Anne Murray carried many tunes throughout her singing career but she says the lyrical quality of a Gordon Lightfoot song rose above most others.

The retired East Coast performer recalled her memories of Lightfoot, who died of natural causes on Monday at age 84, as they both came up in CanadaB次元官网网址檚 music scene.

Lightfoot was several years ahead of her on the road to fame, which meant that as a cast member on CBCB次元官网网址檚 music television show B次元官网网址淪ingalong JubileeB次元官网网址� in the 1960s, she sometimes performed covers of his songs.

B次元官网网址淲e used to do all of them B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址楩or LovinB次元官网网址� Me,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址楽teel Rail BluesB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� the songs were just so good,B次元官网网址� she said by phone from Halifax.

B次元官网网址淭he lyrics were easy to wrap your voice around. They were so personal and yet they all had such a universal feel to them and appealed to a lot of people B次元官网网址� anyone would want to sing them.B次元官网网址�

Murray was among the Canadian musicians who paid tribute to the folk singerB次元官网网址檚 legacy, with some saying his influence on the countryB次元官网网址檚 collective identity is immeasurable.

Sharon Hampson, who came of age in TorontoB次元官网网址檚 Yorkville music scene, recalled how Lightfoot floated around the cityB次元官网网址檚 venues before he became a household name in the 1960s.

B次元官网网址淗e really was a genius and so completely understated,B次元官网网址� said Hampson, who was part of the childrenB次元官网网址檚 group Sharon, Lois and Bram.

She recalled a passing conversation with a stranger at the 2019 Mariposa Folk Festival, a longtime music event in LightfootB次元官网网址檚 hometown of Orillia, Ont. that helped launch his career and became forever linked with his legacy.

B次元官网网址淭he man said, B次元官网网址業B次元官网网址檓 from Orillia and people do not know what a kind and generous person Gordon Lightfoot was. He helped Orillia over and over and nobody needed to know about it,B次元官网网址滲次元官网网址� Hampson remembered by phone.

B次元官网网址淚 loved that. He didnB次元官网网址檛 need to have his name on this or that, he just wanted to do good.B次元官网网址�

Former Barenaked Ladies member Steven Page credited Lightfoot as B次元官网网址渢he archetype of the Canadian singer-songwriterB次元官网网址� helped by breakout success in the United States, where his album B次元官网网址淪undownB次元官网网址� went to No. 1.

Page said in a phone interview that Lightfoot sculpted a model of success stateside that would be B次元官网网址渂roken, smashed and resculptedB次元官网网址� by future generations of Canadians.

Despite finding fame outside the country, Lightfoot rarely uprooted himself from his homeland for long.

B次元官网网址淓ven though he did spend time in the United States and made records there,B次元官网网址� Page added, B次元官网网址渉e was still deeply connected to the country, the landscape and the personality of Canada.B次元官网网址�

Rock musician Tom Cochrane said LightfootB次元官网网址檚 steadfast ties to Canada came up in a conversation once with the singer.

B次元官网网址淗e said to me, B次元官网网址榊ou know, trees grow in certain soils, and this soil has been a very powerful soil for me to grow,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� he recalled.

B次元官网网址淲hy would I leave this country? This is where I bear fruit.B次元官网网址�

Cochrane described Lightfoot as a personal friend and inspiration who proved himself as one of CanadaB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渟eminal cultural artistsB次元官网网址� while being B次元官网网址渁 heck of a nice guyB次元官网网址� all the while.

He twice honoured Lightfoot for his musical contributions B次元官网网址� the first time was when he inducted Lightfoot into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003.

At that ceremony, he compared Lightfoot to one of the Group of Seven artists, a compliment Cochrane said resonated with the musician who B次元官网网址渟aw himself genuinely as the cultural embodiment of who we are as a nation.B次元官网网址�

Some turned to social media to express their sadness in losing the B次元官网网址淚f You Could Read My MindB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淪undownB次元官网网址� singer-songwriter.

Bryan Adams tweeted that he was B次元官网网址済utted to know he was gone,B次元官网网址� adding that B次元官网网址渢he world is a lesser place without him,B次元官网网址� while Jann Arden said LightfootB次元官网网址檚 songs are B次元官网网址渨oven into the fabric of our everyday lives.B次元官网网址�

Guitarist Liona Boyd called Lightfoot a friend of nearly half a century and B次元官网网址渙ne of the greatest songwriters of all timeB次元官网网址� who influenced her own work.

B次元官网网址淕ordon was a unique and special person,B次元官网网址� she said in an emailed statement.

He was B次元官网网址渞esponsible for giving me one of my biggest breaks early in my career when I opened for him on tour in the B次元官网网址�70s.B次元官网网址�

LightfootB次元官网网址檚 artistic drive is at least part of what kept him motivated to continue touring well into his final years.

He became known for his loyalty to TorontoB次元官网网址檚 Massey Hall, a venue that practically raised him. He first played there when he was barely a teenager and made it a frequent stop on his tours, at one point appearing at least once a year.

As he got older, Lightfoot continued to pack his schedule with dozens of concert show dates across North America and Europe, playing up until health issues sidelined him last year.

Murray said LightfootB次元官网网址檚 road warrior spirit became a topic of conversation well over a decade ago when they both shared a table at a CanadaB次元官网网址檚 Walk of Fame ceremony. Somebody asked both musicians how much longer they would continue performing live.

B次元官网网址淗e said, B次元官网网址榃eB次元官网网址檝e got to keep going, donB次元官网网址檛 we Anne?B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� she remembered.

B次元官网网址淎nd I went, B次元官网网址楴o, Gordon, I donB次元官网网址檛 think so.B次元官网网址� But what he wanted to do was perform until he couldnB次元官网网址檛. He wanted to go out like Willie Nelson. He wanted to go on forever. That was his life, thatB次元官网网址檚 what he loved.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址擠avid Friend, The Canadian Press

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