Eight Miles High - Leo Kottke Live, 2-9-8

[melhiker]

Incredible guitarist!!

[echo962]

Nice to see Leo performing this one again! I saw him live back in the 90's, and I stood up and requested this from the audience. Leo just looked at me like I was nuts!

[paterwillem]

so great!

[green66vw]

this is an 18 string acoustical guitar.

[mate6mty]

@green66vw is it a compliment??? i just count 12 pegs

[green66vw]

@mate6mty yes,it is a compliment.Leo could play a guitar with 60 strings.brilliant!

[3drobotmonster]

He's so great live, and also always very funny with his remarks and stories :)

[MrTobytwirl]

Magic.

[HerbalNinja024]

He's really good live. If anyone has the chance, make sure to see him

[bobbeseymour]

I'm not sure the world even knows how incredible this guy really plays.

I rate him at the top, and this is what I do for a living, (and I ain;t starving)

[bobbeseymour]

I am a succesful pro studio steelplayer, I spent the first fortyfive years of my life using fingerpicks, the last fifteen without. I feel that I now play as well one way or the other. I'd rather not offer advice to others as to which way to go about this subject, however, I will never go back to using picks, even after a professional career using them. I only know of three pro steel players that don't use picks, I feel we all need to play the way we feel it.

Bobbe Seymour Bobbe Seymour

[SEMOyogi1]

@bobbeseymour

Bobbe...you are one of the all-time great pedal steel players and you are someone who has done so much to further not only our instrument, but country and jazz music in general. While you might not like offering advice one way or the other, when you do, I'll certainly listen.

[Countrychiddler]

Kottke in a swinging MF. I met him in a pavilion in St. Pete. Fla, in '70.

He was tuning his 12 string.

[MrHoyQ]

It's interesting to compare his earlier versions of that song where he still used fingerpicks to this one.

Kottke himself once said in an interview, he had a hard time switching from playing with fingerpicks to playing without them (which he had to due to health reasons). He said, once he mastered it without them, there would be no disadvantage in loundness, sharpness or energy of sound.

Unfortunately, I must admit, I don't think he was right. :-(

[jerryehamric]

I think the real difference between Kottke and McGuinn is that Leo Kottke is a guitar virtuoso, first last and always. McGuinn's quirky playing and singing brought an element to rock and roll that has been ingrained in us all, but if we are honest we'll admit that McGuinn's lead playing is a bit haphazard at best. Not bad, just "quirky." I loved the Byrds, and McGuinn's super compressed 12 string defined what an electric 12 is supposed to sound like for many of us. Bottom line-both are great.

[gratefultiger]

huge leo & fahey fan this is a top take on one of the best tracks from 60's.he played this in melbourne australia when i first saw him live in the 70's

[bcurls1]

one of the best guitarists on the planet

[Niven42]

OMG, his left hand barely moves. How???

[SatchmoSings]

@Niven42 Django Reinhardt did it with only TWO fingers on the fret hand!

[dantean]

@SatchmoSings That's nothing! Using no hands whatsover I manage not to give a crap about comparisons of this kind, as tho musical artists were jars of mayonnaise, 100 metre sprinters, or professional bowlers. Someone should explain the difference to you..In the meantime, however,I will say that the point you make is impressive in a way no doubt entirely unforseen by you. Good luck.

[SatchmoSings]

@dantean You obviously take yourself rather seriously, as opposed to what you DO rather seriously.

It is in this way that you make what you consider to be an impressive point.

Good luck in not only dealing with the real world, but in getting laid, too.

[dantean]

@SatchmoSings Your weird and unfortunate efforts at a come on are perhaps best reserved for others at your local bowling alley, as they no doubt reside somewhere in the vicinity of your level. You are not a half wit.

[dantean]

God, he's amazing!

[dennisl2008]

Vaseline Machine Gun!

[beachdog67]

Man, people on the internet will argue about ANYTHING. I wish I knew a way to help you see what you're missing.

[tomartstone]

Love Leo....What a guitar player and love his singing

[zinotify]

Kottke and McGuinn are both superb guitarists who each have a distinct style. Neither is trying to accomplish what the other is trying to accomplish musically, so, direct comparisons, while interesting, do not settle anything. I respect their gifts and the interpretations they offer of this incredible song. I'm grateful to have both of them to listen to.

[iaingbrennan]

When this guy was made, they broke the mould, his virtuosity on the 12-string is exemplary, no one to touch him,( though I wonder how Tommy Emmanuel would get on with a 12-string? Never seen him play one?)

Speaking as an old fart Scot, who first saw Kottke in Canada in late 70's, I think it's wonderful that he is still going strong.

[thetiler]

Enjoyed !

