50 Favorites 1966-1976

[zyzyly]

I was looking through my albums last night, partially for something to listen to, and partially to see if I was ready to get rid of some of them. I have about 1500 vinyl albums and another 500 or so CDs, all stuffed in a closet in my retreat room. I've been dragging around most of the vinyl since the 70s, and there are albums I probably haven't listened to for over 20 years.

Some of them I still listen to fairly often. Most of these I have on CD, but every once in a while I fire up the turntable to listen to them as they were meant to be heard. Sometimes I'll pull one out that I haven't listened to for a long time, and either rediscover a dusty jewel, or wonder how I could have ever listened to such crap in the first place.

Anyway, as I looked through them, I began to make a mental list of the ones I considered my favorites--the ones I'd always keep. To make it interesting, I decided to limit the list to a (roughly) particular time period--1966-1976, and allow only one record per artist or group.

Many of these have special significance for me. Some awaken memories of days long since past. Others evoke a strong emotional response. Some just kick ass.

Life without music--it's unthinkable.


In not quite alphabetical order:

Aerosmith: Get Your Wings
Al Stewart: Past, Present and Future
Allman Brothers: Live at Filmore East
Beatles: White Album
Blind Faith: Blind Faith
Blue Oyster Cult: Agents of Fortune
Bob Dylan: Blood on the Tracks
Bruce Springsteen: Darkness on the Edge of Town
Buffalo Springfield: Again
Captain Beyond: Captain Beyond
Cat Stevens: Tea for the Tillerman
Cream: Wheels of Fire
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: 4 Way Street
David Crosby and Graham Nash: Wind on the Water
Deep Purple: Made in Japan
Eagles: Hotel California
Elton John: Madman Across the Water
Fleetwood Mac: Rumors
Peter Frampton: Frampton Comes Alive
Frank Zappa: Apostrophe
Jackson Browne: The Pretender
James Taylor: Sweet Baby James
Jeff Beck: Truth
Jefferson Airplane: Volunteeers
Jefferson Starship: Dragonfly
Jesse Colin Young: Soul of a City Boy
Jethro Tull: Thick as a Brick
Jimi Hendrix: Electric Ladyland
Joni Mitchell: Blue
Journey: Journey
King Crimson: In the Court of the Crimson King
Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti
Lou Reed: Rock N Roll Animal
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Second Helping
Neil Young: Harvest
Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here
Queen: A Night at the Opera
Robin Trower: Bridge of Sighs
Rolling Stones: Sticky Fingers
Santana: Santana
Simon and Garfunkel: Bookends
Spirit: Feedback
Spooky Tooth: The Mirror
Steely Dan: Can't Buy a Thrill
The Doors: The Doors
The Who: Quadrophenia
Traffic: The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys
Van Halen: Van Halen
Wishbone Ash: Live Dates
ZZ Top: Tejas

Comments

[bigpancakes.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I know just enough about this selection of artists and albums to know that this is a wonderful wonderful list. You can be the head DJ at my sekrit pirate radio station any day.

A fun exercise is to listen to all of your records in alphabetical order, listening to nothing out of turn. I tried it last summer with our paltry collection of 400 CDs last summer, and didn't get past the Ds. Some friends of ours (pipu and seanthesean) did the same when I started, except their collection is more the size of yours. I don't think they made it super-far either. Nonetheless, it's a fun thing to do.

I aspire to that kind of quantity in my record collection. And I would probably have 100-150 more presently except that my budget has always required that I fuel a significant portion of my purchases by culling out deadwood from my collection and taking it in for trade credit. More recently, though, skilled use of "12 CDs for a penny" deals have allowed some real expansion in the "classic recordings I have ignored all my life" department. My next step is to break free of my dependence on "Greatest Hits" compilations and start doing the research necessary to buy actual albums.

[suifu.livejournal.com]

Definitely some classics listed here. Some of my favorites are listed, but I must say that my favorite Jefferson Airplane production was Bless It's Pointed Little Head. I saw Wishbone Ash in a little club in Houston around 1973 (I think). Great musicians. And who could forget St. Alphonso's Pancake Breakfast? :)

[ineedcoffee.livejournal.com]

oooooooh!

lots of my favorites in there too! Damn if I wasn't born 20 years too late!

What are you going to do with your "discard" pile? You can't possibly throw them out!