‘Thunder and Lightfoot’ sparkles after a spotty start at SPAC

by Martin Moynihan, The Knickerbocker News, July 12, 1976

Thunder and Lightfoot held forth at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center Sunday.

Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot performed for about 90 minutes for a large crowd inside the amphitheater, where he was rewarded with a standing ovation at the conclusion of his show, and a smaller crowd of lawn ticket-holders who showed their approval by sitting in the rain.

Lightfoot, whose voice and musical compositions have made him almost a cult figure among many of his fans, stayed largely with his familiar or newly recorded material at the SPAC concert. He did this by barely dipping into the large reservoir of music he has performed and made popular over the years.

He opened the show with two songs that came across with rather poor vocals, possibly indicating a few needed adjustments in the sound system (this despite the singer’s slipping unobtrusively into the audience during the warm-up act to check the sound mix with technicians at the console).

Things seemed on their way to being straightened out by the third number, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” a Lightfoot tribute to the Great Lakes sailors that was well sung and benefited greatly from good instrumental accompaniment, particularly the mournful tones of the steel guitar played by Pee Wee Charles.

Lightfoot, who accompanies himself on guitar, received generally solid instrumental backup from lead guitarist Terry Clements, particularly, and Richard Haines, bass, and Barry Keane, drums.

His songs included “Spanish Moss,” a beautifully executed love song from his latest album, and “Sundown,” his most recent hit single, also well done, which seemed to be one of the best received among the audience.

It was overall an enjoyable concert, although Lightfoot has given better performances in Metroland, including one several years ago at the Albany Junior College.

Sunday he sang “The Auctioneer,” a well-known country song with an imitation of an auctioneer’s cadence, in a soft, almost monotone voice; that was not a very effective presentation.

Lightfoot wrote “Canadian Railroad Trilogy” in observation of the Canadian centennial in 1967. His recorded version of the song is a lengthy tribute to railroad workers tying together a new nation with bands of steel; you can almost hear the spikes going in. His Sunday version of the song, which he used to close his act, was sung much more slowly than the record cut, and lost some of its impact.

There was, however, plenty there for the legions of Lightfoot lovers.

“Cherokee Bend” demonstrated the singer’s poetic skills in the saga of the Trail of Tears. “Beautiful” received an excellent performance, as did his picaresque satire “Don Quixote.”

His singing skills were also nicely showcased in “If You Could Read My Mind.”

Touring with Lightfoot this summer is Liona Boyd, a classical guitarist from Toronto.

Despite a very small minority in the audience who seemed more interested in hearing Gordon Lightfoot than in hearing what Miss Boyd described as “a couple of numbers from the Top Ten in Europe… in the 17th century,” she performed beautifully and was warmly received.

Her material was actually more varied than that, and her performing excellent; among her more interesting selections was “Hummingbird.”

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