Sunday Concert

Gordon Lightfoot | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 1, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: EMI Special Products
• ASIN: B00008ZL8Y
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #166,414 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. In a Windowpane

2. The Lost Children

3. Leaves of Grass

4. Medley: I'm Not Sayin'/Ribbon of Darkness

5. Apology

6. Bitter Green

7. Ballad of Yarmouth Castle

8. Softly

9. Boss Man

10. Pussywillows, Cat-Tails

11. Canadian Railroad Trilogy

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars One foot in folk and one out the door..., March 7, 2007

By 

Dustin Blythe "I love Amazon!" (Mishawaka, In USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Sunday Concert (Audio CD)

In 1969, when "Sunday Concert" was recorded, Gordon Lightfoot was on the verge of stardom in America. Already a seasoned and respected singer/songwriter in his native Canada, Lightfoot looked to "make it" in the larger more lucrative folk rock/pop market in the United States.

"Sunday Concert" is a contractural fulfillment album, made to satisfy the requirement of albums due in his original contract with United Artists/EMI. Nevertheless, this is a unique glimpse into Gordon Lightfoot's singing, songwriting and small group playing before his huge "Sit Down Young Stranger/If You Could Read My Mind" album for Reprise and also a portrait of a Canadian tradition, Lightfoot's annual concert stand at Toronto's Massey Hall.

The song selection is relatively brief, eleven songs, and about half of them may be unfamiliar to the casual fan. Of the more familiar singles, "Softly" and "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" are performed with real energy and feeling and are highlights of the album. A more obscure track, "Ballad of Yarmouth Castle" is an early Lightfoot song dealing with a tragic shipwreck, illustrating his compassion and sympathy for the men who sail the Great Lakes and laying the groundwork for his ode six years later to the men of the "Edmund Fitzgerald".

The sound on this disc is acceptable. The production is sparse and the echoes of the hall are clearly heard. For the casual listener who is unfamiliar with Massey Hall this can make the songs sound a bit distant, but overall Lightfoot's voice comes across well. I cannot tell if this has been remastered; there is no notation of this in the booklet, but I cannot tell much of a difference between this and the 1996 Acoustic Highway reissue which was remastered. I purchased the 2003 edition to have the original album artwork which is faithfully reproduced here.

I give this three stars a.)because of the unfamiliarity of some of the songs to casual fans and b.)the sometimes cavernous sound quality. However, the playing and singing are inspired. If you are ready to delve a bit deeper into the folksier side of Gordon Lightfoot, before he hit the really big time, check out "The United Artists Collection" then listen to "Sunday Concert", his only UA album not represented in that collection.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Massey Hall Magic, June 3, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Sunday Concert (Audio CD)

The Sunday Concert/Plus CD consists of Gordon Lightfoot's last album for UA, Sunday Concert, plus some bonus tracks. While it may have been his last UA album, Sunday Concert also marks a first: it's a recording of Lightfoot's initial appearance as a professional at Toronto's Massey Hall. These concert series have since become a tradition--he still holds them every eighteen months or so, with the next series of four nights scheduled for November, 2002.

Sunday Concert also marks the only official release (to date) of an album of Lightfoot live in concert (the only other officially released concert is the video/DVD of his performance in April 2000 at the Pioneer Theatre in Reno).

Sunday Concert features Lightfoot on vocals, as well as 6 and 12-string guitar, Red Shea on lead acoustic guitar, and Rick Haynes--replacing a recently-departed John Stockfish--on bass. That's it: no orchestra, no dancers, no light shows. As with his live shows from the beginning to the present day, there are no gimmicks or histrionics: just top-flight musicians flawlessly performing his intelligent, lyrical compositions.

Along with such Lightfoot classics as "Softly," "I'm Not Sayin'/Ribbon of Darkness," and "Pussywillows, Cattails," you'll hear some songs that don't appear on any other albums: "In a Windowpane," "The Lost Children," "Leaves of Grass, and "Apology."

But of the songs that make their debut on this album, the highlight is undoubtedly "Ballad of the Yarmouth Castle." As with what is arguably Lightfoot's best known song, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," "Yarmouth Castle" is based upon a real incident, which Lightfoot expands into something almost mythological in its feel. In "Yarmouth Castle," there are several lines told from the point of view of the ship herself, making the ship a living, breathing entity.

In addition, Sunday Concert contains what Lightfoot has been quoted as saying is his favorite of the three recorded versions of his epic song "Canadian Railroad Trilogy." Red Shea plays some of the most gorgeous acoustic guitar leads and fills you'll ever want to hear. And Rick Haynes, who brings a slightly more melodic approach to his bass playing, provides a rock-solid bottom end, while also adding to the lyricism of the middle section of the song.

The bonus tracks are what keep this from being a five-star CD. There is a rather painful version of Dylan's "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues." Recorded in the production style of the time (drums, bass, backup vocal choir), it serves as a curio piece--nothing more. Two versions of a previously unreleased song entitled "Movin'" are included--there's nothing remarkable about the song or the performance on either version. An alternate version of "I'll Be Allright," (which first appeared on The Way I Feel) is included--it's not dramatically different than the released version, albeit perhaps a little quieter. Finally, the song "Spin, Spin" (which appeared as a bonus track on the Bear Family release of Did She Mention My Name/Back Here on Earth), reappears here, this time recorded in Nashville.

Sunday Concert represents a dividing line. After this album, he signed with Warner Brothers/Reprise, and subsequently broke it big in the US. His music became a little less folk-oriented, but still very quintessentially Lightfoot. Due to his early 70s commercial success in the US, he would become associated with the singer/songwriter genre which came to prominence during the decade, but he had already established himself as a songwriter and musician of the very first rank for several years in his native Canada.

Sunday Concert is a great way to experience Lightfoot riding his initial wave of fame in his homeland, before the rest of the world caught on.