Customer Reviews

Gordon Lightfoot - Complete Greatest Hits

5 star:		(84)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

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?

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

[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

There was a time, between 1960 and 1980, when the song was the thing. It didn't matter if you were short, tall, thin, fat, male, female, sexy or not (though it didn't hurt)--if you could put together chord changes, melody, and lyrics in a way that sounded appealing when heard over a cheap AM radio--you could be a pop music star. No Spandex, profanity, steroids, T&A, or fake vocals required. The advent of MTV and music video killed the star songwriter; musical talent became unnecessary to a Pop Star's success. More's the pity. Blessed with an abundance of vocal ability, taste, intelligence, and productive self-discipline, Canadian Gordon Lightfoot became one of the three-minute folk-pop song's greatest masters. As a matter of fact, it's him and Dylan . . . and for my money the nod for sheer skill and professionalism goes to Lightfoot. No celebrity shenanigans or dilletante-ing with the critically hip. The man is world famous soley for the quality of his product. The only thing wrong with this"Greatest Hits"-type collection is that it necessarily omits literally dozens of wonderful Lightfoot songs that were not hits and can only be found on his numerous original albums. Fortunately, most remain in print. This collection is a good place to start, but there is much more wonderful Lightfoot available. Like Stephen Foster, Irving Berlin, and Hoagy Carmichael, they will be singing Gordon Lightfoot songs 'til the end of time. For the uninitiated: buy this collection, and delve into the archives of one of the great masters of popular song. "If you find me feedin' daisies, Turn my face up t'ward the sun, And leave me be, Watchin' the clouds roll by, Whatever I was, You know it was all because, I've been on the town, Washin' the bulls**t down . . ."

I see I'm following Rhino producer Thane Tierney with this review--and he's already employed the term that popped into my head when I first heard this CD: a "one-stop shop." Nevertheless, I'm going to utilize the phrase anyway, and hope he will forgive me for my shameless plagiarism!

Being an ardent admirer of Gordon Lightfoot's music for many years, I can tell you there isn't much to be frustrated about when you're a Lightfoot fan; after all, we're talking about a career that has spanned over 35 years. While countless others have come and gone, Lightfoot is still out there: performing, recording, and creating. However, there is one frustration I HAVE encountered as a Lighfoot fan, which can be summed up in the following question: "Hey, I heard a Gordon Lightfoot song the other day and really liked it. I'd like to investigate his music further--what CD do you recommend?"

With a career as long and as consistently good as Lightfoot's, this is almost an impossible question to answer. In his comments, Mr. Tierney talks about how tough it was to prune the wonderful 4-CD box set Songbook down to 88 tracks. And yet, Songbook could have been six CDs, and still some great music would have had to have been left off.

So where do you begin if you want to recommend Gordon Lightfoot albums? If you're more of a fan of folk music, then you'd want to go back to the 60s releases (a.k.a. the UA years). If your tastes run to the singer/songwriter genre that came to prominence in the 70s, then perhaps you want to listen any of Lightfoot's albums from that decade (and he did put out some great ones!). Or if you want to hear more recent work--some of which includes attempts to update his sound to reach a contemporary audience while staying true to his own musical vision--then you may want to check any of the post-70s albums, each of which is very different from the others.

Now there certainly are compilations available that cover these various aspects of Lightfoot's career. However, they tend to be concentrated in one particular era: for example, compilations of the UA material from the 60s; a mid-70s compilation entitled "Gord's Gold" (which goes through 1975 and does include a selection of his earlier work; however, these earlier works were re-recorded for this set with a more mid-70s musical feel to them); or a mid-80s CD entitled "Gord's Gold 2" (which principally consists of re-recordings with Lightfoot's current touring band, but, unfortunately, isn't very well recorded).

With Complete Greatest Hits, Rhino has put together the best "one-stop shop" you'll ever find. Here, in pristine remastered glory--and in their original versions--are some of the songs that first brought Lightfoot to prominence as a songwriter back in the mid-60s (many of his early tunes were covered by other artists and were significant hits). These early works also brought Lightfoot considerable fame in his native Canada as certain of his songs--most notably "Canadian Railroad Trilogy"--seemed to capture in music the essence of the Canadian experience.

