Fairport Convention's Leige and Leaf
If you want to zero in on the point of collision between communally owned traditional songs and song-as-product rock music (i.e. the place where folk songs became pop songs), this is undoubtedly the place to start. With Liege and Leaf, Fairport Convention shed their identity as a folk-informed rock act and began to reinterpret age-old British folk songs, establishing themselves as part of a much older music-making tradition but retaining their appeal to rock audiences. Their epic psych rock rendition of "Tam Lin" encapsulates their aesthetic in a marvelous seven minute swirl.
Pearls Before Swine's One Nation Underground
When Will Oldham heard this '60s outsider rock act while participating in The Wire's "Invisible Jukebox" column in late 2003, he noted that they could easily pass for a contemporary band of loopy neo-folkies. If timelessness can be said to have been attained 40 years after the fact, then Pearls Before Swine are undoubtedly timeless.
Satwa's Satwa
This privately-pressed, recently reissued debut from a relatively obscure Brazilian acid folk act staggers through a druggy haze of ace guitar work. Six Organs of Admittance fans and incense burners should enjoy thoroughly.
Bert Jansch's Birthday Blues
Primarily admired for his virtuosic playing, this British guitarist could also pen a pretty charming pop song. This album features some of his most accessible work while still offering plenty of ammunition to shoot down the notion that stripped-down acoustic guitar-based songs can't be nuanced and multi-faceted.
Roy Harper's Stormcock
Yes, this is that Roy Harper -- the one Zeppy namechecks and the one who sang "Have a Cigar". He also palled around with a number of artists on this list, and recorded this hard-to-find but nonetheless essential album that explains where a great deal of III's ideas came from.
Simon Finn's Pass the Distance
This recently reissued gem gets my vote for the best of the list, and hell, maybe even one of the best underground pop albums ever. Finn's gnarled whine is equal parts Jeff Mangum and Jeremy Enigk, and like those tortured souls, religious imagery haunts his lyrics. His music, however, is an altogether different proposition, full of rambling, violent guitar strumming and trippy percussion, suggesting that substances may play as heavy a role in his art as spirit.
Terry Reid's The River
Neither all that folky nor particularly psychedelic, but still very subdued and plaintive, this is proto-Iron and Wine, if you will. Better known as the guy who turned down a chance to front Led Zeppelin, Reid made a slight departure from his more rocking earlier albums (which were basically 40 minute variations on the concepts behind Jeff Buckley's "Mojo Pin") and made a record that sounds, well, like a steady, calming river. Jazz drummer Willie Bobo's hand percussion really brings it into less rock-oriented waters.
The Incredible Sting Band's The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
Though this eclectic act is still going strong and touring today, this 1968 effort is still the best introduction to them. Rather than merely drawing from European and American traditions, the String Band looked to the Middle East for inspiration as well, adding a droney quality to their otherwise highly melodic sound.
Pentangle's Cruel Sister
This 1970 release from Bert Jansch's band truly defies categorization. Comprised of five reworked traditional songs, it takes the straightforward British folk stylings favored by Fairport Convention and Nick Drake and adds in a smidgeon of jazz and a starker, Celtic flavor.
Gilberto Gil and Jorge Ben's Gil e Jorge
Who ever said that Brazilian pop singers with acoustic guitars had to play bossa nova? These expansive folk jams defy any and all stereotypes about Brazil, acoustic music and the creative capacities of human beings in general. While it's probably more of a spiritual influence than a direct sonic influence on many recent artists, the album sounds remarkably fresh 20 years after its release, and is not to be missed.
The Sallyangie's Children of the Sun
A duo comprised of singer Sally Oldfield and her guitarist/future Tubular Bells composer brother Mike, The Sallyangie only released one album. It's available today as an expanded double CD, the first disc of which features the original recording, replete with Sally's whimsical voice and Renaissance Faire melodies. While these songs prove enjoyable in their own right after you acquire the taste for them, the bonus tracks may be the real draw, as they showcase Mike's skills as a guitar improviser and even capture him singing a nursery rhyme.
John Fahey's The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death
No list would be complete without the man who forever changed the way people will approach the acoustic guitar. A boundary-pusher and visionary until his death, Fahey's influence ranges from wanky jam circuit riders to avant garde composers, and it's certainly to pop music's benefit that his name has been surfacing more and more frequently in lists of influences over the last few years.
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