Leo Kottke - Last Steam Engine Train

[@kaewonf8]

Dude always seems to be in a good mood. Real infectious.

[@acebodine]

I once heard Fahey say something to the effect of: I've just written a new song. I can't play it, but Kottke can.

[@deborahbella2694]

John Fahey wrote this song, didn't he? His recording is the first I know of. He's masterful at it too, but in a very different style -- more blues, less country.

[@deborahbella2694]

Here's that Fahey one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aGS0ZaSDiZqLgtE

[@peterfussenegger2058]

One off the greatest in this Style!!!

[@billybigtime2808]

Bloody hell outstanding a different level of playing

[@goodcommentman1512]

I’ve played this song for 35 years. So, that’s how it’s supposed to sound. :)

[@lektrikbass]

If you don't LOVE the instrument, you will never play like Leo.

[@zumajim]

If you don't become one with the instrument, you will never play like Leo.

[@squeek73]

I was lucky enough to work at the Armadillo, and saw this show. Leo's awesome.

[@marsharupe8112]

I just saw Leo tonight in Santa Fe. He must be around 74 years old, and still plays a great guitar. His stories are pretty funny, too.

[@mussie302]

What a flawless performance and superb technique! Wonderful stuff.

[@irvinslagter8298]

Amen! you can just see that old steamer chugging up a grade. The syncopation is fantastic..the best version that Leo has done..

[@gnutcreative]

Amazing, effortless playing. You almost forget how difficult the song is when you listen to him play it.

[@deborahbella2694]

But then you watch his fingers and realize.

[@robertobonini7907]

Unreal

[@kris242]

wow! Who knew I'd ever like this style of guitar playing. Lately it's become one of my favorites which is odd because I'm the bassist of a metal band^^ lol

[@joemac8694]

Kris Sweeting judging by your profile pic, it looks like this music turned you to the acoustic side after all haha

[@yosemitesam3003]

@@joemac8694 lmao ikr

[@zacattack500]

I saw a guitar session with Syn Gates where he said he was influenced by Gypsy Jazz. I went and researched it and now have a Django Reinhardt station on pandora. 😆Metal is my all time favorite but there is a lot of other good music out there and i love discovering unfamiliar stuff.

[@Rx7man]

@@zacattack500 There's a lot of good music out there in many (not all, lol) genres.. I've been a Leo Kottke fan for years, but I listen to trance, rock, blues, my dad is a big Django Reinhart/Stephano Grapelli fan..

[@Coolcat3]

That's progress my man. Metal is fucking dope but these older styles have so much to offer. I bet even learning some of these techniques will improve your metal playing.

[@DwainDwight]

been a massive fan for so many years. will listen to Leo forever.

[@martinaxman2033]

The best thing about Leo is following his albums. I've been watching since the 70s and each one is more hilarious and amazing than the last. I love Leo. He's an amazing performer and stage presence. Oddly, I've never been able to get to one of his live shows! Don't you miss out.

[@ilovejgbandthedead4364]

Can’t wait till Leo Kottke and Billy Strings discover each other, just like Leo and Mike Gordon did. Their take on “sweet emotion” is my favorite version of that song.

[@TM-jo4wz]

Bad A-. Been listening to him for 49 years.

[@daf827]

Amazing technique. Speed + syncopation = swing. No one sounds like Leo.

[@gxbayes]

Great version of this song

[@curtwynkoop6085]

Just saw him last night in Redwing Minnesota on Feb 1,2020 He’s still great!

[@DallinGodfrey]

Curt Wynkoop wow jealous, you just beat the lockdown

[@sandymatlock4776]

My First Concert, IU Auditorium... Had to play Extra long, (Loggins/Messina,snow trble)🎶🎼 FANTASTIC🌠🎶🎼

[@q98rt710]

This guy is awesome!!!

[@adamlaxmusic]

Leo is so great.

[@2951cch]

He is just the best.

[@omkaratube]

Fantasic guitar player!

[@Anteksanteri]

The technique that really makes him leo kottke above all else is the incredible staccato playing without having to mute it while plucking. The length of each note is just perfect and he can alter it at will to create the perfect groove.

[@blickumblickumblick]

Best guitarist since Segovia. Thanks for posting.

[@pureloveracing]

I play guitar, but this is something different... This man could crush bricks with his fingers...

