Bruce Cockburn, guitar player

[JohnDuvernell]

Rockin guitar work!!! I subbed. Please check out my wicked wild metal songs and sub back if you are into it. From,  JD

[rrrrockin]

rock solid thumb ,,rock solid human being ...

[EKWalmsley]

Incredible artist and humanitarian. Hope he lives to be 100.

[taifry]

Its not an urban legend, he actually said that.

[csjackson97]

cockburn? Wow what an unfortunate name.

[jerryfrady]

@csjackson97 lol. It's pronounced co- burn. With a long O sound. Like Oh.

[blaughla]

AMAZING

[fiddlinhoss]

What a sweet sounding guitar, I just can't figure out what brand it is.

[Jkaterchannel]

@fiddlinhoss Linda Manzer, I think. She also builds for Pat Metheny.

[EKWalmsley]

@fiddlinhoss Hi, the guitar is a Manzer and I believe that she worked with Larrivee for awhile.

[ISt0leTheCookies]

Cockburn indeed

[pcoldham]

this guy must have massive callouses to get a sound like that

[mark1800]

holy sweet crap, what is that tune at the beginning? tuning? i need learn!

[mercman159]

love this guys guitr playing so much

[kairosymbol1]

I saw Bruce play at the Barn Door in Montreal even before he cut his first album in the late sixties and what I remember was a really deft guitar player. My favorite Canadian artist.

[deanerspace1231]

is the song he's playin at the start have a name? or is it just him jammin?

[gmtnosa00]

@deanerspace1231 He's just jamming but the changes are to his tune Open on You've Never seen Everything

[rangoon03]

@deanerspace1231 The song he plays at the beggining comes from the song OPEN i believe

[akj375]

I wish Bruce and others like Don Ross would put together some instructional videos teaching some of the basic concepts of their techniques. These ideas have to get passed on to new generations and for many of us who love to play and advance in our abilities, but only have a limited number of hours to devote... it would be a huge gift to have that level of instruction.

[zuma7007]

What a right hand...must be a gift from some kind of god.  Sadly, his playing sometimes over-shadowes his great songwriting. I have seen BC many times and he always delivers.

[Makonu2]

He's not human lol!

[Doesitmatter61]

I saw him in conert in Ottawa MANY years ago - and I still remember how mesmorized I was with his guitar playing!!!!!!

[StoryeTime]

The yogi guitarist master at work

[Crustman1957]

I have seen him twice live so far. Amazing.

[sammycircle]

Eddie Van Halen , In An Interview For Rolling Stone Magazine, Was Once Asked How It Felt To Be The Best Guitar Player In The Buisness And He Answered." I DONT KNOW YOU,LL HAVE TO ASK BRUCE COCKBURN"!

[speck444]

good pickin and nice guitar

[davefrymusic]

He is the best, in my opinion, his mastery of guitar, his songs -mixing spirituality and politics (no easy trick), and his unerring artistry. I get the same chills when I hear a new album from him, like when Rubber Soul came out.

[elwoodsfriend]

This man is the king, so underrated or not rated. As a professional musician, this man is one of my greatest heroes. He is impeccable, percise and perfect as a writer and performer. Thank God for Bruce

[Lizzy2Morgan]

you are right gmt. As a (primitive by BC standards) player, I got a huge chuckle out of Bruce's "and the fingers throw in some 'other stuff' comment. Oh that's it Bruce, I just gotta "throw in some other stuff"!! He is my hero, though - A great player, great songwriter, great poet, and great human being.

[gmtnosa00]

and the fingers throw in some other stuff... ha ha..so sick

[steacknfreak]

with that finger you can explore your anal instead playin' guitar! asshole

[hellokitty3307]

a.m.a.z.i.n.g  ! ! ! !

[anitadavideduo]

He's great like his music!

[csrhiatt]

Bruce is the complete package. GREAT songs...EXCELLENT playing......and a SOULFUL singer as well. I saw him live once as a trio. One of my favorite shows ever.

[dingoswamphead]

Thanks for sharing this, Bruce and Kensington. I have seen the master several times live but never close enough to see the way he sticks his right pinky out like that. Next thing is to look at his remarkable tunings.

[chopchoper]

not one of the best,,,, THE BEST!!!!

[salm37]

Great guitar player!

[p1ippers]

One of the BEST!

[MrJustinification]

that sounds painful

[AdmiralShizzle]

most underrated guitarist ever

[gorillabelly1]

Cockburn? Underrated? Maybe, if you measure his success merely on a commercial basis. Things might have been different, however, had he adopted Yngwie Malmsteen's penchant for hurling kicks high into the air (SNAP!) while playing.

[AdmiralShizzle]

very true. or maybe the van halen garb?

[gorillabelly1]

Nah. Cockburn doesn't seem the type. Seeing David Lee Roth swashbuckle around the stage or Eddie emulate the mighty Nigel Tufnel.

