category: instrumental country / blues / folk

Album review:
"No one--and I mean no one--has produced a more stunning debut in any genre than Leo Kottke did with 6- and 12-String Guitar. And even more amazing, consider Kottke's comments from the liner notes in Anthology: "We didn't know about sequencing, so the record [6- and 12-String Guitar] is in the order it was recorded...The record took three-and-a-half hours to do, and all I had to do was sit down and play everything I ever knew." This is 37 minutes and 28 seconds of genius. I'm willing to bet that Kottke ended many a would-be guitarist's career. [How could you listen to this album and expect to compete at the same level?]

Kottke can play achingly beautiful melodies like on the original "Crow River Waltz" or Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" and then turn around and dazzle you with with the speed and brilliance on tunes like "Busted Bicycle" and "Vaseline Machine Gun," (a tune he revisited on 1997's Standing in My Shoes). While Kottke does possess a wonderful baritone voice and has worked with additional musicians, on this outing Kottke lets his guitar do all the talking--and it speaks with an authoritative voice. This album was originally released on John Fahey's tiny Takoma label.

While Kottke and Fahey are frequently mentioned in the same breath, Kottke's guitar style has always been easier on the ear. Over the last 30 years, Kottke has been responsible for some of the most innovative and beautiful solo guitar music. Here's where it all began. ESSENTIAL." -- Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE)

CD Track Listing

  All compositions by Leo Kottke except where noted

  1. The Driving Of The Year Nail (1:54)
  2. The Last Of The Arkansas Greyhounds (3:14)
  3. Ojo (2:12)
  4. Crow River Waltz (3:17)
  5. The Sailor's Grave On The Prairie (2:30)
  6. Vaseline Machine Gun (3:08)
  7. Jack Fig (2:10)
  8. Watermelon (3:07)
  9. Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring (J.S. Bach) (2:21)
10. The Fisherman (2:29)
11. The Tennessee Toad () (2:37)
12. Busted Bicycle (2:45)
13. The Brain Of The Purple Mountain (2:07)
14. Coolidge Rising (2:47)

Total timing: 37:28

Label/No: Takoma 6503-2

Release date: (c)1969, 1996 reissue