The Kinks:

Greatest Hits:(1966)

Greatest Hits:(1971)

While so many bands in the 1960s tried to sound like some versions of the Beatles or The Stones, there were a contingent of bands that truly had an original voice, and none was more original than the Kinks. From slashed speakers bring us some of the first distorted guitar tones, to verbal and physical fights within the band, they couldn't have been more Rock'n'Roll. To top it all off you have an amazing songwriter like Ray Davies fronting the whole outfit. While I don't have it on vinyl, my favorite Kinks song is Apeman, so I'm going to go ahead and leave it here...

The Kingston Trio:

The Kingston Trio:(1958)

Holding their hit version of Tom Dooley, here's the Kingston Trio's debut album. Oh the folk revival, when white college kids set out to sterilize traditional songs with squeaky clean images, and overly polished voices. The Kingston Trio were top of their class. Yes, I own this album.

Carole King:

Tapestry:(1971)

I'm torn on this album. About what? Well... I like a lot of classic songs Carole King has written, and I think her mark on popular music is unmistakable. But, then there are songs I just can't stand. I'm looking at you I Feel The Earth Move. That same dichotomy runs through this album for me. I also feel that this album, like so many singer/songwriter albums of the 70's, suffers from a schmaltz factor that is pretty high. In any case, I do own this album, and occasionally break it out, and cherry pick through the songs.

B.B. King:

Indianola Mississippi Seeds:(1970)

This is the only B.B. King album I own on vinyl. Well, actually I have two copies of this record, and I have various other albums of his on cassettes, and CDs. But this is the only album on vinyl, because, this is my favorite B.B. King album of all time. From the fantastic cover art to the dense production featuring musicians like Russ Kunkel, Carole King, Joe Walsh, and the great Leon Russell. It's also on this album that B.B. delivers a stirring rendition of Leon's song Hummingbird. 

I first read about this album, and saw the cover, in B.B.'s autobiography, Blues All Around Me, an excellent read by the way that I undertook at about fifteen. I started hunting for a copy of this record, finally coming across it at a thrift store for a quarter. To me this album has a magic to it that always brings me up in spirit. 

Albert King:

Live Wire/Blues Power:(1968)

Lovejoy:(1971)

Truckload of Lovin':(1976)

The power of Albert King can not be denied. His guitar playing was forceful, as though he was channeling all 6' 7" of his body through his strings. My first encounter with an Albert King recording was at about fourteen. There was a Gibson's discount store near us that sold lots of cassettes. I would read guitar player magazine or Rolling Stone, and every time a musician I admired would mention one of their heroes, I'd scour Gibson's to see if they had anything by that artist. That's how I happened to find a badly reproduced cassette of Born Under A Bad Sign, clearly not licensed. I think I paid $1.99 for it, but it was good enough that I could pick up on what everyone was talking about in regards to this blues slinging guitarist named King.  

Joy Division:

Unknown Pleasures:(1979)

Closer:(1980)

I love both of these records. They seem to come out of nowhere, possibly from some other realm. They sounded new, still sound new. And like a lot of new things, they burned bright, and flickered out with the death of Ian Curtis. I discovered Joy Division by way of U2. Hearing them cite Joy Division as a big influence made he dig back to find their records, which weren't widely repressed at the time. Like a lot of post punk, this isn't casual listening music, it demands your attention, and for me, it demands that I be alone to truly devote the attention required. Unlike most post punk, their is a real humanness to the writing of Ian Curtis that is sadly relatable. His was a great loss. It's also worth mentioning that it was through Joy Division that I began to really take notice of the photographic artistry of Anton Corbijn.

Stanley Jordan:

Touch Sensitive:(1982)

My parents bought this album at the World's Fair in Knoxville, TN in 1982. I was two, and was in need of a nap. So they found a tree near a small stage where a man was playing solo guitar, and selling his first record out of a cardboard box. Obviously, that man was Stanley Jordan, and he graciously autographed the album for my folks. Now, jazz guitar is a tricky thing for me, because there is a very fine line between cool, and sterile tedious musical masturbation. This album hovers near that line, but doesn't quite cross it. I find it to be a pleasant Sunday morning kind of album. But, maybe it was engrained in me from long ago sleeping under a tree.