Karen Elson:

The Ghost Who Walks:(2010)

This is a really great, seemingly one-off, record. The storytelling in the songwriting is dark and Earthy in the best possible way. This is also one of the best production jobs, outside of his own albums, that I've heard from Jack White. I'm pleasantly surprised how many times I've reached for this album since 2010. It really has become a favorite. 

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.

Echo & The Bunnymen

Ocean Rain:(1984)

Crocodiles is my favorite Echo & the Bunnymen album, but Ocean Rain is the one I have on vinyl. ...Yard sales... Actually, I picked this record up at a radio station vinyl sale in Grand Junction, CO. Anyway, this is the album where the band decided to go with more orchestration, and less straight rockin'. Still, there's good moments here like Thorn of Crowns, and Killing Moon.

Bob Dylan:

Highway 61 Revisited:(1965)

It's hard to imagine a musical world without Like a Rolling Stone. It was a song that changed everything in a big way. I mean, a six minute song with no bridge section becoming a radio hit? Now that's Rock'n'Roll.

Blonde On Blonde:(1966)

Much like the Beatles White Album, I love that this album has so much on it stretched across four vinyl sides. And who but Dylan has a song (not instrumental) that could take up a whole side of a record by itself. Hell, I'd love this album even if Visions of Johanna took up all four sides.

John Wesley Harding:(1967)

This is such a haunting album. It also feels shorter than it really is. I mean, there are twelve songs on this record, but it flies by like a whisper or an eavesdropped conversation. 

Nashville Skyline:(1969)

Sometimes it seems that people forget just how humorous Dylan albums can be. Then you hear Country Pie or something. Sometimes a person doesn't feel like making or hearing big statements.

Greatest Hits Volume II:(1971)

This compilation album sounds like my childhood. A crazy six year old wanting to put this record on over and over again. 

Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid:(1973)

Great movie, great soundtrack. If you're thinking, "I don't know this Dylan record". well it gave the world Knockin' On Heaven's Door.

Dylan:(1973)

While not an album Dylan necessarily wanted his record company to release, this contains some fine covers, such as Big Yellow Taxi. 

Planet Waves:(1974)

In our family my Dad famously wore out two copies of this record playing Forever Young when I was first born.

Blood On The Tracks:(1974)

This album carried me through High School in a big way. It was a benchmark of songwriter penmanship that I marveled over. 

Before The Flood:(1974)

Dylan and The Band at their collective best.

The Basement Tapes:(1975)

I love how secretive this album feels. It's like you just discovered a diary of some long dead relative or something.

Desire:(1975)

This wordy album has long been one of my favorites. I love how cobbled together it feels. It's very Bohemian. 

Hard Rain:(1976)

Another terrific live album, but  if you watch the live footage from the tour this album was taken from, it'll blow you away. 

Street Legal:(1978)

This album rarely comes up in conversations about Dylan's catalogue, but this is another favorite of mine. Check out the lyrics to Changing of The Guard again. Mind blowingly good.

At Budokan:(1978)

Knocked Out Loaded:(1986)

I won't go into how many Bob Dylan albums I have on various forms of media, the man has been prolific to say the least, this is just about the vinyl, and these are what I have. Yes, I am one of those diehard Dylan fans who finds something good even in the worst albums. Since I was six years old Bob Dylan has been tops in my book, and not just his lyric writing, I love his voice. It's a voice that I find comforting, warning, and otherworldly all at the same time. It's the perfect voice for a songwriter to have in that it gives everything away, and nothing together in one tone. Now, of these vinyl records I have favorites, and those favorites tend to shift at different times in my life. It's a joy when good art can grow with you instead of being stuck in a particular moment in your life, and it's rare. Lately I find myself reaching for John Wesley Harding a lot with its parable storytelling, sometimes without endings. 

The Dorsey Brothers:

Their Shining Hour:(1957)

A studio created band of a bygone era, well yes, they are... But for a while from 1928-1935 they were on top of the world, and featured some of the best white jazz players around. No, it's not as exciting or innovative as it's African-American counterpart, but the white version rarely is. Still, I enjoy having some of these records around to throw on every now and then.

The Doors:

The Doors:(1967)

This is one of the best debuts in Rock'n'Roll history. For me it doesn't get more wicked and mysterious than the fully formed band you hear on this LP. 

Strange Days:(1967)

The rate at which the Doors evolved is fairly staggering. The proverbial candle was blazing at both ends in the most intense way possible.

Waiting For The Sun:(1968)

I love this album, it's not my favorite Doors album, but it's close. My Wild Love is in my Doors Top Ten list. There's a reason I have two copies of this one.

The Soft Parade:(1969)

I know a lot of people dismiss this album, but I really dig it. Beyond, Touch Me, which I dig, this album gets weird in a great 1969 kind of way, and you really start hearing the band fragment.

Morrison Hotel:(1970)

Much in the way the Beatles attempted Let It Be to try and regain focus, the Doors go after Morrison Hotel. But it seems by this time the entire band was immersed and under the influence of Jim Morrison's persona and drunken psyche.

  

L.A. Woman:(1971)

"Hey, Gang, let's give it one more go!" This seems to be the mantra that sparked L.A. Woman, and it worked. This album is killer.  

I love the Doors. They were, and continue to be a fascinating band of land sailing pirates. For a time I even had the post Jim Morrison album, Other Voices. But, The Doors without Jim is not the Doors, and I sold it. My favorite Doors album is American Prayer. You know, the one where the surviving members created sound collages to work with a bunch of poetry Jim Recorded before he died. That's my favorite. No need to list the songs, you know them. 

The Doobie Brothers:

Best of The Doobies:(1976)

Yes, I know...but this is in the collection. I dig some of the pre-Michael McDonald stuff. Even with their heavy dose of cheese...I keep this record.