re: The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

I think lyrically, it's well written and tells an interesting story..

As a whole, it doesn't do enough for me to warrant repeated listens..

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Do you like Breakfast in Hell?

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First time hearing it... it's fine, though it's something I'd need to be in the mood for... Honestly, it would probably take me a few listens to take in all the lyrics...


Yeah TFC is awesome... they either just released a new one or its coming very soon...

amazon prime show is good.

he is basically the Dylan of Canada. A national institution still.

The back story on Sundown is pretty damn interesting. It's about his girlfriend who was evil. She went on the be the chick who killed Belushi with the speedball.

Also the take you hear of Edmund Fitzgerald is the first take. His band had not even heard the lyrics until that morning and the drummer had no idea when to come in on the song so Gord just told him he would give him a nod when it was time to play. Incredible.

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The back story on Sundown is pretty damn interesting. It's about his girlfriend who was evil. She went on the be the chick who killed Belushi with the speedball.

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Wait there's more - this chick that Gord wrote Sundown about, Cathy Smith is an insanely famous rock and roll chick - like in Pattie Boyd or Jerri Hall league (although not quite the household name) - I've been down part of this rabbit hole before, but I just checked and here are the pertinent moving pieces:

1. She was apparently very good looking when she was younger, catching (pre-Band) Levon Helm, during the Hawks era, when she was just 16 years old. Most know The Band's famous song, "The Weight" is an "American" biblical allegory superimposed on a bunch of the Band's real life acquaintances and in particular an incident during which some of them were in some trouble. Legend has it, they were facing some drug charges ("The Weight" meant to signify the literal amount of drugs, the charge, etc.) and "The Load" meaning that "Fanny" was taking "The Load" off the folks facing the charges. Apparently, IRL, "Fanny" threw a BJ on the investigating officer to make the charges go away, giving double meaning to "The Load". And Cathy Smith (also reportedly a drug dealer, still in her teens) is this real life "Fanny".

She is also the mother of the famous "Band" baby, whose paternity was disputed as multiple members of the band were *ahem* "candidates" for fatherhood.

2. She was hired by and ultimately dated (engaged?) Lightfoot in the 1970s, well after the events when she was in the Band's inner circle. Although I don't think it was ever confirmed, the timing would be right for the song to have been about her Gord has confirmed it was about a girlfriend. (ETA: Apparently Lightfoot was still married at the time and the affair with Smith was one of the factors in the largest divorce settlement in Canada up to that time, eh?)

3. She was part of Hoyt Axton's group in the late 70s - after which she became a full-time drug dealer because she was addicted to heroin (and had a bad cocaine habit)

4. She was a major drug dealer for the Stones' junkies (Wood and Richards) in the late 70s/early 80s - through whom she met John Belushi

5. She was the person who injected John Belushi with the speedball that killed him

She died last year.

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Being Canadian & living there didn't help him either. Had he moved to the US earlier and stayed here he may have had even more success but he was happy where he was.

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Yeah, I think success just occasionally found him when he wasn't chasing it actively, he was just gifted enough to catch everyone's eye when he wasn't trying. He does seem to have lived the life he wanted, and I say "Good on him!"

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"As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most"

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The ship was over 725 feet long, and built in the late 1950's. Technically, it was 729 feet long...because 730 was the largest that would be allowed through the Saint Lawrence Seaway. It was the 1st "laker" built to the St. Lawrence Maximum. It was the longest ship on the Great Lakes...freaking huge by those standards, and Lightfoot was telling a story. The size of the vessel was important.