Garth Brooks - VH-1 Storytellers, New York City, 10-20-1996

I've previously said I'm not a Garth Brooks fan. But albums like this one are changing my mind. Brooks could have performed for the "VH-1 Storytellers" show with a full band, as most acts on the show did, but instead he decided to do it in a solo acoustic format. That completely gets rid of a slick country pop production that I don't like and that is all over his studio albums. What we're left with is a talented singer performing good songs, very much in a James Taylor mode that arguably sounds more folky than country. (Not surprisingly, he mentions in his banter here that Taylor is one of his biggest influences.) So if you don't like Brooks, or even country music in general, you may still like this.

It so happens I found an article from the Chicago Tribune reviewing the concert shortly after it happened. It includes a quote from Brooks about playing solo acoustic for it:

"It was definitely the first time since I got a deal in 1989 that I played this way. I was pretty much petrified. Oh man, I never get to play for 75 people. And you always have a band to hide behind. And you have lights and tricks to hide behind, so when your vocal is not there, I can laugh it off and say I was joking with somebody. But there wasn’t nobody but me and my guitar up there this time. ... Everybody should go through a show like this. I wasn’t too comfortable when it started, but by the end I was having a blast."

Keep in mind that Brooks was selling insane amounts of records at the time. For instance, his 1990 album "No Fences" sold 18 million copies, and his 1991 album "Ropin' the Wind" sold 14 million. So for him to perform for a mere 75 people was pretty wild. Kudos to him for doing this. Much later in his career, around 2010 to 2014, he did occasional solo acoustic shows in Las Vegas. But this may well be the only such show from the 1990s, when he was at the height of his fame. Even those later acoustic shows were for big audiences of many thousands, so this was quite a unique concert for him, I think.

By the way, I couldn't find the name of the exact venue this concert took place in, so if anyone knows, please let me know and I'll update this.

This album is 45 minutes long.

01 Papa Loved Mama [Incomplete] (Garth Brooks)
02 talk (Garth Brooks)
03 The River (Garth Brooks)
04 talk (Garth Brooks)
05 Sweet Baby James (Garth Brooks)
06 talk (Garth Brooks)
07 That Summer (Garth Brooks)
08 talk (Garth Brooks)
09 That Summer [Version 2] (Garth Brooks)
10 talk (Garth Brooks)
11 That Ol' Wind (Garth Brooks)
12 The Thunder Rolls (Garth Brooks)
13 talk (Garth Brooks)
14 Unanswered Prayers (Garth Brooks)
15 talk (Garth Brooks)
16 We Shall Be Free (Garth Brooks)
17 talk (Garth Brooks)
18 Much Too Young [To Feel This Damn Old] (Garth Brooks)
19 talk (Garth Brooks)
20 If Tomorrow Never Comes (Garth Brooks)
21 talk (Garth Brooks)
22 The Dance (Garth Brooks)

https://www.upload.ee/files/17168935/GARTHBRKS1996StrytllrsNwYrkC__10-20-1996_atse.zip.html

alternate link:

https://pixeldrain.com/u/dMQf9ska

The cover photo is from this exact concert. It was low-res at first, but I used the Krea AI program to upgrade it.