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LIGHTFOOT!
Recorded:
New York, NY in December, 1964
Released: January 1966
Out-takes: Betty Mae's A Good Time
Gal; When Spring Was O'er The Land; Echoes Of Heroes; If You're Leaving;
Red Velvet |
THE WAY I FEEL
Recorded:
Nashville, TN
Released: 1967
Out-takes: Spin, Spin |
DID SHE MENTION MY NAME
Recorded:
New York, NY in December, 1967
Released: April 1968
Out-takes: A Message To The Wind;
You'll Still Be Needing Me
Notes: Produced by John Simon who
worked with the Band, it marked Lightfoot's first use of orchestration on
record. The sessions included a stunning first-take recording of
The Last Time I Saw Her. |
BACK HERE ON EARTH
Recorded:
Nashville, TN at Owen Bradley's Barn in September 1968
Released: November 1968
Notes: On Red Shea's suggestion that
Nashville studios could get the best acoustic guitar sound around, Lightfoot
returned there to record this album. |
SUNDAY CONCERT
Recorded:
Toronto, ON at Massey Hall in late March 1969 (live recording)
Released: September 1969
Notes:
Lightfoot had
96 songs recorded over 4 concerts from which to choose.
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SIT DOWN YOUNG STRANGER
Recorded: Los Angeles, CA at Sunwest
in September, November and December 1969
Released:
May 1970
Out-takes:
You'll Still Be Needing Me; Cotton Jenny; Country Farewell;
Stained Glass Morning; Same Old Loverman; Miguel; 24 Hour Blues; Looking
At The Rain; Cool Persuasion; The Seabird Song.
Notes: In
September Looking At The Rain, Cool Persuasion and Approaching LavenderSame
Old Loverman which was done in December. The Seabird Song is a particularlity
delightful tune, with a great atmosphere and mood - not nearly as lighthearted
as the title might suggest.
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SUMMER SIDE OF LIFE
Recorded: Nashville, TN at Woodland
Sound in December 1970 and January and March 1971
Released:
April 1971
Out-takes:
Looking At The Rain; No More Lonely Nights; Loving
Her Was Easier; Too Much To Lose; Divorce Country Style; You'll Still Be
Needing Me; Station Master; Alberta Bound; Where Is The Next One
Notes: The December 1970 sessions yielded
Go My
Way; Same Old Loverman; Talking In Your Sleep; Cabaret; Summer Side Of
Life; Love And Maple Syrup. The January sessions produced Redwood Hill and Nous Vivons Ensemble. The March sessions resulted
in Ten Degrees And
Getting Colder.
Two distinct versions of Kris Kristofferson's Loving Her Was Easier were recorded, one with a full
band, the other with just acoustic guitars and bass and plenty of Lightfoot
harmony vocal overdubs, however they remain unreleased, along with the
very country Where
Is The Next One,
a few distinct recordings of Too Much To Lose, a rousing Divorce Country Style featuring some "ominous" laughter
at the end courtesy of Lightfoot, Rick Haynes and Red Shea and an early full
band run through of Alberta Bound, which was surprisingly similar in style and arrangement
to the Gord's Gold II version than to the more folksy Don Quixote recording.
Also discarded were the folksy No More Lonely Nights and several attempts at Looking At The Rain. An alternate Station Master with a more folk oriented arrangement
than the Songbook version was also recorded. Perhaps most intriguing of
all is the alternate mix of the title track, Summer Side Of Life, which does not have the wall
of background singers on the choruses. To hear Lightfoot sing those passages
alone and unadorned adds a beautiful edge and intimacy to the song that
the released version misses. Also of note are the changed last two lines
in the second verse, that in this alternate mix are sung; "There were no defenders
then, to each his own delight, no chance was missed." |
DON QUIXOTE
Recorded:
Los Angeles, CA at Amigo Studio in December 1971 and January 1972
Released: April 1972
Out-takes: Too Much To Lose; Snow
Blind Friend
Notes: This was Terry Clements first
recording sessions as a member of the band. The majority of the album was
completed in December of 1971, but he went back into the studio in January
1972 to wrap up the album with On Susan's Floor; Alberta Bound; Christian
Island and The Patriot's Dream. The Hoyt Axton cover, Snow Blind Friend,
also done during the January sessions, could certainly have been a more
than worthy candidate for inclusion on the album. |
OLD DAN'S RECORDS
Recorded:
Toronto, ON at RCA Studio in September 1972
Released: November 1972
Out-takes: Heaven Don't Deserve Me;
Too Much To Lose
Notes: Lightfoot goes for a country
tinged sound by employing local Toronto bluegrass band, the Good Brothers,
to help on this album. Mother Of A Miner's Child is recorded with Red Shea
on dobro to augment Lightfoot's guitar and Rick Hayne's bass, but the dobro
is removed from the mix for the album release. |
SUNDOWN
Recorded:
Toronto, ON at Eastern Sound in November of 1973
Released: January 1974
Out-takes: Nitro Joe; Silvery Spoon;
Whispers; Borderstone
Notes: Early versions of Sea Of Tranquility
(under the title Silvery Spoon)and Whisper My Name (Whispers) were recorded
during the Sundown sessions. They would of course appear 6 years later
in updated lyrical and melodic forms on the Dream Street Rose album.
