Bruce Cockburn

Bruce Cockburn is a Canadian folk / rock guitarist and singer-songwriter. His most recent album was released in March 2011, and his musical career spans over 40 years. He has written songs in styles ranging from folk to jazz-influenced rock to rock and roll.

He attended Berklee School of Music in Boston for three semesters in the mid-1960s. In 1966, he joined an Ottawa band called The Children, which lasted for about a year. In the spring of 1967 he joined the final lineup of The Esquires. He moved to Toronto to form The Flying Circus with former Bobby Kris & The Imperials members Marty Fisher and Gordon MacBain and ex-Tripp member Neil Lillie. The group recorded some material in late 1967 before changing its name to Olivus in the spring of 1968. Olivus opened for The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream in April 1968. That summer Cockburn broke up the band with the intention of going solo, but he ended up in the band 3's a Crowd with David Wiffen, Colleen Peterson, and Richard Patterson, who had played with him in The Children. Cockburn left this band in the spring of 1969 to pursue a solo career.

Cockburn's first solo appearance was at the Mariposa Folk Festival in 1967, and in 1969 he was a headliner. In 1970 he released his self-titled, first solo album. His early work featured rural and nautical imagery and Biblical metaphors.

While Cockburn had been popular in Canada for years, he did not have a big impact in the United States until 1979, with the release of the album Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws. "Wondering Where the Lions Are", the first single from that album, reached No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US in June 1980, and earned Cockburn an appearance on NBC's hit TV show Saturday Night Live.

Through the 1980s Cockburn's songwriting became first more urban, more global and then more political; he became heavily involved with progressive causes. His growing political concerns were first hinted at on three albums: Humans, Inner City Front and The Trouble with Normal. These concerns became more evident in 1984, with Cockburn's second US radio hit, "If I Had a Rocket Launcher" (No. 88 in the US) from the Stealing Fire album. He had written the song a year earlier, following a visit to Guatemalan refugee camps in Mexico that were attacked before and after his visit by Guatemalan military helicopters. His political activism continues to the present. Cockburn has travelled to many countries (such as Mozambique and Iraq), played many benefit concerts, and written many songs on a variety of political subjects ranging from the International Monetary Fund to land mines. His internationalist bent is reflected in the many world music influences in his music, including reggae and Latin music. In 1991 Intrepid Records released Kick at the Darkness, a tribute album to Cockburn whose title comes from a phrase in his song "Lovers in a Dangerous Time". It features the Barenaked Ladies' cover of that song, which became their first Top 40 hit and was an element in their early success. This lyric was also referenced byU2 in their song "God Part II" from their album Rattle and Hum.

In the early 1990s, Cockburn teamed with T-Bone Burnett for two albums, Nothing but a Burning Light and Dart to the Heart. The latter included a song, "Closer to the Light", inspired by the death of songwriter Mark Heard, who was a close friend of Cockburn and Burnett. Cockburn frequently refers to Heard as his favourite songwriter and was one of many artists who paid tribute to Heard on an album and video titled Strong Hand of Love. On the album Cockburn performs the title song.

In 1998 Cockburn travelled with filmmaker Robert Lang to Mali, West Africa, where he jammed with Grammy Award-winning blues musician Ali Farka Toure andkora master Toumani Diabate. The month-long journey was documented in the one-hour film River of Sand, which won the Regard Canadien award for best documentary at the Vues d'Afrique Film Festival in Montreal.

Some of Cockburn's previously published material had been collected in several albums: Resume, Mummy Dust, and Waiting for a Miracle. His first greatest hitscollection was Anything Anytime Anywhere: Singles 1979–2002, released in 2002.

In January 2003 Cockburn finished recording his 21st album, You've Never Seen Everything, which features contributions from Emmylou Harris, Jackson Browne,Sam Phillips, Sarah Harmer, Hugh Marsh, Jonell Mosser, Larry Taylor and Steven Hodges. (Taylor and Hodges, formerly of Canned Heat who performed atMonterey and Woodstock in the 1960s, may be known best for their work with Tom Waits).

Cockburn performed a set at the Live 8 concert in Barrie, Ontario, on July 2, 2005. Speechless, an instrumental compilation of both new and previously released material, was released on October 24, 2005. His 22nd album, Life Short Call Now, was released on July 18, 2006.

Canadian senator and retired general Roméo Dallaire, who is active in humanitarian fundraising and promoting awareness, appeared on stage at the University of Victoria with Cockburn. The October 4, 2008, concert was held to aid the plight of child soldiers.

In 2009 Cockburn travelled to Afghanistan to visit his brother, Capt. John Cockburn, and to play a concert for Canadian troops. He performed his 1984 song "If I Had a Rocket Launcher" and was temporarily awarded an actual rocket launcher by the military. Cockburn has stated that, while unsure of the original Invasion of Afghanistan, he supported Canada's role there.

Cockburn released his studio album Small Source of Comfort in 2011. "Lois on the Autobahn", a cheerful and experiential instrumental recalling "Rouler sa bosse" from Salt, Sun and Time is a tribute to Cockburn's mother, Lois, who succumbed to cancer in 2010.

A documentary film, Bruce Cockburn Pacing the Cage, was released in 2013 on television and a brief theatrical showing; directed by Joel Goldberg, gave a rare look into Cockburn's music, life and politics.

Cockburn wrote and performed the theme song for the children's television series Franklin. He composed and performed, with Hugh Marsh, the music for theNational Film Board of Canada documentary feature Waterwalker (1984), directed by Bill Mason. He also composed two songs for the classic English-Canadian filmGoin' Down the Road (1970), directed by Donald Shebib.

In 1998 Cockburn's song "Lord of the Starfields" was featured in the Italian movie Radiofreccia, directed by Italian singer/songwriter Luciano Ligabue.

In 2007 Cockburn's music was featured in the movie adaptation of Irvine Welsh's best-selling novel Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance.

Cockburn has had his songs covered by artists such as Barenaked Ladies ("Lovers in a Dangerous Time"), Judy Collins ("Pacing The Cage"), Jimmy Buffett ("Pacing the Cage", "Anything Anytime Anywhere", "All the Ways I Want You", "Wondering Where the Lions Are" (in the movie Hoot), Michael Hedges ("Wondering Where the Lions Are"), Lori Cullen ("Fall"), Anne Murray ("One Day I Walk", "Musical Friends"), Dianne Heatherington and Ani DiFranco ("Mama Just Wants to Barrelhouse All Night Long"), The Rankin Family ("One Day I Walk"), Dan Fogelberg ("Lovers in a Dangerous Time"), Donavon Frankenreiter ("Wondering Where the Lions Are"), Vigilantes of Love ("Wondering Where the Lions Are"), Tom Rush ("One Day I Walk'), George Hamilton IV ("Together Alone"), the Jerry Garcia Band("Waiting for a Miracle"), Holly Near ("To Raise the Morning Star"), and k.d. lang ("One Day I Walk"). In addition, fellow Canadian singer-songwriter Steve Bellrecorded an entire album of Bruce Cockburn songs titled My Dinner With Bruce, and jazz guitarist Michael Occhipinti released an album containing jazz arrangements of Cockburn's songs.[15]

Music Videos

 * Put it in your heart
 * Open
 * My beat
 * When you give it away
 * Last night of the world
 * Night train
 * Listen for the laugh
 * Great big love
 * If I had a rocket launcher