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Gord's Gold spans two decades in the career of Gordon Lightfoot, one of
modern music's most influential and original songwriters and performers.
Along with such Lightfoot classics as "If You Could Read My Mind,"
"Sundown" and "Carefree Highway," Gord's Gold spotlights the full range
of Lightfoot's enduring music: from the gentle lilt of "Softly," to the haunting
refrains of "Minstrel Of The Dawn" and "Don Quixote." More than a greatest
hits package, Gord's Gold is a tribute to a true original.
Born in Orillia, Ontario, Gordon Lightfoot began his career in Los
Angeles in the late '50s, writing and performing commercial jingles and
working as a vocal arranger. In 1960, encouraged by friends Pete Seeger and
Ian & Sylvia, he started playing original material in Toronto-are folk clubs
and soon gained a reputation as a promising young composer. Ian & Sylvia
played two Lightfoot originals, "Early Morning Rain" and "For Lovin' Me,"
while Peter, Paul & Mary scored a Top 40 hit with the latter in 1965.
Ayear later, Lightfoot released his debut album, Lightfoot, followed by
such memorable early LPs as The Way I Feel, Back Here On Earth and
Sunday Concert. In 1970, he recorded Sit Down Young Stranger, which
included the first recording of Kris Kristofferson's "Me And Bobby McGee"
as well as Lightfoot's first Top Ten hit, "If You Could Read My Mind."
Lightfoot's hit-making ways continued on such bestselling albums
as Summer Side Of Life (1971), Don Quixote (1972) and Sundown
(1973), featuring the chart-topping title track and a second smash
"Carefree Highway."
Released in November of 1975, Gord's Gold chronicles all the singer's
hit songs up to that year as well as such Lightfoot perennials as "Rainy
Day People," "Cotton Jenny," "Beautiful" and the epic "Canadian
Railroad Trilogy."
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