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     rview 
     
    
   
   
    
     Henry Chilko 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Gordon Lightfoot: Endless 
     
     Wire, Warner Bros. K88 3149 
     
    
   
   
    
     ‘Ihese ,ten songs on 
     
     Lightfoot's latest 
     
     album have the simple 
     
     lines characteristic of 
     
     folk music. But if you 
     
     haven'tlistened closely 
     
     of late, the recordings of 
     
     the Native Son .are graying 
     
     increasingly richly 
     
     produced. A few numbers 
     
     herein have even mounted 
     
     the stairway to symphonic 
     
     heaven. 
     
    
   
   
    
     me opener, M 
     
     Katy, might be a stronger 
     
     single, if it is released, 
     
     than the song we are ' 
     
     hearing (The Circle is 
     
     Small) . Katy has a 
     
    

    
     leasant Caribbean hook 
     
     lflplanted in‘ a ‘ 
     
     cushioned Strings—and— 
     
     guitar sound. It is a 
     
     significant that Light- 
     
     foot's contribution to 
     
     the album as vocalist 
     
     and guitarist is listed 
     
     fourth in the credits. 
     
    

    
     Who's first? A Mr. 
     
     Riley, fOr his string 
     
     orchestrations. 
     
    

    
     The evolution to, . 
     
     SymphonicFokv (SF) in- 
     
     Cludes Song- sections, ‘1 
     
     more like movements than 
     
     stanzas. Nothing in the 
     
     setisaspunchyas’ ‘ 
     
     Sundown or as strong as 
     
     _the Edmund Fitzgraid. 
     
     Even in an uptempo piece 
     
     like Han Hotel Room, 
     
     a tearing electric guitar. ‘ 
     
     lead has been electroni- 
     
     cally softened. and 
     
     Gordon :5 voice is sate- 
     
     how disembodied in all the 
     
     multi-tracking. 
     
    

    
     It isn't that SF is 
     
     necessarily evil; just 
     
     that it is a tricky 
     
     business making sure 
     
     the tail doesn't wag the 
     
     dog. 'It marks well inrone 
     
     caring andcared—for song, 
     
     If Children Had Wings, 
     
     where the exotic intrum— 
     
     entation is controlled 
     
     instead of controlling. 
     
    

    
     There is something for 
     
     everyone. Besides the 
     
     Caribbean SF touch, there 
     
     is a Motown SF touch (1: 
     
     'I'lierie's a Reason) , a 
     
     Stmesesque SF touch _ 
     
     (Satetimes I Don't Mind) I 
     
     and one that reminds 
     
     You of the, old balladeer 
     
     Lightfoot (Sweet ‘ 
     
     Guj.nevere)~. For years, 
     
     LithfOOt was famous as 
     
     the writer who could make 
     
     good songs "without 
     
     resorting to the tired 
     
     BOY Ioves'Girl theme. 'IWo 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     songs on this album are 
     
     in a bitter Vein of this 
     
     The AM hit provides a 
     
     good indication of the 
     
     feelof Endless Wire. 
     
     nghtfoot is camendably 
     
     challenging more complex 
     
     musical forms, but 
     
     sometimes one wishes for 
     
     simpler productions and 
     
     sometimes the challenger 
     
     gets mauled by the studio, 
     
    
   
   
    
     Raunch Radley: Guitar Gig, 
     
     Redita 103 
     
    

    
     For every Atkins, Benson 
     
    

    
     and Hendrix there are many 
     
    

    
     guitarists ,of talent and ‘ 
     
    

    
     ability but no recognition. 
     
    
   
   
    
     This journeyman (apt term!) 
     
    
   
   
    
     of great'verstility (acou- 
     
     stic, electric steal and 
     
     slide) is only reviewed by 
     
     a stroke of luck. One for— 
     
     gettable evening in Toronto 
     
     I had been sent by' a friend 
     
     to see a folkette at a 
     
     dinghy club. It turned 
     
     out the folkette was endow— 
     
     ed extremely but not in a 
     
    
   
   
    
     Jan ny Jung 
     
     Simon Fraser 
     
     Unlversit 
     
     Vancouver, .C. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     vocal sense. 'Radley, to 
     
     make a long story short, 
     
     was backing her with his 
     
     scruffy band and came on 
     
     with a schorching after— 
     
     hours set. 
     
    

    
     'me album, although all 
     
     studio instrumentals, does 
     
     justice to that memorable 
     
     evening. Radley, I should 
     
     inform you, is a 50's pur- 
     
     ist stuck inside the 70's. 
     
     His "Rising Sun" reminds 
     
     you of a Santo and Johny 
     
     jam session. The jazzy 
     
     electric piano of Scott 
     
    
   
   
    
     'Parker (Charlie ' s younger 
     
    
   
   
    
     brother) provides a strange— 
     
     ly beautiful counterpoint. 
     
     Radley does his own tunes 
     
     too. "Ratfeather Gumbo" 
     
     is what happens when a 
     
     gentle soul from Dixie 
     
     meets Los Angeles: the 
     
     pedal steel comes at you 
     
     like a freight train with 
     
     a razor blade for a cow— 
     
     catcher. 
     
    

    
     There are fourteen 
     
     tunes, recording the pulse 
     
     of 7 other cities. They 
     
     range from "Pineapple 
     
    
   
   
    
        
     
    
   
   
    
     Mariette Stoop 
     
     George Brown College 
     
     Toronto, Ontario 
     
    
   
   
    
     Debra Evans 
     
     ‘ Saint john School of Nursing 
     
     Saintjohn, N.B. 
     
    
   
   
    
     f 11‘ 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
       
     
    
   
   
    
     isrANc 
     
     , wepsmxzs 
     
    
   
   
    
     Blues", which is a cross 
     
     pollination of Nashville 
     
     and Honolulu much truer 
     
     than Prssley's "Blue 
     
     Hawaii" ,to Fahey—like blues 
     
     and a rockin' version of 
     
     the usually depressing 
     
     standard "Motherless 
     
     Children". Radley is much 
     
     more famous in Europe, as 
     
     often happens with artists 
     
     too sensitive for North 
     
     American mass-producedstar— 
     
     dom. Still, Raunch somehow 
     
     persuaded name musicians 
     
     like L.J. Haggett; Pittman 
     
     Putnam, Andrew Winston and 
     
     Hank Davis to join  
     
    

    
     The steady slap bass of 
     
    

    
     the latter was more re-- 
     
     freshing in his age of omni— 
     
     present Fenders. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
        
     
        
     
             
     
          
     
         
     
        
     
       
     
        
     
       
     
        
     
        
     
    
   
   
    
     Congratulations on having 
     
     won a brand new Mini, the ' 
     
     Long Distance economy car. . 
     
     We hope you have 
     
     many years of enjoyable 
     
     driving. And thanks to the 
     
     48,427 other students who 
     
     participated. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Long Distance 
     
    
   
   
    
     1, TrangCanada Telephone System 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
         
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     ——.c’ J