BRUCE COCKBURN: Nothing But A Burning Light. [T-Bone Burnett (producer); Pat McCarthy (engineer)] CBS CK47983. CD. (AAD).

by Siegfried P. Duray-Bito

        Our neighbors in Canada are on a rampage.  First, Joni Mitchell comes in from the cold in Night Ride Home, her most accessible release in years.  Fellow Canadian Neil Young dares to speak about the evils of digital recording in several published interviews around the world.  Now, with the release of Nothing But a Burning Light, singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn offers us one of his best works.

      While Mitchell and Young are better known, Cockburn's (pronounced koburn) musical career extends back to the early Seventies.  He, too, began as a folksinger, gradually expanding and electrifying his sound.  Unlike his Canadian cousins, though, Cockburn adopted extreme political views that have, in the past, restricted him to the college campus circuit.

      Cockburn's political message rode the wave of anti-imperialist sentiment popularized by campus groups during the Vietnam war.  Arguably, his most popular song "If I Had a Rocket Launcher" resulted from his experience in Nicaragua during the height of its civil war in the mid-Eighties.  His travels there, to include driving supply trucks to the rebels, have branded him as an artist/activist in the Jane Fonda mold.

      This would seem to be the profile of a typical rock poseur were it not for Cockburn's tremendous songwriting craft.  His uncanny ability to fuse piercing diatribes with warm, melodic pop songs is absolutely unique in the music world.  If you don't listen to the lyrics, his songs could be about the same love relationships and other warm fuzzies that other pop stars peddle.

      To illustrate, "If I Had a Rocket Launcher" is a reggae-tinged blues that begins with tinkling synthesizer bells to simulate the chop-chop sound of a helicopter.  Cockburn builds tension with "here comes the helicopter - second time today / everybody scatters and hopes it goes away/ how many kids they've murdered only God can say."  He then breaks into a chorus driven by tom-tom fills - "if I had a rocket launcher . . .  I'd make somebody pay" - with a lilting, dance-groove feel that ranks with the best of pop hook motifs.

      Other great pop compositions are featured in such Cockburn classics as "Lovers in a Dangerous Time," "Making Contact" and "Wondering Where the Lions Are."  Setting the stage with the conflict and turmoil in today's world, Cockburn relates to the intimacy of personal experience and evokes a sense of hope and resolution.  The scenes may be full of despair and discontent, but Cockburn's musical and vocal stylings leave you rejuvenated and refreshed.

      Now that most of Cockburn's left-leaning causes have evaporated with the demise of the Soviet Union, the corporate powers that be have finally seen it fit to release some of his most caustic back-catalog on CD.  His anti-capitalistic, anti-imperialist sentiment is now charmingly viewed as a "voice of conscience" and Nothing But a Burning Light has received generous accolades by all politically-correct media agents.

      The CD reissues consist of Cockburn's best-known releases, from the early acoustic High Winds White Sky from 1971, through Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws, Humans, Inner City Front, The Trouble With Normal, Stealing Fire, World of Wonders to 1988's Big Circumstance.  Like most other digital remasters, Columbia's effort brings forth ninety-five percent of the LP's sound, omitting delicacies in inflection and general dimensionality.  The CD reissues are great for throwing in the player and cleaning the house, but for serious late-night music listening, the LPs are still tops.

      Take the largely acoustic High Winds White Sky.  While the acoustic guitar on the opening track "Happy Good Morning Blues" is uncommonly warm and rounded for a CD, the LP reveals the plucking of the strings with greater clarity.  Further into the song, Cockburn vocalizes a mock flugelhorn.  On CD, you must cock your head and think about what you're hearing before you realize that Cockburn's vocalizing.  On LP, the sonority of the mouth cavity and sense of air escaping from his mouth immediately reveal the true source of the sound.

      For Cockburn fans who've given up on LP, the new CD reissues are definitely worth picking up.  The Columbia team wisely refrained from mixing up song sequence or twiddling "sonic enhancement" knobs.  This collection of reissues is a timely complement to Nothing But a Burning Light, Cockburn's first release in four years.  Venturing to Los Angeles for his first recording outside Canada,  Cockburn teamed up with T-Bone Burnett and an inspired cast of musicians to craft a graceful path between songs of love and protest.  Those turned off in the past by Cockburn's rapid-fire diatribes against the ills of humanity will hear a kinder, gentler version of the man.

      The opener, "A Dream Like Mine," sets the stage as an upbeat dance tune and hints at the dynamic sparseness of the album.  Cockburn's past tendency to drift off into complex textures is held in check by a tight rhythm arrangement, highlighted by the master of understatement, Booker T. Jones.  Jones' light organ fills and riffs counter the melodic line perfectly and a case could be made that it is his contribution that raises this album above merely good.

      Don't short-change Cockburn, though, for on the very next cut, "Kit Carson," he sings with a strong authority.  The piece owes allegiance to Ry Cooder's neo-Western arrangements while keeping the drama of Cockburn's classic protest anthems.  To top it all off, the sound is warm, yet dynamic - that perfect blend that CD's rarely reach.

      Moving through Nothing But a Burning Light reveals more gems: a gritty cover of Blind Lemon Jefferson's "Soul of a Man" (check out Cockburn's guitar fills here), a classic ballad in "One of the Best Ones" and the Fleetwood Mac-ish "Great Big Love."  Though he fills the album out with a couple of instrumentals, they don't impede the stylish flow of songs.

      Cockburn even tones down the overtly political songs quite a bit.  Clearly, on "Kit Carson" and "Indian Wars" (joined by Jackson Browne) the theme is the plight of the American Indian.  Yet, in today's Dances With Wolves atmosphere, he seems more at ease than when he was worrying about the Sandinistas.  Is this another case of a rebel mellowing with age?

      The overall impact of this album is definitely enhanced by the fine sonics.  By now we've learned that digital fares better with simple arrangements and the production values of Nothing But a Burning Light fit very nicely.  One gets a fine sense of instrumental and vocal presence.  At times, especially on the more stylized pieces (read: airplay candidates), Cockburn's voice is slightly steely and there's the usual lack of definition in the bass.  On balance, even die-hard analog fanatics can enjoy the music here.

      Those still struggling to pronounce his name correctly should spend a few dollars and hours getting to know one of the better singer/songwriters of our generation.  Don't let Cockburn's political viewpoints hinder the honesty and perceptiveness of his music.  He offers a rich repertoire of great pop songs often wrapped in reference-quality sound.