Producers include: John Court, John Simon, Elliot Mazer, Lenny Waronker, Joe Wissert.

Compilation producer: Thane Tierney.

Include liner notes by Leigh Hall.

Digitally remastered by Andrew Garver, Dan Hersch, and Bill Inglot.

Personnel: Gordon Lightfoot (vocals, guitar); Red Shea (guitar, dobro); Charlie McCoy (guitar, harmonica, celesta, bells); Terry Clements (guitar, background vocals); Chip Young, David Rea, Dean Parks, Bruce Langhorn, Hugh McCracken, Michael Francis, Michael Landau, Bob Mann, Jerry Shook (guitar); Vassar Clements (fiddle); Jack Zaza (alto flute, harmonica, recorder, bass clarinet, English horn, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, harmonium); Nick DeCaro (accordion, piano); Mitchell Clarke (bassoon); Vern Dorge (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Doug Riley (piano, electric piano); Hargus "Pig" Robbins (piano); Lou Pomanti (organ); Mike Heffernan, Tom Szczesniak, David Foster (keyboards); James Newton Howard, Robbie Buchanan (synthesizer); Gene Martynec (Moog synthesizer); Barry Keane (drums, tambourine, percussion); Jim Gordon , Kenneth A. Buttrey (drums, percussion); Jim Isbell, Herb Lovelle, Buddy Harman (drums); Victor Feldman, Milt Holland, Farrell Morris (percussion); Laverna Moore, Catherine Smith, Herb Pedersen, Jackie Ward, Suzie McCune, Sheree Jeacocke, Ray C. Walker, Richard Marx, Vesta Williams, Rick Haynes, Neal Matthews, Gordon Stoker, Hoyt Hawkins, Millie Kirkham (background vocals).

Audio Remasterers: Dan Hersch; Andrew Garver; Bill Inglot.

Liner Note Author: Thane Tierney.

Recording information: Amigo Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Eastern Sound Studios, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Lighthouse Recorders, Los Angeles, CA; Lionshare; Nashville, TN; New York, NY; Owen Bradley's Barn, Nashville, TN; Sunwest Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Woodland Sound Studios, Nashville, TN.

Photographer: Jim Marshall .

Rhino's 2002 collection The Complete Greatest Hits is certainly welcome for presenting what is essentially all of his most popular songs on one 20-track disc, but, the thing is, that's actually a trickier task with Gordon Lightfoot than you might think. On both volumes of Gord's Gold, he re-recorded early songs and mixed them with current hits -- which meant that a new "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" sat next to the hits like "Sundown," but on Gord's Gold, Vol. 2, newer songs (which weren't quite hits) were next to re-recorded versions of staples like "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." This, needless to say, was a bit of an irritant, but this is well-executed enough to make up for the years of awkward compilations by covering everything from his UA recordings to his latter-day recordings for Warner in the mid-'80s. Some might say there should be a little bit more of the earlier songs, but, for most listeners, this will contain all the major items and is as close to definitive as possible to get. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

He may be remembered by the unenlightened as a purveyor of mellow '70s AM radio hits, but Gordon Lightfoot is as fine a singer-songwriter as Canada has ever produced (no small accomplishment, considering the company), feted by no less than Bob Dylan himself. COMPLETE GREATEST HITS is as definitive a Lightfoot collection as you can get onto a single disc, and it bears out the aforementioned facts handsomely. "Early Morning Rain," one of Lightfoot's earliest hits, is a poignant evocation of lost love on a par with Merle Haggard's "Silver Wings." "If You Could Read My Mind" has enough introspective pop savvy to compete with Elton John's equally ubiquitous "Your Song." The bluesy, subtly sensual undercurrent of "Sundown" makes it plain why there's always been such a large female contingent in Lightfoot's audience, and "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" proves that the pop star can write a timeless-sounding folk ballad worthy of Townes Van Zandt. Clearly, this compendium presents Lightfoot quite rightly as a man for all seasons.