The Wall Street Journal - 16.08.2019

M12| Friday, August 16, 2019 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

O

ne day in 1948, when

I was 10, I was sum-

moned to see the

school principal. Ar-

riving in his office, I

saw a portable machine with

blank plastic platters on his desk.

He wanted me to record a song of

my choosing.

I was in the fourth grade, and

everyone knew I could sing. The

principal wanted to play the re-

cording over the school’s P.A. sys-

tem on Parents’ Day a few days

later. So I sang “Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-

Loo-Ral,” an Irish lullaby my par-

ents had taught me. They had me

model my voice after Bing Crosby.

My record played, and everyone

at school was very impressed.

I grew up in Orillia, Ontario,

about 80 miles north of Toronto.

My mother told me that when I

was 3, I sang to myself while fall-

ing asleep.

My father, Gordon Sr., managed

a commercial laundry and dry-

cleaning plant. Starting at age 14,

any time I wanted to earn some

money, I worked there as a wash-

man and then as a truck driver.

I grew up in a musical house-

hold. My mother, Jessie, sang with

her sisters: Aunt Laura, Aunt Babe

and Aunt Mary. They formed a vo-

cal group in childhood and sang

for the family at Christmastime.

In addition, my grandmother

played piano, and so did my older

sister, Beverley, who accompanied

me. She also accompanied me on

organ in church. We were very

close.

Our family lived in a small,

two-story brick house, with a Ger-

hard Heintzman upright piano in

the front room. My sister and I

had our own rooms.

I liked going up to the attic to

be alone and think of songs to

write. It was an inspiring space

but isolating. My first musical

hero was Louis Armstrong. In

1956, he was replaced by Elvis

Presley. That’s when my father

bought me a guitar. I used to do

Elvis impersonations. Later, Elvis

recorded my songs “Early Morn-

ing Rain” and “For Lovin’ Me.”

Both of my parents were loving

and took an interest in me. Early

on, I participated in school

sports—football, pole vaulting and

basketball. They’d drive me to

games and meets. I’m not sure

why I bothered. I was only 5-

foot-8, but I was competitive.

In the winters, my sister and I

skated. My father flattened out

our backyard and sprayed it with

the hose. Overnight, the surface

became a rink.

We belonged to Orillia’s St.

Paul’s United Church. The man

who ran the junior choir, Ray Wil-

liams, had a wonderful voice. He

taught me to sing with emotion.

He said, “Let it come from deep

inside.” To help me along, he in-

troduced me to Handel and Men-

delssohn choir pieces. It’s impos-

sible to sing these works and not

be emotional.

As a singer, I progressed rap-

idly and wound up on a local ra-

dio station when I was 12. The

station’s owner had heard me per-

form in church and invited me on

a show. I sang five songs live.

In 1958, when I was 20, my

friend, Buddy Hill, and I moved to

Los Angeles to study jazz compo-

sition and orchestration at the

Westlake College of Music. To pay

the rent, I wrote and recorded ra-

dio jingles. I was one paper short

of graduating when I left West-

lake. I was homesick. I moved to

Toronto and took a job at a bank

and worked on the side as a copy-

ist for a music publisher.

My career took off in 1965

when Peter, Paul & Mary recorded

my song, “For Lovin’ Me.” When

it reached No. 30 on Billboard’s

pop chart, Albert Grossman, who

managed them, Bob Dylan, Odetta

and other folk artists, signed me.

From that point on, I didn’t

have to worry about securing

work permits in the U.S. I started

traveling back and forth between

Gordon Lightfoot at his Toronto

home, left, and with his sister, Bev-

erley, and parents, Gordon and Jes-

sie, in Orillia, around 1945, above.

HOUSE CALL|GORDON LIGHTFOOT

His Thoughts Tell a Tale

The Canadian folk singer recalls writing songs in solitude in the family attic

GORDON’S GETS

Toronto and New York, and I’ve

been touring ever since.

Today, my wife, Kim, and I live

in Toronto’s North York section. I

moved into my five-bedroom house

20 years ago. There isn’t an attic,

but it does have a large music room

where it’s quiet and I can work.

I’m still crazy about basketball

and often write or practice with the

Toronto Raptors on and the sound

down. Off season, I leave a talk-ra-

dio show on with the volume low.

My favorite photo is the one I

have of my sister, who passed

away in 2017. She was a great gal

and had a hell of a sense of hu-

mor. She ran my business for 10

years and knew everything that

was going on in my life.

Her photo sits framed on my

desk. She’s there with a great big

smile on her face. She looks as if

she’s thinking.

—As told to Marc Myers

Gordon Lightfoot, 80, is a singer-

songwriter with 14 Billboard pop

hits, including “If You Could Read

My Mind,” “Sundown” and “The

Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”

He is on tour in the U.S. FROM LEFT: MARKIAN LOZOWCHUK FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL; LIGHTFOOT FAMILY; GETTY IMAGES

Most inspiring folk artist

growing up:Hank Snow

Favorite Louis Armstrong

record:“Basin Street

Blues”

Number of touring days:

100 days a year, 80 shows

Favorite meal on the road:

Pasta and fresh vegetables

Lesson from father:“Don’t

get a swelled head.”

Lesson from Beverley:

“Mind your manners.”

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