1 00:00:01,392 --> 00:00:03,351 [silence] 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 4 00:00:17,539 --> 00:00:19,541 [guitar music] 5 00:00:20,324 --> 00:00:24,285 ♪ That's what you get for loving me ♪ 6 00:00:24,328 --> 00:00:28,724 ♪ That's what you get for loving me-e ♪ 7 00:00:29,986 --> 00:00:33,076 ♪ Everything you have is gone 8 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:34,730 ♪ As you can see 9 00:00:35,731 --> 00:00:38,908 ♪ That's what you get for loving me ♪ 10 00:00:39,996 --> 00:00:42,564 ♪ I ain't the kind to hang around ♪ 11 00:00:43,956 --> 00:00:48,091 ♪ With any new love that I found ♪ 12 00:00:49,614 --> 00:00:52,922 ♪ Since moving is my stock and trade ♪ 13 00:00:52,965 --> 00:00:54,924 ♪ I'm moving on 14 00:00:55,794 --> 00:00:59,146 ♪ I'll only love you when I'm gone ♪ 15 00:01:00,321 --> 00:01:04,020 [Gordon]: I'll never write another song like that as long as I live. 16 00:01:04,064 --> 00:01:06,544 I'm not talking about the quality of the song, 17 00:01:06,588 --> 00:01:08,807 I'm talking about the content. 18 00:01:08,851 --> 00:01:11,723 ♪ I've got a hundred more like you ♪ 19 00:01:11,767 --> 00:01:13,595 ♪ So don't be blue 20 00:01:15,075 --> 00:01:17,990 ♪ I'll have a thousand before I'm through ♪ 21 00:01:18,034 --> 00:01:20,428 [Gordon]: That song was a very offensive song, 22 00:01:20,471 --> 00:01:23,822 for a guy to write, who's married, with a couple of kids. 23 00:01:23,866 --> 00:01:26,390 At the time I was so naive 24 00:01:26,434 --> 00:01:29,915 that it just came out of my brain. You know, like... 25 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:32,657 I didn't know what chauvinism was. 26 00:01:32,701 --> 00:01:34,964 ♪ So don't you shed a tear for me ♪ 27 00:01:36,444 --> 00:01:39,795 ♪ 'Cause I ain't the love you thought I'd be ♪ 28 00:01:42,711 --> 00:01:46,018 [Gordon]: I was married when I wrote that song. 29 00:01:47,194 --> 00:01:49,326 So what do you think that Brita thought about it? 30 00:01:49,370 --> 00:01:51,981 ♪ That's what you get for loving me ♪ 31 00:01:52,982 --> 00:01:55,593 [Gordon]: In the meantime, Peter, Paul and Mary 32 00:01:55,637 --> 00:01:57,117 recorded it pretty soon. 33 00:01:57,160 --> 00:01:59,380 So did Johnny Cash and a couple of others. 34 00:01:59,423 --> 00:02:02,165 And the next thing I know, I hear it on the radio. 35 00:02:02,209 --> 00:02:04,385 All of a sudden, boom, it's a hit. 36 00:02:04,428 --> 00:02:06,517 - How does it sound to you when you hear 37 00:02:06,561 --> 00:02:08,432 a country singer do one of your songs? 38 00:02:08,476 --> 00:02:10,347 - I just wish you'd do more of 'em, man. 39 00:02:10,391 --> 00:02:12,044 - Do you really? - Yeah, I really do. 40 00:02:12,088 --> 00:02:14,090 - Okay, let's do this. What do you say? 41 00:02:17,876 --> 00:02:20,401 ♪ That's what you get for loving me ♪ 42 00:02:20,444 --> 00:02:22,011 [applause] 43 00:02:22,054 --> 00:02:25,449 ♪ That's what you get for loving me ♪ 44 00:02:27,538 --> 00:02:31,847 ♪ Everything you had is gone as you can see ♪ 45 00:02:33,457 --> 00:02:37,069 ♪ That's what you get for loving me ♪ 46 00:02:37,113 --> 00:02:39,681 [Gordon]: There's a great deal of regret, there. 47 00:02:39,724 --> 00:02:42,510 I guess I don't like who I am. 48 00:02:42,553 --> 00:02:44,729 [Kim]: We do, though. - I guess that's the problem... 49 00:02:44,773 --> 00:02:47,689 - See, you don't see the beauty of yourself. We all do. 50 00:02:47,732 --> 00:02:49,647 We're all mesmerized by this just now. 51 00:02:49,691 --> 00:02:51,693 You're just a little boy from Orillia, 52 00:02:51,736 --> 00:02:53,347 and your dreams came true. 53 00:02:53,390 --> 00:02:56,219 These people sang your songs. You know? 54 00:02:57,916 --> 00:03:00,441 ♪ That's what you get for loving me ♪ 55 00:03:03,095 --> 00:03:08,231 ♪ Everything we had is gone as you can see ♪ 56 00:03:10,668 --> 00:03:13,410 ♪ That's what you get for lovin' me ♪ 57 00:03:13,454 --> 00:03:15,107 - Can I play harmony with you? 58 00:03:18,154 --> 00:03:21,549 [Gordon]: I vowed never to write another song that bizarre again, 59 00:03:21,592 --> 00:03:23,986 where I said some of the things that were said. 60 00:03:24,029 --> 00:03:27,250 And so, I stopped doing it about 20 years ago, 61 00:03:27,294 --> 00:03:29,339 because I just don't like it. 62 00:03:29,383 --> 00:03:33,909 ♪ Everything you had is gone as you can see ♪ 63 00:03:35,302 --> 00:03:37,739 ♪ That's what you get for lovin' me ♪ 64 00:03:42,787 --> 00:03:44,093 - Okay. 65 00:03:45,007 --> 00:03:48,750 I hate this fucking song so let's move on. 66 00:03:50,752 --> 00:03:53,189 [If You Could Read My Mind playing] 67 00:03:53,233 --> 00:03:56,758 ♪ If you could read my mind love ♪ 68 00:03:56,801 --> 00:03:59,630 ♪ What a tale my thoughts could tell ♪ 69 00:04:00,588 --> 00:04:03,330 ♪ Just like an old-time movie 70 00:04:03,373 --> 00:04:07,247 ♪ About a ghost from a wishing well ♪ 71 00:04:08,465 --> 00:04:13,078 ♪ In a castle dark or a fortress strong ♪ 72 00:04:13,122 --> 00:04:17,561 ♪ With chains upon my feet 73 00:04:17,605 --> 00:04:20,042 ♪ The story always ends 74 00:04:20,825 --> 00:04:24,655 ♪ And if you read between the lines ♪ 75 00:04:24,699 --> 00:04:29,399 ♪ You'll know that I'm just trying to understand ♪ 76 00:04:30,835 --> 00:04:33,403 ♪ Feelings that you lack 77 00:04:34,361 --> 00:04:37,799 ♪ I never thought I could feel this way ♪ 78 00:04:37,842 --> 00:04:42,369 ♪ I've got to say that I just don't get it ♪ 79 00:04:42,412 --> 00:04:45,415 ♪ I don't know where we went wrong ♪ 80 00:04:45,459 --> 00:04:50,594 ♪ But the feeling's gone and I just can't get it back ♪ 81 00:05:10,005 --> 00:05:13,225 Yeah, I really like Toronto. I really do. 82 00:05:13,269 --> 00:05:17,055 When I moved out of Toronto, I was about 20 years old. 83 00:05:18,492 --> 00:05:21,146 There's a Drake sign board right up there. 84 00:05:21,190 --> 00:05:23,410 I went out and bought Drake's album. 85 00:05:23,453 --> 00:05:27,283 The one where he's sitting on the top of the tower. 86 00:05:27,327 --> 00:05:28,545 The CN tower. 87 00:05:28,589 --> 00:05:30,286 Did you ever listen to that one? 88 00:05:30,330 --> 00:05:33,463 And all you gotta do is listen to his records, 89 00:05:33,507 --> 00:05:38,076 and you know why he's doing so well. 90 00:05:40,514 --> 00:05:42,864 He's very, very good. Very, very professional. 91 00:05:42,907 --> 00:05:44,344 Well-written. 92 00:05:44,387 --> 00:05:46,389 Well-orchestrated. Good everything. 93 00:05:46,433 --> 00:05:48,304 [folk music] 94 00:05:55,964 --> 00:05:58,662 ♪ I'm not saying that I love you... ♪ 95 00:05:58,706 --> 00:06:03,058 - There was a lot to be gained by growing up outside of the city, 96 00:06:03,101 --> 00:06:04,929 and then going into the city 97 00:06:04,973 --> 00:06:07,279 and taking this feeling with you, you know? 98 00:06:07,323 --> 00:06:09,891 It made the city more livable. 99 00:06:11,283 --> 00:06:13,416 Now, the city to me is home. 100 00:06:13,460 --> 00:06:16,724 ♪ I may not be alone each time you see me ♪ 101 00:06:17,812 --> 00:06:20,902 ♪ Along the street or in a small cafe ♪ 102 00:06:21,903 --> 00:06:23,513 [Gordon]: When I first went to Toronto, 103 00:06:23,557 --> 00:06:25,472 there was not music gigs available for me. 104 00:06:25,515 --> 00:06:29,432 So I spend the first 14 months working at the Royal Bank. 105 00:06:29,476 --> 00:06:31,260 I was doing quite well. 106 00:06:31,303 --> 00:06:33,915 And just as they were getting ready to kick me upstairs to teller, 107 00:06:33,958 --> 00:06:35,743 I had to tell them I was leaving, 108 00:06:35,786 --> 00:06:39,311 'cause I had the chance to become a choral performer 109 00:06:39,355 --> 00:06:42,793 on a country music show. [violin music] 110 00:06:42,837 --> 00:06:45,361 [TV host]: And now, Country Hoedown! 111 00:06:45,405 --> 00:06:48,364 ♪ Come on right in It's Country Hoedown time ♪ 112 00:06:48,408 --> 00:06:52,368 ♪ We're back again It's Country Hoedown time ♪ 113 00:06:52,412 --> 00:06:54,631 [Gordon]: They'd call me down to head office at King and Yonge 114 00:06:54,675 --> 00:06:57,939 and the head guy down there said, "Mr. Lightfoot..." 115 00:06:57,982 --> 00:07:00,289 He said, "You're leaving us?" I said, "I guess so." 116 00:07:00,332 --> 00:07:01,769 He said, 117 00:07:01,812 --> 00:07:04,946 "Are you leaving us to go become a square-dancer?" 118 00:07:09,341 --> 00:07:12,388 ♪ We've got some dances we'd like to do for you ♪ 119 00:07:12,432 --> 00:07:14,956 [TV host]: Welcome to Talent Caravan. 120 00:07:14,999 --> 00:07:16,958 And I would like you to meet the Two-Tones: 121 00:07:17,001 --> 00:07:20,265 Gordon Lightfoot and Terry Whalen. 122 00:07:20,309 --> 00:07:23,225 ♪ Jezebel... 123 00:07:26,097 --> 00:07:28,796 - Terry Whalen and I, we had a really good act, 124 00:07:28,839 --> 00:07:30,580 and we had a great repertoire. 125 00:07:30,624 --> 00:07:32,843 But Terry's dad was our manager. 126 00:07:32,887 --> 00:07:37,587 He said, "It's time for you boys to sign a partnership agreement. 127 00:07:37,631 --> 00:07:42,374 Fifty-fifty, and I don't care who writes the songs." 128 00:07:43,114 --> 00:07:44,681 But Terry didn't write any songs, 129 00:07:44,725 --> 00:07:48,293 so I didn't want to have to give Terry 50% of every song 130 00:07:48,337 --> 00:07:50,948 that I wrote for the rest of my career. 131 00:07:50,992 --> 00:07:53,560 Because this was what was looking like a career. 132 00:07:53,603 --> 00:07:55,213 ♪ Leaving me blues 133 00:07:55,257 --> 00:07:59,348 We were just this far away from being under contract, 134 00:07:59,391 --> 00:08:01,785 and having a recording career. 135 00:08:01,829 --> 00:08:04,222 And I had to say, "No, I don't want that." 136 00:08:04,266 --> 00:08:07,225 But it took me a whole year, and it damn near killed me. 137 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:10,794 As it did with every divorce I ever had after that, 138 00:08:10,838 --> 00:08:12,579 it damn near killed me. 139 00:08:12,622 --> 00:08:16,060 ♪ Jezebel 140 00:08:20,674 --> 00:08:22,676 [applause] 141 00:08:28,769 --> 00:08:31,511 ♪ From the rail head to the boat yard ♪ 142 00:08:32,512 --> 00:08:35,384 ♪ From the factory to the farm 143 00:08:36,341 --> 00:08:38,300 ♪ From the mine to the mill yard ♪ 144 00:08:39,475 --> 00:08:41,651 ♪ I've weathered the storm 145 00:08:41,695 --> 00:08:43,610 - Yorkville, take 20. 146 00:08:43,653 --> 00:08:46,264 ♪ From the bar room to the bedpost ♪ 147 00:08:47,135 --> 00:08:50,921 ♪ I've wasted my days 148 00:08:50,965 --> 00:08:54,185 ♪ All I have is my drink And the time left to think ♪ 149 00:08:54,229 --> 00:08:56,405 ♪ While the time slips away 150 00:08:57,885 --> 00:09:00,452 ♪ Just look at my face 151 00:09:01,584 --> 00:09:04,065 ♪ When you tell me goodbye 152 00:09:05,501 --> 00:09:09,287 - Yorkville was its own little community, back in those days. 153 00:09:10,941 --> 00:09:13,988 All along here were townhouses. 154 00:09:14,031 --> 00:09:16,860 Joni lived right here in one of these places. 155 00:09:16,904 --> 00:09:18,558 Joni Mitchell. 156 00:09:18,601 --> 00:09:20,516 She moved to Detroit. 157 00:09:20,560 --> 00:09:23,171 She was really into art, and she lived about a block away 158 00:09:23,214 --> 00:09:24,781 from the art museum in Detroit, 159 00:09:24,825 --> 00:09:26,783 because she used to take us down there, 160 00:09:26,827 --> 00:09:29,394 and I remember her taking Richie Havens and I 161 00:09:29,438 --> 00:09:31,179 down there one day, 162 00:09:31,222 --> 00:09:34,748 and having scrambled eggs at the art museum. 163 00:09:34,791 --> 00:09:36,576 And she was very kind to me. 164 00:09:36,619 --> 00:09:39,056 They used to let me, Joni used to let me use her apartment 165 00:09:39,100 --> 00:09:42,930 when I was in Detroit, if they were on the road. 166 00:09:42,973 --> 00:09:46,237 Joni, she said, "Gord, you gotta stop 167 00:09:46,281 --> 00:09:48,065 this feeling of envy." 168 00:09:48,109 --> 00:09:52,809 Every time I would have an album coming out, 169 00:09:52,853 --> 00:09:56,160 the Beatles would eat us alive with record sales, 170 00:09:56,204 --> 00:10:00,425 just as we would have an album come out in the market, 171 00:10:00,469 --> 00:10:03,080 that we'd worked on for months, and months, and months. 172 00:10:03,124 --> 00:10:05,909 And there it is, all of a sudden we get a Beatles album 173 00:10:05,953 --> 00:10:07,607 right in our face. 174 00:10:07,650 --> 00:10:11,001 But Joni said, "You gotta listen to the Beatles Revolver album." 175 00:10:11,045 --> 00:10:14,570 And that was what made me appreciate The Beatles. 176 00:10:14,614 --> 00:10:16,703 [crowd, chanting]: ♪ We want the Beatles 177 00:10:16,746 --> 00:10:18,226 ♪ We want the Beatles 178 00:10:18,269 --> 00:10:21,403 - So as they talk about, was there envy 179 00:10:21,446 --> 00:10:23,927 amongst the recording artists over sales? 180 00:10:23,971 --> 00:10:25,886 Well sure, there was. 181 00:10:25,929 --> 00:10:29,193 If you felt envious, you sit down and write another album. 182 00:10:30,542 --> 00:10:33,633 Try and do better. You always try to do better. 183 00:10:34,982 --> 00:10:38,115 You know, I can pick up the same vibes 184 00:10:38,159 --> 00:10:39,856 here right now as I did then. 185 00:10:40,944 --> 00:10:42,903 There was a lot of clubs at the beginning 186 00:10:42,946 --> 00:10:46,384 of the folk revival, here in Toronto. 187 00:10:46,428 --> 00:10:48,343 And The Riverboat outdid them. 188 00:10:48,735 --> 00:10:51,520 It's what the plaque says. 189 00:10:51,563 --> 00:10:54,175 It was right in here, and you went downstairs. 190 00:10:54,218 --> 00:10:56,699 Like, you walked down a flight of stairs. 191 00:10:56,743 --> 00:10:59,702 [folk rock music] 192 00:11:10,670 --> 00:11:12,236 [Bernie Fielder]: The whole Yorkville scene, 193 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:14,804 that was like a Haight-Ashbury. 194 00:11:14,848 --> 00:11:16,763 It was like a New York village. 195 00:11:16,806 --> 00:11:18,460 You know, don't forget: people like Joni Mitchell 196 00:11:18,503 --> 00:11:20,810 and Neil Young, James Taylor, 197 00:11:20,854 --> 00:11:24,118 Kristofferson, Coburn, McLauchlan. 198 00:11:24,161 --> 00:11:25,946 Everybody worked there. 199 00:11:25,989 --> 00:11:28,992 And these were all "the people". 200 00:11:30,472 --> 00:11:33,997 ♪ Got up this morning 201 00:11:34,041 --> 00:11:35,782 ♪ You were on my mind 202 00:11:35,825 --> 00:11:37,479 - One of the things that was special 203 00:11:37,522 --> 00:11:39,699 about folk music is that it was so accessible. 204 00:11:39,742 --> 00:11:41,918 ♪ You were on my mind 205 00:11:41,962 --> 00:11:45,139 The audience at the time really felt 206 00:11:45,182 --> 00:11:47,010 they were involved in the music, 207 00:11:47,054 --> 00:11:49,404 and they could learn those songs and they could sing them too. 208 00:11:49,447 --> 00:11:52,102 Those songs said something 209 00:11:52,146 --> 00:11:55,453 and they have a point of view that perhaps - 210 00:11:55,497 --> 00:11:57,107 well, more than perhaps - 211 00:11:57,151 --> 00:11:59,588 was missing in pop music at that time. 212 00:12:00,589 --> 00:12:03,244 We'd actually heard about Gord before we saw him, 213 00:12:03,287 --> 00:12:05,986 that he had written some really good songs. 