Editing Gordon Lightfoot (section)

===1970s===
"[[If You Could Read My Mind]]" sold over a million copies and was awarded a [[music recording sales certification|gold disc]].<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">{{cite book
| first= Joseph
| last= Murrells
| year= 1978
| title= The Book of Golden Discs
| edition= 2nd
| publisher= Barrie and Jenkins Ltd
| location= London
| page= 282
| isbn= 0-214-20512-6
| url-access= registration
| url= https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/282
}}</ref> It had originally appeared on the 1970 album ''[[Sit Down Young Stranger]].'' After the song's success, the album was reissued under the new title ''If You Could Read My Mind''.  It then reached No.&nbsp;5 in the US and represented the turning point in Lightfoot's career.<ref name="BBC" /> The album also featured his version of "[[Me and Bobby McGee]]", as well as "The Pony Man" and "Minstrel of the Dawn".

Over the next seven years, he recorded a series of albums that established him as a major singer-songwriter:
* ''[[Summer Side of Life]]'' (1971), with the title track, "Ten Degrees and Getting Colder", "Cotton Jenny", "Talking in Your Sleep", and a re-working of one of his early 60s songs, "Cabaret"
* ''[[Don Quixote (album)|Don Quixote]]'' (1972), with "[[Beautiful (Gordon Lightfoot song)|Beautiful]]", "Looking at the Rain", "Christian Island (Georgian Bay)", and the title track
* ''[[Old Dan's Records]]'' (1972), his first frontline album to be recorded in Toronto, with the title track, "That Same Old Obsession", "You Are What I Am", "It's Worth Believin'" and "Can't Depend on Love"
* ''[[Sundown (Gordon Lightfoot album)|Sundown]]'' (1974), known for the title track and "Carefree Highway", plus "The Watchman's Gone", "High and Dry", "Circle of Steel", and "Too Late for Prayin'"
* ''[[Cold on the Shoulder (Gordon Lightfoot album)|Cold on the Shoulder]]'' (1975), with the title track, "All the Lovely Ladies", "Fine as Fine Can Be", "Cherokee Bend", and "Rainy Day People"
* The double compilation ''[[Gord's Gold]]'' (1975) containing his major Reprise hits to that point and twelve new versions of his most popular songs from his United Artists era (as UA were continuing to release compilation albums in light of his success at Warner)
* ''[[Summertime Dream]]'' (1976) including "[[The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald]]" and "I'm Not Supposed to Care", "Race Among the Ruins", "Spanish Moss" and "Never Too Close"
* ''[[Endless Wire (Gordon Lightfoot album)|Endless Wire]]'' (1978) with "Daylight Katy", "Dreamland", a new version of "The Circle Is Small", and the title track

During the 1970s, Lightfoot's songs covered a wide range of subjects, including "Don Quixote", referencing Cervantes' famous literary character, "Ode to Big Blue", about the widespread killing of whales, "Carefree Highway", about the freedom of the open road, "Protocol", about the futility of war, and "Alberta Bound", inspired by a lonely teenaged girl he met on a bus while travelling to [[Calgary]] in 1971.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

In 1972, Lightfoot contracted [[Bell's palsy]], a condition that left his face partially paralyzed for a time. The affliction curtailed his touring schedule but Lightfoot nevertheless continued to deliver major hits: in June 1974 his classic single "[[Sundown (Gordon Lightfoot song)|Sundown]]" went to [[Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1974|No.1]] on the American and Canadian charts. It would be his only number one hit in the United States. He performed it twice on NBC's ''[[The Midnight Special (TV series)|The Midnight Special]]''. The follow-up "Carefree Highway" (inspired by [[Arizona State Route 74]] in [[Phoenix, Arizona]]) also charted Top 10 in both countries.<ref>{{cite web |author=William R. Weiss |url=http://www.lightfoot.ca/chron03.htm |title=Gordon Lightfoot Chronology |website=Lightfoot.ca |access-date=April 19, 2014 |archive-date=April 20, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140420060851/http://www.lightfoot.ca/chron03.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> 

Late in 1975, Lightfoot read a ''[[Newsweek]]'' magazine article<ref>{{cite web |url= http://gordonlightfoot.com/WreckOfTheEdmundFitzgerald.shtml |title=Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - Gordon Lightfoot Song Lyrics |work=gordonlightfoot.com |year=2011 |access-date=November 10, 2011}}</ref> reporting on the loss of the {{SS|Edmund Fitzgerald}}, which sank on November 10th, 1975 on [[Lake Superior]] during a severe storm with the loss of all 29 crew members. The lyrics he wrote for "[[The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald|The Wreck of the ''Edmund Fitzgerald'']]", released the following year, were substantially based on facts found in the article and elsewhere. It reached number two on the United States ''[[Billboard magazine|Billboard]]'' chart and hit number one in Canada. Lightfoot appeared at several 25th anniversary memorial services of the sinking and stayed in personal contact with the family members of the men who perished.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ssedmundfitzgerald.org/gordon-lightfoot-song/|title="The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot|publisher=S S Edmund Fitzgerald Online|access-date=January 12, 2018}}</ref>

In 1978, Lightfoot had a top 40 hit in the United States with "The Circle Is Small", which reached the top 5 on the adult contemporary chart.  It was his last major hit.