I had dreams of marrying Ivy (his intended in Lafayette, who caught on to his .....amorous ways...) and sitting by the fire, listening to Gordon Lightfoot, but I had the calling.... and so here I am... I'm finally ....content.... more than "happy" - I always wondered quite what he meant by that... whistful, but philosophical...

And one last quick one - at the local used CD and LP store in town, Bogey's, the proprietor was skeptically trying to order me some hard-to-find CD's of Gord, and he called his supplier, speaking on a first name basis with them, and I hear 'em say "YES.... Sundown.... you remember that... OK ok you can sing it... OK,... and do you have "Cold On the Shoulder" - ...yes...yes...OK OK you can sing that one too...... I get it... and one more...Harmony.... yes.. yes... OK ok MAN YOU KNOW ALL THIS GUYS SONGS....you can sing em by heart.... man.... I'll tell ya... I thought this was nostalgia for denim and acoustic hippy times stuff..... but he is still selling....OK OK.."

- so you get the picture there..... in this case, someone who heard a LOT of music that worked at or owned a music warehouse - knew Lightfoot by heart..... warmed my soul to hear it. I triumphantly paid the proprietor for the special order.... and he said "That guy is still more popular than I would have guessed.....the guy at the warehouse said stores chronically order small quantities of his greatest hits, and like maybe one each of ones still in print, and are out all the time..... its called helloooo inventory control" - and we both laughed..... that is very true from my experience... if he is not selling well... why are the Lightfoot bins always near empty where I go ? I know there are 2 answers, I believe the selling out quickly is the answer...

good thread dedife...


~geo steve