Leo Kottke - Vaseline Machine Gun

[seanmcclure]

Leo Kottke and Steve Vai were the main reasons I took up playing the guitar. After watching him I always question using the term "playing the guitar" for what I do.

[abstractexpressions]

Check out the bend on the E string on the finale note!

[saildapper2001]

Clever title. Muddled performance, and poorly recorded, but perhaps state of the art at the time.

[Comdev11]

I think I found my dying cat. Its in his guitar.

[TheNovemberdays]

if i had a nickel for every nickel joke i heard I WOULD BE A MILLIONAIRE!

[3ig3ang]

If I had a nickel for every nickel joke, I'd be a millionaire

[cahillgreg]

noreason & roamerreed - what are you guys like - you have your own side show going on there.

[LeStraTele]

I have always thought of Leo as the Jimmy Page that never got drugged up

[GuitFiddlerB]

@LeStraTele Nice LOL I agree

[huichol53]

By far the most talented guitarist I ever heard in life...huichol53........

[JordanMedina]

@The000Roy Absolutely!



[MrCachorrock]

From Asunción, Paraguay - Conozco esta música de Leo Kottke desde 1976 llamada Vaseline Machine Gun, aprendí a tocarla con slide con 12 cuerdas, con 6 cuerdas y con guitarra española. Grande Leo!!! siempre escuché tus canciones. Eres un genio de la guitarra!!!

[menofthechemical96]

this man restores my belief in jesus.

[Kruezoraxe]

Just saw/heard this man for the first time yesterday. I am a different person now.

[ariakiss]

why is it that 12 string acoustics really do like to be amplified with magnetic soundhole pickups and yet they sound...well, magnetic.. the newer ones sound better though nothing beats a good microphone.

[Grouchomx]

He always haves fun. See him live today and he still smiles to show he's enjoying the hell out of this!

[PlanB198]

ya know im 22 and just dicovering leo kottke and john fahye for the first time and it blows me away when i hear then and then i go back and listen to what i once thought were great guitar players or what the mainstream considers legendary guitar players....i mean i recently read rolling stones 100 greates guitar players and leo was nowhere but kurt cobain is like number 10??? i mean he made great music but when it comes to guitar he doesnt hold a fucken candle to leo...idk it pisses me off

[gageman70]

@PlanB198 I know, that list is total bullshit as far as I'm concerned. There's so much more to music than pentatonic solos and ripping off old blues players. Innovation>Showmanship all fucking day.

[EternityxMemory]

Anyone else get a really trippy feel from this song?

[likearollingstone257]

God what a fucking beast.

[crorivpro]

I remember seeing this show I think it was called "In Concert" I just watched Leo

play this thing and my jaw dropped to the floor. I've been a fan ever since. I have two things in common with Mr. Kottke. I play the guitar (like crap) and my first name is Leo.

[1madeintheimage]

@crorivpro Be thankful you have two things in common with Mr. kottke, I only have one(and my name is mickey!)LOL!!!

[darthvapir]

lol Kottke does indeed get a groovy sound coming from Gilligan's radio speaker. The professor has always performed superb mods.

[idonthavegoodname]

...and the fretboard melted, by the end of the song.

[TheGuitarGuy9999]

I can't find the tabs for this... damn.  Although, even if I got the music, I couldn't play this well.

[danielibnz]

@TheGuitarGuy9999 You certainly can get the tab of this and other tunes.

Please go to 3w(dot)songsterr(dot)com and enter Leo Kottke on the search box.

There are good tabs of many other guitarists and musicians. Enjoy

[ookthomas]

@TheGuitarGuy9999 watch, listen, imitate, listen again, practice, experiment. Learn to lose the tabs and become a better guitarplayer in no time :)

[909chuck]

He was and is amazing. Heard him interviewed when he was new, on Chicago radio show (Studs Terkel) and the music and stories made me an instant fan. The early stuff is still my fave. THANKS for a rare treat!

[844jimthompson]

Leo- Is the best guitar that ever lived.Nobody even close.So funny and love those eyebrows.Thanks Leo.

[wetweasel56]

Not only are his digits very nimble and profound but the tune ain't bad either.

reminds me of roaring down Texas hwy's high as a kite with one focus....to make it to the party alive.

[supak108]

@wetweasel56 that was a good description

[yankel57]

Leo IS the machine! I am so blessed to have grown up in the "Leo" era.

[Avidity]

The Devil sold his soul to Leo Kottke to play the guitar almost as good.

[povver78]

เพิ่งรู้จัก คนนี้ เก่งจังครับ

[Robbeltje]

He Ownes that Deliverance banjo kid !!!

