RMMGA TOP PICKS
ESSENTIAL AND OBSCURE RECORDINGS OF ACOUSTIC GUITAR
UPDATED 3/20/95
fndaj@aurora (Daniel A. Johnson)
Based on postings to rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic.
Most multi-artist recordings are cross referenced, or
listed as anthologies.
--------------------------------------------------------
Ackerman, Will -"Passage" features some classics such
as "Processional" and "Bricklayer's Beautiful Daughter"
Proof that you don't have to tear it up and play fast
to be a great artist.
Acoustic Attatude and Epstein, Freyda: Midnight in
Cabell Hall.on Red House: an extraordinary CD. The CD
features Freyda singing and playing violin with the
Attatudes (Guitar/bouzouki and acoustic bass).
Anthology, "The Art of Fingerstyle Guitar" Shanachie
98009. This is a tremendous sampler of masters: Dave
Evans, Davey Graham, Bert Jansch, John James, John
Renbourn, Peter Finger and Leo Wijnkamp Jr.
Anthology, "The Entertainer, The Music of Scott
Joplin...". Shanachie 98015. Includes classic rags
arranged and played by Duck Baker, Lasse Johansson,
Claes Palmqvist, Ton Van Bergeyk, Jim McLennan, Leo
Wignkamp, Jr., Ton Engels, Dick Fegy and John James.
Anthology, "Flat Picking Guitar Festival". A friend
gave me a tape recorded from an LP in 1982.
Unfortunately, she didn't list the artists. I'm
pretty much a fingerstyle guitar fan, but this is one
of my all time favorites guitar albums. I'd venture
to guess that it's a who's who of flat pickers from the
late 70s. It strongly features flapickers with some
pretty nice dobro, mando and fiddle thrown in to back
up 8-).
Anthology FINGERPICKING GUITAR DELIGHTS, on Shanachie.
Anthology - _Complete Ragtime Guitar Book_
(instructional tape by Stefan Grossman). Odd as it may
seem, the tape that accompanys this instructional book
is one of my all time favorites. It is actually an
anthology of many great fingerpickers - there is no
instructional material on the tape.
Baker, Duck - KID ON THE MOUNTAIN All fingerstyle
players have a couple of Celtic fiddle tunes in their
repertoire. Duck has arranged dozens and, here's the
amazing part, done so in standard and drop-D tuning for
the most part. This record, which I believe is out of
print, along with the book Irish, English...etc. Fiddle
tunes for the Fingerpicking Guitarist are, IMO,
essential to every fingerpicker's library.
Baker, Duck - Opening The Eyes of Love. I first
started listening to Duck when he was recording for
Kicking Mule back in the early 70's. This one was
released in 93, I think. One of the best improvisers
around, his instrumentals have a jazz/blues flavor and
really cook. He can also play some very delicate
traditional Irish stuff.
Baker, Duck._The Art of Fingerstyle Jazz Guitar_ ..
anyone that can cover Duke Ellington is cool in my
book.
Barrueco, Manuel "300 Years of Guitar Masterpieces"
Actually a 3 cd box set: Each cd is about 60 minutes
long and Barrueco plays Bach, Villa-lobos, Albeniz,
Scarlatti, Paganini, Granados, Giuliani, and others. I
really like the way he handles the Villa-lobos etudes.
Excellently well constructed.
Bartels, Bill and Crandell, Richard ... not really
fair, as I think their records are on a small local
label, but if you're out west, you might be able to
find them. They do some nice duets along the lines of
the Grossman and Renbourn collaborations.
Bennett, Stephen : "Guitar Town" Cimirron/Rainbird
label. "Guitar Town" is made up mostly of originals.
They can be ordered direct by calling 804-898-8155 or
writing Cimirron/Rainbird Records, 607 Piney Point Rd.,
Yorktown, VA 23692 for a catalog.
Bennett, Stephen : "Solos & Duets".
Cimirron/Rainbird label. If you only want to get one,
get "Solos & Duets". They can be ordered direct by
calling 804-898-8155 or writing Cimirron/Rainbird
Records, 607 Piney Point Rd., Yorktown, VA 23692 for a
catalog.
Bensusan, Pierre Solia Plays exclusively in DADGAD,
with traces of jazz, Irish and middle eastern(all
within the same tune, at times). I once had the
privilege of seeing him perform at a workshop at Nassau
Comm. College with George Gritzbachand Tony Trishka.
After Pierre whipped off a version of 'Nice Feeling',
poor George had a tough act to follow.
Blake, Blind - RAGTIME GUITAR'S FOREMOST FINGERPICKER
Yazoo 1068 Simply brilliant--should be remastered
though .(too much static, even for how old the
recordings are) [received several recommendations -
ed.] Other records on Yazoo - incredible ragtime &
blues technique, rhythmically incredible...
Blake, Norman - Whiskey Before Breakfast. Norman's
guitar album. Makes me alternate between wanting to
play all day and give it up forever, because I'll
never make sounds like that.
Bloom, Luka "Riverside" because to me he shows just
what you can do to fill the air with sound using a
flatpick. Great tunes too.
Brazzel, Russel _Twentieth Century Cuban Music_ . I'm
fascinated by works that push the boundaries of
theinstrument, and by "modern" composition. This disc
offers both in theform of several pieces by Leo Brouwer
-- reputedly an extraordinary guitarist himself.
Highlights are "Danza Del Altiplano" and "Danza
Caracteristica."
Bream, Julian and Jon Williams: Together
Bream, Julian - _Julian Bream Plays Granados & Albeniz_
-- Bream, in myestimation, is the interpreter of choice
for almost any period ofclassical guitar and his
interpretation of an array of compositionsoriginally
composed for piano in the 19th century is outstanding.
Carthy, Martin - CROWN OF HORN Martin's percussive,
modal guitar work is center stage in the instrumental
Old Tom of Oxford and as superb accompaniment to the
songs. Mostly traditional tunes, this album is always
a listening pleasure.
Cicchetti, Stephen / James, Steve : This last is so
obscure that I include it just to be true to myself.
It's called _A Single Shot_, the artist is Stephen
Cicchetti, and the label is Pork Chop Music of San
Antonio. You won't find it unless you're real lucky:
the label is gone, the artist has moved to Austin, and
he has changed his name to Steve James. He now writes
articles and reviews for Acoustic Guitar, and his
current recorded work (check it out!) is on Antone's
Records. But we his loyal fans will always be very
fond of his first record, a great acoustic blues
record. We think he's about as good as, or better
than, Hammond and Geremia.
Cooper, Phil and Nelson, Margaret . Phil plays guitar
and cittern, Margaret sings and plays bodhran. Mostly
traditional music. I like Phil's clean, crisp
accompaniment style. The duo is often accompanied by
Paul Goeltz on hammered dulcimer. Self produced CDs
and tapes, some of which are available through Andy's
Front Hall.
Cotten, Elizabeth: FREIGHT TRAIN AND OTHER NORTH
CAROLINA FOLK SONGS AND TUNES, Smithsonian-Folkways FW
40009
Crandell, Richard and Bartels, Bill ... I think their
records are on a small local label, but if you're out
west, you might be able to find them. They do some
nice duets along the lines of the Grossman and Renbourn
collaborations.
Cromarty, George - 'The Wind in the Heather'. His
only album on the Dancing Cat label, which is a Windham
Hill subsidiary. Never on CD as far as I know; very
nice nylon string fingerpicking. It may still be
available on cassette, or cruise the used vinyl shops.
>From another poster: Cromarty has two other even more
obscure LPs on his own label. One was a children's
album, which I do not have, and the other is all guitar
instrumentals(except for one vocal), which I do have.
It has a great piece called "Flight" in Open C.
Somehow I doubt that this will ever see the light of
day on CD, unless Dancing Cat decides to put it out.
Davis, Reverend Gary -- COMPLETE EARLY WORKS To me,
Davis' style is the highest goal I've set for myself.
Davis, Gary - Harlem St. Singer- Pure Religion & Bad
Company
Davis, Rev. Gary: BLUES AND RAGTIME Shanachie 97024
Davis, Rev Gary - Children of Zion
Emmanuel, Tommy - Up from Down Under
Englehart, Toulouse: Toured the college circuit in
California in the Late 70's. He had one album on
Sierra/Brian records, produced by Chris Darrow, and
then disappeared completely. He was not flashy, but he
did write a few pretty good instrumentals.
Epstein, Freyda and Acoustic Attatude: Midnight in
Cabell Hall.on Red House: an extraordinary CD. The CD
features Freyda singing and playing violin with the
Attatudes (Guitar/bouzouki and acoustic bass).
Fahey, John - Of Rivers and Religion
Fisk, Elliot "Paganini's 24 Caprices".
Geremia, Paul - Gamblin Woman Blues
Gerhard, Ed "Luna". Ed's very classy way of including
drums and horns on a guitar CD set a new standard, I
think. Extremely good recording quality, too.
Grateful Dead - American Beauty
Green, Ruby and Katzman, Nick _Sparkling Ragtime &
Hardbitten Blues_, Kicking Mule Records. The second,
better album by this duo, I think it was never even
issued on cassette. Katzman is a session guitarist but
his approach to blues/ragtime is that of a master.
His attack is strong, tone is clean, and feel for the
genres perfect. "Ruby Green" is actually Terry
Garthwaite of Joy of Cooking, which may explain the
continued unavailability of this.
Greene, Ted : Can't find it at the moment, so can't
tell you the label. It's electric (a way-tuned-down
Telecaster I think) but all solo fingerstyle. Best
solo guitar record I've ever heard!! From other
posters: Does he have any more albums other than "Ted
Greene Solo Guitar" on PMP?" I totally agree - much
more listenable than "Virtuoso".
Grossman, Stefan - _Complete Ragtime Guitar Book_
(instructional tape). Odd as it may seem, the tape
that accompanys this instructional book is one of my
all time favorites. It is actually an anthology of
many great fingerpickers - there is no instructional
material on the tape.
Grossman, Stefan - _Black Melodies on a Clear
Afternoon_ - a colection ofrags and blues that just
continuously grooves. Very nice interpretationsof
tunes ranging from John Henry to th Entertainer. Just
plain greatgrooves to be found here on traditional
(standards?) from America at theturn of the century.
Gulezian, Michael - his Takoma record (I forget the
title). Some Kottkesque 12-string, all instrumental.
I don't think it's on CD, but I've seen it lately in
the used vinyl shops. Some of the pieces have funny
titles, like 'Lather, Rinse, Repeat' and 'A
Contraceptive Breakdown'.
Gypsy Kings - anything by the Gypsy Kings Guitar music
is (correct me if I'm wrong) a spanish invention, and
theseguys have given me yet another different vision of
what guitars can be allabout.
Hanzlik, Slavek "Summer Solstice" Rich bluegrass
inspired instrumental music. I really like his
compositions!
Hecht, Daniel : If you like Alex deGrassi... His WH
release never made it to CD, as far as I know, but it's
pretty nice stuff I haven't seen anything of him
since, although I recall another record, pre- WH, that
I used to see once in a while in the used shops. He
has a cut on one of the early WH samplers, too.
Hedges, Michael - Aerial Boundaries
Hennessy, Christie "A Year in the Life" just for the
pleasure of listening to it.
Heywood, Phil Some Summer Day (Atomic Theory,
distributed by Flying Fish, 1990): Very agreeable,
tasteful folkie-flavored fingerpicking, good variety
of material including some pretty good originals, the
Fahey title tune, Sonny Rollins' "St. Thomas," etc.
It takes a while to notice how good this guy is. He
puts a lot of attention into midrange and texture
rather than speed and flash on the high notes. One
ill-advised vocal is easily skipped.
Howe, Steve "Not Necessarily Acoustic" and features
steel string, 12 string, nylon, and some electric
guitar playing. It's all solo stuff and was recorded
live in Montreal. The playing is very clear and clean.
Hurt, Mississippi John -- TODAY A wonderful sample of
Hurt's music. Fairly easy transcriptions of several of
the tunes appear in Ken Perlman's book "Fingerstyle
Guitar," and are good for beginners.
Hurt, John - The Best of Mississippi John Hurt. A
double album, most of it live (his introduction to
Coffee Blues is a classic), and all of it joyful.
Hurt, Mississippi John: 1928 SESSIONS, Yazoo 1065
James, Skip - TODAY!
James, Steve / Cicchetti, Stephen: This last is so
obscure that I include it just to be true to myself.
It's called _A Single Shot_, the artist is Stephen
Cicchetti, and the label is Pork Chop Music of San
Antonio. You won't find it unless you're real lucky:
the label is gone, the artist has moved to Austin, and
he has changed his name to Steve James. He now writes
articles and reviews for Acoustic Guitar, and his
current recorded work (check it out!) is on Antone's
Records. But we his loyal fans will always be very
fond of his first record, a great acoustic blues
record. We think he's about as good as, or better
than, Hammond and Geremia.
Jefferson, Blind Lemon - stunning finger-style blues -
listen closely through the surface noise and you will
be amazed & rewarded.
Juber, Laurence -"Naked Guitar" This is almost all in
standard tuning, and Juber does tear it up. Juber
draws from a deep and diverse bag of tricks. About
half blues-oriented, about half lyrical finger picking.
Kallet, Cindy . I don't know how obscure she is to
this group, but I think Cindy is a very fine songwriter
and a damn good guitarist. She has a few solo albums,
some on Folk Legacy, her newest titles on Stonesthrow.
I recommend the solo Dreamin' Down a Quiet Line and
the CD Only Human with her partners Ellen Epstien and
Michael Ciconne. Great three part harmony there.
Katzman, Nick and Green, Ruby _Sparkling Ragtime &
Hardbitten Blues_, Kicking Mule Records. The second,
better album by this duo, I think it was never even
issued on cassette. Katzman is a session guitarist but
his approach to blues/ragtime is that of a master.
His attack is strong, tone is clean, and feel for the
genres perfect. "Ruby Green" is actually Terry
Garthwaite of Joy of Cooking, which may explain the
continued unavailability of this.
Kaukonen, Jorma - QUAH
Keaggy, Phil "Beyond Nature" Beautiful acoustic
playing. Very luscious, with tasteful arrangements.
Keaggy, Phil, _What a Day_ is an album that really
grew on me. I was initially disappointed withit, but
then I listened closely and found out that PK is
(also) a verysubtle guitar player.
Keith, Catfish I like "Pepper In My Shoe" the best,
but it's a close call. IMO the best living country
blues/bottleneck player that I've heard. Very good
"bluesy" voice too. Elderly Music has them available
or order them direct by calling 319-338-3614 or write
Fish Tail Records, PO Box 2561, Iowa City, IA 52244 for
his catalog.
Keith, Catfish "Cherry Ball"
Keith, Catfish, "Jitterbug Swing"
Knowles, John . 'Sittin' Back Pickin'. He has a
quarterly magazine that comes with a tape, sorta like
Fingerstyle Guitar, but I think it's all music, no
articles. Some Beatles, a nice arrangement of
'Vincent' ... nylon string fingerstyle. I think he
advertises in FG or maybe Acoustic Guitar magazine.
His quarterly publication is a little spendy, Ithink
about $50 or $60 dollars a year, but it's like private
lessons, so probably worth it. He's of the Chet
Atkins school of guitar, more or less.
Kottke, Leo - 6 & 12 String Guitar There are actually
Kottke albums that I listen to more often, but taken in
the historical context, this one was a real ground
breaker. The man redefined the way to play acoustic
guitar. His ability to distinctly play two and even
three voices on the instrument, IMHO, is unparalleled.
[this one received several recommendations - ed.]
Kottke, Leo - My Father's Face
Kottke, Leo - Peculiaroso. Mark me down as one who
likes some of the later Kottke albums better than the
frenetic 12 string early stuff. "Arms of Mary" on this
album is one of my all time favorites.
Kottke, Leo - _A Shout Towards Noon_ -- This disc has,
and is, completely revolutionizing my playing. His
complete control of his bass sound is unbelievable.
The songs are drawn from a wide variety of moods from
the all-out jam of Airproofing Two to the incredibly
beautiful Easter Again and Echoing Gilewitz, to the
classical- inspired Piece 17. The man is a master and
his composition is as good as his technique... A
complete rave for this one!
Kropinski, Uwe - _Departure_ (actually bassist David
Friesen's session, and it is filed under his name) or
Uwe's solo recording _Berlin Concert-Live_ . He plays
both fingerstyle and with a pick - often within the
same piece - and I'd say that stylistically he sounds
very "european," kind of 1990's post-Django. (He's
East German,btw.) From another poster: I haven't read
the oririnal request, but the best obscure guitarist to
me is - Uwe Kropinski (Germany) He wrote a title
called "solo for three", where he plays guitar,
percussion on the belly and where he produces other
tones on the corpus (with a wet finger) at the same
time.
Lang, Peter "The Thing at the Nursery Room Window"
(Takoma LP, mid-1970s): Long out of print. This is in
the vein of Kottke and Fahey, except more intensely
crazed--some slide playing, a lot of very fast tempos,
amazing technique.
Lang, Peter "American Stock"
Linsky, Jeff "Solo" - it's incredible. Impeccable
technique, and most of the arrangements are improvised.
Michael Hedges, "Aerial Boundaries". He changed the
world (for me). This is not a great CD in its entirety
but the first four tunes are stunning and gives me
chills.
MacIsaac, Dave "Celtic Guitar" Stunning guitar
arrangements of celtic fiddle tunes. The accompaniment
is as wonderful as the lead playing.
McLaughlin, John, _Shakti, with John McLaughlin_ is A
MUST. IMHO, this album completely redefined the
boundariesfor acoustic guitars. On the complete
opposite end of the spectrum,
McLaughlin, Billy - _The Archery of Guitar_ (A Major
Label/Proton Discs, Minneapolis, MN) If Uwe is post-
Django, Billy is post-Hedges. ... a lot of the two-
hands on the fretboard stuff, but also like early
Hedges he has a wonderful sence of melody ... it
strikes me that he places composition first and the
technique grows around the piece
McTell, Blind Willie -- LAST SESSION My favorite of
all. Shows how fun it can be to play and sing.
Miller, Joe West Coast Music for Guitar (Rising
Sleeves-- Miller's own label--1991). Also agreeable,
tasteful, non- flashy fingerpicking; the longer you
listen the better it sounds. Material includes some
reasonably good originals and some very nice material
by people I've never or seldom heard of. No vocals.
David Grisman appears on several cuts.
Miller, John _How About Me_, Blue Goose Records. Not
to be confused with Joe Miller. His Joseph Spence-
inspired arrangement of Sonny Rollins' "St. Thomas"
will give you chills. His voice is not so great,
however. Another good one is _Bidin' My Time_, all
Gershwin for fingerpicking (available as a book from
Amsco), also stunning, and his voice had gotten
better.
Miller, John _Bidin' My Time_, all Gershwin for
fingerpicking (available as a book from Amsco), also
stunning, and his voice had gotten better.
Morel, Jorge Classically trained, I assume, but his
record that I have is different. Excellent solo
arrangements of some Gershwin tunes, including an
incredible version of 'Rhapsody in Blue'.
Myer, Barenberg & Douglas Hop Skip Wobble Blue Ribbon
Bluegrass
Nelson, Margaret and Cooper, Phil. Phil plays guitar
and cittern, Margaret sings and plays bodhran. Mostly
traditional music. I like Phil's clean, crisp
accompaniment style. The duo is often accompanied by
Paul Goeltz on hammered dulcimer. Self produced CDs
and tapes, some of which are available through Andy's
Front Hall.
Nicolella, Michael - _Performs Guitar Works of Bach,
Britten and Martin_ -(Gale Recordings, Milwaukee, WI)
As the title indicates there are both Baroque and 20th
Century pieces ... If your standing in the cd dept. and
have to make a choice between the Bream (Nocturnal,
1993) and this disc, get this one.
Pass, Joe "I Remember Charlie Parker". His Virtuoso
CDs are electric, but this one is done on a nylon
string. And he is improvising.
Petteway, Al : Waters and Wild (I think that's the
title) very beautiful, acoustic melodies. Sort of a
Sunday morning paper with coffee relaxing music. Kind
of some new age stuff with a touch of bluegrass thrown
in.
Rice, Tony "Backwaters" Tony's one HOT guitarist!
He's the reason I started using a flat pick again!
Rienhart, Django : Everyone seems to have their
favorite Django Rienhart, and I have just discovered
him, so I'm not qualified to offer an opinion, just to
nominate him.
Rounder Guitar A fabulous mix of fingerstyle and flat
picking!!
Ruskin, Rick and Russ
About Guitar Notes | Add A Site | Advertising | Contact Us | Guestbook | Make Us Your Home
© 1995-2006 Guitar Notes. All rights reserved. Disclaimer and privacy statement. Site designed by Mainframe Media & Design.
