Uploaded April 2018 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Biographies of pop figures are notoriously sycophantic, largely intent on cashing in while the going's good. Not so this time. Nicholas Jennings is as much respected as a music journalist as his subject is as a singer, and this book is a standout.
The tale of Gordon Lightfoot, riddled as it is with the usual accounts of sex, drugs and alcohol, is nonetheless a heart-warmer. This remarkable figure, Canadian to the core, who not only wrote the tunes, but also the lyrics, to the likes of "Sundown", "Carefree Highway" and "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" deserves a biography, not a hagiography; and here he finally has one.
"Sometimes, I think it's a shame/When I get feeling better when I'm feeling no pain."
Indeed...
A refreshing change from the usual guck, and a most enjoyable read for pop aficionados.
More music book review videos at:
bookreviewsandvideos.com/category/music
Biographies of pop figures are notoriously sycophantic, largely intent on cashing in while the going's good. Not so this time. Nicholas Jennings is as much respected as a music journalist as his subject is as a singer, and this book is a standout.
The tale of Gordon Lightfoot, riddled as it is with the usual accounts of sex, drugs and alcohol, is nonetheless a heart-warmer. This remarkable figure, Canadian to the core, who not only wrote the tunes, but also the lyrics, to the likes of "Sundown", "Carefree Highway" and "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" deserves a biography, not a hagiography; and here he finally has one.
"Sometimes, I think it's a shame/When I get feeling better when I'm feeling no pain."
Indeed...
A refreshing change from the usual guck, and a most enjoyable read for pop aficionados.
More music book review videos at:
bookreviewsandvideos.com/category/music
