''Back Here On Earth'' is

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

singer

Gordon Lightfoot Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (November 17, 1938 – May 1, 2023) was a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved worldwide success and helped define the singer-songwriter era of the 1970s. Widely considered one of Canada's greatest songwriters, ...

's fourth studio album, released in 1968 on the

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

label. Apart from his eponymous debut album and final album (Solo), it is Lightfoot's only studio album not to derive its title from a song on the album. ''Back Here on Earth'' was Lightfoot's last studio recording on the United Artists label which he left after releasing the live album ''

Sunday Concert ''Sunday Concert'' is Canadians, Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot's first solo live album, released in 1969 on the United Artists Records, United Artists label. Lightfoot's last recording for United Artists, it was also his first live album and un ...

'' in 1969.

Bear Family Records Bear Family Records is a Germany-based independent record label, that specializes in reissues of archival material, ranging primarily in country music but varying in everything from 1950s rock and roll to old German movie soundtracks. History T ...

reissued Lightfoot's previous album, '' Did She Mention My Name'', together with this album, ''Back Here on Earth'', as a 2-in-1 CD in 1993. It included as a bonus track a recording of "Spin, Spin" which did not appear on any of Lightfoot's original studio albums, though a John Court production of it was released as a single in 1966. The version on the Bear Family Records reissue is tagged (New York remake version) and was produced by John Simon.

Reception

In his

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

review, critic

Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' The Daily P ...

wrote of the album "It's not quite as outstanding as his first three albums, lacking highlights on the order of "Early Mornin' Rain" or "Black Day in July." Lightfoot never offered weak material on his United Artists efforts, however, and Back Here on Earth is still a very solid set, certainly worth acquiring if you like his other LPs for this label."

Track listing

All compositions by Gordon Lightfoot

Side 1

# "Long Way Back Home" – 3:02 # "Unsettled Ways" – 1:51 # "Long Thin Dawn" – 2:57 # "

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 studi ...

" – 2:42 # "The Circle Is Small (I Can See It in Your Eyes)" – 3:26 # "Marie Christine" – 2:54

Side 2

# "Cold Hands from New York" – 5:16 # "Affair on 8th Avenue" – 3:25 # "Don't Beat Me Down" – 3:16 # "The Gypsy" – 2:45 # "If I Could" – 4:02

Bonus Track on Bear Family CD re-release

# "Spin, Spin"

Personnel

* Gordon Lightfoot - 6 & 12 string acoustic guitar, vocals *

Red Shea Patrick Henry "Red" Shea (November 29, 1898 – November 17, 1981) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played in with the Philadelphia Athletics, and and with the New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American foot ...

- lead acoustic guitar * John Stockfish -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

;Technical *

Elliot Mazer Elliot Mazer (September 5, 1941February 7, 2021) was an American audio engineer and record producer. He was best known for his work with Linda Ronstadt, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, The Band, and Janis Joplin. In addition, he worked on film and televi ...

- producer *Bill Blachly, Charlie Tallent - engineer *Harry Kemball - photography

References

External links

Album lyrics and chords
{{Authority control 1968 albums Gordon Lightfoot albums United Artists Records albums Albums produced by Elliot Mazer