"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot (cover)

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by Basalt Beach

Simply beautiful and an outstanding arrangement! You captured the haunting vibe of the tragedy in your arrangement and vocals. I was curious how you would arrange when I read the thread title and you nailed it.

Hi Basalt Beach!

Thanks very much for taking the time to both listen and comment here! I'm so glad you like this!

I really thought that I might pull this off as just a voice and 12-string guitar, but I imagine you have already read that I was discouraged about how that ended up sounding. So, I ended up with what you've heard here.

I have not had my Gibson ES-335 out of its case for years. It was nice to see and play it again. As I was looking for the right kind of lead guitar sound, something that sounded fairly close to the Terry Clements sound on the Gordon Lightfoot "The Wreck ..." recording, I was reminded of the really good sound that this guitar has. When I compare my recorded lead guitar sound against that of Terry Clements, my tone is a little fatter sounding. The best information I have found is that Terry Clements played two Gretsch electrics (a 1964 Tennessean and a 1976 Country Gentleman, the latter his primary stage ax). I think he used some chorus effect on his recording of "The Wreck..." but I found I didn't need it because of the fatter sounding humbucker pickups in my ES-335. The Gretsch Country Gentleman has TV Jones Classic humbucker pickups and, I believe, a coil splitting switch, as I have on my ES-335. I think the Gibson humbucker sound is a little fatter (bassier) sounding compared to the TV Jones humbucker sound.

I hope you are doing well, BB! Thanks so much for your comments!

- Glenn

[DWKitt]

You are truly a gifted musician Glenn. Thank you for posting this. I enjoyed it immensely.

This is one of my favorite songs and I've learned to play it, alas only with a 6-string, so I don't really have all the nuances of it down quite right. You have inspired me though, and I will keep at it. Thank you so much.

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by DWKitt

You are truly a gifted musician Glenn. Thank you for posting this. I enjoyed it immensely.

This is one of my favorite songs and I've learned to play it, alas only with a 6-string, so I don't really have all the nuances of it down quite right. You have inspired me though, and I will keep at it. Thank you so much.

Hi Don!

Thank you for your very kind and encouraging words! I am so glad you enjoyed this, and I'm so glad you already have a handle on this song yourself, 6-string or whatever! It's a great challenge to sing this song, even with the tragedy and sadness implicit in the story. It tells quite a story, and for me, songs that tell stories are some of the best.

Keep at it Don -- I wish you well! Thanks so much for taking the time to watch and having the generosity to provide such supportive comments here!

- Glenn

[Carmel Cedar]

Glenn, this was amazing. Finally caught up with this video, and was thoroughly impressed by your continued growth - the use of background images, the amazing, haunting lead electric sound, and your ability to bring multiple instruments together (along with your growing drum capabilities) to a complete, "all there" recording that honored the original but gave it your own, inspired take. Bravo!!!

It's super cool to read about your own connection to Great Lakes shipping that brings this one alive for you. It's even more cool to read that you struggled with and conquered the seductive lure of 'sunk cost', and made the hard call to cut losses and restart your effort when the initial path fell short.

At this rate of progress, I anticipate your commercial debut by next year.

Well done, Glenn!

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by Carmel Cedar

Glenn, this was amazing. Finally caught up with this video, and was thoroughly impressed by your continued growth - the use of background images, the amazing, haunting lead electric sound, and your ability to bring multiple instruments together (along with your growing drum capabilities) to a complete, "all there" recording that honored the original but gave it your own, inspired take. Bravo!!!

It's super cool to read about your own connection to Great Lakes shipping that brings this one alive for you. It's even more cool to read that you struggled with and conquered the seductive lure of 'sunk cost', and made the hard call to cut losses and restart your effort when the initial path fell short.

At this rate of progress, I anticipate your commercial debut by next year.

Well done, Glenn!

Hi Carmel Cedar!

Thank you for your very supportive and generous post! It's much appreciated! I'm so glad you like how this came out.

I don't know about any commercial debuts, however. I'm perfectly satisfied just keeping my hand in music this way. Sometimes people on the AGF and my YouTube subscribers like what I do, and sometimes the reaction is just, "Meh..."

But a very supportive reaction like yours, Carmel Cedar, makes my day! Thanks so much for going to the trouble of watching and then commenting here!

I hope all is well for you! I'm doing great!

- Glenn

[Pippin]

Really enjoyable, Glenn! Love the camera work, the background, the switches between scenes and of course, as always, your singing and guitar playing! The Gibson sounds haunting!

