VIA PRESS RELEASE | Gordon Lightfoot is a genre unto himself. Neither pop nor folk nor country nor rock, his music is unvarnished, direct, a statement from one heart to another (as Lightfoot has stated, “I like to keep things simple. I don’t like to make them complicated”). And this uncompromising stance has not only made him a legend (particularly in his native Canada, where he is a full-fledged icon), but also, somewhat paradoxically, brought him huge commercial success (which, ironically, has in turn caused some to discount his prodigious songwriting talent).
For Gordon Lightfoot never set out to be a “popular” singer-songwriter. When he signed with Warner Bros. and began working with producer Lenny Waronker, Lightfoot thought of himself as an album artist, and, indeed, the Lightfoot-Waronker songwriter-producer partnership (with a brief period with Joe Wissert as producer) yielded nine charting albums—and that’s not even counting the compilations—highlighted by a #1 slot for 1974’s Sundown. But, starting with 1970’s “If You Could Read My Mind,” Lightfoot also reeled off 13 Pop chart singles including 4 Top Tenners during the ‘70s, as well as a host of Adult Contemporary and Country chart appearances, which is again testimony to his ability to transcend musical styles.
Now, Real Gone Music has for the first time ever compiled the A and B-sides of ALL the singles Lightfoot recorded with Waronker and Wissert for the Reprise and Warner Bros. labels, 34 sides in all featuring all the hits and hard-to-find B-sides.
Lightfoot collectors will find much to feast on here; the rare single versions of “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” and “Rainy Day People” make an appearance, as well as six other songs that appear in their mono single versions on CD for the first time (many of the early ‘70s singles were issued in both mono and stereo, sometimes one format for promo and another for commercial, “stock” 45s; we have used the “stock” version in all cases and gone with the one for which we had the best sources in those cases where commercial 45s were released in both stereo and mono).
And, for the more casual Lightfoot fan, this 2-CD set provides an ideal, in-depth overview of the artist’s “classic” period, peppered with one memorable tune after another. Remastered by Mike Milchner at SonicVision, with additional mastering and tape vetting by Aaron Kannowski, and annotated by folk rock guru Richie Unterberger, The Complete Singles 1970-1980 represents a key addition to Gordon Lightfoot canon and is just a wonderful listen from start to finish.
2 CD Set Tracklisting
Disc One
1. Me and Bobby McGee
2. The Pony Man
3. If You Could Read My Mind
4. Poor Little Allison
5. Talking in Your Sleep
6. Nous Vivons Ensemble
7. Summer Side of Life
8. Love & Maple Syrup
9. Beautiful
10. Don Quixote
11. That Same Old Obsession 12. You Are What I Am
13. Can’t Depend on Love
14. It’s Worth Believin’
15. Sundown
16. Too Late for Prayin’
17. Carefree Highway
18. Seven Island Suite
Disc Two
1. Rainy Day People
2. Cherokee Bend
3. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
4. The House You Live In
5. Race Among the Ruins
6. Protocol
7. The Circle Is Small (I Can See It in Your Eyes)
8. Sweet Guinevere
9. Daylight Katy
10. Hangdog Hotel Room
11. Dreamland
12. Songs the Minstrel Sang
13. Dream Street Rose
14. Make Way for the Lady
15. If You Need Me
16. Mister Rock of Ages
