The Total Guitar acoustic music timeline

Introduction

ACOUSTIC EXPO 2014: Here in 2014, with the dewy-eyed retro revival and the resurgent popularity of the singer/songwriter, its easy to forget that at one period - we’re looking at you, the 80s - playing acoustic guitar was about as cool as wearing socks with sandals.

Here we chart the key moments (and changing fortunes) of acoustic music, over the course of the last half century…

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1962

Davy Graham releases his instrumental, Anji, which becomes the most influential piece of folk guitar ever.

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1965

Folk’s favourite son, Bob Dylan, goes electric: judas!

1966

Bert Jansch releases his third album, Jack Orion, which includes the traditional song Blackwaterside in drop D tuning. This was later appropriated by Jimmy Page as Black Mountain Side on Led Zep’s 1969 debut.

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1970

Neil Young goes on his first solo acoustic tour in the US, and Cat Stevens releases Father And Son, inadvertently enabling Boyzone to destroy it 25 years later.

1972

Tuning experimentalist and exceptional fingerstyle player Nick Drake releases his final album before his death, Pink Moon, to minimal attention. It’s now seen as one of the finest British acoustic albums.

1974

John Martyn releases the classic album, Solid Air. The title track is a tribute to Drake.

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1974

James Blunt is born James Hillier Blount in Tidworth, Wiltshire. Moving swiftly on…

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1988

Poodle-haired rockers Poison release their own cowboy-chorded acoustic power ballad, Every Rose Has Its Thorn, after seeing how well Bon Jovi’s Dead Or Alive did. It’s rubbish, but we still find ourselves singing along when drunk, even now.

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1993

Nirvana film their MTV Unplugged session - a generation put down their electrics and pick up a dreadnought for five minutes.

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1994

The Man In Black is back; under Rick Rubin’s guidance, Johnny Cash finds his career rejuvenated with the first in a series of American Recordings that centre on Cash’s voice and a stripped-down, intimate acoustic sound.

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2000

David Gray’s fourth album, White Ladder is re-released, eventually selling seven million copies worldwide. It opens the door for the good, the bad and the bedwetters.

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2001

After gaining exposure within the surfing community, laid-back Hawaiian strummer Jack Johnson begins to make his crossover into the mainstream with debut album Brushfire Fairytales.

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2002

Damien Rice releases his debut O,containing the classic heart-on- sleeve ballads Cannonball and The Blower’s Daughter.

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2011

Ed Sheeran and his Little Martin get a No1 album with +. Combine that with Mumford & Sons going global, and the acoustic guitar is truly back in the mainstream.

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2012

Self-taught Devonshire songwriter Ben Howard sells out three consecutive nights at London’s Brixton Academy. Shortly after he goes on to win two Brit Awards.

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2013

Justin Bieber releases Believe Acoustic, including unplugged versions of songs from his third album, and ‘neo-soul’ ballad I Would. We wouldn’t.