Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

It was the summer of 1963 and Doug Chappell was riding high. His Toronto band Richie Knight & the Mid-Knights had just hit No. 1 on the charts with Charlena, bringing the group local fame and enabling members, each barely out of their teens, to buy a car. Most purchased sensible sedans. But Mr. Chappell splurged on a brand new Pontiac Parisienne convertible – and painted it an eye-popping shade of pink. Then he cooked up a bold plan: to drive his new set of wheels to Detroit, stopping at every radio station along the way to talk up the band. Mr. Chappell’s taste for crazy promotion schemes and flashy sports cars never waned. Nor did his passion for music – especially by Canadian art...

It is the August holiday weekend, but there is no rest for Shania Twain. New country music's hottest new sensation is busy paying her dues to the industry that has helped to make her one of its fastest-rising stars. Under the glare of spotlights, Twain finishes a day-long photo shoot in a Toronto studio, posing for a series of portraits to be used on billboards, bus shelters and posters. She had spent most of the day before at Canada's Wonderland, a theme park north of Toronto, co-hosting a music festival sponsored by a country radio station. There, fans hooted and hollered for her to perform her current hit, Any Man of Mine--without the benefit of a backing band. She complied, and it turned...