Acoustic Oldies - The Seventies

Not in the summer of '69, but of 70, the largely acoustic quartet Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young toured from New York to L.A. and recorded a live album that would leave acoustic freaks of generations to come something to feed on. My favorite acoustic tracks from "Four Way Street" are:
Helplessly Hoping and Right Between the Eyes.

In 1971 The Who wrote a piece of Rock History with their album Who's Next, on which each song
(of the 9 songs featured on the original album) is a hit, as far as I'm concerned (but then, I'm biased since I grew up on it) and has a strong acoustic guitar (or piano) presence, but only Love Ain't for Keepin' could be considered a pure acoustic track.

Then there were the Rolling Stones whom I have even less in common with, ideologically, than the Beatles or CSN&Y, but left their imprint on our generation by an occasional acoustic gem like Angie.


In 1970 Neil Young produced his ground breaking album "After the Goldrush" featuring a great acoustic tune by the same title, and followed by the '72 record "Harvest" with acoustic titles like "Needle and the Damage Done," (one of the first "difficult" songs I taught myself on the guitar around the age of 15...)

Actually, before I got into all these more "progressive" acts (for back then, anyways), I was more into dudes like Albert Hammond, who put out an occasional acoustic track like "I'm a Train" or Gordon Lightfoot with great acoustic ballads like "Song for a Winter Night," "Cold on the Shoulder," "Circle of Steel" or his big hit "If You Could Read My Mind."

Acoustic Oldies Part 3 - The Sixties Continued

Then there was Bob Dylan, of whom we'll hear more in the 70s, with hits like "Masters of War," that have found new fame under the replay of the Vietnam fiasco called the Bush administration (continued in the Bush Administration Vol.2 - Barack Obama)...

The difference was - and what made the Sixties so special, is that folks like Barry McGuire were able to say in songs like "Eve of Destruction" what nowadays nobody wants to hear, even though the obvious fulfillment has drawn a lot closer since.

And talking about war and destruction, we've got to give John Lennon credit for being one of the furious voices against American warmongerism in the 60s, as with his famous "Give Peace a Chance" from '69.

By the slogan, "If you can believe your eyes and ears" The Mamas and the Papas" conquered much of the Hippie World with not only "California Dreaming," but also the acoustic ballad "Dream a Little Dream of Me."

Other acoustic hits from the 60s may be posted here at some later point in time, but let's move on the the 70s for now...

Acoustic Oldies - The Sixties, Chapter 1b: Acoustic Beatles Covers

One of the neatest things that ever happened for people who not only are Beatles fans, but also Acoustic music fans, is the sound track to the excellent movie "I Am Sam" (feat. Michelle Pfeiffer & Sean Penn).

Here are some of my favorites from it:

Backbird (Sarah McLachlan) - Possibly the best version in existence of that song.
Two of Us (Aimee Mann & Michael Penn)

check out our version of Two of Us

You've Got to Hide Your Love Away - Eddie Vedder - Not as cool as the original in my opinion, but probably the more popular one among those below 30

Here's my version


Other great acoustic Beatles covers:

I Will - Ben Taylor

Here, There & Everywhere - Kenny Loggins - I heard this version in Southern Spain in 1981 and have adopted it ever since...

More of our own acoustic Beatles covers:

Eleanor Rigby - TwinTip (live)

All You Need Is Love - TwinTip Probably falls in the category of "Almost Acoustic," but still my favorite version of this tune...

Acoustic Oldies - The Sixties, Chapter One: The Beatles

In the beginning there was the Fab Four, that is, if you're a child of the Sixties. If you happen to be a child of the 50s, there were probably a myriad of acoustic tunes from folks like Elvis, Hank Williams, The Everly Bros., etc., that won't be features here, but you may feel free to rave about on your own blog.

My life began in the 60s, and as that, with the Beatles.

Apart from being pioneers in all sorts of recording techniques, the Beatles also had some neat acoustic versions of songs.
Here are some of my favorites, followed by a handful of my favorite acoustic Beatles covers, including, perhaps, some of my own.


Yesterday - The original version of Yesterday is already an acoustic version. No electric instruments were used. Just an acoustic guitar, a strings arrangement (the real thing, no samples back in those days!), and the mesmerizing voice of "Sir" Paul McCartney.

Eleanor Rigby - There's not even a guitar on this one, just vocals and a string quartet.

Fool On the Hill - One of my old favorites from my times as a ten year old sitting in front of my record player: Piano, Vocs and a variety of woodwinds (flutes, etc.)

