Customer Reviews

Old Dan's Records

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This may very well be my favorite Gordon Lightfoot album of them all. If you ask an average fan what their top 10 favorite Lightfoot songs are, I'd be willing to bet none of them come from this album. There are no big hits on it: no "Sundown," no "If You Could Read My Mind." And yet, if there ever was a case of the whole being far greater than the sum of the parts, Old Dan's Records is definitely it.

There is a feeling of peacefulness and contentment that pervades the album...but also a subtle undercurrent of wanderlust, which adds just a slight tension to the proceedings. It's subtle, it's deep, but it gives this album an overall feeling like no other. It's almost inevitable, as you listen to Old Dan's Records, that the album Sundown would follow, since most of its songs deal with travelling. It's as if the subtle undercurrent of wanderlust finally broke through the dam.

There are some wonderful songs here...it's almost impossible for me to pick a favorite, because there isn't one on here I don't like! From the wistful "That Same Old Obsession," to the gentle, contented feeling of "Lazy Morning" (a song which seems to be a precursor to "Restless", which came 20 years later, and which you'll find on Complete Greatest Hits), the fun of the title track, and "You Are What I Am," the wry "My Pony Won't Go," the touching "Mother of a Miner's Child," and the gotta-sing-along-with-this-one-whenever-it-plays-in-the-car "Highway Songs," and all the other tracks...it isn't until the album stops playing that the overall effect of it will seep into your soul.

Musically, Lightfoot plays rhythm 6-string and 12-string guitars, as well as a few other miscellaneous instruments. Red Shea and Terry Clements provide the lead guitar work, with Rick Haynes playing some beautiful bass (listen to him on "My Pony Won't Go," for example). Shea also adds some great dobro to a few of the tracks. The musicians are augmented by the Good Brothers, contributing banjo, pedal steel and so on. Additionally Barry Keane plays drums and percussion(a few years later, Keane would become part of the Lightfoot band when Lightfoot decided to add a drummer to the group), and there is some fabulous slide dobro work by David Bromberg on "My Pony Won't Go." The arrangements--by Nick DeCaro--are light, subtle and unobtrusive.

Old Dan's Records is simply a jewel. This is one you will definitely not regret picking up. So click that "Add to Shopping Cart" button right now! :)

Canadian singer/songwriter/acoustic guitarist Gordon Lightfoot was in the midst of his creative zenith when Old Dan's Records was recorded in 1972. So this album simply rolls from one melodic, emotional highlight to another. For me, so many of these songs echo places and times...the piano driven ballad Same Old Obsession is like a melancholy Victorian-era drama...Lazy Mornin' suggests a idyllic day in the country...and despite its title, Can't Depend On Love has a wonderful lightness to it. What's interesting about this album is the history of its time...in his book Lightfoot: If You Could Read His Mind, author Maynard Collins says Lightfoot was going through marital difficulties in 1972 (yes, they would lead to a divorce) and he was recovering from a serious bout of something called Bell's Palsy. This affliction affects facial muscles, and Collins suggests pictures from that time (including the album cover) were done in such a way to hide the affected part of his face. All this makes the brilliance of Old Dan's Records even more astonishing.

Gordon Lightfoot has long been one of my favorite singers and while not his best, "Old Dan's Records" is still pretty enjoyable. To me, six of the ten songs are good, with "It's Worth Believin'" still being a favorite. That and the title song can still get your toes tappin' and your head a'noddin' . "Lazy Morning" makes you feel just like the title says. "You Are What I Am," "Mother of A Miner's Child" and "Can't Depend On Love" are all GOOD, but not GREAT, songs. But with Gordon's rich baritone and the underdone instrumental backgrounds, you'll find yourself liking it anyway.

Gordon Lightfoot is hard to come by here in Sweden, so when I saw Old Dan's & Dreamstreet rose in a used cd-shop I jumped at it. the "rose" is not nearly as good as "Old Dan's". THis does not mean that OD is outstanding in any way! Sure, there are a few gems on here, but so are there on all gord's cd's. He has only himself to blame. If he persists in spoiling us, his audience, with great music, he will get no slack when he's on the downsloap...

