Bruce Cockburn Debuts…AGAIN!

Bruce Cockburn‘s lofty and insightful poetry helped jumpstart his career in the early 70’s. Now, thanks to Rounder Records, three of his earliest recordings have been reissued on CD. The best of these was Highwinds White Sky. Along with his well known song of homecoming, One Day I’ll Walk, are a dozen moments of introspection, including the touching Love Song. He offers a compliment that any lover would be honored to receive: “…in my place of wonder, that’s where I find you.” Other notable songs are Golden Serpent Blues, which features Cockburn on the piano, though he is not credited for playing it. Another is the bonus song It’s an Elephant’s World, which is his earliest known recording. Taped on to a cassette at The Bitter Grounds Coffee House in Kingston, Ontario in 1970, it’s not perfect, but it is classic. In this song, and in one other from this session, we get a hint of what was to come from Cockburn the humanist, and more importantly, from Cockburn the activist. I don’t think it’s a stretch to recommend Highwinds White Sky as a must have.