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The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald
- Jeff Powers
- 4 minutes ago
- 1 min read
The legendary Canadian songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, known for his
beautiful, often mellow songs, was in reality anything but gentle. His reputation
was that of a very intense and sometimes difficult person. Bob Dylan loved
Lightfoot’s music so much that he said he tried to write and record like Gordon on
his John Wesley Harding album—though Dylan felt he still fell short of Lightfoot’s
standard, and that’s saying something, because John Wesley Harding is a great
album.
On November 10, 1975, the freighter Edmund Fitzgerald was crossing Lake
Superior when a brutal storm with hurricane‑force winds hit. The ship literally
cracked in half, and all 29 men aboard died. Gordon Lightfoot wrote a song about
the tragedy, but at first kept it for himself and did not intend to record or release it.
He felt doing so might be hurtful to the families of the crew. Lightfoot was a purist;
he didn’t want to be seen as someone exploiting tragedy just to sell records. In
fact, he often didn’t even want to tour after releasing an album, so he wouldn’t
appear to be “selling” it.
During one recording session, the band finished earlier than expected and still
had studio time left that they’d already paid for......
If you'd like to learn the song and how to loop the lead guitar part go to my patreon. If you find it helpful a little love is always appreciated :)
