Monday, May 30, 2011

Memorial Day Non Sequitur Blogging

And having absolutely no thematic relationship to today's holiday whatsoever, from 1988, please enjoy the incomparable Leo Kottke -- speaking as we have been for the last week or two of the whole one-guy-singing-with-just-a-guitar thing -- and a stunning live performance of his 1971 classic "Hear the Wind Howl."



The song originally appeared on Mudlark, Kottke's major label studio album debut, in a version about twice as fast. This one's still viscerally exciting, though.

[h/t Matt Mitchell]

8 comments:

geor3ge said...

I had to watch that twice just to stare at each hand. Such wild abandon, and yet such control.

edward said...

wow, hadn't heard that in maybe 35 years. It used to be a staple on WHFS when I was in high school. Kottkee was always amazing, yet somehow I have none of his recordings in my collection. Gotta fix that.

cthulhu said...

saw Kottke and the late Michael Hedges on a double bill around that timeframe; two exquisite technicians, both with their own kind of passion.

steve simels said...

About half of the stuff on "Mudlark" has a rhythm section, as his producer/manager at the time thought -- not irresponsibly -- that it would help sell Leo to a rock audience.

I haven't heard the album in ages, but I remembered this song in particular as having bass and drums.

Just went to listen to it, and no, it doesn't.

Kottke rocks all by himself, is the point I'm trying to make...
:-)

@whut said...

Donkey in a Donut, no guitar
http://leokottke.com/movie.html

"Geese farts on a muggy day"

fmcg said...

Duck Dunn played on some of the Mudlark cuts, I think.

TMink said...

Either his singing has improved or my ear has. I remember in the day greatly prefering his instrumentals to his vocals. I suspect it is my maturity, but maybe a little of both.

Trey

Anonymous said...

I like this slowed down. The original version was too virtuosic. I agree with Trey, and think his singing has mellowed.

Mudlark was released when I was in high school. My friends told me about this guy who played acoustic 12-string and sang Byrds songs. Got the LP at Sam Goody's, put on Eight Miles High, and was very very very confused. But Cripple Creek rocked my world. Live, he sounded like he had bass/drums, eg, Vaseline Machine Gun, which was like a baroque delta blues heavy metal onslaught.

AP