Here in the UK, Lightfoot and Tyson have never been anything like the household names they obviously are in Canada, in fact I'm sorry to say I don't think I've ever heard of Ian Tyson before. No doubt that is very much our loss. Why have they stayed so much on that side of the Atlantic I wonder?

Some years ago I came across "Gord's Gold" which I bought solely because I remembered him as being the author of "Early morning rain". It's a CD I just love to bits. (Later I found "Salute" and didn't really like it at all - it seemed to be from someone else completely.) Am I right in thinking "Gord's Gold" has most of what you might call classic Lightfoot?

His musicality is pretty well irresistable most of the time here, even on sing-along tracks, but what for me really makes his best songs shine is his use of lyric. OK, as mentioned above sometimes throw-away jingle, but very often quite punchy, often extraordinarily tender. Like an artist who can sketch out a few lines on a piece of paper, and suddenly you see not just a face but a character, Lightfoot can give you a story in four of five bars of song. For instance, a line from "Circle of steel" comes to mind - " 'Deck the Halls' was the song they played in the flat next door where they shout all day ... she tips her gin bottle back til it's gone .. " - and you have the shabby apartment, the thin walls, the constant noise of arguments and TV, the cycle of deprivation. For me, it's a song which is visual as much as aural.

Very sorry to hear his voice has suffered. That must be extremely hard for him to bear.

This thread has given me a few more tracks to look out for. No doubt You Tube has some of Ian Tyson's. Any suggestions as to what his best might be?