IMHO, the background info. on your personal connection with the song add a whole new dimension to the enjoyment of the rendition.

Can't say thank you enough for sharing!

Pp

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by Pippin

Really enjoyable, Glenn! Love the camera work, the background, the switches between scenes and of course, as always, your singing and guitar playing! The Gibson sounds haunting!

IMHO, the background info. on your personal connection with the song add a whole new dimension to the enjoyment of the rendition.

Can't say thank you enough for sharing!

Pp

Hi Pippin,

Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment! And it's always a treat to hear from you! I am so glad you found this video as well as my own connections with this Lightfoot song interesting and enjoyable!

Thank you so much for letting me know! I hope all is well for you!

- Glenn

[Organic Sounds Select Guitars]

Glenn, you’ve become such a pro at these videos! This one is fantastic, start to finish. I was going to ask how you achieved that great tone with your 335, but see you partially addressed that with one of your responses.

As always, great singing, playing and congrats on putting it all together on this haunting song. I can tell from listening that it has meaning to you. Excellent work!

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by LWSog

Glenn, you’ve become such a pro at these videos! This one is fantastic, start to finish. I was going to ask how you achieved that great tone with your 335, but see you partially addressed that with one of your responses.

As always, great singing, playing and congrats on putting it all together on this haunting song. I can tell from listening that it has meaning to you. Excellent work!

Hi Larry!

It's wonderful to hear from you! I'm so glad you like how this came out! Thanks so much for your comments!

Regarding the electric guitar, the Gibson ES-335, I used a combination of both pickups in full humbucker mode, and I used Guitar Rig in my Steinberg Cubase recording program to get the amplified sound. I ended up using a model of a Vox AC-30 amplifier with a little bit of overdrive and then added a distortion stomp box in front of that set with a fairly modest amount of distortion. The combination of the two models of these devices produced that amplified sound. I also fed a fairly hot signal into the amplifier model and that seemed to help produce the sound I was looking for.

I hope you are healing up well, Larry. You take care!

- Glenn

[Don Lampson]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

This is my cover of Gordon Lightfoot's well known song of the loss of the Edmund Fitzgerald on November 10, 1975 in a storm on Lake Superior.

I grew up in Lakewood, OH where I could watch the many ore boats coming into Cleveland as I did yard work on properties looking right over the lake. So the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald was quite a shock to me. Many of the crew members lived in areas all around where I grew up, including Lakewood. I did change the words from the original recording to conform to how Gordon Lightfoot sings this now. He removed the reference to the main hatchway caving in since researchers now know that ship ultimately sank because the hull broke in half. My mother's uncles, my grand uncles, were all ship's engineers on the ore boats on the Great Lakes, so I think about the 29 men lost when I sing this song.

For reference, the 12-string is my Guild F512, the electric lead guitar is a Gibson ES-335, the bass is a Carvin.

Thanks for listening.

- Glenn

What a job of producing! The background photos add so much to the song, and you've created a genuine band to go with your excellent vocal! 1st class, all the way!

Don

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by Don Lampson

What a job of producing! The background photos add so much to the song, and you've created a genuine band to go with your excellent vocal! 1st class, all the way!

Don

Thank you Don!

How nice of you to comment! Thanks so much for the encouragement and all the kind words! If I could have enlisted the help of other people to play the other parts with me, I would have. But everyone else I know who could help with this is just too busy with their own things. So, it had to be a one-man band or forget the song. Since I really wanted to do this song, then ....

The background photos do seem to help me forget that I am just doing this in my studio. I have been leaving the green screen set up where I work and record. My wife thinks it makes it look like I'm working in a cave. I seem to be able to live in a cave, at least for extended periods. I found years ago that I could spend a lot of time in a submarine without being bothered by the confined spaces.

Thanks so much Don! I hope you are well!

- Glenn

[Finger Stylish]

Great job on this Glenn!
You nailed it!

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by Finger Stylish

Great job on this Glenn!
You nailed it!

Thank you Vance!

It's nice of you to check in and offer a comment! I hope all is well for you!

- Glenn

[john57classic]

Excellent job Glenn. I figured this one was going to float to the top of your list, especially after you started down the multiple instrument/take path. A top notch cover!

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by john57classic

Excellent job Glenn. I figured this one was going to float to the top of your list, especially after you started down the multiple instrument/take path. A top notch cover!

Thank you John!

It's great to receive your comments and to know that you found time to watch this! Thanks so much for letting me know! I'm so glad you felt that this came out okay!

I hope all is well for you John!

- Glenn