[@solsept]

A Classic...Very Impressive!

[@danielnradu]

wow. So apparently there;s more than one way to spice up E-A-B.

[@Ari-el3xl]

Who the heck disliked this video?! Those two people must be crazy!

[@GeoffWilliamsMagic]

The ONLY thing you can dislike about this video (possibly) is the poor quality. Maybe.

[@alan4sure]

I believe all videos that have undeserved dislikes are done by Russian hackers. Unemployed ones.

[@johnbruno6868]

Yeah. This is just the way TV used to look years ago. Should of seen in the fifties!

[@michaelfarrell4824]

Trump voters

[@thegratefulbrad3072]

What a hateful, un american thing to say. At least he keeps his campaign promises, ya brain washed Nazi puke.

[@ManganeseMan]

Great tune, great jam, thanks.

[@LewisDLancaster]

Brilliant!

[@halldmars225]

C'mon. He's playing like a full band, with a non arrogant smile & style

[@jimmyhylton9957]

I wonder if this song is about the Big Boy, which was the last steam powered locomotive. the Big Boy is very much worth writing a song for.

[@w5cdt]

I lived down the street from the Armadillo. The best days of Austin.

[@SEYHORSE]

You can see the train!!

[@huntingvuk]

THANKS

[@frankiezap]

i used to think i was a guitar player...now i realize i'm just a guitar owner

[@tylerwilliamson2855]

Well said 👏

[@rayobannon]

Magnificent!

[@huntingvuk]

very cool! i wish I could play something like this!

[@rixar139]

☘ Irish Honey Badger - One of my military buddies got me into his music.

[@RLKA1]

Fantastic

[@peterfussenegger2058]

I like to Play also,he.he.Open guitar playing is very special.

[@stanhankins3175]

Amazing

[@richardanthony2923]

the one and only.the best.

[@dennisjohndreher7258]

The one and only!!!

[@namnoiz]

Nice !!!

[@Arthur-wh1tv]

親指曲がりすぎぃ。。羨ましい にしても最高の曲です！

[@prestongarrison8964]

They got a wooden roller coaster there that will rattle your brains. Leo is of course great as usual. :)

[@DictionRedaction]

Virtuousity. If that doesn't make you tap your toes nothin' will.

[@lewiemcneely9143]

Doc Watson is my hero but I like what Leo puts in this one better than Doc. You can see the smoke and cinders chuffing!

[@kimstill7611]

Lewie McNeely Leo is worth checking into if you like "gee-tar" music. He's a phenom.

[@lewiemcneely9143]

Yep! I've been a Leo fan for 30 years or better. He is amazing and Doc was too in his own right. I like Leo's "Whitey and the chicken" A bunch! Tommy Emmanuel is center stage now I'd say. But I like to go back to 3 Dog Night and the old good stuff. Don't care about the new stuff at all except Iron Hoses's remakes.

[@johngo4th]

+Lewie McNeely Last Steam Engine Train is a John Fahey composition. It's on KZbin here. I loved both versions, and thought it was a little easier to learn by the John Fahey version because it's slower, and in that same tuning. Which I can't get a handle on at all what with all the opinions about just wich "Open G" tuning that is.

[@lewiemcneely9143]

I've listened to some of John's tunes too and I always thought that Open "G" was just Open "G". I went down with #1 and up with the rest if I remember right. I didn't do much open stuff though. I'd have to hear it and us get our heads together on it. I like Leo's "chugging" extra part.

[@johngo4th]

+Lewie McNeely Thanks Lewie. I was just watching him show some 12 string tecniques from a video he did just this year, and he just said, tune down 1.5 steps. Someone else said it was the same as "low D" down two steps? THat makes it even more confusing considering so many people call DADF#AD low D tuning (I know I do) Slack Key, or Hiiwian Tuning (all the same thing), but many times people confuse "Drop D" whit this too. I do notice when I play it in regular 440, I don't use the same chords. Puzzling to me.

[@howardwest5859]

Mighty fine pickin there

[@marcheritier4]

What an absolute Rock !! . Chord changes ,easy: Speed , Fluidity , Musicality , only Kottke .

[@89kids]

He's the best; no disrespect to Fahey, but Leo plays with more soul, picks cleaner, and stays in tune!

