Looking for an acoustic guitar recording..


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.
s7horton
Steve Hackett - 'Bay Of Kings', 'Sketches Of Satie'

Liona Boyd - 'Persona', and many classical, new age cds
Raytheprinter, I'll look for the "bluegrass sessions"...looks like a great compilation, but I hope it was also released on CD. You must have some great memories from the 70's of ARS.
Great thread. Any recording by Tony Rice as well as David Grisman.Gotta have Leo Kottke in the collection. I can't forget about John Prine either.
Don Ross has an amazing 96/24 that he did to showcase some speakers { Huron Street}for a Speaker company. I think you will find any of his stuff to be amazing. The top three in my opinion are Huron Street, This dragon wont sleep here anymore and "Leather Loaded moonroof"
A couple of great jazz guitar selections:

Joe Pass, Viruoso (XRCD 20-Bit remastering) - fantastic recording - beautiful music.

Marc Ducret, Detail (this one's more of an improv performance so don't go for it if you aren't into it...the recording is stellar!)

Marco
Tenacious D. This is actor Jack Black's group, but the guitar playing and the vocals are quite good. Some of the tracks are full rock band, but most are acoustic based.

There are many "in between" tracks of just talking, but it's pretty funny if crude (Think, The Man Show). It's pretty "adult," though, so if you have children, you might want to go with headphones.

Admittedly, it's not for everyone, but I put it under the guilty pleasure category.

Have fun!

John
-Dave and Tim "Live at Luther"
-Dispatch "Gut the Van"
-Bela Fleck and the flecktones(the banjo is the main focus of this one)
-Elliott Smith is also pretty decent
If you're in to more rock-oriented stuff, you might try J Mascis' "Martin & Me." He's typically a loud heavily-distorted indie rocker, but that album is just him and an acoustic guitar, live. You might want to listen to some samples on cdnow.com before you buy though. He's got a croaky voice...definitly not for everyone.
i love doc watson, especially on recordings when you get some verbal interaction between cuts. the first "will the circle be unbroken" comes to mind. sounds like such a cool guy.
Some "seconds" and some new ones. Seconds for Hot Tuna, Jerry Garcia & David Grisman (together), and Friday Night in San Fran. NEW - Jonas Hellborg, Bill Frisell. Hellborg plays bass, but he has a couple all-acoustic albums (with guitar and drums) that are incredible. Look for Octave of the Holy Innocents, and Zenhouse. Octave features Michael Shrieve (of Santana fame) and Buckethead (from Praxis, GnR for five minutes, and now with Les Claypool). Bill Frisell is a jazz guitarist who is amazingly versatile. Try Nashville and Ghost Town for acoustics. Also recommended - Good Dog, Happy Man. Hope this helps, & Enjoy!
Check out The Pentangle. It's a quintet from the 70s led by John Renbourn and Bert Jansch both incredible acoustic players. It includes a great female vocalist (Jacqui McShee), stand up bass,and drummer.
I suggest starting with "Sweet Child" - it's a double cd, part live recording. "Cruel Sister" is also good. "Basket of Light" too. The recordings are all excellent.
Jesse Cook, Marc Antoine, Peter White, and Adrian Legg. Most of this is Nylon String stuff. For steel try Kitaro Oshio.
These are mostly bluegrass/jazz/folk type stuff, but all excellent:

1)Anything by Jerry Douglas, but esp. "Slide Rule"
2)Anything by Jack Williams - "Eternity and Main" and "Winterline" are his best, IMO. Folk player, incredible picker
3)I second Tommy Emmanuel - try "The Day the Fingerpickers Took Over the World" This is with Chet Atkins
4)Anything by or with Doc Watson
5)David Grisman - "The David Grisman Quintet"

Z
Awsome thread guys yallhave hit on one of my favorite styles. And my I make a second motion for Clapton Unplugged.
I play and listen to mostly acoustic fingerstyle music. I also own a high end acoustic guitar shop.
I have attached a link to a great resource for acoustic music.

www.acousticmusicresource.com

I have no affiliation with them.

Mike
Tony Rice - "Unit of Measure"
Doc Watson & David Grisman - "Doc & Dawg"
Bryan Sutton - "Ready to Go"
David Grier - "Lone Soldier"

I'll put these four guitarists up against anybody.

Enjoy!
Cruz123, thanks the Bryan Sutton is excellent. looking forward to David Grier. these threads are what it's all about...thank you everyone!
I second the Don Ross, particularly 'Huron Street'. Stellar performance and very good recording. This belongs in any finger picker lovers collection.
Pehare,

You are the first person I've run into within these forums that knows who Jack Williams is. Really happy there is another fan here! I've been a big Jack fan for years now, I've probably seen him a dozen times live. He's an amazing player.

