I've seen him about five times. He is my hero. My worship began in college in the mid-1970s. When a friend of mine, decades later, took me to see him at the Lensic, I thought I was going to faint from joy. Then saw him in NYC the next several times. I brought my original stereo record with the beat-up jacket that I'd held tightly to since sophomore year, backstage for him to autograph, and I have to say he was the sweetest, dearest, sincerest, realest, most generous, most gentlemanly person I think I have ever met in my life thus far (now age 63). He made me feel 100 feet tall. Thank you, Mr. Kottke, from your forever fan, Robin.
I've been luck enough to buy or own all his records from the first. A friend played his first record for me, and there was no turning back. It is amazing how he has pulled in fans and how he is so appreciated by everyone thru today.
I had a chance to sit with Leo before a concert that I did sound for. He is a very gracious, humble person. He talked to me like I was somebody! He knows what he wants for sound!! He can pick out the smallest infraction in your sound system. He always said thanks after a show, after spending some more talking with the crew. He is an amazing player, as well as a fantastic comedian.
Martin Koch....Are we to take your comment as a thinly veiled attempt to make us thing you "Are" Somebody? It didn't sound that way! Implying that others say things with motive shows your true nature and the way you were raised...or lack of a good raising... You must have been there to overhear the conversation between Leo & Brian...were you? Many players that make top shelf never forget how hard it was and it has a positive effect on them, like Leo...So what if he was just trying to make someone feel good...what's the harm in that? You invest your time to insult and try your best to bring people down.... You are not the kind of person we should be mad at...you are to be pitied! I'm truly sorry for you...
I'd been playing for about a month when a mate said to me "So, youre learning guitar eh? Have a listen to this..." 'Twas a cruel blow.Took another month to pick the bloody thing up again and a further five years before it was possible to decipher a Kottke tune from vinyl but...Thank you Leo (and old mate Ian) for showing me a world of joy. Gracias
Take a bow Sir, your comment had me in hysterics on this grey, foggy morn in Sherwood forest. Thank you, things were looking pretty dull up to that point : )
@@loddude5706 - too funny mate. Thanks for cheering up my bleak day years later. I put on the tune, read the first comment and thought “that guy has the same story as me” then saw yours. Your good turn deserved another, so thank you.
heard him first in 72, middle of the night on the radio. Goosebumps! Saw him live twice; goosebumps and tears in my eyes. He is just that good. Turned out to be a funny storyteller as well. 41 years later still great and never gets boring. Only one thing wrong with him: doesn't come over to Holland often enough.
Saw him live in Perth. He finished a song then looking down he picked at something on the back of his neck, suddenly he looked up at the audience and realized what he was doing. He immediately said, " I found this spot on my neck three shows ago".
My dad loves his guitar playing and his character .back in 1990 I was 15 years old .my father took me out in Phoenix to one of his shows. He said "watch this . Ur Gona love it."
i was blown away by Leo when I first heard Greenhouse in '72. From the Cradle to the Grave was amazing (as was the whole album), then I went back to Mudlark and heard Hear The Wind Howl. Great show and thanks for posting this.
Very nice touch he has, never heard of him before, and I am 58 years young, shows that really time flies, not enough time to do it all. There is sure to be billions of people who never heard of me as well. So it goes, that's why music can bring us together for however brief of journey we have, helping to break lonliness and boredom.
Hot turned onto Leo at the age of 12 in1972. My floor master in boarding school played me Vaseline Machine Gun. I was hooked. Seen him 3 times. The last in 2018. And he played VMG! Sooo good!
I won two tickets from a radio station to go see Leo Kottke perform in Omaha when I was a teenager back in the '70s. I had no idea who he was, but I thoroughly enjoyed the show. I'd never seen anyone play like that.
Classic Leo. Brilliant musicianship and droll hilarity. This is from ACL. Leo looks downright boyish. Must be from the ‘80s. I, too, saw him as an opening act at the Spectrum in Philly. He opened for Mahavishnu Orchestra and Zappa!
A radio station I loved KQRS in Mpls. used to play a Jesse Winchester song whenever there was the first snow of the season- Winchester was a southern boy who went to Canada to escape the draft during the Vietnam War! “I was listening to the nightly news when the weatherman mentioned Snow. As soon as I heard that four-letter word I was making my plans to go.”
