The Collection [CD]

Long recognised as a true virtuoso of the acoustic guitar, and named by Acoustic Guitar magazine as one of the "15 Artists Of The Decade", Martin Simpson recorded three albums for Topic in the 1980s, 'Grinning In Your Face', 'Sad Or High Kicking' and 'True Dare Or Promise'. These three albums were an eclectic mix of traditional and composed numbers mainly reflecting Martin's love of American music. His acoustic readings of such classic as "Roving Gambler" and "The Keel Row" were set beside Bob Dylan's "Masters Of War" and an astounding instrumental take of Cat Steven's "First Cut Is The Deepest". This collection, now at mid price, assembles the best tracks from these Topic albums which established him as a guitarist and voice to be reckoned with. At the end of the decade Martin moved to the USA and spent the next decade there building a reputation as one of the world's great guitarists.He moved back to the UK at the beginning of the new millennium and has continued to new career heights winning the Best Musican Award of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards twice (2002 & 2004) and the Best Album Award in 2002. He is consistently one of Topic's best selling artists.