[XLIVwhodat]

On rolling stone's 100 greatest guitarists, Leo isn't even listed. But Joan Jett is.. blasphemy.

[Geekman333]

@XLIVwhodat That's cuz Rolling Stone can't tell shit from clay. It's a cryin' shame.

[newjustice1212]

@XLIVwhodat that's because their list is based off of how much their guitar playing impacted music. for example kurt cobain is 12th on that list. he obviously is not the 12th best guitarist of all time but his playing had an important impact on popular music as a whole unlike kottke.

[202roller]

Leo Kottke once fingered a girl.. she died

[MoonlitKnight13]

@202roller I lol'd heartily.

[leroyinmissouri]

Damn, Leo! That's some nasty guitar. One of my faves.

[bennyvolance]

Hell is best.

[61lcp]

I had the privilge to be part of a small co.hired by R.P.I. to provide sound for Leo at a concert in "75.We got set up early and waited for Leo to arrive.he got to the hall late afternoon,took two guitaf cases from his rental car trunk and said "Ready for a soundcheck?" He sat down totally cold and blazed through Vaseline Machine Gun.....our jaws were on our chests.My partner turned to me and said"Tell me You remembered the tape recorder,right?"

[watertonrivers]

ONE WORD FOR LEO KOTTKE.....WOW!!!

[johnboykfc]

Fastest fingers alive....



[sivgold]

it's magnetic

[todoaciento]

@AmonOfTheSahelijos if you had one nickel for every cell in your brain, you`d have less than one nickel, it`s the music, stupid!

[AmonOfTheSahelijos]

@todoaciento go fuck yourself.

[1madeintheimage]

@AmonOfTheSahelijos LMAO! Although it's probably more like a quarter!

[ajarroyave]

@AmonOfTheSahelijos If i had a nickel for every time i've heard that exact same joke, id have a shit load of nickels.

[ChuabIsDaWhopper]

@AmonOfTheSahelijos Actually the resolution isn't that bad...I'd say the poor quality is due more to under-saturation, color displacement, ghosting, scratching, low framerate, degraded audio....pretty much all the crap that happens to an old VHS tape.

[roamerreed]

@AmonOfTheSahelijos ore none, no pixels on a tube tv

[noreason2701]

@roamerreed Every display has pixels you dumb piece of ass.

[roamerreed]

@noreason2701 nope, Chuck Testa, and that's not true, have you seen the displays at baseball stadiums? i know the one at royals stadium is led's in a configuration of 3 into a small plastic dome that would in theory simulate pixels, however it's not pixels.

[noreason2701]

@roamerreed You're a bit retarded, boy.

[roamerreed]

@noreason2701 just alot, but thanks for letting everyone know your being an ass to the mentally incapable person, and losing.

[noreason2701]

@roamerreed It's pretty sad that you have to act retarded to get out of being proved wrong.

[roamerreed]

@noreason2701 nope, i really am retarded, believe it or not, however i can generally remember useless information that nobody cares about

[noreason2701]

@roamerreed OK, autism doesn't equate to mental retardation. Good try, though.

[roamerreed]

@noreason2701 nope autism = my friend who is a genious, me = retarded i am stupid

[Cotton17]

and he learned trombone and violin before ever picking up a guitar...the man is a god

[huskerspew]

gonad17 - Really? I've never seen a comparison between Kottke and Damon. I must be the first one. And even if that comparison has already been made, it's true every time it's stated. I've even heard that Damon is a more accomplished guitarist than Kottke. I find that hard to believe. Perhaps one day these twins could share the stage.

[skilldren]

Genius

[SunshineLove555]

this guy sucks

[wackattackjack]

leo kottke invented the genre, rockin' hillbilly funk.

[cinedeguerrilla]

Impresionante sonido.

[XMagicanX]

It sounds like three guitar players at once...:D

[Ademarco9003]

Totally awesome

[AguirreFurorediDio1]

Who dont like he? I really don't understand... Is magic

[muzicman47]

The best finger pickin' guitarist of all time. Also a great composer. He exceeded even his teacher, John Fahey, and that's no small task. I was lucky enough to see him in 1985 at a college in Cupertino California. It was beyo9nd words. and he's even funny! They gave him four standing ovations. A sweet memory. He has insprired many guitarists, I'm sure. His tunings? Try Googling it. He used open D a lot, and several other open shord tunings.

[Jaylovesgoodeats]

Just imagine playing like this!! He had to change styles, after his strumming wrist locked up.

[ingeniousblues]

Is it just me or does the crappy sound quality only add to the hellish sound coming out of that guitar?? Love that sound, give me more of that.

