Kathi has mentioned that I am a major music lover and audiophile. I love rock n roll and like at least some music in every genera except opera. I appreciate the art of opera and hard core punk and rap but just can’t get into it. My collection of music contains everything from The Beatles to Jay-Z to Wagner to Doc Watson to Sigor Ros to Body Count to the soundtrack to Mary Poppins. Fairly eclectic don’t you think?
Some of the nurses here have been talking music and I’ve
been turned on to some new stuff my favorites being Bronze River Return, Cold
War Kids, Edward Sharpe, and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Amos Lee. When I visit someone in their home I always
seek out their music and book collection to see what they have. While I confess to sometimes judging them by
what I see my intent is to find out what we have in common and if there are
things in common what do they have that I don’t know of so I can discover new
artists and authors. I find it makes for
great conversation especially if they are a major music or literature fan. Same goes for movies as well but I’ll confine
this one to music.
For some reason I have the urge to point out and in part
defend the fact that I have some music that many of you would find offensive
and some songs that I have some difficulty with. Most prominent of those would be “Cop Killer”
by Ice T’s heavy metal band Body Count.
First of I was amazed when rapper Ice T started a heavy, very heavy,
band. Secondly practically every
character he’s played as an actor has been a cop. I do like the song in question. It is great for exercise and it suffers in
public perception for the same reason that does Pink Floyd’s “We Don’t Need No
Education”, there is an introductory portion that is never played with the
song. In this case the introduction
discusses the cops in question and, agree or not, it does make a case. I still don’t agree with killing any cop, or
anybody else but I also like Wagner and I’m not a Nazi.
The other song that comes to mind is Jay-Z’s “99
Problems”; “I got 99 problems but a bitch ain’t one”’ I know much of hip-hop
and rap is misogynistic but I always wonder what Beyoncé thinks about that
song.
With that as a background I’d like to give you my list of
top albums. The list started out to be
the top 20 but wound up being 44. They
are in an order of sorts but that order should be considered somewhat fluid. I find it difficult to compare bands/albums
because they can be so diverse.. For instance 1 and 2 are Pink Floyd’s “Dark
Side of the Moon” and 2 is The Beatles “Abby Road”. I can’t really put one above the other. Both are nearly perfect IMHO. Also the perfect album, or just about
anything you consider, depends on your mood at the time. So without further
ado………………..
DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
………Pink Floyd
Best served over headphones with the cocktail of your
choice.
ABBY ROAD……….The Beatles
By law, mine, side two must be listened to as one. It cannot be split up.
WHO’S NEXT……….The Who
Best straight up rock band and album
ever. When I had it on (eight track) in
the car my Dad claimed that he could hear me coming from a quarter mile
away. That’s probably not an exaggeration.
TARKIO ROAD……….Brewer and Shipley
You probably know “One Toke Over The
Line”. The rest of the album is much
better.
RUBBER SOUL……….The Beatles
Get
collection of songs you know just not where you know them from.
THE WHITE ALBUM……….The Beatles
It’s the
White Album for god’s sake. You should
have a copy.
AMERICAN IDIOT / 21ST CENTURY
BREAKDOWN……….Green Day
I list them together because they
are similar albums and both instant classics.
Love, love, love them both.
FLAG……….James Taylor
No
longer sweet baby James. Mature
songs. Please give it a listen.
IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY……….It’s A Beautiful Day
It’s a
beautiful album. (Sorry. Couldn’t resist.)
APOSTOPHE……….Frank Zappa
An excellent album to begin your
Zappa collection with and everyone should have a Zappa collection
KILLER
/ SCHOOLS OUT……….Alice Cooper
Classic Alice. The west side story section if marvelously
done.
THE
RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS……….David Bowie
Again this album should be in your
collection if your are any sort of rock n roll fan.
EXILE
ON MAINSTREAM……….Matchbox 20
Uncommonly good collection of pop
songs.
QUEEN
II……….Queen
Another law of music, mine. The opening sequence of the album must be
played at the maximum volume that you and your equipment can tolerate. In my case ear spliiting.
MAC
MACANALLY……….Mac MacAnally
He plays with Jimmy Buffet now.
Check out some of his stuff, escpcially the early albums.
MACHINE HEAD……….Deep Purple
Classic. Just plain classic.
LAYLA AND OTHER ASSORTED LOVE SONGS……….Derek and the
Dominos
Great album. Should be in your collection just for “Bell
Bottom Blues”. “Layla” is a bonus.
LOVE OVER GOLD……….Dire Straits
Worth if
“Telegraph Road” alone.
ELDORADO……….The Electric Light Orchestra
Marvelous
orchestral opening into a excellent sequence of songs.
TUMBLEWEED CONNECTION………..Elton John
Fabulous
start to a fabulous career, inspired by Leon Russel.
CLOSER TO HOME……….Grand Funk Railroad
My personal
favorite bu pretty much any GFR album would fit well on the list.
ROCKIN’ THE FILMORE……….Humble Pie
Excellent
live performance of great songs and jamming.
THICK AS A BRICK……….Jethro Tull
With an honorable mention to HEAVY
HORSES a very much unappreciated album.
