BRUCE COCKBURN : GREATEST HITS (1970-2020)

BRUCE COCKBURN : GREATEST HITS (1970-2020)

Disc One (63:20)

Going to the Country
Musical Friends
One Day I Walk
Mama Just Wants to Barrelhouse All Night Long (with Kathryn Moses)
All the Diamonds In The World
Silver Wheels
Wondering Where the Lions Are
Tokyo
Rumours of Glory
The Coldest Night of the Year
Wanna Go Walking
The Trouble with Normal
Lovers in a Dangerous Time
If I Had a Rocket Launcher
Call It Democracy
People See Through You

Disc Two (65:41)

Waiting for a Miracle
Stolen Land
If a Tree Falls
A Dream Like Mine
Listen for a Laugh
Night Train
Pacing the Cage
Last Night of the World
Anything Anytime Anywhere
Open
Put It in Your Heart
Different When It Comes to You
Call Me Rose
States I'm In

Label : True North

Release Date : December 3, 2021

Review (Americana-UK) : When a "career spanning retrospective" is announced closer inspection often finds it to be that artist's time with a particular record company so experiencing the true evolution of their work over the decades is hard. With Bruce Cockburn's new best-of set it truly spans his work from 1970 right up to 'Bone On Bone' in 2017. Picking thirty songs from 34 studio albums must have been a task, and with the breadth of styles and the speed with which his writing and performing matured in the first half of the 70s there must have been many lists and a lot of crossing out. Mostly chronological, the one misstep in programming was putting the 1987 live version of 'Mama Just Wants To Barrelhouse All Night Long' in place of the 1970s studio track. While it's a great version the more recent production jars against the material actually recorded in 1974. It would have been better placed in with its 80's peers. By 1976 and 'Silver Wheels' a Flugelhorn part influenced by Hugh Masekela or Fredie Hubbard signals the onset of bigger arrangements, but no change in the quality of the material. Selecting individual songs to highlight is difficult as favourites shift with every listen. 'Going To The Country,' 'Wondering Where The Lions Are' and 'Last Night of the World' are good places to start though. The booklet gives a run down of the performers on each song, and a brief sentence from Cockburn to illuminate the title and subject. The slightly unfortunate cover makes him look for all the world like Victor Meldrew though, and surely there was a better title to be found? AUK reviewed a set of reissues by Reg Meuross back the beginning of the year and in many ways he and Cockburn are similar in following social and political commentary, and in Cockburn's case a Christian conviction, through the shifts in musical styles. They are also well known and respected in their own parts of the jungle but have been less recognised than they should have been by the wider musical world. At least the Canadian artist wins JUNO awards, has Hall of Fame inductions, honorary Doctorates, and the recognition of being an Officer of The Order of Canada. Perhaps Britain could learn a thing or two there. One of the purposes of a set like this is to tease the listener with the riches to be found elsewhere in an artist's back catalogue. For Cockburn this has worked extremely well as wanting to hear how 'Mama Just Wants to Barrelhouse All Night Long' was interpreted in 1974 and what was on the albums passed over for inclusion has sent me off for several purchases. His memoir 'Rumours of Glory' is also well worth a read to understand the source of his lyrics. 2021 has been a great year for new music but also for the quality of thought that has gone into compiling retrospectives, and this is one of the best.

Review (Americana Highways) : Out Dec. 3 on True North Records, legendary Canadian singer songwriter Bruce Cockburn's Greatest Hits is a masterpiece 2-CD collection of 30 songs spanning his 50-year career. The release coincides with the singer's induction into Canada's Walk of Fame on December 4, and his "2nd Attempt" North American tour for his 50th anniversary, which was postponed in 2020 due to Covid. Cockburn selected the songs himself from over his 50 years of record releases. The songs are arranged in chronological order, and the result is a double length album of shimmering talent. The songs in this collection take listeners on a chronological tour of Cockburn's long and diverse musical career and showcase his range of musical styles-from folk to blues, gospel, jazz and funk, to reggae, pop, and rock. The collection kicks off with the lovely iconic folk song "Going to the Country," one of the singer songwriter's first, and his first hit, off his debut album in 1970. The next song, "One Day I Walk," has undertones of gospel. Then, he slides into the bluesy "Mama Just Wants to BarrelHouse All Night Long," followed by reggae-tinged, "Rumors of Glory," and the moody jazz number "Silver Wheels." Included are several of Cockburn's biggest hits, "Wondering Where the Lions Are," named the 29th greatest Canadian song of all time, and the pop hit, "If I Had a Rocket Launcher," written about his reaction to a Guatemalan refugee camp he visited that was shelled by government helicopters. You can't talk about Cockburn's songs without mentioning his activism as they are often one and the same. He is well known for his outspoken commitment to the environment and human rights, illustrated by his songs "They Call it Democracy," "If a Tree Falls," and "Stolen Land." Whether you have been listening to Cockburn for years, or you are a newer listener, you'll love this collection with its diverse songs spanning the first half century of this legendary musician's career.

