3.5 stars. A straightforward biography of the Canadian troubadour, a contemporary of fellow folk-rock Canucks Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, and the Band. Lightfoot's private and humble nature made me feel like I couldn't really get a handle on him for most of the book until his later years when he started his quest for redemption after years of alcoholism and infidelities. I also would have liked to read some analysis of his musical style and lyrics, especially after the multiple comparisons with occasional jam partner Dylan (Lightfoot obviously exceeds in voice...). A worthy read for fans of Lightfoot and the '60s/'70s music scene.

Book Review – Lightfoot by Nicholas Jennings

I watched some of the Canada150 festivities from Parliament Hill on television this past Canada Day. I particularly wanted to see Gordon Lightfoot perform, which he did with evident glee. Justin Trudeau reminded the crowd that Lightfoot had performed on that very spot 50 years ago, for Canada’s centennial celebration in 1967.

Lightfoot, who will turn 79 in November, seemed frail and painfully thin on stage in Ottawa on Canada Day and the same could be said for his voice; a once robust baritone with a thrilling vibrato is now wheezy and constricted by age and emphysema, but still capable of emotional shadings.

Lightfoot continues to perform 70 or so shows a year throughout Canada and the United States. This is one example of the main message of former Macleans magazine feature writer Nicholas Jenning’s workmanlike new biography of Lightfoot — the guy has a great work ethic and only really feels comfortable when he’s on stage.

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I can’t remember a time in my life that was pre-Lightfoot. We had his early records in the house when I was growing up, I bought more in my teens and twenties and his ballads “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” and “The Canadian Railroad Trilogy” are part of the Canadian wallpaper by now.

But somewhere along the way I lost interest in him. He became just another easy listening crooner, serving up what The Los Angeles Times described in a review in the 1980s as “middle-of-the-road music for adults who don’t want to rock but aren’t ready for Vegas.”

But, seeing him in rare television interviews in the last few years, tottering around in his nearly empty mansion in Toronto’s Bridle Path enclave, long lank hair swept back from a skeletal face, I began to be curious about him anew and listening to his old songs again I was struck by just how good much of his early and mid-career work was.

Jennings is clearly a fan who never lost his love for Lightfoot’s music. This is both a good and bad thing for the book. His knowledge is encyclopedic but he tends to treat everything in Lightfoot’s back catalogue with equal reverence.

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The book had its genesis, Jennings tells us, in his assignment to write the liner notes for Lightfoot’s career spanning CD boxed set, Songbook. Through that gig he managed to get interviews with many of Lightfoot’s musical collaborators. Eventually he convinced Lightfoot himself to submit to extended interviews for this book and Lightfoot is quoted at length.

Lightfoot then is as close to an autobiography as we are going to get. Unfortunately, true to his reticent nature and instinct for privacy, Lightfoot’s contributions to the book (set off in italics) aren’t usually very revealing.

To his credit, Jennings has done a large amount of research on his subject, but it is mostly about things that happened in Lightfoot’s public life. We are treated to recitations of how many shows he performed per year, who played on what album, where they were recorded, where Lightfoot lived throughout the years, etc., but the private man emerges only intermittently.

Lightfoot obviously has his demons and Jennings recounts his infidelities, failed marriages, boorish behaviour and his very public battle with alcoholism, but never seems able to get to what actually makes the man tick. He keeps coming back to his central point about Lightfoot’s dogged determination with chipper boosterism.

“Quitting drinking and adopting daily workouts required astonishing willpower,” he gushes. “But that was Lightfoot: disciplined and determined.” Fair enough. Yet he never asks where that discipline and determination were during the decades when booze was ruining his health, relationships and career.

In Lightfoot Jennings supplies his own “disciplined and determined” chronological enumeration of Lightfoot’s life and career that might satisfy his truly devoted fans, but it left me wanting less detail and more emotional inquiry.



Lightfoot by Nicholas Jennings, Viking (Penguin Canada) 334pp.

From the first time I heard The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald on my local country radio station, I loved Lightfoot's music and voice. That's not to say I knew all his songs or that I followed him consistently. But I knew that I loved the stories he sang and I loved the melancholy voice that sang them. So it came as a great surprise to me when I was told some years ago that Lightfoot is not a country artist, but a folk artist.

Today, Carefree Highway is my favorite song of his, followed closely by If You Could Read My Mind and Sundown but the shock was learning that For Loving Me is a Lightfoot song too. And this is why I requested and was so thrilled to get this book from Netgalley. Few songwriters touch me as deeply as Lightfoot and my desire to "know" the songs is deep and keen.

