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Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 24, 2024 9:58:32 GMT -5
John Lennon- John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (December 1970) I'm not sure I've ever actually listened to this album. I'll have to try to carve out time for it. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 24, 2024 9:59:09 GMT -5
Feel like I may have tipped my hand a bit for next year when we talk about favorite albums of 1965.
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Post by berkley on Oct 24, 2024 10:37:33 GMT -5
3. The Who - Quadrophenia
This came out in 1973 so it was a big album for me in 1974. My first Who album, an the one that made me go back and get their earlier records, starting with Who's Next, then Tommy, and more or less working backwards through their chronology.
But as the first, this one will probably always be the most special for me. I was fascinated not only by the music but the story told through the music and in the prose text in the liner notes which I still think is quite a well-written short story in itself and wouldn't be out of place in any literary anthology. Much of it was over my head, of course, and even though I could understand some of the basic sense of what was going on from the context, it was really the overall feeling of alienation and depression that communicated itself to me - which makes it sound as if listening to the album should have been a drag but it wasn't: paradoxically, it was exhilirating rather than depressing.
As samples I'll go with two tracks that I remember being especially struck by:
I'm One:
and the title track, a sort of instrumental overture, though it isn't actually the first song on the album:
edit: As more memories come back, this album really became something of an obsession with me for a while. I recall the story reminded me a little of the ambience of a Frank O'Connor story we had to do in school, Christmas Morning. Not the details or setting or characters (Christmas Morning has to do with a much younger child, for example), just something about the realness of it.
I've never seen the movie version - not through any deliberate determination not to sully my own feelings with someone else's interpretation of a beloved work, but just because I missed it at the time and have never felt motivated to seek it out since. Maybe I'll give it a try someday.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Oct 24, 2024 10:59:28 GMT -5
#2 - Greatest Hits by Bob Dylan (1967)  The first song I ever learned to play on guitar was Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind". I received a cheap acoustic guitar for my 15th birthday in 1987 and my dad, who had been in a short-lived rock 'n' roll band in his youth, had a bunch of folk music books for guitar that he got down from the loft for me. Trouble was, I didn't know any of the folk songs in these books. There was a Bob Dylan chord book there too and, although I'd heard of him, I didn't know any of his songs either! "Blowin' in the Wind" was the first song in the book and the words really intrigued me. So, I stopped into a record shop on the way home from school one day and bought Dylan's first Greatest Hits album, which included that song. This is the UK variation of the album, by the way, which differs slightly in its song selection to its U.S. counterpart. Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits opened up a whole world for me. Not only was it my first introduction to Dylan's music, but it was also my introduction to topical protest songs, folk-rock music, and the utter poetic genius of Dylan's lyrics. I managed to learn "Blowin' in the Wind" pretty quickly and while I enjoyed playing it, there were other songs on this album like "It Ain't Me Babe", "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue", "Subterranean Homesick Blues", and "Like a Rolling Stone" that absolutely blew my young mind. Soon, I was able to do a pretty reasonable rendition of a number of tracks from this album. This is just one of those seminal albums for me. Obviously, I'm a big Dylan fan today, but this album's impact goes way beyond that. This album represents a watershed moment in my personal development; by prompting me to learn to play guitar, it might be the single most influential album I've ever owned in terms of how it has affected the trajectory of my life and career. Here's the simply incredible "Subterranean Homesick Blues", which might just be Dylan's greatest songs of all…
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 24, 2024 11:54:58 GMT -5
A bit of a "There; I said it!" for music. "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" is an essay on a complete failure of a relationship and is hardly romantic. This guy is "tired of his lady," they've fallen into the same "old, dull routine." In other words, they don't communicate and he can't be bothered to even try to do something spontaneous to liven things up. Couldn't discuss his feelings with her and his regard is pretty well summed up by "my old lady." How flattering!
So, he decides to have an affair and looks at personal ads (the forum for adulterers, before dating sites) and finds one that sounds promising. He meets the person and finds out it is his partner, who was looking to fool around on him, because he is such a prize that she can't be bothered to tell him it isn't working. They laugh and we are supposed to believe everything will be perfect now.
Bollox! The first thing that will happen is that they will start arguing about the other looking to fool around and their inability to communicate will continue and it will probably turn pretty nasty, because of this.
Next time: "Which is the scarier stalker song; Tommy Tutone's '867-5309 (Jenny)' or Blondie's 'One Way or Another'?" You be the judge!
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 24, 2024 12:35:07 GMT -5
Little Milton's first album, We're Gonna Make It is just outstanding.
