You get classic Lightfoot songs like "For Lovin' Me," "Early Mornin' Rain," "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" and "Did She Mention My Name." Also, the box set includes a live medley of "I'm Not Sayin'/Ribbon of Darkness" from the live album Sunday Concert. On this release you get the original studio versions.

Quite simply, Lightfoot is one of the best singer-songwriters of the last forty years and this belongs in any serious music library. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

49 of 51 found the following review helpful:


Shockingly Good  Mar 03, 2003 By Greg Cleary
Before buying the UA Collection, I had owned and appreciated "Sundown" and "Summertime Dream" for years. I was also familiar with "Gord's Gold," but had given up on pursuing Gordon Lightfoot any further when a couple of his later albums turned out to be duds.

But this collection has been something of a revelation for me. The first disc, in particular, is shockingly good. The songs that were later re-recorded for "Gord's Gold" sound even better here, without the orchestral arrangements.

Lightfoot is a populist at heart. He has always had a good idea of which songs his fans like best, and has been willing to play them live and to include the right songs on compilations like "Gord's Gold." But no compilation can do justice to the wealth of excellent material on his first four albums, which are all included here in their entirety.

After the acoustic guitar bliss of the first disc, it is almost jarring to hear the fuller arrangements on the "Did She Mention My Name" album, which begins disc two. However, this album does come into its own after a few listens. "Black Day in July," which is about the Detroit riots of 1967, suffers a bit from its negative use of the word "black" in the title, which now sounds outdated in the context of a song about race riots. But allowing for that, the song still has an urgency and power that make it one of Lightfoot's more memorable songs. And the use of orchestration on this album seems to have inspired Lightfoot--always one of the most melodic folk singers--to take his melodies to new places. "Does Your Mother Know," in particular, sounds almost as if it would have fit in on "Sundown."

The fourth album included in the UA Collection, "Back Here on Earth," is a return to the simpler arrangements of the first two. According to the liner notes, the songs on this album were written and recorded quickly, and perhaps for that reason they are somewhat lacking in variety, but they are still solid. "Long Thin Dawn," "The Circle Is Small," and "The Gypsy" are favorites of mine.

Because these four albums fill up two discs so neatly, there are no "bonus" tracks, which is great. I, for one, have been bonus tracked to death, and I'm glad not to have any here.

The booklet is very good. It includes some photos, an essay that summarizes this part of Lightfoot's career, and summaries of all four albums, including the instrumental credits and small pictures of the album covers.

What is there not to like about this collection? I suppose Gord can be a little corny at times, with his descriptions of the great Canadian wilderness and the occasional "cute" song like "Go-Go Round" or "May I." But this goes with the territory, and songs that sound corny at first sometimes turn out to be favorites.

If you are a Lightfoot fan, you owe it to yourself to buy this first-rate collection, and if you're just getting interested in Lightfoot, this would be an excellent place to start.

40 of 41 found the following review helpful:


This is it: Gordon at his best  Mar 19, 1999
I own all of Gordon Lightfoot's albums except the two "Gord's Gold" collections. As far as I am concerned, he is one of the best songwriters ever, but he did his best work early in his career. This two-CD set compiles his first four United Artists albums. I picked this up at a record store a few years ago, for twice the price for which it's offered here. What a steal to have all this music for only $12.00. The songs in this collection have been repackaged at least a dozen times over the years; some of those compilations are available here at amazon.com. But they are not complete; they contain only a few songs from the first four albums. Here, you get them all. And if you listen to all of them in one sitting (2 1/2 hours!), you will hear one of the most stunning collections of contemporary songs you'll find in one place. Where to begin to describe the effect of listening to this music? The acoustic material that opens disc one includes performances of stark beauty: his covers of Phil Ochs' "Changes" and Ewan MacColl's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" come quickly to mind. Then there are early classics like "Canadian Railroad Trilogy," "Softly,", and "Song for a Winter's Night." (The first time I heard that one was on the radio on Christmas Eve!) Disc two begins with the "Did She Mention My Name?" album. Lightfoot performs with full orchestration on these songs, and the results will send chills down your spine. If you have never heard "The Last Time I Saw Her," one of the greatest songs he has ever written, and can relate at all to its story of love lost, by the end of its five minutes you will be reduced to a helpless mass of tears. Lightfoot's early career comes full circle on the second half of disc two, when he returns to acoustic music for the album "Back Here on Earth." If you don't know Gordon Lightfoot, this is as good a place to start learning about his music as any. If you do, and somehow don't own this yet, for heaven's sake buy it before they wise up and raise the price. I've seen Gordon in concert several times and nothing pleases me more than when he performs one of these early songs. Each is a small gem; the effect of hearing all of them in succession is staggering. Gordon Lightfoot: great songwriter and international treasure. Five stars.

