Gordon Lightfoot discography explained

Artist:Gordon Lightfoot
Studio:20
Live:3
Compilation:19
Video:5
Tribute:3
Singles:47
B-Sides:3

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[1] 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 Me) I'm the One", followed by recognition and charting abroad in the 1970s.

He topped the US Hot 100 and/or AC chart with the hits "If You Could Read My Mind" (1970), "Sundown" (1974); "Carefree Highway" (1974), "Rainy Day People" (1975), and "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" (1976), and had many other hits that appeared within the top 40.[2] Several of his albums achieved gold and multi-platinum status internationally.

Studio albums

1960s

TitleDetailsPeak positions
CAN
Lightfoot!
The Way I Feel
  • Release date: April 1967
  • Label: United Artists Records
Did She Mention My Name?
  • Release date: January 1968
  • Label: United Artists Records
21
Back Here on Earth
  • Release date: November 1968
  • Label: United Artists Records
21
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

1970s

TitleDetailsPeak chart positionsCertifications
(sales threshold)
CAN
AUS
US
[3]
US Country
UK
[4]
Sit Down Young Stranger[A] 122012
Summer Side of Life
  • Release date: May 1971
  • Label: Reprise Records
34038
Don Quixote
  • Release date: February 1972
  • Label: Reprise Records
14244
Old Dan's Records
  • Release date: November 1972
  • Label: Reprise Records
195
Sundown
  • Release date: January 1974
  • Label: Reprise Records
113145
  • US: Platinum
  • AUS: Gold
Cold on the Shoulder
  • Release date: February 1975
  • Label: Reprise Records
34410
Summertime Dream
  • Release date: June 1976
  • Label: Reprise Records
16312
  • CAN: Platinum
  • US: Platinum
Endless Wire 2562214
  • US: Gold
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

1980s

TitleDetailsPeak chart positionsCertifications
(sales threshold)
CANCAN CountryAUSUS
US Country
Dream Street Rose
  • Release date: 1980
  • Label: Warner Bros. Records
91766058
Shadows
  • Release date: January 1982
  • Label: Warner Bros. Records
1687
Salute
  • Release date: July 1983
  • Label: Warner Bros. Records
59175
East of Midnight
  • Release date: July 1986
  • Label: Warner Bros. Records
37165
  • CAN: Gold
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

1990s–2020s

TitleDetailsPeak chart
positions
CANUS Indie
Waiting for You
  • Release date: April 13, 1993
  • Label: Reprise Records
24
A Painter Passing Through
  • Release date: May 1, 1998
  • Label: Reprise Records
92
Harmony 1335
Solo
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Live albums

TitleDetailsPeak chart
positions
CANUS
Two Tones at the Village Corner
  • Release date: 1962
  • Label: LMG Records
Sunday Concert
  • Release date: 1969
  • Label: United Artists Records
21143
Live at PBS Soundstage 1979Release date: September 8, 1979--
All Live 16
At Royal Albert Hall
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Compilation albums

TitleDetailsPeak chart positionsCertifications
(sales threshold)
CAN
[6]
US
US Country
Early Lightfoot
  • Release date: 1969
  • Label: AME Records
69
The Best of Gordon Lightfoot
  • Release date: 1970
  • Label: United Artists Records
Classic Lightfoot: The Best of Gordon Lightfoot, Vol. 2
  • Release date: 1971
  • Label: United Artists Records
41178
A Lightfoot Collection: The Best of Gordon Lightfoot, Vol. 3
  • Release date: 1972
  • Label: United Artists Records
The Very Best of Gordon Lightfoot
  • Release date: 1974
  • Label: United Artists Records
155
The Very Best of Gordon Lightfoot, Vol. 2
  • Release date: 1975
  • Label: United Artists Records
Gord's Gold
  • Release date: November 1975
  • Label: Reprise Records
63415
  • CAN: 2× Platinum
  • UK: Silver[7]
  • US: 2× Platinum
Early Morning Rain
  • Release date: 1976
  • Label: EMI
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
  • Release date: 1979
  • Label: Pickwick International, Ltd.
Songbook
  • Release date: 1985
  • Label: Pair Records
Gord's Gold, Vol. 2
  • Release date: 1988
  • Label: Reprise Records
  • CAN: Platinum
  • US: Gold
The Best of Gordon Lightfoot
If You Could Read My Mind
  • Release date: 1990
  • Label: Reprise Records
The Original Lightfoot
  • Release date: 1992
  • Label: United Artists Records
58
The United Artists Collection
  • Release date: 1993
  • Label: United Artists Records
Songbook
  • Release date: June 15, 1999
  • Label: Rhino Entertainment
Complete Greatest Hits
  • Release date: 2002
  • Label: Rhino Entertainment
21128
  • CAN: Gold
  • US: Gold
An Introduction to: Gordon Lightfoot
  • Release date: 2018
  • Label: Rhino Entertainment
The Complete Singles 1970–1980 (2 CD)
  • Release date: 2019
  • Label: Real Gone Music
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Tribute albums

