i'd like to know some outstanding folk music so i can get an idea of whats out their, i like stuff like early paul simon but don't really know what else is out their.
What I consider folk music covers a wide range and takes in artists such as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger (perhaps the most traditional of American folk musicians) to English/Irish/Celtic musicians, such as Pentangle, Steeleye Span, The Chieftains, Clannad, to solo instrumentalists, such as Leo Kottke, David Bromberg, Stefan Grossman, John Renbourn, Bert Jansch, etc.
Depending on what you like, there are a lot of tie-ins that you might like, like old-timey country, bluegrass, gospel, blues, early rock and roll, newage, etc.
I separate my music into broad categories, Rock, Blues, Classical, Jazz, Christmas, but lump Bluegrass, Folk, Celtic, etc, into one folder 🙂
Some things you might like:
Pete Seeger & Arlo Guthrie (traditional folk)
Together in Concert
Norman Blake (solo guitar folk)
Flower From The Fields Of Alabama
Early Bob Dylan (modern folk)
Blonde on Blonde
Highway 61 Revisited
Leo Kottke (solo guitar)
6 And 12 String Guitar
Bert Jansch (solo guitar)
When The Circus Comes To Town
Pentangle (English folk)
Early Classics
Notting Hillbillies (English/American folk)
Missing ... Presumed Having a Good Time
The Chieftains (Irish folk)
Irish Heartbeat (with Van Morrison)
John Lee Hooker (blues)
Chill Out
Bill Monroe (Traditional bluegrass)
Music of Bill Monroe From 1936-1994 (this may be a bit much, 4 discs, ~100 songs)
The Del McCoury Band (Modern bluegrass)
The Family
Bela Fleck (jazzy bluegrass)
Tales From The Acoustic Planet (Volume 1, there is a volume 2, also good 🙂
I have (or had, on vinyl, in the case of the PS/AG album) all of these and can vouch for their tastiness 🙂. Sooo.... a bunch of folk and a taste of others.
Tom.
Depending on what you like, there are a lot of tie-ins that you might like, like old-timey country, bluegrass, gospel, blues, early rock and roll, newage, etc.
I separate my music into broad categories, Rock, Blues, Classical, Jazz, Christmas, but lump Bluegrass, Folk, Celtic, etc, into one folder 🙂
Some things you might like:
Pete Seeger & Arlo Guthrie (traditional folk)
Together in Concert
Norman Blake (solo guitar folk)
Flower From The Fields Of Alabama
Early Bob Dylan (modern folk)
Blonde on Blonde
Highway 61 Revisited
Leo Kottke (solo guitar)
6 And 12 String Guitar
Bert Jansch (solo guitar)
When The Circus Comes To Town
Pentangle (English folk)
Early Classics
Notting Hillbillies (English/American folk)
Missing ... Presumed Having a Good Time
The Chieftains (Irish folk)
Irish Heartbeat (with Van Morrison)
John Lee Hooker (blues)
Chill Out
Bill Monroe (Traditional bluegrass)
Music of Bill Monroe From 1936-1994 (this may be a bit much, 4 discs, ~100 songs)
The Del McCoury Band (Modern bluegrass)
The Family
Bela Fleck (jazzy bluegrass)
Tales From The Acoustic Planet (Volume 1, there is a volume 2, also good 🙂
I have (or had, on vinyl, in the case of the PS/AG album) all of these and can vouch for their tastiness 🙂. Sooo.... a bunch of folk and a taste of others.
Tom.
Additional to the above:
Try June Tabour's album An Echo of Hooves for a start. Traditional songs / stories from the Scotish boarders, so it's, shall we say, a bit grim. OK, it's drenched with blood. But it's one of the best albums of its kind ever produced. There's also a wonderful 4 disc box-set available. Not too cheap, but it's a comprenesive look at her entire career (nearly 40 years), and well-worth the money -you won't be or feel short changed with this one!
If you want a bit of a more world-feel, try anything by Loreena McKennitt. The Visit, The book of Secrets or The Mask and Mirror are good albums to start on. I own everything she's ever done, which says it all, really.
Dr Faustus are also worth a look.
Best
Scott
Try June Tabour's album An Echo of Hooves for a start. Traditional songs / stories from the Scotish boarders, so it's, shall we say, a bit grim. OK, it's drenched with blood. But it's one of the best albums of its kind ever produced. There's also a wonderful 4 disc box-set available. Not too cheap, but it's a comprenesive look at her entire career (nearly 40 years), and well-worth the money -you won't be or feel short changed with this one!
If you want a bit of a more world-feel, try anything by Loreena McKennitt. The Visit, The book of Secrets or The Mask and Mirror are good albums to start on. I own everything she's ever done, which says it all, really.
Dr Faustus are also worth a look.
Best
Scott
I much prefer June's earlier work, before she started to take herself quite so seriously. The album she did with Martin Simpson (can't remember the title, but it's the release with the wonderful track 'Unicorns' on), is my favourite.
Traditional English/Irish: Dubliners, Chieftains (early stuff), Oisin, Dervish, Patrick Street, The Fureys
Less traditional but great classics: Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention, The Albion Band (earlier stuff), and most of the work of their members like Maddy Prior, Ashley Hutchings, John Kirkpatrick.