[awfulguitarplucker]

@ingeniousblues i second your comment....this is one of the very few times where a crap sound only improves an yet galactically insane performance

[antimatter1349]

@ingeniousblues this is so fuckin true, thank you

[MagicalSunrise1984]

@ingeniousblues

hehe - you're right!

[BasementEngineer]

@ingeniousblues Guitarists have occasionally been known to pay *money* for gadgets that cause distortion :)

[MadPuppets1]

there is just summin about the water in athens

[onesugarnhalf]

Leo is really incredible !!!

[skinnydoggyz]

demons and chodes

[OneWingDuck]

Pure Shredage

[omigosh23]

@OneWingDuck open g?

[raccoonbandit1]

what tuning?

[thomasjeeh]

on a 12 string, seriously!?

[baadrobot]

Every time I hear this song my skin gets all bumpy, or is that every time I here him play?

[nljfs]

12 string guitar with a slide on his pinkie... they are steel string guitars -- my brother had one, I never could play it.

[watertonrivers]

One of the least talked about, yet greatest acoustic guitarists of all time!!

[paczereq]

fuckin freak!

[anthonywalker666]

what kind of guitar is that

[jonathangraemeburns]

Luke Skywalker

[owlet1963]

too bad the sound leaves to be desired... great artist!!

[thomasjeeh]

@owlet1963 it does have its charms though!

[Yslsl]

whats the year of the recording? 1969?

[asdfcrow]

@Yslsl Not sure, he didn't release this song till 1997 but i don't think it's later than 75

[ADASilentWonder]

@asdfcrow this song is on his first album from 1969

[borderlineretarded]

70s does the trick, no ned for the ie ;-)

[jeannebug1]

I love slide guitar! Leo Rocks

[SqueezeMyLemonBabe]

ehhhh....its alright. If I was walking through the woods and heard this sound protruding from a distance I'd probably turn and walk the other way from that sound.

[ShimmyDigg]

i know this is my third comment in a row... BUT.. a pickup AND a mic? anybody know how this is actually being "broadcast" so to speak? over a PA or just through an amp?

[ShimmyDigg]

his smile at 0:18 says everything.

[ShimmyDigg]

i absolutely LOVE the natural distortion of this clip. if i could recreate that distorted sound that would be the only way i would play... Damn you new technology.

[demagetube]

People its A# G D# A# D# A#. Enjoy that low A#. Cheers Leo Kottke for this legendary performance!

[FuriousStrength]

I love this video, I can geek out over his fingers from every angle.

[winick456]

I don't like this.. he is clearly hurting that poor guitar. something about this makes me think of hell

[iAmJaySniper]

holy shit!

[sourdough51]

I've been listening to Leo for many years and am greatful I can pull him up any time on youtube for a great musical fix any time! He's truely the greatest!

[spencer261]

abosolutely astonishing, Leo is the highest point of 12 string acoustic guitar

[laurelweiner8]

thanks Leo..cant believe I said you oughtta publish...man ...you are awsome

[KoFMark]

0:13 - 0:15 ......

[BeorhtFrognostic]

Intense, what a talent and what a sound. :)

[freedom0is0free]

17 people eating cheeto's on their couch say they can do better.. Pathetic. Kottke is a living legend! Unreal : - )

[kingofthedeep]

After all these years I still get goose bumps from listening to this. A pure master of the guitar. No doubt. Smoking album as well.

[humorousnote]

Now I know what I have been missing.

[TheReighnart]

I never really thought of this as exceedingly fast. It's like... banjo fast I would say.

Love listening to Leo

[indiekid42]

I heard someone playing this at a recital last weekend, and am so glad I took the time to look for the original. Amazing style

[dwaltr]

Leo using one of the great DeArmond pickups . I think a model 210

[IGY5758]

Leo Kottke literally changed how I listen to, and look at music. Definitely my biggest musical influence and I don't even play guitar!

[skinnydoggyz]

wish i woulda watched this when i took acid, i woulda saw some gnarley demons crawlin from those hands

[michaelvoelkel]

nobody plays with a power like Leo Kottke. It´s pure Energy and the compositions are great. Hope he will be in Germany one day again.

[DaveyJones1111]

I didn't know Matt Damon played guitar.

[OriginalStarchaser]

As an equally hearing-impaired person who cannot play guitar or speak a foreign language because I cannot hear it well enough, I am amazed at his ability to play this instrument so well as he is, and I Love him for doing it. He has made my day more than once....

[JoJaDaRu]

I can't think of a more consistently entertaining acoustic guitar composer during my lifetime. Leo is great.

