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Gordon Lightfoot's ninth album, his fourth for Reprise, is more and better of same: middle-of-the-road, homogenized folk rock that is sumptuously pleasant, but lacking the indelible stamp of emotional veracity that would make it irresistible. Lightfoot is certainly an important talent, whose prolific output of good songs is continuously impressive. Yet the overall impression he conveys is one of glibness. With his exceptionally suave crooning style, which tries to seduce us more through surface beauty than through any gut-level attempt at expressiveness, he sounds a lot like Andy Williams.
Lightfoot clearly wants to be all things to all people -- rustic folkie, cosmopolite, social commentator, and above all, the apostle of romantic love. Despite the remarkable facility and fine craftsmanship of his writing, these roles tend to overlap, resulting in work that too often is stylistically bland.
On Old Dan's Records, the most glaring example of this is a simple C&W ballad, "That Same Old Obsession," which is strained out of proportion by being paced much too slowly and burdened with an unnecessary string arrangement. On this, and on two other cuts -- "Can't Depend on Love" and "Hi'Way Songs" -- the strings of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra serve to make perfectly decent songs sound like shlock. "Can't Depend on Love" is probably the album's most commercial cut, it being very similar to Lightfoot's biggest hit, "If You Could Read My Mind."
Old Dan's Records, produced by Lenny Waronker, contains ten songs, all Lightfoot originals that display his characteristic lyrical competence and strong melodic sense. The most interesting cuts -- "Farewell To Annabel," "Old Dan's Records," and "You Are What I Am" -- feature Larry Good on five-string banjo, an inspired injection of rustic energy that nicely complements the smoothness of Lightfoot's singing. The production on "Farewell To Annabel," the album's opener, is especially exhilarating, mingling guitars, banjo, and autoharp with a restrained string arrangement.
- Stephen Holden, Rolling Stone, 3/29/73.
Gordon Lightfoot is undoubtedly one of the finest composers of today's music and his art is well showcased on this disc. Lightfoot takes the "If You Could Read My Mind" route on "It's Worth Believin'." Also offered is a smooth plaintive treatment on "Mother of a Miner's Child" and "Lazy Mornin'." Top quality and a top chart item.
- Billboard, 1973.
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