214 00:12:06,029 --> 00:12:08,728 So, the word was out on the street, so to speak. 215 00:12:13,384 --> 00:12:16,474 ♪ Everybody's movin' 216 00:12:16,518 --> 00:12:19,303 ♪ Moving across the town 217 00:12:19,913 --> 00:12:22,002 [Ian Tyson]: Gord was at Steeles Tavern for, 218 00:12:22,045 --> 00:12:24,178 I think, a couple years, 219 00:12:24,221 --> 00:12:27,877 and developed a nice following because, you know, 220 00:12:27,921 --> 00:12:31,185 he sang so good, and he took his music so seriously. 221 00:12:32,534 --> 00:12:35,798 [Sylvia]: Ian and I thought he was a really great singer, and it was obvious 222 00:12:35,842 --> 00:12:39,497 that he was a very committed and thoughtful songwriter, 223 00:12:39,541 --> 00:12:41,848 even at that early stage. 224 00:12:41,891 --> 00:12:43,850 ♪ The skyline grows 225 00:12:43,893 --> 00:12:47,679 ♪ And the cut of the clothes is enough to turn you around ♪ 226 00:12:47,723 --> 00:12:49,116 ♪ Oh oh 227 00:12:49,159 --> 00:12:50,682 - I used to own The Riverboat. 228 00:12:50,726 --> 00:12:53,555 So I had a lot of people come to me and say, 229 00:12:53,598 --> 00:12:56,036 "You know, there's a guy playing at Steeles Tavern, 230 00:12:56,079 --> 00:12:57,907 and you should hire that guy." 231 00:12:57,951 --> 00:13:01,650 So I went there, and I caught his last song on the set. 232 00:13:01,693 --> 00:13:03,870 ♪ Everybody's movin' 233 00:13:04,871 --> 00:13:07,308 ♪ Nothin' stays the same 234 00:13:09,876 --> 00:13:13,009 As he comes off the stage, I said to him, 235 00:13:13,053 --> 00:13:16,752 "I want to hire you. I'll pay you twice as much money as this guy pays you." 236 00:13:16,796 --> 00:13:18,275 And he looked at me 237 00:13:18,319 --> 00:13:21,365 and he said, "Oh, yeah. Okay. When do we start?" 238 00:13:21,409 --> 00:13:25,630 ♪ Oh it's the time to start making your mark ♪ 239 00:13:25,674 --> 00:13:27,937 ♪ And it's the time to get in the game ♪ 240 00:13:27,981 --> 00:13:31,114 ♪ Everybody's movin' 241 00:13:31,158 --> 00:13:35,815 ♪ Nothin' stays the same 242 00:13:36,816 --> 00:13:38,948 - The minute I went into one of those clubs, 243 00:13:38,992 --> 00:13:42,517 which were more like real true coffee houses, 244 00:13:42,560 --> 00:13:47,043 before they became rock clubs, I just was captured. 245 00:13:47,087 --> 00:13:50,873 The vibe was he was the best. I mean, Toronto loved him. 246 00:13:50,917 --> 00:13:54,921 Kind of like the way Toronto loves Drake right now. 247 00:13:55,965 --> 00:13:58,620 - He played in little folk houses, but I liked the way he played. 248 00:13:58,663 --> 00:14:01,536 I used to take people over to hear him play, and they liked him too. 249 00:14:01,579 --> 00:14:04,539 It's just the way he picked and played and he moved up. 250 00:14:04,582 --> 00:14:05,932 He became the top dog. 251 00:14:05,975 --> 00:14:07,716 [folk music] 252 00:14:11,589 --> 00:14:13,635 But we ran around, 'cause I had all the girls 253 00:14:13,678 --> 00:14:16,420 until he got super big, and then he had them all. 254 00:14:17,204 --> 00:14:18,988 [chuckling] 255 00:14:19,032 --> 00:14:21,991 ♪ The future is just an hour away ♪ 256 00:14:22,035 --> 00:14:24,820 ♪ And the hearts of youth are aflame ♪ 257 00:14:24,864 --> 00:14:27,954 ♪ Everybody's movin' 258 00:14:27,997 --> 00:14:32,132 ♪ Nothin' stays the same 259 00:14:32,175 --> 00:14:34,177 [Gordon]: I was working all the time. 260 00:14:34,221 --> 00:14:37,267 And I started to get a following by then. 261 00:14:37,311 --> 00:14:40,009 So I started thinking about my writing at that point. 262 00:14:40,053 --> 00:14:42,664 I said, "If I'm gonna earn a living doing this, 263 00:14:42,707 --> 00:14:45,406 I'm going to have to write some songs." 264 00:14:45,928 --> 00:14:47,669 - Well, next time you do a recording session, 265 00:14:47,712 --> 00:14:49,671 I suppose you'll be recording some of your own songs, 266 00:14:49,714 --> 00:14:51,151 will you not? - Definitely, yes. 267 00:14:51,194 --> 00:14:53,240 - Well, I hope they turn out real well for you. 268 00:14:53,283 --> 00:14:56,765 ♪ It is said that all the good things must come to him ♪ 269 00:14:56,808 --> 00:15:00,421 ♪ Who can pretend he doesn't have to wait ♪ 270 00:15:01,422 --> 00:15:04,033 ♪ For as surely as the light of day ♪ 271 00:15:04,077 --> 00:15:06,601 ♪ Must come to drive the night away ♪ 272 00:15:06,644 --> 00:15:09,125 ♪ The needles and the pins 273 00:15:09,169 --> 00:15:11,432 ♪ That's where the line begins 274 00:15:11,867 --> 00:15:16,524 ♪ With your magnificent outpouring of that old familiar story ♪ 275 00:15:16,567 --> 00:15:18,918 [Gordon]: I was living in a basement apartment 276 00:15:18,961 --> 00:15:21,921 which was very nice, and I loved it there. 277 00:15:21,964 --> 00:15:25,489 I had a little room, and I had a desk, and I had a chair. 278 00:15:25,533 --> 00:15:28,884 I knew tha I had to sit down and do the work. 279 00:15:28,928 --> 00:15:30,538 Then all of a sudden, 280 00:15:30,581 --> 00:15:32,932 one day, I popped off with "Early Morning Rain". 281 00:15:32,975 --> 00:15:37,893 That turned out to be one of my biggest, most important tunes. 282 00:15:39,112 --> 00:15:42,071 ♪ In the early morning rain 283 00:15:43,290 --> 00:15:45,727 ♪ With a dollar in my hand 284 00:15:47,511 --> 00:15:50,297 ♪ With an aching in my heart 285 00:15:51,907 --> 00:15:54,475 ♪ And the pockets full of sand 286 00:15:56,085 --> 00:15:58,479 ♪ I'm a long way from home 287 00:16:00,046 --> 00:16:02,831 ♪ Lord I miss my loved ones so 288 00:16:04,485 --> 00:16:06,748 ♪ In the early morning rain 289 00:16:06,791 --> 00:16:10,447 [overlapping with Gordon] - In the early morning rain with no place to go. 290 00:16:10,491 --> 00:16:12,406 That's one of my favourites. 291 00:16:12,449 --> 00:16:16,149 ♪ Out on runway number nine 292 00:16:16,845 --> 00:16:19,543 ♪ Big 707 set to go 293 00:16:21,545 --> 00:16:25,027 - He did ballads like nobody else did them. 294 00:16:25,071 --> 00:16:26,463 They didn't have big lush strings 295 00:16:26,507 --> 00:16:27,812 and like, Barry Manilow kind of stuff, 296 00:16:27,856 --> 00:16:29,989 you know, Weekend in New England stuff. 297 00:16:30,032 --> 00:16:31,816 It was just a guy with an acoustic guitar, 298 00:16:31,860 --> 00:16:33,470 singing a ballad of Early Morning Rain, 299 00:16:33,514 --> 00:16:35,646 and it really touched you, because it's melodic, 300 00:16:35,690 --> 00:16:38,780 he has a very smooth, honey, kind of velvet kind of voice. 301 00:16:39,824 --> 00:16:42,349 ♪ This old airport's got me down ♪ 302 00:16:43,567 --> 00:16:45,961 ♪ It's no earthly good to me 303 00:16:47,832 --> 00:16:50,531 ♪ And I'm stuck here on the ground ♪ 304 00:16:51,619 --> 00:16:55,188 ♪ As cold and drunk as I can be ♪ 305 00:16:55,231 --> 00:16:57,364 [Gordon]: We would go to the airport, 306 00:16:57,407 --> 00:16:59,583 and watch the planes coming and going. 307 00:16:59,627 --> 00:17:01,368 One time, it was a misty day. 308 00:17:01,411 --> 00:17:04,501 I was standing watching at the approach, 309 00:17:04,545 --> 00:17:07,548 and all of a sudden, out from the clouds, 310 00:17:07,591 --> 00:17:10,290 brand spanking new, 311 00:17:10,333 --> 00:17:12,901 Boeing 707 just getting ready to land. 312 00:17:14,076 --> 00:17:16,600 ♪ Far above the clouds she'll fly ♪ 313 00:17:17,949 --> 00:17:21,388 [Gordon]: One night, Ian and Sylvia heard me do Early Morning Rain 314 00:17:21,431 --> 00:17:23,868 and the next day Ian called me and said, 315 00:17:23,912 --> 00:17:25,827 "We're just in the middle of doing a recording, 316 00:17:25,870 --> 00:17:27,655 and we really like Early Morning Rain." 317 00:17:27,698 --> 00:17:30,223 ♪ In the early morning rain 318 00:17:31,702 --> 00:17:34,444 - Early Morning Rain, that was a very powerful song. 319 00:17:34,488 --> 00:17:37,056 It wasn't completely regretful. 320 00:17:37,099 --> 00:17:40,363 There was an edge of optimism within that lyric, 321 00:17:40,407 --> 00:17:43,801 so that song, it blew me away. 322 00:17:43,845 --> 00:17:45,455 It really did. 323 00:17:45,499 --> 00:17:48,197 ♪ She's away and westward bound ♪ 324 00:17:50,069 --> 00:17:53,072 ♪ High above the clouds she'll fly ♪ 325 00:17:53,115 --> 00:17:54,682 [Gordon]: In the meantime, 326 00:17:54,725 --> 00:17:57,685 Ian played the material for Peter, Paul and Mary. 327 00:17:57,728 --> 00:18:01,993 They made a damn good recording of the song. 328 00:18:02,037 --> 00:18:04,518 ♪ Hear the mighty engine roar 329 00:18:04,561 --> 00:18:06,868 ♪ Hear the might engine roar ♪ 330 00:18:06,911 --> 00:18:09,305 ♪ See the silver wing on high 331 00:18:09,349 --> 00:18:11,220 ♪ See the silver wing on high ♪ 332 00:18:11,264 --> 00:18:14,267 [Gordon]: I said, these guys are pretty good. 333 00:18:16,269 --> 00:18:19,881 ♪ Oh there she goes my friend 334 00:18:19,924 --> 00:18:23,276 ♪ There she's rolling now at last ♪ 335 00:18:26,801 --> 00:18:29,412 [interviewer]: How do you dig a lot of people doing your songs? 336 00:18:29,456 --> 00:18:32,720 Like, everybody has a Lightfoot song. Do you like that? 337 00:18:32,763 --> 00:18:34,461 - Well, yeah! [laughter] 338 00:18:36,202 --> 00:18:38,465 ♪ This old airport's got me down ♪ 339 00:18:40,467 --> 00:18:43,296 ♪ It's no earthly good to me 340 00:18:45,341 --> 00:18:48,475 ♪ 'Cause I'm stuck here on the ground ♪ 341 00:18:50,694 --> 00:18:53,480 ♪ Cold and drunk as I can be 342 00:18:56,265 --> 00:18:59,660 ♪ You can't jump a jet plane 343 00:19:01,705 --> 00:19:04,665 ♪ Like you can a freight train 344 00:19:07,494 --> 00:19:10,279 ♪ So I best be on my way 345 00:19:13,152 --> 00:19:15,980 ♪ In the early morning rain 346 00:19:27,035 --> 00:19:31,735 - I forgot to water my guitars last night. 347 00:19:32,823 --> 00:19:35,957 They gotta be kept watered like flowers. 348 00:19:37,741 --> 00:19:40,483 When I get on the stage, I like to hear that, 349 00:19:40,527 --> 00:19:43,007 the sound of the wood... 350 00:19:43,051 --> 00:19:46,010 [machine hissing] 351 00:19:46,054 --> 00:19:48,056 ...and not the wires. 352 00:19:53,540 --> 00:19:54,628 Alright. 353 00:19:54,671 --> 00:19:58,371 I'll get to you guys later. 354 00:20:00,329 --> 00:20:02,940 - Burton Cummings had joined The Guess Who, we went on the road. 355 00:20:02,984 --> 00:20:05,595 - The guy from Quality Records took us to see Gordon Lightfoot. 356 00:20:05,639 --> 00:20:07,554 - So, we went to see a whole evening with Gordon Lightfoot, 357 00:20:07,597 --> 00:20:09,512 and nobody knew he was, really, yet in Montreal. 358 00:20:09,556 --> 00:20:11,210 He wasn't Leonard Cohen. 359 00:20:11,253 --> 00:20:13,995 - Randy and I, we were still a cover band. And here, 360 00:20:14,038 --> 00:20:15,518 Lightfoot comes out and sings 361 00:20:15,562 --> 00:20:19,043 a whole set of his own songs that he had written. 362 00:20:19,087 --> 00:20:21,872 - And every song was like... painted this picture. 363 00:20:21,916 --> 00:20:23,961 - He changed our lives forever. 364 00:20:24,005 --> 00:20:26,225 We came away from that little club that night 365 00:20:26,268 --> 00:20:30,838 wanting immediately to start being songwriters. 366 00:20:30,881 --> 00:20:32,622 - They find the young man, 367 00:20:32,666 --> 00:20:35,538 he's locked himself in his chalet. 368 00:20:35,582 --> 00:20:37,758 He's hopelessly lost. 369 00:20:38,802 --> 00:20:42,110 And... It's a song about winter, and things like that. 370 00:20:42,153 --> 00:20:45,940 Sitting up all night drinking, and terrible things like that. 371 00:20:45,983 --> 00:20:47,550 [crowd laughing] 372 00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:51,250 [guitar] 373 00:20:51,293 --> 00:20:52,599 - The song, For a Winter's Night. 374 00:20:52,642 --> 00:20:54,078 And I think to this day, 375 00:20:54,122 --> 00:20:56,124 that's my favourite Gordon Lightfoot tune. 376 00:20:56,167 --> 00:20:59,997 ♪ The lamp is burnin' low upon my table top ♪ 377 00:21:00,781 --> 00:21:03,566 ♪ The snow is softly falling 378 00:21:05,612 --> 00:21:09,746 ♪ The air is still in the silence of my room ♪ 379 00:21:10,356 --> 00:21:13,402 ♪ I hear your voice softly calling ♪ 380 00:21:14,925 --> 00:21:16,492 [Gordon]: I quite often write 381 00:21:16,536 --> 00:21:18,842 with some kind of locality in mind 382 00:21:18,886 --> 00:21:21,018 that keeps coming back to me. 383 00:21:21,062 --> 00:21:24,108 When I wrote that, I was thinking about being 384 00:21:24,152 --> 00:21:27,111 right out in the middle of the mountains somewhere. 385 00:21:27,155 --> 00:21:29,940 Right out in the middle of nowhere. 386 00:21:29,984 --> 00:21:33,553 ♪ On this winter night with you ♪ 387 00:21:37,165 --> 00:21:39,254 - The song, For a Winter's Night, 388 00:21:39,298 --> 00:21:42,213 you picture a cabin in the woods, 389 00:21:42,257 --> 00:21:45,652 snow falling, a lamp in the window. 390 00:21:45,695 --> 00:21:49,220 But he said he was in a motel room in Cleveland 391 00:21:49,264 --> 00:21:50,831 when he wrote the song. 392 00:21:50,874 --> 00:21:53,529 So, you can take yourself with that pen and paper, 393 00:21:53,573 --> 00:21:56,793 and you put yourself anywhere, and Gord is the master of that. 394 00:21:56,837 --> 00:22:01,494 ♪ I would be happy just to hold the hands I love 395 00:22:01,537 --> 00:22:04,410 ♪ And to be once again with you ♪ 396 00:22:06,281 --> 00:22:09,415 ♪ To be once again with you 397 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:13,027 - It's literally, you know, light a couple candles, 398 00:22:13,070 --> 00:22:15,551 have a glass of wine, and sit by the fire. 399 00:22:15,595 --> 00:22:20,904 It's kind of a quintessential feeling of a Canadian winter, 400 00:22:20,948 --> 00:22:23,907 that song in particular, when you hear it. 401 00:22:23,951 --> 00:22:26,257 And for me, it certainly conjures up those images. 402 00:22:26,301 --> 00:22:29,478 ♪ The snow is softly falling 403 00:22:31,785 --> 00:22:35,528 ♪ The air is still in the silence of my room ♪ 404 00:22:36,703 --> 00:22:39,706 ♪ I hear your voice softly calling ♪ 405 00:22:42,186 --> 00:22:44,667 [Gordon]: Truly, it comes from the unconscious mind. 406 00:22:44,711 --> 00:22:47,888 I swear, it's an imaginary process. 407 00:22:48,932 --> 00:22:51,195 Everything that I've done 408 00:22:51,239 --> 00:22:53,894 has really, basically, been a figment of the imagination. 409 00:22:54,503 --> 00:22:57,158 You just want to make sure it rhymes. 410 00:22:57,201 --> 00:22:59,900 ♪ And to be once again with you ♪ 411 00:23:01,728 --> 00:23:05,122 ♪ Just to be once again with you ♪ 412 00:23:06,950 --> 00:23:09,344 - Gord had the talent and the voice, 413 00:23:09,388 --> 00:23:12,478 but there was a lot of work ethic there. 414 00:23:12,521 --> 00:23:15,002 - He's not somebody who just whips off a song. 415 00:23:15,045 --> 00:23:17,744 I think he spends endless hours 416 00:23:17,787 --> 00:23:20,964 writing and refining his material. 