SOFTWARE
his winning performance at Toronto’s fabled Massey Hall.
Inaugurated in 1894 and renovated several times since, Massey Hall is already celebrated for the artistic events held there. Our young artist will make singing there a habit. In the meantime, to his piano courses he adds guitar les- sons and becomes a
In 1955 he writes his very first song. He is then all of 17.
After high school he goes to Los Angeles to study jazz orchestration at the Westlake College of Modern Music. Back in Canada, from 1958 to 1961, he becomes a member of the Swinging Eight, who often perform on CBC’s Country Hoedown. That leads to numerous guest spots. He also becomes a member of the Gino Silvi Singers, the house chorale of
64 ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine
the Mariposa Folk Festival, founded in his home town of Orillia, which brings together Canadian and international
The summer of 1963 finds Lightfoot in England, where he hosts the Country and Western Show on TV.
His career is rolling now.
A phenomenal ascension
One evening, in one of the coffee houses that are everywhere in the 60’s, Lightfoot is noticed by a talent scout who is charmed by his fine baritone voice and his expressiveness, and offers to let him be heard on disc. He records half a dozen songs, two of them his own compositions: The Long River and Betty Mae’s a Good Time Gal. It is about at the same time that this handsome young man with the imposing presence begins to sing his own songs and accompany
himself on the guitar. He is seen more and more often at folk music events in Ontario, Quebec and the eastern USA, and of course at the Mariposa Festival.
Ian Tyson and his then wife Sylvia, a Canadian folk duo internationally popular under the name Ian and Sylvia, are the first to record Lightfoot’s songs, including Early Morning Rain and For Lovin’ Me, which become hits. It’s enough for New York agent Albert Grossman to sign him to a recording contract at United Artists.
Grossman will play a particularly significant role in the development of Lightfoot’s career, for he is also Bob Dylan’s agent, and he encourages him to move, like Dylan, to the
Early Morning Rain has a wider inter- national career too, becoming a hit for French chansonnier Joe Dassin under the title Dans la brume du matin.
The year 1965 is a major one for Lightfoot. He sings at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island and in New York City, and Marty Robbins will sing his Ribbon of Darkness, a song about a man pained by the loss of the woman he loves.
Ribbon of darkness over me
Since my true love walked out the door Tears I never had before
In Canada, Spin Spin is a major suc- cess, and I’m Not Saying will be his first chart hit. That song is popularized in the US by country star Leroy Van Dyke.
Continuing his phenomenal rise, he reaches new audiences thanks to his songs being picked up by such estab- lished stars as Harry Belafonte, Anne Murray and Nana Mouskouri. Famed US country singer George Hamilton IV brings out an LP of his songs, Lightfoot Country. Richie Havens and The Kings- ton Trio sing Lightfoot too.
In 1966, with the release of his self- titled album, Lightfoot becomes one of the first Canadian singers to know glory in his own country without having to move to the United States. The album will make him even better known as a songwriter, and his songs are picked up by Petula Clark, Stompin’ Tom Con- nors, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis,
