Hidden Hero Of Canada

As the former frontman of beloved Canadian indie rockers the Rheostatics & acclaimed author of a series of non fiction books, Dave Bidini is something close to a connoisseur is icon of Canuck culture. Fitting, then, that he takes on one of Can Rock is most intriguing stars in his new Writing Gordon Lightfoot. Using Toronto's 1972 Mariposa folk festival-which Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, & Lightfoot all attended as a jumping off point, Bidini explores his enigmatic subject's music & cultural influence.

Look, I know that for most music fans, Lightfoot is maybe best-known-if he's known at all as one of these 70s sensitive singer-songwriter types who shows up on cheap compilations. But for Canadians-as Bidini deftly argues-he's something more, closer to a foundational figure. I called Bidini at his home in Toronto to discuss.

For non-Canadians, Lightfoot is generally remembered, I think, as neither a star nor a cult hero. Would about him appealed to you as a subject? His life has not been overwritten, I suppose. There was one book about him maybe 25 years ago but that's it. He's elusive. He very rarely goes on the record to talk about his life. & subjects that you have to really work to get your head around are often the most interesting ones.

For those who don't know, can you put Lightfoot in a cultural context? I think he's a living artifact. He'd take exception to that, but he's one of the few performers who can connect the old Canada with the new Canada. Musicians, especially the who have come up in the last ten years, can listen to him & get a sense of what Canadian music was like in the early '60s & get a sense of what this music was like when it was being born. It's a common ground. You can talk to your grandfather about him. He is one of the building blocks. He is very deeply rooted in terms of Canadians understanding themselves.

But what is distinctly Canadian about his music? When you think about his early music, especially the first Lightfoot album (1966's Lightfoot!), every Canadian musician of the time was aspiring to be the Beatles or Frank Sinatra. They were writing about this faux-big city life that didn't actually exist in Canada. Gord sang about his backyard, nature, growing up in [the Ontario town of] Orillia.

By talking about something that was so local & regional & dear to him he was able to tap into the universal. That wool-sweatered acoustic guitar sound-looking back & not knowing the context it might seem trite now, but it was revolutionary at the time.

What was his relationship with Bob Dylan? He went on before Dylan at his famous Newport concert in 1964 when he went electric. But the most interesting thing was that Dylan's going electric had no influence at all on Gord. After Dylan, every folksinger wanted to go electric. But Gord didn't. I was fascinated by the resolute & stubborn nature of his art. He refused to be bent one way or another. I think staying on that one track made him more respected. He stuck to his guns.

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