Gordon Lightfoot’s final album set for release in July

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A live album from the late Gordon Lightfoot is set to be released July 14.

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At Royal Albert Hall will feature the Canadian singer-songwriter’s complete set from the iconic London venue on May 24, 2016.

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The offering, while is being billed as his “final album,” will mark Lightfoot’s fourth live release, following 1962’s, Two Tones at the Village Corner; 1969’s Sunday Concert (which hit No. 143 on the Billboard 200); and 2012’s All Live.

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At Royal Albert Hall is described in a press release as “an unembellished live mix of that night’s performance, without edits, overdubs, remixing, or re-sequencing. It captures every song performed in the order they were played, down to the encore by Gordon and his band – Rick Haynes on bass, Barry Keane on drums, Mike Heffernan on keys, and Carter Lancaster on guitar.”

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The 26-song set features Lightfoot’s best-known hits, as well as songs that have never previously appeared on a live recording, including The Watchman’s Gone, Drifters, All The Lovely Ladies, Sundown, Beautiful, Don Quixote, and more.

Lightfoot singled out Royal Albert Hall as one of his favourite venues and in the weeks leading up to his passing on May 1, the legendary folk-music icon reportedly insisted that this particular show be released as soon as possible.

Lightfoot approved the cover artwork, and maintained that no changes were to be made to the recording.

At Royal Albert Hall is being produced by Linus Entertainment, the Canadian independent label that released Lightfoot’s last studio album with his band, Harmony, in 2004.

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The 13-time Juno Award winner died earlier this month of natural causes, his family said in a statement released by his publicist Victoria Lord.

Lightfoot performed his last live show at Club Regent Event Centre in Winnipeg on Oct. 30, 2022.

“There were three standing ovations through the night, so really well deserved for a Canadian icon, music legend, really the spirit of Canada. Just amazing the aura that he brings into the room,” Kelly Berehulka, Club Regent’s entertainment program manager, told CTV News Winnipeg.

Officials at Massey Hall, the Toronto venue that Lightfoot played on almost a yearly basis since 1967, called his live shows a “quintessential Canadian experience.”

“Over 170 appearances, the chime of his twelve-string guitar and the iconic timbre of his voice reverberated throughout these walls, filling our hearts with stories of our nation, and enriching our lives immeasurably,” said Jesse Kumagai, Massey Hall president & CEO, in a statement.

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“The world has lost one of its most profound voices, but his songs will play on and his soul will always be found at Massey Hall,” Kumagai said.

Following news of Lightfoot’s death, tributes poured in from across the music world with Billy Joel, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Bryan Adams all hailing his musical brilliance.

Elsewhere, Rob Baker and the Tragically Hip called Lightfoot “a kind and supportive friend.”

“I’m sitting here listening to Gord’s Gold and thinking of the hundreds and hundreds of times I’ve listened to this, alone, laying in the backseat of my parents car heading to Georgian Bay, or with everyone on the tour bus rolling across the country,” Baker wrote in a message on the band’s official Instagram page. “These are some of the finest, most durable songs ever written. To say he was/is a national icon sells him short. He was and always will be a great artist and one of the finest songwriters to ever grace a stage. He was a kind and supportive friend to the guys in The Hip. Put on one of his many fine albums and raise your glass in a toast to authenticity.”

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Neil Young said Lightfoot was in good spirits, despite cancelling a round of live shows just a few weeks ago.

“I just spoke to Gordon a few weeks back and he sounded happy, although he had cancelled some shows and was re-organizing his touring,” Young, 77, wrote on his Archives website. “Gordon was a great Canadian artist. A songwriter without parallel. His melodies and words were an inspiration to all writers who listened to his music, as they will continue to be through the ages. There is a unique and wonderful feeling to Gordon’s music. Lightfoot is a Canadian legend.”

Earlier this month, Lightfoot cancelled his U.S. and Canadian concert schedule for 2023 “due to health issues.”

In 2002, Lightfoot nearly died after suffering an abdominal aortic aneurysm. But he returned two years later with a new album, Harmony, and resumed touring the following year.

“I want to be like Ralph Carter, Stompin’ Tom and Willie Nelson,” Lightfoot told the CBC in 2004, per The New York Times. “Just do it for as long as humanly possible.”

mdaniell@postmedia.com