Early Morning Rain

Lightfoot wrote it in summer 1964 per the Canadian Encyclopedia; other sources trace its origin to a homesick stay in Los Angeles in 1960 or earlier. The song is about a down-on-his-luck man at an airport fence watching a Boeing 707 take off, a jet-age allegory for a hobo trying to sneak onto a freight train to get home. In an American Songwriter interview Lightfoot said he recalled watching planes climb into overcast on a rainy day at an airport, carried the image about five years, then wrote it in one afternoon while minding his five-month-old son, putting the baby in a crib so he could write. New York publishers had rejected earlier batches, and on this one they called back saying it was great; he had started listening to Bob Dylan around then, which pushed him toward a more direct style. He recorded it for Lightfoot! in December 1964 and again for Sunday Concert (1969) and Gord's Gold (1975).

Ian and Sylvia made what the Canadian Encyclopedia calls the first recording in 1965, number 1 on the Canadian adult contemporary chart on August 2, 1965; Peter, Paul and Mary's single reached 91 on the Hot 100. The Warlocks, a Grateful Dead precursor, cut it on November 3, 1965 at Golden State Recorders in San Francisco, George Hamilton IV reached 9 on the country chart in 1966, Bob Dylan put it on Self Portrait (1970), Paul Weller reached 40 in the UK in 2005, and Elvis Presley played it live dozens of times. Others include Judy Collins, the Kingston Trio, Chad and Jeremy, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eva Cassidy, Neil Young and Billy Bragg with Joe Henry. Untold Dylan's Tony Attwood says Dylan's rhythm is totally different and Lightfoot has some extra freshness and directness. At Massey Hall on November 23, 2016 he played it as the last song of the second set, before the encore. We found no setlist count.