"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" | ||||
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Single by Gordon Lightfoot | ||||
from the album Summertime Dream | ||||
B-side | "The House You Live In" | |||
Released | August 1976 | |||
Recorded | December 1975 | |||
Studio | Eastern Sound Studios, Toronto | |||
Genre | [1] | |||
Length |
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Label | Reprise | |||
Songwriter(s) | Gordon Lightfoot | |||
Producer(s) |
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Gordon Lightfoot singles chronology | ||||
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Audio | ||||
"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" on YouTube |
"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" is a 1976 hit song written, composed and performed by the Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot to memorialize the sinking of the bulk carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. Lightfoot considered this song to be his finest work. [2]
Appearing originally on his 1976 album Summertime Dream , Lightfoot re-recorded the song in 1988 for the compilation album Gord's Gold, Vol. 2 .
The song chronicles the final voyage of the Edmund Fitzgerald as it succumbed to a massive late-season storm and sank in Lake Superior with the loss of all 29 crewmen. Lightfoot drew inspiration from news reports he gathered in the immediate aftermath, particularly "The Cruelest Month", published in Newsweek magazine's November 24, 1975, issue. [3] Lightfoot's passion for recreational sailing on the Great Lakes [4] informs his ballad's verses throughout.
Recorded before the ship's wreckage could be examined, the song contains some artistic conjectures, omissions and paraphrases. In later interviews, Lightfoot recounted how he had agonized over possible inaccuracies while trying to pen the lyrics until his lead guitarist Terry Clements convinced him to do what Clements' favourite author Mark Twain would have advised: just tell a story. [5]
In March 2010, Lightfoot changed a line during live performances to reflect new findings that there had been no crew error involved in the sinking. The line originally read, "At 7 p.m. a main hatchway caved in; he said..."; Lightfoot began singing it as "At 7 p.m. it grew dark, it was then he said..." Lightfoot learned about the new research when contacted for permission to use his song for a History Channel documentary that aired on March 31, 2010. Lightfoot stated that he had no intention of changing the original copyrighted lyrics; instead, from then on, he simply sang the new words during live performances. [6]
The song was recorded in December 1975 at Eastern Sound, [7] a recording studio composed of two Victorian houses at 48 Yorkville Avenue in a then-hippie district of downtown Toronto. The famous studio was later torn down and replaced by a parking lot. [8]
Pee Wee Charles and Terry Clements came up with "the haunting guitar and steel riffs" on a "second take" during the evening session. [9]
Lightfoot cleared the studio and killed all the lights save the one illuminating his parchment of scribbled words when recording his vocal part. [10]
The song was the first commercial digital multitrack recording on the 3M 32-track digital recorder – a prototype technology at the time. [11]
Lightfoot's single version hit number 1 in his native Canada (in the RPM national singles survey) on November 20, 1976, barely a year after the disaster. [12] In the United States, it reached number 1 in Cashbox and number 2 for two weeks in the Billboard Hot 100 (behind Rod Stewart's "Tonight's the Night"), making it Lightfoot's second-most successful single, behind only "Sundown". Overseas it was at best a minor hit, peaking at number 40 in the UK Singles Chart. [13]
Weekly charts
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During the 1984 United States presidential election, the comedian troupe Capitol Steps performed a parody of the song changing the ship's name to Walter 'Fritz' Mondale. [21]
Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. was a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s. He has been referred to as Canada's greatest songwriter and his songs have been recorded by some of the world's most renowned musical artists. Lightfoot's biographer Nicholas Jennings said, "His name is synonymous with timeless songs about trains and shipwrecks, rivers and highways, lovers and loneliness."
Sit Down Young Stranger is Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot's sixth original album and his best-selling original album. Shortly after its 1970 release on the Reprise Records label, it was renamed If You Could Read My Mind when the song of that title reached #1 on the RPM Top Singles chart in Canada and #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. The album itself reached #12 on the Billboard 200 chart. In Canada, the album was on the charts from April 18, 1970, to November 27, 1971. It peaked at #8 on March 13, 1971 after an earlier peak at #12 on June 20, 1970. Its last 24 weeks were spent in the 90s, except for two appearances at #88 and one at #100.