417 00:23:21,008 --> 00:23:23,489 [Gordon]: All I did was write songs. 418 00:23:23,532 --> 00:23:25,447 I was always isolated. 419 00:23:25,491 --> 00:23:27,884 Somewhere in an apartment, somewhere... 420 00:23:27,928 --> 00:23:30,931 in a space I would find. 421 00:23:31,584 --> 00:23:34,717 - I think that's kind of a natural place, as a songwriter, 422 00:23:34,761 --> 00:23:38,547 to often need to go, and sequester oneself away. 423 00:23:38,591 --> 00:23:41,550 Most of the time with a true songwriter, 424 00:23:41,594 --> 00:23:44,379 it comes from your gut, and from your soul. 425 00:23:44,423 --> 00:23:47,861 And who knows what stars have to align to make that happen? 426 00:23:47,904 --> 00:23:50,211 [Gordon]: It wasn't even getting away from people. 427 00:23:50,254 --> 00:23:53,432 You knew that you had to be isolated to do it. 428 00:23:53,475 --> 00:23:56,609 Sit down at the table and actually do it. 429 00:23:57,218 --> 00:23:59,394 - I think Gord's, like, the rarest category, 430 00:23:59,438 --> 00:24:03,529 in terms of being really, just beautifully written songs. 431 00:24:03,572 --> 00:24:06,357 ♪ Sometimes I just don't know 432 00:24:07,533 --> 00:24:11,972 ♪ How you could be anything But beautiful ♪ 433 00:24:12,973 --> 00:24:16,803 ♪ I think that I was made for you ♪ 434 00:24:18,631 --> 00:24:20,807 ♪ And you were made for me 435 00:24:21,808 --> 00:24:24,463 - And the thing about him, is he sings it so clean. 436 00:24:24,506 --> 00:24:27,466 There's obviously some arrangement to Beautiful, 437 00:24:27,509 --> 00:24:30,425 it's probably one of my favourite ballads of all time. 438 00:24:30,469 --> 00:24:33,820 ♪ We've been friends through rain or shine ♪ 439 00:24:35,430 --> 00:24:38,041 ♪ For such a long, long time 440 00:24:38,651 --> 00:24:40,783 [Gordon]: When you're working on the tune, 441 00:24:40,827 --> 00:24:42,785 and you're sort of describing 442 00:24:42,829 --> 00:24:45,571 the feel that you're getting from that. 443 00:24:45,614 --> 00:24:50,793 And sort of looking inside yourself for something to say, 444 00:24:50,837 --> 00:24:53,622 and having a melody, 445 00:24:53,666 --> 00:24:56,886 and having a chord structure already prepared, 446 00:24:56,930 --> 00:25:01,456 it sometimes, the imagination just does the work for you. 447 00:25:03,458 --> 00:25:06,461 That's the F12. 448 00:25:06,505 --> 00:25:09,029 It's tuned in the key of F. 449 00:25:10,813 --> 00:25:13,512 [playing guitar] 450 00:25:20,693 --> 00:25:22,346 - He's interested in guitar tunings, 451 00:25:22,390 --> 00:25:24,697 and he knows a lot of them. 452 00:25:24,740 --> 00:25:27,874 And he knows that that's a trick to get yourself to write songs. 453 00:25:27,917 --> 00:25:31,007 It's like, change the instrument, change the notes 454 00:25:31,051 --> 00:25:33,880 that come out of the instrument when you lay your hands on it. 455 00:25:34,924 --> 00:25:37,361 - I go through a bunch of changes like that, 456 00:25:37,405 --> 00:25:39,668 and the melodies sort of... 457 00:25:39,712 --> 00:25:41,278 That's what I always say to kids 458 00:25:41,322 --> 00:25:43,629 who ask me how to go at it, 459 00:25:43,672 --> 00:25:46,545 first the chord progression, and then the melody, 460 00:25:46,588 --> 00:25:49,983 and then the words. If you can do it. 461 00:25:50,026 --> 00:25:51,767 - I'd love to write a song with him, 462 00:25:51,811 --> 00:25:53,595 but I don't think he writes with anybody. 463 00:25:53,639 --> 00:25:56,685 He creates all that stuff himself, isn't that amazing? 464 00:25:56,729 --> 00:25:59,514 ♪ Well I got my mail late last night ♪ 465 00:25:59,558 --> 00:26:02,648 ♪ A letter from a girl who found the time to write ♪ 466 00:26:02,691 --> 00:26:06,652 ♪ To a lonesome boy somewheres in the night ♪ 467 00:26:06,695 --> 00:26:09,176 ♪ She sent me a railroad ticket too ♪ 468 00:26:09,219 --> 00:26:11,091 ♪ To take me to her lovin' arms ♪ 469 00:26:11,134 --> 00:26:13,093 ♪ And the big steel rail gonna carry me home ♪ 470 00:26:13,136 --> 00:26:15,225 ♪ To the one I love 471 00:26:15,922 --> 00:26:19,708 - I know for a fact that the way he writes is meticulous. 472 00:26:19,752 --> 00:26:23,582 And he will go over, and over, and over, and over a lyric. 473 00:26:23,625 --> 00:26:25,235 He will mess with the melody. 474 00:26:25,279 --> 00:26:27,411 I mean, he's one of the few people I know 475 00:26:27,455 --> 00:26:29,196 that writes his own lead sheets. 476 00:26:29,239 --> 00:26:32,591 And he's musically educated, and he's a craftsman. 477 00:26:32,634 --> 00:26:34,723 ♪ The big steel rail gonna carry me home ♪ 478 00:26:34,767 --> 00:26:37,247 ♪ To the one I love 479 00:26:37,291 --> 00:26:39,641 - He was so smart with the words. 480 00:26:39,685 --> 00:26:42,557 He was just so bright as a writer. 481 00:26:42,601 --> 00:26:44,733 ♪ My good old car she done broke down ♪ 482 00:26:44,777 --> 00:26:46,909 ♪ 'Cause I drove it into the ground ♪ 483 00:26:46,953 --> 00:26:49,172 ♪ And the big steel rail gonna carry me home ♪ 484 00:26:49,216 --> 00:26:50,913 ♪ To the one I love 485 00:26:50,957 --> 00:26:54,613 - He, to me, is one of the greatest examples 486 00:26:54,656 --> 00:26:56,789 of timeless singer-songwriter. 487 00:26:56,832 --> 00:27:01,837 You know, a man dedicated to the word and to the tune. 488 00:27:01,881 --> 00:27:03,970 ♪ I went in town for one last round ♪ 489 00:27:04,013 --> 00:27:06,189 ♪ And I gambled my ticket away ♪ 490 00:27:06,233 --> 00:27:08,365 ♪ And the big steel rail won't carry me home ♪ 491 00:27:08,409 --> 00:27:10,237 ♪ To the one I love 492 00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:12,152 [Gordon]: I sometimes wonder, really, 493 00:27:12,195 --> 00:27:13,936 how I was able to do that. 494 00:27:13,980 --> 00:27:16,199 I'm grateful. 495 00:27:17,113 --> 00:27:19,768 I've been gifted to be able to create songs. 496 00:27:19,812 --> 00:27:21,770 ♪ Yee-hoo-hoo 497 00:27:21,814 --> 00:27:24,207 [applause] 498 00:27:24,599 --> 00:27:26,645 - His new recording contract with Warner Brothers 499 00:27:26,688 --> 00:27:29,473 was something that Lightfoot had been wanting for a long time. 500 00:27:29,517 --> 00:27:31,084 And it was kind of like a breakthrough deal 501 00:27:31,127 --> 00:27:32,781 for a Canadian artist at that time. 502 00:27:32,825 --> 00:27:34,914 Like, a million-dollar deal. 503 00:27:34,957 --> 00:27:37,003 - I was a real fan before I even knew him, 504 00:27:37,046 --> 00:27:41,311 and was incredibly excited when we were going to sign him. 505 00:27:41,355 --> 00:27:44,314 [Gordon]: My first Warner Brothers record came out. 506 00:27:44,358 --> 00:27:45,968 Sit Down Young Stranger. 507 00:27:46,012 --> 00:27:48,797 They shipped 80,000 records, and everything stopped. 508 00:27:48,841 --> 00:27:50,320 The record was dead, 509 00:27:50,364 --> 00:27:53,193 it had no legs, as they said in the trade. 510 00:27:53,236 --> 00:27:56,631 And this is a whole album we're talking about, now. 511 00:27:56,675 --> 00:27:58,807 80,000 copies. Boom. That's the end of it. 512 00:27:58,851 --> 00:28:00,330 So, we were thinking, 513 00:28:00,374 --> 00:28:04,334 is there another single that we might try to do? 514 00:28:04,378 --> 00:28:07,598 The one that they picked next as a single was 515 00:28:07,642 --> 00:28:09,426 If You Could Read My Mind. 516 00:28:09,470 --> 00:28:12,995 And they got an ad in the Top 40 station in Seattle, 517 00:28:13,039 --> 00:28:14,954 in the same week. 518 00:28:14,997 --> 00:28:17,870 - Some guy loved music, loved Gordon, 519 00:28:17,913 --> 00:28:20,176 and fell in love with If You Could Read My Mind. 520 00:28:20,220 --> 00:28:22,526 Started playing it, and it was an AM station. 521 00:28:22,570 --> 00:28:24,703 And it was a fairly important one, 522 00:28:24,746 --> 00:28:26,356 and the thing blew up. 523 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:28,707 And so, when that became a hit, 524 00:28:28,750 --> 00:28:32,667 the company wanted to take advantage of it as best they could. 525 00:28:32,711 --> 00:28:35,148 So, changing the title of the album 526 00:28:35,191 --> 00:28:37,237 was sort of the obvious ploy. 527 00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:38,847 - Next week, I get a call, 528 00:28:38,891 --> 00:28:41,502 "Can we change the title of the album?" 529 00:28:41,545 --> 00:28:43,765 They said, "We want to change the title of the album 530 00:28:43,809 --> 00:28:46,376 to If You Could Read My Mind." And I'm so irate 531 00:28:46,420 --> 00:28:48,552 that I actually get on a plane, 532 00:28:48,596 --> 00:28:50,859 and I fly out to LA to sit down 533 00:28:50,903 --> 00:28:52,513 and have an argument with these boys. 534 00:28:52,556 --> 00:28:55,037 So I was kind of bit of a prima donna at the time. 535 00:28:55,081 --> 00:28:57,518 I said, "They're not gonna change the title of my album 536 00:28:57,561 --> 00:29:00,869 to If You Could Read My Mind from Sit Down Young Stranger!" 537 00:29:00,913 --> 00:29:04,481 I would do awkward things, I would say awkward things, 538 00:29:04,525 --> 00:29:07,136 and they didn't really take me seriously sometimes, 539 00:29:07,180 --> 00:29:09,704 but they took my art seriously, though. 540 00:29:09,748 --> 00:29:11,837 I had asked the question, 541 00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:13,447 "What difference would it make 542 00:29:13,490 --> 00:29:16,363 if you changed the title of my album?" 543 00:29:16,406 --> 00:29:17,756 And he said, 544 00:29:17,799 --> 00:29:21,585 "Algebraically speaking, Lightfoot," he said, 545 00:29:21,629 --> 00:29:26,373 "It's the difference between x and 7x." 546 00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:30,377 And I got on that airplane and flew back to Toronto. 547 00:29:30,420 --> 00:29:34,773 Five or six weeks later, we'd sold 650,000 records. 548 00:29:35,469 --> 00:29:38,037 So, it had sold the 7x, 549 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:41,127 and I kept my mouth shut from then on. 550 00:29:42,824 --> 00:29:44,870 - If You Can Read My Mind is a classic. 551 00:29:44,913 --> 00:29:47,350 Wasn't that recorded by someone else too? 552 00:29:48,177 --> 00:29:50,310 [dance music] ♪ If you could 553 00:29:50,353 --> 00:29:52,094 ♪ If you could 554 00:29:52,138 --> 00:29:55,619 ♪ If you could read my mind 555 00:29:55,663 --> 00:29:59,449 ♪ If you could read my mind, love ♪ 556 00:29:59,493 --> 00:30:02,975 ♪ What a tale my thoughts would tell ♪ 557 00:30:03,671 --> 00:30:07,631 ♪ Just like an old time movie 558 00:30:07,675 --> 00:30:10,634 ♪ About a ghost from a wishing well ♪ 559 00:30:10,678 --> 00:30:13,812 ♪ In a castle dark 560 00:30:13,855 --> 00:30:16,075 ♪ Or a fortress strong 561 00:30:16,118 --> 00:30:19,034 ♪ With chains upon my feet 562 00:30:19,078 --> 00:30:23,169 ♪ You know that ghost is me 563 00:30:23,212 --> 00:30:26,999 ♪ I don't know where we went wrong ♪ 564 00:30:27,042 --> 00:30:31,351 ♪ But the feeling's gone And I just can't get it back ♪ 565 00:30:34,441 --> 00:30:36,138 - Sometimes, my wife and I, 566 00:30:36,182 --> 00:30:41,883 we'll pick out certain Lightfoot lines from songs, 567 00:30:41,927 --> 00:30:45,931 just that one line moves me so much. 568 00:30:45,974 --> 00:30:49,586 And I said, I always choke up... 569 00:30:49,630 --> 00:30:51,153 and it's a simple line, 570 00:30:51,197 --> 00:30:53,982 but for some reason, and I don't know why, 571 00:30:54,026 --> 00:30:56,332 I always choke up at the line of, 572 00:30:56,376 --> 00:30:58,465 "Is the home team still on fire, 573 00:30:58,508 --> 00:31:00,771 do they still win all the games?" 574 00:31:00,815 --> 00:31:02,773 - He's gonna cry. There he goes. 575 00:31:02,817 --> 00:31:05,864 - I can't even say it. - Yeah... 576 00:31:05,907 --> 00:31:08,170 - "And by the way, did she mention my name?" 577 00:31:08,214 --> 00:31:09,868 That just moves me. 578 00:31:13,654 --> 00:31:15,874 ♪ It's so nice to meet an old friend ♪ 579 00:31:15,917 --> 00:31:18,877 ♪ And pass the time of day 580 00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:23,272 ♪ And talk about the home town a million miles away ♪ 581 00:31:23,316 --> 00:31:25,448 ♪ Is the ice still in the river ♪ 582 00:31:25,492 --> 00:31:27,189 ♪ Are the old folks still the same ♪ 583 00:31:27,233 --> 00:31:31,150 ♪ And by the way, did she mention... ♪ 584 00:31:31,193 --> 00:31:34,849 [Gordon]: You know, Orillia was a great little town to grow up in. 585 00:31:34,893 --> 00:31:38,679 All the necessities of life were here. 586 00:31:38,722 --> 00:31:41,725 We had all those things that kids enjoy doing. 587 00:31:41,769 --> 00:31:46,382 Hockey, baseball, fishing, swimming. 588 00:31:46,426 --> 00:31:48,994 It was very idyllic. 589 00:31:49,037 --> 00:31:52,432 ♪ Did she mention my name just in passing ♪ 590 00:31:53,737 --> 00:31:55,957 ♪ And when the talk ran high 591 00:31:56,001 --> 00:31:59,439 ♪ Did the look in her eye seem far away ♪ 592 00:32:00,005 --> 00:32:02,790 ♪ Is the old roof still leaking ♪ 593 00:32:02,833 --> 00:32:04,923 - Well, this is the street that I grew up on. 594 00:32:06,446 --> 00:32:09,579 We played up behind these houses. 595 00:32:09,623 --> 00:32:11,494 There was a couple of fields up in there. 596 00:32:11,538 --> 00:32:14,106 There it is. The red brick place. 597 00:32:16,456 --> 00:32:18,545 That door at the top there on the left, 598 00:32:18,588 --> 00:32:20,416 used to open up onto a balcony. 599 00:32:20,982 --> 00:32:22,331 Quite different now. 600 00:32:23,637 --> 00:32:25,421 My parents, Gordon and Jessica, 601 00:32:25,465 --> 00:32:26,727 they were great. 602 00:32:26,770 --> 00:32:29,164 They offered nothing less than encouragement 603 00:32:29,469 --> 00:32:31,645 at all times, really. 604 00:32:32,341 --> 00:32:35,388 - Well, I used to try to go with him as much as I could. 605 00:32:35,997 --> 00:32:38,869 You can't always go every time they want you to go fishing, 606 00:32:38,913 --> 00:32:39,870 and so on. 607 00:32:41,002 --> 00:32:42,656 Young Gordy can remember these places. 608 00:32:43,091 --> 00:32:45,354 He can remember just like as if he was there yesterday. 609 00:32:46,138 --> 00:32:49,315 But he got all his music act from his mother. 610 00:32:49,837 --> 00:32:51,665 - Well, Mom is my greatest fan. 611 00:32:53,145 --> 00:32:55,277 She always, you know, 612 00:32:55,321 --> 00:32:58,411 she's very, very much interested in what I do. 613 00:32:58,454 --> 00:32:59,629 Naturally, you know. 614 00:33:01,283 --> 00:33:03,807 - Gordy was always encouraged, and they used to play the piano, 615 00:33:03,851 --> 00:33:06,897 and they just about put Gord and I right out of the house 616 00:33:07,115 --> 00:33:08,203 with the noise. 617 00:33:11,990 --> 00:33:13,730 [Gordon]: Here's where my singing began, 618 00:33:13,774 --> 00:33:15,123 when I was eight years old. 619 00:33:15,819 --> 00:33:18,257 I shined my shoes every Sunday morning, 620 00:33:18,300 --> 00:33:20,476 and put on my white shirt, and went to church. 