6. Gordon LightfootGord’s Gold
People might not know that Gordon Lightfoot was immensely popular in the 1960s and 70s, and that he has quite the collection of gold records. Again, like Neil Young he’s a Canadian that came out to Southern California and he started his life as an arranger but then he diverged in his path. Whereas Neil Young kind of retreated to Laurel Canyon, Gordon Lightfoot retreated to the recording studios and quickly became known for his arranging skills; he really was a master of arrangement and instrumentation. These skills are really on display on Gord’s Gold, certainly on songs such as ‘If You Could Read My Mind’ and ‘Sundown’. These are fantastic songs, but what really stands out for me is the instrumentation and the arrangements. I pay homage to him on the Millport album on the song ‘Making Time’. I notice that in picking these albums that a lot of them are made by people who have emigrated to Southern California, and while that is subconscious on my part it is nonetheless one of the things that resonates with me. It is the unspoken magic of music.