Old Dan's Records is Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot's eighth studio album, released in 1972 on the Reprise Records label. The album reached #1 in Canada on the RPM national album chart on November 5, 1972, and remained there for three weeks. In the U.S., it peaked at #95 on the pop chart.
Don Quixote is Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot's seventh studio album, released in 1972 on the Reprise Records Label. The album reached #42 on the Billboard album chart.
Shadows is Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot's fourteenth studio album, released in 1982 on the Warner Bros. Records label. It peaked at #87 on the Billboard charts.
Endless Wire is the Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot's twelfth studio album, released in 1978 on Warner Bros. Records (#3149).
Summertime Dream is Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot's eleventh studio album, released on the Reprise Records label in 1976. It peaked at #1 on the Canadian RPM national album chart, and #12 on the US Billboard pop chart.
Salute is the fifteenth studio album by Canadian musician Gordon Lightfoot, released in 1983 Warner Brothers Records. It barely registered on the charts (#175) and is one of his least-known recordings. Consequently, songs from the album were rarely featured in Lightfoot's live performances.
Dream Street Rose is Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot's thirteenth studio album, released in 1980 on the Warner Brothers Records label (#3426). The album peaked at #58 on the country chart and at #60 on the pop chart.
Cold on the Shoulder is Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot's tenth studio album, released in 1975 on the Reprise Records label.
A Painter Passing Through is the eighteenth studio album by Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot, released in 1998 on Reprise Records. It was his first album of original music in five years after Waiting for You, which had been his first since 1986's East of Midnight. Well-known record producer Daniel Lanois makes a guest appearance on the album. A Painter Passing Through is a live studio album.
Gord's Gold is a compilation album released by Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot in 1975. Originally a vinyl double album, it was reissued on CD in 1987. However, the track is included for digital downloads.
Gord's Gold Volume II is a compilation album released by Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot in 1988.
"Sundown" is a song by Canadian folk artist Gordon Lightfoot, from the titular album, released as a single in March 1974.
"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.
Dr. Music was a Toronto jazz group founded in 1969 by producer, arranger and performer Doug Riley. The band recorded three albums and toured across Canada. The personnel of the band changed throughout its history, with Riley remaining at the core of the group.
The discography of Canadian folk and country music singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot consists of 20 studio albums, three live albums, 16 greatest hits albums and 46 singles. Lightfoot's songs, including "For Lovin' Me", "Early Morning Rain", "Steel Rail Blues", "Ribbon of Darkness"—a number one hit on the U.S. country chart with Marty Robbins's cover in 1965—and "Black Day in July" about the 1967 Detroit riot, brought him wide recognition in the 1960s. Canadian chart success with his own recordings began in 1962 with the No. 3 hit "(Remember Me) I'm the One", followed by recognition and charting abroad in the 1970s.
"Rainy Day People" is a song written and recorded by Gordon Lightfoot, released on his 1975 album, Cold on the Shoulder, and also as a single. "Rainy Day People" went to number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was Lightfoot's last of four songs to reach number one on the Easy Listening chart, spending one week at number one in May 1975.
"Bonaparte's Retreat" is the title of several related songs. Although there are several different fiddle tunes titled "Bonaparte's Retreat," the one that is most common is an American old-time tune dating back to at least the late 1800s and probably well before that. In 1950, American country music artist Pee Wee King recorded a modified version of that tune, with lyrics added, which he also called "Bonaparte's Retreat". King's version has since been covered by many country artists.
All Live is a live album by Gordon Lightfoot, It was recorded at the historic Massey Hall. The album was released on April 17, 2012, through Rhino Records. It is a collection of live concert recordings that span 1998 to 2001; all of the recordings are in untouched condition, and span Lightfoot's entire career.
[Clements] said Mark Twain would say, 'Tell a story'.
Rauch, Alan (June 2023). "'Fellas, it's Been Good to Know You': Gordon Lightfoot's Edmund Fitzgerald". The Newsletter of the Charlotte Folk Society. 28 (6): 4.