I've seen Leo twice, both times a revelation. Most interesting was at Philadelphia's Spectrum in the late 70's where he was the middle act between Orleans (Dance with me ... yuck - the Philly audience nearly booed them off the stage) and Linda Ronstadt. I'm sure that Leo was expecting similar harsh treatment from the crowd, but little known to him was the fact that he had a very large Philadelphia following - Most of the crowd had come to hear HIM, not Linda! He came out, was beautifully received, and finished his set. Linda came out with her band, and the audience is shouting, "We want Leo, we want Leo." She couldn't even begin - didn't know what to do. So she invited Leo out on stage to do a couple numbers with her, the crowd went wild, Leo walked off, to a standing O, and Linda finished her set in peace.
I remember when a venue here in Orange County, CA had on a grunge band ahead of Leo. The crowd came in and there was all this crap on the stage, an they had 7 or 8 members. Awful music. "open my veins, kill me" type of stuff. The crew and the band then spent about 30 minutes clearing the stage. The house brought out a chair, mic stand, and two guitar stands. Of course we all know that about Leo, but it was funny to see this contrast between acts. I've seen him probably 15 times, an appreciate it a lot.
Saw a bad called Ace front for and Yes in Philadelphia in 1975. The crowd was there for Yes. By the time Ace got to their one hit, “How Long Has This Been Going On?” The crowd was chanting “TOO LONG!” Brutal.
Lifelong player as well as a fan for life....I don't have to tell you his incredible playing... but for me personally. his music is very intriguing...yes from the Midwest..in a weird way I can definitely relate.
One of stories about his early days involved his extreme concentration while playing, frequently with his eyes closed. One time he realized he'd been playing closed eyed. And looked out at the audience all fascinated looking. Then looked down and saw hed been drooling.
Kottke (born in '45) created music that seems timeless to me and I'm delighted to find this bit of history on RU-vid but ... I nevertheless wish the uploader had included the date
A truly great and grand performance artist. My first wife was a folk singer w/guitar in the mid-Sixties, so I quickly learned about this world. He carries the tradition of the traditional acoustic guitar very well, and w/Ry Cooder completes N America's contribution to this genre!
Hey "Advertisers"! The surest way to get me to NEVER buy ANYTHING from you is to put your annoying ad in the middle of an important part of the video!!!
It never ceases to amaze me that various marketing entities decide THIS is the best way to advertise their products. The one thing I do remember from their annoying ads is the brand and company, to NEVER buy anything from them, ever. I wonder if there is any real data on how many sales of the [fill in the blank] is directly from these annoying ads . . .
Oh man, what if Leo & Ry pulled off something together? Both are incredibly inventive, they know a thing or a million about the guitar, each can tell a story or twelve.... 'Scuse me a min, gotta go throw my guitar in the fire.
I used to have a consistent argument with someone where I worked that John Fahey was a better guitarist, however Fahey never could finish a song without a mistake.
Such an incredibly SMOOTH player. I can listen to him for hours. Him. Tommy Emmanuel. Chet Atkins, and Mark Knopfler. They all, at various times, hit just the right "groove" that can stop me dead in my tracks...to just stop and listen.... The CD, "Essential Leo Kottke", was the one that turned me on to him. Just smokin' great guitar. Can't really say that I enjoy listening to him sing...but boy do I love his guitar.
In the 70’s we had geniuses like the the great Leo Kottke. We admired achievements that take a lifetime to master. Today we have “influencers “. To be honest, I’m glad I won’t be around much longer. The world breaks my heart everyday now, that’s what life is now. Sucks
"I wanted to hear some other guitar, which was at the time hard to hear in Muskogee. I found a record that had Montoya on one side and Sabicas on the other. These are two guys who rarely meet. And I put Sabicas on first and the first thing I heard was a rooster. So the first record I found while looking for guitar music contained a lesson in production for me that I didn't learn to appreciate 'till many years later when I had the urge to add animal noises to my own record."
I think I recognize that backdrop, and at minute 5:15 or so, I think I just saw the capital dome, of Austin TX. That is probably the old version of the Austin City Limits recording studio theatre. Yep, probably is.
Saw LK live in a small venue around 76. Great show. John Hartford was the other act. LK would explain what a song was about, when he wrote it etc…and then play, with no lyrics. That caught me funny.
If you want to be good at something, practice, practice, practice. But if you want to do this, you need to be born with it or make a deal with the devil.
