Lightfoot’s Lesser-Known Works Shine

Casual fans of Gordon Lightfoot might be tempted to dismiss the Canadian singer-songwriter’s “The United Artists Collection” as a “greatest-hits” rip-off.

How could you have a two-disc Lightfoot retrospective without including “If You Could Read My Mind,” “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” or any of his nine other U.S. hit singles?

But “The United Artists Collection,” just released by EMI Records, is far from a sham. In fact, it contains some of the best music ever made by one of the most gifted folk-flavored artists of the modern pop era: the 49 tracks released by United Artists Records before Lightfoot signed with Reprise Records in 1970 and broke into the charts in this country.

“Early Mornin’ Rain,” “Ribbon of Darkness” and “For Lovin’ Me”--which have been recorded by dozens of artists, including Elvis Presley, Waylon Jennings and Peter, Paul & Mary--are wonderfully engaging country-folk tunes that reflect the romantic longing and regret that is at the heart of Lightfoot’s music.

Lightfoot didn’t display in these early compositions the lyric sophistication of Dylan (whose manager, Albert Grossman, he shared), but his highly melodic songs offered much of the same sense of self-examination.

A remarkably consistent writer, Lightfoot was equally effective when focusing on relationships (“The Last Time I Saw Her”), restlessness (“Wherefor & Why”), social commentary (“Black Day in July”) and historical narratives (“Canadian Railroad Trilogy”).

Despite the myriad of folk-flavored artists in the ‘60s, Lightfoot’s work, thanks to the quality and grace of the vocals and songs, still glistens with an individuality that is at once disarming and endearing.

Also noteworthy:

Johnny Nash’s “Reggae Collection” (Epic/Legacy). Twenty songs from the Houston native whose recordings in the early ‘70s of his own “I Can See Clearly Now” and Bob Marley’s “Stir It Up” helped open a commercial door for reggae.

Among the familiar songs given disarming reggae treatments: Joe South’s “Birds of a Feather” and the Everly Brothers’ classic “All I Have to Do Is Dream.” Nine of the tracks--including an alternative version of “I Can See Clearly Now”--are being released in the United States for the first time.