621 00:33:21,695 --> 00:33:23,001 And as a matter of fact, 622 00:33:23,044 --> 00:33:25,699 I was at full cry as boy's soprano. 623 00:33:30,704 --> 00:33:33,402 And I would step down and do my song, 624 00:33:33,446 --> 00:33:35,491 present my song from right here. 625 00:33:35,796 --> 00:33:40,148 ♪ Forgive us our trespasses 626 00:33:40,192 --> 00:33:46,676 ♪ As we forgive those Who trespass against us ♪ 627 00:33:47,112 --> 00:33:48,983 The day I walked into grade nine, 628 00:33:49,027 --> 00:33:52,726 I was asked if I wanted to sing in a barbershop quartet. 629 00:33:53,292 --> 00:33:56,077 [quartet singing] 630 00:33:58,558 --> 00:34:02,823 It was a wonderful kind of music and we had lots of fun doing it. 631 00:34:02,866 --> 00:34:05,260 [jazz music] 632 00:34:05,304 --> 00:34:06,783 [young Gord]: A little bit later on, 633 00:34:06,827 --> 00:34:09,525 I started drumming with the local dance band, here. 634 00:34:09,569 --> 00:34:13,138 And we played at various places. We played up in Muskoka, 635 00:34:13,181 --> 00:34:14,748 and we played down in Beaverton. 636 00:34:15,705 --> 00:34:17,490 I was drumming and singing. 637 00:34:17,533 --> 00:34:20,667 And we were playing those old charts like Star Dust, 638 00:34:20,710 --> 00:34:21,929 and things like that. 639 00:34:26,107 --> 00:34:28,109 [Gordon]: And that's when I started writing songs. 640 00:34:28,414 --> 00:34:30,590 But I couldn't write to my satisfaction. 641 00:34:31,373 --> 00:34:32,896 I wanted to learn notation, 642 00:34:32,940 --> 00:34:34,507 I wanted to learn how to write music, 643 00:34:34,550 --> 00:34:36,291 and I'm sure glad that I did. 644 00:34:37,901 --> 00:34:39,468 When I was 18 years old, 645 00:34:39,512 --> 00:34:42,210 I told my parents I wanted to go to music school 646 00:34:42,254 --> 00:34:43,820 in Hollywood, California. 647 00:34:44,125 --> 00:34:47,433 That really... That was a bit of a shocker. 648 00:34:48,086 --> 00:34:51,393 It was a little bit of a shocker for all the people that we knew in Orillia. 649 00:34:51,437 --> 00:34:53,917 They'd say, "What is this guy doing? 650 00:34:53,961 --> 00:34:56,877 Is he trying to get in the movies 651 00:34:56,920 --> 00:34:57,878 or something like that?" 652 00:34:57,921 --> 00:35:00,968 [jazz music] 653 00:35:01,273 --> 00:35:04,972 I applied, got accepted, and away I went. 654 00:35:07,583 --> 00:35:10,064 All of a sudden, I was starting to write all my own lead sheets 655 00:35:10,108 --> 00:35:12,936 on onion-skin paper, and getting them all copyrighted. 656 00:35:12,980 --> 00:35:15,243 And I'd also gotten the job being the vocalist 657 00:35:15,287 --> 00:35:16,810 with the Wellesley College Orchestra, 658 00:35:16,853 --> 00:35:21,075 which was an orchestra of 17 pretty hot musical players. 659 00:35:21,119 --> 00:35:24,470 And, you know, it was a dandy little outfit. 660 00:35:30,824 --> 00:35:35,002 In the early days, everything that needed to be done was being done. 661 00:35:35,655 --> 00:35:37,831 It was like, I didn't know why I was doing it, 662 00:35:38,179 --> 00:35:39,920 and yet, it was just happening. 663 00:35:39,963 --> 00:35:41,617 It was like it was kinetic energy. 664 00:35:42,183 --> 00:35:44,272 I just knew that at the end of the line, 665 00:35:44,316 --> 00:35:45,839 somewhere down the line, 666 00:35:46,231 --> 00:35:48,755 we're going to make it, pay the bills, somehow. 667 00:35:58,330 --> 00:36:00,984 ♪ Boss Man, Boss Man What do ya say ♪ 668 00:36:01,028 --> 00:36:03,813 ♪ I gotta get you alone In the mine some day ♪ 669 00:36:03,857 --> 00:36:06,251 ♪ Boss Man, Boss Man Turn it around ♪ 670 00:36:06,294 --> 00:36:08,949 ♪ If you don't look away How can I sit down ♪ 671 00:36:08,992 --> 00:36:11,081 ♪ Look at this load upon my back ♪ 672 00:36:11,125 --> 00:36:13,867 ♪ Gotta get this wheel Back on the track ♪ 673 00:36:14,259 --> 00:36:16,783 The first thing I do after I've left the house, 674 00:36:16,826 --> 00:36:18,698 is I offer a little prayer. 675 00:36:19,699 --> 00:36:23,050 "Please don't get me in a fender-bender. Amen." 676 00:36:23,224 --> 00:36:25,226 ♪ The company plan Takes all my pay ♪ 677 00:36:25,270 --> 00:36:28,055 ♪ Got a child in July And another last May ♪ 678 00:36:28,795 --> 00:36:30,275 - Gordon screamed Canada. 679 00:36:30,318 --> 00:36:32,538 Gordon's stuff screamed Canada. 680 00:36:33,060 --> 00:36:36,977 Everybody knew about this guy that sang about Canada, 681 00:36:37,020 --> 00:36:40,285 that sounded like nobody else, that wrote all his own stuff, 682 00:36:40,328 --> 00:36:43,026 that had that feeling in his heart 683 00:36:43,070 --> 00:36:44,419 You could hear it in the songs. 684 00:36:44,463 --> 00:36:47,509 You know, Gordon was, he was Canadiana. 685 00:36:47,553 --> 00:36:51,034 - Lightfoot, you know, he defined who we were as Canadians. 686 00:36:51,078 --> 00:36:54,386 It wasn't just pop music, it was deeper than that. 687 00:36:55,038 --> 00:36:57,171 And if there was a Mount Rushmore in Canada, 688 00:36:57,215 --> 00:37:01,523 Gordon would be on it. - My opinion is, he was always the biggest thing in Canada. 689 00:37:01,567 --> 00:37:05,527 Like I said, there's been big names that maybe made more money, 690 00:37:05,571 --> 00:37:08,051 but they weren't the legend, as much as Gordon was. 691 00:37:08,095 --> 00:37:10,532 - He is our poet laureate, 692 00:37:10,576 --> 00:37:13,796 he is our iconic singer-songwriter. 693 00:37:14,928 --> 00:37:18,236 - He is Canadian. There's a little bit of a Canadian... 694 00:37:19,802 --> 00:37:21,369 spice in the stew, there. 695 00:37:21,413 --> 00:37:23,937 And to cross over from Canadian airplay 696 00:37:23,980 --> 00:37:25,939 into American airplay wasn't easy back then. 697 00:37:26,244 --> 00:37:28,550 - He sent the message to the world 698 00:37:28,594 --> 00:37:31,684 that we're not just a bunch of lumberjacks 699 00:37:31,727 --> 00:37:33,555 and hockey players up here. 700 00:37:33,599 --> 00:37:37,690 You know, we are capable of sensitivity, and poetry. 701 00:37:38,125 --> 00:37:40,867 And that was a message that was delivered 702 00:37:40,910 --> 00:37:43,783 by the success of Gordon Lightfoot internationally. 703 00:37:43,826 --> 00:37:47,917 People were more willing to listen to someone from Canada, 704 00:37:47,961 --> 00:37:52,270 because someone of such enormous talent had paved the way. 705 00:37:52,313 --> 00:37:54,750 - He was at the top of the totem pole, 706 00:37:54,794 --> 00:37:56,099 and we were proud of it. 707 00:37:56,143 --> 00:37:59,581 - There was a nascent but evolving 708 00:37:59,625 --> 00:38:04,107 cultural nationalism that began to happen in Canada. 709 00:38:04,151 --> 00:38:08,329 And after 1967, after the big centennial in Canada, 710 00:38:08,373 --> 00:38:09,591 when everybody was looking around, 711 00:38:09,635 --> 00:38:10,766 going, "Well, who the hell are we? 712 00:38:10,810 --> 00:38:12,420 Why don't we have Canadian movies? 713 00:38:12,464 --> 00:38:15,989 Why don't we have Canadian music? Where is it?" 714 00:38:17,077 --> 00:38:18,644 And suddenly, it was there. 715 00:38:19,993 --> 00:38:22,430 ♪ There was a time In this fair land ♪ 716 00:38:22,474 --> 00:38:24,302 ♪ When the rail road Did not run ♪ 717 00:38:25,694 --> 00:38:28,175 ♪ When the wild majestic mountains ♪ 718 00:38:28,218 --> 00:38:30,351 ♪ Stood alone against the sun ♪ 719 00:38:32,135 --> 00:38:36,314 ♪ Long before the white man And long before the wheel ♪ 720 00:38:37,489 --> 00:38:42,668 ♪ When the green dark forest Was too silent to be real ♪ 721 00:38:44,844 --> 00:38:47,325 - Canada was turning 100 years old, 722 00:38:47,368 --> 00:38:49,936 and needed something to seize on, 723 00:38:49,979 --> 00:38:52,678 for this significant point in its history. 724 00:38:52,982 --> 00:38:56,203 So, he wrote this song, The Canadian Railroad Trilogy 725 00:38:56,246 --> 00:38:58,118 about the opening of Canada 726 00:38:58,161 --> 00:39:00,729 and the history of the building of the railway. 727 00:39:01,339 --> 00:39:05,125 ♪ For they looked in the future And what did they see ♪ 728 00:39:05,168 --> 00:39:09,085 ♪ They saw an iron road runnin' From sea to the sea ♪ 729 00:39:09,434 --> 00:39:12,480 ♪ Bringin' the goods To a young growin' land ♪ 730 00:39:12,524 --> 00:39:16,136 ♪ All up through the seaports And into their hands ♪ 731 00:39:17,224 --> 00:39:21,054 - Pretty amazing, that somebody would write a historical piece. 732 00:39:21,097 --> 00:39:26,233 A sweet, a really ambitious, long-form piece of music. 733 00:39:26,276 --> 00:39:27,974 - Not many people knew the story. 734 00:39:28,017 --> 00:39:30,890 And he told the story properly with melody, 735 00:39:30,933 --> 00:39:32,500 and with his nice, smooth voice. 736 00:39:32,544 --> 00:39:35,373 And the theatre of the mind that he created with his lyrics 737 00:39:35,416 --> 00:39:36,852 was absolutely incredible. 738 00:39:36,896 --> 00:39:38,985 I mean, even though there's no real hook in it, 739 00:39:39,028 --> 00:39:42,380 that's like real, stamped in your mind poetry. 740 00:39:43,903 --> 00:39:49,343 ♪ Across the wide prairie Our loved ones lie sleeping ♪ 741 00:39:51,040 --> 00:39:56,829 ♪ Beyond the dark oceans In a place far away ♪ 742 00:39:59,397 --> 00:40:05,490 ♪ We are the navvies Who work upon the railway ♪ 743 00:40:07,317 --> 00:40:13,193 ♪ Swinging our hammers In the bright blazing sun ♪ 744 00:40:15,587 --> 00:40:19,242 - He's made people aware of their history 745 00:40:19,286 --> 00:40:20,809 through his music. 746 00:40:20,853 --> 00:40:23,595 And it's not just what he says, it's what it sounds like. 747 00:40:24,247 --> 00:40:30,297 ♪ Oh the song Of the future has been sung ♪ 748 00:40:30,863 --> 00:40:34,693 ♪ All the battles have been won ♪ 749 00:40:35,302 --> 00:40:39,088 ♪ O'er the mountain tops we stand ♪ 750 00:40:39,132 --> 00:40:43,615 ♪ All the world at our command 751 00:40:44,311 --> 00:40:48,271 ♪ We have opened up the soil 752 00:40:48,576 --> 00:40:53,276 ♪ With our teardrops and our toil ♪ 753 00:40:56,541 --> 00:40:59,413 ♪ For there was a time In this fair land ♪ 754 00:40:59,457 --> 00:41:01,328 ♪ When the railroad did not run ♪ 755 00:41:02,547 --> 00:41:04,766 ♪ When the wild majestic mountains ♪ 756 00:41:04,810 --> 00:41:07,073 ♪ Stood alone against the sun ♪ 757 00:41:08,988 --> 00:41:12,731 ♪ Long before the white man and long before the wheel ♪ 758 00:41:14,167 --> 00:41:19,041 ♪ When the green dark forest Was too silent to be real ♪ 759 00:41:20,042 --> 00:41:24,743 ♪ When the green dark forest Was too silent to be real ♪ 760 00:41:25,831 --> 00:41:28,703 ♪ And many are the dead men 761 00:41:33,403 --> 00:41:40,454 ♪ Too silent to be real 762 00:41:48,984 --> 00:41:51,596 [applause] 763 00:41:56,905 --> 00:41:58,559 - Well I think, in those early days, 764 00:41:58,603 --> 00:42:02,432 those lines between country and folk, and even rock'n'roll, 765 00:42:03,216 --> 00:42:04,609 were kind of blurred. 766 00:42:04,652 --> 00:42:10,179 ♪ I ain't got a penny For Cotton Jenny to spend ♪ 767 00:42:10,658 --> 00:42:13,966 ♪ But then the wheels go 'round ♪ 768 00:42:14,183 --> 00:42:17,796 I never had that traditional country sounding voice. 769 00:42:17,839 --> 00:42:19,319 Nor did Gordon, really. 770 00:42:19,928 --> 00:42:22,670 - Back in the folk era, you could write ballads, 771 00:42:22,714 --> 00:42:24,629 people would listen to ballads. 772 00:42:26,108 --> 00:42:29,547 Those early years, it was really slow, slow. 773 00:42:29,590 --> 00:42:35,378 ♪ Pussywillows, cat-tails, Soft winds and roses ♪ 774 00:42:35,422 --> 00:42:41,863 ♪ Rainbows in the woodland Water to my knees ♪ 775 00:42:41,907 --> 00:42:44,039 - I started realizing, you gotta do stuff 776 00:42:44,083 --> 00:42:47,652 that people are gonna tap their toes with. 777 00:42:48,478 --> 00:42:49,567 - One, two, three, four. 778 00:42:50,959 --> 00:42:53,135 [Gordon]: Like, I like having the beat going on. 779 00:42:53,179 --> 00:42:56,399 ♪ So fine, so fine the web you spin ♪ 780 00:42:58,706 --> 00:43:01,448 ♪ I come too close and I'm caught again ♪ 781 00:43:02,623 --> 00:43:06,584 [Randy]: 12 string is a very, very finicky instrument to play, 782 00:43:06,627 --> 00:43:09,412 having the extra strings that are an octave higher. 783 00:43:09,456 --> 00:43:11,153 And Gordon's were always in tune. 784 00:43:11,197 --> 00:43:13,329 He had the most perfect acoustic guitar sound, 785 00:43:13,373 --> 00:43:15,114 whether it was 6 string, or 12 string. 786 00:43:15,157 --> 00:43:17,595 ♪ All the day sit and spin 787 00:43:17,638 --> 00:43:20,119 ♪ Spin your web And you draw me in ♪ 788 00:43:20,598 --> 00:43:22,817 ♪ Spin, spin, spin, spin 789 00:43:24,950 --> 00:43:27,256 - In the early days, I personally feel 790 00:43:27,300 --> 00:43:31,478 that Red Shea contributed a lot to the Gordon Lightfoot sound. 791 00:43:32,218 --> 00:43:34,960 But if you listen to some of those iconic songs, 792 00:43:35,308 --> 00:43:39,834 and you specifically listen to Gord strumming, 793 00:43:40,443 --> 00:43:41,793 he was like a freight train. 794 00:43:42,663 --> 00:43:44,622 He just drove the whole thing. 795 00:43:45,144 --> 00:43:47,842 It's no wonder he didn't have to have a drummer in the beginning, 796 00:43:48,234 --> 00:43:52,020 because he was just so accurate, and so strong a guitar player. 797 00:43:52,804 --> 00:43:55,894 ♪ In the web of wild desire 798 00:43:57,591 --> 00:44:00,246 ♪ And I cannot control the fire ♪ 799 00:44:00,550 --> 00:44:02,683 [Randy]: I mean, if you blindfold the people, 800 00:44:02,727 --> 00:44:04,685 and put Gordon on stage with 20 other acts, 801 00:44:05,164 --> 00:44:07,296 the minute they play four bars, you know it's Gordon Lightfoot. 802 00:44:07,340 --> 00:44:10,996 There's a sound that he created that's unique to him, in a way, 803 00:44:11,605 --> 00:44:13,346 and it's there on all his records. 804 00:44:13,955 --> 00:44:16,044 Even though the songs change and the lyrics change 805 00:44:16,088 --> 00:44:17,350 and the tempos change, 806 00:44:17,393 --> 00:44:21,180 he kept that same aura of sound around himself. 807 00:44:22,355 --> 00:44:24,618 ♪ Shivering, quivering 808 00:44:25,706 --> 00:44:27,360 - I didn't feel right about that intro. 809 00:44:27,665 --> 00:44:28,840 - It's too long, man. 810 00:44:28,883 --> 00:44:29,884 - Too long. - Yeah. 811 00:44:31,494 --> 00:44:35,411 [Gordon]: Red Shea and I met on Hoedown, on Country Hoedown. 812 00:44:36,195 --> 00:44:38,937 I asked him to come out and work with me on some shows 813 00:44:38,980 --> 00:44:40,765 that I was playing around town, 814 00:44:40,808 --> 00:44:43,724 at bars and lounges, and back me up. 815 00:44:45,770 --> 00:44:47,597 He was a great player. 816 00:44:47,641 --> 00:44:51,166 Really, a funny, and an interesting guy, 817 00:44:51,210 --> 00:44:52,994 and a really good musician. 