Lightfoot is perhaps best known in the US for his releases in the 70s, and consequently, he is usually included in the musical genre commonly known as the era of the "singer/songwriter." But it's always been my opinion that this is too generalized an area to pidgeonhole him in. For a start, he's a little older than most of the artists included in the singer/songwriter genre. Thus, his songs from this era have a bit more maturity to them; they are less innocent, a little more world-weary, a little more aware, and perhaps even a little less sentimental. Some critics have accused him of being detached, but I don't agree with this. He's simply taking an adult view of the world. That being said, all the 70s hits are here, and--in common with the tracks on Songbook--you're going to hear them like you've never heard them before. The remastering is once again superb--I may be imagining things, but it seems to me that even the tracks that appear on both Complete Greatest Hits and Songbook sound even better on CGH! Think you've heard Sundown enough times in your life? Give it a listen on this CD. It is a veritable clinic on how to record acoustic guitars. If you're a guitar afficiando, you are probably well familiar with Red Shea's memorable Telecaster solo on the track--but take a listen to some of the beautiful acoustic guitar licks Terry Clements plays throughout the song. CGH captures this like nothing has before.

Lighfoot hit a period of artistic inconsistency in the 80s and 90s as he worked to update his sound to suit contemporary tastes, while still remaining true to his own musical spirit. Nevertheless, he turned out a bunch of great songs, and a good representative sample of these show up on CHG.

Thus, in conclusion, this CD has something for everyone. If you're a fan, and have all these tracks on the various albums they were originally released on, this is a great way to have them all in one place.

And if you're just discovering the music of Gordon Lightfoot, I definitely recommend you hit the "Add to Shopping Cart" button right now. Complete Greatest Hits will give you a wonderful overview of a simply remarkable career in music. There's a great essay by producer Thane Tierney, along with individual album credits: you can trace the songs you like on CGH to their source, and thus begin your exploration of Lightfoot's music in more detail. Kudos to Rhino: no one does these sorts of things better than they do.

In his comments on this site, Mr. Tierney talked about calling this compilation "Gordon Lightfoot: An Introduction," until his "inner marketing geek" told him that this title probably wouldn't work. But call it what you will: "Complete Greatest Hits" is simply the best one-CD compilation available of an artist whose music has been touching hearts and speaking to souls for decades.

Buy it! Trust me!

I can remember a time in my life when I would hear If You Could Read My Mind, and I'll be quite honest with you, it was when I was about 8 or 9 years old, and I thought it was Neil Diamond, cause he had the same sounding voice, well almost. Well almost twenty years later this cd was given to me for Christmas, by my now ex, and I can say this album really helped me out during my divorce, thank you Gordon Lightfoot, that's the name. And I can say in all respect, this is the most soothing folk album/contemporary album in my collection, well besides Bread of course. And interesting enough every song on this album makes you feel like you're away from the real material world that can downright beat you to a pulp. Here's a list I would prescribe in my own analogy on this particular album:

Early Morning Rain 5/5
For Lovin' Me 5/5 (reminds me of me)
Canadian Railroad Triology 5/5
Pussywillows, Cat-Tails 4/5 (don't laugh at the name, but very pretty song)
Bitter Green 4/5
If You Could Read My Mind 5/5 (recommend it to keep your sanity)
Summer Side Of Life 5/5 (very up beat, but a strong message)
Beautiful 5/5 (great baritone voice, this one will knock her off her feet)
Sundown 5/5 (this one to be played after she goes home for the night)
Carefree Highway 5/5 (fantastic song, not the best road to be on these days)
Rainy Day People 4/5 (don't get it too often here)
The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald 5/5 (this is up there with 'A Day In The Life', good biography compiled in a song)
etc etc etc etc etc...............
like I said, good tunes for the money. It may make you reminice a little, but hey, we all have some good memories of the past.

I never knew how much I loved Gordon Lightfoot or how prolific he was until I heard this cd. Usually even "greatest hits cd's" have throwaway songs but I have to say, every single song on here is a winner.

There are songs on here that never quite got the airplay as "Sundown" or "If you Could Read My Mind", and I was astonished at how great they are. I can (and do) play this cd over and over. The joy his music has given me immeasurable. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't like his music; it really transcends gender and age.

I wouldn't pretend to have any significant depth of knowledge regarding Gordon Lightfoot's catalog or career, but I know I like this CD. It features his well known hits plus a smattering of select tracks from 14 albums spanning nearly 3 decades.

