Graham Nash:

Songs For Beginners:(1971)

This is such a good solid album. Not quite Nash's debut, but his debut as a solo artist. As a kid I heard Carrie Anne by the Hollies, which was probably the earliest song sung by Graham Nash that I dug. And of course there's CSN. But, this album has a special magic to it. The song, Simple Man, is worth the price of admission in itself. Then you've also got Chicago, and Military Madness. 

Don McLean:

American Pie:(1971)

You're already singing THE song from this album in your head, aren't you? A classic song to lost innocence. The other "hit" song on this record, Vincent, is a song that, to me, feels like it's a bout a week long. I'm not a fan of that song. The rest of the album I find to be a bit of a flatline. But, so it goes.

Little Feat:

Dixie Chicken:(1973)

Feats Don't Fail Me Know:(1974)

Waiting For Columbus:(1978)

My Dad was big Little Feat fan, so I heard these three albums quite a bit growing up. I remember being very intrigued by the tomato woman on the cover of Waiting For Columbus. I also remember thinking the song Dixie Chicken was just a funny little tune, and not the seamy tale of a hooker. As I grew up, I kind of disregarded Little Feat as some kind of soft rock. This image was cemented by seeing a modern day incarnation of the band at a festival in Santa Cruz. I think there was maybe one original member, and it was lame. So, flash forward to the age of about twenty, I'm getting into Elvis Costello in a big way, and I find out that he was such a big Little Feat fan that he wanted his first album to sound like them. I pulled out these old records, and finally discovered how cool Lowell George was as a songwriter, and guitar player. Not to mention the rest of the original lineup. So, yeah, there's my kind of uninteresting Little Feat story. Now go listen to Fat Man In The Bathtub. 

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.  

Hamilton Leithauser:

I Could Have Sworn:(2015)

 I Had A Dream That You Were Mine:(2016)

If you recognize this name, you too are probably a fan of the Walkmen. All of Hamilton's solo releases have been good, these just happen to be the ones I have on vinyl. I really dig the atmospheric quality achieved with distance recording techniques, which seems to always be in play on these records.  

Crosby, Stills, Nash & sometimes Young:

Crosby, Stills & Nash:(1969)

Deja Vu:(1970)

4 Way Street:(1971)

Graham Nash David Crosby:(1972)

So Far:(1974)

CSN:(1977)

Hmm, let's see. Where to begin with this group of albums? I own three vinyl copies of Deja Vu. One of the first five or so albums I bought myself as a kid, along with Bob Dylan, The Stones, and The Byrds was, So Far. This was also one of the groups that inspired and informed my politics in a big open armed socialist hippie kind of way. Not to mention, these dudes could sing their asses off. But some of my favorite bits are when Neil Young and Stephen Stills get to exchanging guitar solos, then magic happens. Every time I'm about to walk into a hair appointment I start singing Almost Cut My Hair in the dark corners of my mind. These songs, sung by these people are so much a part of my life that even when I haven't listened to them for years I feel instantly at home when one of them comes on, or I drop the needle in the groove.

Jim Croce:

I Got A Name:(1973)

The Faces I've Been:(1975)

Time In A Bottle:(1976)

As a kid I sang in that high pitched little kid way to almost anything on the radio. One car ride while a Jim Croce cassette was playing, and probably more than a little annoyed by their kid singing in this high pitched voice, my folks asked, "Hey, have you ever tried singing in a lower voice?" The next song that came on the tape I relaxed my throat and sang in a timbre much closer to Mr. Croce, and that was the day I started learning my adult voice. So, what does Jim Croce's music mean to me? I'm not sure, it's so ingrained in my childhood, and early life that I can't separate things. 

Johnny Cash:

At Folsom Prison:(1968)

At San Quentin:(1969)

"Hello, I'm Johnny Cash..." those words still make the hair on my neck stand up. If ever there were two albums that cemented Johnny Cash as a rebellious musical figure it was these. This man is carved into the musical Mount Rushmore. On a technical note, these albums fall into the illustrious catalogue of producer Bob Johnston. I can always throw on one of these records, and they bring a smile to my face with the power of the spirit contained within.

Buffalo Springfield:

Buffalo Springfield: (1967)

Stephen Stills and Neil Young have no doubt had a big influence in my life as musicians, mainly through CSN&Y, and Neil's solo albums, but the story kind of starts here with the first Buffalo Springfield album. The band weren't happy with this album, believing it to be less intense than their live shows. It is fairly mellow. Originally released in '66, this is the rereleased version from '67. After For What It's Worth became a hit the record company figured they'd better rerelease this album with the hit tacked on. If I could only hear two songs from this album, I'd go with Burned, and Out of My Mind.

Last Time Around: (1968)

Any album that starts with such a great folk-rock take on a Motown riff like this album does with On The Way Home, has to be good. Though this was the last Buffalo Springfield album, it clearly foreshadows the vibe that would later be perfected by CSN&Y. In fact, this album was really just contract fulfillment. Not one of these tracks features full band performances, because, they weren't a group at this time. They couldn't even be bothered to all show up for a cover photo. So one had to be collaged together. My two track pick for this one; I Am A Child, and Kind Woman.

Retrospective:The Best of Buffalo Springfield: (1969) 

Jackson Browne:

Jackson Browne (a.k.a Saturate Before Using): (1972)

Late For The Sky:(1974)

While I have almost every Jackson Browne album in the house in some form or another, these are the only two I have on vinyl, well, I have two copies of Jackson Browne on vinyl, so these three. Anyway, these are my two favorites. When I first got in to songwriting, my Dad asked if I'd ever listened to Jackson Browne, and when I said, no not really, he dug out his copy of Jackson's first record. Instantly I mistook, like so many others before me, the title of the record to be, Saturate Before Using. (It would be a few years before I corrected my mistake.) In it I heard lyrics that spoke to the searching feeling I had in my own teenage self, and painted a different songwriting path than I had known from Bob Dylan records. When I got a copy of Late For The Sky, I was floored. It was a masterpiece. Lyrically richer, more world weary, and cinematic than his first two records. Not to mention a cover that contained as much mystery as you could ask for, especially when you hear the car door slam at the end of The Late Show. That moment blurred the lines between the music, and the cover in such a beautiful way. Late for the Sky remains in my all time Top Ten album list.