818 00:44:53,734 --> 00:44:56,345 - The combination of Red and Gord was really something, 819 00:44:56,389 --> 00:44:59,044 I was very impressed when I first came in. 820 00:44:59,348 --> 00:45:03,004 I was the new boy. I was 23 years old. 821 00:45:03,483 --> 00:45:04,745 They always explained it that, 822 00:45:04,789 --> 00:45:07,530 we want to sound like one guy with four hands 823 00:45:07,574 --> 00:45:08,836 playing the guitar. 824 00:45:08,880 --> 00:45:11,360 And Red said, "I'm not the lead guitar player. 825 00:45:11,404 --> 00:45:12,622 We play together." 826 00:45:13,058 --> 00:45:14,233 And it was kind of unique. 827 00:45:15,800 --> 00:45:17,453 [announcer]: Ladies and gentlemen, Gordon Lightfoot! 828 00:45:18,933 --> 00:45:21,240 - I put him in that group of men and women 829 00:45:21,283 --> 00:45:23,851 who wrote their own music, who played their own music, 830 00:45:23,895 --> 00:45:25,070 who sang it beautifully, 831 00:45:25,113 --> 00:45:26,636 who sang it in a very signature way. 832 00:45:27,072 --> 00:45:29,378 You hear Gordon sing, and you're like... 833 00:45:29,422 --> 00:45:31,250 you're there. You know it's him. 834 00:45:31,903 --> 00:45:33,731 ♪ You think you had The last laugh ♪ 835 00:45:33,774 --> 00:45:36,037 ♪ Now you know This can't be true ♪ 836 00:45:36,081 --> 00:45:39,040 ♪ Even though the sun Shines down upon you now ♪ 837 00:45:39,084 --> 00:45:41,390 ♪ Sometimes you must feel blue 838 00:45:43,001 --> 00:45:44,742 [Gordon]: The vocal was always there, for me. 839 00:45:44,785 --> 00:45:45,960 It was always there. 840 00:45:46,004 --> 00:45:48,354 All I thought about was my guitar play. 841 00:45:48,397 --> 00:45:51,009 That's all I ever think about when I perform. 842 00:45:51,052 --> 00:45:54,577 Just how good can I play this thing? 843 00:45:54,839 --> 00:45:57,580 I don't play nearly as well now as I did then. 844 00:45:58,625 --> 00:46:04,065 When I watch myself, the way I played it then, it makes me nervous. 845 00:46:08,853 --> 00:46:11,159 ♪ So take the best Of all that's left ♪ 846 00:46:11,203 --> 00:46:14,075 - I was in the studio at around the same time 847 00:46:14,119 --> 00:46:16,425 Gordon was re-recording all of his hits, 848 00:46:16,469 --> 00:46:19,777 and I heard some rumblings from some of the musicians, 849 00:46:19,820 --> 00:46:21,909 because I was using some of the same musicians, 850 00:46:21,953 --> 00:46:24,782 about how particular he was about everything, 851 00:46:24,825 --> 00:46:27,393 and how many takes he would insist upon. 852 00:46:27,828 --> 00:46:29,612 You know, he was a perfectionist. 853 00:46:29,656 --> 00:46:32,311 He was very particular, and I relate to that. 854 00:46:32,572 --> 00:46:35,793 ♪ ...promise of your dream world coming true ♪ 855 00:46:36,054 --> 00:46:38,186 ♪ With one less friend to call on ♪ 856 00:46:38,230 --> 00:46:40,449 ♪ Was it someone that I knew 857 00:46:40,493 --> 00:46:42,974 - He was very strong in the studio. 858 00:46:43,322 --> 00:46:47,108 We would really do basic tracks with his band, 859 00:46:47,152 --> 00:46:49,197 and those were... 860 00:46:49,894 --> 00:46:51,983 I mean, they were intense days. 861 00:46:52,679 --> 00:46:55,638 He was so hands-on during the recording 862 00:46:55,682 --> 00:46:57,771 of the basic tracks, with his musicians. 863 00:46:57,815 --> 00:46:59,468 Really, really strong. 864 00:46:59,512 --> 00:47:01,949 But, we got it done fairly quickly, 865 00:47:01,993 --> 00:47:03,777 because he was so well-organized. 866 00:47:03,821 --> 00:47:05,039 And once it was done, 867 00:47:05,083 --> 00:47:06,824 if we wanted to add something to it, 868 00:47:07,302 --> 00:47:09,827 and it made some sort of sense, he'd try. 869 00:47:10,479 --> 00:47:13,613 I said, "What about adding strings?" He said, "Fine!' 870 00:47:16,703 --> 00:47:19,358 ♪ When you wake up To the promise ♪ 871 00:47:19,401 --> 00:47:21,882 ♪ Of your dream world Comin' true ♪ 872 00:47:22,361 --> 00:47:24,319 ♪ With one less friend to call on ♪ 873 00:47:24,363 --> 00:47:26,800 ♪ Was it someone that I knew ♪ 874 00:47:28,889 --> 00:47:31,674 - He always goes to the right place, musically. 875 00:47:31,718 --> 00:47:34,590 And it ends up being very identifiable. 876 00:47:35,113 --> 00:47:38,681 So, the combination of the voice, the songwriting, 877 00:47:38,725 --> 00:47:40,422 and the musicality, 878 00:47:40,466 --> 00:47:43,034 you're dealing with a big-time musician. 879 00:47:46,733 --> 00:47:49,257 [applause] - Thank you! 880 00:47:50,041 --> 00:47:53,000 - When asked, "Who was your favourite songwriter?" 881 00:47:53,044 --> 00:47:55,960 Gordon said, "Of all the multitudes around, 882 00:47:56,003 --> 00:47:58,005 I'd have to go with Bob Dylan." 883 00:47:58,397 --> 00:48:01,095 Ladies and gentlemen, Bob Dylan. 884 00:48:01,139 --> 00:48:02,531 [applause] 885 00:48:10,931 --> 00:48:13,368 - Pleases me to be here to give this award to Gordon. 886 00:48:13,412 --> 00:48:14,892 I've known Gordon for a long time, 887 00:48:15,457 --> 00:48:19,287 and I know he's been offered this award before, 888 00:48:19,331 --> 00:48:20,941 but he has never accepted it, 889 00:48:21,376 --> 00:48:23,639 because he wanted me to come and give it to him. 890 00:48:23,944 --> 00:48:28,253 So, here he is, now. Gordon Lightfoot. 891 00:48:28,688 --> 00:48:29,950 [applause] 892 00:48:42,310 --> 00:48:45,835 ♪ It ain't no use To sit and wonder why again ♪ 893 00:48:47,446 --> 00:48:49,796 ♪ It don't matter anyhow 894 00:48:51,102 --> 00:48:54,844 ♪ It ain't no use To sit and wonder why again ♪ 895 00:48:56,150 --> 00:48:59,066 ♪ If you don't know by now 896 00:48:59,110 --> 00:49:01,025 - Lightfoot made it his business 897 00:49:01,068 --> 00:49:02,852 to found out all he could about Dylan, 898 00:49:02,896 --> 00:49:06,421 and he made a point of learning exactly what it was 899 00:49:06,465 --> 00:49:09,555 this guy was doing with poetry and music. 900 00:49:09,598 --> 00:49:12,340 ♪ So don't think twice It's alright ♪ 901 00:49:12,906 --> 00:49:14,908 - Albert Grossman had signed Ian and I 902 00:49:14,952 --> 00:49:16,344 to an American agency, 903 00:49:16,388 --> 00:49:19,695 and we'd said to Albert, "You have to sign this guy." 904 00:49:21,175 --> 00:49:24,135 [Gordon]: Albert Grossman sent a person to Toronto 905 00:49:24,178 --> 00:49:25,571 to see if I could sing. 906 00:49:25,614 --> 00:49:28,226 And the next thing I knew, I had an offer... 907 00:49:28,922 --> 00:49:30,837 to do a management contract 908 00:49:30,880 --> 00:49:34,232 with the best impresario in the folk realm. 909 00:49:35,059 --> 00:49:37,148 Everybody wanted me to sign. 910 00:49:37,670 --> 00:49:40,586 But I still couldn't make up my mind. 911 00:49:41,021 --> 00:49:43,632 And so, Ian and I were sitting at a restaurant. I said, 912 00:49:43,676 --> 00:49:46,984 "What am I going to do, Ian? I can't make up my friggin' mind." 913 00:49:47,854 --> 00:49:49,290 And he got his pen out, 914 00:49:49,334 --> 00:49:53,294 and he took a serviette, he wrote, "Sign". 915 00:49:53,338 --> 00:49:54,513 So I signed. 916 00:49:55,166 --> 00:49:57,385 And I went down to New York. 917 00:50:05,089 --> 00:50:09,310 Once I got with Albert, I started doing the American coffee houses. 918 00:50:09,354 --> 00:50:11,617 We hit The Bitter End in New York. 919 00:50:11,660 --> 00:50:17,014 That was an experience, it was one of the real number one folk clubs in New York. 920 00:50:17,492 --> 00:50:19,538 We get down there, and walk around the streets, 921 00:50:19,581 --> 00:50:21,801 and feel like you're a part of the people. 922 00:50:22,193 --> 00:50:25,544 [Bob Dylan]: ♪ Come gather round people wherever you roam ♪ 923 00:50:26,588 --> 00:50:30,636 ♪ And admit that the waters around you have grown ♪ 924 00:50:30,679 --> 00:50:34,553 - We were hanging out on the club scene in New York, 925 00:50:34,596 --> 00:50:36,207 mainly Gerde's Folk City. 926 00:50:36,903 --> 00:50:39,688 So, we got to hear just about everybody. 927 00:50:39,732 --> 00:50:43,344 ♪ And you better start swimming Or you'll sink like a stone ♪ 928 00:50:43,388 --> 00:50:47,348 ♪ For the times, they are a-changing ♪ 929 00:50:47,392 --> 00:50:48,567 [Nicholas]: For Lightfoot, at that time, 930 00:50:48,610 --> 00:50:51,135 Albert Grossman had the connections 931 00:50:51,178 --> 00:50:54,703 to get Lightfoot to appear in a festival setting 932 00:50:54,747 --> 00:50:56,662 like Newport, with other artists. 933 00:50:56,705 --> 00:51:00,100 - We were developing a songwriting style, 934 00:51:00,144 --> 00:51:04,278 and we were articulating and formulating a style 935 00:51:04,322 --> 00:51:07,890 which was going to stay with us for the rest of our lives, basically. 936 00:51:08,152 --> 00:51:11,677 [Gordon]: I had recognized the brilliance of Bob Dylan. 937 00:51:11,720 --> 00:51:15,202 I went to a workshop that he did at Newport one afternoon, 938 00:51:15,246 --> 00:51:17,683 and he got up, he stood, and he sang about... 939 00:51:17,726 --> 00:51:19,554 5 or 6 tunes right in a row, 940 00:51:19,598 --> 00:51:21,469 and he just blew the place away. 941 00:51:24,168 --> 00:51:27,693 ♪ I ain't lookin' to compete with you 942 00:51:28,085 --> 00:51:31,697 ♪ Beat or cheat or mistreat you ♪ 943 00:51:32,132 --> 00:51:34,352 - I met Bob at Albert's house, 944 00:51:34,395 --> 00:51:36,223 but I felt really, really shy, 945 00:51:36,267 --> 00:51:38,269 because I was actually awe-struck. 946 00:51:38,660 --> 00:51:41,794 - Initially, Gordon was kind of in awe of Dylan, 947 00:51:42,229 --> 00:51:46,103 but Dylan was already expressing admiration for Lightfoot's songwriting. 948 00:51:46,146 --> 00:51:49,062 - He's one of Bob Dylan's favourite songwriters, you know? 949 00:51:49,106 --> 00:51:51,717 He's always known about Gordon Lightfoot, 950 00:51:51,760 --> 00:51:53,458 always been interested in what he was doing. 951 00:51:55,634 --> 00:51:57,375 - Dylan, whenever he came to Toronto, 952 00:51:57,418 --> 00:51:59,290 he would always make a point of calling Gord, 953 00:51:59,333 --> 00:52:01,118 and wanting to get together. 954 00:52:01,422 --> 00:52:03,511 Dylan had invited Lightfoot to come and perform 955 00:52:03,555 --> 00:52:07,298 at the Rolling Thunder Revue performance at Maple Leaf Gardens, 956 00:52:07,341 --> 00:52:11,650 along with this, kind of, travelling circus collection of artists that he had with him. 957 00:52:11,693 --> 00:52:15,436 And the party that Lightfoot threw at his Rosedale mansion 958 00:52:15,480 --> 00:52:19,136 after the performance was one of the legendary blow-out parties. 959 00:52:19,179 --> 00:52:22,095 - Hawkins was there, and Ramblin' Jack was there, 960 00:52:22,139 --> 00:52:23,749 and Roger McGuinn was there, 961 00:52:23,792 --> 00:52:26,317 and all the ladies were all there, and Dylan was there. 962 00:52:26,360 --> 00:52:28,884 Had about 50 people in the house at Beaumont Road. 963 00:52:29,494 --> 00:52:31,757 - They were admirers, but they were also competitors. 964 00:52:31,800 --> 00:52:33,628 And typically, what would happen 965 00:52:33,672 --> 00:52:35,587 is they would have some awkward conversation, 966 00:52:35,630 --> 00:52:37,458 then the guitars would break out. 967 00:52:37,502 --> 00:52:41,810 - I've seen Bob Dylan and Gordon Lightfoot in the same place twice. 968 00:52:42,071 --> 00:52:44,726 Once at a party at his old house in Rosedale, 969 00:52:45,162 --> 00:52:48,295 and I've seen them together at the Mariposa Festival, 970 00:52:48,339 --> 00:52:50,123 where Dylan almost created a riot, 971 00:52:50,167 --> 00:52:51,342 and they were kind of hanging out. 972 00:52:53,082 --> 00:52:56,303 If totally enigmatic people could be in the perfect marriage, 973 00:52:56,347 --> 00:52:58,436 it would be Bob Dylan and Gordon Lightfoot. 974 00:52:58,479 --> 00:53:00,177 - And he was a friend, 975 00:53:00,220 --> 00:53:03,049 and he was probably the most amazing entertainer I ever met. 976 00:53:08,185 --> 00:53:10,230 - We're passing Alexander Street, Gord. 977 00:53:10,274 --> 00:53:11,536 Remember Alexander? 978 00:53:11,579 --> 00:53:12,711 - Yes, I do. 979 00:53:13,625 --> 00:53:16,236 I lived there for almost three years. 980 00:53:17,411 --> 00:53:20,501 I went there when I left my home, 981 00:53:20,545 --> 00:53:22,721 left my wife and children, 982 00:53:25,637 --> 00:53:27,160 and moved out of the house. 983 00:53:27,552 --> 00:53:32,296 ♪ It's alright for some but not alright for me ♪ 984 00:53:32,339 --> 00:53:36,213 ♪ When the one that I'm lovin' slips around ♪ 985 00:53:37,605 --> 00:53:40,217 - There's an apartment building in Toronto, 986 00:53:40,260 --> 00:53:41,870 on Alexander Street. 987 00:53:41,914 --> 00:53:43,524 And the apartment building was round, 988 00:53:43,568 --> 00:53:46,005 like the old deck of records building in LA. 989 00:53:46,440 --> 00:53:48,529 So, I had an apartment. 990 00:53:48,573 --> 00:53:50,749 Bernie Finkelstein had an apartment, 991 00:53:50,792 --> 00:53:52,272 Bernie Fiedler had an apartment, 992 00:53:52,316 --> 00:53:53,404 and then Gordon had an apartment. 993 00:53:53,447 --> 00:53:55,536 It was kind of a little community. 994 00:53:55,928 --> 00:53:58,626 And he was living with a lady named Cathy Smith. 995 00:53:59,888 --> 00:54:02,064 ♪ I can see it in your eyes 996 00:54:02,108 --> 00:54:05,416 ♪ And feel it in the way you kiss my lips ♪ 997 00:54:10,290 --> 00:54:12,640 ♪ I can hear it in your voice 998 00:54:12,684 --> 00:54:15,991 ♪ Whenever we are talking like this ♪ 999 00:54:18,777 --> 00:54:20,257 - I know for a fact that, 1000 00:54:20,300 --> 00:54:22,084 you know, Gord always dealt with his feelings 1001 00:54:22,128 --> 00:54:24,609 by carefully crafting them into songs. 1002 00:54:25,131 --> 00:54:29,744 ♪ It's alright to live And not alright to lie ♪ 1003 00:54:29,788 --> 00:54:31,398 ♪ When you come home 1004 00:54:31,442 --> 00:54:33,618 ♪ And you can't say Where you've been ♪ 1005 00:54:35,054 --> 00:54:37,274 [interviewer]: You know the song The Circle is Small? 1006 00:54:37,317 --> 00:54:38,536 Who's that referring to? 1007 00:54:38,579 --> 00:54:40,451 - About apartment dwellers. 1008 00:54:40,494 --> 00:54:43,628 People who dwell in apartments. 1009 00:54:45,804 --> 00:54:47,371 [interviewer]: People who dwell in apartments? 1010 00:54:47,414 --> 00:54:49,155 What does that even mean? - Apartment hopping. 1011 00:54:51,157 --> 00:54:53,290 I'm not talking about going to another person's house to have the affair, 1012 00:54:53,333 --> 00:54:55,161 I'm talking about going from your apartment, 1013 00:54:55,204 --> 00:54:58,295 to another person's apartment to have the affair. 1014 00:54:59,600 --> 00:55:01,036 - And were you doing that? 1015 00:55:01,080 --> 00:55:02,647 - Was I doing that? - Yeah. 1016 00:55:03,082 --> 00:55:05,302 - Have I ever done that? Of course I've done that. 1017 00:55:06,477 --> 00:55:09,828 When I think back, a lot of the stuff, I try to forget about. 