Leo Kottke - Mona Ray / Morning Is The Long Way Home (Live 1977)

[@SHB59]

Saw Leo live 6 times. Best song "Morning is a Long Way Home."

[@MrPoodleguy]

I saw Leo in Scottsdale, AZ in 1977 outdoors in an amphitheater. Been a fan ever since & even before. One of the greatest to ever pick up a guitar!

[@andrew_owens7680]

Let's quantify that. One of the best PEOPLE to ever pick up a guitar. There are a lot of jerks that play very well, but a virtuoso as down to earth as Leo is less than once in a generation.

[@HammyTechnoid]

Absolute master of the 12 string.... if your music collection lacks Leo... *GET SOME!!!*

[@tombarnes7846]

Props to the camera op who gave his left hand a good close-up during MIALWH. Fascinating fret-work!

[@josephullman7264]

Kaki, macin, Billy strings, david grier Dawes, Justin Johnson, doc, Barney kessel, Atkins, metheny....they’re all astounding. But Leo was IMHO the greatest I’ve ever seen. Doing this on a 12 string, purposefully with high action heavy gauge strings? A gift.

[@catrabbitmouse]

Agree. Mona Ray is a masterpiece.

[@azulmatadiablo74]

i saw Leo more times than i can count and met him once at Royce Hall UCLA after a concert there. he is the nicest down to earth dude. and i have his bottleneck still to this day.. it's one of my treasures.

[@esajuhanirintamaki965]

I love 12-string music, guitar and playing!

[@aasoder1]

Incredible. have heard these songs for 30+ years, and now WATCHING it happen...omg...so amazing. Both of these selections are fantastic.

[@stratorobert123]

A true legend !!!!!!!

[@stevebailen6128]

Saw him 3 times. Freaking awesome!

[@fbrown172]

A bunch of new videos of Leo! Nice! Mona Ray is one of my favorite Kottke tunes!

[@Fritz3619]

Yes, Leo makes this early 1960's Gibson B-45 w/adjustable rosewood bridge sound awesome. His unique sound in this 1977 video is also from several other less known ways the guitar is set up. >>>> Guitar is tuned 2 steps lower than standard concert pitch >>>>> Leo at this time was using thumb and finger picks with medium gauge silk and steel strings ....along with his aggressive picking/playing style made his B-45 guitar and his playing .....again ....so unique and so unforgettable when you heard him for your first time!!!

[@dtimm612]

Leo wouldn't have been using silk & steel string live here, because the sound is mostly coming from the magnetic sound hole pickup, sound like very little from the condenser mic, and silk and steels wrapped strings are barely audible using pickups. Plus it's way too jangly sounding. I've heard he used silk & steels though, but likely only for recording.

[@Fritz3619]

Silk and Steel strings work perfectly with any magnetic sound hole pickup or any piezo under the bridge saddle pickup. However, banjo style finger picks are almost necessary to get the proper string volume for these pickups to work at their best.......and thus with finger picks the additional use of a microphone could now be used with good results >>>>> In this video, Leo is most assuredly using Silk and Steel strings.

[@mysixstringtheory8337]

Beautiful

[@muzicman47]

beyond description! WOW! Thanks for posting.

[@peterlawrence738]

Pure genius

[@habs5792]

Great.Thanks for the upload. Have been a fan for a long time and have many of his LPs

[@ilovehifi]

Its very simple: He´s the MASTER of a handful. Sure.

[@trukeesey8715]

"Discovered" by John Fahey.

[@ilovehifi]

@@trukeesey8715 Yes, his mentor. And sadly died in surgery where he should get 6 (?) bypasses. Very sad.

[@trukeesey8715]

@@ilovehifi God I never knew about that. I lived in his childhood home for a month, also saw him live at GWU. I mean Fahey. His cousin has a channel on KZbin, but doesn't like anybody to know that he's his cousin. It was through him that I discovered Fahey in mid sixties and came to learn the style kzbin.infovideos

[@lyssat5260]

Saw Leo once live years ago. At the Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, if I recall correctly. For those who may not know, the Lighthouse (about the size of a postage stamp and a stone's throw from the Pacific Ocean) was a long standing, venerated jazz club. Big names would tour LA, (large venues) and oft times pop-in after-hours for libations and an intimate jam. Jus' Saein...

[@MrPoodleguy]

Right across the street from Pio’s & next door to Taco Bill’s! I lived in Hermosa in ‘62

[@StephenWillcock]

Wow.

[@lilundgren1]

Tell me...can it get more beautiful than this?!

[@dirkgibbens377]

Video incorrectly identifies first song as Eggtooth... it’s actually Mona Ray

[@misterroberts4240]

love some leo which is why im suggesting going and watch Josh Turner, not the religious one, but the kid with glasses. Hes doing very good leo at like 15-16 yrs old and is a fantastic musician. guessing hes around 28 now

[@peterlloyd5285]

When I get to heaven and St. Peter asks " Well , was it good?" I'll say "Well, have you heard this cat?"

[@trukeesey8715]

That "St. Peter at the pearly gates of heaven" is a pagan tradition with Peter substituted for the original.

[@blucat4]

@@trukeesey8715 What is the original then?

[@trukeesey8715]

@@blucat4 Maybe I was misinformed. I just tried to find answer for you, and learned that "gates of pearl" are in the Revelation of John. Listen to Prem Rawat!

[@TheTinker6871]

Love his 12 string stuff before he had to start going easy on his hand

[@trukeesey8715]

I used to have a 12-stringed Gibson but Corky Espinosa stole it to buy drugs. He died a year afterward about age 22.

[@scaryrobot]

Love this medley, even though his guitar sounds like a bag of old spanners here!

[@docwill184]

His original Gibson B25-12 from the Armadillo album was stolen. He bought 10's of Gibson 12-strings and could never replicate it. Even his Bozos and Taylors have never hacked it..

[@edgarcook9607]

Or,to go to sleep at night knowing you are a performing guitarist...

[@edgarcook9607]

What the heck tuning is this?

[@BMWLANCE61]

I'd really like to know what the three people who down voted this were thinking. Perhaps they weren't.

[@trukeesey8715]

Perhaps they are human bodies occupied by diabolical souls. Or overridden by them. Perhaps they are genetic primitives.

[@pierre-marielombard1433]

Euh...quelle pointure? XXL!!

[@WilliamBrownGuitar]

Uhhh, wait a minute: Justin Bieber 4 million views, and this gets 2,376 (as of today). That tells you all you need to know about the state of our culture. We've lost the ability to hear great music and true talent.

[@lyssat5260]

you got it...

[@lyssat5260]

depressing

[@trukeesey8715]

It's genetic. They have outbred us.

[@trukeesey8715]

When Justin first came out, there were hundred thousand paid commenters on every possible genre of music on KZbin, changin the topic to mention Justin in the comments. I mean, pick a genre -- rap, classical, and someone would change the topic in the comments to be about Bieber i.insider.com/52e7d8f0ecad046604356443?width=600&format=jpeg&auto=webp

[@blucat4]

@@trukeesey8715 😂