If You Could Read My Mind Gordon Lightfoot

Other Notable Cover Versions

Many artists have covered “If You Could Read My Mind”. Barbra Streisand recorded the song on her Stoney End LP of 1971. Olivia Newton-John covered the song on her debut 1971 album If Not For You. Among the most notable versions is the 1980 cover by Viola Wills, which peaked at No. 2 for five weeks on the dance/disco charts with a dance version of the song and at No. 80 in Australia.Duane Steele reached No. 32 on the Canadian country charts with his version in 1998.Johnny Cash recorded a version of the song that was included in the posthumously released album American V: A Hundred Highways . Diana Krall covered the song as a duet on her Wallflower album in 2015. Filipina actress and singer, Rica Peralejo covered the song from the soundtrack album, Pangarap Na Bituin in 2007.

Rights Infringement Legal Action

In 1987, Lightfoot filed a lawsuit against Michael Masser, the composer of Whitney Houston‘s hit “The Greatest Love of All“, alleging plagiarism of 24 bars of “If You Could Read My Mind” the transitional section that begins “I decided long ago never to walk in anyone’s shadow” of the Masser song has the same melody as “I never thought I could act this way and I got to say that I just don’t get it I don’t know where we went wrong but the feeling’s gone and I just can’t get it back” of Lightfoot’s song. Lightfoot has stated that he dropped the lawsuit when he felt it was having a negative effect on the singer Houston because the lawsuit was about the writer and not her. He also said that he did not want people to think that he had stolen his melody from Masser. The case was settled out of court, and Masser issued a public apology.

The house music collective Stars on 54âconsisting of Amber, Jocelyn Enriquez, and Ultra Natéârecorded a version of the song for the 1998 film 54, reaching No. 3 on Australia’s ARIA Singles Chart and Canada’s RPM Singles Chart, as well as No. 6 in New Zealand and No. 10 in Spain. Australian music channel Max included this version of “If You Could Read My Mind” in its list of 1000 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2012.

Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind Review: A Troubadour Looks Back

The singer-songwriter, now 81, is frank about his own work and refreshingly open to todays music.

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Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind

Directed by Martha Kehoe, Joan Tosoni

Documentary, Biography, Music

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If you havent laid eyes on the singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot in a while, you may be stunned at the beginning of this straightforward, engaging documentary about his life and work, directed by Martha Kehoe and Joan Tosoni. Now 81 years old, Lightfoot doesnt resemble the curly-haired, oft-mustachioed, outdoorsy-looking troubadour of his 1970s heyday. Skinny, his clean-shaven face now long and almost gaunt, his hair straight and combed back, he looks like an aged underground rocker.

Lightfoot was anything but underground. A prodigious songwriter and distinctive singer, the Canadians 1960s work made hits for other acts, and in the 70s, he and his moody ballads rode high on the pop charts.

Much of the remainder of the movie features musicians and performers, some Canadian, some not praising Lightfoot his voice, his work ethic, his facility .

Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind

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The Beatles And The British Invasion

“They were doing things nobody was doing. Their chords were outrageous, just outrageous, and their harmonies made it all valid. You could only do that with other musicians. Even if you’re playing your own chords you had to have other people playing with you. That was obvious. And it started me thinking about other people.”

Bob Dylan reflecting on how the Beatles influenced his decision to record with an electric backing band

Beginning in 1964 and lasting until roughly 1966, a wave of British groups, including , , , , , and amongst others, dominated the U.S. music charts. These groups were all heavily influenced by American , , and musical genres they had been introduced to via homegrown British rock ‘n’ roll singers, imported American , and the music of the craze. These UK groups, known collectively as the , reintroduced American youth culture to the broad potential of rock and as a creative medium and to the wealth of musical culture to be found within the United States.

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Ron Elliott of The Beau Brummels on the origins of the band’s folk-flavored sound

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Illness And Return To Performing

By January 2002, Lightfoot had written 30 new songs for his next studio album. He recorded guitar and vocal demos of some of these new songs. In September, before the second concert of a two-night stand in Orillia, Lightfoot suffered severe stomach pain and was airlifted to McMaster Medical Centre in Hamilton, Ontario. He underwent emergency vascular surgery for a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, and he remained in serious condition in the Intensive Care Unit . Lightfoot endured a six-week coma and a tracheotomy, and he underwent four surgical operations. All of his remaining 2002 concert dates were cancelled. More than three months after being taken to the McMaster Medical Centre, Lightfoot was released in December to continue his recovery at home.

In 2003, Lightfoot underwent follow-up surgery to continue the treatment of his abdominal condition. In November he signed a new recording contract with Linus Entertainment and began rehearsing with his band for the first time since his illness. Also in 2003, Borealis Records, a related label to Linus Entertainment, released Beautiful: A Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot. On this album, various artists, including The Cowboy Junkies, Bruce Cockburn, Jesse Winchester, , and The Tragically Hip interpreted Lightfoot’s songs. The final track on the album, “Lightfoot”, was the only song not previously released by Lightfoot. It was composed and performed by Aengus Finnan.

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If You Could Read My Mind

“If You Could Read My Mind” is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot. Lightfoot wrote the lyrics while he was reflecting on his own divorce. It reached No. 1 on the Canadian Singles Chart on commercial release in 1970 and charted in several other countries on international release in 1971.