A$# 051 Various Artists | Beautiful: A Tribute To Gordon Lightfoot

Gordon Lightfoot is Canada’s bard, and he's often compared to Bob Dylan for his ability to turn a phrase, tell stories and evoke images. Beautiful is an excellent 2003 salute to Gordon, performed by some of Canada’s most talented musicians.

Gord has always come across as an unpretentious everyman (albeit a very talented one), as album executive producer Colin Linden writes in the liner notes about the first time the two met and played together:

We sat and played for awhile, and I was awestruck by his presence. He was so “un-star-like”, but he had this intense, dignified charisma in every word he said, and in every note he played. He seemed as if he was born standing up to a cold wind, unbreakable, outlasting season after season.

The timelessness of his music is apparent on the tracks contained in the collection, performed by a diverse group of artists. The tracks span more than three decades, from his 1966 Lightfoot! up to 1998’s A Painter Passing Through.

All of the performances are very well done, but several stand out. The Cowboy Junkies open the album with their read of The Way I Feel, with Margo Timmins’ sultry vocal style caressing the metaphorical lyrics. I also like Ron Sexsmith’s performance of Drifters. A fine singer / songwriter himself, he certainly does the song justice.

Some of the rockier arrangements are excellent. Blue Rodeo, with Greg Keelor singing lead, do a great job of Go Go Round. The Tragically Hip give an earnest rendition of Black Day in July, and Blackie And The Rodeo Kings rock up Summer Side Of Life.

Lightfoot-contemporaries Bruce Cockburn and Murray McLauchlan are excellent on Ribbons Of Darkness and Home From The Forest, respectively. Murray’s arrangement, on which he plays piano and penny whistle, is particularly moving.

The two strongest performances, imho, are Maria Muldaur (the only non-Canadian on the disc) on That Same Old Obsession, and Quartette’s haunting delivery of Song For A Winter’s Night.

There’s also an original track called Lightfoot by Aengus Finnan. It’s a good song – though I would have instead included the 1969 Guess Who song of the same name instead (an early tribute to the man) - and rounds out this great tribute to superb singer / songwriter.

Track listing:

1. Cowboy Junkies | The Way I Feel
2. Jesse Winchester | Sundown
3. Ron Sexsmith | Drifters
4. Bruce Cockburn | Ribbons Of Darkness
5. Blue Rodeo | Go Go Round
6. Blackie And The Rodeo Kings | Summer Side Of Life
7. Connie Kaldor | If You Could Read My Mind
8. Terry Tufts | For Lovin' Me
9. Harry Manx | Bend In The Water
10. Tragically Hip | Black Day In July
11. Murray McLauchlan | Home From The Forest
12. Maria Muldaur | That Same Old Obsession
13. James Keelaghan | Canadian Railroad Trilogy
14. Quartette | Song For A Winter's Night
15. Aengus Finnan | Lightfoot