Retro Album 31 32 - Guitars, Guitars

I'm not sure how many guitarists have produced albums called Guitar or Guitars but I have two albums called Guitars in my collection.

The most obscure of these is Guitars by the Belgian guitarist Philip Catherine. This came out in 1975 and is a nine track Jazz album with songs mostly composed by Catherine himself. I was only aware of the album because it came out shortly before Catherine became guitarist for Dutch rock band Focus. In fact, this album includes the delightful Sneezing Bull later recorded by Focus and part of the largely disappointing Focus Con Proby album. Live versions are also about. It took a little while to get into but is an album I still listen to and is worth checking out. Catherine has had a long career. His web page is here.

Less obscure is Guitars by Mike Oldfield, which came out in 1999. This is a very enjoyable album in and of itself. What adds to that enjoyment is not only that Oldfield plays all the music on the album himself, as usual but that he also only uses guitars of various types (strummed, plucked, struck, sampled, etc.). The most remarkable usage is that of his Roland MIDI-equipped guitars, which he uses to trigger drum samples and produce string-like sounds. Guitars used include the following (as pictured on the accompanying packaging of the CD: José Ramírez Classical guitar
Fender Stratocaster, salmon pink (1962)
Martin O-45 Parlour Guita
PRS Custom 24 with Roland synth pickup
Fender Stratocaster, sunburst (1972)
PRS Custom 24
José Ramirez Flamenco guitar
Wal 4 string bass guitar
PRS McCarty Thinline