I love American Primitive Guitar It's like prog rock and punk mixed with traditional old time music The speed and the complexity of these songs, especially how goddamn fast Kottke played before the '90s
I was turned on to Leo, when I was a 17-year-old, c. 1981, living in Homer Spit, Alaska, working the graveyard shift at Seward Fisheries at the far end of the spit. My roommates were a group of upper 20-year-olds and lower 30-year-olds. Fond memories, now as a 60-year-old. Life is short.
I think he double picks bass strings too as well as using his thumb into the high strings. He is out of control, especially when he was younger and used those metal finger picks. Very entertaining to see live too!
Can this video be amended so it doesn't mention "Bubba Sparxx", (the creator of "Ms New Booty"), within the performance of an American icon and artist of immense proportions as Leo Kottke? Jeez
Still have my vinyl of 6 & 12 String Guitar aka the Armadillo album. Saw Leo a couple of times in the 70s and his concert banter between songs was as entertaining as it was irreverent.
Great, great, great!! First time to see Kottke playing this tune. Theo, thanks a lot! BTW: I do think that Kottke played in Holland in 1973, but I would have to verify that with a friend who told me once he had been at that concert. Will come back on this soon.
@tmjcbs Just toi confirm that Leo did in fact tour Britain in 1973. I saw him play in the George Square Theatre in Edinburgh that year (the tour was sponsored by the Arts Council btw). He revisited these shores in 1975 and played the Cambridge Folk Festival that year, but I don't think he has been back here since , although I could be totally wrong about that..
This tune could be used for a square dance. It would be interesting to know what Leo was thinking as he was writing each one of the classic tunes on his Armadillo and Greenhouse albums. Like, what is the story behind each one of them? What was he envisioning and what types of feelings or emotions or life experiences was he trying to express? Their titles are capricious and they have no lyrics to give us any clues.
@arjunbanerjee This is the original Kottke album note on the song: 1. "The Driving of the Year Nail" (From an old Etruscan drawing of a sperm cell) 1:54
Today it was confirmed that Leo played in Holland on the 6th of November 1973 (as a true Kottke adept he remembers this by heart). Indeed Leo played here in 1975 also.
Yes, there is probably more on the shelves of the BBC, where this came from, and the archives of American TV and radio stations. But we'll just have to wait until they care to share something else. As for the ending: this was just about the last frame of Leo before the next artist came up.
You can tell the cameraman isn't a guitar player. He focuses on the right hand because that's where the fingers are moving, but what the left hand is doing is just as important, if not more important. Hey cameramen, just focus on BOTH hands at the same time.
Just wanted to say the right hand here is very important to the picking style. It's worth focusing on up close. I would not call his left hand more important here.
@tabber87 Ok, well, here are a few others from our small town, besides the Leo and REM: Drive-By Truckers, Vic Chestnutt, the B-52s, and Widespread Panic. Athens is a talent incubator, and always has been.
He's certainly the best 12-string acoustic player ever. I've never heard anyone who comes close. There's a lot of talented 6-string guitarists, electric guitarists, multi-genre guitarists; but on 12-string acoustic I've never heard anybody who comes within a mile of Leo Kottke.
Leo Kottke wrote the following about this track in the liner notes of 6&12 String Guitar: "From an old Etruscan drawing of a sperm cell". But that doesn't really help in explaining the title...
@@josephnoviello751 He had great skill, but I've never heard him play any music I'd want to listen to. In that view, maybe I can't even say he had great skill, because what's the purpose of musicianship if not being able to create beautiful music? Being impressed with playing skill for the sake of it is pedestrian and not in the realm of loving music as an art, it's for boring people who feel superior for appreciating the most superficial part of the craftsmanship behind music and who elevate it above its rank
@alernerful How I wish i'd seen him ANYWHERE in the UK! He seems very reluctant to tour outside the US compared to other musicians. BB King is over here in the UK almost every year and at an amazing 86 years of age is a full twenty years older than Kottke, so Kottke cannot use age as an excuse.
Kottke played in Europe, but it was almost exclusively Germany. And that's largely because of his lineage. Played a lot of concerts and TV programs in Germany. You'll find excerpts of many of them here on UA-cam.
...and let a few more seconds pass before you stop the video-sequence, otherwise we cannot see Leo's boy-like face when he lifts his head after the end of the tune.
+crashstitches79 Learn how to live with civilized people. If I could turn them off, I wouldn't have advised the poster to remover or relocate them. If you knew of some way to do it, you could have just posted that, but instead you decided to be a dick. Dicks are a dime a dozen on the internet.
Minnesota will claim Leo as our own - he started this shit on the West Bank of Minneapolis, along with Koerner, Ray and Glover and Bobby Zimmerman. His dad travelled...a lot.
and i would say to you, how long have you been in al qaeda..... just kidding with you rev. i think leo is great but their are alot of great players out their it's impossible to say one certain player is "the greatest."
What a power playing,he once said one of his favorite techniques take a lovely simple melody drive it into the ground
The Fisherman is hands down one of the prettiest melodies ever written.