1018 00:55:10,611 --> 00:55:15,312 That's an apartment unrequited love song. 1019 00:55:15,355 --> 00:55:17,401 ♪ The city where we live 1020 00:55:18,489 --> 00:55:19,881 ♪ Might be quite large 1021 00:55:19,925 --> 00:55:22,101 ♪ But the circle is small 1022 00:55:23,189 --> 00:55:25,365 ♪ Why not tell us all 1023 00:55:25,409 --> 00:55:28,281 ♪ And then all of us will know 1024 00:55:30,370 --> 00:55:33,504 - Cathy Smith. She was a very, very lovely girl. 1025 00:55:33,547 --> 00:55:34,679 He really liked her, 1026 00:55:34,722 --> 00:55:36,811 more than anyone I've ever seen him with. 1027 00:55:37,377 --> 00:55:40,162 And she could write, and sing, she was everything, 1028 00:55:40,206 --> 00:55:42,251 but she had a weakness for musicians. 1029 00:55:43,514 --> 00:55:46,517 - Her relationship at the time with Gordon 1030 00:55:46,560 --> 00:55:49,520 was extremely mercurial. 1031 00:55:49,998 --> 00:55:52,827 She was a good singer. She was a very good harmony singer. 1032 00:55:52,871 --> 00:55:54,612 And I asked her 1033 00:55:54,655 --> 00:55:58,180 to come and do harmony vocals on a song I recorded called 1034 00:55:58,224 --> 00:56:00,400 Do You Dream of Being Somebody. 1035 00:56:00,444 --> 00:56:05,187 Gordon was conspicuously upset, 1036 00:56:05,797 --> 00:56:08,277 and they had a bit of a donnybrook about it. 1037 00:56:08,321 --> 00:56:11,672 And I don't think I really want to go farther into it than that. 1038 00:56:12,369 --> 00:56:15,676 The irony is Do You Dream of Being Somebody was the song, 1039 00:56:15,720 --> 00:56:19,724 and later on, she became somebody for all the wrong reasons. 1040 00:56:20,942 --> 00:56:23,336 [reporter]: Cathy Smith was questioned by Los Angeles Police, 1041 00:56:23,380 --> 00:56:25,251 right after Belushi's death last March, 1042 00:56:25,294 --> 00:56:27,384 because she was with him the night he died. 1043 00:56:28,036 --> 00:56:29,951 The investigation was reopened last week, 1044 00:56:29,995 --> 00:56:33,259 after an interview Smith gave to The National Inquirer. 1045 00:56:33,477 --> 00:56:37,872 According to the article, she admitted injecting Belushi with a speed ball; 1046 00:56:37,916 --> 00:56:40,397 a powerful mixture of cocaine and heroin. 1047 00:56:41,267 --> 00:56:43,530 - There's always been lots of questions about... 1048 00:56:44,096 --> 00:56:46,054 About Cathy Evelyn Smith. 1049 00:56:46,098 --> 00:56:49,318 All my life, people have always asked me, "What about this?" 1050 00:56:49,928 --> 00:56:53,540 Cathy Evelyn Smith was a wonderful lady. 1051 00:56:54,193 --> 00:56:55,499 I really loved her. 1052 00:56:56,282 --> 00:56:58,066 I would liked to have married her, 1053 00:56:58,110 --> 00:57:01,113 but I was just newly divorced, 1054 00:57:01,156 --> 00:57:03,724 and I told myself, "I'm never getting married again." 1055 00:57:03,768 --> 00:57:07,554 I knew that it was not a good idea to carry out. 1056 00:57:07,598 --> 00:57:09,164 It was one of those relationships 1057 00:57:09,208 --> 00:57:12,254 you get a feeling of danger, 1058 00:57:12,298 --> 00:57:13,734 comes into the picture. 1059 00:57:15,475 --> 00:57:19,479 ♪ I can see her lying back In a satin dress ♪ 1060 00:57:19,523 --> 00:57:24,049 ♪ In her room what you do What you don't confess ♪ 1061 00:57:25,006 --> 00:57:28,270 ♪ Sundown you better take care 1062 00:57:28,314 --> 00:57:32,666 ♪ If I find you been creepin' down my back stairs ♪ 1063 00:57:33,624 --> 00:57:36,496 ♪ Sundown you better take care 1064 00:57:37,149 --> 00:57:40,282 - What was quoted, was that these people said about you, 1065 00:57:40,326 --> 00:57:42,850 one person said that you were a scary lady, 1066 00:57:42,894 --> 00:57:46,158 and someone else described you as hard, chiseled, you know... 1067 00:57:46,201 --> 00:57:47,333 - Probably, I was. 1068 00:57:47,376 --> 00:57:49,291 Everybody I've ever been with 1069 00:57:49,335 --> 00:57:52,120 that's been up there and successful. Gord... 1070 00:57:53,208 --> 00:57:55,167 You know, he says, "I could have been a banker. 1071 00:57:55,210 --> 00:57:56,821 I don't understand, I get on the stage, 1072 00:57:56,864 --> 00:57:58,518 and I make thousands of dollars. 1073 00:57:58,562 --> 00:58:01,042 They don't believe that they deserve that stuff. 1074 00:58:01,086 --> 00:58:04,002 But he had it. And I wanted it. 1075 00:58:04,045 --> 00:58:07,135 So I just got off the edges what I could use, 1076 00:58:07,179 --> 00:58:08,876 and I left behind the rest. 1077 00:58:09,573 --> 00:58:12,706 And you couldn't hurt me. He couldn't hurt me. 1078 00:58:14,229 --> 00:58:17,319 ♪ Sundown you better take care 1079 00:58:17,363 --> 00:58:22,237 ♪ If I find you been creepin' down my back stairs ♪ 1080 00:58:24,022 --> 00:58:28,200 ♪ She's been lookin' like a queen in a sailor's dream ♪ 1081 00:58:28,243 --> 00:58:32,596 ♪ And she don't always say what she really means ♪ 1082 00:58:33,684 --> 00:58:36,774 - Gord was pretty tough, when it came to relationships. 1083 00:58:36,817 --> 00:58:39,037 But she managed to hurt him. 1084 00:58:39,080 --> 00:58:40,342 He wrote that song, 1085 00:58:40,386 --> 00:58:42,519 referring to more than one person 1086 00:58:42,562 --> 00:58:44,433 that might've been involved with her, 1087 00:58:44,477 --> 00:58:46,871 and some of them were Gordon's friends. 1088 00:58:46,914 --> 00:58:50,396 And I think that she was part of a breaking point. 1089 00:58:51,092 --> 00:58:55,183 ♪ I can see her lyin' back In her faded jeans ♪ 1090 00:58:55,227 --> 00:58:59,710 ♪ She's a hard lovin' woman, got me feelin' mean ♪ 1091 00:59:00,101 --> 00:59:03,104 - Some of the best things that he's written, 1092 00:59:03,148 --> 00:59:06,412 are from when such a disturbing thing happened 1093 00:59:06,455 --> 00:59:07,544 in his personal life. 1094 00:59:07,892 --> 00:59:09,415 He was just writing it out. 1095 00:59:11,243 --> 00:59:12,853 And as a songwriter, 1096 00:59:12,897 --> 00:59:15,377 you try to amalgamate your experiences, 1097 00:59:15,421 --> 00:59:17,902 however destructive or wonderful they may be. 1098 00:59:17,945 --> 00:59:19,599 Putting them in some form 1099 00:59:19,643 --> 00:59:23,560 that they become universally understood by other people. 1100 00:59:25,953 --> 00:59:29,566 - Sundown has this whole, sort of, spaghetti western kind of feel to it, 1101 00:59:29,609 --> 00:59:31,568 but the details are left out, 1102 00:59:31,611 --> 00:59:34,179 to the point where you can kind of make up your own movie. 1103 00:59:34,222 --> 00:59:35,876 So, that's cool, you know. 1104 00:59:40,359 --> 00:59:42,535 [applause] 1105 00:59:45,494 --> 00:59:47,845 [folk music] 1106 00:59:54,112 --> 00:59:56,767 [Gordon]: Los Angeles was great fun. 1107 00:59:57,115 --> 01:00:00,509 Most of it is just unbelievable to me now, some of the things. 1108 01:00:00,684 --> 01:00:04,122 I always had a suite at the Continental High House, 1109 01:00:04,165 --> 01:00:05,732 right on Sunset Boulevard. 1110 01:00:05,776 --> 01:00:07,995 And I would stay up all night time. 1111 01:00:08,387 --> 01:00:10,432 There would be women, there would be booze, 1112 01:00:10,476 --> 01:00:11,912 there would be whatever you want. 1113 01:00:11,956 --> 01:00:13,914 A disc jockey in Los Angeles 1114 01:00:13,958 --> 01:00:16,438 started playing my stuff all the time. 1115 01:00:16,482 --> 01:00:18,658 And so, first time I went to the Troubadour, 1116 01:00:18,702 --> 01:00:20,442 it was just sold right out 1117 01:00:20,486 --> 01:00:23,010 for three days. Because of this guy. 1118 01:00:23,489 --> 01:00:26,535 The Troubadour was the place in Hollywood. 1119 01:00:26,579 --> 01:00:28,494 And that's how I met Joanna. 1120 01:00:28,973 --> 01:00:31,105 She was the head waitress there. 1121 01:00:31,149 --> 01:00:33,499 We dated, and we had a child. 1122 01:00:33,891 --> 01:00:35,283 His name is Galen, 1123 01:00:35,327 --> 01:00:37,982 and he took his mother's name, McGee. 1124 01:00:45,990 --> 01:00:49,341 We played all around all kinds of gigs, all around California. 1125 01:00:49,384 --> 01:00:52,126 - We played in the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, 1126 01:00:52,170 --> 01:00:53,867 it was like 4000 seats, 1127 01:00:53,911 --> 01:00:55,782 when it was open air, there was no roof on it, 1128 01:00:55,826 --> 01:00:58,567 and we were selling it out for 5 and 6 nights. 1129 01:00:58,829 --> 01:01:00,047 That was really something. 1130 01:01:03,007 --> 01:01:05,400 [Gordon]: I was offered a deal by Jerry Weintraub. 1131 01:01:05,705 --> 01:01:08,186 They wanted me to go and live in San Francisco. 1132 01:01:09,143 --> 01:01:11,711 "We'll manage you, and you'll come to the States." 1133 01:01:11,755 --> 01:01:13,670 They thought it would be good for my writing. 1134 01:01:13,713 --> 01:01:15,106 I was tempted. 1135 01:01:15,149 --> 01:01:18,805 Maybe I stopped feeling Canadian for a couple of minutes, 1136 01:01:18,849 --> 01:01:20,459 but I said no. 1137 01:01:21,373 --> 01:01:23,767 By this time, I'd appeared in a movie. 1138 01:01:24,506 --> 01:01:25,986 I was at the height of my drinking, 1139 01:01:26,030 --> 01:01:28,380 and I look terrible in that movie. 1140 01:01:28,859 --> 01:01:30,904 "Gord, you'll never win the Academy Award, 1141 01:01:30,948 --> 01:01:32,601 but it was fun working with you." 1142 01:01:32,950 --> 01:01:34,386 That's what Bruce Dern said. 1143 01:01:35,387 --> 01:01:37,737 And so, I was warned by the record company 1144 01:01:37,781 --> 01:01:39,391 that I should give up alcohol. 1145 01:01:39,870 --> 01:01:42,960 At that time, the record company was owned by Frank Sinatra. 1146 01:01:43,264 --> 01:01:47,051 And so, I was invited to one of his recording sessions. 1147 01:01:47,094 --> 01:01:50,402 And Frank, he tried to do If You Could Read My Mind, 1148 01:01:50,881 --> 01:01:52,839 but about halfway through the first verse, 1149 01:01:52,883 --> 01:01:55,233 he threw it on the floor, he said, "I can't do this!" 1150 01:01:55,276 --> 01:01:57,409 - Sinatra could be plenty cantankerous. 1151 01:01:57,452 --> 01:02:00,760 And so, I don't think he was in a good mood that night. 1152 01:02:00,804 --> 01:02:02,849 - If You Can Read My Mind, he said, "I can't, 1153 01:02:02,893 --> 01:02:04,155 I can't sing this." ' 1154 01:02:04,198 --> 01:02:06,287 Those were his words, "I can't sing this." 1155 01:02:06,331 --> 01:02:07,854 - Sinatra looked at it and said, 1156 01:02:07,898 --> 01:02:10,727 "Too long." And threw it on the table. Next! 1157 01:02:10,770 --> 01:02:12,946 - It was that same night that Mo Ostin, 1158 01:02:12,990 --> 01:02:15,427 who is the president of Reprise Records 1159 01:02:15,470 --> 01:02:16,602 pulled me aside... 1160 01:02:17,995 --> 01:02:19,518 and said, "Gord, you better stop your drinking." 1161 01:02:20,562 --> 01:02:22,303 - How do you remain so prolific? 1162 01:02:22,347 --> 01:02:23,783 How does it keep coming? 1163 01:02:23,827 --> 01:02:26,568 Year after year, with no change. 1164 01:02:26,612 --> 01:02:28,222 - I find that the odd drink helps. 1165 01:02:28,266 --> 01:02:29,746 [laughter] 1166 01:02:30,877 --> 01:02:32,574 - When he was performing in Massey Hall, 1167 01:02:32,618 --> 01:02:34,794 he had some of his famous parties 1168 01:02:34,838 --> 01:02:36,753 at his house after the show. 1169 01:02:36,796 --> 01:02:38,885 Full of celebrities and other people. 1170 01:02:39,451 --> 01:02:42,759 - The house would be filled with people, and, you know, 1171 01:02:42,802 --> 01:02:46,632 every account I've heard from people tell me that he was actually 1172 01:02:46,675 --> 01:02:48,025 a pretty gregarious host, 1173 01:02:48,068 --> 01:02:50,767 but he was also well into his cups. 1174 01:02:50,810 --> 01:02:55,467 ♪ Pass it on over It's a sin to be sober Too long ♪ 1175 01:02:55,510 --> 01:02:58,470 [Gordon]: A wild time. It was party time. 1176 01:02:58,992 --> 01:03:02,474 ♪ I'm bent but not broken All I need is some rest ♪ 1177 01:03:02,517 --> 01:03:05,825 ♪ And a bottle of your very best ♪ 1178 01:03:05,869 --> 01:03:07,609 ♪ Blackberry wine 1179 01:03:07,653 --> 01:03:09,611 - I don't know how I ever made it through. 1180 01:03:09,655 --> 01:03:11,875 - I don't know if you could say he loved to party, 1181 01:03:11,918 --> 01:03:13,267 but he loved to drink. 1182 01:03:13,311 --> 01:03:15,617 He did, he loved to drink. 1183 01:03:15,661 --> 01:03:19,056 And in some ways, it made him happier, 1184 01:03:19,099 --> 01:03:21,885 and was more fun to be around in some ways. 1185 01:03:22,189 --> 01:03:23,800 And then, at other times, 1186 01:03:23,843 --> 01:03:27,281 he would go into a drunken rage. 1187 01:03:27,325 --> 01:03:29,153 - You could tell he was drinking too much... 1188 01:03:30,328 --> 01:03:31,982 and it was starting to tell. 1189 01:03:32,025 --> 01:03:36,160 Maybe over a bottle a day, it starts telling on you. 1190 01:03:36,551 --> 01:03:39,816 ♪ Blackberry wine You know that I'm ♪ 1191 01:03:39,859 --> 01:03:42,035 ♪ No good without you 1192 01:03:43,210 --> 01:03:44,864 ♪ Blackberry wine 1193 01:03:44,908 --> 01:03:48,041 - The first time I almost met him, 1194 01:03:48,389 --> 01:03:51,958 was at a concert that he put on in St. John, New Brunswick. 1195 01:03:52,002 --> 01:03:53,960 He was in the dressing room, and somebody went in 1196 01:03:54,004 --> 01:03:55,875 and announced that I was there, 1197 01:03:55,919 --> 01:03:57,616 and he said, 1198 01:03:57,659 --> 01:04:00,010 "I don't give a sweet... 1199 01:04:00,837 --> 01:04:03,970 who's there. I'm not seeing anybody." 1200 01:04:04,014 --> 01:04:07,539 So, that was my introduction to Gordon Lightfoot. 1201 01:04:08,018 --> 01:04:09,976 - Both on stage and off, 1202 01:04:10,020 --> 01:04:14,024 he could handle the pressures of the spotlight better 1203 01:04:14,067 --> 01:04:15,416 with a little lubrication. 1204 01:04:15,460 --> 01:04:17,984 - A lot of the songwriters do dry up eventually. 1205 01:04:18,028 --> 01:04:20,987 There are a lot of songwriters that we used to listen to, 1206 01:04:21,031 --> 01:04:23,337 and hear a lot, and watch their career, 1207 01:04:23,381 --> 01:04:25,470 and all of a sudden, it's stopped up. 1208 01:04:25,513 --> 01:04:27,559 - I keep telling 'em, they don't drink enough. 1209 01:04:29,387 --> 01:04:31,693 - But you have an interesting theory. 1210 01:04:31,737 --> 01:04:34,566 - I'm only kidding, you know. I never touch the stuff. 1211 01:04:35,219 --> 01:04:38,222 - We did a show in the Dominion Theatre, 1212 01:04:38,265 --> 01:04:39,527 in London, England one time, 1213 01:04:39,571 --> 01:04:41,181 that might've been the low point. 1214 01:04:41,225 --> 01:04:44,184 He had only sung 5 or 6 songs, 1215 01:04:44,228 --> 01:04:46,752 and was cursing at the audience. 1216 01:04:46,795 --> 01:04:48,319 You know, it was pretty low. 1217 01:04:48,797 --> 01:04:50,103 [Gordon]: It finally got to the point 1218 01:04:50,147 --> 01:04:53,367 where it no longer became fuel, any longer. 1219 01:04:53,411 --> 01:04:55,152 But, I still didn't quit drinking. 