The wonderful Borderstone was left off the album in testament to the tremendous
quality of material Lightfoot had at his disposal for that record. Nitro
Joe was a humurous song about a small time dealer who couldn't manage to
stay ahead of the law. While it's a very good song in Lightfoot's patented
key of E, with a very interesting chord progression, it clearly didn't fit
with the tone of the album. The hit song Sundown was recorded with extra
repetitions of the choruses and some added bars between verses but it was
edited to the form found on the album, cutting almost a minute from the original
recording in the process. The album's other hit single, Carefree Highway,
was recorded much slower than it's finished product and it sounds much different
without the piano and strings which were overdubbed later and greatly benefits
the song along with the faster tempo. High And Dry also had numerous attempts,
usually slower than the finished track, until a good tempo and arrangement
were finally found. The female backing track was not added until the late
stages and were not on any of the early mixes. Too Late For Praying is one
song that may indeed be more powerful without the string section. Hearing
it as it was recorded live on the studio floor with just guitars and bass
is awesome. |
COLD ON THE SHOULDER
Recorded:
Toronto, ON at Eastern Sound in September and December 1974
Released: February 1975
Out-takes: Mama Said; Hangdog Hotel
Room; Whispers; Stone Cold Sober
Notes: This album was recorded in
two distinct stages. In September Lightfoot recorded Bend In The Water;
Rainy Day People; Cold On The Shoulder; The Soul Is The Rock; Rainbow Trout;
A Tree Too Weak To Stand; All The Lovely Ladies; Now And Then and Fine As
Fine Can Be. Along with some of the out-takes, possibly including the acoustic
Hangdog Hotel Room (with the early lyrics which include, "I believe in
magic, I believe in light, and the kind of row I can really hoe is playing
in tune all night" and "I go in for morning and going out at night, but
the kind of test I like the best is loving the wrong girl right" and thoughout
he sings "hearing a night-time tune" instead of "playing" as it later became)
the album was set for release in that form in the fall of 1974. However when
Carefree Highway became a hit, it bought Lightfoot time to go back in the
studio and record some new songs. So in December he cut Bells Of The Evening;
Cherokee
Bend and Slide On
Over to augment the September tracks and completing the album with the lineup
we know today. Among some of the early attempts in September ultimately
replaced, was a superb recording of Rainbow Trout, without the transposed
key change, featuring just Lightfoot, Clements, Haynes and the intricate
brush work of Jim Gordon, in a very delicate recording of the song that arguably
surpasses the album track and a similarlily beautiful take on Whispers,
that also arguably eclipses the updated track that eventually emerged on Dream
Street Rose. Conversely, an early take of All The Lovely Ladies, is much
improved upon on the later version that eventually made the album. |
GORD'S GOLD
Recorded:
Toronto, ON at Eastern Sound in July 1975
Released: November 1975
Notes: Lightfoot re-recorded 10 UA
period songs to combine with his WB hits to that point to deliver a truly
special greatest hits package. |
SUMMERTIME DREAM
Recorded:
Toronto, ON at Eastern Sound in December 1975 and March
1976
Released: May 1976
Out-takes: Paper Mache
Notes: In late 1975 The Wreck Of
The Edmund Fitzgerald; I'm Not Supposed ToCare; Race Among The Ruins and
I'd Do It Again were cut. Returning to the studio in March he completed
the remainder of the album. |
ENDLESS WIRE
Recorded:
Toronto, ON at Eastern Sound in August and November 1977
Released: January 1978
Notes: Much of the August recording
was redone during the November sessions as Lightfoot was not totally satisfied
with the August results. |
DREAM STREET ROSE
Recorded:
Los Angeles, CA at WB Recording in November 1979
Released: March 1980
Out-takes: Blackberry Wine; Forgive
Me Lord; Heavenbound
Notes: Lightfoot was on the cutting
edge of recording technology, making one of the first digitally recorded
albums ever. The LA sessions were dampened somewhat when Lightfoot was held
up at gun point and robbed at his LA hotel. Ever the man to press on, he
changed hotels under a different name and continued recording. The earliest
version of Forgive Me Lord was cut for this album with lines like, "Give my life an even chance to win" and "I
been down on my luck and a little mixed up... searching along with a tear
and a song". |
SHADOWS
Recorded:
Toronto, ON at Eastern Sound in March, April and June
1981
Released: February 1982
Out-takes: Gotta Get Away;
Keepin' On Yearning; Forgive Me Lord; Canary Yellow Canoe;
Betty Called Me In; Two Crazy Kids
Notes: In March, In My Fashion; Heaven
Help The Devil and I'll Do Anything, along with out-takes of Gotta Get Away
and Keepin' On Yearning were recorded. In April, All I'm After; Blackberry
Wine; Thank You For The Promises; 14 Karat Gold; Baby Step Back; Triangle
and She's Not The Same were cut. The album was wrapped up in June when Shadows
and an unreleased out-take of Forgive Me Lord were completed. |
SALUTE
Recorded:
Toronto, ON at Eastern Sound in December 1982 and January and February
1983
Released: July 1983
Out-takes: Why Should I Feel Blue;
Magic Minstrel Show; Forgive Me Lord; If It Should Please You; Always On
The Bright Side; Never Say Trust Me
Notes: were cut, with and Lightfoot's
most electric album to date is completed in February with numerous stand-out
out-takes left aside. The December sessions yield Tattoo; Salute; Gotta
Get Away; Whispers Of The North and Without You. In January Romance and Biscuit
CityMagic Minstrel Show; If It Should Please You; Knotty Pine; Broken DreamsSomeone
To Believe In completing the recording in February. |
EAST OF MIDNIGHT
Recorded:
Toronto, ON at Eastern Sound in January, June and December
1985 (Anything For Love was recorded in Los Angeles, CA at Lionshare and
Lighthouse Recorders) and March 1986
Released: July 1986
Out-takes: Lifeline; Forgive Me Lord;
Lily Of The Valley and Harlequin
Notes: were finished. June saw This
was a titanic recording effort on Lightfoot's part, taking up huge periods
of time in 1985 and much of 1986 in post-production and single remixes.
One final recording of Forgive Me Lord was undertaken which turned out very
well but once again was not included on the finished album. In January 1985
Stay Loose; Morning Glory and LifelineEast Of Midnight; I'll Tag Along and
A Passing Ship undertaken, while in December A Lesson In Love; Let It Ride;
Ecstacy Made Easy and Anything For Love ended recording for the year.
Feeling he needed one more song when Forgive Me Lord was deemed unsuitable
for the album, he recorded You Just Gotta Be in March 1986 completing
his longest recording effort for a single album. |
GORD'S GOLD II
Recorded:
Toronto, ON at Eastern Sound in April 1988
Released: September 1988
Notes: Another greatest hits package
carefully re-recorded by Lightfoot and his band featuring a very "live"
studio sound. |
WAITING FOR YOU
Recorded:
Toronto, ON at Eastern Sound in March 1992
Released: April 1993
Notes: In a return to a recording
style of old, Lightfoot and his band cut this album, basically live on the
studio floor, in a very short period. |
A PAINTER PASSING THROUGH
Recorded:
Hamilton, ON at Grant Avenue Studio over much of 1996
Released: May 1998
Out-takes: Sometimes Hearts Have
To Wait; Plans Of My Own; The No Hotel; Shellfish; Ain't It Amazing
Notes: Lightfoot and his band recorded
the album at a very liesurely pace over the course of 1996. |
HARMONY
Recorded: Hamilton, ON at Grant Avenue
Studio 2002 and 2003
Released:
May 2004
Out-takes: Nighttime; I'm A Homeless Guy; Seems Like Forever;
Streets; Where Have You Been; You Are My Destiny
Notes:
The recording work that resulted in this album was
unlike any other in Lightfoot's career. Prior to falling ill in September
2002, Lightfoot had done guitar/vocal demos of 18 new songs in preparation
for going into the studio in November, 2002 with his band for the fullblown
"Harmony" sessions. But fate intervened and when Lightfoot awoke from his
coma in November, weeks after falling ill, he remembered those 18 demos.
He was able to find 9 usuable tracks among them, onto which his band overdubbed
their parts at Grant Avenue Studios in the summer of 2003. Two additional
tracks, The No Hotel and Shellfish were taken from live Massey Hall recordings
from May 2001.
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ALL LIVE
Recorded: Toronto, ON
at Massey Hall
Released:
April 2012
Notes:
Live recordings from Massey Hall series May 1998; November
1999 and May 2001.
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SOLO
Recorded: Hamilton,
ON at Grant Avenue Studio 2002
Released:
March 2020
Notes:
Recorded in 2002 during the sessions that produced Harmony. These
tracks were misplaced until Lightfoot rediscovered them in his desk in 2018.
Released in their original guitar and vocal format, hence the title, Solo.
Refer to the "Unreleased Songs" section from
the main page to find lyrics to
many of the songs listed above as out-takes.
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