A diverse artist with thirteen gold and three platinum records in Canada, ten Juno Awards, a Porcupine Hall of Fame Award, a Golden Porcupine Award and, in 1998, the Governor General's Award for Performing Arts, Toronto singer-songwriter and exemplary musician Bruce Cockburn (pronounced co-burn) came to fame as the 1960's folk revival was drawing to a close. While the 60's were clearly among Cockburn's formative influences, Cockburn has never been stuck in any particular musical style, roaming freely through acoustic and electric musical landscapes. Cockburn began his career as a folkie, moving into a precursor of New Age during the mid 70's with meditational types of albums. Later he caught fire with electric instruments and hard lyrics that propelled him into rock mode. Most recently he has synthesized his various periods into a new kind of folk/rock.
Most of Cockburn's early albums have been reissued on CD. Bruce Cockburn (1970) includes "Going to the Country"--a song that became an anthem on folk radio. High Winds White Sky (1971) starts off with the catchy ramble "Happy Good Morning Blues." Sunwheel Dance (1972) provides additional vintage Cockburn. The album's highlights include "My Lady and My Lord," "Up on a Hillside", and "Dialogue with The Devil." Night Vision (1973), perhaps Cockburn's best-known early album, starts off with four classic tracks: "Foxglove," "You Don't Have to Play The Horses," "The Blues Got the World," and "Mama Just Wants to Barrelhouse All Night Long." Salt, Sun and Time (1974) opens with the classic "All the Diamonds In the World" followed by the elegant "Salt, Sun and Time." These early Cockburn albums rank among the finest contemporary Canadian folk recordings.
Beginning with Joy Will Find a Way (1975), Cockburn moved into a meditational genre, which he continues on In the Falling Dark (1976). The 1979 release, Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws moves Cockburn into a more electric mode. The album produced the hit single "Wondering Where the Lions Are." The 1980 Humans reveals a stronger political/social-issue orientation. With Inner City Front (1981), Cockburn's transition to electric instrumentation and folk/rock is fully complete.
As Cockburn worked further into the 80's with his 1983 release, The Trouble with Normal, it becomes difficult to describe Cockburn's music as folk/rock. By this point he is a solid rocker except for occasional soft spots in his track listings where the introspective Cockburn peeks out from time to time. Stealing Fire (1984) continues this trend, as does World of Wonders (1985). The 1987 retrospective collection, Waiting for a Miracle, is a two-CD boxed set that covers Cockburn singles from 1970-1987. The collection also features songs from as-yet non-reissued albums--Circles in the Stream (1977), Further Adventures Of (1978), and Mummy Dust (1981). For anyone who enjoys both the acoustic and electric phases of Cockburn's work, this set is a particularly good buy.
Big Circumstance (1988) continues the exploration of political/social/environmental themes in a rock style. The high-energy 1990 Live recording presents Cockburn on stage. Nothing but a Burning Light (1991), shows another turn in Cockburn's music. The electric instrumentation is still present, but it's more subtle.
Christmas, released in 1993, was unexpected. The selections are inspired and Cockburn, playing primarily acoustic instrumentation, does justice to all of them. If you enjoy Christmas music done in a folk style, this album is very satisfying. Dart to the Heart, from 1994, picks up where Nothing but a Burning Light left off. It starts off with a rocker, "Listen for the Laugh," then settles into a mix of more personal and introspective material. There's a return to acoustic instrumentation on many of the tracks. The result is a highly satisfying album.
The Charity of Night (1998) marks another turn in Cockburn's music, with Cockburn taking a hand at production. Working with Colin Linden as co-producer, Cockburn has produced one of his most remarkable albums yet, with a finely crafted contemporary sound enveloping arresting, visceral lyrics. The acoustic, finger-picking track "Pacing the Cage" is vintage Cockburn songwriting while "Mistress of Storms" is an engaging guitar/vibes duet between Cockburn and vibraphonist Gary Burton. Other artists on this fine album include Rob Wasserman, bass; Colin Linden, mandolin; Bonnie Raitt, slide guitar; and Ani DiFranco, Jonatha Brooke, Maria Muldaur and Patti Larkin, backup vocals. Cockburn fans will want this one.
