I would love to find an excellent recording of acoustic guitar. I'm looking for one that is more towards the genre of pop/rock or country than towards classical. Something upbeat would be great. I don't mind if there are vocals, but my main focus hear is on acoustic guitar. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Leo Kottke and Tony Rice come to mind immediately. Maybe the Three Pickers work by Doc Watson (guitar), Ricky Skaggs (andolin) and Earl Scruggs (banjo). Or for guitar derivative (dobro), anything by Jerry Douglas. This is more in the bluegrass or roots vein then classic country. I am thinking here of excellent music. If by excellent you mean sound quality wise,then any of the Acoustic Music recordings of David Grisman et al have great sonics and great music. More emphasis there on mandolin, but plenty of acoustic guitar as well.
For outstanding finger-style guitar playing, with a bit of celtic, blues and jazz flavoring, any of Martin Simpson's recordings are highly recommended, particularly: "Live" "Leaves of Life" "When I was on Horseback" .
You might also try Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds - Live at Luther College. It's very upbeat, and VERY well recorded! It has some vocal tracks, but also has some stunning guitar-only tracks. I like track 2 on Disc 2, called "Stream;" there's some blazingly fast picking by Tim Reynolds on it that's guaranteed to impress. Enjoy!
o Johannes Linstead - Guitarra del fuego. Spanish-like guitar, warm and well recorded.
o William Ackerman - Past Light , instrumental (early digital, very steel string and one of my all time favorites(at times mezmorizing).
o Mary Chapin Carpenter - C'mon C'mon - (the fast songs are country (I never listen to those), but the other half are songs are more folk and storyteller style, excellent recording).
Cpdunn99, I would agree with you about your comments on Ackerman. Except for his Past Light cd. Perhaps I'm biased but it is rather interesting and quite un-George Winston like. :)
Take a listen to Gordon Lightfoot's - Sundown ,he playes both 6 string and 12 string acoustic guitar, its a nice piece of pop/folk from the early 70s and one of my favorites.
"A Meeting By The River" Ry Cooder & V.M. Bhatt on Water Lily Acoustics lable. All analog, minimalist tube mic recording of some sublime music. A blend of western and eastern musical styles. Wonderful.
I suggest you click on my threads and go to my thread named "Calling all acoustic guitar fans" and you see other suggestions as well. Acoustic guitar, it dosen't get any better that this!
I agree with Leo Kottke '6 &12 String Guitar', Doc Watson and Merle Watson "Live and Pickin'" and "Doc and the Boys", Martin Simpson "Cool and Unusual" and "Friday Night at San Francisco" by McLaughlin, DiMiola and DeLucia is wonderful. "Skip, Hop and Wobble" by Russ Barenberg, Jerry Douglas,and Edgar Meyer is great for guitar, dobro and accoustic bass. I would also recommend Richard Thompson's "Celtschmerz", and accoustic live album from '98 and "Two Letter Words" especially disc two which starts with four great accoustic numbers. It is a live album from '94 that has a mix of accoustic and electric guitar. The Richard Thompson is only availble via his web site.
For Jazz I would also recommend Ralph Towner's "Ana". I solo guitar work for Classical and 12 string.
Time (the Revelator)...Gillian Welch...americana/country/blues Big Momma's Door...Alvin Youngblood Hart...blues Shine Eyed Mister Zen...Kelly Joe Phelps...blues Roll Away The Stone...Kelly Joe Phelps...blues Alone & Acoustic...Buddy Guy & Junior Wells...blues Acoustic Stories...R.L. Burnside...blues
You should try a search on "acoustic guitar" here as this question has been asked before. I'll add Rory Block (pretty much anything - When a Woman gets the Blues is great), Tim Reynolds and Dave Matthews if you like Dave - there's a great live album at a Luther College, Gillian Welch on the country side (her guitar accompaniast David Rawlings is fantastic), Patty Larkin has some great rifs on Agogo.
One guitarist I can contribute to this is one of my favorite accoustic players albeit not well known. His name is Robby Longley who's originally from New Orleans but now resides in Los Angeles.
Growing up in New Orleans, he has an interesting style that is composed of different flavors like a good gumbo, but his main influence is Flamenco. I 've seen him perform live in my local Borders Bookstore about four times. He's a super nice guy and an incredible talent. Check out his album "Sanctuary" which features more acoustic compositions than his album Danza Mora. I like em both!
Oh Oh, I forgot, How about Bruce Cockburn! Anyone with me here? If you're not familiar with him,"Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws" is a good start. His recordings are squeaky clean and he knows his way around a guitar.
Doc Watson, Tony Rice, Bruce Cockburn, Leo Kottke,Phil Keagy, Alison Krouse,Pat Methany.All but Allison and Bruce have all guitar albums.Also like Ralph Towner, as well. Nothing new here, but wanted to vote anyhow.
Larry Coryell's acoustic LPs are some of my favorites; his 1st duet with Phillip Catherine, "Twin House" on Elektra is not very hard to find and one of the most inventive and virtuosic acoustic guitar records I know. "Standing Ovation" is another excellent solo acoustic LP. He has a live at Montreaux Jazz Fest I think called "European Impressions" that's also quite excellent.
Bert Jansch and John Renbourne, the original guitarists for the UK band Pentangle have a great duet LP and loads of fantastic solo LPs.
Their mentor and one of the finest guitarists ever was Davey (sometimes spelled as "Davy") Graham. His "Complete Guitarist" LP for Kicking Mule is astounding solo acoustic. UK pressings of Kicking Mule always sound noticably better.
Check out Tommy Emmananuel an Australian guitarist. He is predominantly an acuostic player (amazing solo musician) but has also ventured into electric material so be careful which cd you get. He can sometimes lean towards a country feel but if its top shelf acoustic guitar you are after they dont come any better than this.
I'll suggest Atlanta Rhythm Section's "Partly Plugged", another recording that is quite well recorded and brings back great memories. ARS's unplugged compilation commemorated their 25th anniversary. Barry Baily's acoustic lead guitar work is fluid and dead on in the acoustic arrangements of their hits.
Dem,i lived in atl. 78,79, lived 2 blocks from the bass player from ARS,saw them live a few times,great band!barry baily is excellent!!! def. underrated,,im going to have to look for "partly unplugged" should bring back some good memories,back then i was a 17 yr old starving musician with more hair than brains lol,, i have a dvd a called "the bluegrass sessions" tales from the acoustic planet vol 2,,,bela fleck,jerry douglas,tony rice,vassar clements,earl scruggs and a few more great musicians.exc.music and recording!
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