I suppose I got into Folk Music in two ways. I was introduced to it through the country Blues and I was simultaneously saturated with first Dylan and Donovan and then the sixties contemporary Folk scene.
I liked guitar playing and good lyrics. It brought both together.
This is a list of my favourites:
Woody Guthrie
Pete Seeger
Bob Dylan
Phil Ochs
Anne Briggs
Richard and Mimi Farina
Bert Jansch
Paul Simon
John Renbourn
Pentangle
Roy Harper
Jackson C Frank
Nick Drake
Al Stewart
Ralph McTell
Davy Graham
Stephan Grossman
John Fahey
Norma Waterson & Martin Carthy
John Martyn
Joni Mitchell
Buffy St Marie
Joan Baez
Leonard Cohen
Richard Thompson
Donovan
Peter La Farge
Huddie Ledbetter
Big Bill Broonzy
Tom Paxton
Townes Van Zandt
Arlo Guthrie
Sandy Denny
Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee
I agree with the previous posts which seem to have disappeared in that it was just a bit too mainstream a choice-list for me. I prefer slightly more left-field and I’ve listed them from as far as I can remember in a sort of when they first appeared order. Sort of being in the loosest sense.
Odetta
Cisco Houston
Hank Snow
Eric Anderson
Koerner, Ray & Glover
The Stanley Brothers
Fred Neil
Owen Hand
Hamish Imlach
Fairport Convention
David Ackles
Waylon Jennings
Karen Dalton
F.J. McMahon
Mike Hart
Steelye Span
Bridget St John
Linda Thomson
Claire Hamill
Michael Chapman
Eric Bogle
Lal & Mike Waterson
Ry Cooder
June Tabor
Wizz Jones
Johnny “Guitar” Hodge
Kate Rusby
Steve Ashley
Stan Benbow
Polly Bolton
Vashti Bunyan
Steve Tiltson
Duffy Power
Alasdair Roberts
Trembling Bells
The Unthanks
Ryley Walker
Richard Dawson
Jim Ghedi
Gwenifer Raymond
Bill Ryder-Jones
Although there’s a host of big names on your list and some more on mine, the absolute pinnacle out of any of them is without a doubt Karen Dalton. It’s doesn’t get more true-roots folk than her. Less is more.
Thank you for your list. Some very worthy names and interesting to see the differences. A number of these, including Karen, are in my collection.