Gordon Lightfoot - Complete Greatest Hits [Original recording remastered]

Gordon Lightfoot | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 2, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Rhino
• ASIN: B00005YW4N
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (112 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #239 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #1 in Music > Indie Music > Country > Country Folk
  • #1 in Music > Indie Music > Folk
  • #2 in Music > Folk > Contemporary Folk > Singer-Songwriters

Track Listings

1. Early Morning Rain

2. For Lovin' Me

3. Go-Go Round

4. Canadian Railroad Trilogy

5. Pussywillows, Cat-Tails

6. Bitter Green

7. If You Could Read My Mind

8. Summer Side of Life

9. Cotton Jenny

10. Beautiful

11. Sundown

12. Carefree Highway

13. Rainy Day People

14. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

15. Race Among the Ruins

16. Daylight Katy

17. The Circle is Small

18. Baby Step Back

19. Stay Loose

20. Restless

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Though he rose from the ranks of journeyman '60s folksinger to become a potent and consistent '70s hit maker, Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot's stock in trade was as much hard-eyed, dispassionate observation as romance or poetic whimsy. Perhaps that's why his songs have been covered by everyone from Elvis (this set's "Early Morning Rain") to Dylan. If there's such a thing as an alpha-male folkie, Lightfoot certainly fits the bill. Spanning the tongue-in-cheek chauvinism of 1965's "For Lovin' Me" and the cheatin' ways of "Sundown" to more introspective fare like "If You Could Read My Mind" and "Beautiful," this 20-track collection presents a concise primer on Lightfoot's career and craft. After his career peaked with one of the most unlikely top five hits ever, the gloom-laden 1976 narrative "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," Lightfoot's production tailed off sharply, though this anthology's "Stay Loose" ('86) and "Restless" ('93) are testament to his enduring skills as a songwriter and performer. --Jerry McCulley

Product Description

20 classic hits released by United Artists, Reprise and Warner Bros. From 1965 to 1987. features the hits 'Sundown', 'If You Could read My Mind', 'The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald', 'Carefree Highway' and many more!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Greatest From The Greatest, April 27, 2002

By 

Valerie L. Shainin "Valerie Magee" (Ballston Spa, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gordon Lightfoot - Complete Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

OK, I'm a devoted fan. I admit it. But this 20 song collection is just the best single CD hits collection there is. Of course, when you look at the song titles, you will know that it has to be.

It is the first Lightfoot single CD greatest hits collection to have the original version of all of his top charting songs, and also his original recording of songs that were hits for others before he was well established as a singer. So you find If You Could Read My Mind, Sundown, Carefree Highway and Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald - the original recordings - as well as beautiful early recordings of such folks standards as Early Mornin' Rain, For Lovin' Me and Canadian Railroad Trilogy. In the only departure from "original" recordings, The Circle Is Small is the rerecording from Endless Wire, but this is the recording that charted. And, in his inimitable style, Lightfoot personally selected the final cut, the song Restless from the out of print 1993 album Waiting For You. Lightfoot loves the song, and when you hear it - perhaps for the first time - you will too.

So, put together, you have an outstanding single CD collection - for the casual music lover or for the devoted Lightfoot fan. Even if you have all these songs on CD already (and the devoted fan probably does), you don't have them sounding like this! The remastering is unbelievably exquisite; it is almost hard to believe, but some of the songs sound even better than on the Songbook boxed set! There are four songs here that aren't on the boxed set, and these sound much better than on the original CD. Also, two of the hits are from the single (vs. album) mix, so they really are somewhat different.

The single mix of If You Could Read My Mind includes harmony vocals (by Lightfoot) that are not on the album version. The boxed set used the album version of every song (that had been on an album ever), while here Bill Inglot (who did the remastering for both Rhino Lightfoot releases) went to the single. The single version was also previously used on Gord's Gold, but the sound doesn't compare.

And for Sundown also, Inglot went to the single. I still don't have a definite explanation of the difference, but you have only to listen to this cut and the one from any other CD and you will know you are hearing something different. And really great.

Finally, Rhino has packaged this new greatest hits CD in their characteristic loving manner: full of photos, biographical text, and complete track notes. Thane Tierney (who co-produced the boxed set with Lightfoot), is the producer of this collection and he has done himself proud.

If you don't have it yet, what are you waiting for?

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific Collection for the "Hits Only" Crowd, April 21, 2002

By 

Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gordon Lightfoot - Complete Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

While 1999's 4-CD collection "Songbook" still gets my vote for the most comprehensive look at this terrific Canadian singer/songwriter, Rhino does an excellent job of distilling that sprawling collection to twenty tacks covering songs from his United Artists, Reprise and Warner Bros. releases.

While Lightfoot had only six bona fide "hits" (beginning with 1971's "If You COuld Read My Mind"), this collection also includes Gord's versions of his songs that were hits for other artists like Peter, Paul and Mary ("For Lovin' Me" and "Early Mornin' Rain") along with several album tracks.

Most of his best known songs are here, but I would have liked to have seen "Did She Mention My Name" or "Ten Degrees and Getting Colder" included. Three songs are here that do not appear on the box set: "Daylight Katy" (not issued as a US single, but reached No. 41 in the UK in 1978), "Stay Loose" (from 1986's East of Midnight) and "Restless" (from 1993's Waiting for You).

Truth to tell, this really needs a second disc, but the marketing folks at Rhino probably felt that would hurt the sales of their box set, so they put this together for the neophyte fan. If all you want are the hits and a handful of album tracks, this collection is exactly what you need. RECOMMENDED

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow. I thought it was tough cutting down to 88 songs..., May 21, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Gordon Lightfoot - Complete Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

[Full disclosure: I produced this album (which is to say "selected the tracks on"; I didn't actually twist any knobs) and wrote the liner notes, as well as having co-produced the Lightfoot box set Songbook. Please course-correct as you feel appropriate.]

The inherent hazard in putting together a collection from as prolific and talented an artist as Gordon Lightfoot (not that one often has the chance, mind you --- there aren't many in his class out there) is that something inevitably gets lost. With only 20 tracks available to me, I wasn't even able to pick one song for every year he's been performing, so of course some very fine material got left off. I hate it when that happens. My natural inclination would have been to call the record something like "Gordon Lightfoot: An Introduction," but my inner marketing geek (as well as every other marketing geek at Rhino) told me it wasn't as compelling a title.

The thinking behind this was to put together a single disc with all the Billboard charting hits from both the UA/EMI and WB/Reprise years, plus a smattering of the FM turntable hits and later work. Its purpose was to give the casual fan one-stop shopping (previously, one had to buy Gord's Gold, Gord's Gold 2 and one of the many EMI compilations to amass all the hits), and to serve as a point of entry for someone who has recently encountered Gordon's work for the first time and doesn't know exactly where to begin.

I hope and believe it serves those two purposes admirably, or at the very least, adequately. The sound producer, Bill Inglot, worked his customary magic on the tracks that hadn't been upgraded for the Songbook box set; he has just completed similar magic on Old Dan's Records and Dream Street Rose, which will make their belated CD debut in July 2002 (I just approved the refs today).

Whatever flaws there are in the disc can be attributed to me, and whatever is good about it can be laid at the feet of several people, not the least of whom is Mr. Lightfoot his own self.

My greatest hope is that the music on this disc will inspire you to dig deeper into the rich vein of Lightfoot's art and craft. He truly is a Canadian (and American, in the broadest sense of the word) treasure.

Thane Tierney, Producer, Rhino Records/WEA Distribution