Bob Livingston
Mahatma Gandhi & Sitting Bull (Vireo)In the course of more than 30 years, Lost Gonzo Band founder/cosmic cowboy icon Bob Livingston has gone from playing country & western music to country & eastern music. Mahatma Gandhi & Sitting Bull is just as the title suggests: the crossroads where sitar meets guitar. It’s not the most unfamiliar of sounds; the brief “Prelude” and 30-second “A Slight Breath” recall Loreena McKennitt’s exotic flavoring, but the resemblance ends there. Livingston’s always been a songwriter of the first order, and the crafting of the album title cut, “Original Spirit,” and “The Prophet Said” bears that out. His versatility with ballads (“Love Cannot Be Broken,” “Raining for So Long”), swing (“Take Advantage of Your Chances”), reggae (“Wilderness Song”), and rock (“When the Beat Was Young”) is disarming. And while “Cowboys & Indians Return” labors, “On a Dream With You” pairs Livingston’s gentle tenor with the silky-voiced Eliza Gilkyson for a languorous duet that’s already receiving well-deserved airplay. If the guitars-and-sitars concept sounds gimmicky, it’s not. Livingston regularly performs with musicians from Texas and India in an act that celebrates the similarities and differences between Eastern and Western music and culture. It’s not instant karma, but he’s got a master’s way with words and music. Bob Livingston, still cosmic after all these years.
This article appears in May 2 • 2003.