[@Daniel-ox1sb]

Interesting take. 15 years later I think I'd agree with you in all respects except soul, which Fahey exudes totally more than Leo.

[@jimnoakes9394]

Playing a beautiful Olson guitar.

[@folkrock4u]

Love it. is that an early Olson?

[@martinaxman2033]

DANG! That's only a 6 string! Man that guy can pull sounds out!

[@Mmmyess]

He doesn't miss a note.

[@south644]

luvit

[@jsipflatpickd28]

@Dukabor True on many levels, but like anything else, you have to put time into it like Leo. Unfortunately most of us get caught up in life...

[@ipolson]

Check out Macyn Taylor's version. watch?v=vYSH1izToL4 . She was only 12 at the time. She covers a number of Leo's songs. Check out also her version of Airproofing 2. Its awesome.

[@Dennzio1]

feels like a steam engine chugging down the track

[@mrwhisperify]

His right hand chugs like a bitch. Amazing

[@PickingGaz1972]

Good and human

[@PicnicHikeMusic]

Holy shit. The Hendrix of Acoustic.

[@MainelyLove]

@frankiezap hey he was a beginner once, too. Koettke is good, real good because he found his style early in the game. Plus he really really loves to play the guitar. I used to be guitar owner, once, btw, but I'd rather be a player.

[@jay55also]

He knows how to make his guitar sing....

[@billb0925]

This is an old John Fahey song, but since Leo recorded it back in the early 70's it's become his most copied tune. It's not hard to play, but it's hard to play well.

[@tianmou]

video camera at that time just couldn't capture his hands move

[@MrBradleya16]

how does he do that thing where hes thumpicking the bass notes and fingerpicking the treble notes at the same time? ive been trying for ages and i cant do it any tips?

[@MrJMooreable]

Just take it really, really slow to begin with. (And don’t start with this song!) The first song I remember learning with the alternating thumb bass technique was “stack o’lee blues” by Mississippi John Hurt

[@MrBradleya16]

@@MrJMooreable i can play this song just cant do thay part in the beggininging

[@acousticguitarfinger]

@frankiezap Don't berate yourself. This is one of the hardest tunes to br played well. Yet every version, that I have heard, is laden with errors. Any tune that is not in Dorian or Phryggian scale is wron. After I will have perfected and upladen "Bubble Gum Music Medley With Fingers' Pickin Accompaniment" I'll upload a Dorian version of this Tune. Look for it in August, probably. You will like. Also, the many covers online should be labeled "John Fahey Cover", not "Leo Kottke Cover".

[@RobiNredBreasT101]

thumb pick with muted picking?

[@j3ohnny]

do you know why he ditched the thumbpick?

[@ergastule]

@porpoisefathom See the big "O" on the headstock. Olson.

[@MrBradleya16]

What tuning is he using?

[@MrJMooreable]

Just in standard

[@FririkurEllefsen]

Easy to see Doc Watson influence. Great to see a fingerpicker without a thumbpick 'these days'

[@abiwestphal9418]

0:22

[@guitartec]

Wow, he plays an Olson like JT

[@graham2458]

Would this be a beginner level song ?

[@Christian-oi7sd]

For a badass beginner yes

[@1260451]

Actually, he did, and left a dislike...

[@jesseserna8424]

Is there a hint of Chet Atkins in there?

[@frankiezap]

you owe it to yourself to pull up the youtube vid entitled "Dylan meets Kottke"... it's a scream

[@JeffMoorfoot]

I wonder if he chooses his own socks? :) :)

[@HotRodHarley93]

@frankiezap I'll bet Leo wouldn't agree. Play on.

[@VanDoodah]

This guy is a freak (in a good way.)

[@Steppenwolf27]

I know what you mean, buddy.

[@johnkarmann4708]

Stop it, you're making the rest of us look bad. 😛

[@Simone-bc2fo]

This is fucking impossible to play.

[@blucat4]

You just have to cut your brain in half and let one half operate the thumb, and the other half operate the fingers. 😄

[@Sailgoat]

I think God uses Leo for beta testing :-)

[@jpiir]

Olson guitar, olsonguitars(dot)com

[@jeffvolivitch6383]

Anyone else think he sounds like Bill Maher?

[@hulkingmass]

would rather be listening to ICP

[@MNX58]

Boring!

[@richintalent]

and... that's... only... a SIX STRING??????