Back Here On Earth – GORDON LIGHTFOOT***

Long Way Back Home/Unsettled Ways/Long Thin Dawn/Bitter Green/The Circle Is Small/Marie Christine/Cold Hands From New York/Affair On Eighth Avenue/Don’t Beat Me Down/The Gypsy/If I Could

Back Here On Earth was the fourth and final album from folk singer songwriter Gordon Lightfoot on the United Artists label. He returns to an all acoustic sound after his previous orchestral experimentation.

“Gordon Lightfoot's fourth and final studio album for the United Artists is generally regarded as the weakest of the bunch. Well, I consider it to be in the same league, as the three that preceded it. This album has two interesting characteristics. First, all of its songs were written by Gordon during a trip to England. Second, the simple, direct, rootsy acoustic sound employed here was the result of a conscious decision to move away from the experimental production used on his previous album. The title Back Here On Earth reflects the retracted, toned-down production.”

“As with all of Lightfoot's early albums, there are some stunningly good songs on this record. Long Way Back Home is just a terrific, catchy folk song. The Circle Is Small is a wonderful song about infidelity, with a chorus that is bound to get stuck in your head for days. Affair On Eighth Avenue is an evocative tune with intricate, elegant acoustic guitar picking. The gentle Bitter Green is another winner, and the album closer, the melodic If I Could, is a little repetitive, but a great song nonetheless.”

“This marked a return to an all acoustic sound after the experiments of Did She Mention My Name. The sound fits him like a comfortable pair of shoes, of course, but the writing is a little more inconsistent than on his other United Artists albums.”

“His voice lets us know that he is no stranger to suffering the agonies of lost love, or the noble art of courtin' young maids in the morning. His guitar picking is outstanding.”

“Back Here On Earth offers a decidedly different approach from its predecessor. Here the arrangements are stripped down to vocal, rhythm and lead acoustic guitar, and bass, with minimal overdubbing, mainly just the occasional background vocal.”

“This is an extremely strong collection; one in which the total exceeds the sum of the parts. I'm not sure why this album tends to get overlooked - it may be because the folk element in his music is the strongest since his debut.”