[Guitarplayer.com] 30 Classic Acoustic Albums You Must Hear

duotone

https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/30-classic-acoustic-albums-you-must-hear

Woodandwires

Some great albums there, I am ashamed to say I only recently discovered Elliot Smith via the Prime documentary, I could probably add to the list but in general I agree with most with the exception of the Clapton one.

Winny_Pooh

Quite alot of general folk music from 50 years ago there thats not particularly guitar intensive like Paul Simon, Dylan, Cat Stevens, Van Morrison... a bit of a Rolling Stones editors list.

I'd remove a few and add some personal favourites 
Gillian Welch - Time the revelator
Chris Whitley & Jeff Lang - dislocation blues
Jon butler trio - sunrise over sea
Kelly Joe Phelps - shine eyed mr zen

Philly_Q

I think I'll get by without 'em.

Kilgore

The list is missing Folk Singer by Muddy Waters.

robgilmo

The only album worthy of that list IMO is Pink Moon, most of them arnt even what I would call accoustic albums.

Stuckfast

Are they supposed to be albums that showcase great acoustic guitar playing? Or great albums that happen to be mostly based around acoustic guitars? Either way I'd say at least half of them are pretty baffling.

duotone

@Stuckfast This is how they made their choices:

” If you want to immerse yourself in some of the finest acoustic guitar albums recorded over the past 60 years, these discs are a great place to start. 

For this list of 30, the GP team refrained from collections, and thus excluded some obvious selections from masters like Robert Johnson and Django Reinhardt. But we also made sure to include artists over a range of genres, including folk, rock, country, singer-songwriter and even New Age. 

While it’s by no means comprehensive, this list will open your ears to some acoustic artists and albums you may have forgotten about and others you may not be familiar with. Dig in and see if anything here inspires your own creativity.”

oh_pollo

Some crackers in there but mostly this is a safe uninspiring list.

TTony

There's a couple in there that I wasn't aware of - which is always a good opportunity for some listening.


And any top30 that includes Joan Armatrading is at least 1/30th correct.

Devil#20

robgilmo said:

The only album worthy of that list IMO is Pink Moon, most of them arnt even what I would call accoustic albums.

Out of those that I do recognise that it by far the best one IMO. If you could just have one Nick Drake album I'd have said Bryter Layter first.

Van Morrison's Astral Weeks is one of the most overrated albums ever and if I never hear a track off it again it'll be too soon.

Joan Armatrading's album gets a regular spin, as do one or two others. 

Philly_Q

TTony said:

And any top30 that includes Joan Armatrading is at least 1/30th correct.

Yeah, but it's got Van Morrison for minus 1/30th to cancel her out.

oh_pollo

Even if you don't like 'Astral Weeks', and you should, the Lester Bangs review of it is a work of art.

Philly_Q

oh_pollo said:

Even if you don't like 'Astral Weeks', and you should, the Lester Bangs review of it is a work of art.

Oh crikey, that's going to take a long time to read.  Longer than it'd take to listen to the album, probably.  I'll get back to you.

EricTheWeary

I love Johnny Cash at San Quentin but I don’t think I’d describe it as an acoustic album. Some others on there that seem to be barely meet the description. 

Still, at least it’s not a Rolling Stone list which would have included a random scattering of 1990s hip hop and an early 2000s indie album that was only ever available as a flexi disc with cartons of soya milk. 

digitalkettle

InvalidListException: no 'Intuite' by Pierre Bensusan!

Reverend

oh_pollo said:

Even if you don't like 'Astral Weeks', and you should, the Lester Bangs review of it is a work of art.

Bangs is not someone I would trust for music. 

Cranky

I am going to enjoy this list and all the snubs listed by fellow tFbers.

Elliott Smith and acoustic Jimmy Page are why I started playing guitar.

robgilmo

Devil#20 said:

robgilmo said:

The only album worthy of that list IMO is Pink Moon, most of them arnt even what I would call accoustic albums.

Out of those that I do recognise that it by far the best one IMO. If you could just have one Nick Drake album I'd have said Bryter Layter first.

Van Morrison's Astral Weeks is one of the most overrated albums ever and if I never hear a track off it again it'll be too soon.

Joan Armatrading's album gets a regular spin, as do one or two others. 

The only Van Morrison album that I really listen to is Moondance, I really like it. Joan never really got into my collection, she was played out on the radio at work which put me off her , that thingy had a fast car , it was like so go already Joan, get in his fast car and just go. I am sure the rest of her stuff is good though , its just that song , jesus that song.

Edit - I am having a quiet listen to Bryter Layter now, stunning. Im wondering if recording Pink Moon with just John Wood was because it was Joe Boyds idea to include the wind instruments etc? Drake apparently said he didnt like the sound because it sounded too full. He reminds me of Van Gogh in many ways.

hollywoodrox

I would include Hell freezes over by The Eagles as even though it’s not all acoustic, the acoustic tracks on there are stupendously brilliant .
same goes for the first Crosby Stills and Nash album 

dindude

Some goodies in there and some I’ve never heard of which I might check out. The big long list with adverts is killing my phone even with good wi fi so it’s taking an age to get through! Im up to Harvest, how many more are there?

Born and Raised by John Mayer Shilluk be in there.