When Gordon Lightfoot scored a Top 5 hit in 1970 with “If You Could Read My Mind,” it launched his career as a singer in the United States. The song’s success surprised both him and his record company.

While Lightfoot had had individual songs and albums become hits in Canada, “If You Could Read My Mind” was the first song that he had placed on the U.S. charts. The album on which it appeared – Lightfoot’s fifth – was also his first to chart in the U.S., peaking at No. 12.

The twin successes of the song and the album began Lightfoot’s rapid rise as a prominent folk/rock performer. Three more sin...