When I saw that Gordon Lightfoot was coming to the Coronado Performing Arts Center it took me back to my childhood. I used to love Lightfoot’s music back in the day and had several LP’s of his. After my last turntable died a bunch of years back I got rid of most of my vinyl – after all, I had nothing to play it on. Lightfoot was one artist that I hadn’t really heard anything about since then, until now.

Well, I decided to pick up this disc to get ready for the show, and it’s really reminded me of why I liked Gordon Lightfoot in the first place. Sure, I remembered “The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald” as it was the song that drew me to him in the first place. What I didn’t remember was how many other great songs he had. With tracks like “Sundown,” “If You Could Read My Mind” and “Carefree Highway” it’s easy to think of Lightfoot as a hit machine – and in some ways he has been. But he’s a lot more than that.

Gordon Lightfoot is a folk music powerhouse. Whereas a lot of other folk musicians have voices that need a lot of warming up to in order to appreciate, Lightfoot’s voice has always been strong and accessible. He’s easy to listen to. His lyrics are often poetry and there’s enough variety in his music to keep it from sounding all the same. Whether it’s his more country music inspired sounds, the more psychedelic textured or something in between it all feels relevant and genuine. Gordon Lightfoot is a true artist and this is a fine collection of his music. You’ll probably the find the only thing you can pick up locally in time for the show are the compilations. This is quite a strong one and comes highly recommended.