Gordon Lightfoot - If You Could Read My Mind

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I received this 'album' for my 13th birthday, and that was a long time ago - it was a new release then! I have listened to it so many times since, at so many different stages in my life.

As an adult, I have sung 'Pony Man' to my children; as a teenager, I lay in the dark with headphones on, immersed in the layers and colors of 'Your loves return' and 'Cobwebs and Dust'. 'If you could read my mind' threaded its way through so many times and places, and many times, I stood in the night wind with 'Poor Little Alison' echoing in my ears. In short, I cannot imagine the last 40 years without these songs. That's a pretty good tribute to good music! October 19, 2008

Beautiful Songs, Melancholy and Enduring

I've loved this album for 35 years. Some of the people close to me used to make fun of the music, and I still don't understand why. His songs touch me in a different way from other music. Some people I've known have been just as involved with listening to his music as I, so he doesn't seem to affect people in a middle of the road way - you love his music, or you don't care much for it. "The Pony Man" lullaby, one of my favorites, was a big reason to buy this CD, which I also have on vinyl. The "Pony Man" CD version isn't available for download anywhere I've found. Moody, pensive and poignant tunes to fill your soul with what you hunger for. June 27, 2008

Classic Lightfoot

Gordon Lightfoot really came of age as a singer/songwriter in the late sixties and early seventies. If You Could Read My Mind is one of those recordings that, like many of Dylan's and James Taylor's, has aged like a fine wine. I honestly had forgotten just how good this record was until I started filling in some of my old 33's with CD's. The entire album is beautifully written and makes you feel like you're visiting an old friend. I am now in the process of replacing all of my Lightfoot albums with the CD versions. It also helped that I saw Gordon perform in Indianapolis this past October. He's older now (like we all are) but is still one of those performers who moves your soul. November 21, 2007

Mellifluous melodies

I've had this CD for almost ten years and it's still one of my favorite albums. This is Gordon Lightfoot's first album with Reprise after five with United Artists(later renamed Liberty)Records. The title track was a big hit and is now a classic. Here he is augmented by Randy Newman, John Sebastian of The Lovin' Spoonful and Van Dyke Parks. This album is almost entirely acoustic with one track, "Baby It's Allright" featuring drums. The only track not written by Lightfoot,"Me And Bobby McGee" became a hit for Janis Joplin. The album as a whole is a great listen with great instrumentation. When you play this album,sit back, close your eyes and enjoy the ride.
July 22, 2007

a songwriters dream

If You Could Read My Mind is probably Gordon Lightfoot's best album. I've always felt he was a master at the folky/singer-songwriter/camp fire crew. Occasionally he would let it rip and whip out some light rockers, but on this release, it's mostly a collection of songs that has a very distinct homemade feel to it. The perfect music to listen to if you live in a wooded area surrounded by trees.

I can't find much to complaint about and if you're a Gordon Lightfoot fan, you won't either. Even in the early days of his career he was pumping out one memorable song after another. He was very good at consistency. His cover of Janis Joplin's "Me and Bobby McGee" is pretty awesome with a pretty dark vocal melody from Mr. Lightfoot. Some of the songs I admit repeat a bit often, such as "Cobwebs and Dust" but that doesn't interfere with the well above average songwriting. It's probably easy to get some of these songs confused with each other, but you'll be humming the vocal melodies to many of them well after the album has finished playing in your CD player. Good music. July 18, 2007

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