[musicman70707]

Oh Canada! I'm from the deep South USA but have always thought the Canadians really have something going on. Such great music!

[gtrrobster]

Don Ross too....

Canada

[uncaringbear]

Bruce Cockburn, Alex Lifeson, guitar gods.

[gorillabelly1]

You must be Canadian, eh? :-)

[imrael13]

My exact thoughts my friend.

[gtrrobster]

one of the greatest for sure!

Excellent writer, great fingerpicker and arranger...and a super cool dude.

I remember meeting him on the back loading dock after a show in Ann Arbor in about 97....had just begun the John hurt fingerpicking thing, and he was very humble and patient in talking about how to go about learning how to do it 'it's all in getting the thumb to go back and forth ' he said.

Little did I realize how great a player he was at the time, nor how long it would take to get it.

[MeganVahabi]

Damn! It's so hard to do picking like that. I wish I could.

[pigletized]

Musicians Musician!

[wahwahpuddle]

i just had to lol at his name. hahaha cockburn. hes a damn good guitarist tho

[STICKSnSTRINGS]

FYI it's pronounced KO-Burn

[wahwahpuddle]

i know

[AndrewBravener]

So glad my dad brought me up listening to Bruce. My children will know him as well someday.

[villastrangiato]

Bruce's extraordinary talents as a guitarist and songwriter are alone sufficient to merit the highest recognition in his field. But his life story goes so far beyond the expected and into the realm of unique. When you consider Bruce Cockburn's artistic and humanitarian endeavors, words like "living legend" usually come to mind.

[GWBsux]

Bruce Cockburn has always been one of my favorite guitar players -- as well as a favorite singer/song writer.  I like the comments by Jackson Browne. This is great -- thanks for posting this.

[GhostDog4321]

lol his last name is cockburn

[ptorrance]

Pronounced KOH-Burn

[tarkineWild]

Walk away you naive child

[wahwahpuddle]

hahaha same.immaturity FTW!! hes pretty good though

[Geeshmeister]

What gets me is that his lead lines look quite simple - are they hell!

[artvandelay13]

i LOVE down to the delta!! it's so beautiful, and deep lake is one of the most tranquil, relaxing pieces of music i've ever heard...

[doctorbeethelawyer]

hey i once saw eddie van halen answer the question of '' whats it like to be one of the best guitar players in the world ''  he answered ''ask bruce cockburn'' so i guess hes well repcected by the greats as he is one of them, rock on bruce.

[Wallyjrii]

Ed said that?  Cool!

[gtrrobster]

I thought that is what Hendrix answered...saying "I don't know. You should ask Phil Keagy."

[breaddheadd]

I have heard that story before; though Phil Keagy has not confirmed it. Phil Keagy does indeed rock.

[hammet11]

@doctorbeethelawyer Which interview was that?

[EwolDJ]

@doctorbeethelawyer - Eddie is no fool. Thanks for sharing this juicy snippet, doctor bee. I'd like to hear some outstanding lyricist say the same thing (Waits, Mitchell, Dylan, Browne, among others). I'm sure they all doff their hats to him. Apart from Dylan, I don't think he has the expressive vocal power of those artists, though he's a good singer.

[1Geronimodeleon]

@doctorbeethelawyer: lol, what a funny quote!

Thanks for passing it along.

[TorontoLarrivee]

@doctorbeethelawyer Love Cockburn's guitar playing, but I'm afraid this story is almost certainly an urban legend. It began in the 1960s with an apocryphal Tonight Show interview, where Hendrix is subbed for Van Halen and Phil Keaggy is subbed for Cockburn in your story. As the story applies to Cockburn, 50% of the time people cite Clapton instead of Van Halen. It seems like the kind of pull quote that True North records would have seized upon...

[swiggy58a]

@TorontoLarrivee Um....who asked You?

You fuckin' Kill-Joy!??!

Why don't you go jack off again;

...or; whatever!

[Xeno426]

@doctorbeethelawyer

I've heard it elsewhere that it was Eric Clapton that said that. I'd really like to see the original source.

[forty911]

cool jackson

[cholmis58]

I agree with J.B. I said last time we heard B.C. play solo, "When we closed our eyes it sounded like a four men orchestra"

[VA7KSP]

Very cool, thanks for posting that!

[gilchannel]

Fantastic! I've been a Bruce Cockburn fan for decades. Where can I get the full documentary? Is a DVD available?

[gilchannel]

Should have read the description, thanks.

[ayavner]

This is basically the opening chord progression for "Open"... I wish that song would have included that little fingerstyle piece. I remember when the song was released, i recognised it from this documentary, and thought AWESOME HERE IT COMES... but alas, nope...

[kvnbrn]

I caught this documentary flipping through the channels one night. Very well done.

[tarkineWild]

More please!!!!