Review (Folking.com) : With a man like Bruce Cockburn the title Greatest Hits has a certain tongue-in-cheek vibe. Not for him the glamour of the pop charts but there are so many songs that have stood the test of time, songs that fans always hope to hear in a live set. Many of them are included here but Bruce had a hand in the selection so we must imagine that these are some of his favourites, too. The thirty track double-CD set is arranged chronologically, which is always my preference as it tells the story in the logical way. So we begin with the joyful, acoustic 'Going To The Country' - just Bruce and guitar - and that's followed by a switch to piano for 'Musical Friends'. Bruce has almost set his stall out but he adds slide guitar for the country-inspired 'One Day I Walk'. When I say "chronologically", I mean in terms of writing, so 'Mama Just Wants To Barrelhouse All Night Long' seems out of its time here. It was recorded for his fourth album but this version, with extra musicians, comes from more than a decade later. Bruce Cockburn can be confusing sometimes. As he used more and more musicians and more involved arrangements we come to what I always think of as Cockburn's golden period. When I visited Petroglyph Park I had lines from 'Wondering Where The Lions Are' in my head. It may be remixing or remastering but songs like 'Tokyo', 'Rumours Of Glory' and 'The Coldest Night Of The Year' sound really fresh. Now we're really into the classics: 'The Trouble With Normal', 'Lovers In A Dangerous Time', 'If I Had A Rocket Launcher' (my all-time favourite) and 'Call It Democracy' The second disc finds us in the late 1980s with three more important songs: 'Waiting For A Miracle', 'Stolen Land' and 'If A Tree Falls'. It struck me, listening to these songs, that Cockburn knew the importance of the music in getting his words listened to and he singles out Hugh Marsh for a special mention as composer of 'Stolen Land'. That said, I thought that he went a bit too commercial as he moved into the 1990s but I kept buying. Listening to these remasters, each one taken out of the context of their original albums, I feel that I should perhaps return to them although some still sound rather too brash to my ears - they were the sound of their time, I suppose, and he pares the accompaniment back for 'Pacing The Cage'. Then again, the chunky arrangement of 'Last Night Of The World' and the languid swing of 'Anything Anytime Anywhere' are just perfect - you just have to go wherever he takes you, sometimes. The millennium arrives with two songs from You've Never Seen Everything: 'Open' and 'Put It In Your Heart', both decorated by Marsh's violin and both doing more with less. 'Different When It Comes To You' is from my favourite of his later albums but it's topped by 'Call Me Rose'. It is impossible to summarise fifty years and thirty-four albums with a double-CD and the best anyone can do is fashion an entertaining set that guides listeners to the originals. In that the producers, including Bruce himself, have succeeded admirably. Everyone will have a song that they would like to have included. Mine is 'Peggy's Kitchen Wall' - I'll just have to dig out Stealing Fire.

