14 April : Sit Down Young Stranger

Sit Down Young Stranger was Gordon Lightfoot’s 6th album, but his first for Reprise. It sold a hundred thousand or so copies but then If You Could Read My Mind was a monster success as a single and the album was renamed and rereleased.

There’s a charm about this album, but it’s all a bit samey. To be sure the arrangements vary and there is, according to Wikipedia, a stellar cast of musicians on this, including Ry Cooder and John Sebastian, with some arrangements by Randy Newman. Lightfoot has a smooth, slightly nasal, baritone voice and is a good, if conventional, acoustic guitar picker, reminding me somewhat of Tom Paxton. The production is good too–very clear and layered.

It’s all very understated and, in the end harmless. But it isn’t particularly exciting. It’s hard to say on a couple of listens, but my favourite track is probably Baby It’s Alright

Spotify has it all and there’s a YouTube playlist