[placo10100]

The man is a genious with a gorilla grip i dare anybody to deal with a twelve string acoustic even one with killer action you deffinatly would'nt wanna go under 10guage for fear of a lotta buzz action naw he looks like furous bronze maybe 12guage hearing those nice clear high and loows tones thats a monster to wrestle with live on stage at any age my hats of to Leo the Lion Kottke Carry on my 12st wayward wammer Jammer

[johnnny5555]

i kissed my first wife in 1971 to this song by the Byrds, lost her , damn she was a good woman but this is still a great tune and Leo is fantastic, see him in concert , a genuis

[Rikk303]

@johnnny5555 1st wife? At the risk of sounding like a total ****, '71 was nearly 40 years ago.To paraphrase Mr. Wilde (well known debaucher of women)...to lose one wife is unfortunate...secondary and tertiary losses can only be viewed as careless

[GibsonHummingbird]

Leo is a God. Guitar supremo.

[sdeugdad]

Master and commander Kottke I take my hat off.

[CFLanger]

I dig it! Leo Kottke is an inspiration to me in my own guitar playing. His rhythms, groove and playing style appeal to me in countless ways. His music brings me joy. To borrow the words of others, he truly is an american treasure. I never get tired of hearing him play on YouTube and live at the Woodstock Opera House. Thank you Mr Leo Kottke.

[FlibbidyFleu]

@CFLanger I just got my tickets for his next perfomance at the Woodstock Opera House in September. I first saw him there back in the early 80's and I've been back nearly every year since.

[CFLanger]

@FlibbidyFleu I have seen him play at Woodstock for the past 8 years. This year is Leo's 25th year here. I'll see you there.

[66sabine]

@CFLanger i think he has not more the quality of his first lp, he is not more fast in his guitarplaying like in the 70ies, the best longplayer was the first in 1969

[nootaramus]

yes a very narrow neck for a 6 string much less a 12 string.

as for the song- it doesn't do it for me. its just not something that he makes work. its a very moody song and he is playing it like its a trip to IHOP.

I do appreciate his talent but he just always struck me as kind of a square who could play guitar.

[backwoodsmister]

Just saw Leo for the first time in Loveland, Colorado on 3.13.10

He still has it, folks. He talked a lot which was just as entertaining as his songs.

[lebarosky]

i am asking this seriously. is there anyone else in the world who can make a 12 string sound like this? if you are out there please youtube yourself. i doubt you exist.

[jutescrim]

Incredibly narrow neck, how does he play this instrument. My Landola 12 string is much wider

[frombaerum]

i cant:) you should check out bjorn berge. his a great fan of leo as well. those two are actualy very different. bjorn has his own awesome style. btw leo kottke is king!

[ehcmier]

Realistic serious answer: Of course not.

[Tenntoad]

@lebarosky ...There is only ONE Kottke. ;-)

Rgds,

Joe carpenter

[AlexeyAndreevich]

What tuning is he using ?

[Building529]

@AlexeyAndreevich  standard tuning it looks like.

[Tenntoad]

@AlexeyAndreevich ....He's in plain Standard, but tuned down at least 1 full step.

[1dantown]

I love this guy. I love every piece of this guy. In the 70's,this beautiful guy created his own form of music. He was weird. He was different. His music was impossible. By that,I mean, he created a persona,and a sound,that was "super-charged"- thanks to his 12-string guitar,and his attack on finger-picking. My brother Leo makes me cry. He transcended the ordinary-hokey-singer/songwrit­er genre.He was special.

[andrewa12h8]

For dude who thinks his voice sounds like geese farts, he sounds good. He's got that late Leonard Cohen growl thing going.

[incah00ts]

It was Leo Kottke himself that described his voice as "goose farts on a muggy day".

[incah00ts]

That dude was Leo Kottke himself... he described his voice as "goose farts on a muggy day" in the liner notes for his album "6 and 12 String Guitar".

[Yeffaman]

Hey papashitferbrains....it isn't supposed to sound like the Byrds, you mental midget....it's the world's best guitarist's version of 8 Miles High.....YOU are embarrassing for your retardedness, asshole......go back to rap, where there IS no talent.....

[sp1kline]

I always liked Leo's version of this song.

[crorivpro]

Its just him and a guitar not a whole bunch of session muicians backing him up.

[oximore111]

listen

[Papahitas]

I almost don't recognize the Byrds song. Kottke totally butchered it. Embarassing.

[stillborneddie]

I think the idea of doing a cover is to make it your own. Otherwise, why bother? Kottke's version is my favourite cover: up tempo, great phrasing and rhythms.

[DrBarnes1]

I heard him play this at the Civic Center in Fairhope, AL in a room that he filled up with his voice and guitar. This guy is very witty on the stage.

[PforPanchetta]

Wow! What an absolutely freakin' brilliant take on this song. An instant favorite.

Thanks for the great vid post!

[minastronasse]

Pop thinks he's playin' Horse with no name. Alzheimer version.