Review (Rocking MagPie) : Living in the UK, as I do I wasn't aware of Canadian Legend, Bruce Cockburn for 45 or more years of this magnificent retrospective; which is probably why I've become besotted with this album over the last week. While Cockburn's voice is instantly recognisable; each and every one of these tracks are inherently different and document how the singer and songwriter has not just evolved over that half century but experimented and seamlessly switched genres with ease as the years have gone by too. The package starts with Going to the Country from his 1970 debut album; and beautifully charts a trip from Ottawa to Montreal in a sparkling solo acoustic style; and is followed by Musical Friends where Cockburn takes on the role of a full on band on a song that sounds very 'New York' to me. Two very different songs from the same album set the scene for what is to follow, with Cockburn; unlike many of his contempories; resting on his laurels constantly repeating himself. For me; and I suppose many who receive this Double Album as a Christmas present; there are surprises around every corner; not just with the songs but the accompanying photographs which seem to chart Bruce metamorphizing from his Elton John period via John Lennon until he becomes the handsome theologian we now know him as. Obviously with thirty songs representing half a century of songwriting; everyone will like different periods; but quite a few songs have really caught my attention; especially the dark Bluesy duet with Kathryn Moses, Mama Just Wants to Barrelhouse All Night Long, the dreamy Wondering Where the Lions Are and the horribly imaginative If I Had a Rocket Launcher which should have been 'of its time'; but is sadly still relevant about so many conflicts around the world in 2021! As the first album unrolls and the second disc begins; we find Cockburn dabbling in 80's and 90's AOR but doing it in such a way People See Right Through You Waiting For a Miracle and, of course A Dream Like Mine, still sound fresh today. Obviously not everyone Bruce Cockburn shared a stage or studio with 50 years ago are still on the scene never mind pertinent today, as he himself is .. but latter day songs like Listen For a Laugh, Open and the finale States I'm In could only have been written and performed by someone who has had a life well lived and is comfortable in his own skin. With so many delights to choose from it's not been easy selecting a single Favourite Song .. do I go for the prescient Coldest Night of the Year? Any of the wryly observed Political opus's, Call It Democracy, Stolen Land or If a Tree Falls? Cockburn can really dig deep to write a love song too; so the melancholic shuffle Anything, Anytime, Anywhere has to be in the running as does All The Diamonds in the World from way back when in 1973; but a song from Cockburn's Electro-AOR period in 1981 has stood the test of time; and somehow sounds like a soundtrack to the 21st Century .. The Trouble With Normal when played very loud is far and away the biggest surprise here for me; and therefore my Favourite Song. Even though I have Bruce Cockburn's last three releases; this retrospective has been illuminating from start to finish and really and truly showcases a Mastercraftsman at work over 50 marvellous and interesting years.

Review (The Alternate Root) : There have been other Bruce Cockburn compilations over the years, but Greatest Hits 1970 - 2020 - which arrived December 2021 on True North Records - is the definitive anthology thus far. In his native Canada, Bruce Cockburn is considered a singer-songwriter of the highest caliber; his 50-plus year career has seen him score not only hits but also JUNO Awards galore, several honorary doctorates and (as of this weekend) an induction into Canada's Walk of Fame. But here in America, he has always been something of a cult artist. In 1979, he did have a moderate Stateside hit with the infectiously existential song "Wondering Where the Lions Are" and its accompanying album (Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws). His 1983 album, Stealing Fire, also did reasonably well here, producing two popular tracks in "If I Had a Rocket Launcher" and "Lover in A Dangerous Time". [As a side note, the latter song's couplet 'got to kick the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight' was quoted by no less a rock and roll poet than Bono in U2's "God Part 2."] Somehow, though, mainstream success ultimately eluded Cockburn here. In one sense, maybe that was for the best as it's freed him up to embark on the path of a true artist - pursuing a singular vision without being beholden to the star-maker machinery (to quote another great Canadian songwriter!). Greatest Hits 1950 - 2020, then, is probably going to be bought mainly by people who are already familiar with Bruce Cockburn. In that sense, it's an example of preaching to the choir. But it's an intelligent choir and this is some damn good preaching! Greatest Hits 1970 - 2020 gathers 30 tracks over two discs and is arranged chronologically. Bruce Cockburn co-produced the collection with his longtime business partner Bernie Finkelstein and Colin Linden, and he has included commentary about each of the songs. It's no small task to distill a discography as long as Cockburn's onto two CDs, but they've done a pretty masterful job of it. The first disc is especially good. Its songs - stretching from the late '60s to the mid '80s - are disparate both musically and in terms of subject matter. Cockburn has always mixed sociopolitical fare with love songs and personal musings - and you'll find plenty of both here. The former include "Stolen Land", about the plight of the Haida, one of Canada's indigenous populations; "Put It in Your Heart", which was written in the aftermath of 9/11; and the aforementioned "Rocket Launcher", an impassioned song based on the singer's own visit to Guatemalan refugee camps in the 1980s. For those who prefer Bruce Cockburn at his more personal and poetic there are "Last Night of the World", "Silver Wheels", "Wanna Go Walking", and the wonderful "The Coldest Night of the Year" (among others). All in all, Greatest Hits 1970 - 2020, is an excellent sampler of a distinct artist who doesn't deserve his American anonymity.