Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald....37 years ago today!!

Peewee Charles · Post by **Peewee Charles** » 10 Nov 2012 9:52 am

Hard to belive it has been 37 years today the Edmund Fitzgerald sank...It seems like yesterday we went into Eastern Sound studio & cut this great song with Gord Lightfoot...I remember Terry Clements & myself coming up with the haunting guitar & steel riffs...We cut it later in the evening & believe it was the second take that made the record & became such a huge hit for Gord...What a tribute to all the families that lost loved ones that November day...A memory that will live on forever...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0DqPSF2fyo

Joe Naylor · Post by **Joe Naylor** » 10 Nov 2012 10:04 am

Thanks for the note - that memory (song) will live forever.

Joe Naylor
www.steelseat.com

Dave Simonis · Post by **Dave Simonis** » 10 Nov 2012 3:34 pm

PeeWee,

Great Job on making the song and story live on. The steel parts added so much to the song!

Clyde Mattocks · Post by **Clyde Mattocks** » 11 Nov 2012 5:53 am

The best written song I ever heard. Not a wasted line anywhere. "Does anyone know where the love of God goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours". Choose any line and it is compelling. Absolute perfection from the key that was chosen down to the instrumentation, fills, even the pauses that punctuate the arraingment. There was a little flak at that time from a few of the families of the victims, but my take was they never could have had a better memorial than this song.

Bob Taillefer · Post by **Bob Taillefer** » 11 Nov 2012 6:14 am

Great song and playing on that track! I remember seeing you play this song with Gordon at the Art Center in Ottawa. Very inspiring stuff! The steel added so much to the arrangement.
Bob T.

robert kramer · Post by **robert kramer** » 11 Nov 2012 7:42 am

I actually saw the the Edmund Fitzgerald in Milwaukee. My grandfather started his engineering career working on the coal boats on the Great Lakes. One summer while my parents were visiting my grandparents in Milwaukee - my grandfather took me down to see the Edmund Fitzgerald. There's no way I can explain how long this boat was. It's like it extended out of sight. Somewhere I have a B&W Brownie photo of it which will post if I can find it. Here's a photo from the web:

Clyde Mattocks · Post by **Clyde Mattocks** » 11 Nov 2012 8:39 pm

There was a PBS or Discovery channel documentary on the Edmund Fitzgerald where the tune was interspersed throughout along with a haunting background track. It was superbly done.