essential singer-songwriter albums?

axisus · April 2016

I have never bought this kind of stuff, but in my old age I'm feeling that I'd like to pick up some either 'classic' or very good albums.

So, looking for nominations for classics, or just records that you really like. I'm thinking people like Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison etc.

guitarfishbay · April 2016

Elliott Smith - XO, or Figure 8 are easy ones to start with.

not_the_dj · April 2016

This could be a long list, but for starters:

Van Morrison - Astral Weeks and Moondance

Dylan - Bringing it all Back Home and HIghway 61 Revisited

Joni Mitchell - Blue

Neil Young - Harvest

James Taylor - Sweet baby James

Leonard Cohen - Go for a greatest hits collection

Carole King - Tapestry

Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left

not_the_dj · April 2016

How could I forget!...John Martyn - Solid Air

not_the_dj · April 2016

...I wrote a summary of Dylan's albums in this thread a while back...I might have got a bit carried away...

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/16851/a-beginners-guide-to/p1

thecolourbox · April 2016

Jeff Buckley - Live at Sine (if that counts)

not_the_dj · April 2016

Richard Thompson - "Acoustic Classics" would be a good place to start, a recent collection of solo acoustic tracks covering a lot of his solo career.

english_bob · April 2016

Good list @not_the_dj. Solid Air and Blue are particular favourites of mine.

thecolourbox said:

Jeff Buckley - Live at Sine (if that counts)

I'd count it. No purer singer-songwriter recording- live in a room with just an electric guitar and some "Jim Morrison reverb". Wonderful.

thecolourbox · April 2016

thecolourbox said:

Jeff Buckley - Live at Sine (if that counts)

I'd count it. No purer singer-songwriter recording- live in a room with just an electric guitar and some "Jim Morrison reverb". Wonderful.

Gimme some vibe dial man, I want some vibe

Winny_Pooh · April 2016

Most of us know the classics so here are some new ones:

Retro:

Gillian Welch: Time (the revelator) , Hell among the yearlings, The Harrow and the Harvest

(the only recent songwriter equal to Dylan or Joni)

Justin Townes Earle - Nothing's gonna change the way you feel about me now

Ray Lamontagne - god willin & the creek don't rise

Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker

Modern:

Ane Brun - A temporary Dive & It all starts with one

Joanna Newsom - Ys & Have one on me (an acquired taste of course)

Bonnie Prince Billy - The letting go

Bill Callahan - Apocalypse

M Ward - Hold Time

richh · April 2016

I was going to wheel out the old (but good) chestnuts, many from the seventies.

But they are mostly already there. A lot in the post above by @Winny_Pooh are completely unknown to me, so I'll have to do some exploring!

english_bob · April 2016

thecolourbox said:
Gimme some vibe dial man, I want some vibe

That's part of what makes the deluxe version of the Sin-e recordings so wonderful- it's so natural, so informal. Listening to him go from silencing the whole room to sing something beautiful to making dumb jokes about how he looks like Matt Dillon and playing "name that riff" with the audience, then switching back in to "unearthly talent" mode is brilliant. Such a range- not just his voice, his song repertoire and his guitar playing too. Some people wish they'd been at Woodstock. I'd take Sin-e.

english_bob · April 2016

not_the_dj said: Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left

I'd take Bryter Layter first- I think the songs are better (one or two on Five Leaves Left are not so great) and the orchestrations. Actually, I like Pink Moon better too...

Dave_Vader · April 2016

Cat Stevens - Teaser and the Firecat and/or Tea for the Tillerman

Woodandwires · April 2016

Tapestry by Carole King Nebraska by Bruce Springsteen I agree with the Neil Young,Joni, early Dylan suggestions

richardhomer · April 2016

John Martyn's Solid Air is essential, as I would suggest is One World.

In fact anything from Bless The Weather (1971) through to 1980's Grace and Danger is essential for me - though if you're unfamiliar with JM, Inside Out is very hard work and best avoided, until you're sure you're a fan.

english_bob · April 2016

Not "classic", but very good and in the same vein as some of the more classic suggestions above:

Feist - The Reminder

Ani DiFranco - So Much Shouting, So Much Laughter

She seems to be a very love-hate artist. I know a lot of people who are turned off by her "angry woman" thing, and by the politics. She's made a lot of records- I like this live album.

Billy Bragg - Must I Paint You A Picture? (best of)

Another guy who gets written off- most people have him pegged as a protest singer who went out with the miners strike. Not to compare the two, but saying that is like saying that Bob Dylan was a protest singer who went out with the civil rights movement.

Crosby, Stills & Nash (& Young)

Not quite the classic '70s Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter schtick, but not far off. Great songs, fantastic harmonies, great guitar playing. Go for the self-titled first album (CSN) and Deja Vu (CSN&Y)

Paul Simon

Anything and everything. One of the few artists who's been around as long as Dylan or Van Morrison who's still making interesting music. The 1970s output is closer to what you'd think of as classic singer-songwriter stuff (with a big dose of super-tasteful session man jazz-savvy chopsmanship), then you've got Graceland, a big Capeman-shaped hole in the 1990s and some very interesting stuff from the 2000s and 2010s that includes more and different world music fiddling and an Eno collaboration. Occasionally both at the same time. Along the way you get Steve Gadd's drumming, guitar slots from Eric Gale, Adrian Belew (blink and you'll miss him), Al DiMeola (blink and you'll miss a dozen notes), Ray Phiri, Bill Frisell, Nile Rodgers and of course Simon himself, bass by Bernard Edwards, Tony Levin, Marcus Miller and Pino Palladino and any number of other fantastic musicians.

stimpsonslostson · April 2016

I'm quite into the movement of modern singer songwriters & am quite surprised noone has mentioned Ed Sheeran yet.

I like Frank Turner, his early stuff in particular is quite good- though his voice is quite divisive.

I went to see The Revival Tour a couple of years ago, Chuck Ragan invites songwriters (often famous through their "main" bands) to tour with just acoustic instruments. From there I got into:

Chuck Ragan, Dave Hause, Brian Fallon and Tim Barry.

If you like Bob Dylan have you tried Tallest Man on Earth?

Bon Iver is nice too.

boogieman · April 2016

All of the above (especially John Martyn and Richard Thompson) plus

James Taylor
John Mayer
Ben Howard

axisus · April 2016

not_the_dj said:

...I wrote a summary of Dylan's albums in this thread a while back...I might have got a bit carried away...

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/16851/a-beginners-guide-to/p1

Thanks for hilighting that thread. I missed it before, lots of good info. I'll check out your Dylan info later.

darcym · April 2016

How about a few lesser known ones

Warren Malone, Clown Shoes
Jason Mcniff, nobody's Son
Gary Louris (from the Jayhawks) Vagabonds / acoustic Vagabonds

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