18 of 18 found the following review helpful:


Legendary Master Songwriter At His Best  Oct 09, 2001 By Supernova
First, this collection represents Gordon Lightfoot the songwriter and singer at his very best, over and above his 70s and 80's work. The one glaring omission here is the superb "Spin Spin", available only on a European release, now out of print. The remainder however is brilliant.
Secondly, American fans will be disappointed to learn that this collection is not the original United Artists collection that was released in 1992 by EMI Music Canada. That collection contained all 5 UA albums on a 3 disc box set (the fifth UA album being the live "Sunday Concert", missing from this collection). That collection is still available in Canada as it was originally titled: "The Original Lightfoot".
Lightfoot's 60s recordings are simply brilliant. Pared down acoustically, the songs speak of a long lost simplicity that never seems to be heard in contemporary music today. To own this collection is to hear a true talent at work. Lightfoot's voice on these recordings is as good as it ever would get - strong, clear, confident, subtle.
Included here is the most brilliant song Lightfoot ever wrote/recorded - "Black Day In July" - superb from top to bottom. Also key is the live version of "The Way I Feel", the first acoustic recording of "The Circle Is Small" and "Marie Christine".
This, plus "Gord's Gold" and the "Songbook" are musts for any Lightfoot fan. However, Lightfoot, at times, has incomprehensible recording decisions: Re-recording some of these perfect-as-they-were songs for "Gord's Gold" when they should have been left alone; not including or singing "Black Day In July" (heard here) anymore; re-recording (again) his hits from the 70's and 80's on "Gord's Gold Volume II" when they should have been left alone.
Despite these poor decisions, the writing always saves the day. He is probably one of the greatest songwriters of contemporary music. One can argue for or against his various music styles (the acoustic 60's when his voice was powerful and free-flowing; the string-filled 70s when his voice grew deep and muddied; or the synth-laden 80's and 90's when his voice lost it's range). Throughout all these changes it has been the songwriting that has kept Lightfoot in the spotlight.
His insight on the Canadian landscape has helped all of us learn a bit more about the country and the land. His excursions into the human soul have permanently etched some of his lyrics into our minds and have helped define what it is to live and love. He is one of a kind. This is a must have.

12 of 12 found the following review helpful:


Adding my voice....  Jun 20, 2006 By G. Wagner
For the most part, all of the previous reviewers have covered the wonderful aspects of this collection. Having become addicted to Lightfoot when only vinyl recordings of this music existed, I was quite elated to pick up the CD's.

What some of the reviewers seem not to stress is that these recordings are simply reissues of Lightfoot's first 4 albums; they are not re-recordings of his early songs and the collection is by no means a greatest hits compilation. The albums stand on their own merit: the songs are well written, well sung and accompanied by extrordinary side men. I still marvel at the fresh, vibrant, optimistic qualities of Lightfoot's voice and his perception.

There are a few regrets I have regarding the collection. First is that UA did not include Lightfoot's Sunday Concert Album. To hear Lead Guitarist, Red Shea's accompanyment on "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" alone is worth the price of that recording. Additionally, it is unfortunate that UA failed to include the original liner notes that appeared on the Vinyl albums. Those notes would explain the instrumentation on "Did She Mention My Name" and paint pictures of the times in which a young Lightfoot composed and performed these amazing songs. Not having the liner notes also deprives the listener of the poem on the back of "Back Here on Earth"

Well, that's about it for my 2 cents except to suggest that those who regard Lightfoot as the quintessential Canadian performer give a listen to the work of Stan Rogers. While Lightfoot shows the way for Canadians to share their heritage with us down here in the States, during his sadly all too brief career, Stan Rogers took several pages from Lightfoot's book and created a body of work that all us Lightfoot lovers will enjoy.

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