Recently we recorded a few songs from our repertoire that we have molded into our own versions that seem to go over well at gigs. I was a very late bloomer to appreciate the songwriting and lyrical genius of Gordon Lightfoot and we originally did this song as kind of a dare; “wouldn’t it be funny for a blues trio to play Edmund Fitzgerald in it’s entirety!?” It took me a week of memory work to learn all of the lyrics and we were quite shocked that people liked it when when we would roll it out at a gig.
The song’s original key is in ‘B’ which made it a perfect song to adapt to BEADF#B Baritone guitar tuning and I thought running the guitar through our Studio Leslie speaker would be apropos to the watery theme. If you aren’t familiar with the original epic or have a short attention span this may not be for you… . Connor MacArthur on drums, Pete Cox on bass and myself on guitar and vocals. Recorded, mixed and mastered in Ardour 8.2.5.
Had to go back and re-watch your Lightfoot tribute on YT. Great job on this again. Love the Leslie, there were moments the guitar either sounded like organ stabs or my brain did a convincing job of inserting it. Love the added harmonies and the dynamics. What do you have on vocals?
The line “Does anyone know where the love of God goes…” always just kills me. Spent some time in the South Atlantic in 80kt winds. So, yup.
The YT Video is an early prototype before the Baritone guitar idea, I much prefer this arrangement.
Yes, that is my favorite lyric line as well, it just guts you…
I had 3 busses, one with Fabfilter Pro R2 Reverb’s ‘Gold Plate’, one with Ardour’s ACE Delay and one with Loomer Manifold which was used on the harmonies only to make them more lush. I’ve become very fond of AudioThing’s ‘Voice’ compressor and I used it on the Vocal channels as well. Other than that there is only EQ on the Kick drum. everything else is pretty much as it was recorded except for varying amounts of Compression. The Master buss had Fabfilter Pro EQ across the mix + U-he Presswerk Limiter.
Great playing, great recording, everything crystal clear, very powerful!
Don’t know the original version, and I will not go to listen to it, because I like this one!
The Leslie stuff is gorgeous, lucky, that you still have one. And everything else drums, bass, vocals, everything is on the spot!
Very interesting about the song writing of G. L. Initially I thought, ok, a little bit boring, always the same changes, but after a while it grabbed me in a kind if hypnotic way.
I could not remember all of those lyrics. Great job.
One of my favourite Gordon Lightfoot songs and you do it proud. Indeed the guitar through Leslie is inspired. Great work!
I had to go listen again to the original and listened closely to the arrangement. There are some really interesting little flairs in the background which enhance its etherealness wonderfully.
Thanks very much, yes the instrumental sections are more like a repeated refrain than a ‘go off and solo’ type of thing, the original song is like this and I believe it was influenced by Irish Celtic music that often had a repeating instrumental refrain part between Verses that wasn’t necessarily an improvised solo kind of thing…
Thanks a lot sunrat, nice to see you slumming here in the Ardour forum…
Yes you are right the original Lightfoot recording is full of atmospheric pedal steel and even some deeply buried synthesizer stuff in places. Apparently the song was tracked near the end of the album sessions and the band kind of learned it on the spot… Probably the one and only time the lead guitarist got to add some dirt to his guitar sound…lol
That sounds fantastic @GMaq! I dig it! At the risk of saying too much, this isn’t my usual/preferred genre, so when something outside of my preferred wheelhouse catches my attention, it’s a “double compliment”. I hope you receive that in the spirit intended!
I’m in the hard rock arena. Some may consider it “metal”, but if that’s the case, I’d call it “melodic metal”. But I think “hard rock” is the right description. I like to put HIGH GAIN on just about every guitar part I play. I’m like Eli Manning and Frank’s Hot Sauce…“I put that…on EVERYTHING!”
LOL!
But back to YOUR interpretation. I dig it! Very nice job and sounds fantastic! KUDOS!
. Connor MacArthur on drums, Pete Cox on bass and myself on guitar and vocals. Recorded, mixed and mastered in Ardour 8.2.5.