{{for|the Country Gentlemen album|Sit Down, Young Stranger}} {{Infobox album | name = Sit Down Young Stranger | type = Album | artist = Gordon Lightfoot | cover = SitDownYoungStranger.jpg | alt = | released = April 1970<ref name="Liner notes">{{Cite AV media notes |author=Anon. |title=If You Could Read My Mind |others=Gordon Lightfoot |type=Liner notes|publisher=Reprise |id=7599-27451-2}}</ref> | recorded = Early 1970<ref name="Liner notes" /> | venue = | studio = | genre = Folk | length = 36:44 | label = Reprise | producer = Lenny Waronker, Joseph Wissert | prev_title = Sunday Concert | prev_year = 1969 | next_title = Summer Side of Life | next_year = 1971 | misc = {{Singles | name = Sit Down Young Stranger | type = studio | single1 = Me And Bobby McGee | single1date = June 1970 | single2 = Approaching Lavender | single2date = 1970 | single3 = If You Could Read My Mind | single3date = December 1970 }} }} '''''Sit Down Young Stranger''''' is Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot's fifth original album and his best-selling original album.<ref name="mb-sdys">{{cite web|title=Release "Sit Down Young Stranger" by Gordon Lightfoot|url=https://musicbrainz.org/release/3c12ba33-71ba-4cf1-8551-396081e26d01|website=MusicBrainz|accessdate=13 April 2017}}</ref> 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<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.5201.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Albums - March 13, 1971}}</ref> after an earlier peak at #12 on June 20, 1970.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.3822.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Albums - June 20, 1970}}</ref> 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, 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 orchestrations on "Minstrel of the Dawn" and "Approaching Lavender" were 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 Reprise executives 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== {{Album ratings | rev1 =Allmusic | rev1Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}} <ref name="AM">{{cite web |first=Jim |last=Newsom |title= ''Sit Down Young Stranger'' > Review |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id= r1803167 |pure_url=yes}} |publisher=Allmusic |accessdate=November 7, 2011}}</ref> }} 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."<ref name="AM" />
==Track listing== All songs written by Gordon Lightfoot, except "Me and Bobby McGee" by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster.
'''Side one''' #"Minstrel of the Dawn" – 3:26 #"Me and Bobby McGee" – 3:38 #"Approaching Lavender" – 2:56 #"Saturday Clothes" – 3:20 #"Cobwebs & Dust" – 3:20 #"Poor Little Allison" – 2:30
'''Side two''' #"Sit Down Young Stranger" – 3:26 #"If You Could Read My Mind" – 3:48 #"Baby It's Alright" – 2:58 #"Your Love's Return (Song for Stephen Foster)" – 3:55 #"The Pony Man" – 3:27
==Chart performance== {| class="wikitable" ! Chart (1971) ! Peak<br />position |- |Australia (Kent Music Report)<ref name=aus>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=177}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|20 |- | Canadian ''RPM'' Top Albums | align="center"| 8 |- | U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 | align="center"| 12 |}
==Certifications== {{Certification Table Top}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=album|award=Gold|artist=Gordon Lightfoot|title=Sit Down Young Stranger|relyear=1970|certyear=1970}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|award=Gold|artist=Gordon Lightfoot|title=If You Could Read My Mind|relyear=1970|certyear=1971}} {{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}
==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
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.lightfoot.ca/sitdlist.htm Album lyrics and chords] * {{Discogs master|214757}}
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Category:Gordon Lightfoot albums Category:1970 albums Category:Reprise Records albums Category:Albums arranged by Randy Newman Category:Albums produced by Joe Wissert Category:Albums produced by Lenny Waronker Category:Albums conducted by Randy Newman Category:Canada and the Vietnam War