Herald Palladium - 10/06/2016 Copy Reduced to 76% from original to fit letter page Page : D06 6 THURSDAY, October 6, 2016 • The Herald-Palladium ‘THE LEGEND’ LIVES ON Gordon By JEREMY D. BONFIGLIO Sight & Sound Editor IF YOU GO BENTON HARBOR — No one Who: Gordon Lightfoot was more surprised to discover “The When: 8 p.m. Sunday Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” had become a popular hit than Where: Lake Michigan College singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot. Mendel Center Mainstage Theatre, The song to commemorate the 2755 E. Napier Ave., Benton Harbor sinking of the bulk carrier SS How much: $42-$66 Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior Contact: 927-1221 or on Nov. 10, 1975, appeared on themendelcenter.com Lightfoot’s June 1976 album, “Sum- mertime Dream,” but it wasn’t until Artist info: gordonlightfoot.com August of that year that his Reprise label decided to release it as a single. panion to the Order of Canada, and “At a promotion stop in Detroit the has even appeared on a postage record company thought it should be stamp. put out,” Lightfoot says by phone Still, it’s “The Wreck of the from Toronto. “I knew nothing about Edmund Fitzgerald” that has seemed this because I was up in northern to cement his name in popular Canada on a canoe expedition. When culture, a fact that isn’t lost on I came back, suddenly it was climbing Lightfoot. up the charts.” “Most people don’t know that I In the U.S., the ballad reached No. have written two songs about ship- 1 in Cashbox, and No. 2 on the wrecks,” he says. “The other is called Billboard Hot 100, as well as No. 1 in ‘The Ballad of Yarmouth Castle,’ Canada, making it one of Lightfoot’s which is a true story about a ship that most successful songs in a 50-year sank going from Miami to Nassau career that’s also produced gems such with a whole load of tourists and as “Early Morning Rain,” “If You caught fi re. It was a terrible scene. At Could Read My Mind,” “Carefree least this one here I was only dealing Highway,” “Sundown,” “For Lovin’ only with water and not fi re.” Me” and “Rainy Day People,” to Lightfoot, who was born in Orillia, name a few. Ontario, became interested in music Now, a month shy of his 78th at a young age. His fi rst public birthday, Lightfoot, who has never performance was singing an Irish stopped touring, is on the road again. lullaby over his school’s public This time he’s playing 18 U.S. cities, address system in the fourth grade. including Sunday’s stop at the Lake “I had several aunts and my Michigan College Mendel Center mother and a couple of uncles who Mainstage Theatre, on a tour whose were all into music,” Lightfoot says. name is culled from his popular sea “My grandmother played piano, chantey. “The Legend Lives On,” quite well I might add, and I took however, could just as easily refer to piano lessons really early on. I never Lightfoot’s remarkable career. became a good piano player but it He is one of the best-selling sure taught me a lot about the folk-pop artists of all time, having keyboard and the time values that sold more than 10 million albums really helped me a lot.” and earning more than 18 spots in the In high school, he taught himself Top 40, both in Canada and in the to play guitar, and soon started Gordon Lightfoot brings his “The Legend Lives On” tour to Lake Michigan College’s Mendel Center Mainstage T U.S. He has fi ve Grammy nomina- writing his own songs, infl uenced by tions and was inducted into the Pete Seeger and The Weavers. writing songs to sing in the folk clubs. footsteps.” American folk perf Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2012. In “I was beginning to perform in People were writing contemporary In 1965, Lightfoot signed a man- Dylan, who famou his native Canada, he has received the coffeehouses and folk clubs and bars folk music at that time – Bob Dylan agement contract with Albert foot, “Every time I highest civilian honors, the Gover- as a soloist and I needed that mate- and Paul Simon and quite a few Grossman, who also represented a it’s like I wish it wo nor’s General Award and the Com- rial,” Lightfoot says. “So I started others. I followed along in their signifi cant number of prominent The feeling was m Copyright (c)2016 The Herald-Palladium 10/06/2016 October 10, 2016 9:04 am (GMT +4:00) Powered by TECNAVIA Herald Palladium - 10/06/2016 Copy Reduced to 76% from