Sunday Concert is Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 singer Gordon Lightfoot

Gordon Lightfoot

Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. is a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music, and has been credited for helping define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s...

's fifth album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

, released in 1969 on the United Artists

United Artists Records

United Artists Records was a record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 initially to distribute records of its movie soundtracks, though it soon branched out into recording music of a number of different genres.-History:...

 label. It was Lightfoot's first live album

Live album

A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...

 and until the release of a live DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 in 2002, remained Lightfoot's only officially released live recording. The album was recorded at Massey Hall

Massey Hall

Massey Hall is a venerable performing arts theatre in the Garden District of downtown Toronto. The theatre originally was designed to seat 3,500 patrons but, after extensive renovations in the 1940s, now seats up to 2,765....

 in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

.

The album is notable as it includes performances of five previously unreleased tracks. It also contains the first recording of Lightfoot's hits "I'm Not Sayin'" and "Ribbon of Darkness" together as a medley. This medley would later feature on Gord's Gold

Gord's Gold

Gord's Gold is a compilation album released by Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot in 1975.It was the first Lightfoot compilation to feature music from his Warner Bros. Records. The album was originally released as a two-record album featuring re-recordings of his United Artists hits...

and would become a concert staple. "Ballad of Yarmouth Castle" chronicles the fate of the SS Yarmouth Castle

SS Yarmouth Castle

SS Yarmouth Castle was a steamship whose loss in a disastrous fire in 1965 prompted new laws regarding safety at sea.- Early history :She was built in 1927 by the William Cramp & Sons Ship and Engine Building Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was christened Evangeline. The ship was 365...

 which caught fire and sank off the Bahamas in November, 1965.

Sunday Concert was Lightfoot's last recording for United Artists.

Reception

In his Allmusic review, critic Richie Unterberger

Richie Unterberger

Richie Unterberger is a US author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing.-Life and writing:Having worked as a DJ at WXPN in Philadelphia, he started reviewing records for Op magazine in 1983...

 praised the album, writing "These then-new songs aren't among his classics, but are up to the general high standard of his '60s work, with the socially conscious "The Lost Children" and the poetic "Leaves of Grass" standing out as lyrical highlights."

Track listing

1. "In a Windowpane" – 3:11
2. "The Lost Children" – 2:47
3. "Leaves of Grass" – 3:43
4. "I'm Not Sayin'/Ribbon of Darkness
   Ribbon of Darkness
   "Ribbon of Darkness" is a song written by Gordon Lightfoot that was released in 1965 as a single by Marty Robbins. The song was Robbins' eleventh number one on the U.S...
   
   " – 2:54
5. "Apology" – 4:33
6. "Bitter Green
   Bitter Green
   "Bitter Green" is a song by Gordon Lightfoot, first released in 1968 on his album Back Here on Earth. The single reached #44 in Canada.Lightfoot also included the song on his 1969 live album Sunday Concert, and recorded a second studio version for his 1975 compilation album Gord's Gold. A cover...
   
   " – 2:43
7. "Ballad of Yarmouth Castle" – 5:18
8. "Softly" – 3:16
9. "Boss Man" – 2:26
10. "Pussy Willows, Cat-Tails" – 2:53
11. "Canadian Railroad Trilogy
    Canadian Railroad Trilogy
    The "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" is a song by Gordon Lightfoot that describes the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway.This song was commissioned by the CBC for a special broadcast on January 1, 1967, to start Canada's Centennial year. It appeared on Lightfoot's The Way I Feel album later in the...
    
    " – 6:41

All compositions by Lightfoot.

Personnel

• Gordon Lightfoot - Guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  , Piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  , Vocals
• Red Shea - Lead guitar
  Lead guitar
  Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
  
  
• Rick Haynes - Bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....