Peter, Paul and Mary:

In The Wind:(1963)

Album:(1966)

Quintessential 1960s folk, that's what Peter, Paul and Mary had on full display. Both of these albums were my Mom's. In fact I have two copies of the Album album because my mom nearly wore one out, and my Dad decided to buy her another Peter Paul and Mary album, but forgot which ones mom already had, and end up buying replacement. I had the opportunity to sing with Peter Yarrow once. It wasn't the most pleasant experience. He seemed very self righteous in the way a lot of "folk singers" do. After all, they know what's best for everyone.  

It was a song off the Album album that my mom used to sing to me at night, so I have a sentimental attachment to it.

Joni Mitchell:

Ladies of The Canyon:(1970)

Blue:(1971)

Court And Spark:(1974)

Miles of Aisles:(1974)

The Hissing of Summer Lawns:(1975)

Hejira:(1976)

No one has ever sounded or written quite like Joni Mitchell. In fact, she is kind of a genre unto herself. Talk about an artist of vision. Growing up, my mother was a fan, particularly of Court and Spark, so I heard that album a lot. Hejira is one of my favorites. Right now, check out Coyote or Black Crow. Blue! The confessional of the personal on that record is something very few artists have come close to achieving. Needless to say, I find something comforting in the work of Joni Mitchell.

Roger Miller:

The Return of Roger Miller:(1965)

The 3rd Time Around:(1965)

Words and Music:(1966)

A Tender Look At Love:(1968)

Roger Miller featuring Dang Me:(1969)

I was predisposed to like Roger Miller. Why? Because, the Disney version of Robin Hood was one of my favorite movies as a kid, and Roger Miller was the voice of the singing rooster and narrator, Allan-a-Dale. So, years later when I fell in love with the song King of The Road, and tracked down a Roger Miller record, his voice was familiar and comforting. 

There are very few songwriters who can master, and pull off, the combination of humor and genuine sentiment. In fact, the two that instantly come to mind are John Prine, and Roger Miller. Songs like, You Can't Roller Skate In A Buffalo Herd, My Uncle Used To Love Me But She Died, Kansas City Star, and Dang Me all have some dark humor getting a character through hard times. There's also an interesting mix of musical influence coming out of Miller. It's Country, but also Folk. It's Vaudeville, but it's Pop. It's, well...Roger Miller. I'll listen to a Roger Miller record anytime, and be happy.  

Melanie:

Leftover Wine:(1970)

This was a record in my Mom's collection. And, I can tell that she never listened to it a lot, because it's fairly clean. And now, I don't listen to it very much, but I kept it because I thought it was interesting. Oddly enough, I hear a ton of women singing with voices similar to Melanie's these days. If they were influenced or not, would be an interesting question. Hmm... 

 

C.W. McCall:

Black Bear Road:(1975)

Wilderness:(1976)

This fella was mayor of my hometown for a while. And he had a song that graced the lips of Homer Simpson, see episode 13 or season three, Radio Bart. His life itself could have been invented in one of his songs. It's interesting hearing songs that mention people, and places you know well. 

Gordon Lightfoot:

Sundown:(1974)

I absolutely love the song, Sundown. Hence the reason I own this record. There's something so cool about the groove, and feel of that song. That's not to slight the other tunes on this, Lightfoot's tenth, album. This is a heavy slice of seventies singer/songwriter magic.  

Leadbelly:

Memorial Vol. 1:(1963)

One simply cannot say enough about the power of Leadbelly, in both voice and legend. I mean, the man sang his way out of prison, twice! There have also been few who's influence has permeated so many genres. I first heard of Leadbelly because of my fascination with the work of Bob Dylan, which lead me to Woody Guthrie, which lead me to Leadbelly.  

It's also worth mentioning that the music on this album is contained on a beautiful piece of red vinyl.

Kris Kristofferson:

Me And Bobby McGee (Kristofferson):(1971)

The Silver Tongue Devil and I:(1971)

Border Lord:(1972)

Jesus Was A Capricorn:(1972)

Full Moon:(1973)

Spooky Lady's Sideshow:(1974)

Breakaway:(1974)

Who's To Bless And Who's To Blame:(1975)

Surreal Thing:(1976)

Songs of Kris Kristofferson:(1977)

Easter Island:(1978)

Shake Hands With The Devil:(1979)

To The Bone:(1981)

Songwriter:(1984)

This is one of my favorite sections of my collection. Kris Kristofferson was another artist I became enamored with at a very young age. He just seemed cool! I still feel that way. That fact that he's also one of the greatest songwriters of all time is a bonus. The Earthiness in his voice and words stirs the dust we're all made of in the most human way possible. As a small child daydreaming about being a songwriter... the road... the venues... the adventure... Kristofferson embodied it all in what seemed like the best possible way. Then when I learned about his outspoken activism, well, the deal was sealed. This man was a bona fide hero. 

