Stuart Ryan delves deeply into a form of music that largely emanates from the late 1960s into the 70s. Here he examines eight of folk-rock’s big players from Richard Thompson to Jimmy Page.
The British folk scene of the 1960s and 70s is sometimes maligned, but dig in and you’ll find some of the most creative and awe-inspiring guitar playing of those decades. For sure the musicianship and guitar abilities uncover hard-hitting riffs, odd-time signatures, ornate single-line playing, altered tunings and deft fingerpicking.
In this feature we’ll explore the styles of the folk masters, each of whom had their own distinctive approach to the instrument. There’s the consummate folk master Martin Carthy who was intimately connected to the British folk heritage of centuries gone by - aheritage he updated through his work with Steeleye Span. Acoustic masters John Renbourn and Bert Jansch teamed up in Pentangle to fuse their blues, jazz, folk and renaissance influences to create a fascinating melting pot of styles. Folk legend Richard Thompson shaped the sound of folk-rock pioneers Fairport Convention prior to finding success as a solo artist. John Martyn created a folk-rock fusion through his combination of blues, jazz and traditional folk playing, all modernised through his use of the Echoplex delay and altered tunings.
Martin Barre brought a heavier, bluesy sound to folk-rock through his playing with Jethro Tull and is still an influence today - check out Joe Bonamassa’s cover of Tull’s A New Day Yesterday, for example. Then there’s altered tuning master Nick Drake whose songwriting has extraordinary depth and still sounds contemporary now. And finally, Jimmy Page needs no introduction but listen carefully to his acoustic playing with Led Zeppelin and you will hear a masterclass in folk guitar playing with Jimmy’s ever-present Bert Jansch and Davey Graham influence.
Folk-rock can be a challenging style owing to all the different styles and approaches inherent to the music, so in this feature you’ll find odd time signatur
