I've been reading, no...inhaling the new site write-up on Gordon Still-"The Man" - Lightfoot, pics, etc., and would like to say - Thank you David and Char -and all who contributed - fantastic work and well-deserved and fitting tribute. I'm e-mailing the hyper-link to ths site to my daughter, Mamie, who's favourite artist is Sara MacLaughlin (I'm trin' to get that one right, CHAR
) . She just kind of shrugs when I tell her the immense influence (thats too light a word... I'll go with what I believe was David in his article/site that said the words paraphrasing 'every songwriter in country and folk in Canada has 'Lightfoot on his shoulder' " [which would take a 'serious' fan to know what he means.]
-In any event - every writer having both Lightfoot on their shoulder (hope its not 'cold'
up there tonight, its a chill wind blowing down here in the Colorado Rockies), and his 'influence' both may not be heard by Mamie in her 1rst, 2nd. even 3rd listen to Sara's new album, not as the memories of listening to Lightfoot evey evening after work, every weekend around the house, or on the road in vacation, her soul is steeped in Lightfoot FAR more than she realizes from years of her Mom and Dad permeating our home all the way from her asking to hear 'Pony Man' again on the 'cassette' - state-of-art when she was asking that, to nowadays - Lightfoot on the cd, and then going in her house and listening Lightfoot's influence in her favourite artist, Sara 'McLightfoot' - I've dubbed her.
Such a magnificent legacy and tapestry (there's that ubiqiutous term again in and around Lightfoot) to 'leave to weave' as it will its on its' "lonesome, winsome" ways to the next generation of thinking listeners, seeing there own visions of paintings, and textures of the tapestries.
Oh ! and David's site (unbeknownst to him....) vindicates my rather verbose, as its been said "propensity for taking the long way around the barn"-wordiness (-
snicker-), and of such in David's words:
Today our artists sing with Canadian voices, about Canadian places, about woodland and prairie, mountain and ocean, Saskatoon and Springhill. Today it's cool to be Canadian and concerned with Canadian things. It's okay to be wordy and weird, wild and wanton all on the same album, whether you're the Barenaked Ladies or Broken Social Scene. And it's also okay to head south of the border to hit the big-time, returning to live and work and write up here, as Lightfoot's always done.!!