05/02/2023
Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian singer-songwriter passed away today at age 84.
Lightfoot rose to prominence in the mid-‘60s, penning such folk standards as “Early Morning Rain”. When folk music ebbed in popularity, overwhelmed by the British invasion, Mr. Lightfoot began writing ballads aimed at a broader audience. He scored one hit after another, beginning in 1970 with the heartfelt “If You Could Read My Mind,” inspired by the breakup of his first marriage. In quick succession he recorded the hits “Sundown,” “Carefree Highway,” “Rainy Day People” and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” which he wrote after reading a Newsweek article about the sinking of an iron-ore carrier in Lake Superior in 1975, with the loss of all 29 crew members. In 1971, he made his first appearance on the Billboard chart with “If You Could Read My Mind.”