[DocGeorge4U]

I saw L.K. at the Fieldhouse in Iowa City in '74 or so, sitting onstage about 6 feet from him- he has fingers like spatulas...he appears to be mellowing into a combination of Leonard Cohen and Paul Newman...El Besto !!!

[ben909ben]

one time working site crew on the Winnipeg Folk Festival I was watching Leo mid song when a 5" x 10' steel main stage tent post blew out in a storm, about to kill several of us

me and two others jumped up, and wrestled it back to safety, tied it down, Leo is still thumping away, hasn't missed a beat...

... and as he's finishing the song, works

"nice work on the ropes, boys" into the lyrics

so cool

[lmcguire]

fantastic!

[chernobylFarms]

@ben909ben No doubt, what he's always had is extemporaneity....

[waterywoman]

I could listen to this forever, virtuosity and comforting ...

[DavePerry2012]

Outstanding.

[echopractic]

Damn. Just damn.

[macrumpton]

His voice has actually gotten a lot better as he has aged.

[tricharlie]

One HELLUVA guitar picker. Til this vid hadn't seen him "live" for 25 years. He's aged. So have we all. But he just gets better...

[jasoncasper16]

So amazing.... I would love to sit with him and just watch him play for a few hours. Imagine how much you could learn!

[zorbatheok]

He once described his own voice as "goose farts on a cloudy day" lol... that completely encapsulates those vocals

[methodinsane]

I never agreed with his own comment. He just never had confidence in his voice. He has a grittier John Cash-type voice. Even when he was young it was beyond his years. It's got character...

[mcouzijn]

Actually, it was 'geese farts on a muggy day'. Even better than 'cloudy'.

[onionwind]

It was "goose" farts on a muggy day, better than geese.  Honk!

[mcouzijn]

No it wasn't . Leo used the plural 'geese'. Check it out on the back cover of his "6 and 12 string guitar" album.

[JivinforFun]

Leo Kottke is like Paco de Lucia in his own sphere. He'll live forever!

[BLDMLN1007]

leo kottke is as good as john denver.and better.much thanks to Roger Miguin.

[daf827]

Leo is indeed a national treasure. His picking is unique, identifiable after a note or two.

[penanlad]

Leo Kottke is a national living treasure.  Period.

[helmsbarn]

Kottkes a master..Screw all you jealous haters..

[jejelad]

love it.  thanks for posting!

[Showpro1]

I kinda like his self-deprecating sense of humor; i.e. he once described his own singing voice as sounding like "geese farts on a muggy day". Lol, but I still love his stuff.

[jeffersonmfox]

If I had to pick one guitar player to listen to forever..and only one...Leo's it hands down. He carries a BUUUUUNCH of weight. Maybe not the greatest singer there ever was but then neither am I. I'd put him, Tom Waits, Paul Simon and Antje Duvekot up on the pedestal and slap the Gold to em.

[bobsilvestris]

Met Leo tonight. No one else knew who he was but the minute I heard his voice I knew. Nice gentlemen. Saw him a few years ago in a big auditorium. He said he'd have two tixs for me at the Cascade Theater. Can't wait.

[66flamer]

very lucky for you.

i saw him once in michigan.

wow. obviously.

thank you for posting this and thank you leo

[rhedosaur]

I was there that night in Santa Cruz. What a treat. I never go driving anywhere without Leo on CD.

[coach2ma]

Um.....I think Roger McGuinn's born again Christian phase is still going.

[sunaJH]

Leo  Kottke is a guitar god!

[buckshot151]

He is great.He plays with feeling, that voice is low down &out,great!

[CoyKiyote]

I got a version of this off of a NPR recording from the 70s. Lawd almighty the man has talent!

[ecitsujwon]

dont be so bitter.

You always have the hopes that pee wee herman will do another kiddy porn style childs album that you can bee-bop to while sitting in your scooby doo beanbag naked with a bowl of candy bead in your fat ass lap

[consterned]

isn't he almost deaf like beethoven? he's a genius.

[AxeWraith]

WHY do people insist on comparing and rating? If you dig it, then dig it and maybe, gently, try to turn other people on to it. If you don't dig it, turn the page. Leo Kottke has spent his entire life playing guitar and making a modest living at it. He's brought joy (and frustration, to some of us guitarists!) to countless folks. How many of us would be able to say that even if we continued for even 1,000 years doing what we've been doing? I wouldn't want to know, in my case.

[erictheangrypenguin]

I agree. He's still the greatest tho'!

[Rikk303]

@AxeWraith who were you comparing jhim with?

[luap42]

@AxeWraith It's a music video posted on youtube! That's WHY people compare and rate. YouTube is designed to encourage viewers rate and comment and compare. I disagree about what you should do if you dislike something. YouTube is designed for you to comment positive OR negative. None of this has anything to do with an artist directly, but presumably could have an indirect effect.

