Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind

Watching Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind was a pleasant way to spend 90 minutes, but something was lacking. Maybe this had to do with the life and career of this 80-year-old music legend's life being reduced to a mere 90 minutes. I wanted more. My only other complaint: Why feature Alec Baldwin over and over again? The interview snippets of him talking about Gordon Lightfoot puzzled both me and my friend. Alec Baldwin?? "That was the weirdest part of the movie," my friend said. Was it so hard to find relevant people to say insightful things about Gordon and his music that the filmmakers had to go with what I thought were banalities of an irrelevant?

But there are many pluses which include a lot of old footage, and Gordon singing of course. The best running theme of the film for me is Gordon reflecting on things, or just shooting the breeze. His lamentations of causing emotional trauma to the women in his life via his actions and his music juxtapose beautifully with his belief that the male-female dynamic is the single most fascinating force in the universe to him, and with his gorgeous lyrics and soulful crooning. The best moment of the film for me is when the Good Brothers talk about how Gordon can evoke such emotion from seemingly ordinary lines. One of the Goods recites the line "Is the home team still on fire, do they still win all their games, and by the way, did she mention my name", and gets so choked up he can barely finish it. I could so relate.

When it comes right down to it, I and the several other Gordon fans I talked to who have seen this doc love it for the simple fact that it's a doc about Gordon Lightfoot. How could that concept fail. Still, I wish it had been at least 2 hours long. Why edit it to 90 minutes. Make it 2 hours, replace Alec Baldwin talking about Gordon with esteemed musicians and/or esteemed Canadians and/or esteemed Canadian musicians talking about Gordon Lightfoot....10 out of 10 stars.

Singer/songwriter, Gordon Lightfoot (born 1938) is definitely one of my very favorite Canadian musicians of his generation, bar none.

There are so many of Lightfoot's songs that I enjoy listening to on a regular basis. I have the greatest respect for this man and his music.

Through stills, archival footage, and interviews (including those with Lightfoot) - This informative bio-documentary takes a close-up look at the life and career of a true Canadian icon, Gordon Lightfoot.

Greetings again from the darkness. We realize very quickly that octogenarian Gordon Lightfoot isn't about to cater to co-documentarians Martha Kehoe and Joan Tosoni, or establish a new reputation as being a sweetheart at this stage of life. Instead he is filmed with his third wife Kim, watching clips of young Gord singing "(That's What You Get) For Loving Me". Despite his singing it with Johnny Cash, or having the song covered by Peter, Paul and Mary, Waylon Jennings, and many others, Lightfoot cringes and says. "I hate that song." That's what we get here - a man who speaks directly about his regrets, yet one who is appreciative of his life.

Lightfoot is thought of as Canadian Royalty, and is often referred to as the best ever Canadian singer-songwriter. He certainly played a key role in the popularity of folk music in the 1960's, and we hear about his influence from many important Canadian musicians, including: Geddy Lee, Sarah MacLachlan, Tom Cochrane, Ronnie Hawkins, Burton Cummings and Anne Murray. For some inexplicable reason, the filmmakers include an interview with actor Alec Baldwin, who is neither Canadian, nor a musician - though at least he does seem to be a fan of Gordon Lightfoot.

The profile skips over much of his personal life to focus on the music. In fact, initially it seems like Gord is going to walk us through his songbook, one by one. With "Early Morning Rain", we learn it was not only a hit for Lightfoot, but covered by others such as Judy Collins, Elvis Presley, Neil Young, and even Ian and Sylvia (a successful Canadian folk duo). It's also at this point when Burton Cummings explains that it was Lightfoot's songs that inspired The Guess Who to write their own songs. We also see a clip of a young Lightfoot being interviewed by an even younger DJ named Alex Trebek!

Anne Murray and Sarah MacLachlan discuss "Song for a Winter's Night", and Lightfoot explains how he isolates to write songs ...and he "waters" his guitars (something that makes more sense seeing than reading). Gordon tells the story of how he quit a promising career in banking to take a chance on performing, and he relates how growing up in the country helped him when he moved to the city. He also tells the fascinating "behind the scenes" story of how the record company changed the name of his first album after "If You Could Read My Mind" became a hit on the radio. By the way, that song has been recorded by a slew of artists - so many that the filmmakers offer up a slide show to make the point.

Photographs give us a taste of some of Lightfoot's infamous parties attended by various celebrities. It was this partying lifestyle that led to drugs and alcohol abuse, as well as his weight gain. Lightfoot talks about his 3 year affair/relationship with Cathy Evelyn Smith, a name you might recognize as the woman who injected John Belushi with the lethal "speedball" that killed him. It was his severe jealousy over Ms. Smith that led Lightfoot to write his biggest U.S. hit "Sundown." There is also an entire segment on Bob Dylan, and how much respect each of the songwriters had/have for each other.

Yet another "behind-the-scenes" moment occurs when one of Lightfoot's band members recollects the time they recorded "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." They had never even rehearsed the song, and yet it was the first take in the studio that ended up being the hit version. Also included is a segment where Lightfoot reminisces about his childhood in Orillia, and we get a brief clip of his mom and dad. Even more shocking is the included recording of Lightfoot as a kid, singing with the church choir. The high pitched soprano voice bears little resemblance to the soothing tones of an older Gordon.

As a poet-singer-songwriter, few have been better or had more success than Gordon Lightfoot. The film skims over much of his personal life and his severe health issue in 2002, but focusing on the music is what his fans want - and it's a treasure trove of early performances, clips, and photographs. He's now 81 years old, and the filmmakers don't shy away from contrasting his singing voice on "If You Could Read My Mind" with a 'then and now' edit. Lightfoot admits to regrets, and also states "I appreciate having been alive." Still sporting that renowned attitude, he undoubtedly enjoys hearing Diana Krall and Sara MacLachlan open the film with the titular song. A Canadian national hero indeed. As a bonus, we southerners finally learn the meaning of "Gitche Gumee."

Having grown up listening to Gordon Lightfoot and then playing and singing his music on guitar, I'm partial to the wealth and blunt honesty of his songs. There was always a hidden emotional quality to his performances. He was no skilled emoter but oddly, it was all the better. By stepping back, his smooth, rhythmic baritone, his carefully crafted ingenious melodies, lyrics, and arrangements gave you the space to fill in with your feelings, memories and heartbreak.

Just as well, this movie flows along highlighting his great ups and great downs and the "in between" without getting fancy or soppy and without apologies in respecting a true artist. Hid music will be discovered and re-discovered. Canada and the world are better for it.

You know those Heritage Minutes about Canadian history? This felt like that but drawn out over a feature length documentary. Talking heads, over and over, about how Lightfoot was great. Yes, he was a great songwriter and musician. I think you can understand that by listening to a couple of his best songs. You don't need that over and over again from different people in a feature length documentary, though. It was cool to see Rush come in, and also Neil Young, but WHY was Alec Baldwin in this so much? He just seemed a bit random and out of place. Is he just a Lightfoot fan? OK, but that could have been explained somehow. Context is good.

Look, a great documentary should have some drama to it, some mystery, some narrative drive. This doc is more of a straightforward retelling of Lightfoot's career, song by song, and talking about the mechanics of the songwriting. This could be of interest to musicians, perhaps, but not most moviegoers. There isn't enough intrigue here.