ROCK
‘N ROLL JESUS……….Kid Rock
Proves
the kid can write great songs.
LED
ZEPPELIN……….Led Zeppelin IV
My favorite
from one of the best bands of all time.
LEON
LIVE……….Leon Russell
Best live album of all time period.
LOGGINS
& MESSINA……….Loggins & Messina
Music with a message delivered in a
most pleasant package.
WISH
YOU WERE HERE……….Pink Floyd
Gilmore takes over and the music
soars.
MUSICOLOGY……….Prince
Got it free at the concert. Never miss an opportunity to see him
live.
GRAFFITI
BRIDGE……….Prince
Could be DIAMONDS AND PEARLS. Both
great albums from a master craftsman.
EPIC
FOREST / SOMEBODY’S WATCHING……….Rare Bird
You probably don’t know them. You should.
BRIDGE
OVER TROUBLED Water……….Simon and Garfunkel
This one can still make me tear up.
GRACELAND……….Paul
Simon
Another instant classic. Check out Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s other
albums as well. MASTER HITS……….The Fifth Dimension
MASTER
HITS……….The Fifth Dimension
LIVE……….Steppenwolf
One of my favorite bands of all
time. I picked “Live” just because it was the first one I had. If you are a rock n roll fan you should at
least try a greatest hits album. You
know most of the songs already. My favorites are the things less played on the
radio. If you like the band then try
some of John Kay’s solo work. It leans
more toward a country sound but there are some great songs, especially on his
last solo endeavor.
COUNTDOWN
TO ECSTACY……….Steely Dan
For me the best of another great band.
SONGS
IN THE KEY OF LIFE………..Stevie Wonder
What can you say. It’s on everybody’s list of greatest album
and with good reason. You know all the
songs.
CRIME
OF THE CENTURY……….Supertramp
You know many of the songs but might
not remember who did them.
THE
ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND……….The Allman Brothers Band
Southern rock’s best at their best.
THE
CRANE WIFE……….The Decemberists
Another band you may not have heard
of. Eclectic group. Check them out.
PICKIN’
ON NASHVILLE……….The Kentucky Headhunters
A toe tapping good time. Got my copy from a guy that worked on the
album or I wouldn’t even know about it.
Just another good reason to live in Nashville.
TRES
HOMBRES……….ZZ Top
Great album worth inclusion here if
only for the slide transition into “Jesus Done Left Chicago”
HYMNS
TO THE SILENCE……….Van Morrison
Two discs of fantastic music from
the fantastic voice full of soul and feeling.
THE
LAST WALTZ……….The Band. The last
tour. What else need be said. Could be considered a greatest hits album but
just doesn’t have that feel about it to me.
OK the rest are greatest hits collections so I can’t in
good conscious call them a greatest album but you should still check them out.
GREATEST HITS……….Sly and the Family Stone
GLORY ROAD……….Neil Diamond
MASTER
HITS……….The Fifth Dimension
So that’s my list. If I did it again in a month or year I’m sure
there would be differences. I’d love to
hear what your favorites are. I love
music and always love learning about new bands or old bands that I missed so
please let me know some of your favorites. I’d especially like to hear from
some of you overseas as I know you are exposed to bands that are not common in
the states.
Boone
10 comments:
Well, I've been afraid of changing
'Cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I'm getting older too
And if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
well the landslide bring it down
God bless the child that can stand up and say "I got my own"
Every child's got to have his own
~
Thank you Mr. B from the bottom of my heart for all the music you've given me.
Thanks for the list. Your top 3 are easily in my top 10 if not top 5. Good stuff!
- B
I have to start by saying your love for music reminds me a lot of my own father. A trait that he passed on to all of his children. So I see that missing from your list is one of my favorites-The Black Crows Judging from the other albums you listed, I think you would enjoy them. Also Civil Twilight-they are a band from South Africa and have been making their name in the States in the last couple of years. I am more familiar with their first album-I absolutely love it. The Rolling Stones-another great classic. Plundered my Soul is a great song. And always don't forget to listen to some Rod Stewart.
Music is good for the soul-there is always something to listen to no matter our mood. When we need to laugh, cry, or just feel some emotion, there is a song for it.
I hope today is a good day for you.
It's been a long time since I've had as much fun as I had reading your favorite music. I have a crappy memory (too much fun in the 70's)and was eagerly shaking my head at the mention of some of them. I can remember a friend of mine had a chair shaped like an egg (very futuristic then) that had a sound system built into it. Pink Floyd, ELO, Queen...oh my...would race through your head from the speakers. Fun times. Frank Zappa...I laugh out loud thinking of the mood I was in when I would play his music. I would say that I have mellowed, and I have, since that time but it's probably because my albums are all in Atlanta, packed in a box, untouched for decades. But Dire Straits, Kid Rock, Prince are all on my playlist still and I thank God for Pandora. If I had to say my favorite musician it would be Mark Knopfler. We used to play a game of name who you would pick if you had to be stuck on a deserted island with someone, and I would pick him (only if he had his guitar). And when he paired with Emmylou Harris, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I love Van Morrison but I went to see him in concert and he disappointed like no other. I had at least fifty songs in my head that I wanted him to play and he didn't play a single one. Tupelo Honey, It Stoned Me, Into the Mystic, Crazy Love. My son took me to that concert a couple of years ago because he could remember me and my husband dancing to his albums and he said the next day that he felt like Van had slipped him two Xanax and robbed him of $400. Have you ever heard of The Avett Brothers? Kick Drum Heart is very good. I and Love and You is good too but quite mellow in comparison to your list. Bruce Springsteen is also high on my list. Tougher than the Rest, Drive all Night...mmmmm.
