Monkey Money

The Scarlatti Rip-Off

So after the first LP Monday being about a record that has so much nostalgia for me, let’s dive into some uncharted territory.

Chewing Pine (1975) by Leo Kottke. Amusingly released the exact same year as An Evening with John Denver. I had never heard of Kottke, well not until I picked up one of his albums at a record store last week. I literally knew nothing about this guy or what his music sounded like (other than he was an acoustic guitar player) prior to throwing him on the turntable. When I saw it in the store for 50 cents it caused me to pause and give it another look. Maybe it was something about the cover design that caught my designer’s attention, or the fact that I enjoy just the sound of the guitar, or that I had no knowledge of this guy, or that I generally enjoy the music from the 70s, or maybe it was just the cheap price tag. Whatever the case was, Leo Kottke wiggled his way into my vinyl collection and I’m rather pleased I didn’t overlook Chewing Pine.

Not having a lot of experience with Kottke, there ain’t a lot more I can mention here about him. I found out that the guitar wasn’t his first instrument, and he is known for a rather unique picking style. He often played on a 12-string guitar and probably his most famous song, Vaseline Machine Gun, was from his debut album.

Side note: I’ll try to keep LP Mondays to just two songs from each album (give or take a few exceptions).