Try and Stop Me

Leo Kottke | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 22, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA Victor
• ASIN: B00025D9XI
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #45,639 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

35 years into his career and he is STILL the master of finger picking! With the exception of guests Los Lobos on The Banks of Marble , this album is mainly Kottke, his acoustic guitar and a whole lotta folk, jazz and blues: Mockingbird Hill; Jesus Maria; Stolen; Monopoly , and more. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Welcome Addition to the Kottke Catalog, November 5, 2004

By 

Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Try and Stop Me (Audio CD)

Based on the previous reviews, Leo Kottke is both blessed and cursed with the reputation of being one of the best fingerpicking guitarists of the last thirty-five years. He is revered by a legion of fans, but it would appear that many of them (the amazon.com reviewers, anyway) aren't happy unless he keeps repeating 1971's 6- AND 12-STRING GUITAR.

At 59, Kottke is still performing and releasing a new album every few years. TRY AND STOP ME is similar in vein to his last solo effort, 1999's ONE GUITAR, NO VOCALS. In fact, except for the final track (recorded with Los Lobos), this is unadorned Kottke--just Kottke and his guitar creating his unique mixture of folk, jazz and blues.

The eleven tracks feature eight Kottke compositions and three covers. The first cover is "Mockingbird Hill," an instrumental version of a 1951 gold record for Patti Page. Next is his third recording of Carla Bley's "Jesus Maria." [Kottke first recorded this for 1990's THAT'S WHAT and then as a part of 1998's guitar album SOUNDS OF WOOD AND STEEL.] The third cover is an old Weavers' song, "The Banks of the Marble," which features Kottke's warm baritone vocal.

While I would have enjoyed a few more vocals, this album has everything I look for in a Kottke album--a master musician playing his guitar with passion, skill and beauty. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars AN ABSTRACT NEW GROOVE, November 1, 2004

By 

Kerry Leimer (Makawao, Hawaii United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Try and Stop Me (Audio CD)

Aside from Lou Reed's infamous "Metal Machine Music" I'm not sure what a "contractural obligation" record is, but "Try and Stop Me" is no such a thing. And even if it is, I doubt it affected the music. Here's what I'm hearing:

Kottke's music and playing -- unusually difficult to separate from one another -- have always tended to be remarkably clear, concise and at the same time complex. On this CD I hear many of the same elements, with the new addition of a much higher degree of ABSTRACTION than any of his other work. The harmonic and rhythmic content is being pulled in directions that are frankly atypical of what Kottke is known for, and the resulting music really can't be approached the way a listener might approach other, earlier work. The abstraction is emphasized all the more forcefully by the little snippets of familiar pieces tucked in here and there: those comfortable sets of notes set suddenly in less comfortable surroundings have a profoundly interesting, almost disorienting character, especially on the first few listens.

After so many records over so many years, Kottke still has the important ability to be self-critical about his work and to seek new ways to articulate one of the remarkable talents of our lifetimes. No let down here...

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oustanding!, June 22, 2004

By 

jakepaul1 "jakepaul1" (Virginia) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Try and Stop Me (Audio CD)

I'm a huge Kottke fan! I enjoy his earlier work the most, but this album is still a great musician at work. From what I've read this is the first time he's gone in the studio and improvised an album. It's quite refreshing to hear what comes out of the instrument - gives you an appreciation of Mr. Kottke's years of experience. I like 'The Bristol Sloth' best thus far...