Gordon Lightfoot - Facts & Music Pt. II Quiz

Answer: Canadian National Railway

The hint should have given it away with the words "freight" and the introductory info gave you the words "coast to coast". BC Rail is strictly in British Columbia and the west, Ontario Northland is in Ontario only, and Via concentrates on passenger traffic. Gord has written over 70 songs that were originally intended for recording, but for one reason or another, never did get onto an album or CD.

Some of them although, including "Land With No Name", have been performed live. So the CPR commissioned "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" and the CNR commissioned "Land With No Name". Lightfoot has always had a 'love affair' with train travel and has several songs that tell stories of trains and their travellers.

Answer: Steel Rail Blues

Lightfoot sometimes displayed a style of restlessness in his writing where he was either trying to get back home or return to a loved one, or to escape them in a similar fashion. This style, only one of many, gives Gord's writing a universal appeal, which is why so many of his fans can relate to him on a personal level. So "Steel Rail Blues" is pretty much self explanatory to those who have long known that steel rails is a common term for railroad tracks.

Answer: Spike Lee

Wow! Interesting fact huh? Bill Lee, the father of Shelton Jackson Lee, a.k.a. "Spike", was a renowned jazz musician of his time. How he hooked up with Gord isn't really known, but we know Gord demanded that his band musicians delivered quality and skill in their work.

Some of Bill Lee's other credits include working on the soundtrack music for his son's movies, "Do The Right Thing", and "Mo' Better Blues", as well as recording albums such as "Birdhouse" under a duet called Will Lee and Bill Lee.

Answer: folk

"Lightfoot" was considered Gordon's only true 'folk' album. Even Gord doesn't feel his music should be categorized as folk, and in the early 1980s he commented that the folk label caused his music to be passed over by many radio stations because they had him "pegged as a folk artist".

Despite the complete uniqueness of his musical style, it's the genre that his music has been identified with since his first solo album release over four decades ago.

Answer: Early Morning Rain

As a single, Peter, Paul, and Mary took "Early Morning Rain" to number 91 on the pop charts in 1965, and George Hamilton IV took it to number nine on the U.S. Country charts in 1966. Several well known artists included it on albums they released. Recording this well known tune were Peter, Paul, and Mary, Judy Collins, and Ian and Sylvia Tyson in 1965, Chad and Jeremy in 1966, Bob Dylan in 1970, Elvis Presley did it both in 1972 and 1977, Jerry Lee Lewis in 1973, and Eva Cassidy in 2002. Gord himself re-released it in 1975 on his first "Gord's Gold" compilation and the double album went to number 34, yet, as strange as this seems, the highest "Early Morning Rain" ever reach on any charts was as part of Bob Dylan's album, "Self Portrait", where it shared number four with the rest of the songs from that album. Even stranger, "Self Portrait" is ranked number three on Guterman and O'Donnell's "Worst Rock & Roll Records of All Time."

Answer: The Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as The Missiles of October, is still considered to be "the most dangerous two weeks in mankind's history". John F. Kennedy squared off against his Russian counterpart, Nikita Kruschev, and demanded that the Soviets remove nuclear missiles and launchers they were preparing in Cuba, or prepare for all-out war.

Although the situation was diffused in thirteen days in October, 1962, the song "Pride of Man" still held its powerful prophetic message nearly four years later, so Gord decided to include it on his debut album as a 'reminder' for the masses as to how close we came to self-destruction.

Answer: Song For A Winter's Night

Gord was quickly gathering fans of all age groups with his ever growing repertoire of songs that covered everything from the political upheavals of the times to songs about those who were in love and everything in between. "Song For A Winter's Night" reflects the mood of one who is lonely for the companionship of a loved one, and depending on the mood you're experiencing while listening to it, can bring a smile to one's lips, or a tear to one's eye. Gord never did reveal who he had in mind when writing the song, although it was rumoured it was for his wife, Brita, who he'd married in 1963.

Answer: Harry Tracy, Desperado

The movie is based on real-life outlaw, Harry Tracy (Bruce Dern), who despite being cast as a likeable bank robber, was actually one of the meanest murderers in Butch Cassidy's gang who were well known as "The Wild Bunch". Lightfoot stars as U.S. Marshall, Morrie Nathan, who leads his posses on what became the largest manhunt in North American history.

The movie 'whitewashed' the real Harry Tracy, who'd probably have shot his own mother for the right amount of $$. Truth be known, Tracy didn't die in a shootout with Nathan Morrie, but actually took his own life once he realized he couldn't escape.

Despite some cameos in documentaries and making some music videos, this turned out to be the first, and last, hurrah in Gord's 'acting career'. The movie was a box office flop.

Answer: Bob Dylan

Gord has rubbed elbows with many great artists throughout his career, and credits many with being driving forces that motivated him in his musical career. Some of those he names are; John Denver, Jim Croce, Eric Clapton, and of course, Bob Dylan being his favourite musical personality. Dylan once said, "Gordon Lightfoot, every time I hear a song of his, it's like I wish it would last forever". One of Gord's proudest moments in his musical career was when Bob Dylan appeared at the 1986 Juno Awards to present him with the award of induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

Answer: The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

On November 10th, 1975, the ore carrier, "S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald", sank in Lake Superior, taking all 29 sailors to their death. In spite of its macabre subject matter, the song hit number two on the Billboard pop charts. Lightfoot credits the song, which was written as his own tribute to the ship and the men who lost their lives, with being his "most significant musical contribution". Even 34 years later, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", remains a powerful and emotionally stirring ballad and Lightfoot has played at every concert since the song came out in 1976.