Have you ever read anything by John Irving? The World According to Garp, Hotel New Hampshire, A Prayer for Owen Meany, Cider House Rules??? I have tried to get everyone I have ever known to read A Prayer for Owen Meany and haven't found a single taker.
Anyway...thank you for entertaining me with your post. I know the state of your health is why everyone that cares about you comes to visit, but for someone like me, who doesn't know you, it has helped me see inside. You are very much more than someone with a disease. And may I say...someone that I would love to know better. I hope you have a good day.
To Kathi, it has been my great pleasure to have you to share music with all these years and I have always been amazed and honored that you consider Landslide as my song.
Anonymous, Black Crows and the Stones are in my collection I just couldn't come up with a complete album from either one (I don't have the Stones on my computer here to be sure. Same with Rod Stewart. Saw him live years ago.
Friend 'o Friend, love Dire Straits. Check out Knopfler's album that he did with Chet Atkins. Also LOVE John Irving's work, the man himself can be an asshat. Garp and Prayer for Owen are two if my favorite books of all time.
Thanks for all your suggestions. I'll check them out.
Boone
I just started reading your blog - Kathi told me about it. I really like hearing what's going on from your perspective. Keep healing. I gave Kathi a book to read, and I want you to read it too. It may bring some peace. Betsy
Asshat. That made me snort.
Oh, My Dear Boone, you do know how to give us food for thought, don't you? You and I touched on music briefly when you gave Kathi a break from taking care of "Daddy" and you assumed care for him. What a tender loving joyful thing you did. What pleasure it must have brought him to have a man look after his needs! You knew that the sounds of. "One Day at a Time" was ever present in my home then. Music! I think we live by the tempo which reflects us.
Can you or any of your friends even dream of what it must have been like to live in the Big Band Era? I did. At the peak of my becoming an individual. I find my chest swell with excitement even now at the thonght of that music. Boone, I lived through the Bing Crosby days until Frank Sanatra came along. Dare I say about the many nights young lovers sat in the car with the motor running and windows down so we could listen to the auto radio. Just a comfortong time without worries with my head on his shoulder listening as one to our soft music. Then along came the the likes of The Beattles and of course Elvis but that was when we had children in the house who kept the radios blaring from one room to the next. I went through all the WW!! music, some so sad and other Patriotic Marches.
I had my favorite music and thought it would always be the same, could not live without the top ten on Saturday Night' count down, but like everything that gets too big, along came ASCAP. I felt we were doomed to live without my favorites. For a while we did lose some which have never returned. But life has its ups and downs. Nothing remains the same. Of course I started my love affair with music as a Sunbeam i'e' "I'll be a Sunbeam for Jesus" and many of us attended church just to hear the hymns. Even "When The Saints go Marching in" was in my childhood memory long before The Saints chose it as their theme and I felt like they were desecrating our hymn as they turned it into a March. Yet, I can clap and keep time with the best of them now. I was a teen ager when Jitterbugging came out. What Fun! I'm laughing as I write. Unbelieveable! Later my oldest daughter won a Twist Contest in New Orleans. Well, what could I say, I had Jitterbugged and even now when a certain beat comes on, I cannot contain myself, I find myself dancing around the kitchen floor... In case you may have wondered why I cling to living at my own home as long as I can, where else can I jitterbug without having scornful glimpses cast my way?
But I remember that many of us learned to love the Lord through hymns and church music. A few years ago at my precious baby sister's funeral, the lady sang, "Take my hand, Precious Lord, Lead Me Home". That night, Mr Bobby told me that many of us gathered at Heaven's Gates but only one was taken in. He had never said anything philsophical to me before that but it was such a comfort at that particular time.
At this time I have Anne Murray on at full blast, other wise I could not hear her. Yes, I continue to do my own thing and you help me stay up from your hospital room. You reveal yourself which is heartwarming so save your music thoughts for dancing with your Swetheart. THAT TIME WILL COME!!!
Ah my dearest Stella you are becoming the Grand Dame of my life. I would have absolutely loved to have been born in the Rat Pack days. I caught just the tail end of it. Too young for Vegas. If I was 15 years older I believe I would have live there just to be a part of it. I have a couple of boxed sets of music and videos. I remember in one Dean Martin picks up Sammy Davis and carries up to the mike and says, "i'd like to thank the NAACP for this award". Cracks me up every time. Such great voices in that bunch. Thanks for reminding me.
I remember hearing you coming "from a quarter mile away". I agree, that’s probably was not an exaggeration.
-This was fun to read, I want the list to include which ones you have heard in concert.
Donor
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