Sixty Six Steps is the second studio album from Leo Kottke and Mike Gordon. It was released on August 23, 2005.

History

Although the album was recorded in just a few months, it has been an idea in Gordon's mind for decades. Since Gordon went on a trip to the Bahamas with his family in his childhood, he has always been fascinated with the calypso band, The Mustangs. “Ya Mar,” one of the songs Gordon heard on the trip, eventually became a staple of Phish’s live shows.

Most of the songs were written and arranged in Costa Rica and were then recorded in Nassau, Bahamas.

Percussionist Neil Symonette is also featured playing a multitude of percussion including caxixi, goats' hooves, talking drums, tire hub, djembe, thrasher, fish shakers, and uda drums.

The album also features a number of cover songs, ranging from Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well" to Pete Seeger's "Living in the Country."

Reception

Writing for AllMusic, critic Hal Horowitz called the album "breezy" and singled out the musicianship over the songwriting and singing. "The musicians work wonderfully together, with Gordon's meaty yet malleable bass grounding and darting around Kottke's distinctive and agile fingerpicked lines," said Horowitz.

Andrew Kotick of Sputnikmusic compared the release to Clone and concluded "The results were in vain of the record's predecessor... The music is exactly what you would describe as a soundtrack to a Hawaiian honeymoon. It is as if the two took the music from Clone and put in a key change with different lyrics. This doesn't mean it's bad to any extent, but I would've enjoyed some originality."

The album was awarded "Studio Album of the Year" at the 2006 Jammy Awards.

Track listing

  1. "Living In The Country" <small>(Pete Seeger)</small> – 3:51
  2. "The Grid" <small>(Gordon)</small> – 3:17
  3. "Oh Well" <small>(Peter Green)</small> – 3:22
  4. "Rings' <small>(Alex Harvey, Eddie Reeves)</small> – 4:30
  5. "Cherry County" <small>(Kottke)</small> – 2:30
  6. "Sweet Emotion" <small>(Tom Hamilton, Steven Tyler)</small> – 5:32
  7. "The Stolen Quiet" <small>(Gordon)</small> – 3:06
  8. "Balloon" <small>(Kottke)</small> – 3:26
  9. "Over The Dam" <small>(Gordon, Linitz)</small> – 3:40
  10. "Can't Hang" <small>(Gordon)</small> – 1:54
  11. "From Spink to Correctionville" <small>(Kottke)</small> – 2:28
  12. "Ya Mar" <small>(Cyril Ferguson)</small> – 5:01
  13. "Twice" <small>(Kottke)</small> – 4:10
  14. "Invisible" <small>(Gordon, Linitz)</small> – 4:01

Personnel

  • Leo Kottke – guitar, vocals
  • Mike Gordon – bass, guitar, vocals
  • Neil Symonette – drums, percussion

References

  • Mike hyphen Gordon's official site
  • Leo Kottke's official site
  • "Kottke and Gordon: Calypso-Brushed Guitars" (interview and performance) by David Dye, from NPR's World Cafe November 24, 2005
  • The Music Player interview by Anil Prasad