[davinci5152]

As I listened to this, my arms got goosebumps and the hair stood up on the back of my neck..

Excuse me, but I gotta go play some guitar right now.

That was fucking amazing. I forgot how good he was.

[friendlyisle]

Is he really going as fast as it sounds?! Do you know any songs, by anybody, played as fast (or faster)? I'd like to check them out. . . .

[mradamcooley]

@friendlyisle haha, dragonforce maybe?

[dnzg66]

@mradamcooley Dragonforce, perhaps, but you've got to realize most of that is computer effects, smoke and mirrors. Leo Kottke is very impressive -- he puts Slayer to rest.

[mantishandz]

Purely instrumental songs don't get stuck in my head often, but this is one that always finds it's way in there.

[Metallicathrashsam]

17 people are idiots

[shadyspot1]

he has 2 brains, one for each hand

[rallyivan1234]

@shadyspot1 hahahahaha the best comment!!

[Fiishes]

@shadyspot1 Dude screw that. Kottke has 10 brains, one for each finger.

[theburdcotter]

@shadyspot1 I have 2 balls, one for each hand !

[larconeptic1]

@shadyspot1 Great thought - LOL here!! I have loved this music since he recorded it....

[estderoma]

@shadyspot1 well, that pattern on the left hand is pretty much the same for the whole song

[MusicWriter1965]

@estderoma Oh, don't be such a mewling, simpering, snide little bitch, you little fucking cunt

[estderoma]

@MusicWriter1965 ahahahah fuck sometimes man, and learn to play some guitar.

[gageman70]

i bet kottke would play a mean ass banjo

[Gabrielleis4u2]

Easy to see how Nick Drake fell into him so easily isn't it?

[ryan9600]

Lol cool as. Look at him laughing. He had it all bet he got a different girl every night.

[modelleg]

Love that interview when he says "this is where guitars go when they've been bad...or if they were never any good to begin with."

[PieceofMindmusic]

i can smell vaseline and feel machine machinegunfire in my head when i hear this :O

.....goddamn

[guitarhero240]

what tuning is this?

[mirnooko]

@guitarhero240 Open G (D G D G B D from low to high)

[gerardmass]

Naar mijn mening nog steeds de beste gitarist ter wereld!!!!!!

[krstnlhjt]

saw Leo while at Iowa State inthe 1970's. Great concert. 

[badmemory]

Still rocks for me!

[stinzo89]

Leo Kottke and David Gilmour from the Floyd look like they could be brothers or cousins.

[sagebigsis]

@methxs2008-I agree completely, John Butler's 'Ocean' is brilliance... Not taking anything away Kottke, by any means, but, that is the best I have heard in a LONG time!

[alwaysevokeart]

this sucks

[reddogvm]

@alwaysevokeart How about if I throw you a guitar and demand that you play that and if you cant i will shoot you in the head!

[breanantony]

guitar ¿?

[huskerspew]

I didn't know Matt Damon was such an accomplished guitarist!

[JonasGrumbyBand]

@huskerspew

That's not Matt Damon silly! But if Matt Damon and John Elway had a baby...

[ginad17]

@huskerspew I see this comment on many Leo Kottke you are not creative

[methxs2008]

If you like Leo Kotke playing 12-string guitar, check out John Butler playing his instrumental called Ocean.

[speakersonic]

sounds like a freight train barreling through the country side.

[awfulguitarplucker]

@speakersonic maybe EACTLY what he managed make this sound like! simply a Genious!

[bikerchopra]

osm guitaring-this is guitaring without elctric assistance dudes

[Azwethinkweiz667]

He looks so much like David Gilmour in this video.

[aerycksmusic]

Once Kotke, twice Kotke

[Lafayettebluesman]

I'm going to see him in Woodstock IL, in September. For 20 bucks! What a deal! I mean really this should be way more expensive than freakin' GREEN DAY!

[jsipflatpickd28]

@Lafayettebluesman

Same here, bought tickets for both days.

[billsurf101]

I play guitar and all i can say is TOTALLY AWESOME.....!!!

[methodinsane]

Fucking rock! YES! God I love Leo Kottke! Please Please PLEASE come to Ireland!

[averagejoe1967]

I heard him on Prarie Home Companion a few months back. Awesome talent.

[rocknyoshie]

すばらしい。

[KikkFlip]

Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Zubene]

He is still amazing live. He had to relearn to use his right hand because of extreme teendonitis and changed his style. He is worth seeing if he is within 100 miles.

[TheBitterWeed]

Someone could have warned me how good this was. I nearly just shit myself.