Bruce Cockburn…..talented Canadian fingerstyle artist you probably don't know

[charjo]

WARNING mellow alert!
As @gnlguy is introducing me to Gary Moore, I wanted to share an artist I really appreciated, in my youth, and that you probably don’t know. Bruce Cockburn is a Canadian guitarist/singer/poet that never got huge international success. He had a few commercial hits like “Wondering Where the Lions Are”. In the 70’s he had 5 or 6 stripped down acoustic albums with amazing lyrics and musicianship. In my mellow phase, during university, Bruce got me through many tedious hours of medical school study. I’m curious about what any of you think. He was folky with just that nice injection of blues.
Here’s one off his “High Winds, White Sky” album,”Let Us Go Laughing”, it’s like 3 songs in one. If you can hang in, 1:26 hints at part 2, 2:28 part 2 and 3:53 part three. I thought it was genius.

[Richard S]

Thanks John. Reminds me of a blend between earlier Leonard Cohen (another Canadian) and Jackson Brown…two of my favorites.

I just ordered “Dancing in the Dragon’s Jaws”, includes “Wondering Where the Lions Are”…solid tune.

Cheers,

Richard

[Sal]

Nice sound John,was picking to it in C#m……………..Sal

[Don D.]

I knew him as the guy who did “If I Had a Rocket Launcher,” which wasn’t as mellow as this, it was more of a full band than singer/songwriter with a guitar. He was kind of well-known in Chicago; he was played on their biggest non-network radio station, WXRT. They played “Rocket Launcher” and a few others (titles escaping me), maybe even this one—they played a lot of similar music.

I always respected this kind of playing and him, so I’m not sure why I didn’t connect with him at some point (as at different times, I liked Joni Mitchell, Neil Young [two more Canadians], Fred Neil, Dave van Ronk, John Prine, lots of other kind of similar players, maybe I will yet someday). Thanks for increasing the odds.

Don D.

[kubrider]

I want to say I’m familiar with his name but don’t believe I’ve ever heard this. I listened to lots of finger style acoustic guitar at one time. Love it all!
Rob

[sunjamr]

I think more of us know about Bruce Cockburn than you might think. I’ve always appreciated his music.

Sunjamr Steve

[BTGuitar]

Thanks for posting John. As Sunjamr Steve noted, some of us know of him. I saw Bruce Cockburn here NH quite a few years back. He is a phenomenal guitar player.

Tom

BTGuitar

[Jeff S]

Fellow Cockburn fan here!

I came across this quote somewhere:

When someone asked Eddie Van Halen what it was like being the best guitarist in the world, he said “I don’t know, ask Bruce Cockburn.”

I’ve been a fan for awhile, he’s a great artist! Check out “Nothing But a Burning Light” or “Chasing Fire”- my favorite albums- or “Anything Anytime Anywhere” – Singles 1979-2003″ if you just want the hits. I just found out he has an album of acoustic instrumentals called “Speechless” that I’ll be looking for.

[Author]

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