Dave Bidini on writing to Gordon Lightfoot

First aired on Here and Now (20/10/11)

Trying to capture the essence of a Canadian music legend is no easy task. it's even more difficult when your subject refuses to be interviewed. But that's what musician and author Dave Bidini tries to do in his new book, Writing Gordon Lightfoot.

Bidini gets around this minor problem with an inventive approach: Writing Gordon Lightfoot is a series of letters to the groundbreaking Canadian singer/songwriter. "I had to choose that format because he wouldn't talk to me," Bidini explained to Here and Now host Laura Di Battista. "So I had to talk to him. [It's] a one-way conversation."

The letters hinge on a single, unforgettable event in music history. In June 1972, musicians from around the world were gathering on Toronto Island for the country's biggest folk music festival and four of the biggest singer/songwriters in the game -- Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Lightfoot himself -- appeared at the festival, unannounced.

As Bidini looked further into this event, he realized what a pivotal week it was, not just for Canada's music scene, but for the country as a whole.

"I thought I would use that event as a way into talking about Gord's life," Bidini explained. "I found out that on Monday, it started with a total eclipse of the sun. On Tuesday, Team Canada '72 announced the team that would play the Soviets. On Wednesday, it was the largest jailbreak in Canadian history, 14 inmates escaped from Milhaven. On the Thursday, the Fischer/Spassky chess tournament started. And then it ended on the weekend with the Pioneer 10 spacecraft penetrating the asteroid belt around Jupiter."

With so much happening that week, Bidini knew he had his book. "My job was to reconstruct this week and somehow relate these events."

While Bidini has come to terms with the fact he may never meet, work with or interview Lightfoot, he's not giving up on making an impression on a musician that influenced so much of his own life and work.

"I hope he likes the book, ultimately."

Writing Gordon Lightfoot: The Man, the Music, and the World in 1972

by Dave Bidini

Buy this book at:

From the publisher:

"July, 1972. As musicians across Canada prepare for the nation's biggest folk festival, held on Toronto Island, a series of events unfold that will transform the country politically, psychologically -- and musically. As Bidini explores the remarkable week leading up to Mariposa, he also explores the life and times of one of the most enigmatic figures in Canadian music: Gordon Lightfoot, the reigning king of folk at the height of his career. Through a series of letters, Bidini addresses Lightfoot directly, questioning him, imagining his life, and weaving together a fascinating, highly original look at a musician at the top of his game. By the end of the week, the country is on the verge of massive change and the '72 Mariposa folk fest -- complete with surprise appearances by Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and yes, Lightfoot -- is on its way to becoming legendary."

Read more at McClelland & Stewart.