Sundown -Gordon Lightfoot (1974) 6/15/21

There's a creepy little rumor connected with today's "Great Song of the '70s."

When Gordon Lightfoot released his "Sundown" album in 1974, the title cut turned out to be his biggest radio hit, reaching #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary Charts. In Gordon's home country of Canada, the matching chart numbers were #1 (Top 40) and #2 (AC).

The lyrics describe a romantic relationship quickly heading in the wrong direction and the singer is NOT happy.

Gordon says the song is somewhat autobiographical, written on a night when his girlfriend was out partying hard with friends, while he was at home writing. He suspected bad things were happening--and he was angry--most likely for good reason.

Here's where the (never confirmed) rumor comes in: Supposedly, the girlfriend in question was Cathy Smith--with whom he had a 3-year affair.

So who was Cathy Smith?

Cathy was a singer, legal secretary, groupie and drug dealer who later served 15 months in prison for injecting John Belushi with a fatal dose of heroin and cocaine in 1982.

Yikes.

Gordon was no angel, but Cathy wasn't even close. In the end, Gordon got a "Great Song of the '70s." Cathy got a jail sentence.