The MARK’S VINTAGE VINYL page features something from Mark’s collection of recordings from over the years. Most of it is on vinyl – hence the name – though there will be a few entries from his CDs (remember those?).
Summertime Dream, by Gordon Lightfoot
- Released in 1976, the twelfth album released by Lightfoot.
- In the mid-70s, my friend Bill got me hooked on Gordon Lightfoot, largely due to the single The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. After hearing that song, we went back into the portfolio of music that the Canadian country/folk songwriter had done. Of course, I had to buy all the old stuff I could found at the local used record shop. I now own 13 of his records.
- The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, a six and a half minute masterpiece, tells of the final hours of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald before it sank in Lake Superior during a November storm in 1975. It’s a haunting song, simple in its melody, but the story remains famous today because of the song. The song peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
- The song Summertime Dream is a upbeat toe-tapping folk song that includes the obligatory pedal steel guitar that was common of country music at the time. I love the song, and listen to it as summer approaches every year.
- Here’s a live performance of Lightfoot’s The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Love the lyric “When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin’ fellas, it’s too rough to feed ya. At seven PM a main hatchway caved in, he said fellas, it’s been good t’know ya!” A great story, a great song – give it a listen.