Celebrating Gordon Lightfoot Concert Special Debuted Canada Day on CBC Platforms

By Karen Bliss

It’s apropos that the Celebrating Gordon Lightfoot special, filmed at the star-studded tribute concert that took place May 23 at Toronto’s Massey Hall, debuted on Monday, Canada Day (July 1). The late singer-songwriter of such classics “If You Could Read My Mind” and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is a Canadian music icon after all.

The 90-minute show aired 12 p.m. ET on CBC Radio One and 4 p.m. on CBC Music and CBC Listen, and is available on-demand after Canada Day too, nationally on CBC Gem, and globally on CBC Music’s YouTube channel.

Lightfoot, who was inducted into the first-ever Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (CSHF) ceremony in 2003, died May 1, 2023, at the age of 84 — he had played the historic Massey Hall an unprecedented 170 times.

“The evening was rather perfectly executed in my personal opinion, in the work done on the part of both the organizers and the artists involved,” Lightfoot’s daughter, folk singer Meredith Moon, who also performed, tells the CSHF. “I felt that my father’s wishes were honoured graciously, and it truly was a celebration of an incredible life which touched so many.”

The tribute concert, which sold out in a flash, featured two house bands, The Lightfoot Band for the first half of the show and Blue Rodeo for the second and were joined by an assortment of Canadian musicians: Allison Russell, Aysanabee, Burton Cummings, Caroline Wiles & Bob Doidge, City and Colour, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson from Rush (a surprise), The Good Brothers, Julian Taylor, Kathleen Edwards, Lightfoot’s daughter Meredith Moon, Murray McLauchlan, Serena Ryder, Sylvia Tyson, Tom Cochrane, Tom Wilson and William Prince.

The audience of 2,750 were treated to the classics and deep cuts.

Rick Haynes, bassist with Lightfoot for 55 years and now the leader of The Lightfoot Band, with drummer Barry Keane, keyboardist Mike Heffernan, guitarist Carter Lancaster — and new singer lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist Andy Mauck — tells CSHF that after a small private funeral was held for Lightfoot in his hometown of Orillia, Ontario, “It was agreed by his wife, Kim, family, band, and estate, that a public ‘celebration of life’ would follow.

“We all tried to maintain a focus on dignity and respect for the audience, which would include surviving family, friends, and fans of Gordon Lightfoot,” Haynes says. “The fine folks at Massey Hall, who are like family to all of us, stepped up with the start of plans to host Celebrating Gordon Lightfoot and started assembling a list of artists who would honor Gordon by performing some of his superb songs.

“We, as Gordon’s original band, were keenly and enthusiastically on board to accompany any or all of these singers, including Gordon’s daughter Meredith, in this exciting musical celebration.

This one-day event began to take shape and develop into what I feel became a tasteful musical tribute to an Iconic Canadian and International Superstar who will be remembered as one of the finest singer-songwriters of our time.”

While The Lightfoot Band, of course, knew all the songs, Blue Rodeo — co-vocalists/frontmen Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor, bassist Bazil Donovan, drummer Glenn Milchem, guitarist Colin Cripps, keyboardist Mike Boguski and multi-instrumentalist Jimmy Bowskill — had to put in some work to not only learn the lesser-known material but work with the artists on the arrangements for their song selections.

Blue Rodeo has been the house band for other events over the years, usually more casual parties or fundraisers, “music a la minute,” Cuddy calls it, not a filmed tribute to an icon, backing a host of incredible talent.

“The Gordon Lightfoot tribute was certainly a bigger project than we generally do. We really had to work hard to have the songs completely known so that the artists could make them their own,” Cuddy says.

All the songs were so perfectly suited to the singers that they didn’t sound like covers at all.

“It’s so nice to hear because that was certainly the intention,” says Cuddy. “And we had to also be ready for any little detours that people took during the song because that happens. But that sort of stuff’s a thrill. I think that it was very nerve-wracking for some members of the band because they really didn’t want to mess up. It just took time and concentration. It was so worth it. It was so much fun.”

Massey Hall has been dubbed “the House that Gord built” because Lightfoot performed there more than any other artist in the soft-seater’s 130-year history (Blue Rodeo is a distant second with 43 shows). He was also the last to play it in 2018 before the $184 million renovation and the first to open it, in 2021.

Following his death, Massey Hall opened its doors to allow fans to pay their respects by writing in a book of condolences up on the stage.

Proceeds from Celebrating Gordon Lightfoot went to Massey Hall, which is a not-for-profit institution.

“Honouring Gordon’s music and memory with his family and all those very special friends was one of the most heartwarming experiences of our 50 years of making music together,” Bruce Good of The Good Brothers tells CSHF. “I hope CBC and Massey Hall make this an annual event.”

CSHF asked a few of the artists why they chose these particular Lightfoot songs:

Meredith Moon:
“I chose my own tune, ‘Slow Moving Train,’ as it was one of my dad’s personal favourites of mine. The other was ‘If You Could Read My Mind,’ as I felt I wanted to give this song which has been done so many times by so many people my own personal input. I thought the crowd may enjoy that, too. I had planned on doing it as a duet with someone, so when Serena Ryder asked to do it with me I was over the moon. It all kind of lined up and we were both so happy with how it turned out.

Murray McLauchlan:
“When Chris Topping first approached me to do the show, I said I wanted to perform ‘Early Morning Rain.’  I’ve always felt that at one point in my life I was the guy in that song so it feels personal to me. The last time I saw Gordon, not long before he passed, it was in a trailer at Mariposa where he was most kindly inducting me into the songwriter’s Hall of Fame.  There was a contest give-away guitar in the trailer and I tuned it up and said to Gordon «You know no one has ever recorded that song the way you wrote it.  There were no minor chords in your original version.»  I then proceeded to sing it for him that way.  It was a really lovely moment.I wanted to do a very atmospheric version at Massey so I chose to do it sparsely and acoustically with just guitar and upright bass.  Just the pure song.  I kind of felt that Gord would approve. Thanks for everything Gord.”

Rush’s Geddy Lee (as told to Karen Bliss for U.S. site Variety):
“It was important for us to pay tribute to Gordon. Not being folk or pop artists, Alex and I were looking for one of Gordon’s songs that might better suit our style of play and we found that in ‘The Way I Feel.’ Its structure was loose and more open to interpretation than many of his more popular tunes. After the gig, Gordon’s daughter Meredith said to us, ‘Leave it to Rush to make ‘The Way I Feel’ sound prog,’ so I think we succeeded.”

Julian Taylor
”When asked to take part in the Lightfoot celebration, there was only one song choice in my mind and that was ‘All I’m After’ from his 1982 album, Shadows. Years ago, my friend Jory Nash put on a tribute to Gord at the old Hugh’s Room and I chose to do it there. I just love a good waltz. Gordon Lightfoot was in the front row and when my performance was over, he came up to me with a little surprised twinkle in his eyes and said, ‘Good job kid. You almost sounded like me.’ He was a fun that way. Doing it at Massey Hall with Blue Rodeo was an outstanding moment in my music career. They did an amazing job with it and I’m so grateful to them for their support and love. It was really lovely to see Gord’s wife singing along in the front row as well. That really moved me.