OK so I am sitting here trying to think of what songs I’d like to learn next on the guitar. What songs do you like to hear with just a singer and his guitar? Do you play? What are your fave songs to play?
I will respond with a few later myself. Until then, inspire me…
Masters of War by Dylan
Boots of Spanish Leather by Dylan
Norwegian Wood by The Beatles
See that’s what I am talking about! Three songs I don’t know, but pro’lly should!
check out elliott smith
wow…I downloaded it…mighty hard to sing (for me)
…anything in particular?
The two songs Elliott Smith has on the Good Will Hunting soundtrack are quite pretty, in a melacholy sort of way. The titles are “Say Yes” and “Angeles”.
One of my friends does “Cocaine” (maybe I should rephrase that).
One of my friends plays the Jackson Browne version (not the JJ Cale via Clapton) of “Cocaine”.
A different friend plays “Seagull” by Bad Company.
Both are be pretty tasty. (The songs. I wouldn’t know about the friends, them being male and me being straight and all.)
The first guy is a really good guitarist, but learned the song pretty early on. The second guy has a great voice, especially for that song.
The first one also does another song, something about Oreo Cookie Blues, that is probably a real song, but not with the words he sings (different every time and usually not suitable for mixed company).
R.E.M.'s “Driver 8” is good on solo guitar.
Don’t be afraid to try stuff that might not sound that great on one guitar. Sometimes that makes the most striking impact. I, for instance, do Walking in Memphis. It took a while to get the right feel for the piano intro, and I had to drop it 3 or 4 half-steps to make it fit my vocal range, but it’s really cool, an nobody else (that I’ve ever heard) does it on solo acoustic.
So try crazy stuff, like…I dunno…Tusk by Fleetwood Mac, or something by Emerson, Lake and Palmer–don’t try to copy the keyboard parts, just get the chords, change the key and sing it. It might be cool to do some Green Day–again, not the acoustic stuff but rearrange the nasty punk tunes. Yeah, that’s it!
I’ve found that a lot of the songs from David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars work well acoustically. Not so much his later stuff like, say, Station to Station.
Back in the dim mists of antiquity, when I was first learning to operate a guitar, I enjoyed trying to emulate Josh White, both for technique and for song choice. His records ought to be available still. They were a neat hybrid of blues, folk, “jazz” and other styles. A favorite was his version of * Saint James Infirmary * which I can still do pretty much the way I learned it.
Richie Havens also had some funky tunes. Hard to get the fire he had, but the technique(s) still bring(s) chills to hear done well.
Also listen to some Gordon Lightfoot, Jim Croce, Kenny Rankin and Leo Kottke.
My favorite Kingston Trio song was/is Scotch and Soda.
I fundamentally agree with NoCoolUserName - play what you like and find what’s essential about the song and adapt that for acoustic guitar. That’s what I do - I make it a point to really listen to a song and extract what I think makes that song sound like, well, that song. Then I try to interpret it on my guitar.
Pride and Joy by SRV - if you play it the right way, which is very hard - sounds wonderful on acoustic
Tears of a Clown by Smokie Robinson is a great song to play, too.
What I Like About You by the Romantics gets me goin’
Is She Really Going Out with Him by Joe Jackson is fun.
Use Me by Bill Withers is a funked-up joy to play…
It’s all good…
God’s Own Drunk
sweet adeline is a lot of fun to play
‘Fire and Rain’ by James Taylor. 
This always moved me - then I read the story behind the lyrics and now I get emotional every time I hear it.
Pardon me - in case anyone wants to know the story:
[stoner]Duuude, can you like, play Stairway to Heaven, man? It’s like sooo totally awesome. [/stoner]
:rolleyes:
Seriously though: I remember hearing my brother practice for hours to get the opening lines of Over the Hills and Far Away by Led Zepplin down on his guitar. When he did, he was a bit more nimble with the frets.
If you want to adapt something, how about Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield. It’s a challenge and unique (to me anyway). The measures alternate 3/4 and 4/4 time.
Vlad/Igor
It would help to know a few things.
What types of music do you like? What types are you open to exploring? What types do you dislike?
What do you do with the guitar? Chords? Single-note picking? Both?
Are you primarily a singer, with guitar accomaniment; or mainly a guitarist who also sings?
What type of guitar – acoustic, electric, etc.?
Do you get into, or are you open to, songs with 10+ different chords? Less common chords (e.g. 6th, major 7th, diminished, 9th, etc.)?
Among my favorites are Since I Fell for You, Blues in the Night, If I Fell, Someday Soon, Can’t Help Falling, and Five O’Clock World. And that’s just scratching the surface.
“Farewell Angelina” and “Satisfied Mind” - Joan Baez
“Not a Pretty Girl” - Ani DiFranco*
“Aamu” - Värttinä
“Tu Bella” - Alessandra Belloni
“La Llorona” - Lila Downs
*who am I kidding, Ani plays those crazy acoustic guitar licks at supersonic speed, so fast and light you can’t even hear all the notes. I want to know what she strings her axe with.