Cold On The Shoulder - GORDON LIGHTFOOT***

Bend In The Water/Rainy Day People/Cold On The Shoulder/The Soul Is The Rock/Bells Of The Evening/ Rainbow Trout/A Tree To Weak To Stand/All The Lovely Ladies/Fine As Fine Can Be/Cherokee Band/Now & Then/Slide On Over

Folk-rock singer Gordon Lightfoot’s Cold On The Shoulder has been described as an introspective album, from an artist with a voice that is heavenly and melancholy at the same time. (US:10)

“My favourite song on this album is Now & Then, which has dreamily poetic lyrics and a terrific lilting melody. A song that I never used to like much but appreciate more and more lately is Cherokee Bend, a story song that takes many listens to get the gist of the lyrics. Slide On Over is probably the funkiest song Gordon has released to date; you can almost dance to it. Other favourites include the chivalrous tribute to women All The Lovely Ladies.”

“Cold On The Shoulder is no mere rehash of Sundown. Whereas the latter's overall motif was restlessness and movement, this is a much more introspective album, with an underlying motif that is essentially on the outside looking in.”

“This is one of Lightfoot's best and most popular albums, produced when he was at the height of his incredible popularity in the mid 1970s. For a while he could seemingly do nothing wrong. In fact, he produced so many superior albums, populated by such uniformly outstanding songs, that we've become inured to the fact that he is such a singular talent. Every single song on this album is extremely well written, sung and arranged.”

“Each song on this album has a feeling of its own. My favourite by far is Bells Of The Evening. The simple accompaniment of piano with Lightfoot's voice is heavenly and melancholy at the same time. It evokes such feelings that stay with you forever.”

“I marvel at the way he blends the music with the lyrics so well, it's like clockwork. Virtually every song here deserves a five star rating. I've listened to this album so many times, I've memorised the lyrics to every song; I've done the same with his other albums. My favourite is All The Lovely Ladies, a provocative song about people who must deal with heartache, hardship, loneliness and injustice.”

“My favourite Lightfoot song is Bells Of The Evening, it's a simple arrangement, starting out with just a few piano chords, but he manages to sound achingly lonely.”