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Gordon Lightfoot on music, performing and his shyness

Broadcast Date: Dec. 31, 1997

Gordon Lightfoot, a modern-day troubadour steeped in Canadian folk tradition. Lightfoot has written hundreds of songs and performed thousands of concerts, and has penned such classics as If You Could Read My Mind, Sundown, Early Morning Rain, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, and Canadian Railroad Trilogy. In this 1997 CBC Television interview, the ever-shy musician discusses his universal appeal, his songwriting process and his fondness for performing.

As Lightfoot explains, the stage takes him to places where he feels he can't otherwise go and helps him truly connect to his fans. "I really do the live performances (as) the thing which I thrive on most. I really work at that. I want to make it real good. It's what I can do best of all the things that I do. It's better than what I can do in the studio."

Gordon Lightfoot on music, performing and his shyness

• Gordon Lightfoot was born Nov. 17, 1938 in Orillia, Ont. He began performing at St. Paul's United Church and at school as a youngster, cutting his first record at the age of ten with his sister Beverly. In 1951, he finished first in the under-13 vocal competition of the Toronto Kiwanis Festival. A year later, he finished first in the soprano unchanged competition, singing his winning performance on stage at Toronto's Massey Hall.

• In 1955 Lightfoot wrote his first song The Hula Hoop Song, beginning his career as a song writer. After graduating from high school, he moved to Los Angeles in 1958 and enrolled in the Westlake College of Music. He returned to Toronto the following year and became a choral performer and dancer on the CBC's Country Hoedown. He formed a folk duo with Terry Whelan called the Two Tones, but the duo were turned down to play at the first Mariposa Festival for being "too commercial."

• In 1964, Lightfoot discovered the music of Bob Dylan and began to flourish as a songwriter. Ian and Sylvia Tyson recorded some of his songs, including the classic Early Morning Rain, which got him signed by the Albert Grossman talent agency in New York. By the end of the year, Lightfoot started recording songs for his debut album for the United Artists label. In January 1966 Lightfoot! was released, and a star was born.

• While inducting Lightfoot into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1986, his hero and main influence, Bob Dylan called the Canadian "someone of rare talent." Dylan was among the long list of artists that have covered Lightfoot's songs. Besides Dylan and Ian & Sylvia, that lineup includes Elvis Presley, Harry Belafonte, Blue Rodeo, Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash, Bruce Cockburn, Stompin' Tom Connors, Jim Croce, Butthole Surfers, Dandy Warhols, The Grateful Dead, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Mathis, Sarah McLachlan, Liza Minnelli, Anne Murray, Olivia Newton-John, Peter, Paul & Mary, The Rankin Family, The Rheostatics, Ron Sexsmith and The Tragically Hip.

Gordon Lightfoot on music, performing and his shyness

Medium: Television

Program: Pamela Wallin

Broadcast Date: Dec. 31, 1997

Guest(s): Gordon Lightfoot

Host: Pamela Wallin

Duration: 7:35

Last updated:
Aug. 15, 2008