All of gord's pre-80's catalogue is more or less flawless. This record is one of the less interesting from this period, but still it's a darn good waste of time!

One of my favorite of Gord's albums because he's singing his heart even more than usual.

Nothing commercial going on here; no pop tunes, no overt attempts at a single. Instead, the best collection of lyrics Gord ever put on a single album. Each song evokes a particular mood; just the right memories matched lyrically to just the right music.

More than any other GL album, this one makes me feel like I know him.

In the early 70's Gordon Lightfoot cranked out a lot of good folk based music and there are differing views on where he shines best. For me, he's at his best here, Old Dan's Records. While I agree it's not easy to pick one album over another and I wouldn't have problems with someone who wanted to argue for another of his albums, for me this album stands out for two reasons.

The first is the arrangements. Back when Lightfoot was doing his best work there was a thing for adding orchestration to his music, I suspect to make them more popular and "commercial." But I've always felt he sounds best when the strings are gone and the music focuses on his voice and the guitars, dobros, bass, and drums - his basic sound, Lightfoot with Rick Haynes, Terry Clements and Red Shea. And of all his albums, this one more than any other I know emphasizes that sound. The strings are here, but they take a back seat. You barely notice them when they appear.

The other reason is that it was around this time Lightfoot's voice was at its best. He sounds great on this disc.

His songwriting is also at its peak. So ...

This album more than any other captures the Gordon Lightfoot I love. It also has three of my favourite Lightfoot songs: Farewell to Annabel, Old Dan's Records and Lazy Mornin'.

Yes, I love this album.

Of all the albums Gordon Lightfoot released between 1971 and 1976 this is the weakest. But it's far from bad, and about half of it is outright fantastic, particularly the album bookends of 'Farewell To Annabel' and 'Hi'Way Songs'. The title track was the only song to be included on the 'Gord's Gold' compilation; quite why it made the cut above the aforementioned tunes or 'It's Worth Believin' (Which, at least, was included in it's original version on the mostly poorly remade 'Gord's Gold II')is a mystery, it's not a bad tune, but nor is it particularly memorable.

The album continued Lightfoot's early 70s downward slide commercially, failing to land a single in the hot 100, and scraping in at #95 on the album charts. Of course the follow-up album, 'Sundown', reversed this trend dramatically, and rightly so.


While 4 stars is possibly a little generous for this release, especially given just how far it is beneath Lightfoot's highwater mark for quality, I could not bring myself to limit it to 3. Inessential, but still well worth having.

I don't think this is the best of Gordon Lightfoot. I found the songs a bit boring and mediocre. The performance is good, as Gordon always sings well. If you are a big fan (I am not), you might want this one in your collection. If you are new to Lightfoot's music, you might want to start with something else. Still better than a lot of the junk out there, but nothing really special here.

It has probably been 25 years since I listened to this album. I couldn't believe how good it sounded. I listened to it about 3 times in a row before I put it aside. Gord's voice is at the peak of its richness here. Several songs (It's Worth Believing, Farewell to Annabel) are absolutely haunting, they are so moving.

I agree with the previous reviewer who states that this may very well be the best Lightfoot cut ever. In my mind, the music and instrumentation (guitar, banjo, autoharp, dobro, pedal steel) are the very soul of Gordon Lightfoot: Country folk tunes about the day-to-day thoughts and feelings we all experience. Love, travel, "chilling out", and good-old fashioned clean fun. Yup, some reviewers found the album boring: It is supposed to mellow the listener out! The proof of this is in the lyrics to the classic "Hi'way Songs": "When I walk the hills so high, around the town where I was born; New York seems so far away, though I was there just yesterday." Buy this CD and take a trip back to when "...picking with a friend 'till dawn, singing all those hi'way songs." was one of the most exciting and meaningful things one could do.