original to fit letter page Page : D07 The Herald-Palladium • THURSDAY, October 6, 2016 7 n Lightfoot brings famous folk songs, deep-album cuts to Mendel Center what I really learned from Bob says, laughing. Dylan, plus I loved his music.” His last studio album was 2004’s In 1966, Lightfoot released his indie effort, “Harmony.” Lightfoot debut album, “Lightfoot,” which had recorded 15 demo versions of featured many now-famous songs, those songs, which he was about to including “For Lovin’ Me,” “Early bring to his band, when he suffered a Morning Rain,” “Steel Rail Blues” ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm and “Ribbon of Darkness.” It also in 2002, which resulted in multiple cemented his reputation as a song- surgeries and a six-week coma. writer. Everyone from Peter, Paul and In 2006, he came back from a Mary to Judy Collins to The Kings- minor stroke that left him without the ton Trio to Elvis Presley recorded use of the middle and ring fingers on versions of either “Early Morning his right hand. Since early 2007, Rain,” “For Lovin’ Me,” or in some Lightfoot has regained full use of his cases both. Presley covered “Early right hand and plays all of the guitar Morning Rain” twice, once on his parts in concert as he originally wrote 1972 album “Elvis Now” with a them. second version on the 1978 posthu- “I’m doing really good now,” mous collection “Mahalo from Lightfoot says of his health. “I had a Elvis.” case of the walking pneumonia last Although Lightfoot has released 20 year. It was vertigo and pneumonia albums of material, including his all in one. It hit me while I was on the personal favorites 1983’s “Salute” and road and it took a few months and 1986’s “East of Midnight,” he doesn’t some meds for me to feel back to consider himself to be all that prolific normal, but I’m feeling fine now and of a songwriter. I’m back into my workout routine “I was under contract with record and everything is normal.” companies for 33 years so I had to Normal, for Lightfoot, means he is produce songs,” he says. “That was back on the road doing what he does my job. You had to do it. ... I always best. Backed by his longtime band of had lots of melodies. Melodies bassist Rick Haynes, keyboardist weren’t hard to come by, but some- Michael Heffernan, drummer Barry times the lyrics were. It was always a Keane and guitarist Carter Lancaster marriage of the melody and the lyric (who replaced the late Terry Cle- for me. ... In the beginning, I would ments, who died in 2011), Lightfoot draw from emotional experience. ... performs his well-known hits as well So there are some songs that bring as some deep album cuts all woven back memories of emotional stress. ... together with some behind-the-scenes ‘If You Could Read My Mind’ is a stories and personal anecdotes about direct reference to the break up of my his career. first marriage. Every time I sing that “There are about a dozen standards song on stage it brings back images that must be in every show that I of my first wife and what a wonderful play,” Lightfoot says. “The others are woman she was. That’s the kind of songs like ‘Don Quixote’ and ‘Sit song you can always find an emo- Down Young Stranger.’ We have lots tional context to, and you can be sure of good album cuts that maybe they that I always save it for the end of the didn’t get high up on the pop charts show because it’s a good one.” but they are songs that are well- Lightfoot also realized that there known from my albums. Some of David Cooper / Toronto Star can be an underlying melancholy to them are about travel, protest songs Theatre on Sunday night. much of his work – songs about loss, on acts of war and the environment. regret – which was symptomatic of Some are about gaining love and formers, including “I was also one of his biggest fans,” can write (songs) that quick, then his own marital strife, struggles with losing love.” sly said of Light- Lightfoot says. “I was impressed with maybe I can write them half that fast alcohol addiction, and the loneliness And at least two are about ship- hear a song of his, what his work ethic was like and how and I will be OK.’ And I did and it of the road. wrecks. ould last forever.” prolific a person he was, and I spurred me on. Watching him helped “When I got to album No. 17 or 18 Contact: [email protected], 932-0364, Twitter: mutual. followed his example. I said, ‘If he my songwriting.