Folk Songs About Guitar Players

More about the guitarists than the guitars themselves.

[list compiled by Susan Forbes-Hansen]
Songs about  guitarists:  
Arlon  Bennett, He Sings (The Watch Man) 
Chuck Berry,  Johnny B. Goode 
Johnny Cash  (also Rosanne Cash), Tennessee Flat Top Box 
Cephas &  Wiggins: Guitar Man  
Bill  Chambers, The Stories We Could Tell (Sleeping with The  Blues) 
Crabtree  & Mills, I Told You (Freedom) 
Pat Donohue,  Stealing from Chet  
Pat Donohue,  Would You Like to Play the Guitar 
Beppe  Gambetta: 1000 Flatpickers at the Court of King Norman (Slade  Stomp 
Eliza  Gilkyson: Beauty Way  
Steve  Gillette & Cindy Mangsen: song re Gamble Rogers 
The Judds,  Girls with Guitars  
Si Kahn, To  Hear Doc Watson Play (Thanksgiving) 
Jorma  Kaukonen: Preacher Picked The Guitar (Stars In My Crown)  
Lori  Lieberman, Killing Me Softly 
Lovin’  Spoonful or Del McCoury: Nashville Cats 
Joel Mabus,  Doc’sology (Omnibus) 
David  Matheson, Girls with Guitars (Cedartown)  
David  McGuire, It’s Enough to Sing A Love Song 
Liz Meyer,  Cecil (Regions of the Soul) 
Zoe Mulford,  All the Songs Were Road Songs  
John  Sebastian or Dan Crary, The Stories We Could Tell 
Paul Simon,  Jonah (One Trick Pony) 
John Stewart,  Some Lonesome Picker 
Hank Williams  Jr: 127 Rose Avenue (127 Rose Avenue) 
Bob Zentz,  Picker, Veteran's Auction Hall etc (Ramblin Conrad) & Someone 
Else’s Songs  (Mirrors & Changes) 
==== 
Songs about  singers who play guitar 
Alastair  Moock, Woody’s Lament 
Tom Paxton,  Did You Hear John Hurt 
Jack  Williams, A Natural Man 
==== 
Songs about  guitars etc.:  
Caroline  Aiken, My There For Me Guitar 
The Ashley  Gang, Frank’s Guitar  
Beatles,  While My Guitar Gently Weeps  
Arlon  Bennett, Small Body Blonde (Summers Voice 
Theodore  Bikel, Mi Guitar et Moi  
Norman Blake,  Thank You Mr. Martin  
Greg Brown,  Kate’s Guitar 
Kate  Campbell, Yellow Guitar  
Peter Case,  Steel Strings 
Guy Clark,  Black Diamond Strings  
Guy Clark,  The Guitar 
Brad Davis, I  Love My Guitar (I’m Not Gonna Let My Blues Bring Me Down)  
Richard  Dobson, A Piece of Wood and Steel (also covered by Jubal Lee Young 
and David  Allen Coe)  
Beppe  Gaambetta, Madame Guitar (Rendez-vous 
The Gibson  Brothers, Vern's Guitar (Bona Fide) 
Steve  Gillette, La Guitarra  
John Hiatt,  Perfectly Good Guitar  
Rita Hosking,  Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar (Silver Stream)  
Cisco  Houston, Talking Guitar Blues 
Dana Hubbard,  Woody’s Guitar 
Jim Hurst,  This Old Guitar (Open Window) 
Jayhawks,  Miss Williams’ Guitar 
Jorma  Kaukonen, More Than My Old Guitar (River of Time)  
Steve Key,  First Guitar 
Bill Kirchen,  Hammer Of The Honky-Tonk Gods  
Jimmy LaFave,  Woody Guthrie 
Laurie Lewis  & Kathy Kallick, Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar  (Together 
Sarah  McQuaid, Last Song (I Won’t Go Home Til Morning) 
Faith Petric,  Let Me Bring My Guitar to Heaven Too (When Did We Have  
Sauerkraut?) 
Tony Rice, Me  and My Guitar (Me and My Guitar  
Darrell  Scott, Hummingbird (there are several guitar-songs with “
Hummingbird” in the  title)  
Christopher  Shaw, Dad’s Old Flattop Guitar 
Fred Smith,  Blue Guitar  
Jan Smith,  Woman Your Guitar (29 Dances) 
Michael  Smith, Gamble's Guitar  
Rick Speyer,  The Ballad of Martin and Gibson 
Daithi  Sproule, "David's Guitar" (The Crow In The Sun  
Ralph  Stanley, If This Old Guitar Could Talk (This One Is Two)  
Ray Stevens,  Guitarzan 
Al Stewart,  Almost Lucy 
Hans  Theessink, Big Bill's Guitar (Solo)  
Bob Warren or  Joan Crane, Me and  My  Guitar 
Doc Watson,  Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar (Black Mountain Rag) 
Cheryl  Wheeler, Mrs. Pinocci's Guitar  
Robin &  Linda Williams, Maybelle's Guitar and Monroe's Mandolin  
Jesse  Winchester, I Turn To My Guitar (Love Filling Station)  
The Year That Clayton Delaney Died (Tom T. Hall)
==== 
Songs for  which I either wasn’t given the artists’ names or I somehow 
deleted  them: 
Guitarman 
Best Guitar  Picker 
=
Loudon Wainwright III: "Red Guitar"
Jimmie Rodgers or Jorma Kaukonen: "You and My Old Guitar" (not the same as "More Than My Old Guitar", although they'd make a dandy set)
Norman Blake "Church Street Blues"
Bob Dylan "Blind Willie McTell"

Additional song suggestions? Email Richard Gillmann


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