Lightfoot! was released in January 1966 on United Artists (UAL 3487 in mono, UAS 6487 in stereo) and is Gordon Lightfoot’s debut album. John Court produced it. Lightfoot sings and plays guitar and piano, Bill Lee plays bass, and David Rea and Bruce Langhorne are the second guitarists, with Langhorne credited on “Long River” and “Peaceful Waters.”
Of the fourteen tracks, eleven are Lightfoot’s own songs, among them “Early Morning Rain,” “For Lovin’ Me,” “Steel Rail Blues” and “Ribbon of Darkness.” The others are Ewan MacColl’s “The First Time,” Phil Ochs’s “Changes” and Hamilton Camp’s “Pride of Man.” Several of the songs reached other singers before the album did. Ian & Sylvia Tyson recorded “Early Mornin’ Rain” and “For Lovin’ Me,” and Peter, Paul and Mary recorded both a year later. Marty Robbins took “Ribbon of Darkness” to number one on the US country chart in 1965.
“I’m Not Sayin’” was issued as a United Artists single in 1965, ahead of the album, and reached number 12 in Canada that June. Norman Blake and Tony Rice are among the artists who later recorded it, and Rice’s recordings of Lightfoot songs were gathered on a compilation, Tony Rice Sings Gordon Lightfoot.
Tracklist
- 1 Rich Man's Spiritual 2:47
- 2 Long River 2:49
- 3 The Way I Feel 3:45
- 4 For Lovin' Me 2:28
- 5 The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face 3:13
- 6 Changes 2:33
- 7 Early Mornin’ Rain alt version 3:08
- 8 Steel Rail Blues 2:53
- 9 Sixteen Miles (To Seven Lakes) 2:08
- 10 I’m Not Sayin’ alt version 2:30
- 11 Pride of Man alt version 2:22
- 12 Ribbon Of Darkness 2:42
- 13 Oh, Linda 3:12
- 14 Peaceful Waters 2:07
