RIP Gordon Lightfoot

  It took the singer-songwriter boom of the early 1970's to finally break Gordon Lightfoot's unique brand of Canadian Folk-Pop.  Before putting out his first album in 1966, Lightfoot found success as a songwriter.  "Early Morning Rain" and "For Lovin' Me" were early classics that were oft-covered.  And Marty Robbins had a #1 Country hit in 1965 with "Ribbon of Darkness".  But the recording stardom that Lightfoot wanted didn't happen until 1971, when "If You Could Read My Mind" finally gave him his own hit peaking at #5. A string of strong albums followed, but Lightfoot didn't have another hit until 1974 with possibly his greatest song, the perfect Folk/Rock confection "Sundown" which went to #1. The wonderful follow-up, "Carefree Highway" peaked at #10. A shoulda been a bigger hit in 1975 called "Rainy Day People" got to #26.  

Lightfoot had one more chart moment in 1976 when the ultimate epic story song, "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" got to #2. 

  Save for a #33 song in 1978, Lightfoot's Top 40 days were over.  But he didn't stop recording, putting out quality albums all the way into the 90's.  But health issues began to pop up and in the 2000's he only released two albums.  But he never stopped performing.  Still doing concerts through the last year of his life. Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2012, Lightfoot has the credentials for a Rock Hall induction too.  Despite his success and praise from peers like Bob Dylan, Lightfoot seems underrated compared to others from the glory days of 70’s singer-songwriters. Check out his 2019 Documentary, If You Could Read My Mind, for a deeper look at his life.