Sit Down Young Stranger
Studio album by Gordon Lightfoot
Released	April 1970
Recorded	September - December 1969
Studio	SunWest Studios, Hollywood, California
Genre	Folk
Length	36:44
Label	Reprise
Producer	Lenny Waronker, Joseph Wissert
Gordon Lightfoot chronology
Sunday Concert (1969) Sit Down Young Stranger (1970) Summer Side of Life (1971)
Singles from Sit Down Young Stranger
"Me And Bobby McGee" Released: June 1970 "Approaching Lavender" Released: 1970 "If You Could Read My Mind" Released: December 1970

Sit Down Young Stranger is Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot's sixth original album and his best-selling original album.^[1] Shortly after its 1970 release on the Reprise Records label, it was renamed If You Could Read My Mind when the song of that title reached #1 on the RPM Top Singles chart in Canada and #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. The album itself reached #12 on the Billboard 200 chart. In Canada, the album was on the charts from April 18, 1970, to November 27, 1971. It peaked at #8 on March 13, 1971^[2] after an earlier peak at #12 on June 20, 1970.^[3] Its last 24 weeks were spent in the 90s, except for two appearances at #88 and one at #100.

History

Sit Down Young Stranger was Lightfoot's first recording for his new label, Reprise Records. He had left United Artists because he believed they did not adequately promote his albums.

On this album, 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" and "Approaching Lavender" was arranged by Randy Newman.

The album contained one of the first recorded versions of Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster's "Me and Bobby McGee" which had previously been a country hit for Roger Miller and would later become a hit for Janis Joplin.

A small number of vinyl copies of the album contain no title on the front cover. 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. The untitled copies did have a small sticker on the cellophane wrap bearing the album's title.

One rarity of note is "The Pony Man" appears on the Warner Brothers loss leader Schlagers! without the harmonica overdub.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[4]

In his retrospective Allmusic review, critic Jim Newsom praised the album, writing "While future albums would begin to drift away from the folky acoustic timbres of this one, the beauty and simplicity of Sit Down Young Stranger make it a timeless recording."^[4]

Track listing

All compositions by Gordon Lightfoot; except where indicated

Side 1

1. "Minstrel of the Dawn" – 3:26
2. "Me and Bobby McGee" – 3:38 (Kris Kristofferson, Fred Foster)
3. "Approaching Lavender" – 2:56
4. "Saturday Clothes" – 3:20
5. "Cobwebs & Dust" – 3:20
6. "Poor Little Allison" – 2:30

Side 2

1. "Sit Down Young Stranger" – 3:26
2. "If You Could Read My Mind" – 3:48
3. "Baby It's Alright" – 2:58
4. "Your Love's Return (Song for Stephen Foster)" – 3:55
5. "The Pony Man" – 3:27

Chart performance

Personnel

• Gordon Lightfoot - guitar, piano, vocals
• Red Shea - guitar
• Rick Haynes - bass

with:

• Ry Cooder - slide guitar on "Me and Bobby McGee", mandolin on "Cobwebs and Dust"
• Van Dyke Parks - harmonium on "Cobwebs and Dust"
• John Sebastian - electric guitar on "Baby It's Alright", autoharp on "Saturday Clothes", harmonica on "The Pony Man"
• Nick DeCaro - string arrangements on "Poor Little Allison", "If You Could Read My Mind" and "Your Love's Return"
• Randy Newman - string arrangement on "Minstrel of the Dawn" and "Approaching Lavender"
• Kris Kristofferson was rumored to have provided harmony vocals on "Me and Bobby McGee"

Technical

• Gary Brandt, Lee Herschberg - engineer
• Barry Feinstein, Tom Wilkes - design, photography