I met him once at a show in Boulder, CO. He was sharing a bill with Jesse Winchester. After the show he jumped off the front of the stage, and started shaking hands, and chatting with people still hanging around. I was eighteen. It meant the world to me. 

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.

George Jones:

You're In My Heart:(1968)

I Am What I Am:(1980)

One of the all time great Country Music singers. A man who's reputation matched his persona perfectly. He was such a great seller of songs, even when he had had nothing to do with the writing of it, he still had you believe it was autobiographical. That's a great talent. It was that ability that kept him going, and having hits in five different decades. I had the chance to see him on his 80th Birthday Tour, and he was great, the Old Possum could still deliver, even if it was his last time. 

Johnny Horton:

Greatest Hits: (1961)

I own this album for one reason, when I was a kid my folks would pointed out The Battle of New Orleans on a radio once, and I thought it was funny. What can I say? It stuck with me. I also found it to be an interesting story about Johnny Horton's death. Apparently he was really into psychics. One day his psychic told him he was going to die the following week in a car accident, and there would be nothing he could do to avoid it. So he went home, told his wife (who was Hank Williams widow) and started giving away possessions. One possession he gave away was a guitar to songwriter Merle Kilgore. Upon giving him the guitar he said to Merle, if there was an afterlife he'd get him a message, "The Drummer is a rummer, and can't keep the beat." He then told Merle he wouldn't tell anyone else that, and for Merle to not say anything either. Then on November 5, 1960 Johnny and his band were driving back home from Texas when, on an overpass, a drunk driver swerved into Johnny's lane, and there was no where for him to go. He died in the head on collision. Two years later, Merle Kilgore says he got a call from some strangers in New York who asked if he was the Merle Kilgore who was friends with Johnny Horton. He says, yes. Then they say that they've been conducting seances, and entertaining a spirit for several nights named Johnny Horton. They claimed to only have figured out who he was when The Battle of New Orleans came on the radio before one of the seances. Then they tell Merle, he has a message for you, "The Drummer is a rummer, and can't keep the beat."

Spooky!

Lightnin' Hopkins:

Lightnin' Hopkins:(1969)

Double Blues:(1972)

I got my first Lightnin' Hopkins album on a cassette when I was about thirteen on a trip to Denver. I remember it had been harder than I imagined to track down something by the Texas blues great. No one has ever played quite like Lightnin', and that's what jumped out at me on the very first listen. To this day, I've never heard anyone who could pay so laid back, and yet aggressive at the same time in a mesmerizing swirl of hard won rhythm, and life story repeating lead that didn't require a band. But, when a band was added it was so simple and atmospheric that it conjured other worlds out of thin air. I still find the best times to listen to Lightnin' Hopkins to be early in the morning or at night. That to me is the highest honor a purveyor of the Blues can achieve.  

Richie Havens:

Mixed Bag: (1967)

Richie Havens debut album is a show stopper filled with his propulsive rhythm playing and powerful voice. I mean seriously, the commanding power contained in his vocal chords is staggering. It had not diminished one iota when I saw him perform in the early part of the twenty first century. After the show, I met him offstage. The generosity, grace and humanity that he transmitted through a tender handshake was ground shaking, and a memory I will always treasure. My mother was at the show with me, and she ran into him right before he took the stage. She mentioned to him that she had not seen him perform since the late 60's in Jackson, MS, to which he responded with a warm hug, and the words, "Aren't we glad we made it through those times." Years later his voice would bring tears and comfort at my brother's funeral. 

        Some artists evolve over time, and some arrive fully formed. Richie Havens is one of the latter, and it's all here in this first album, the generosity, the humanity, the deep rich soul of a compassionate passionate man.

Arlo Guthrie:

Arlo:(1968)

This is the only Arlo Guthrie piece of vinyl I own, and it's a pretty good one to have, because it's a live album, and that's where Arlo seems to really come alive. You hear the interaction with the audience, and prolonged storytelling that makes this album pop. So instead of writing a whole bunch let's just sit back and sing a verse of that classic, The Motorcycle Song...