1220 01:04:56,066 --> 01:04:58,416 ♪ The happy times are gone 1221 01:04:59,765 --> 01:05:01,636 ♪ And I can still put on 1222 01:05:02,942 --> 01:05:06,424 ♪ My Saturday clothes 1223 01:05:07,947 --> 01:05:11,429 ♪ Every warm body knows 1224 01:05:12,604 --> 01:05:15,433 [Gordon]: I had some opportunities presented to me 1225 01:05:15,476 --> 01:05:17,696 that I wouldn't take because I drank, and I knew it. 1226 01:05:17,739 --> 01:05:19,306 I drank, and I knew it. 1227 01:05:19,350 --> 01:05:22,309 They didn't know it. They didn't know it. 1228 01:05:23,615 --> 01:05:25,269 - There were lots of warning signs 1229 01:05:25,312 --> 01:05:27,271 for Gordon to pay attention to, 1230 01:05:27,314 --> 01:05:31,579 and it wasn't until, ultimately, his partner, Cathy Coonley walked out on him, 1231 01:05:31,623 --> 01:05:34,626 and took their son Eric with her, that he realized, 1232 01:05:34,669 --> 01:05:38,064 it had gone too far. That the drinking was costing him, 1233 01:05:38,108 --> 01:05:40,719 both on a professional, and a personal level. 1234 01:05:40,762 --> 01:05:44,027 - So then, that was when it was time to pack it in. 1235 01:05:44,070 --> 01:05:46,855 I had help in doing that. 1236 01:05:47,465 --> 01:05:51,251 My sister Beverly ran my office for ten years, at one point. 1237 01:05:51,295 --> 01:05:55,821 And my sister's urging is one of the reasons why I quit drinking. 1238 01:05:56,517 --> 01:05:57,997 - But all of a sudden, he quit. 1239 01:05:58,041 --> 01:06:01,783 I mean, I don't know how he did it, cold turkey. 1240 01:06:01,827 --> 01:06:03,481 - When he quit, he quit. 1241 01:06:05,526 --> 01:06:08,007 - He was challenged by people who said he was not in a good place with it. 1242 01:06:08,051 --> 01:06:10,444 But he's the one who really made the big move. 1243 01:06:10,488 --> 01:06:12,490 He rose to the challenge 1244 01:06:12,533 --> 01:06:15,406 and said, "Well, I can show them that I don't have to do this." 1245 01:06:16,146 --> 01:06:18,844 - He's been a changed man since then, you know. 1246 01:06:21,629 --> 01:06:24,502 - Through the height of his fame in the '70s, he was sailing, 1247 01:06:24,545 --> 01:06:26,504 constantly on Georgian Bay, 1248 01:06:26,547 --> 01:06:28,375 and the Great Lakes. He had sailboats, 1249 01:06:28,419 --> 01:06:30,464 but he also took up canoeing. 1250 01:06:30,508 --> 01:06:32,031 And people were kind of shocked when they saw 1251 01:06:32,075 --> 01:06:34,425 the Gordon Lightfoot of the early '80s. 1252 01:06:34,468 --> 01:06:36,818 - He was now, like, thin and fit, 1253 01:06:36,862 --> 01:06:38,646 and looked like a whizzing bush rat. 1254 01:06:38,690 --> 01:06:41,084 You know, he was totally into the whole wilderness, canoeing thing. 1255 01:06:41,910 --> 01:06:44,826 - After I'd done my first canoe trip, I said, 1256 01:06:44,870 --> 01:06:48,874 "By God, I'll never do another one of these as long as I live." 1257 01:06:49,440 --> 01:06:53,618 I did ten trips over the next 20 years. 1258 01:06:53,661 --> 01:06:55,924 You never took alcohol in the bush. 1259 01:06:56,534 --> 01:06:59,667 It was a worthwhile enterprise to try out. 1260 01:07:00,625 --> 01:07:03,497 You fly up 150 miles to Muskox Lake, 1261 01:07:03,541 --> 01:07:05,543 to the beginning of the back river. 1262 01:07:06,979 --> 01:07:09,025 From there, you just head north. 1263 01:07:09,068 --> 01:07:11,244 Start seeing the wildlife immediately. 1264 01:07:13,116 --> 01:07:16,119 We camped near a wolf birthing place one time, 1265 01:07:16,162 --> 01:07:17,859 and we stayed there all night 1266 01:07:17,903 --> 01:07:20,819 and watched the activity of the wolves 1267 01:07:20,862 --> 01:07:24,170 as they howled off in the distance. 1268 01:07:25,258 --> 01:07:27,260 The next day, when leaving the lake in Chicoutimi, 1269 01:07:27,304 --> 01:07:30,611 we saw a caribou with a broken leg, and a calf... 1270 01:07:31,134 --> 01:07:34,833 being followed by two wolves. 1271 01:07:38,228 --> 01:07:39,794 It broke my heart. 1272 01:07:40,230 --> 01:07:44,234 ♪ It's a wicked wind And it chills me to the bone ♪ 1273 01:07:44,277 --> 01:07:47,063 ♪ And if you do not believe me 1274 01:07:47,106 --> 01:07:50,849 ♪ Come and gaze upon the shadow At your door ♪ 1275 01:07:51,545 --> 01:07:53,939 I wrote the song Shadows while I was up there. 1276 01:07:55,114 --> 01:07:57,769 - He loved the inspiration of being in the Canadian wild, 1277 01:07:57,812 --> 01:07:59,901 and it became the source of a number of songs. 1278 01:07:59,945 --> 01:08:03,731 - I've had other inspirations of songs while paddling in the canoe 1279 01:08:03,775 --> 01:08:06,299 that have manifested themselves later. 1280 01:08:06,343 --> 01:08:08,910 ♪ Let it go 1281 01:08:08,954 --> 01:08:12,566 ♪ Let it happen like it happened Once before ♪ 1282 01:08:12,610 --> 01:08:15,178 Some of the places, we were in the Boreal Forest, 1283 01:08:15,221 --> 01:08:18,616 like, when we did the Churchill River, we were mostly in forest area. 1284 01:08:18,964 --> 01:08:20,574 Most of it was in rock. 1285 01:08:21,227 --> 01:08:23,316 And some of the spills, and some of the rapids, 1286 01:08:23,360 --> 01:08:25,188 and some of the waterfalls, 1287 01:08:25,231 --> 01:08:27,842 I mean, there's a waterfall on the Angikuni River 1288 01:08:27,886 --> 01:08:30,976 that they say is three feet higher than Niagara Falls. 1289 01:08:31,019 --> 01:08:33,109 ♪ From the mountains in the spring time ♪ 1290 01:08:33,152 --> 01:08:34,675 ♪ On a blue... 1291 01:08:34,719 --> 01:08:36,155 After about four or five days, 1292 01:08:36,199 --> 01:08:37,765 paddling in the stern of a canoe, 1293 01:08:37,809 --> 01:08:39,637 you don't even have to think about it anymore. 1294 01:08:40,464 --> 01:08:42,901 You just keep doing it. 1295 01:08:44,294 --> 01:08:47,166 That's what one of the trainers down at the club says: 1296 01:08:47,210 --> 01:08:49,125 "Motion is the potion." 1297 01:08:49,168 --> 01:08:53,085 You know, I'm just about 80 years old, 1298 01:08:53,129 --> 01:08:55,783 and I'm starting to live off that little idea. 1299 01:08:55,827 --> 01:08:57,089 Just don't stop. 1300 01:08:58,308 --> 01:08:59,526 [loon calling] 1301 01:09:01,224 --> 01:09:03,269 After I got divorced the first time, 1302 01:09:03,313 --> 01:09:05,228 I swore I would never get married again. 1303 01:09:06,011 --> 01:09:07,621 But I did, I did... 1304 01:09:07,665 --> 01:09:08,883 19 years later. 1305 01:09:08,927 --> 01:09:12,278 Liz was my second wife, and we had two kids. 1306 01:09:12,322 --> 01:09:14,150 Miles and Meredith. 1307 01:09:14,715 --> 01:09:18,110 I have six children, I have an extended family. 1308 01:09:18,154 --> 01:09:19,938 I'm responsible for a lot of people, 1309 01:09:19,981 --> 01:09:21,853 and part of the reason why I do what I do, 1310 01:09:21,896 --> 01:09:23,159 is so I can look after everybody. 1311 01:09:23,202 --> 01:09:24,247 Alright! 1312 01:09:25,248 --> 01:09:26,945 Hi, I'm Gordon Lightfoot, 1313 01:09:26,988 --> 01:09:30,209 and the reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated. 1314 01:09:30,253 --> 01:09:31,863 [cheering] 1315 01:09:35,345 --> 01:09:37,912 - There are a lot of people now that realize how great he was. 1316 01:09:38,261 --> 01:09:42,221 And it actually has picked up over the past ten years. 1317 01:09:42,874 --> 01:09:47,183 I remember running into a very successful record producer, Rick Rubin. 1318 01:09:47,226 --> 01:09:51,883 And he said, "I've just been listening to Gordon Lightfoot for five straight days." 1319 01:09:52,492 --> 01:09:54,538 And Rick isn't from that world. 1320 01:09:55,365 --> 01:09:58,324 - There's a whole bunch of stuff got recorded. 1321 01:09:58,368 --> 01:10:00,848 Dozens and dozens of cover recordings. 1322 01:10:00,892 --> 01:10:04,504 A hundred. 150, I don't know, I never counted. 1323 01:10:04,939 --> 01:10:06,419 I lost track. 1324 01:10:06,463 --> 01:10:09,727 Some of them, you get into, and they're just fabulous. 1325 01:10:10,641 --> 01:10:12,643 ♪ Black day in July 1326 01:10:15,254 --> 01:10:17,125 ♪ Black day in July 1327 01:10:18,562 --> 01:10:23,088 ♪ Motor city madness Has touched the countryside ♪ 1328 01:10:23,828 --> 01:10:25,873 ♪ And the people rise in anger 1329 01:10:25,917 --> 01:10:28,267 ♪ And the streets began to fill ♪ 1330 01:10:28,311 --> 01:10:30,748 ♪ And there's gunfire From the rooftops ♪ 1331 01:10:30,791 --> 01:10:33,490 ♪ And the blood begins to spill ♪ 1332 01:10:34,404 --> 01:10:36,580 ♪ Black day in July 1333 01:10:38,756 --> 01:10:40,801 ♪ Black day in July 1334 01:10:43,413 --> 01:10:45,415 ♪ Black day in July 1335 01:10:49,419 --> 01:10:52,073 - Sitting around the Bad Religion rehearsal studios 1336 01:10:52,117 --> 01:10:53,553 over the years, 1337 01:10:53,597 --> 01:10:56,339 we would always break out into versions 1338 01:10:56,382 --> 01:10:57,905 of Edmund Fitzgerald. 1339 01:10:57,949 --> 01:11:01,692 ♪ The legend lives on From the Chippewa on down ♪ 1340 01:11:01,735 --> 01:11:05,261 ♪ Of the big lake they called 'Gitche Gumee' ♪ 1341 01:11:07,437 --> 01:11:09,352 Now, some of you probably already know this, 1342 01:11:09,395 --> 01:11:11,832 but "Gitche Gumee" was Lake Superior, 1343 01:11:11,876 --> 01:11:13,530 to the north of Wisconsin. 1344 01:11:13,573 --> 01:11:16,576 The fact that it was mentioned in a song on the radio 1345 01:11:16,620 --> 01:11:18,839 was pretty spectacular. 1346 01:11:18,883 --> 01:11:22,626 I always considered The Great Lakes kind of my roots. 1347 01:11:23,322 --> 01:11:25,281 Nothing was more inspiring 1348 01:11:25,324 --> 01:11:29,546 than seeing the big iron boats come into the port. 1349 01:11:30,547 --> 01:11:35,073 That was probably the most magnificent spectacle on The Great Lakes. 1350 01:11:36,683 --> 01:11:39,730 First time I heard Gordon Lightfoot was on the radio 1351 01:11:39,773 --> 01:11:41,819 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 1352 01:11:41,862 --> 01:11:44,038 As I got older, I started to appreciate 1353 01:11:44,082 --> 01:11:47,085 Gordon Lightfoot's ability to arrange songs, 1354 01:11:47,128 --> 01:11:49,217 and his arrangement style 1355 01:11:49,261 --> 01:11:51,959 is something that I learned a lot from. 1356 01:11:52,003 --> 01:11:53,570 How you build a song 1357 01:11:53,613 --> 01:11:56,094 from those simple chords and simple melodies, 1358 01:11:56,137 --> 01:11:59,837 into a much larger evocative piece of work. 1359 01:12:00,403 --> 01:12:04,320 ♪ The ship was the pride Of the American side ♪ 1360 01:12:04,363 --> 01:12:07,671 ♪ Coming back from some mill In Wisconsin ♪ 1361 01:12:12,197 --> 01:12:14,242 That's when the crowd goes wild. 1362 01:12:15,113 --> 01:12:18,856 The Milwaukee crowd. I mean, I can see how he's a Canadian national hero, 1363 01:12:18,899 --> 01:12:21,380 but he also speaks with a voice 1364 01:12:21,424 --> 01:12:23,600 for anyone growing up in The Great Lakes region. 1365 01:12:26,254 --> 01:12:28,387 [humming] 1366 01:12:33,784 --> 01:12:35,394 [boat horn] 1367 01:12:37,396 --> 01:12:40,443 [reporter]: The Edmund Fitzgerald sank in November 1975, 1368 01:12:40,486 --> 01:12:43,010 with the loss of all 29 people on board. 1369 01:12:43,054 --> 01:12:44,664 [reporter]: The ship was just 15 miles 1370 01:12:44,708 --> 01:12:47,188 from the relative safety of Whitefish Bay, 1371 01:12:47,232 --> 01:12:49,495 but the powerful forces of nature had different plans. 1372 01:12:49,539 --> 01:12:51,932 [reporter]: The ship was tossed by 35-foot waves 1373 01:12:51,976 --> 01:12:53,456 in a tremendous storm. 1374 01:12:53,499 --> 01:12:56,502 [reporter]: In a hurricane, it simply disappeared. 1375 01:12:56,546 --> 01:12:58,852 [male reporter #3]: The heavily laden boats slipped beneath the waves, 1376 01:12:58,896 --> 01:13:00,245 and broke into pieces. 1377 01:13:02,247 --> 01:13:02,943 [reporter]: The sinking of the Fitzgerald became the subject of a ballad 1378 01:13:02,987 --> 01:13:04,597 by Gordon Lightfoot. 1379 01:13:04,641 --> 01:13:07,426 [reporter]: His song helped create the legend surrounding 1380 01:13:07,470 --> 01:13:09,385 the Edmund Fitzgerald. 1381 01:13:09,428 --> 01:13:12,997 ♪ The legend lives on From the Chippewa on down ♪ 1382 01:13:13,040 --> 01:13:15,782 ♪ Of the big lake they called 'Gitche Gumee' ♪ 1383 01:13:18,437 --> 01:13:21,614 ♪ The lake, it is said Never gives up her dead ♪ 1384 01:13:21,658 --> 01:13:24,530 ♪ When the skies of November Turn gloomy ♪ 1385 01:13:25,618 --> 01:13:29,317 - The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, I remember that one the most, 1386 01:13:29,361 --> 01:13:31,407 out of any of his songs, and I think because, 1387 01:13:31,450 --> 01:13:32,756 as a high schooler, 1388 01:13:32,799 --> 01:13:34,235 I busked that song. 1389 01:13:34,279 --> 01:13:36,412 Out in front of the library in Halifax. 1390 01:13:37,848 --> 01:13:39,545 The melodies are so powerful, 1391 01:13:39,589 --> 01:13:42,069 and he's such a good story-teller, 1392 01:13:42,113 --> 01:13:44,071 and such a beautiful lyricist. 1393 01:13:44,115 --> 01:13:47,945 And the combination of those things just really makes for a great song. 1394 01:13:49,425 --> 01:13:52,863 ♪ The wind in the wires Made a tattle-tale sound ♪ 1395 01:13:52,906 --> 01:13:55,996 ♪ And a wave broke over The railing ♪ 1396 01:13:58,172 --> 01:14:02,089 - You know, back then, there was very gummy music, and gooey music, 1397 01:14:02,133 --> 01:14:04,918 and then a guy comes along with The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. 1398 01:14:04,962 --> 01:14:06,746 You know, you go, wait a minute. 1399 01:14:08,444 --> 01:14:10,750 - And the winner is Gordon Lightfoot, 1400 01:14:10,794 --> 01:14:12,970 The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. 1401 01:14:13,013 --> 01:14:15,189 - It was a richer type of music. 1402 01:14:15,233 --> 01:14:17,365 It was like a Simon and Garfunkel, almost. 1403 01:14:17,409 --> 01:14:18,889 That kind of a Cat Stevens, 1404 01:14:18,932 --> 01:14:21,108 people who wrote very pretty music, 1405 01:14:21,152 --> 01:14:23,894 but there were very smart lyrics woven into them. 1406 01:14:24,503 --> 01:14:26,505 There was some poetry here. 1407 01:14:26,549 --> 01:14:29,377 This is a guy that sang poems. 1408 01:14:29,421 --> 01:14:32,685 ♪ The captain wired in He had water comin' in ♪ 1409 01:14:32,729 --> 01:14:35,862 ♪ And the big ship and crew Was in peril ♪ 1410 01:14:36,559 --> 01:14:39,823 ♪ And later that night when his lights went outta sight ♪ 1411 01:14:39,866 --> 01:14:43,348 ♪ Came the wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald ♪ 1412 01:14:44,567 --> 01:14:46,351 - The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. 1413 01:14:46,394 --> 01:14:50,094 Well, it was kind of the tail end of an album session, 1414 01:14:50,137 --> 01:14:51,443 putting an album together. 1415 01:14:51,487 --> 01:14:53,489 And Gord came in one day, 1416 01:14:53,532 --> 01:14:56,187 and he said, "I'm working on a song about something 1417 01:14:56,230 --> 01:14:57,493 that just happened." 1418 01:14:57,884 --> 01:15:00,278 He said, "I've been getting newspaper articles 1419 01:15:00,321 --> 01:15:01,801 and looking at this stuff." 1420 01:15:01,845 --> 01:15:04,151 And he said, "It's not finished yet, 1421 01:15:04,195 --> 01:15:06,153 but it's gonna go something like this..." 1422 01:15:06,197 --> 01:15:07,720 And he started playing. 