Norwegian Wood - Enter George Harrison, plus - probably for the first time in pop history, a sitar!

You've Got to Hide Your Love Away - Great cynical acoustic song by John Lennon. While I don't usually advocate cynicism, this one's special. But you only really dig this if you realize that we're living in a society that tells us to hide our love away.

Blackbird­ - ­ An acoustic classic that bedazzled picker and folk-freaks for 5 decades.

When I'm 64 - Another weird, howbeit strictly acoustic McCartney arrangement.

The Long and Winding Road - Another McCartney classic: Piano, string arrangement, plus the proably most popular voice of the 60s.

Two of Us

There are plenty other acoustic recordings by the Beatles such as the weird (but fab) "Piggies" or "Honey Pie," etc. but I'm limiting this list to my favorites only, although I might add a few others in the future.




P.S.: A note on the ideology of the Beatles: Many Christians stay clear of Beatles songs because of their obvious involvement in philosophies and spiritualities other than, if not opposed to Christianity, and perhaps rightly so. However, if you've grown up on these songs and didn't have much of a choice in the matter or didn't know about any of this stuff, you might include your musical upbringing in the category of Romans 8:28: all things working together for good to them that love God.
I have certainly heard worse music in the years that followed, including from supposedly Christian sources, and in my opinion, God can use anything. If he uses the Devil to accomplish his purpose (and believe me, He does - not the other way around), then He can certainly use the Beatles.

Definition of "Acoustic."

For starters, I would like to keep the number of titles that will be posted here limited to only those that were primarily recorded with acoustic instruments, such as acoustic guitars, natural sounding pianos, strings and other orchestral instruments, and of course, vocals, with the sole exception of the bass (since it's becoming more and more difficult to distinguish the sound of an electric bass from an acoustic bass), even if it's quite obvious that an electric bass has been used.

There will be a section entitled "Almost Acoustic" where an otherwise basically acoustic song will feature electronic drum loops or perhaps an occasional soft synth pad, etc.

All in all, the different categories will be:

1.) Acoustic Oldies - The best acoustic hits from the 60s through the 90s

2.) My Favorite Acoustic Songs - The best acoustic songs ever, according to my list

3.) My Favorite Acoustic Acts - Bands and Songwriters I like that have produced more than just a handful of acoustic songs

4.) Great Acoustic Versions - Great acoustic versions of big contemporary songs (there will be separately featured acoustic versions in the "Oldies" section.

5.) Almost Acoustic (As mentioned above)

6.) Great Acoustic Albums (Self-explanatory, I presume)

7.) Christian Acoustic (As a Christian, one of my main interests in creating this blog is to share with the world some of the best Christian acoustic songs and recordings that I listen to)

8.) Country - As a formerly active member of the international Country music scene I know that country music holds a lot of pleasant surprises for acoustic music lovers. Be ready to get rid of any prejudices!

9.) Acoustic Specials - Acoustic songs that wouldn't necessary rank among my favorites, but nonetheless noteworthy

10.) Infamous - Songs I wouldn't necessarily recommend but would have to be listed here in order to avoid offending .the fanatic acoustic freak.


Other sections might be added as the projects progresses or simply as defined by the labels assigned to the individual posts (such as "Folk," "Folk-Rock," "Acoustic Pop," "Acoustic Rock," etc).
Feel free to comment or write me about any acoustic song you would figure I must have forgotten or left out. My second purpose in creating this blog is to find others on a similar musical wavelength as mine, who might share some of the gems that I haven't found yet...

Welcome to Acoustic Heaven!

Some people like techno or death metal. Musical tastes differ. The way some folks like to eat stuff that others won't touch.
Me, call me old-fashioned, but I like good, old-fashioned hand-crafted music.
Since I have managed to fend for my survival by this means of producing and performing such hand-crafted music for 30 years - and becoming less successful by the year in a world ever more geared to techno-pop and cultural fast-food of close to zero nutrition value, I decided to start this blog where I will feature my acoustic treasures in hopes that I might meet others who perhaps share theirs, since high quality acoustic songs are rare pearls that need to be found.

I'll call this bloc "Acoustic Heaven." Not everybody goes to Heaven. Only folks who want to go there.
A lot of folks seem to be more attracted to the other place these days, on their highway to hell.

Well, for those relative few on this planet still attuned to an acoustic wavelength, and for whatever it is worth,
welcome to Acoustic Heaven!