Cheers,
Z
here are some guitarist i think are the best.bill mize-coustin,adrian legg on electric guitar emmylou harris, with daniel lanois on electric guitar, lanois also played on u2 joshua tree,m, john hammond-new morning dvd,, dylan unplugged dvd with great sound quality,bert jansch, dan crary,bill frisell-with dave holland and elvin jones (frisell has much good music, electric guitar),esteban-enter the heart,michael hedges-oracle,nils lofgren-acoustic live (great cd),satriani(electric), who-royal albert hall (dvd thats great),gretchen hanover-bow and cello (the cello has the best sound of any cd i have heard),ry cooder-meeting by the river,all of the above are in their fifties, odd isnt it.keith urban-livin right now (URBAN IS YOUNG),KEITH L COOPER-sacred dance (YOUNG GUY WHO STRUMS WITH BOTH HANDS AT ONCE,don baker- duckin and divin (worlds best harmonica player),penguin cafe orchestra-penguin cafe orchestra (small fantastic orchestra),george winston- december (get twentieth anniversary edition, great remaster, great piano), on yuoutube watch, vanessa mae-great violin,john denver, dylan,buddy rich (drums),jimi hendrix, harpo marx (worlds greatest harp player),ravi shankar- at monterey pop, canon byparchebel,canon in d, xuefei yang-joaquin(beautiful woman, worlds elite),lijie- carlo(another unbelievable girl guitarist), malaguena- spanish guitar cd,rachmaninov plays rachmaninov,harp canon in d,askynard freebird pt. 2,lofgren-keith, lofgren- blue,satriani-flying,penguin cafe, deliverence-dueling,lisa lynne and celtic,new canon rock,chapdelaine-requerdos (fantastic guitar), danza biancha (fantastic guitarist),erik mongrain-airtap (unbelievable guitar),shimabukuro-while my guitar (great guitar) there you have it, the worlds best guitarists
I'm surprised that Ed Gerhard is not mentioned in this thread. His "Live Album" is an excellent recording. "Luna" as well.
Ray's mention of Alison Krauss brings up Jerry Douglass, her band's primary soloist (dobro & acoustic guitar). He has a set on her live cd that is terrific and is - I think - available on SACD, if you have that capability. His solo records are great too.

My choice for "underrated" acoustic guitar goes to Marshall Crenshaw. He's always been an A List songwriter, but he's quietly become a stunningly good player over the years. Check out his Greatest Hits Live Acoustic (or something to that effect). It's a $5 cut-out that has amazing music, played amazingly and pretty well recorded, to boot.

If you can find Richard Thompson's live "2 letter words", it also fits the above description - although Thompson is hardly underrated. He's merely the best (or close to it) and pretty well known as such.

Good Luck,

Marty
You absolutely must hear the cd "Guitar Fingerstyle" on the Narada Lotus label.I know what youre all t hinking: hmmmmm,Narada=New Age. A few cuts are, but not all-judge after you listen! Beautifully recorded, many different guitarists and styles, and in the liner notes they tell you what guitar was used as well as a short blurb on each artist. No classical!--Mrmitch
Get Dominic Frasca's "Deviations" ... claimed to have been performed "on solo guitar in real time with no loops, overdubs, or other instruments" ... all done on the first and only take. You will be left speechless.
I have to say that "Keith Don't Go" by Nil Lufgren (sp) Live Acoustic CDis one of the most outstanding acoustic guitar performances I've yet heard.

Anybody and everybody who's heard it seems bowled over by the performance.
Nils Lofgren on his CD "Acoustic Live". Incredible guitar and an amazing live recording. I agree with Stehno that the track "Keith Don't Go" is outstanding. A reference track for high end hi fi.
I recently discovered Antonio Forcione. Great acoustic guitar music from Naim label. I would recommend "Tears of Joy" and "Dedicato" which both I have.
A big-time second to Abucktwoeighty's recommendation of Kelly Joe Phelp's Lead Me On.
I second Don Ross - especially "This dragon won't sleep"
Also, Leo Kottke is a genius!
3 Guitars from Chesky Records with Larry Coryell,Badi Assad,and John Abercombie. Excellent recording and good guitar work.
I have Jorma Kaukonen w/Tom Hobson "Quah" on right now and can barely remember what I was stressed out about when I put it on.I like Doc Watson too
How about Martin Taylor any of the Linn recordings are good listening and also Hot Club of San Francisco I have heard them on Clarity however there is a new one out on Reference Recordings that sounds very open and clean they seem to be staying with HDCD.