1423 01:15:10,027 --> 01:15:11,507 I don't know if it was the next day, 1424 01:15:11,550 --> 01:15:13,596 or a couple days later, we came back in the studio, 1425 01:15:13,639 --> 01:15:17,034 and Gordon started singing it again. 1426 01:15:17,077 --> 01:15:18,514 - Kenny, the engineer, said, 1427 01:15:18,557 --> 01:15:20,516 "Well, you've got the studio booked. 1428 01:15:20,559 --> 01:15:22,518 Why don't we put it down on tape?" 1429 01:15:22,779 --> 01:15:24,781 - So, tape was rolling, 1430 01:15:24,824 --> 01:15:26,522 and Barry... 1431 01:15:26,565 --> 01:15:28,915 said to Gord, "When do you want me to come in?" 1432 01:15:28,959 --> 01:15:30,569 He said, "I'll give you a nod." 1433 01:15:30,613 --> 01:15:32,571 - We get to whatever it is, the third verse, 1434 01:15:32,615 --> 01:15:34,312 and Gord gives me the big nod. 1435 01:15:34,355 --> 01:15:36,357 I do a drum fill to come in. 1436 01:15:40,710 --> 01:15:43,234 - We went right through the song, top to bottom. 1437 01:15:43,277 --> 01:15:46,193 It was very elemental and raw, 1438 01:15:46,237 --> 01:15:47,673 but it had magic to it. 1439 01:15:47,717 --> 01:15:51,416 ♪ Does any one know Where the love of God goes ♪ 1440 01:15:51,459 --> 01:15:54,593 ♪ When the waves Turn the minutes to hours? ♪ 1441 01:15:56,943 --> 01:16:00,512 ♪ The searchers all say They'd have made Whitefish Bay ♪ 1442 01:16:00,556 --> 01:16:03,994 ♪ If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her ♪ 1443 01:16:05,473 --> 01:16:07,693 - It was not only a first take, 1444 01:16:07,737 --> 01:16:10,827 it was the first time we'd ever played the song. 1445 01:16:11,610 --> 01:16:12,872 That's the record. 1446 01:16:12,916 --> 01:16:16,006 - After that, we tried a number of times 1447 01:16:16,049 --> 01:16:17,790 to record it and get it better. 1448 01:16:17,834 --> 01:16:19,923 You always try to get it better in a studio. 1449 01:16:19,966 --> 01:16:21,272 And we never could. 1450 01:16:21,315 --> 01:16:23,491 So, it was basically a first take that came out 1451 01:16:23,535 --> 01:16:26,669 and became a hit record. Which is very unusual. 1452 01:16:28,758 --> 01:16:32,326 ♪ In a musty old hall In Detroit they prayed ♪ 1453 01:16:32,370 --> 01:16:35,765 ♪ In the maritime sailors' cathedral ♪ 1454 01:16:38,115 --> 01:16:41,466 ♪ The church bell chimed Till it rang twenty-nine times ♪ 1455 01:16:41,509 --> 01:16:44,991 ♪ For each man on The Edmund Fitzgerald ♪ 1456 01:16:45,035 --> 01:16:47,515 - Nobody ever expected that to be a single. 1457 01:16:47,559 --> 01:16:49,430 It was too long for airplay. 1458 01:16:49,474 --> 01:16:51,737 - When I got to Nashville when I was 19 years old, 1459 01:16:51,781 --> 01:16:53,739 Guy Clark and I were drunk for a week 1460 01:16:53,783 --> 01:16:57,047 when the record, the Edmund Fitzgerald went to number one, because 1461 01:16:57,090 --> 01:16:59,702 you know, we were writing these long story songs, 1462 01:16:59,745 --> 01:17:02,748 and everybody was telling, "No, you need three minutes, and you need choruses." 1463 01:17:02,792 --> 01:17:06,099 And then this big long story song becomes a huge hit. 1464 01:17:06,143 --> 01:17:07,884 So, we got hammered for about a week, 1465 01:17:07,927 --> 01:17:10,669 'cause we thought maybe there was some hope for us after all. 1466 01:17:12,671 --> 01:17:16,240 ♪ The legend lives on From the Chippewa on down ♪ 1467 01:17:16,283 --> 01:17:18,982 ♪ Of the big lake they call 'Gitche gumee' ♪ 1468 01:17:21,724 --> 01:17:24,770 ♪ Superior, they said never gives up her dead ♪ 1469 01:17:24,814 --> 01:17:28,426 ♪ When the gales of November Come early ♪ 1470 01:17:45,051 --> 01:17:46,836 [applause] 1471 01:17:46,879 --> 01:17:48,228 - Thank you. 1472 01:17:48,272 --> 01:17:50,753 - Gordon Lightfoot's arguably 1473 01:17:51,362 --> 01:17:54,974 the most important artist that Canadian music's 1474 01:17:55,018 --> 01:17:58,064 ever produced, in the mainstream or otherwise. 1475 01:17:58,108 --> 01:18:00,153 - They should have him in the history books, 1476 01:18:00,197 --> 01:18:01,851 the grade five history books. 1477 01:18:01,894 --> 01:18:04,157 They should be teaching about him in school. 1478 01:18:04,201 --> 01:18:07,204 - Whether it's a young singer-songwriter, or an older singer-songwriter, 1479 01:18:07,247 --> 01:18:09,946 or a musician, for that matter, who's grown up in Canada, 1480 01:18:10,555 --> 01:18:13,993 they will have been impacted in some way by Gordon Lightfoot and by his music. 1481 01:18:14,037 --> 01:18:17,257 - You know, he had the voice, he had the great songwriting, 1482 01:18:17,301 --> 01:18:18,606 he had the look. 1483 01:18:18,650 --> 01:18:21,087 And he had the attitude, too. 1484 01:18:31,141 --> 01:18:33,752 ♪ Through the woodland Through the valley ♪ 1485 01:18:33,796 --> 01:18:36,059 ♪ Comes a horseman wild and free ♪ 1486 01:18:36,102 --> 01:18:38,626 ♪ Tilting at the windmills passing ♪ 1487 01:18:38,670 --> 01:18:41,020 ♪ Who can the brave young horseman be ♪ 1488 01:18:41,064 --> 01:18:43,370 ♪ Reaching for his saddle bag 1489 01:18:43,414 --> 01:18:46,765 ♪ He takes a battered book Into his hand ♪ 1490 01:18:48,593 --> 01:18:50,726 ♪ Standing like a prophet bold 1491 01:18:50,769 --> 01:18:53,729 ♪ He shouts across the ocean To the shore ♪ 1492 01:18:53,772 --> 01:18:54,860 - Good day. 1493 01:18:54,904 --> 01:18:56,296 ♪ Till he can shout no more 1494 01:18:56,340 --> 01:18:58,211 - Good day to all. We are back. 1495 01:18:58,255 --> 01:19:00,910 ♪ I have come o'er Moor and mountain ♪ 1496 01:19:00,953 --> 01:19:03,434 ♪ Like the hawk upon the wing 1497 01:19:03,477 --> 01:19:05,741 ♪ I was once a shining knight 1498 01:19:05,784 --> 01:19:07,786 - Today we're here at Massey Hall 1499 01:19:07,830 --> 01:19:11,268 for this wonderful weekend of Canada Day, 1500 01:19:11,311 --> 01:19:13,444 to help close the place down 1501 01:19:13,487 --> 01:19:15,663 while it gets a whole bunch of work done. 1502 01:19:15,707 --> 01:19:17,883 ♪ See the man who tips the needle ♪ 1503 01:19:17,927 --> 01:19:20,581 ♪ See the man who buys and sells ♪ 1504 01:19:20,625 --> 01:19:22,975 ♪ See the man who puts the collar ♪ 1505 01:19:23,019 --> 01:19:25,761 ♪ On the ones who dare not tell ♪ 1506 01:19:25,804 --> 01:19:28,764 - We figured we were damn lucky to still be doing this all the time, 1507 01:19:28,807 --> 01:19:30,374 like a team, it's like team work 1508 01:19:30,417 --> 01:19:33,856 and we're always trying to do it better all the time. 1509 01:19:34,378 --> 01:19:35,771 That's my bite. 1510 01:19:37,555 --> 01:19:39,818 ♪ See the children of the earth ♪ 1511 01:19:39,862 --> 01:19:42,342 ♪ Who wake to find the table bare ♪ 1512 01:19:42,386 --> 01:19:47,521 ♪ See the gentry in the country Riding off to take the air ♪ 1513 01:19:50,133 --> 01:19:52,091 ♪ Reaching for his saddlebag 1514 01:19:52,135 --> 01:19:55,747 ♪ He takes a rusty sword Into his hand ♪ 1515 01:19:57,140 --> 01:19:59,446 ♪ Then striking up a knightly pose ♪ 1516 01:19:59,490 --> 01:20:02,885 ♪ He shouts across the ocean To the shore ♪ 1517 01:20:02,928 --> 01:20:06,279 - The type of material that I'm doing in this set 1518 01:20:06,323 --> 01:20:07,846 requires the white shoes. 1519 01:20:09,021 --> 01:20:11,371 ♪ He is wild but he is mellow 1520 01:20:11,415 --> 01:20:13,765 ♪ He is strong but he is weak 1521 01:20:13,809 --> 01:20:16,115 ♪ He is cruel but he is gentle 1522 01:20:16,159 --> 01:20:18,944 ♪ He is wise but he is meek 1523 01:20:20,163 --> 01:20:22,818 [crowd cheering] 1524 01:20:26,038 --> 01:20:29,433 - People who are performers, especially on Gordon's level, are two people. 1525 01:20:29,476 --> 01:20:32,131 They're the person that they are when they walk onto the stage 1526 01:20:32,175 --> 01:20:34,133 or when the have to do something public. 1527 01:20:34,177 --> 01:20:35,831 They're in harness, you might say. 1528 01:20:35,874 --> 01:20:37,528 And then, they're who they are. 1529 01:20:37,571 --> 01:20:40,139 And who they are, and what they're supposed to be 1530 01:20:40,183 --> 01:20:41,880 often don't really overlap. 1531 01:20:41,924 --> 01:20:43,142 - I'll tell you what, 1532 01:20:43,186 --> 01:20:45,188 I'm probably Gordon' Lightfoot's biggest fan. 1533 01:20:45,231 --> 01:20:47,451 But Gordon is always kind of Gordon. 1534 01:20:47,930 --> 01:20:50,628 You can't really read his mind much, 'cause you don't know where he's at. 1535 01:20:50,671 --> 01:20:52,804 - What a run it was. 1536 01:20:52,848 --> 01:20:57,113 I'm happy for every moment of the almost 80 years 1537 01:20:57,156 --> 01:20:58,375 that I've been here. 1538 01:20:58,418 --> 01:21:01,552 I appreciate having been alive. I really do. 1539 01:21:02,858 --> 01:21:04,903 - There's a beauty in the character, 1540 01:21:04,947 --> 01:21:07,123 beauty in what he was writing about. 1541 01:21:07,166 --> 01:21:09,342 But there was a lot of internal pain 1542 01:21:09,386 --> 01:21:11,127 that none of us will know about 1543 01:21:11,170 --> 01:21:13,651 and it makes you love him 'cause you know 1544 01:21:13,694 --> 01:21:16,175 there's this other sensitive side. 1545 01:21:16,784 --> 01:21:18,090 You just have to dig. 1546 01:21:18,438 --> 01:21:20,788 Or listen to his lyrics, and then you get it. 1547 01:21:24,531 --> 01:21:27,186 ♪ If you could read my mind love ♪ 1548 01:21:27,230 --> 01:21:30,450 ♪ What a tale My thoughts could tell ♪ 1549 01:21:31,321 --> 01:21:35,368 ♪ Just like an old time movie 1550 01:21:35,412 --> 01:21:38,328 ♪ 'Bout a ghost From a wishing well ♪ 1551 01:21:39,503 --> 01:21:41,461 ♪ In a castle dark 1552 01:21:41,940 --> 01:21:47,206 ♪ Or a fortress drawn with chains upon my feet ♪ 1553 01:21:48,599 --> 01:21:50,993 ♪ You know that ghost is me 1554 01:21:52,603 --> 01:21:56,607 ♪ And I will never be set free 1555 01:21:56,650 --> 01:22:01,394 ♪ As long as I'm a ghost That you can see ♪ 1556 01:22:01,960 --> 01:22:05,572 - Your personal experience and your emotional stress 1557 01:22:05,616 --> 01:22:08,706 finds its way in by way of your unconscious mind. 1558 01:22:09,402 --> 01:22:13,841 Over into your real, the mind of reality. 1559 01:22:14,103 --> 01:22:18,107 And it translates itself into your lyrics, 1560 01:22:18,150 --> 01:22:20,718 and you don't even know that that's happened. 1561 01:22:22,154 --> 01:22:25,375 ♪ If I could read your mind love ♪ 1562 01:22:25,418 --> 01:22:28,552 ♪ What a tale Your thoughts could tell ♪ 1563 01:22:29,553 --> 01:22:32,556 ♪ Just like a paper-back novel 1564 01:22:32,599 --> 01:22:35,820 ♪ The kind any drug store Would sell ♪ 1565 01:22:36,473 --> 01:22:41,086 ♪ When you reach the part Where the heartaches come ♪ 1566 01:22:41,130 --> 01:22:43,741 ♪ The hero would be me 1567 01:22:44,785 --> 01:22:47,745 ♪ But heroes often fail 1568 01:22:48,789 --> 01:22:51,967 ♪ And you won't read That book again ♪ 1569 01:22:52,010 --> 01:22:56,841 ♪ Because the ending's Just too hard to take ♪ 1570 01:22:58,799 --> 01:23:02,978 - It's absolutely the most amazing thing of all, 1571 01:23:03,021 --> 01:23:06,198 is the dynamic between men and women. 1572 01:23:08,940 --> 01:23:13,292 ♪ I walk away Just like a movie star ♪ 1573 01:23:13,336 --> 01:23:16,600 ♪ Who gets burned In a three-way script ♪ 1574 01:23:17,905 --> 01:23:20,734 ♪ Enter number two 1575 01:23:21,561 --> 01:23:24,912 ♪ A movie queen To play the scene ♪ 1576 01:23:24,956 --> 01:23:29,613 ♪ Of bringing all the good things out in me ♪ 1577 01:23:30,701 --> 01:23:33,704 ♪ But for now love let's be real ♪ 1578 01:23:34,531 --> 01:23:37,708 - I regret a lot of things, because it's not a free ride. 1579 01:23:37,751 --> 01:23:40,580 I mean, you don't just sail through it, and laugh about it. 1580 01:23:40,624 --> 01:23:42,321 I mean, it's serious. 1581 01:23:43,366 --> 01:23:47,196 I caused emotional trauma in people, 1582 01:23:47,239 --> 01:23:48,588 particularly some women. 1583 01:23:49,372 --> 01:23:52,853 The women I was closest to, you know, 1584 01:23:53,985 --> 01:23:56,335 caused emotional trauma in them, 1585 01:23:56,379 --> 01:23:58,598 and I feel very, very badly about it. 1586 01:23:58,642 --> 01:24:00,078 As a matter of fact, 1587 01:24:00,122 --> 01:24:03,081 it feeds part of what I was telling you about before, 1588 01:24:03,125 --> 01:24:05,040 it feeds that guilt complex 1589 01:24:05,083 --> 01:24:09,000 that eats us up in our unconscious mind. 1590 01:24:16,660 --> 01:24:19,924 ♪ If you could read my mind love ♪ 1591 01:24:19,967 --> 01:24:22,622 ♪ What a tale My thoughts could tell ♪ 1592 01:24:23,667 --> 01:24:26,757 ♪ Just like an old time movie 1593 01:24:26,800 --> 01:24:29,716 ♪ About a ghost From a wishing well ♪ 1594 01:24:30,891 --> 01:24:35,418 ♪ In a castle dark Or a fortress strong ♪ 1595 01:24:35,461 --> 01:24:38,116 ♪ With chains upon my feet 1596 01:24:39,291 --> 01:24:41,902 ♪ But stories always end 1597 01:24:42,860 --> 01:24:46,124 ♪ And if you read Between the lines ♪ 1598 01:24:46,168 --> 01:24:50,868 ♪ You'd know that I'm just tryin' to understand ♪ 1599 01:24:51,825 --> 01:24:54,480 ♪ The feelin's that we lack 1600 01:24:55,394 --> 01:24:58,745 ♪ I never knew I could feel this way ♪ 1601 01:24:58,789 --> 01:25:03,141 ♪ And I've got to say That I just don't get it ♪ 1602 01:25:03,185 --> 01:25:06,101 ♪ I don't know Where we went wrong ♪ 1603 01:25:06,144 --> 01:25:10,975 ♪ But the feelin's gone And I just can't get it back ♪ 1604 01:25:20,289 --> 01:25:22,073 [applause] 1605 01:25:22,552 --> 01:25:23,727 Thank you! 1606 01:25:47,316 --> 01:25:50,014 ♪ You've got time enough For two of us ♪ 1607 01:25:52,234 --> 01:25:55,324 ♪ What is mine, I will share 1608 01:25:58,240 --> 01:26:01,460 ♪ We've got things That we can do without ♪ 1609 01:26:03,680 --> 01:26:06,465 ♪ Most anytime, anywhere 1610 01:26:09,207 --> 01:26:12,906 ♪ Every little daydream That appears in all we do ♪ 1611 01:26:14,821 --> 01:26:17,607 ♪ Gives us some problems Of our own ♪ 1612 01:26:20,479 --> 01:26:23,178 ♪ If you turn back to that Page again ♪ 1613 01:26:25,658 --> 01:26:27,356 ♪ And you can't win 1614 01:26:28,618 --> 01:26:31,360 ♪ If you ask me, I'll tag along ♪ 1615 01:26:42,893 --> 01:26:45,722 ♪ Paper matches in the afternoon ♪ 1616 01:26:48,246 --> 01:26:51,206 ♪ Cups of tea and all of that Zen ♪ 1617 01:26:53,817 --> 01:26:56,950 ♪ I think, it's time we took A walk outside ♪ 1618 01:26:59,083 --> 01:27:02,260 ♪ It seems there is no oxygen 1619 01:27:04,871 --> 01:27:09,311 ♪ Each and every bad dream Will be hammered into dust ♪ 1620 01:27:10,399 --> 01:27:13,880 ♪ When we get back Where we belong ♪ 1621 01:27:16,405 --> 01:27:19,712 ♪ If you ever turn that page again ♪ 1622 01:27:21,627 --> 01:27:27,546 ♪ And you need a friend If you ask me I'll tag along ♪ 1623 01:27:38,862 --> 01:27:42,996 ♪ This time tomorrow we might all be packed and gone ♪ 1624 01:27:44,215 --> 01:27:47,958 ♪ I believe it's best we carry on ♪ 1625 01:27:50,656 --> 01:27:54,138 ♪ Smoke rings rising Till they disappear ♪ 1626 01:27:55,487 --> 01:28:01,276 ♪ In the sky above If you ask me I'll tag along ♪