"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]
The song was the first commercial digital multitrack recording on the 3M 32-track digital recorder – a prototype technology at the time. [10]
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. [11] 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. [12]
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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, having several gold and multi-platinum albums and songs covered 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."
Big Wreck are a Canadian-American rock band formed by Ian Thornley and Brian Doherty in Boston, Massachusetts in 1992. The band was rounded out with David Henning and Forrest Williams. They disbanded in 2002 and Ian Thornley pursued a solo career with his own band Thornley. In 2010, Ian Thornley and Brian Doherty reunited for a cross-Canada tour, playing both Big Wreck and Thornley songs. In 2012, under the name Big Wreck, the band released their third studio album, Albatross. The band has since released the albums Ghosts in 2014, Grace Street in 2017, ...But For the Sun in 2019, and 7 in 2023.
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.
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.
"Devil Woman" is a 1976 single by British singer Cliff Richard from his album I'm Nearly Famous.
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.
"Carefree Highway" is a song written by Gordon Lightfoot and was the second single release from his 1974 album, Sundown. It peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent one week at No. 1 on the Easy Listening chart in October 1974.
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.
"Beautiful" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot. This song, which is in the key of B major, first appeared on Lightfoot's 1972 LP Don Quixote, the first of two singles to be released. The album's title track appeared on the B-side.
[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.