Woody Guthrie:

The Legendary Woody Guthrie In Memoriam:(1967)

1940-1946 Original Recordings Made By:(1977)

Dust Bowl Ballads Sung By Woody Guthrie:(2009)

What a guiding light this man continues to be, a benchmark for honest defiant sympathetic songwriting. Woody was more perfectly embodied that Rock'n'Roll, Punk, American spirit than just about anyone. And did it all during a time there wasn't necessarily gold at the end of music fame rainbow. Whenever I feel a bit down about my chosen profession or the world in general, I can play a Woody record, and get back on the path. Here's Woody in his own words:

I hate a song that makes you think you are not any good. I hate a song that makes you think that you are just born to lose. Bound to lose. No good to nobody.No good for nothing. Because you are too old or too young or too fat or too slim. Too ugly or too this or too that. Songs that run you down or poke fun at you on account of your bad luck or hard traveling. I'm out to fight those songs to my very last breath of air and my last drop of blood. I am out to sing songs that will prove to you that this is your world and that if it has hit you pretty hard and knocked you for a dozen loops, no matter what color, what size you are, how you are built, I am out to sing the songs that make you take pride in yourself and in your work. And the songs that I sing are made up for the most part by all sorts of folks just about like you.

I could hire out to the other side, the big money side, and get several dollars every week just to quit singing my own songs and to sing the kind that knock you down farther and the ones that poke fun at you even more and the ones that make you think you've not got any sense at all. But I decided a long time ago that I'd starve to death before I'd sing any such songs as that. The radio waves and your movies and your jukeboxes and your songbooks are already loaded down and running over with such no good songs as that anyhow.

Jesse Fuller:

Jazz, Folk Songs, Spirituals & Blues:(1958)

The Lone Cat:(1961)

I first became aware of who Jesse Fuller was when Eric Clapton covered San Francisco Bay Blues on his Unplugged album. Now...Eric Clapton did not come close to doing the song justice. But, I only found that out once I had heard the original. Fuller was quite the one-man band employing a 12-string guitar, Harmonica, Kazoo, custom built hi-hat, and a Fotdella. What is a Fotdella? It's a six string acoustic bass instrument played with foot pedals. The instrument was invented and built by Fuller out of a necessity for bass accompaniment. A true original.

 

John Fahey:

Volume 1 Blind Joe Death:(1967)

Oh, yes, the first third record by John Fahey. Let me explain. Blind Joe Death was the very first album released by John Fahey, self-released in 1959. There were not many copies pressed. So after the success of his second album it was decided that we would reissue his first album, but wanted to rerecord some of the tunes. Hence, Volume 1 Blind Joe Death coming back out in 1967. This is a killer album of acoustic instrumental guitar folk blues.

Ramblin' Jack Elliott:

Young Brigham:(1968)

What is there to say? This is a Ramblin' Jack album. He does what he does, and he does it very well. I met Jack once at a folk festival, nice guy. They don't call him "Ramblin'" because he travels a bunch, which he does.

Donovan:

Mellow Yellow:(1967)

A Gift From A Flower To A Garden:(1967)

In Concert:(1968)

The Hurdy Gurdy Man:(1968)

Barabajagal:(1969)

Greatest Hits:(1969)

Open Road:(1970)

Cosmic Wheels:(1973)

Slow Down World:(1976)

Donovan:(1977)

There are certain pockets of my collection that I particularly enjoy, and the Donovan section is one such pocket. Of course as a kid I heard the hits, Mellow Yellow, Sunshine Superman, Wear Your Love Like Heaven etc... but it wasn't until I started picking up records that I discovered the real depth, and magic of Donovan Leitch. Like most of the great musical artists, each Donovan album is different, and each is its own self contained world. Recently I was playing A Gift From A Flower To A Garden for a friend who had never listened to a Donovan album before, he said he'd always thought of Donovan as psychedelic hanger-on to the Beatles proverbial coattails, and as such had dismissed him along with so many Sixties acts that jumped on the bandwagon accompanied by low production values. After side one my friend tells me his mind is changed, and that he now sees that Donovan was an interesting vital creative force unto himself with productions to rival other top artists of his time. Well...I'm paraphrasing there, but trust me, that was the gist of it. Do I have a favorite out of these albums? No, not really. I can be in the mood for any one of them at any time.