Gordon Lightfoot

Lightfoot's commercial breakthrough is highlighted by the sad, singable title cut and the even sadder, more singable "Carefree Highway." The Canadian songsmith's deep, dark voice lends itself to the most enjoyable sense of sentimentality and desolation in a way that pretty much defines the singer-songwriter genre. This is ultimately pop music, but it is perfect pop music.

Sundown is a fine album which weaves conventional folk and pop strands into a whole that
is greater than the sum of its parts. The polish of Lightfoot's singing has tended in the past to
undermine the seriousness of his songs, inviting the listener to appreciate his records
mainly as aural artifacts rather than explore their contents. But most of Sundown's 12 songs
are so evocative that they prohibit such easy perusal. Lightfoot's singing is almos... More >

If Gordon had dyed his hair and taken a short course at the local car wash--you think he would have lasted a week?--he might have found a new career as Jim Croce II. Instead, he scored one of his periodic hit singles, thus securing his status as a weird new kind of purist: uncompromising proponent of commercial folk music. Two songs about the lure of the sea and one about urban despair go down as easy as the usual plaints about female perfidy. Chad lives? (Grade - B-)