Sit Down Young Stranger

Sit Down Young Stranger is Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot's 6th original album and also his best-selling original album. It was released in 1970 on the Reprise Records Label. The album was renamed If You Could Read My Mind shortly after release due to the song reaching number #5 on the chart. The album itself reached #12 on the pop chart.

The album marked a turning point in Lightfoot's musical career. It was Lightfoot's first recording for his new label, Reprise Records. He had left United Artists because he believed they did not promote his albums well enough.

In terms of the music, Lightfoot included more orchestration, which is particularly evident on "If You Could Read My Mind". It was also the first studio album to feature long-time Lightfoot bassist Rick Haynes. The orchestration on "Minstrel of the Dawn" was arranged by Randy Newman.

The album contained one of the first recorded version of Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster's "Me and Bobby McGee" which would later become a hit for Janis Joplin and also a stage favourite of Kristofferson's.

A small number of vinyl copies contain no title. This is because the cover was originally supposed to be just a picture of Lightfoot but it was then thought that stating the title would increase the album's sales.

[edit] Track listing

"Minstrel of the Dawn" – 3:26
"Me and Bobby McGee" – 3:38 (Kris Kristofferson/Fred Foster)
"Approaching Lavender" – 2:56
"Saturday Clothes" – 3:20
"Cobwebs & Dust" – 3:20
"Poor Little Allison" – 2:30
"Sit Down Young Stranger" – 3:26
"If You Could Read My Mind" – 3:48
"Baby It's Alright" – 2:58
"Your Love's Return (Song for Stephen Foster)" – 3:55
"The Pony Man" – 3:27

All compositions by Lightfoot except as indicated.

[edit] Credits

Gordon Lightfoot - Guitar, Piano, Vocals
Red Shea - Guitar
Ry Cooder - Guitar, Mandolin
Rick Haynes - Bass
Van Dyke Parks - Harmonica
John Sebastian - Guitar, Harmonica

[edit] External links

Album lyrics and chords

v • d • e Gordon Lightfoot discography

Main albums	Lightfoot! (1966) • The Way I Feel (1967) • Did She Mention My Name (1968) • Back Here on Earth (1968) • Sunday Concert (1969) • Sit Down Young Stranger (1970) • Summer Side of Life (1971) • Don Quixote (1972) • Old Dan's Records (1972) • Sundown (1974) • Cold on the Shoulder (1975) • Summertime Dream (1976) • Endless Wire (1978) • Dream Street Rose (1980) • Shadows (1982) • Salute (1983) • East of Midnight (1986) • Waiting for You (1993) • A Painter Passing Through (1998) • Harmony (2004)

Main Compilations	Gord's Gold (1975) • Gord's Gold, Vol. 2 (1988) • Songbook (1999) • Complete Greatest Hits (2002)

Notable Singles	"Canadian Railroad Trilogy" (1967) • "If You Could Read My Mind" (1970) • "Sundown" (1974) • "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" (1976)