| The
next in my line of rare recordings to review, are the cuts from the
late 60's movie, Hail Hero, starring Michael Douglas, which Lightfoot
provided two songs
for the soundtrack. No soundtrack recording was ever released, so
these
tunes can only be heard if you are lucky enough to catch the movie on
the
late show sometime.
An
interesting aside to this story, is that Lightfoot provided early
versions, in rough demo form, of the songs Sit Down Young Stranger and
Don Quixote for consideration for this movie, but amazingly they were
rejected! Lightfoot has said that the demo they did wasn't all
that good and didn't do the songs justice.
While probably not an item for an official discography, there
are in existence acetates of a mixdown session from Lightfoot's
contribution
to the "Hail Hero" soundtrack. The acetate consists of three mixes of
"Hail
Hero #1" (the slower version), one mix of "Hail Hero #2" (the faster
arrangement, with drums) and one mix of the re-recorded "Wherefore And
Why". The engineer's voice can be heard between takes documenting the
mix reference number, followed by Lightfoot's voice doing the count-in
from the recording session.
An acetate is a quick pressing on very thin vinyl that is used to
document the results of a particular recording or mixing session. If
you've ever
seen record giveaways that used to come inside magazines, then you know
what an acetate looks and sounds like. These days DAT tape or CD-R most
certainly fulfill the same purpose.
Here
are some descriptions of the songs that did make it into the movie:
WHEREFORE AND WHY
This
is an alternate, slightly faster take of the song from Did She Mention
My
Name. This sounds as if it were recorded at the same time as the
other
Hail Hero sessions, judging by instrumentation, sound quality and the
arrangement. The arrangement is similar to the album release, but
the strings are a little more busy and "in your face" and the overall
tempo is a bit faster.
HAIL HERO
Lightfoot
co-wrote this song with Jerome Moross. It is a very spare
recording accentuating Lightfoot's 6-string fingerpicking and his
vocal, but some strings
are also added. The song has a very moody nature to it and some
very
good lyrics. The song, for me, creates a feeling of melancholy
and
longing when I listen to it. Perhaps this is because of its very
"Lightfoot-of-the-late-60's-sound,"
which can invoke those types of thoughts for those of us who came of
age
during that time, when listening to them again all these years and
changes
later. Unfortunately, the song is cut in two, within the movie,
and
the beginning and endings of the two parts are mixed together with some
noisy
scenes from the movie itself, but in spite of all of that, a very good
song
shines through. The two parts of the song appear as if they were
two
separate takes from the recording studio, as they are played at
slightly
different tempos.
Hail
hero, hail hero, child of the sun
All
covered with flowers still having your fun
Hail
hero, hail hero, birds in the sky
Are
building their nests in the rafters close by
Hail
hero, hail hero, child of your fate
Come
into the kitchen don't stand by the gate
And
show us your wisdom before it's too late
Hail
hero, hail hero, let me see you smile
You
been gone for so damn long, I wish you'd stay awhile
And
the swimming hole is still up yonder
Waiting
for a barefoot boy to come
And
the old mill creek still sings its warning
Dancing
through the meadow in the sun
|