Bruce Cockburn
1970 True North (TNBD 0001)Going to the Country; Thoughts on a Rainy Afternoon; Together Alone; The Bicycle Trip; The Thirteenth Mountain; Musical Friends; Change Your Mind; Man of a Thousand Faces; Spring Song; Keep It Open 37:09High Winds White Sky *
1971 True North (WTNK 3)Happy Good Morning Blues; Let Us Go Laughing; Love Song; One Day I Walk; Golden Serpent Blues; High Winds White Sky; You Point to the Sky; Life's Mistress; Ting--The Cauldron; Shining Mountain 38:41Sunwheel Dance *
1971 True North (WTNK 7)My Lady and My Lord; Feet Fall on the Road; Fall; Sunwheel Dance; Up on the Hillside; Life Will Open; It's Going Down Slow; When the Sun Falls; He Came from the Mountain; Dialogue with the Devil (Or ``Why Don't We Celebrate''); For the Birds 34:48Night Vision *
1973 True North (TNK-11)Foxglove; You Don't Have to Play the Horses; The Blues Got the World...; Mama Just Wants to Barrelhouse All Night Long; Islands in a Black Sky; Clocks Don't Bring Tomorrow--Knives Don't Bring Good News; When the Sun Goes Nova; Déjà Vu; Lightstorm; God Bless the Children 41:04Salt, Sun and Time *
1974 True North (WTNK 16)All the Diamonds in the World; Salt, Sun and Time; Don't Have to Tell You Why; Stained Glass; Rouler Sa Bosse; Never So Free; Seeds on the Wind; It Won't Be Long; Christmas Song 36:17Joy Will Find a Way
1975 True North (WTNK 23)Hand-Dancing; January in the Halifax Airport Lounge; Starwheel; Lament for the Last Days; Joy Will Find a Way (A Song About Dying); Burn; Skylarking; A Long-Time-Love Song; A Life Story; Arrows of Light 43:16In the Falling Dark
1976 True North (WTNK-26)Lord of the Starfields; Vagabondage; In the Falling Dark; Little Sea Horse; Water into Wine; Silver Wheels; Giftbearer; Gavin's Woodpile; I'm Gonna Fly Someday; Festival of Friends 49:02Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws
1979 True North (WTNK 37)Creation Dream; Hills of Morning; Badlands Flashback; Northern Lights; After the Rain; Wondering Where the Lions Are; Incandescent Blue; No Footprints 37:23Humans
1980 True North (WTNK-42)Grim Travellers; Rumours of Glory; More Not More; You Get Bigger As You Go; What About the Bond; How I Spent My Fall Vacation; Guerilla Betrayed; Tokyo; Fascist Architecture; The Rose Above the Sky 43:31Inner City Front
1981 True North (TNK-47)You Pay Your Money and You Take Your Chances; The Strong One; All's Quiet on the Inner City Front; Radio Shoes; Wanna Go Walking; And We Dance; Justice; Broken Wheel; Loner 45:20The Trouble with Normal
1983 True North (WTNK-53)The Trouble with Normal; Candy Man's Gone; Hoop Dancer; Waiting for the Moon; Tropic Moon; Going up Against Chaos; Put Our Hearts Together; Civilization and Its Discontents; Planet of the Clowns 42:04Stealing Fire
1984 True North (VTNK 57)Lovers in a Dangerous Time; Maybe the Poet; Sahara Gold; Making Contact; Peggy's Kitchen Wall; To Raise the Morning Star; Nicaragua; If I Had a Rocket Launcher; Dust and Diesel 42:12World of Wonders
1985 True North (VTNK 66)Call It Democracy; Lily of the Midnight Sky; World of Wonders; Berlin Tonight; People See Through You; See How I Miss You; Santiago Dawn; Dancing in Paradise; Down Here Tonight 44:09Waiting for a Miracle: Singles 1970-1987
1987 True North (TN2K-67)CD1: Going to the Country; Musical Friends; One Day I Walk; It's Going Down Slow; Up on This Hillside; Feet Fall on the Road; Mama Just Wants to Barrelhouse All Night Long; All the Diamonds; Burn; Silver Wheels; I'm Gonna Fly Someday; Vagabondage; Free to Be; Laughter; Wondering Where the Lions Are; Tokyo; Fascist Architecture; The Trouble with Normal 65:41CD2: Rumours of Glory; The Coldest Night of the Year; Wanna Go Walking; You Pay Your Money and You Take Your Chance; Tropic Moon; Candy Man's Gone; Lovers in a Dangerous Time; If I Had a Rocket Launcher; Making Contact; Peggy's Kitchen Wall; People See Through You; Call It Democracy; See How I Miss You; Stolen Land; Waiting for a Miracle 63:28Big Circumstance
1988 True North (TNK-70)If a Tree Falls; Shipwrecked at the Stable Door; Gospel of Bondage; Don't Feel Your Touch; Tibetan Side of Town; Understanding Nothing; Where the Death Squad Lives; Radium Rain; Pangs of Love; The Gift; Anything Can Happen 61:17Live
1990 True North (TNK-73)Silver Wheels; World of Wonders; Rumours of Glory; See How I Miss You; After the Rain; Call It Democracy; Tibetan Side of Town; Wondering Where the Lions Are; Nicaragua; Broken Wheel; Stolen Land; To Raise the Morning Star; Maybe the Poet; Always Look on the Bright Side of Life 69:47Nothing but a Burning Light
1991 True North (TNK 77)A Dream like Mine; Kit Carson; Mighty Trucks of Midnight; Soul of a Man; Great Big Love; One of the Best Ones; Somebody Touched Me; Cry of a Tiny Babe; Actions Speak Louder; Indian Wars; When It's Gone, It's Gone; Child of the Wind 60:23Christmas
1993 True North (TNK 83)Adeste Fidelis; Early on One Christmas Morn; O Little Town of Bethlehem; Riu Riu Chiu; I Saw Three Ships; Down in Yon Forest; Les Anges Dans Nos Campagnes; Got Tell It on the Mountain; Shepherds; Silent Night; Iesus Ahatonnia (The Huron Carol); God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen; It Came Upon the Midnight Clear; Mary Had a Baby; Joy to the World 57:31Dart to the Heart
1994 True North (TNK 82)Listen for the Laugh; All the Ways I Want You; Bone in My Ear; Burden of the Angel/Beast; Scanning These Crowds; Southland of the Heart; Train in the Rain; Someone I Used to Love; Love Loves You Too; Sunrise on the Mississippi; Closer to the Light; Tie Me at the Crossroads 49:04The Charity of Night *
1996 True North (TNSD 0150)Night Train; Get Up Jonah; Pacing the Cage; Mistress of Storms; The Whole Night Sky; The Coming Rains; Birmingham Shadows; The Mines of Mozambique; Live on My Mind; The Charity of Night; Strange Waters 67:33