Recent: The Whisky Priests, The Pogues
Also good: Pepe Gambetta, Tallari, Boyce-Coope and Simpson, Mary Coughlan,
If you can find it: Konsta Jylha (very tradidional finnish fiddle)
Less traditional but great classics: Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention, The Albion Band (earlier stuff), and most of the work of their members like Maddy Prior, Ashley Hutchings, John Kirkpatrick.
Recent: The Whisky Priests, The Pogues
Also good: Pepe Gambetta, Tallari, Boyce-Coope and Simpson, Mary Coughlan,
If you can find it: Konsta Jylha (very tradidional finnish fiddle)
I have worked as a noise boy on many folk festivals, and it is just about impossible to recommend something without knowing what you mean by "Folk".
For instance, I would consider "Murder Ballads", by Nick Cave, one of the finest folk records ever made...
al/ once had June Tabor rehearsing in his bedroom...
For instance, I would consider "Murder Ballads", by Nick Cave, one of the finest folk records ever made...
al/ once had June Tabor rehearsing in his bedroom...
And it is always worth investigating the work of the French band 'Malicorne' from about 25 years ago. They produced innovative work of very high quality at the time.
(and their leader, Gabriel Yacoub, is still producing interesting material).
(and their leader, Gabriel Yacoub, is still producing interesting material).
Never heard of them, but going to check them out.
Malicorne is indeed a very fine band. Have they come down from their "clouds" 🙂
Interesting range of recommendations - some I haven't run across before which is cool.
One good point made by renfrew is that the definition of 'folk' can be pretty broad. Spending some time on allmusic.com or even Amazon chasing links around and listening to samples is a fruitful exercise to help figure out what you personally mean by 'folk'.
However, I'll stump some of my personal favorites that I consider pretty folky, although they may not bear much resemblance to Paul Simon.
Leonard Cohen - his early work is about as 'folk' as you can get in terms of it's spare acoustic instrumentation and presentation. The material, however, is dark and somber and many say he can't sing. Not very Simon-like at all.
'Going Driftless' (a Greg Brown tribute album). This is a great introduction to the world of modern American female folk artists. Greg Brown is pretty highly regarded in the modern folk world, but he falls into the Leonard Cohen/Tom Waits school of vocal presentation. This album is a set of covers entirely by female artists which throws his work into a completely new light. Some big names here - Lucinda Williams, Ani DiFranco, Lucy Kaplansky, Gillian Welch, Eliza Gilkyson etc. IMHO a GREAT album.
Daniel Lanois - known more as a producer than an artist, his first two albums (Acadie and For the Beauty of Winona) are spectacularly good.
Springsteen - yeah, not really a folkie. However, 'Nebraska' and 'The Ghost of Tom Joad' are pure acoustic folk, and IMHO two of his very best albums.
Nick Drake. just go get the box set of his collected works. You need this whether you're a folkie or not.
For material closer to Paul Simon, old singer-songwriter reliables like Jackson Browne (new acoustic album out), any permutation of Crosby/Stills/Nash/Young, Joni Mitchell, maybe Harry Chapin and even James Taylor might also be things to look at.
One good point made by renfrew is that the definition of 'folk' can be pretty broad. Spending some time on allmusic.com or even Amazon chasing links around and listening to samples is a fruitful exercise to help figure out what you personally mean by 'folk'.
However, I'll stump some of my personal favorites that I consider pretty folky, although they may not bear much resemblance to Paul Simon.
Leonard Cohen - his early work is about as 'folk' as you can get in terms of it's spare acoustic instrumentation and presentation. The material, however, is dark and somber and many say he can't sing. Not very Simon-like at all.
'Going Driftless' (a Greg Brown tribute album). This is a great introduction to the world of modern American female folk artists. Greg Brown is pretty highly regarded in the modern folk world, but he falls into the Leonard Cohen/Tom Waits school of vocal presentation. This album is a set of covers entirely by female artists which throws his work into a completely new light. Some big names here - Lucinda Williams, Ani DiFranco, Lucy Kaplansky, Gillian Welch, Eliza Gilkyson etc. IMHO a GREAT album.
Daniel Lanois - known more as a producer than an artist, his first two albums (Acadie and For the Beauty of Winona) are spectacularly good.
Springsteen - yeah, not really a folkie. However, 'Nebraska' and 'The Ghost of Tom Joad' are pure acoustic folk, and IMHO two of his very best albums.
Nick Drake. just go get the box set of his collected works. You need this whether you're a folkie or not.
For material closer to Paul Simon, old singer-songwriter reliables like Jackson Browne (new acoustic album out), any permutation of Crosby/Stills/Nash/Young, Joni Mitchell, maybe Harry Chapin and even James Taylor might also be things to look at.
dwk123 said:
I am a Stringbean fan and the only thing I use Nebraska for is to help me sleep. I am interested that someone considers this to be one of his best.
Now we're talking. Add Gordon Lightfoot, Todd Rundgren, Mamas and Papas, Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens, Eric Clapton, Greatful Dead, Van Morrison, Peter Paul and Mary, Donovan, Buffalo Springfield, Arlo Guthrie, Bruce Cockburn, Bread and The Band and you have a pretty decent mix. Well, I think so anyways, 'cause I just listed my albums 😀
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