if [you] could read my mind........

"...what a tale my thoughts could tell..."

last wednesday, my dad cashed in on his father's day present.

tickets to see gordon lightfoot.

now that name might not be recognizable to most people, but as everyone in my family knows, this is my father's favorite artist, and has been since the early seventies. basically, gordon lightfoot was a song writer in the sixties, that helped popularize folk music, who then went on to his own solo career. to make a very quick analogy, and put things in perspective, colin meloy is to eric, as gordon lightfoot is to lloyd. the only mark against my dad's "number one fan" status, is the fact that he's never seen his favorite artist in concert, so upon hearing that mr. lightfoot was coming to wichita, i think it was absolutely beautiful, on my mom's part, to get him tickets.

now, love may not be a strong enough word for how my dad feels about gordon lightfoot. not only does he have most of his albums on vinyl, but he can also play a number of his songs on the guitar. as a kid i can remember, late at night, after i was suppose to be in bed, i could hear dad in the garage playing, "if you could read my mind" which is one of the most beautiful songs ever written. now i'm not sure if it's this childhood memory that influences that opinion, all i know is that i loved when my dad played it,in my opinion, better then the original, and as i kid, i wanted to play guitar just like him. that's why i was so honored when i got to go to the concert with my dad. gordon was the main reason my dad started playing guitar, and my dad was the reason i started playing. last wednesday, with our tickets in hand, we went to see this pioneer of folk music. sitting up in the balcony, listening to his set, i had never seen my dad so excited about music before. it was like sitting next to one of my friends. he knew all the songs, was the first to clap when the song ended, give a few loud whistles, and of course led the standing ovation in the balcony area.

for just a moment, in the vintage atmosphere provided by the downtown orpheum, it felt like we had stepped back in time to 1975, and we were both in our twenties, enjoying the same show.

i'm not sure who got the better gift that night, my dad seeing gordon lightfoot for the first time, or me, seeing my dad, see gordon lightfoot for the first time.......