ALBUMS I NEVER GET TIRED OF HEARING...
...there are so many; how could I pick only 20???
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I've been listening to records Forever. It's impossible to say which is my favorite, because there are so many different records for so many different moods. So, I've plunked down 20 of my favorites here, in No Order Of Preference. There are many more records by many more artists I haven't listed that I Absolutely Cannot Do Without. So How can I pick 20? I can't. But twenty of them are listed here. And hopefully I can cough up the resourcefulness to do quite a few more of these kinds of posts in the future. But for now, here are the first twenty 'desert island' albums that I've come up with. So far, that is...
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*"Machine Head" by Deep Purple. Contains the original version of "Smoke On The Water", but the entire album is just great all the way through. Most all of the songs feature great tradeoffs between Organ and Guitar, and it's one of the very best albums I Have Ever Heard. You can see "Machine Head's" cover in the photo at left. For those of you who may not know, a "Machine Head" is a term for the Tuning Pegs of a guitar. When it won't hold its tune anymore, it's time for new Machine Heads...
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*"Moontan" by Golden Earring; this is the album with "Radar Love", and the rest of the record is a fantastically creative and progressive piece o'music from start to finish. The two long tracks on side two, "Big Tree, Blue Sea" and "Are You Receiving Me" are just so cool.
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*"Abbey Road" by The Beatles. I like the song suite on side two, and the sheer heaviness of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)". Yeah, I can do without "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", but any album that contains "Something", "Here Comes The Sun" and "Come Together" on top of everything else has GOT to be great. And it is.
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*"Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd. I like this even better than "Dark Side Of The Moon". "Wish You Were Here" is so atmospheric and very richly recorded. Flying in the face of commerciality, Pink Floyd put together an extremly absorbing record here. I especially love the guitar work on "Shine On You Crazy Diamond".
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*"Wish You Were Here" by Badfinger. Due to management problems, the record company pulled this album after only a Month, and it's the best thing Badfinger ever recorded. And yes, I realize this has the same title as the Pink Floyd album. Different groups, same title...when I first heard this record, I thot it sounded like a mid-1970's version of "Abbey Road". And I still think so.
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*"Bitches Brew" by Miles Davis. An absorbing record full of some of the strangest jazz ever. I've had it in my collection for over 20 years, and I'm still trying to understand it. I recently found the re-mastered CD of the album...and it sounds better than ever. Davis and his mini-jazz-orchestra get funky and the whole thing is Experimental...an experiment that worked...I think...
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*"Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" by Sugarloaf. Except for the title track, the rest of the album was recorded a couple of years before "Don't Call Us" hit really big in 1975. That album didn't sell At All. So, the title track was added to the album, which makes it a great record...and boy, oh boy, can Jerry Corbetta ever play that organ.
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*"Of A Simple Man", by Lobo. Lobo's real name is Kent LaVoie, and he authored "Me and You and A Dog Named Boo" back in the early '70s. This is his second album, and it's loaded with really nice songs, and it rocks a bit too. He sings of The Road, about Lost Love, how his People on The Reservation Need Him, and in the end wonders if He Is True To Himself. Good stuff.
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*"Learning To Crawl" by The Pretenders. Chrissie Hynde, the group's singer and songwriter, snarls her way through some fantastic rock music. I wouldn't want to get on her bad side...she can rock as hard as any male rocker in any male rock band, and she proves it here. This album rocks with flavor. Not a bad song on it.
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*"Dog And Butterfly", by Heart. This is the best thing the Wilson sisters ever did. Plenty of variety on this album, from soft ballads to funky rockers, to flat-out-ultra-hard-rock. This is an album that Never will sound Old and dated. The beautiful soft pieces on this record make the loud cuts even louder, and this album Absolutely works on a whole lot of levels.
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*"All Things Must Pass" by George Harrison. This is a triple-record set, and the 3rd record contained some unsatisfying jams, but the other two records are packed with some of the most gorgeous songs ever committed to vinyl (and now CD)...I can't imagine life without this music. Also, the production of this album (by Phil Spector), is nothing short of fantastic.
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*London Town" by Wings. This later-period Wings album is one of the tastiest, variety-packed albums that Paul McCartney has ever made. The songs evoke an atmosphere of cultural diversity, the songs are imaginative, and this record Has No Dull Moments. Especially interesting is Paul's use of synthesizer throughout the record.
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*"Chicago V". This is the album that features the "Wood-Cut" photo, and contains "Saturday In The Park". It's a very sophisticated album, the brass soars and the band grooves; this is just about the most consistent album they ever made. You'll find fancy time signatures, inspired jamming, good songs, and great vocals virtually everywhere on this album.
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*"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" by Iron Butterfly. You've all heard about the title song; it's one of the earliest jam-type tracks I ever heard, but the real surprise is that the five songs on Side One are very good, too. " This is an album that rocks All The Way Through. If you like some melody thrown in while you rock, I guarantee you'll fall head over heels for this album.
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*"Forever Changes" by Love. The album only sold 30,000 copies, but has been regarded as a Cult Classic. Most albums that are described as such are usually Not Classics. But this one is; haunting melodies, imaginative lyrics, and an overall feeling of wistfulness. A Fascinating record. Rock records are seldom this good. A must listen, even if you don't like rock music.
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"Some Girls" by the Rolling Stones. This record is funny, outrageous, and it rocks. "Beast Of Burden" is one top-40 song I never got tired of hearing. You've got to figure that any record with a song titled "When The Whip Comes Down" is gonna be interesting. And it is. Very. The Stones were Bad boys all the way on this record. I think this is their last Really Inspired Album.
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"Tres Hombres" by ZZ Top. Terrific blues-rock, and hey, this album has a special place in my heart. I used to get drunk and listen to "La Grange" at weekend parties while I went to College. (And I still came away with a 3.17 GPA. Go figure.) "Tres Hombres" is a big ol' noisy platter of intense rock from this Lil' ol' Band From Texas. Any band that can rock and still tell you that Jesus Takes Care Of Business has just got to have something special going for them.
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*"Untitled" by Led Zeppelin...a painfully obvious choice, perhaps, since this contains "Stairway To Heaven", but that's not why I like it. Songs like "Misty Mountain Hop", "Rock And Roll", and especially "When The Levee Breaks", an old Memphis Minnie blues tune, Really Get Me Going. The acoustic songs contrast effectively with the loud cuts that'll Pound You Into The Ground.
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"Monolith" by Kansas. It contains spell-binding tracks such as "On The Other Side", "People Of The South Wind", and "A Glimpse Of Home" that sound almost Heavenly in their Brilliance. And "Reason To Be" closes the album soothingly. Kansas could make symphonic-type music, but under that, the guitars, drums, bass and keyboards are solid, all the way.
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"L.A. Woman" by The Doors. On this record, the Doors play funkier and jam more loosely than ever, and create more of that dark, moody feeling that only Jim Morrison could supply. "Riders On The Storm", "Texas Radio and the Big Beat", "The Changeling", "Love Her Madly" and "L'America" make this one of the most unique albums I've ever heard, and it gets better with age. My favorite Doors Album by far.
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If you want to find out more, just enter any album title/artist into a search engine and go from there. And there are more of these posts to come. After all, I didn't mention Grand Funk Railroad, or Black Sabbath, or Blue Oyster Cult, or Elton John, or Captain Beyond, or Ten Years After, or The Scorpions or Cheap Trick or The J. Geils Band, etc. etc.... But I had to start somewhere...so, happy listening...see ya on the Flip Side...