RIP

[grog]

Music legends from my old life going quickly. Gordon Lightfoot. Broderick Smith, an English born, probably only known in Oz. Dingoes his band. Pure genius in the old pub days. OLd clip, very old. So good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=919phJQtlK8

[Tony Nitrous]

Not a name I'm familiar with, but I'll look him up.

Sad that Tim Bachman from Bachman-Turner Overdrive passed away last week too.

[Nic]

Yep. it's all coming to an end that's fer sure.

[Kiwifruit]

Liked some of Gordon Lightfoots work.
Respect.

[VladTepes]

Yeah big Gordon Lightfoot fan. His 'Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald ' is well known and a hauntingly beautiful tribute to the men lost on the lake.

Another really great song of his is 'Sundown' and it has an interesting story about it as to where the subject of the song (ex-girlfriend of Gordon) ended up.

The inspiration for this song came from Lightfoot worrying about his girlfriend, who was out at bars all day while he was at home writing songs. He recalled during a Reddit AMA: "I had this girlfriend one time, and I was at home working, at my desk, working at my songwriting which I had been doing all week since I was on a roll, and my girlfriend was somewhere drinking, drinking somewhere. So I was hoping that no one else would get their hands on her, because she was pretty good lookin'!"

"As a matter of fact, it was written just around Sundown," he added, "just as the sun was setting, behind the farm I had rented to use as a place to write the album."
In the documentary Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind, Lightfoot reveals that the song is about his stormy relationship with Cathy Smith, who was later sent to prison for delivering a lethal dose of heroin to John Belushi. In the early '70s, with his marriage crumbling, Lightfoot moved in with Smith for about three years. "It was one of those relationships where you get a feeling of danger," he said.

Smith is credited as a backup singer on the song "High And Dry" from the Sundown album.
There's more than a hint of jealousy and paranoia in this song, as Lightfoot sings:

Sundown ya better take care
If I find you been creepin' 'round my back stairs

Lightfoot was at a career peak but had divorced his first wife and was doing a lot of drinking. His personal life was a roller coaster - he got married three times and had six children. His struggles show up in his songs, but for the most part, he didn't name names.

wikipedia:

In 1982, (John Belushi) died from combined drug intoxication, after a drug dealer, Cathy Smith, injected him with a mixture of heroin and cocaine known as a speedball at the Chateau Marmont hotel in West Hollywood, California

Smith had bailed the scene in Belushi's car, but was eventually found guilty of 'involuntary manslaughter' and spent 15 months in jail.  Seems Gordon was much better off without her!

[VladTepes]

Also you ain't seen nothing yet - Tim Bachman died last week, aged 71.