(2019) Gordon Lightfoot – The Complete Singles 1970-1980


Review:
Real Gone Music’s 2019 compilation The Complete Singles 1970-1980 fills a gap in the Gordon Lightfoot catalog, a gap that wasn’t immediately apparent. For years, the 1975 double-LP compilation Gord’s Gold seemed to be the standard bearer for Lightfoot compilations, containing most of his biggest hits among its 22 tracks, with the smash “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” — a Top Ten hit from 1976 — conspicuously absent. “The Wreck” showed up on Gord’s Gold, Vol.2 — a sequel delivered a mere 13 years later — and Rhino’s comprehensive 2002 set Complete Greatest Hits seemed to solve the problem by offering 20 of Lightfoot staples, beginning with “Early Morning Rain” and ending with “Restless.” The latter song was pulled from 1993’s Waiting for You, an album that falls outside of the scope of The Complete Singles 1970-1980, which focuses squarely on the decade in which Lightfoot was an adult contemporary hitmaker in addition to being a sturdy, stout troubadour. It’s a subtle difference but an important one, one that is driven home by the B-sides — songs that were often not much more than deep album cuts — but in the context of this set, they add depth to the smoother, softer side of Lightfoot. As such, The Complete Singles 1970-1980 may be the choice compilation for listeners who are as infatuated with how Lightfoot seamlessly blended folk, pop, and rock into a distinctive aural blend, as they are by his expert songcraft.





Track Listing:
Disc 1
01.Me and Bobby McGee
02.The Pony Man
03.If You Could Read My Mind
04.Poor Little Allison
05.Talking in Your Sleep
06.Nous Vivons Ensemble
07.Summer Side of Life
08.Love & Maple Syrup
09.Beautiful
10.Don Quixote
11.That Same Old Obsession
12.You Are What I Am
13.Can’t Depend on Love
14.It’s Worth Believin’
15.Sundown
16.Too Late for Prayin’
17.Carefree Highway
18.Seven Island Suite

Disc 2
01.Rainy Day People
02.Cherokee Bend
03.The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
04.The House You Live In
05.Race Among the Ruins
06.Protocol
07.The Circle Is Small (I Can See It in Your Eyes)
08.Sweet Guinevere
09.Daylight Katy
10.Hangdog Hotel Room
11.Dreamland
12.Songs the Minstrel Sang
13.Dream Street Rose
14.Make Way for the Lady
15.If You Need Me
16.Mister Rock of Ages


Media Report:
Genre: folk-rock, soft rock
Country: Canada
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits