who are your top ten acoustic guitarists?

Here's some greats that come to mind:

Phil Keaggy
Jerry Garcia
Jorma Kaukonan
Donovan
Bruce Cockburn
Roger McGuinn
Indigo Girls
Emmy Lou Harris
Pete Seeger
Bob Dylan

 

Chet Atkins, Charlie Byrd, Django Reinhardt, Derek Bailey, Magnus Andersson, Lightnin' Hopkins, Norbert Kraft, Leadbelly, Andres Segovia, and Robert Johnson.

 

To be or not to?

Wasn’t a guy called Jimmie Hendryx a helluva guy to play acoustic ax?

BTW. Jorma is a Finnish name, and so is Kaukonen as well.

 

Tony Rice
Clarence White
Doc Watson

 

Phil Keaggy.
His singing makes me want to vomit, but he is the most amazing guitar player I've ever heard.

 

Nick Drake's style does it for me,but so many others who have been listed here.

Eric Taylor impressed me.

Diccus

 

Roy Harper: Anything live from 1969-1978

Robyn Hitchcock: Anything live from about 1994 to the present

Jimmy Page: Check out his acoustic solo on Roy Harper's "Same Old Rock" from 1971...

John Paul Jones: Does mandolin count? I just saw *him* with Robyn Hitchcock last month in Nashville -- his mandolin skills have only improved over the years...

 

I'm going to stick with homegrown English favourites just to widen things up a little:

Nic Jones (take a listen to the album 'Penguin Eggs')
John Martyn
Richard Thompson (just about anything)
Ken Nicol (of Easy Street, Albion Band, and currently Steeleye Span fame - has released a couple of great solo albums)
Phil Beer (can play pretty much anything with strings and make it sound new and fresh)
Kevin Dempsey (formerly of Dando Shaft and Whippersnapper)
Eric Clapton (more Unplugged material please, more, more!!)
Simon Nicol (one of the greatest and most sensitive ensemble players)
Martin Carthy
Diz Disley (not strictly speaking English, born in Canada and lived in Wales but terrific player nonetheless)

Best Wishes
David

 

Geez...

Almost three pages in, and I'm the first to mention John McLaughlin??? I guess I'm biased, but come *on*? This guy belongs in the pantheon of 20th century guitar gods, and in my book he's at the very top spot. He's probably more famous for his electric work, but take half a spin of a Shakti album, and the guy will fry your brains.

(Well, I do see that the Friday Night...album was mentioned, but he wasn't singled out... )

 

Most of my favorites have been mentioned here once or twice already (with John Martyn being the one I listen to most), but one that hasn't is Preston Reed. His first record, "Acoustic Guitar", is pretty amazing. It was on a small label and I'm not sure if it made it to CD.

 

Most of my favourites have already been listed, but one that has been mentioned yet is Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson.

 

Richard Thompson
Bruce Cockburn
Steven Stills
Neil Young
Ian Anderson

 

Definitely! In fact, I am of the opinion that his acoustic work blows away the electric stuff with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Miles Davis and solo.

Stephen Stills
Neil Young
David Crosby
Joni Mitchell (ok, I know - 60s overload)
Ian Anderson/Martin Barre (I don't know who plays the acoustic parts, but I sure like their chord voicings )
Mississippi John Hurt
Robert Johnson
Blind Blake
Big Bill Broonzy
Chet Atkins
Django Reinhardt
Al Di Meola (Mediterranean Sundance!)
Andres Segovia
and almost any other blues musician from the 30s onwards...Charley Patton, Bukka White, Blind Willie Johnson, Rev. Gary Davis, Lightnin' Hopkins, Blind Lemon Jefferson, etc.

 

Bob Mould
Neil Young

 

Tommy Emmanuel deserves a mention also. Passion combined with ability.

 

Bert Lams, Paul Richards, and Hideyo Moriya... collectively known as the California Guitar Trio... Yamanashi Blues

the Rev. Gary Davis

and another vote for Jorma Kaukonen

 

His live solo acoustic stuff is otherwordly. For those who have not heard this guy check it out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPe3NsUJ54o

 

Leo Kottke,
Greg Lake
John McLaughlin
Paco DeLucia

 

Olivier Durand, the guitarist who accompanies Elliott Murphy.

And another vote for Kelly Joe Phelps and Lindsey Buckingham.

 

Robert Fripp. Not only did he play some astonishingly fluent acoustic guitar on the first 4 KC albums, there are his RF & The League of Crafty Guitarists albums on which he and his disciples show their chops. Also his proteges, the California Guitar Trio aren't too shabby neither.

Mike Oldfield, the perfectionist.

 

Acoustic Guitarists

Hello,

My favorite acoustic guitarists are as follows,

Pierre Bensusan
Ralph Towner
John McLaughlin
Alex DeGrassi
Michael Hedges
John Renbourn
Bert Jansch
Donovan
Bola Sete

That's about it.

Scott

 

Bireli Lagrene and any of the Rosenburgs-here"s an example-cheated a bit as Birlei's playing electrichere ,but usualy splits it about 50-50 and the sound on most of the accoustic clips on utube is miserable.Rosenburgs accoustic solo starts about 3 minutes in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HSOy6JoSe4&mode=related&search=
Here's an accoustic solo by Bireli
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI5P9REpiPM

 

Acoustic guitar seems to be a Brazilian specialty: Toquinho, Baden Powell, Yamandu Costa... too many to mention.

If that's Paul Simon playing on his own recordings, he deserves a mention as well.

 

Bruce Cockburn
Richard Thompson
Jorma Kaukonen
Martin Sexton
Sandy Bull
Steve Howe
Steve Stills
Pete Townshend
Tim Christensen
Buck Owens