In Lightfoot, there is a delicate balancing act. Lightfoot and many of the principals in his life are alive and can be hurt or impacted by this book. Jennings has clearly been careful in his crafting of this book. Yet he does not shy away from controversial subjects. He maybe minimizes them to some degree. Also, he has been writing this over the course of over a decade. It's a hard undertaking and it's clear that Jennings has worked meticulously on this.

And yet, Lightfoot seems to have taken on the personality traits of its subject. Shy, humble, and socially awkward, Lightfoot comes through in that manner in the book and the book itself often lacks an emotional base. Though it clearly gives me the behind the scenes details and inspiration for some of my favorite songs, it fails to engage my emotions in the way the songs do. That is so Lightfoot, according to Jennings and others.

Ultimately, this book satisfied my curiosity about the songs but I come away from it not really feeling any more connected to Lightfoot for knowing the inspirations. Nor do I feel I understand him any better as a person. I'm sorry for that because I was hoping to get a little more insight, maybe something like if I could read his mind... And yet, except for brief flashes, I never could. It's a fairly cold recitation.

On the flip side, this book is a treasure trove of names and an amazing behind-the-scenes look at the music scene in the 1960s and 1970s. People, places, musical styles, the intersection of music and TV are all discussed here via Lightfoot's career. And what a career it is too! I had to look up some of the people mentioned because I had never heard of them. So there is no doubt Lightfoot broadened my understanding of folk music and music in general.

Ultimately, I enjoyed this glimpse into the life of an amazing songwriter and singer. And my life is the richer for it just as it is the richer for experiencing his songs.

Lightfoot is an interesting biography about an incredible singer/songwriter who is dealing with his own demons. Jennings has written a thought provoking biography behind the elusive artist.

At times, his life is quite idyllic but he seems somewhat removed from the populace. He found fame though he never really wanted fame. I guess to put it into simpler terms is that he has a gift that he wanted to share with the world but did not want the fame that came along with it. This seemed to be the catalyst that would destroy his relationships and give rise to his inner personal demons.

The book does seem guarded at times and I can imagine that Jennings had to work around a subject that at times was not totally forthcoming and this does come across within the pages. Chapters seemed to be a bit flushed out to over compensate this and there never really seems to be any acceptance of responsibility but then again, this is not a work of fiction but a biography. When dealing with a real life person, you get the real person and there is not always going to be the closure that one would get with fiction.

Gordon Lightfoot, is a very private man and this will probably be as open as he will ever get. Jennings has done a fantastic job in getting the real person coaxed out into the open world and onto the page. This is a definite read for fans of Lightfoot and his music.

I know of his music but I knew very little of the artist behind the work. This was an enjoyable and informative read for me. I thoroughly enjoyed it though it did leave me a bit cold but this is more down to the subject than of the writer. This is a solid four star book for me.

Well researched and well written biography of Canada's premier musical talent. I've been a Gordon Lightfoot fan for almost 50 years and found so much about him that I never knew. Highly recommended for fans of the singer/songwriter.

I have been a fan of Gordon Lightfoot since my teenage years, and I have always wanted to know more about him. This book let me get to know the man behind the music. It starts with an anecdote about a days-long musician party at his home following the Rolling Thunder tour, and then gets down to business telling us about Gordon's childhood and his journey towards being a musician and vocalist. The book follows Lightfoot's journey to recognition, his successes & failures, his marriages and affairs, his children and his band mates. The writing is clear and concise; the tone sympathetic and respectful, but honest. Here we see Lightfoot with all his flaws and foibles - truly the man behind the music.

I highly recommend this book to any fan of Gordon Lightfoot. It is well worth the read!

A tale of music, loss, love, writing, and 60s/70s Toronto. Great read. I grew up listening to Gordon Lightfoot and when I saw this book I was immediately interested in reading it. I did not expect it to be such a page turner.

Found it hard to put this down once I started and I ended up putting on Songbook to listen to while I read. It was so interesting to read the stories behind Lightfoot's beautiful songs.

I grew up listening to Gordon Lightfoot and know most of his repertoire by heart. So this book, which explores his journey from childhood to fame and beyond, was a fascinating glimpse into the soul of a singer songwriter that I already had a 'relationship' (musically) with, and for that reason, I found it fairly interesting.