# Gordon Lightfoot **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 15, 2014, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gordon-lightfoot/681418 "2014-02-15T14:13:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gordon-lightfoot/681418/1 "2014-02-15T14:13:32Z")
SWMBO and I went to see him in concert last night. OMG!! What a show. From the moment he walked out and said, “Hi, my name is Gordon Lightfoot and the rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated” to his closing encore, it was awesome. The man is a consummate professional and he had us all spellbound. He’s 75, still going strong (although he doesn’t quite hit the high notes as easily as he used to) and likely to outlive us all. Gordo, you rock, man. Thanks for the memories and the magic. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gordon-lightfoot/681418/2 "2014-02-15T14:17:40Z")
Long-time fan. Glad to hear he still delivers. Thanks for the update. ---
**Author:** ![Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/77aa72/32.png) [@Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fluffy_PickleSniffer)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gordon-lightfoot/681418/3 "2014-02-16T00:14:06Z")
Long time fan here too and glad to know he’s still out there doing concerts. I’m not a concert-goer but Gordon Lightfoot is one artist I wouldn’t miss for all the world if I had the chance. Glad you got to see him perform! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gordon-lightfoot/681418/4 "2014-02-16T00:27:20Z")
He still does about 70 or so live shows a year, from what I understand. ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gordon-lightfoot/681418/5 "2014-02-16T00:35:53Z")
I saw him in '76 in Vancouver. Great show and I believe he debuted '‘The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald’'there. I remember him commenting that the song was not on the radio yet. Great songwriter. I do a couple of his regularly. ---
**Author:** ![iMouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e9c0ed/32.png) [@iMouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iMouse)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gordon-lightfoot/681418/6 "2014-02-16T00:47:33Z")
> [@zoogirl](#): > > Great show and I believe he debuted ‘‘The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald’’ there. Luck duck, that’s a great Canadian classic, right up there with Stan Rogers - Barrett’s Privateers. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gordon-lightfoot/681418/7 "2014-02-16T00:50:42Z")
> [@zoogirl](#): > > I saw him in '76 in Vancouver. Great show and I believe he debuted '‘The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald’'there. And around the fourteenth verse you probably thought, “Well, this one’s never getting airplay.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gordon-lightfoot/681418/8 "2014-02-16T00:59:54Z")
Love Gordon Lightfoot. Saw him once, probably in the 70s, and he was terrible (mostly forgetting verses literally _everyone in the building_ could have supplied him). Shortly afterwards, his backup singer inadvertantly killed Belushi, so I’m thinking gordo may have been battling drug issues of his own at the time. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gordon-lightfoot/681418/9 "2014-02-16T03:21:50Z")
August 1969. Carter Barron Theater in D.C. We went to see Peter Paiul and Mary. Our hero singers at that time. First act out as a warm up is this guy with a 12 string guitar. Plays his Canadian Railroad trilogy. Never heard of him. But he was good. 🙂 Peter Paul and Mary closed with a song and they brought out the writer, The song–Leaving on a jet plane, John Denver. Saw history that night and didn’t realize it. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gordon-lightfoot/681418/10 "2014-02-16T03:26:02Z")
An old man in my church choir gave me a bunch of his old Gordon Lightfoot LPs (among other CANCON classics), which I converted and threw onto my iPod. Some real gems I absolutely loved. Saw him at the Ottawa Folk Festival this summer; he was a last minute replacement for Neil Young, of all people! What a charmer, voice isn’t as powerful as it once was but it was an amazing night. ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gordon-lightfoot/681418/11 "2014-02-16T03:29:16Z")
He was my fav in the 70’s. Even got my old Dad to like him. We went to see him in Chicago on a stormy, snowy night in 1977 I think. Drove from Wi, because they said they would not refund our tickets due to snow. It totally sucked. He never finished a song, forgot the words, appeared to be drunk and then castigated the audience for coming to see the show in a snowstorm. We left before the show was half over. Bleh, never bought an album again. Still like his tunes, just won’t buy them again. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gordon-lightfoot/681418/12 "2014-02-16T12:17:24Z")
One of the privileges of living in Toronto - Gordon Lightfoot plays Massey Hall every year. According to the current [CEO of Massey Hall](http://www.lightfoot.ca/livealb.htm), he has performed there more often than any other individual artist in the hall’s 117 year history.