This man has an immense amount of skill with a guitar
I love American Primitive Guitar
It's like prog rock and punk mixed with traditional old time music
The speed and the complexity of these songs, especially how goddamn fast Kottke played before the '90s
I don’t think it’s anything like punk rock. The fingerpicking is replicated in a lot of prog rocks I do agree there.
@@spentc4 Kottke plays mega-fast though - and with a lot of force behind each note too
@@Malkmusianful - And Kottke never misses a note too !
@@Malkmusianful And Kottke never misses a note too !
@@spentc4 Oh, Kottke's punk as hell. He does what he does with soul and honesty and he doesn't give a damn about anything else.
I was turned on to Leo, when I was a 17-year-old, c. 1981, living in Homer Spit, Alaska, working the graveyard shift at Seward Fisheries at the far end of the spit. My roommates were a group of upper 20-year-olds and lower 30-year-olds. Fond memories, now as a 60-year-old. Life is short.
I like your story, I can see it!
I genuinely can’t follow what his right hand is doing unless I slow the video down to half speed, absolutely wild
Scarey
Leo is the Bruce Lee of the guitar! Hi-yah!
I think he double picks bass strings too as well as using his thumb into the high strings. He is out of control, especially when he was younger and used those metal finger picks. Very entertaining to see live too!
Just learning of this holy smoke guitar man!!!! Now I'm sharing with my friend who will be grateful for this gifted fellow!!!
A phenomenal player!! Astounding talent.
Stunning to watch what we've heard on vinyl for so many years.
You are incredible!!! Thank you!!’
Got to see Leo twice.Amazing musician amazing creative energy
Fuck yeah, Leo destroying worlds, one string at a time.
Absolutely ripping tune. Glad we got this off a TV show because a lot of the live uploads don't have great sound. Cheers. 🙂
Indeed. The live sound just is the pickup, with no mics. The sound of the guitar comes through here because of the mic.
@@GWGuitarStudio Even worse, is when someone in the crowd just holds up a smartphone, those usually have terrible sound.
And it's just as brilliant a tune as when I first heard it many, many years ago.
Leo is definitely one of many guitar heroes. To watch his fingering is mesmerizing.
Leo was blazing through this! He took 10 seconds off the original. 🔥
The best instrumentalist I ever heard
That's a Bozo Bell Western guitar... Awesome.
This kid’s going places.
Can this video be amended so it doesn't mention "Bubba Sparxx", (the creator of "Ms New Booty"), within the performance of an American icon and artist of immense proportions as Leo Kottke? Jeez
Thank you for this rare video ! hes a monster ! :D
Still have my vinyl of 6 & 12 String Guitar aka the Armadillo album. Saw Leo a couple of times in the 70s and his concert banter between songs was as entertaining as it was irreverent.
Great, great, great!!
First time to see Kottke playing this tune.
Theo, thanks a lot! BTW: I do think that Kottke played in Holland in 1973, but I would have to verify that with a friend who told me once he had been at that concert.
Will come back on this soon.
sophisticated mounting of that pick up
There must be more of this early high quality-performance somewhere! Please deliver it!
No modern music will ever beat the skill of Leo Kottke on a twelve-string!
David L. Sup Dave...
How did you know to find me here?!
😏
People talk about how they hit their primes, but... Leo has just kept goin'. I saw him last year; he's better than ever I'd say.
@PoetryHound
I think with Leo, especially the open tuning tunes....more of the work is done with RH...so blazing fast!
@tmjcbs Just toi confirm that Leo did in fact tour Britain in 1973. I saw him play in the George Square Theatre in Edinburgh that year (the tour was sponsored by the Arts Council btw).
He revisited these shores in 1975 and played the Cambridge Folk Festival that year, but I don't think he has been back here since , although I could be totally wrong about that..
tnx
never seen him with the bozo before xept x a few pics.
did i miss this.
found out at least we do share something
the electronics placement style
I enjoyed him and Chet at Humphrey's many moons ago.
This is the first time i see Leo playing the Bozo 12 string
Still the best!
This tune could be used for a square dance. It would be interesting to know what Leo was thinking as he was writing each one of the classic tunes on his Armadillo and Greenhouse albums. Like, what is the story behind each one of them? What was he envisioning and what types of feelings or emotions or life experiences was he trying to express? Their titles are capricious and they have no lyrics to give us any clues.
the american born kotte drew on the blues as well as the folk tradition but this instrumental displays his dazzling dexterity to awesome effect.
@tabber87 ..I heard Leo and Bubba Sparxxx and doing an album together..theyre calling it "The best and the worst of Anthens."
Lived in Athens GA for five years and never heard Leo's name mentioned there
he was just born there, moved around the country many times in childhood
Good question. Your guess is as good as mine. Although it is of course possible that he only travelled to London for this recording session.
@arjunbanerjee
This is the original Kottke album note on the song:
1. "The Driving of the Year Nail" (From an old Etruscan drawing of a sperm cell) 1:54
Today it was confirmed that Leo played in Holland on the 6th of November 1973 (as a true Kottke adept he remembers this by heart). Indeed Leo played here in 1975 also.