Title Artist Details
Tony Rice Sings Gordon LightfootTony Rice
  • Release date: 1996[C]
  • Label: Rounder
Mac Wiseman Sings Gordon LightfootMac Wiseman
[8] Various Artists
The Long River: A Personal Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot[9] J.P. Cormier
  • Release date: 2005
  • Label: (no label)
Ladies Sing LightfootVarious artists[D]
  • Release date: October 1, 2021
  • Label: Have Harmony Will Travel

Singles

1960s

YearTitlePeak chart
positions
Album
CAN CHUM RPMCAN Country
1962"(Remember Me) I'm the One"[B][10] 3
"It's Too Late, He Wins" / "Negotiations"[B][11] 27
"Adios, Adios"
1963"Day Before Yesterday" (UK release)
1965"I'm Not Sayin'"122Lightfoot
"Ribbon of Darkness"
"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues"3
1966"Spin Spin"7
"Go-Go Round"27The Way I Feel
1967"The Way I Feel"36
"Canadian Railroad Trilogy"
1968"Black Day in July"68Did She Mention My Name?
"Bitter Green"44Back Here on Earth
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

1970s

YearTitlePeak chart positionsCertifications
(sales threshold)
Album
CAN
CAN AC
CAN Country
US
US AC
[12]
US Country
UK
AUS
[13]
1970"Me and Bobby McGee"131Sit Down Young Stranger
"Approaching Lavender"20
"If You Could Read My Mind"11513027
1971"This Is My Song"66Early Lightfoot
"If I Could"Back Here on Earth
"Talking in Your Sleep"1926411Summer Side of Life
"Summer Side of Life"21498
1972"Beautiful"1315830Don Quixote
"Alberta Bound"
"You Are What I Am"3113237Old Dan's Records
1973"Can't Depend on Love"27
1974"Sundown"1241113334 Sundown
"Carefree Highway"11111018174
1975"Rainy Day People"10126147Cold on the Shoulder
1976"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"11129504046Summertime Dream
"Race Among the Ruins"3011146513
1977"The Circle Is Small (I Can See It in Your Eyes)"61933392Endless Wire
1978"Daylight Katy"44251641
"Dreamland"24100
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

1980s

YearTitlePeak chart positionsAlbum
CANCAN ACCAN CountryUS
US AC
US Country
1980"Dream Street Rose"182580Dream Street Rose
"If You Need Me"521
1982"Baby Step Back"65017Shadows
"Blackberry Wine"15
"In My Fashion"
1983"Salute (A Lot More Livin' to Do)"Salute
"Without You"
1986"Anything for Love"39141371East of Midnight
"Stay Loose"8610
1987"East of Midnight"11
"Ecstasy Made Easy"
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

1990s–2010s

YearTitlePeak positionsAlbum
CAN AC
1993"I'll Prove My Love"Waiting for You
"Waiting for You"
1998"A Painter Passing Through"47A Painter Passing Through
2004"Inspiration Lady"Harmony
2016"Plans of My Own"
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Charted B-sides

YearTitlePeak chart positionsOriginal A-side
CANCAN ACCAN CountryUS
1965"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues"39"Ribbon of Darkness"
1972"That Same Old Obsession"31101"You Are What I Am"
1973"It's Worth Believin'"12"Can't Depend on Love"
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Music videos

YearAlbumVideo
2004Harmony"Inspiration Lady"
1982Shadows"Shadows"
"Baby Step Back"
"In My Fashion"
"Blackberry Wine"

Video albums and documentaries

[14]

Notes

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Gordon Lightfoot | Music Biography, Credits and Discography . . November 17, 1938 . April 19, 2014.
  2. Book: The Billboard Book of Hits . 0-8230-8285-7. Adam White & Fred Bronson. Billboard Books. 1988.
  3. Web site: Gordon Lightfoot - Awards. AllMusic. August 19, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20160618190727/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gordon-lightfoot-mn0000667794/awards. June 18, 2016.
  4. Web site: GORDON LIGHTFOOT. Official Charts. August 19, 2023.
  5. Cash Box Magazine. Cash Box. World Radio History. 52. November 21, 1974. November 15, 2021.
  6. Gordon Lightfoot Chart History: Canadian Albums. Billboard. May 9, 2023.
  7. United Kingdom. album. Gordon's Gold. Gordon Lightfoot. 2617-3536-2.
  8. Web site: Release group "Beautiful: A Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot" by Various Artists. MusicBrainz. April 11, 2017.
  9. Web site: Release group "The Long River: A Personal Tribute to Gordon Lightfooot" by J.P. Cormier. MusicBrainz. April 11, 2017.
  10. Web site: CHUM Hit Parade - July 9, 1962.
  11. Web site: CHUM Hit Parade - December 10, 1962.
  12. Web site: Chart History: Gordon Lightfoot - Adult Contemporary. Billboard. August 19, 2023.
  13. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian)

    . David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. 177.

  14. Web site: Gordon Lightfoot. IMDb.com. November 3, 2019.