Leo Kottke - Living In The Country

[somewhere59]

The visual quality in my version of the same song in the same concert is much better.

[blunted4202x]

There used to be a clip from this performance that was on youtube of him doing his New San Antonio Rose/America The Beautiful/Vaseline Machine Gun medley. I CANT FIND IT ANYMORE AND IT DRIVES ME INSANE. That one medley is the whole reason i changed to open g tuning.

[StoyTheOld]

First saw Kottke when he played a set at rock concert in Indy , winter of 71 . Went out and found " My Feet Are Smiling " the next day . Wore out 2 vinyl copies and have had the CD in my posession since . Have most of his stuff but this is still my favorite . Friend of mine opened for Kottke at the Vogue theater and I was lucky enough to meet him before the show . Love his music and also appreciate his peculiar sense of humor .

[somewhere59]

@StoyTheOld he visual quality in my version of the same song in the same concert is much better.

[escrime11]

Leo, you have been soooo cool for a very long time.

[Tenntoad]

Who are the 4 bozo's that "disliked" this vid?!

[Flyboy207]

@Tenntoad Teenage girls.

[Tenntoad]

@Flyboy207 LOL....that's gotta be it.

[bkeay100]

Livin in the Country is Kotke s Keynote performance

IS THIS GUY GOOD OR WHAT?

[Potemkin0]

@bkeay100 God has passed a musical finger on Leo Kottke's brow ...

[Yeffaman]

jsip.....stop being a dipshit......like YOU could do better......

[jsipflatpickd28]

it's a tad out of sync, especially when he does the main melody 5-10-9-7 on the bottom string, its obviously off at 1:30, he's holding a d-chord and the melody starts. still amazing.

[BerrysJSRD]

I first heard Leo in 1972 with the Armadillo Album I was even more stunned when I saw him in person in Eugene Ore. just three rows back. Thanks for posting.

[DictionRedaction]

VINTAGE!!! Kottke from the 70s. Awesome then, awesome now.

[mark1800]

out of sync?

[randusrname]

It's hard to tell, especially with fingerpicking and alt tuning. However, the part that begins at about 1:30 looks almost perfectly in sync to me.

[havi70]

yes it is.

[gofuckyourself101]

Not Bohemian, Bahamian, like from the islands mon....

[pcburgh01]

under appreciated musician. his collaboration with Mike Gordon is how I heard of him and then when I looked into his solo work I was like "WTF! How is this dude not in my radar?"

[1crow]

"My Feet Are Smiling," lIve ~1974. You'll never be the same.

[clustercluckfarm]

I saw Leo live in 1974 at a funky little auditorium on the college campus in Klamath Falls, OR. I think I paid $6 for the ticket - the least I've ever paid for a life-changing experience. There wasn't even any seating!! Leo sat on a stool while the audience sat around him cross-legged on the floor. It was perfect  - except for the local redneck idiots in the crowd yelling "rock n roll!!" There's just no accounting for human ignorance....

[TEB1952]

He appears on Home Prairy Companion sometimes. I first saw him years ago on SNL. You will love the man's stories. Check out the one about Whitey and the chicken.

[begguyasommer]

@pcburgh01 haha, I used to be able to get into his shows before his gordon collab. Love it just the same.  Glad you found him and appreciate it!

[Barbackablues]

This tune is the reason I picked up the Twelve String Guitar...Love it!

[thurintheelf]

great song... One of my favorites

[wojo403]

That's a good one. Bad ears and bad memory, life is fun. Mike

[rjwinz]

A Bohemian song about getting paid would have to be a polka.:)

[jamesdv54]

Pete Seeger has always been a bit of an applied musicologist, like Ry Cooder. Living in the Country is a tune he learned from the Gullah people (African-Americans) of lowland South Carolina and the nearby Sea Islands. Outnumbering whites early there early on because of rice growing and their better resistance to Malaria and Yellow fever; they preserved African heritage more thorougly than in many other places. It's a harvest work song, most likely (as I recall from a Seeger bio...). Bye!

[wojo403]

Then why does Leo say Seeger based it on a Bohemian melody about getting paid. Either you or Kottke are wrong about the song's origin. At least if I interpret Bohemia to be the German province. Nice melody nevertheless.

[murrmac]

LOL, he isn't saying "BOHEMIAN" , he says "BAHAMIAN", ie from the Bahamas, not from Bohemia.

[guitarslim56]

The song is called "Pay Me My Money Down."

[1wiesehoefer1]

thanks for posting thats one of the best kottke tunes i know, greetings from germany and best regards friedel

[bush555]

It's actually A Pete Seeger tune

[14thetruth]

Actually! It's actually Leo Kottke PLAYING a tune that was composed by Pete Seeger.

Well actually..... *lol* You are correct(ish)

smaile just having a laugh.

Cheers.

[mark1800]

has anyone else noticed how his thumb is shaped almost like a zig-zag to curve round to the string? weird...

[junglecruiser]

Leo's great on this..I have one of Pete's original recordings of this on a vinyl 10" EP from back in the '50's when I was in high school.

He plays it at about 1/2 this speed.

[MsRandee]

Bravooooooo'.... Totally enjoyed this'..

Tippin' my cowgirl hat at cha'...winks

Huggie'wuggies'

Ran

[Countduncan]

I wish I had a nickel for every time I played a Kotke  cut and was asked

Who are they?

[osmun2]

Leo:

Come to London Ontario.

Please. I want to see you live.

[WEISSERZWERG]

im shure he´ll read this ^^

[osmun2]

haha, I know.

I know :(.

[themothaflippin]

@WEISSERZWERG .... leo, like the god that he is, sees all.

[tanker4909]

@osmun2 and i thought i was the only kottke fan in london

[weenspod]

@osmun2 good lord sooooo boring

[wist14]

I remember now seeing the original tv show of rockpalast on German television way back then. I've been a Kottke fan ever since and a Pete Seeger fan: I've simply always been.

Thanks for posting this movie. Where do you get 'em ?

[WEISSERZWERG]

record on tv

[hartabe]

every body who loves traditional music should check pete seeger

[ScooterNerd]

He doesn't talk about it much but he has three hands.

[elvisjulep]

If life were fair, Kottke would be the most popular music act in the world and Britney Spears would be mopping out the toilets in a Louisiana Dairy Queen. Given the choice of fame or talent, I'll take talent.  Thank you for this post.

[SanFran90]

@elvisjulep: Not to mention that Elvis, Ritchie Valens, Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Tupac, Buddy Holly, Hank Williams, Karen Carpenter, and John Lennon might still be alive today. And the Jonas Bros. would probably be working night shifts in a dilapidated old convenience store in a really seedy neighborhood somewhere in the vicinity of Compton, California.{Let me tell you, I don't they'd last five seconds........LMAO :-p}.

[friendlyisle]

Talented doesn't cover it - the man has been truly blessed.

[oggendoggen2]

Kotkke playing my favorite Seeger instrumental??? I am immortaly happy.

[1crow]

He just smokes this on "My Feet Are Smiling," live from about 1974. The whole album will leave you speechless...

[fbrown172]

That album is a spectacularly good live album!

[1crow]

That is a FACT

[hartabe]

incredible power in this song

[jeeperforlife]

When i heard leo play this live i smiled so hard it almost broke my face. Seriously. I thank God i live in a time when i can see Leo live.

[cefdg]

Listen to the Pete Seeger version of this happy song and then listen to Kottke's latest incarnation on his most recent album where the tempo reflects the moderation that comes with age.