How I “Met” Gordon Lightfoot

When I was a student at the then brand new U C Irvine, Gordon played a concert in the gym (there was as yet no concert hall).  I was a very poor, though not starving student, so I had not tried to purchase a ticket.  Now it happened that on the afternoon before his concert I dribbled my basketball into the gym looking for some pick-up games (thinking there was ‘open gym’ at that particular day and time) only to find the place dark and empty save for a theatre friend of mine on a rolling scaffold focusing lights onto the “stage” while Gordon, Rick and Terry were practicing.  So I stopped dribbling, stood at one end of the basketball court and got a private concert for about half an hour as my friend asked Gordon every now and then to “move a little to your right please Gordon” and other such niceties.  I was very careful not to let the ball drop to the floor which might have betrayed my presence!  As Gordon walked by me on his way out, my lighting friend said “Thank you for your patience Gordon”. Gordon replied to that no thanks were needed because “I needed the practice”.  I can tell you that practice never sounded more like performance – no mistakes, no repeats, no “Let’s do that riff again”.  Just song after song done pretty close to perfectly.

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PickleweedPaul will play at your event anywhere in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Please contact me.

Via email:

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pickleweedpaul@sonic.net

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