Gordon Lightfoot was one of Rock’s great Folk artists. He began his ascent in the late ’60s with four albums before hitting Gold with his Sit Down Young Stranger set, which gave us “If You Could Read My Mind”. By 1974, with two high-charting singles (“Sundown”, “Carefree Highway”), Gordon Lightfoot became an essential artist for many including his Canadian audience. By the end, he had released 20 albums, many of them magnificent. This includes his overlooked album, A Painter Passing Through (1998). Gordon Lightfoot passed on May 1 at the age of 84.
On July 14, the Lightfoot camp and Linus Entertainment will release a sizable live set that will feature 26 classic Lightfoot songs from his May 24, 2016 show at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Before his passing, Gordon Lightfoot insisted that the live set be released immediately and with no changes, clean-up, or anything else that usually accompany an album. The cover on the set was with his approval. The set will be called At Royal Albert Hall.
Gordon Lightfoot At Royal Albert Hall will be issued on 2CD, and DD. You can pre-order the set here. A video of “If You Could Read My Mind” from the show is presented below.
It has been said that the Maritime Sailors’ Cathedral in Detroit, after the news of Gordon Lightfoot’s death, rang the church bell 30 times, one for Gordon Lightfoot. That’s fitting poetry right there.
Gordon Lightfoot At Royal Albert Hall – Gordon Lightfoot
CD1
01 The Watchman’s Gone
02 Sea of Tranquility
03 Now and Then
04 All The Lovely Ladies
05 Drifters
06 A Painter Passing Through
07 Christian Island
08 Rainy Day People
09 Shadows
10 Beautiful
11 Carefree Highway
12 Did She Mention My Name
13 Ribbon of Darkness
14 Sundown
CD2
01 Sweet Guinevere
02 The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
03 Never Too Close
04 Don Quixote
05 Minstrel of the Dawn
06 I’d Rather Press On
07 Let It Ride
08 If You Could Read My Mind
09 Restless
10 Baby Step Back
11 Early Morning Rain
12 Waiting For You