STEVENSON: Lightfoot a humble music star often seen in and around Toronto

0

Lightfoot lived in the Bridle Path but had offices in mid-town

Article content

You could take the man out of Orillia, but you couldn’t take Orillia out of the man.

Advertisement 2

Article content

And in the case of Canadian singing-songwriting legend Gordon Lightfoot — who passed away at the age of 84 on Monday at Sunnybrook Hospital of natural causes — that was a very good thing, indeed.

Article content

One of my most frequent interview subjects over the last 27 years at The Toronto Sun, Lightfoot, an Orillia-born son of a dry cleaner owner-turned-Bridle Path mansion dweller, was about as humble and accessible as they come.

When I wasn’t traipsing up to interview him at his abode — I’ll never forget the first time I saw him having a smoke in one of those nylon-backed camping chairs he’d bought from Canadian tire on his otherwise grand front entrance way — I also spotted him in my hood where his Early Mornin’ Productions offices were located about a block away.

Article content

Advertisement 3

Article content

Often, I’d see a man carrying a guitar case from behind and realize, ‘Hey, it’s Gordon!”

Then there was the time he was driving down my street and I did a double take because of who was behind the wheel. I think Lightfoot thought the more you saw him, the less in awe you’d be.

Maybe he did live across from Drake in the Bridle Path, but there were no airs about him — not one.

Recommended video

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

“It’ll be very casual,” he said to me in 2016 of having Drizzy as a neighbour.

“It’s a neighbourly thing to do. We’ll introduce our dogs. And that’s a very polite thing to do, and whatever will be. I’m sure he’ll like the neighbourhood.”

The only inkling you’d get of Lightfoot’s famous status — beside the enormous house you were in — was the wall of Edmund Fitzgerald paintings in his living room dedicated to his most famous song.

Advertisement 4

Article content

Oh, yes, and then there was his practice room near the front of the house, where I heard him playing his guitar once after I arrived for a chat.

It was the most informal place I had heard Lightfoot play, having been an avid reviewer of his Massey Hall residencies every November.

“I knew back in 1967 that it was going to be my home, the first time I did it,” Lightfoot, who actually sang at Massey Hall as a 12-year-old choir boy, told me.

There was also that one time Lightfoot and his lovely wife Kim showed up at the 2018 Christmas party of my pal Victoria Lord (also his tour publicist) and when her daughter asked if he played keyboards, he opted for guitar, instead, and we all sang Jingle Bells in the living room.

There was wide-eyed expressions all around but Lightfoot just played and sang like it was no big deal.

Advertisement 5

Article content

Earlier, I had taken my first-year University of British Columbia friend, now Vancouver City Councillor Mike Klassen, to Massey Hall in 2016 and he got to see Lightfoot and hear The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald live for the very first time.

Mike was so tickled, it made me realize that I should never take the experience for granted, no matter how many times I’d gone.

Despite some serious health scares in 2002 (stomach aneurysm) and 2006 (a minor stroke), he never did stop smoking and when I asked him why, he countered with: “Did anyone? For heaven’s sake, I started very, very young. I was 15.”

If nothing else, that meant good use of that camping chair.

“Sure – of course,” said Lightfoot to me. “Why not?”

Comments

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.

Join the Conversation

Advertisement 1

Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our  Twitter, & Facebook

We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.

For all the latest Music News Click Here 

Read original article here

Denial of responsibility! Rapidtelecast.com is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
Leave a comment