Gordon Lightfoot Forums - View Single Post - "the surest remedy for when you're feeling down"

jj · 04-06-2009, 11:27 AM

interesting, rm...i remember in one Gord interview, he responded to the question of 'how do you come up with all these songs?' saying something like 'you take everything you've ever listened to and scramble it all up in your head and after processing it, out comes some parts that you just start expanding on' ...that was refreshing to hear as I'm not one who believes that 'original' songs just grow on trees...imo, the folk/pop genre has limited possibilites when trying to create somethign you call 'call your own' ...but one can take a blend of existing works and by 'bending' the components of the songs, come up with something fairly 'fresh' ...i find Wayne's lyrics quite non-bland, very East coast rooted, and his voice is quite unique...i first noticed this when i heard his versions of Fading away, Knotty Pine and especially Let it Ride on the internet newsgroup's collection of GL cover CDs back mid 90's (btw, rm, imo, you are gifted with also having that stamp of a unique vocal tone/delivery...many like i, envy that)

btw, if you click on the "i" icon to the right of the playlist box, it will display lyrics to each song...poetic stuff full of maritime imagery...Wayne did a stint living on the west coast also so he really has some wonderfully extreme influences to draw upon (same can be said for our ron jones)...it would be terrific to meet and chat with Wayne some day...he's typically too busy for the Massey get togethers but maybe one day downt he road

anyhow i hear you to some degree...i really like the fairly 'unbusy/open' arrangement of the last tune in his songlist player called Let the River Run Free...and yeah, it does have the watchman's gone 'influence'...that sits fine with me

http://www.reverbnation.com/waynefrancis#tab=rich_text

in a US radio interview Wayne talked of how he first got online in the early 90s and could find tons of Dylan info out there but struggled to find anything on Gord so off he went on his quest to contact the right folks and begin the website creation...if one wants a kick they should search the newsgroup archives for all the tidbits of info exchanged over the years amongst many of early 'internet Gord fan' membership...for eg) Richard Harrison offers terrific, first hand anecdotes ..check it out one day (you may need a month or two actually)

04-06-2009, 11:27 AM	#3
jj Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: ontario, canada Posts: 5,265	Re: "the surest remedy for when you're feeling down" interesting, rm...i remember in one Gord interview, he responded to the question of 'how do you come up with all these songs?' saying something like 'you take everything you've ever listened to and scramble it all up in your head and after processing it, out comes some parts that you just start expanding on' ...that was refreshing to hear as I'm not one who believes that 'original' songs just grow on trees...imo, the folk/pop genre has limited possibilites when trying to create somethign you call 'call your own' ...but one can take a blend of existing works and by 'bending' the components of the songs, come up with something fairly 'fresh' ...i find Wayne's lyrics quite non-bland, very East coast rooted, and his voice is quite unique...i first noticed this when i heard his versions of Fading away, Knotty Pine and especially Let it Ride on the internet newsgroup's collection of GL cover CDs back mid 90's (btw, rm, imo, you are gifted with also having that stamp of a unique vocal tone/delivery...many like i, envy that) btw, if you click on the "i" icon to the right of the playlist box, it will display lyrics to each song...poetic stuff full of maritime imagery...Wayne did a stint living on the west coast also so he really has some wonderfully extreme influences to draw upon (same can be said for our ron jones)...it would be terrific to meet and chat with Wayne some day...he's typically too busy for the Massey get togethers but maybe one day downt he road anyhow i hear you to some degree...i really like the fairly 'unbusy/open' arrangement of the last tune in his songlist player called Let the River Run Free...and yeah, it does have the watchman's gone 'influence'...that sits fine with me http://www.reverbnation.com/waynefrancis#tab=rich_text in a US radio interview Wayne talked of how he first got online in the early 90s and could find tons of Dylan info out there but struggled to find anything on Gord so off he went on his quest to contact the right folks and begin the website creation...if one wants a kick they should search the newsgroup archives for all the tidbits of info exchanged over the years amongst many of early 'internet Gord fan' membership...for eg) Richard Harrison offers terrific, first hand anecdotes ..check it out one day (you may need a month or two actually) Last edited by jj; 04-06-2009 at 11:32 AM.