Dave Gordon is coming home
Today I still love their work.”
But the guy who reached out and grabbed his soul was Gordon Lightfoot. “In my humble opinion, he (with the possible exception of Brian Adams) is Canada’s king of songwriting. Lightfoot’s melodies are extremely catchy, uniquely stylistic and his lyrics are fabulous,” he stressed.
Gordon started writing songs when he was in his twenties but realized that his songs weren’t good enough. Being such a perfectionist, he would work very hard at honing his skills.
“When I moved to Ontario in 1984 and started a duo with a local singer, we started playing a few originals. I also began attending songwriting workshops to improve my craft.”
“I worked with songwriters from Nashville that had written number one country hits and quickly learned the importance of proper structure and different rhyming schemes,” he explained.
“Starting a song is easy, but getting it done is very tough. But a tip for young songwriters is this — don’t let the rhyme drive the lyric!” The part of the brain that creates lyrics is different than the part of the brain that plays an instrument.’
Gordon makes it clear that all his songs relate directly to a personal experience of his or sometimes that of friends. “I think it’s good to tell a story and most of my songs do, but it is not essential. A song that gets people stomping their feet or dancing doesn’t always have a story. Instead it may have a philosophical edge like many Bob Dylan songs or just a great beat supported by some good ‘boy meets girl’ lyrics like some most 60s rock songs.”
As a music consumer, Gordon finds that today’s music offers lyrics that are very watered down, while the music productions are way too compressed. There are reasons why they do it!
“First off, it makes all recordings sound very similar on the radio or one’s CD player. Inconsistency is something radio stations bitched about for years, one record would have lead guitar that was too loud, the next would be too low, and you get the picture,” stressed Gordon.
“Let’s not forget the digital vs. analog or CD vs. record arguments. Remember our old analog records and how they always sounded better at high volumes. You could hear the drum cymbals, background vocals, and acoustic guitars much better if you cranked the volume up. But with digital music it sounds exactly the same at all volumes,” explained Gordon.
“Also, the brain doesn’t have to do much work during the listening process, because it hears the exact same thing every time. This is why we tend to get sick of our CDS much quicker than we did with our old 33 records. Interesting though, the younger crowd of music lovers are going back to records and turntables. Hard to fool today’s kids.”
The musician is also interested in the business part of music as well as its infrastructure. “It’s important to point out, it’s called the music business, not the music hobby. Money drives the machine, always has and always will,” he said.
“Record companies insisted that writers work directly for them and be put on a salary. This created security for many songwriters, but reduced their royalty such that the record company got most of it. Unfortunately, most of the best quality songwriters in the industry are a special breed,” said Gordon, who can talk about the business for hours.
“These same companies started being managed by Ivy League business grads that had no use for the ‘creative/artistic’ approach to music. Instead they insisted writers be clean, come to work in a daytime office and forced them to work with one or another song idea that the company provided,” he continued.
This has become known in Nashville as the infamous “cookie cutter approach” said Gordon who has a good understanding of the industry.
This interview also brought back great memories from his younger years playing music in the area. Jerry Robitaille had asked him to tour with him and Jo’anne on several occasions, but he was tied up at Bishop’s getting an education.
“One time at Jerry’s place an older gentlemen was showing Jerry photos of a big show he had attended in Montreal. There was a photo of a sexy girl in very short white shorts and mini top and cowboy boots.”
Gordon couldn’t hold back a smart comment. “Jerry burst out laughing followed by the older guy who piped up in broken English, ‘that’s my daughter Michele’. The gentlemen’s name was Ti Blanc Richard, a well-known Quebec fiddle player and household name at the time. We all had a good laugh about that,” remembers Gordon.
The singer/songwriter didn’t forget where it all started and he has fond memories of all the musicians who at one point crossed his path.
“I could go on and on about Eastern Township musicians. Let’s see, there was John Riley my banjo teacher, Francois Bergeron, Mr. Lipinski, Stan Mckelvie, Rodney Bray, the late Steve Powers, Jimmy Buck, Bob Boisclair, the late Bruce Patton, Stew Deacon, Ron Haseltine, Tom Wheeler, Terry Howell, Sid and Steve Aulis, Mike Gauvin, Mike Fortier, Michelle O’neil, my favourite female singer ever Isabel Nutbrown, and her late father Albert, Jimmy Piper, Roger and Mike Goodsell, Art Sheldon, Gordie Smith, Gord White, the late Huzon Grenier, Lyndon Sheldon, Warren Savage, Bill and Aubrey Graham, Mrs. Janis Graham, Mike Howes, Levis Boulianne, Robin Langlois, Ross Roach, the late Al Bailey, Louis Leveque, Raymond St-laurent, Yvan Moreau, Sid Prescott, Alain Gauthier, Jimmy Belnap, Sam Evans, Phil Patton, Murray Ward, Mr. Donaldson (he played fiddle for Sam Hopper), Arnold Winget and of course my very first band The Country Kings with Willie Fisk (bass) Larry Dougherty (lead vocals), and drummer Johnny Pingatore. Wonder if I missed anyone, probably.”
Dave Gordon thinks the world of these local musicians and you can
consider this a tribute to all the talent he has encountered in the area, when he was an active player on our local music scene.
There are people that you meet who change your life and with whom you develop a true friendship. This is what happened to Gordon when he met Charlie Mccoy. When he talks about Mccoy, one can see how he appreciate his friend.
“Charlie was sort of a childhood hero to me. I first heard his harmonica on an early Waylon Jennings album titled ‘Just to Satisfy You’. He appeared all through the album playing on hits like, ‘Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line,’ ‘Brown Eyed Handsome Man’ and others.
“I loved this sound and so in 2001, I called Charlie in Nashville and asked if he would play on my album. He said sure, and asked me to arrange the session when the Predators were in Ottawa,” Gordon said.
“We did the session one day and went to the game together. He even brought his Preds jersey and wore it to the game. Charlie is calm, cool and collected on stage and in the studio, but not watching hockey.
“Charlie is a mentor and good friend. In 2006, I had a heart attack after returning from his home in Nashville, where we had just completed my third album. I was having personal problems at the time and Charlie was very supportive through the healing process. We’ve also played many gigs together,” said Gordon about Mccoy.
“People can expect another spectacular show from Mccoy, who is a great entertainer and wicked all-around musician. Not to mention the world’s finest harmonica player. I will be performing tunes from my new album and some mixed cover tunes.
“I am very excited because we have a fabulous steel player this time and a young guitarist that will raise eyebrows. I will have my fourth CD available for sale. The title is Thanks for the Ride. It has five new tunes and four previously released original tunes.”
Reconnecting with Lennoxville and friends makes Gordon very happy. And after hearing his latest material, I can confirm that it is excellent. Don’t miss the show!