Various Artists

Beautiful: A Tribute to
Gordon Lightfoot

(Northern Blues/Borealis)

Following closely on the heels of his tribute to Johnny Cash, Colin Linden has produced another compilation for the Northern Blues label, this time paying homage to the career of fellow Canadian Gordon Lightfoot. Where the former outing was a straight-forward, blues-oriented affair, Beautiful: A Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot draws more from the worlds of both folk and rock music. While much of the album offers little that is particularly groundbreaking or remarkable, the artists assembled for the project reinterpreted the material with solidly pleasing results. Blue Rodeo delivers Go Go Round with a ’60s pop flair; Bruce Cockburn slips inside Ribbon of Darkness’ blackened veneer; Cowboy Junkies puts a charge into The Way I Feel, and The Tragically Hip performs Black Day in July as if it were its own. Only Connie Kaldor, Murray McLauchlan, and Maria Muldaur completely miss the mark, turning in ridiculously bland renditions of If You Could Read My Mind, Home from the Forest, and Same Old Obsession, respectively — each without saying anything new. Although Beautiful: A Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot is hardly a vital set, fans of Lightfoot as well as any of the artists involved in the project undoubtedly will find something to enjoy.