woof@hpfcla.UUCP (01/15/86)
Well, it's time to summarize the comments I got on Leo Kottke albums,
and go out and buy a couple.
The consensus: Buy Skip
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"Leo Kottke" 2 0
His first album. No vocals.
Some people I've heard call this the Armadillo
Album, because there's a drawing of an armadillo on
the cover, in white on a black backgraound.
"Leo Kottke 1971-1976: Did You Hear Me?" 1 0
This is a collection of his better tracks from the
early 70's.
"My Feet Are Smiling" 1 0
It contains many examples of his amazing fingers.
"Greenhouse" 2 0
This is the one I'd really reccomend. This includes
some if his finest high-speed picking, I think.
There are 4 vocals, but they don't dominate the
album, and I even like his vocal on Paul Seibel's
"Louise". The instrumentals on this album were what
first made me a fan of Kottke.
"Mudlark" 2 0
Contains some good stuff, too. About half of them
have vocals. This was recorded with some backup
musicians - Ken Buttrey, Wayne Moss, that crowd.
The last time I made a Kottke tape for the car, I
took select tracks out of "Mudlark" and "Greenhouse"
to make up about an album's worth of impressive
guitar work.
"Ice Water" 1 1
I don't like this one very much. Too many vocals,
his guitar work seems a bit rougher, too. This one
gives the impression of being slapped together to
get an album out. Another point - a fair number of
the vocals are Kottke's lyrics. Just as I would
agree that he is better when he's playing than when
he's singing, I would also state that he isn't that
great a songwriter.
Comments on Kottke's voice:
While I've heard lots WORSE voices than Kottke's, I
agree with your statement. The standard quote that
is attributed to Kottke is that he describes his
voice as sounding like "geese farts on a muggy day".
I don't think it's that bad.
General comments:
Another album to look for, one of his earlier ones,
is entirely instrumental and uses this little
description [about goose farts] in the back cover
notes explaining why Leo Kottke's voice does NOT
appear on this album. I can't remember the title,
but that is an album to look for also.
Contributers:
decvax!mcnc!duke!jk at Duke University, Durham NC
decvax!mcnc!duke!amb at Duke University, Durham NC
hplabs!qantel!ptsfa!df at Pacific Bell, San Francisco
bellcore!gamma!pyuxww!pyuxv!nvuxh!nvuxa!nvuxr!ira (Ira Barron) at Bellcore
unisoft!mtxinu!bobm (Bob Mcqueer)
uw-beaver!tikal!prager (David Prager) at Teltone Corp., Kirkland, WA
pesnta!pyramid!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-dairy!sharp (Don)
Thanks, everybody!
Steve Wolf UUCP: {ihnp4|hplabs}!hpfcla!woof
Hewlett-Packard Company ARPA/CSNET: hpfcla!woof@hplabs
Fort Collins, Colorado PHONE: (303) 229-2088