Great fusion of electric blues and soul.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Oct 24, 2024 13:17:29 GMT -5
John Lennon- John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (December 1970) This is a fantastic album. Viceral, honest, harrowingly painful at times, but ultimately life affirming. I sort of oscillate between this and Imagine as my choice of favourite John Lennon album. It probably depends on what mood I'm in. #1 Golden Hits by Roger Miller (Smash 1965) We've talked about Roger Miller before, when we were doing our 1964 run downs. I really only know "King of the Road" by him (which I assume is on this album), and I'm guilty of tending to view him as a bit of a novelty act, I'm afraid. I like the sound of his music and voice fine, but I'm not likely going to seek his albums out. |
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Oct 24, 2024 14:13:30 GMT -5
Feel like I may have tipped my hand a bit for next year when we talk about favorite albums of 1965. You mean those 4 Sammi albums? Oh, I can attest, in NYC on the AM radio stations circa 1964-1966, Roger Miller was a constant presence on the charts Stalker Songs- Got to include The Police "Every Breathe You Take" Sorry I missed the 1964 countdown. Looking forward to 1965 If you recall when this thread started, I did a real in depth look at 1967, the music and changing industry tech and what have you. Worked on it for months of posts but about half way thru the year I got sidelined and never returned to it. Ah well, I don't think I'll be able to pick up the pieces and finish that one off but at least half that year is done Dylan- I also started off owning the Greatest Hits Vol 1 album but it wasn't long after I got all his original 60's LPs. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 24, 2024 14:16:08 GMT -5
Feel like I may have tipped my hand a bit for next year when we talk about favorite albums of 1965. You mean those 4 Sammi albums? Oh, I can attest, in NYC on the AM radio stations circa 1964-1966, Roger Miller was a constant presence on the charts Stalker Songs- Got to include The Police "Every Breathe You Take" Sorry I missed the 1964 countdown. Looking forward to 1965 If you recall when this thread started, I did a real in depth look at 1967, the music and changing industry tech and what have you. Worked on it for months of posts but about half way thru the year I got sidelined and never returned to it. Ah well, I don't think I'll be able to pick up the pieces and finish that one off but at least half that year is done Dylan- I also started off owning the Greatest Hits Vol 1 album but it wasn't long after I got all his original 60's LPs. Sammy likely will finish slightly outside the top 10. But honestly, every one of those is a solid vocal jazz/pop album. And there's still an outside chance that the one he did with Count Basie finds its way in. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 24, 2024 14:44:45 GMT -5
John Lennon- John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (December 1970) This is a fantastic album. Viceral, honest, harrowingly painful at times, but ultimately life affirming. I sort of oscillate between this and Imagine as my choice of favourite John Lennon album. It probably depends on what mood I'm in. #1 Golden Hits by Roger Miller (Smash 1965) We've talked about Roger Miller before, when we were doing our 1964 run downs. I really only know "King of the Road" by him (which I assume is on this album), and I'm guilty of tending to view him as a bit of a novelty act, I'm afraid. I like the sound of his music and voice fine, but I'm not likely going to seek his albums out. You've never heard "England Swings?" Also the narrator and voice for Alan A Dale, in Disney's Robin Hood. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 24, 2024 17:14:02 GMT -5
3. The Who - QuadropheniaOnce again, I'll have to fill in the explanation later to night. Even when I was at the height of my rock listening I was only lukewarm on The Who. I wouldn't turn them off if they came on, but I never owned any of their albums. #2 - Greatest Hits by Bob Dylan (1967) I feel we've talked about Dylan. He's a very talented song-writer, but I have near zero interest in listening to him perform. |
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Oct 24, 2024 19:12:32 GMT -5
Final Influential Album For Me The Allman Brothers- At Fillmore East (July 1971)Double LP live concert recorded in March. All these years later after listening to so many live albums, I'd have to say this is my all time favorite. The band at it's peak with Duane Allman alive and brother Gregg functional. The guitar interplay between Duane & Dickie Betts is topnotch. The soulfulness in Gregg's vocals is perfect. A mixture of classic blues and original songs. Some great long jams that do not falter. The original released album runs about 76 minutes, nothing wasted, all essential. Some left over songs from the set wound up on their next album Eat A Peach and longer deluxe versions have come out as the years went by. I already had an appreciation for blues rock before this came out (Clapton, Bloomfield, Hendrix etc.) This album took it to another level  As a sample, I chose one of the shorter tunes, an original |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Oct 24, 2024 20:36:45 GMT -5
The Allman Brothers- At Fillmore East (July 1971) A superb live album. I love the Allmans -- especially during their first run from 1969 to 1976. Just a brilliant, brilliant band. |
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Post by Farrar on Oct 24, 2024 20:45:29 GMT -5
John Lennon- John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (December 1970) ...I chose "Mother" the opening album cut as the album sampler. I remember hearing the Mother single one evening on the radio...and then for some reason I never heard it again until I was much older. For years I thought I had imagined (pun intended, I guess) the song! |
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Post by berkley on Oct 25, 2024 0:48:38 GMT -5
John Lennon- John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (December 1970) Recorded 2 months after the official breakup of The Beatles . I had never heard anything like this album up to this time no one has equaled it since. Especially coming from someone who was already world famous for many years and watched him for close to a decade evolve. Lennon does not hesitate to reveal all his fears and anxieties, insecurities, deep love for his wife. He's brutally honest, his childhood background is painful. He was undergoing psychological "pain therapy" before the recording of this album and it's used for chilling effect The music is sparse but raw and effectively makes his lyrics and vocal delivery totally up front. "Working Class Hero" and "God" are 2 of it's most well known songs. I chose "Mother" the opening album cut as the album sampler. This is yet another famous album that I don't really know - though I do have a cd of it, which you have now inspired me to dig out and listen to, once I get through my own last few picks (which has turned out to require more re-listening than I had anticipated).
I do know this track, though I didn't hear it myself until the compilation Shaved Fish came out in 1975 - another of my older brother's albums. It's a really powerful song, especially if the listener has heard a little about Lennon's childhood and upbringing, as you say. I remember reading an interview with Lou Reed (I think in Crawdaddy) around that time, the mid-70s in which he said that he found it so disturbing when he first heard it that it made him angry. Interesting to compare it with Julia, from the White Album.
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