Your favorite recordings of singers with solo guitars

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Permalink Reply by cameron on November 17, 2008 at 5:23pm

Phil Keaggy does an awsome solo show . The man is a wizard with a loop station.

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Permalink Reply by Teja Gerken, Senior Editor on November 18, 2008 at 2:16pm

I'm a big fan of a lot of the British singer/guitarists. To me, folks such as Martin Simpson ("The Bramble Briar" is one of my favorites), Richard Thompson (check out "Celtschmertz" for some great solo playing and singing), Martin Carthy (virtually any record), Bert Jansch ("Rosemary Lane" is great), Nic Jones ("Penguin Eggs" and "Unearthed"), and Dick Gaughan (his recent live album is amazing) are all examples of players who are really singers and purveyors of great songs songs first, although they happen to be totally virtuoso guitarists as well.

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Permalink Reply by dpb23 on November 19, 2008 at 4:01am

And that's what makes this an amazing world of technology and human connection. Never hearing of these 5 british singer/guitarists, I typed each one into my emusic account and for the cost of about 2 bucks and 5 minutes, legally downloaded a track from each and burnt it on to a cd for my ride to work. Thanks for the input and reccomendations!

Teja Gerken, Senior Editor said:

I'm a big fan of a lot of the British singer/guitarists. To me, folks such as Martin Simpson ("The Bramble Briar" is one of my favorites), Richard Thompson (check out "Celtschmertz" for some great solo playing and singing), Martin Carthy (virtually any record), Bert Jansch ("Rosemary Lane" is great), Nic Jones ("Penguin Eggs" and "Unearthed"), and Dick Gaughan (his recent live album is amazing) are all examples of players who are really singers and purveyors of great songs songs first, although they happen to be totally virtuoso guitarists as well.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Gabel, Editor & Group Publisher on November 19, 2008 at 11:57pm

A few recordings come to mind for me. One is Steve Goodman's The Easter Tapes, which was recorded during his appearance on WNEW-FM's Easter morning shows in the 70's. It's just Goodman and his guitar, with Vin Scelsa hosting the show. Great versions of Goodman's tunes and some interesting covers. I love hearing Goodman's guitar right up front, because it was often buried in some of his studio records. And the guy could play, as his swing-influenced picking on "Red Red Robin" and "Blue Skies" shows. And that was at some inhuman hour in the morning!

Another is Texas songwriter Jimmy LaFave's Trail, a two-disc set from the late 90's, I think. There are some tracks with LaFave's backing band, but also solo tracks. He does his own tunes and a bunch of Dylan covers, including great takes on "It's All Over Now Baby Blue," "Simple Twist of Fate," "Down in the Flood," and others. And his version of Woody Guthrie's "Oklahoma Hills"is worth the price of admission.

Townes Van Zandt's classic Live at the Old Quarter is such a treasure for many reasons, but mainly because you can hear his intricate guitar work that was often buried in hideously over-produced studio records (like Goodman, in that regard, I guess). His flatpicking and fingerstyle accompaniment was unique, and before alcohol took its toll, dead-on.

And Chris Whitley's Dirt Floor has to be on my list. Just him and his National recorded in a barn in Vermont with one mic. Full of Whitley's haunting slide and heartbreaking songs, it's the record of his that I keep going back to.

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Permalink Reply by Jeff Williams on November 20, 2008 at 10:34pm

Dave Mathews / Tim Reynolds .. i got the Dave Mathews CD with the full band and wow .. i didn't like the CD that much.
It sounded so clinical and sterile. Overproduced even .. seemed like the soul of the music was lost.
THEN i heard the SAME SONGS played live with just acoustic guitarist and a light bulb went off !!
i could hear the heart and soul of the song. i could hear where the song was actually "born" from ..
it was awesome ..
Jeff Williams
www.jeffwilliams-usa.com

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Permalink Reply by Ken Hundley on December 4, 2008 at 12:38pm

Ah, Jeff, one of my all time favorites, just some great stuff. Some way out there stuff, but some truly incredible guitar.

Jeff Williams said:

Dave Mathews / Tim Reynolds .. i got the Dave Mathews CD with the full band and wow .. i didn't like the CD that much.
It sounded so clinical and sterile. Overproduced even .. seemed like the soul of the music was lost.
THEN i heard the SAME SONGS played live with just acoustic guitarist and a light bulb went off !!
i could hear the heart and soul of the song. i could hear where the song was actually "born" from ..
it was awesome ..
Jeff Williams
www.jeffwilliams-usa.com

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Permalink Reply by Crubenbauer on December 8, 2008 at 12:03pm

Brian Wilson's "In my Room" from that Live Album. I know its not Brian Playing the Guitar, but no one said the Player and Vocalist had to be exclusively the same. I agree, John Hiatt and a ton of other songwriters do perform their tunes elegantly.

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Permalink Reply by Mark H. on December 9, 2008 at 8:33am

The Gillian Welch, Rory Block and John Hammond dvds are very impressive. I just bought Eric Clapton's 'Sessions for Robert J.' dvd which has about 30 mins. of E. C. and Doyle B. II playing acoustic blues. And I may as well mention Neil Young's 'Massey Hall 1971' cd/dvd.
Cheers!

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Permalink Reply by Bill Liswell on December 10, 2008 at 5:23pm

Great topic. Though I don't listen to a lot of that type of thing, my favorites are Bert Jansch (Rosemary Lane especially), Nick Drake (Five Leaves Left), and Tim Hardin (though between the strings that were added to his recordings, and/or his intoxication I feel you have to pick through the tunes to find good takes).

I recently saw a video of Tim Buckley doing "The Dolphins", from the Old Grey Whistle Test show-and I really enjoyed that.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Millham "Sidheguitarist" on December 10, 2008 at 11:41pm

Seconding both Teja's brit list, as well as Kelly Joe. Also look out for Dan Schwartz and Brooks Williams as two lesser known singers who can *really* play as well.
-MM

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Permalink Reply by Bruce Fogwell on December 11, 2008 at 5:58am

Although, over the years, he has played with Jim Kweskin and the Jug Band, his then wife Maria, and Paul Butterfield's Better Days, Geoff Muldaur is doing great solo work. Every track on 'Beautiful Isle of Somewhere' is worth a listen, however, my favorites are 'Downtown Blues', 'Motherless Child', 'Trouble Soon Be Over' and 'Just A Little While to Stay Here'. He puts on a great live show too.

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Permalink Reply by Ken Hundley on December 12, 2008 at 8:18am

I saw the movie "Once". iw as an unwilling participant (my wife was holding me hostage for a chick flick night) and was just astounded by how the movie reached me. A simple tragic love affair based around music, and the music was beautiful. Then my wife surprised me with tickets to see the Swell Season. I thought "who the hell are they?" The main characters of the movie formed a band, and they were incredible live! Here's an example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC5c9ZDLYnk

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