Lightfoot truly hit his stride in the early to mid-1970's with a series of impressive compositions, highlighting his trademark baritone voice and thoughtful, expressive lyrics. That train of hits began with 1971's 'If You Could Read My Mind' (#5), paving the way for Lightfoot's only number one hit, 1974's 'Sundown'. Both songs are haunting melodies of lost and unfaithful love relationships. Lightfoot lightened the load by following 'Sundown' with another Top 10 hit in the same year, the whistful 'Carefree Highway' (purportedly about an actual highway, State Route 74 in Arizona... but we'll need verification on this by some alert reader). In 1975 Lightfoot hit the charts again with 'Rainy Day People' (#26), and again in 1978 with 'The Circle Is Small' (#33). Between these later hits, Lightfoot wrote what I regard to be his greatest number, 'The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald', which rose to number two on the national charts in 1976. As a resident of the State of Michigan, I can attest to the stunning impact this song has had upon our memory of this tragic loss. It has galvanized the consciousness of our residents upon the power of our greatest natural resource, and has immortalized the courage of the men who test its might.

Another standout song in this collection is one of the most compelling, simple, and extraordinary love songs ever composed, yet remarkably failed to crack the Top 40. That song is 'Beautiful', which along with 'The Wreck of...' has since its debut remained a staple of Lightfoot performances. Those performances, becoming less frequent due to Gordon's declining health, demonstrate that the artist is not only an elite composer with deeply distinctive baritone vocal cords, but notable for his adroitness on the guitar as well. Catch the stunning lead guitar laid down by Lightfoot on 'The Wreck of...' from his 'Live In Reno' video as an example of his capabilities.

The string of hit songs that form the centerpiece of this collection are bookmarked on one end by Lightfoot's earlier compositions from the 1960's, and on the other end by his most recent work. Prominently featured are two songs Gordon penned for Peter, Paul and Mary, 'Early Morning Rain' and 'For Lovin' Me', which the trio charted at number 91 and 31 respectively. Lightfoots work in the 1980's and 1990's feature a mild departure from his signature acoustic folk style, offering electrified blues and even rock in numbers such as 'Baby Step Back' and 'Stay Loose'. Even the old dog can learn new tricks.

While some of Lightfoots work, such as 'Canadian Railroad Trilogy' and 'Pussywillows, Cat-Tails' are a bit too traditional folk for my tastes, there certainly is no lack of quality in the compositions nor their performances, and by the time you hit the seventh song on the 20 song disc, you're thoroughly ensconced in everything that made Gordon Lightfoot one of the heavyweights of twentieth century popular music. He is truly a troubadour for the ages.

A nice addition to the package are extensive liner notes that detail the origins of the songs, and insightful comments from Lightfoot himself on each track.

There are other Gordon Lightfoot's anthologies and greatest hits albums but this one is perfect because it includes all of his greatest tunes. When a Canadian icon is known across the border in the U. S. he must be doing something right. I grew up in the 70's so my personal favourites were cuts such as the bittersweet" If You Could Read my Mind, Talking in Your Sleep, Beautiful, Sundown, Carefree Highway, Rainy Day People", and the haunting "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald". The last time that I saw Mr. Lightfoot was at the "Live 8" concert from Barrie Ontario. He looked a little out of place with all of the rockers that were playing that day and especially at the end of the concert. Especially so when he was on stage en mass with Neil Young singing "Rockin' in the Free World". But we could have lost him through illness a year or so before so thats one of the reasons he was invited. An icon. To be appreciated. And he was. And thankfully still is.

One of my favourote singers of all time. The is a marvellous collection of classic Lightfoot tracks. All the hits that this very underrated singer-songwriter had, either himself or by others' interpretations, are here from "Early Morning Rain" through "If You Could Read My Mind" and "Sundown" on to "Restless". OK, there are some obvious omissions which other reviewers have, quite rightly, pointed out.

Lightfoot was one of those who had the tag of "the second Bob Dylan", which is like having a monkey on his back. They are very different writers, with Lightfoot being a dispationate observer and reporter of love, the wonder of Canada, great events and all with a wonderful baritone voice.

His usual band - Terry Clements, Red Shea, Rick Haynes, John Stockfish and Pee Wee Charles - deserve a mention. They hold it all together and enhance Lightfoots delivery.

Lightfoot's recent (September 2002) illness and long (many months) hospitalisation will have shocked and horrified his fans. However, they will be relieved that he it is reported that he is on the way to full recovery. More good news is the imminent release of his 20th album at the end of April 2004.

As for this collection, it shows just what a top class artist he is. If you are new to Lightfoot, you have the choice of albums to introduce yourself to his music. You could buy the 4-CD box-set "Songbook" - 5 hours of glorious Lightfoot. Or you could buy "Gord's Gold" (the first album - not Vol. 2), which has some of other tracks; or you could have this. Personally, I would have them all, as the man is a genius. In fact, spend some serious money and buy ALL his albums.