Yes, there is probably more on the shelves of the BBC, where this came from, and the archives of American TV and radio stations. But we'll just have to wait until they care to share something else. As for the ending: this was just about the last frame of Leo before the next artist came up.
Great performance 5*****
ClaudeSirois
leo kottke is from minnesota
Does this mean that Leo has performed in Europe already 1973 (he told me once that he toured here for the first time with Procol Harum in 1975)?
Best guitar player ever
he is the best at what he does, but to many genres to say hes the best
A good candidate
And by mentor we mean Leo moved into Johns house and they did coke, pot and valum for weeks on end. Of coarse the guitar playing was amazing.
I tried and tried to master this throughout my years of playing. Unfortunately I will never get there.
You can tell the cameraman isn't a guitar player. He focuses on the right hand because that's where the fingers are moving, but what the left hand is doing is just as important, if not more important. Hey cameramen, just focus on BOTH hands at the same time.
Just wanted to say the right hand here is very important to the picking style. It's worth focusing on up close. I would not call his left hand more important here.
@tabber87 Ok, well, here are a few others from our small town, besides the Leo and REM: Drive-By Truckers, Vic Chestnutt, the B-52s, and Widespread Panic. Athens is a talent incubator, and always has been.
@GitarrenTV Awesome, bitchin', kick ass!! LOL! He's been one of my favorites since Jr. High School!
standard tuning indeed, but there is a catch, he's not tuned to eadgbe, he's tuned down 2 whole steps.
I really think he is the best guitar player ever
He's certainly the best 12-string acoustic player ever. I've never heard anyone who comes close. There's a lot of talented 6-string guitarists, electric guitarists, multi-genre guitarists; but on 12-string acoustic I've never heard anybody who comes within a mile of Leo Kottke.
@jasondlane1 He was born in Athens, GA.
Has he got a pickup TAPED into his guitar with cut-up shipping material? Epic.
Mother of god.
Ross Morgan kottke is god
Good question.
Dancin´of the fingers ;-)
Is the title about dated nails for railroad ties?
Leo Kottke wrote the following about this track in the liner notes of 6&12 String Guitar: "From an old Etruscan drawing of a sperm cell".
But that doesn't really help in explaining the title...
I sound like geese farts on a muggy day but my guitar playing does too. That's why I'm watching Leo Kottke, not playing.
don't be so down on your self, hes not that good.
@ john denis
Are you out of your mind?
@@josephnoviello751 He had great skill, but I've never heard him play any music I'd want to listen to. In that view, maybe I can't even say he had great skill, because what's the purpose of musicianship if not being able to create beautiful music? Being impressed with playing skill for the sake of it is pedestrian and not in the realm of loving music as an art, it's for boring people who feel superior for appreciating the most superficial part of the craftsmanship behind music and who elevate it above its rank
What kind of guitar is that?
It's funny loading songs on to itunes cause it doesn't know how to catagorize Leo lol!
@GitarrenTV Fein? What 's that?
does anyone know what the title of the song means?
@alernerful How I wish i'd seen him ANYWHERE in the UK! He seems very reluctant to tour outside the US compared to other musicians. BB King is over here in the UK almost every year and at an amazing 86 years of age is a full twenty years older than Kottke, so Kottke cannot use age as an excuse.
Kottke played in Europe, but it was almost exclusively Germany. And that's largely because of his lineage. Played a lot of concerts and TV programs in Germany. You'll find excerpts of many of them here on UA-cam.
I dislike the titles covering up so much of that incredible technique.
holy shit I didn't know Luke Skywalker could play a 12 string like that
I love how they mention that Bubba Sparxxx is from Athens Georgia, like any one cares...
...and let a few more seconds pass before you stop the video-sequence, otherwise we cannot see Leo's boy-like face when he lifts his head after the end of the tune.
Get rid of the informational banners -- or put them over his face, so we can see his hands.
fartwrangler to whom is this comment addressed?
fartwrangler Learn how to use the internet. You can turn off the annotations and banners.
+tmjcbs To whoever posted the video.
+crashstitches79 Learn how to live with civilized people. If I could turn them off, I wouldn't have advised the poster to remover or relocate them.
If you knew of some way to do it, you could have just posted that, but instead you decided to be a dick. Dicks are a dime a dozen on the internet.
+fartwrangler aha, I see, you've addressed the wrong person. These banners were on the original broadcast. You'll have to address the BBC then.
oh yeah, I don't know why I said that... you're right
Minnesota will claim Leo as our own - he started this shit on the West Bank of Minneapolis, along with Koerner, Ray and Glover and Bobby Zimmerman. His dad travelled...a lot.
He sings great with Emmylou Harris on Here comes that rainbow again.
great song, its John Steinbeck meets John Ford meets Kris Kristofferson
and i would say to you, how long have you been in al qaeda..... just kidding with you rev. i think leo is great but their are alot of great players out their it's impossible to say one certain player is "the greatest."
standard tuning, EADGBE
aarossell damn
This is just Fracture for fingerstyle guitar.
On a 12 string.
Athens is also home of B-52s.
@1crow Sorry, not true
WHERE'S THE DROP
And the most useless information award goes to - The BBC !!
@PoetryHound Leo has the best right hand in the entire world though.