At Last --- The Definitive Lightfoot Introduction! [Full disclosure: I produced this album (which is to say ''compiled from finished masters''; I didn't actually set foot in a studio) and wrote the liner notes, as well as having co-produced the Lightfoot 4-cd box set Songbook (which I recommend shamelessly). Please course-correct as you feel appropriate.]
The inherent hazard in putting together a collection from as prolific and talented an artist as Gordon Lightfoot (not that one often has the chance, mind you --- there aren't many in his class out there) is that, invariably, something gets lost. With room for only 20 tracks on the record, I wasn't even able to pick one song for every year he's been performing; of course some very fine material got left off. I hate it when that happens. My natural inclination would have been to call the record “Gordon Lightfoot: An Overview,” but my inner marketing geek (as well as every other marketing geek at Rhino) told me it wasn't nearly as compelling a title.
The thinking behind the disc was to assemble a single disc with all the Billboard charting hits from both the UA/EMI and WB/Reprise years, plus a smattering of the FM turntable hits and later work. Its purpose was to offer the casual fan something approaching one-stop shopping. Previously, one had to buy Gord's Gold, Gord's Gold 2 and one of the many EMI compilations to amass all the hits. Its second intended function was to serve as a point of entry for someone who has recently encountered Gordon's work for the first time and doesn't know exactly where to begin.
I hope and believe it serves those two purposes admirably, or at the very least, adequately. The sound producer, Bill Inglot, worked his customary magic on the tracks that hadn't been upgraded for the Songbook box set; he has just completed similar magic on Shadows and Salute, which will make their belated CD debut in August 2002 (I just approved the refs last week).
Whatever flaws reside in the disc can be attributed to me, and whatever is good about it can be laid at the feet of several people, not the least of whom is Mr. Lightfoot his own self.
My greatest hope is that this disc will inspire you to dig deeper into the rich vein of Lightfoot's art and craft. He truly is a Canadian (and American, in the broadest sense of the word) treasure.