[dantean]

@AxeWraith Because even among the comparatively small percentage of people with a feeling for great art, there can still often lack an understanding of the difference between what an artist does and what, say, a pole vaulter or plumber do. We want 2 feel music appreciation separates us from those who can only grasp what might best be described as low grunting or some manual dexterity component (see the moron below with his "Django only used 2 fingers!" routine), but, alas, that ain't automatic!

[eretzsus]

I saw this man play in marin county California last night with Judy Collins and it was an amazing performance

[DictionRedaction]

Is (or was) Leo really a Coltrane fan? I'd really like to know who he admires musically. Somebody needs to write a good book on this guy.

[1950jimbei]

It's an interesting question. As a matter of fact my favorite guitarist Duane Allman had been listening to Miles and Coltrane on Kind of Blue when he showed remarkable development in musicianship (both virtuosity and musicality).

[mypoopfloats]

mcguinn was a sell out

[pimlicowinner]

Roger McGuinn is to Leo Kottke what Fats Waller was to Art Tatum. Nuff said!

[BLDMLN1007]

so beautiful, what a guitar craftsman,an elite guitarist.

[diamondrhyme]

Roger McGuinn is excellent, but Leo Kottke can play rings around him on guitar. The more you listen to the range of what Leo can do,.. you'll understand. He is a virtuoso, and only plays simple music because we like it!

[timjmoran]

It's just silly to compare Kottke and McGuinn-

it's like saying a pear tastes better than an apple.McGuinn was HUGEly influential at the

time this came out-NOBODY had a sound like this on guitar-and was a large part of the Byrds'success(apart from their stunning vocals)Also,he was pretty much a band

guy,whereas Kottke has been mainly a solo

player,at least live.Bottom line,both are great in their own unique ways.This IS a cool

interpretation of a classic tune-give Kottke props for that.

[stone1home]

Yup.

[timjmoran]

"yup".. ??!!?? Is that all ya got??Hope you could spare the energy it took to type that...

[stone1home]

yup.

Few people realize how great Roger McGuinn was on guitar. But comparisons of this sort are pointless.

[Rikk303]

@diamondrhyme that's tunes and Tunes for you then...I'd rather listen to an ethereal will o' the wisp stuff rather something that becomes an embarassing standard.."Thanks for that...this has been really lucky for me...I really mean that...Hi over there...and you---coke is better than coke, if you know what I mean. How do the trousers look down there?" "Get that girl a pass to my room" ....hey -ho

[denniswilsonfan]

the guy is good but I'll stick with Roger McGuin, not knocking this fella but I guess once you've heard the best, the rest can't compare.

[historyvideos101]

My guess is that you ha"ve not listened to much of Leo's music. Search "Leo Kottke 1974"

[denniswilsonfan]

don't need to, don't want to, I know what is good, and what isn't

[coach2ma]

Fact remains....taking Kottke and McGuinn both in their primes---from purely the technical point of view---McGuinn couldn't touch Kottke's playing with a ten foot pole.

[wilbo26]

No self respecting guitarist would ever claim to be able to touch Kottke at any point I don't think.

[TheFriendlyGod]

but you just said, this guy IS good. you should always expand your musical knowledge. what if somebody said, "yeah, the brains of the beach boys is clearly brian wilson" and then never picked up Pacific Ocean Blue? You and I both know he'd be missing out.

[DictionRedaction]

Saying Leo Kottke is "good, but..." is like saying Tiger Woods is "good, but..." Shows that you know nothing about him.

[erictheangrypenguin]

Where I come from we have a saying... "There's Bradman, and there's the rest!" The great man is looking old, but still the greatest player of his genre that ever picked up a guitar!

[diamondrhyme]

Great clip. PLEASE ditch the floating "Eight Miles High" title near the end!

[kirkwell]

Leo Kottke is awesome, thanks for posting this! He really pours his soul into the guitar.

[mordenkaiden1]

the secret to leo's playing is that your thumb has to independently understand every other beat, only then do you have it!

[fouramhq]

Leo is the Master. The source from which all acoustic guitar rises.

[odor9]

Fantastic video and sound. Thanks! Great to hear Leo still pounding this out.  Makes "psychedelic" actually mean something.

[sal39di]

Man, leo sounds great.what's with those white dots on top of each headstock.also did leo give permission to film this?

[susita33]

Ira Gitler christened John Coltranes approach at one stage as "sheets of sound".I know Leo is/was a Coltrane fan and there is something sheets of sound about those magnificent 104 bars in the middle of this ..! yeap i counted them although that, like my opinion could be totally erroneous..peace

[Sioth]

I've never heard of this guy before, but he is apparently very famous. And I see why! Beautiful and mystical melodi, perfect play... damn!