n November 10, 1975, Lake Superior was the site of a tragedy when the Edmund Fitzgerald, an ore ship named for a popular Milwaukee civic leader, sank beneath its chilly waters, resulting in the deaths of all aboard. The story behind the tragedy inspired singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, and a year later gave him his second-biggest hit.

First charting on Sept. 25, 1976, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" was Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot's fifth Billboard Top 40 hit and his fourth Top 10 hit, climbing to No. 2 for two weeks and remaining on the chart for 13 weeks. It was the lead single from his seventh studio album Summertime Dream, which rose to No. 12 and spent 41 weeks on the charts. It was certified a platinum million-seller by the RIAA on Feb. 7, 1980.

Born on November 17, 1938, in Orillia, Ontario, Canada, Lightfoot composed his first song, "The Hula Hoop Song," at age 17. After studying at the Westlake College of Music in California, he returned to Canada, where he started playing in a square-dance orchestra. At the same time, he was becoming intrigued by folk music. He explained, "In 1960, I started to listen to some people like Pete Seeger and Bob Gibson. That's when I got interested in folk music and that's when I started to play guitar. Ian and Sylvia were friends of mine from before and we used to hang out at the folk clubs and coffeehouses. I just started singing folk stuff. I used to get up on stage and play like everybody else. Ian turned me on to the guitar because he was adept with flat pick."

Lightfoot signed with United Artists in 1965, and while his albums met with moderate success they didn't provide any hits for Gordon. They did, however, result in hits for Peter, Paul and Mary, who took his "For Lovin' Me" to #30, and Marty Robbins, who topped the country charts with Gordon's "Ribbon Of Darkness." Lightfoot's own chart career began in 1970, when he moved from United Artists to Reprise Records. His first release for the label, "If You Could Read My Mind," became his first Billboard Top 10 hit, peaking at #5. In 1974, Lightfoot scored his first #1 single with "Sundown," which he followed with the #10 "Carefree Highway."

"The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald" brought his songwriting full circle. Like many classic folk songs, it told a story, although somewhat hauntingly because of the fatal nature of the crash. The song also clocked in at nearly 6 1/2 minutes, but fans embraced it all the same. Entering the charts at #70, the highest debut of the week, the single rose to #2 in its 13th chart week. The song also climbed to #9 on the Adult Contemporary charts and earned songwriter Lightfoot a Grammy nomination for Song of he Year. But he lost to the Barry Manilow classic "I Write The Songs" (which one-time Beach Boy Bruce Johnston actually wrote.)

Lightfoot's next release from the album Summertime Dream, "Race Among The Ruins," sank on the charts, stalling at #65. He returned to the Top 40 in 1978 with the #33 hit "The Circle Is Small (I Can See It In Your Eyes)." His last hit, which came in 1982, was the #50 single "Baby Step Back." While absent from the pop charts, Lightfoot remained a popular live attraction on tour into his 80's. He died on May 1, 2023, after several years of failing health that began in 2002 when he suffered an abdominal aortic aneurysm and spent six weeks in a coma. He was 84.

- Christopher G. Feldman, The Billboard Book of No. 2 Singles, Billboard, 2000.

 

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