He might also be one of the most covered artists of all time.
This website shows that the song Early Morning Rain alone was covered by at least 82 other recording artists. Many of his other songs were covered multiple, even dozens of times.
Artists that covered Early Morning Rain include; Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Harry Belafonte, Grateful Dead, Ronnie Hawkins, Peter Paul and Mary. Some pretty big acts back in their day. Some of these artists covered multiple songs as well.
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Last edited by FlamesAddiction; 05-01-2023 at 11:28 PM.
We are all lucky that Gordon Lightfoot decided to pick up a guitar and write some songs at a young age. Thank you Gordon for your beautiful prose, comforting voice, and commitment to your craft. A Canadian legend.
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A legend. Listened to Gord's Gold loads during my teenage years.
If you watch Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue documentary on Netflix, there's a great scene where in it where, while in Toronto, Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Roger McGuinn (the Byrds) are hanging out at Gordon Lightfoot's house and jamming (and a great performance by Mitchell of "Coyote").
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In the early ‘80s I was a journalist and received an invitation to and attended a Datsun car launch in Ontario. After a day test driving cars (one person totalled the sweet sports car we all wanted to drive but didn’t get the chance) we convened to a small bar in some small town (I can’t recall which town) where Lightfoot was performing; he wasn’t quite the huge name he is now. He came over and introduced himself so I got to meet him.
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I still can't believe he granted them permission. *shudder*
I don't know.
If I was a songwriter, I wouldn't care who covered my songs as long as I got paid.
I think he's said as much himself from time to time, both that he enjoyed people liked his stuff enough to cover it and that he appreciated the money and exposure.
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I don't know.
If I was a songwriter, I wouldn't care who covered my songs as long as I got paid.
I think he's said as much himself from time to time, both that he enjoyed people liked his stuff enough to cover it and that he appreciated the money and exposure.
That, and songwriters don't have control over who covers their songs, so there would've been nothing for Lightfoot to approve. Anyone can cover a song as long as they pay the appropriate royalties.
Location: Wondering when # became hashtag and not a number sign.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GordonBlue
I don't know.
If I was a songwriter, I wouldn't care who covered my songs as long as I got paid.
I think he's said as much himself from time to time, both that he enjoyed people liked his stuff enough to cover it and that he appreciated the money and exposure.
Jeff Marek had Gordons long time drummer Barry Keane on his show today and this very topic came up.
He said that GL LOVED how many artists covered so many of his songs, because he loved that they thought enough of his work to redo it.
Lightfoot actually filed suit but dropped it because he felt it was mean and having a negative effect on Houston as a young singer. His real beef was against the song writer who lifted the bars for a George Benson song whom Whitney thought she was covering.
Lightfoot actually filed suit but dropped it because he felt it was mean and having a negative effect on Houston as a young singer. His real beef was against the song writer who lifted the bars for a George Benson song whom Whitney thought she was covering.
I didn't know about this before and was just doing some reading. It sounds like the first time he heard it was the Whitney Houston version, but the song was actually recorded 8 years earlier and performed by someone else. So Whitney Houston was actually doing a cover of a song that was ripped off from Gordon Lightfoot. It doesn't sound like Whitney Houston knew when she recorded the song that it stole the melody and she got caught in the middle of it and he dropped the lawsuit because he didn't want to negatively impact her when it was actually the composer who was responsible.
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Last edited by FlamesAddiction; 05-03-2023 at 11:40 AM.
An absolute titan. Wreck.of the Edmund Fitzgerald is one of the first songs I can remember loving....and having an emotional/physical response to as a 5 year old.
I balked on seeing him in Wichita several years ago. Will regret that one for a long time.
Bryan Cranston should play him in a movie!
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