This is kind of an academic position to take, but I think that there are certain records in every genre of music that everyone working in that genre should be at least passingly familiar with. Not necessarily because they're MY favorite records, but because they show an approach that (A) worked very well at the time, and (B) you ought to know the history of the music.

And also, of course, because they're some of my favorite records.

Here are some of the records I'm talking about - If you think I'm sadly mistaken about the need to know the history of the music, say so. And if you think I just picked the wrong groups, add whoever you think should make a list of influential if not legendary rock bands to the list:

I think that everyone recording rock bands should at least know:

Blue Cheer's version of "Summertime Blues" Really the first contender for "Loudest Band In The World". Take No Prisoners Rock.

Blue Oyster Cult's first album - the one with "Cities On Flame With Rock and Roll". That song kind of defines riff rock (along with Zeppelin's Heartbreaker), but unlike Zeppelin, does it with Great guitar sounds and wimpy sounding drums. But the record still works, somehow.

Humble Pie's "Rockin' The Fillmore" album. Not only is it a great live record, but that was back in the days when a band did songs because they fit the band, NOT because someone in the band wrote them. It's unadulterated rock and roll (and even swings, at least as much as English bands CAN swing), but the band does songs by Ray Charles, Muddy Waters, Ashford and Simpson, and Doctor John. Somehow, I don't see contemporary rock bands doing songs from that wide a variety of songwriters. But most contemporary bands also don't have guitar players as good as Steve Marriot and a 19 year old Peter Frampton.

Vanilla Fudge "Near the Beginning". Along with the oprganist in Deep Purple, Mark Stein of Vanilla Fudge pretty much transformed the Hammond organ as a rock instrument. And though their records showed just how pretentioous rock music could be, "The Break Song" acually had a bass solo that was interesting. And Carmine Appice played the same drum solo that he's been playing ever since.

Van Halen's first album. Unless you were playing music at the time (meaning that you're at least 40 years old), you can't imagine the impact that first record had among musicians. And it shows that when the band is named after you, they make sure that your guitar sounds good.

As far as rock bands, who have I forgotten? Hendrix? His stuff should probabl be on the list, though I never really liked his records that much (except for Band Of Gypsies, which had Jimi playing with other musicians instead of jacking off in the studio). Zeppelin? OK, the first two records. The Stones? Yeah, they had that whole attitude thing down to a fine art. OH NO! I almost forgot the the band that sums up rock music better than any other...

Spinal Tap.

Iggy & the Stooges - raw power - is just that raw power
Velvet underground - Banana album.. why to avoid heroin... and stick to speed
Exile on Main St - no comment required
Whos next - the Who - throw your chair through the window then tell your boss to f**k off
Lou Reed live - even if you are a **** guitar player - you can always hire someone good
Lust for life - Iggy Pop - at least there is ONE album where ALL the tracks are good!
Wilson Picket - sings about phone numbers and clock times but makes it funky
Bo Diddley & the Ramones - repetition works!

My 2 Euros

Beggars Banquet-Let It Bleed-Exile on Main Street and Sticky Fingers. The Stones making great music, faithfully, and truthfully.

Revolver-Sgt Pepper and Abbey Road. The Beatles pushing the studio and songwriting envelopes.

CTA and Chicago II and III. The melding of styles and talent is amazing.

Born to Run. Springsteen makes poetry of life in the city.

Who's Next. Talk about connecting with the muse. Almost every song is still getting constant radio play.

Van Halen I and II. Great rock band.

The Cars first album. See Who's next.

News of the World. Queen, wow. Every one writes, sings and is a complete mother ****er musician.

Nevermind. Nirvana, another record that sounds like a greatest hits record.

Bloodsugarsexmagic. Red hot chili peppers. Great vibe, songs and sound.

Ben Folds Five (first record). A band that plays great together, sings great together and knows how to write. I pull this one out and it stays in the CD player for two straight weeks.

The Soft Parade. The Flaming Lips are possibly the most interesting band on the planet!

Sin. Mother Superior is the best live band ever! The record is cool too.

heh

LITTLE FEAT...waiting for columbus....best live album ever...see, if you know your own songs so well that you can seriously fuk with em.....

THE BEATLES WHITE ALBUM...was george...excuse SIR geoge ever better???

ANY JOHN HIATT ALBUM....beautiful recorded and a songwriter deluxe....

anyone remember...YES..close to the edge....a classic

GENESIS...selling england by the pound...theatre rock at its finest...yes, phil collins was a hell of a drummer

KANSAS....song for america.....americas yes

ELO....el dorado....oh jeeez

SHANIA TWAIN......all of em....can u say mutt?!

BEATLES...sgt. pepper...well, this was definative for MY generation

WHO....whos next....neeed i say more??

ELTON JOHN...goodbye yellow brick road.....hello bank....

DEEP PURPLE...machine head....mutt ..and ian paice

TODD RUDGREN.....cutting edge recordist

TRAVELING WILBURYS.....lyrical gods...unite..

THE CARS....mutt

JOHN LENNON...imagine......uhhh.!

ELVIN BISHOP...juke joint jump....lets get happy

CREAM...disrali gears...its the reason i play music

okay so theres more ...much more

some more...and some stuff most of y'all never heard of, but should look into!

-BOSTON - Boston (duh)

-SEASON, ROADS, AND FACES - Rich O'Brian

-WOLF TRACKS - Tom Morrell

-AQUALUNG - Jethro Tull

-FOR THE LAST TIME - Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys

-MAMA'S HUNGRY EYES - Various (tribute to Merle Haggard)

-RUNNING ON EMPTY - Jackson Browne

-RIDE WITH BOB - Alseep at the Wheel et al...

Yes...I am loading up the list with Western Swing music....considering the size of the groups and the limited equipment from those days, the quality of some of these recordings is nothing short of amazing! Rich O'Brian's work epitomizes (to me) the way acoustic instruments should be treated.

And Dave - FWIW: I agree with your position as to understanding the history. Not to sound like a college professor here...but history is a critical part of understand who we are and what we do, be it as small market commercial studios, multi-million dollar musical mastering houses, or citizens of any nation in general.

A working knowledge of history is as essential a tool as a great mic - having it isn't enough, one must know how to use it as well to get the full impact.

How's THAT for philosophical? rollz

Some most interesting additions to the list.

Let's see - no dispute from me about Jules' list, except that R&B deserves its own heading. And 634-5789 is one of the few R&B songs I sing on live gigs...

Drumsound's list... My only observation is that at least a couple of those bands seem to be more about self indulgence than about rock and roll (I know that the two are related, but as hard as I've tried, I can't get nearlay as much out of Nirvana as everyone else does. I did like the MTV Awards show where the bass player threw his bass straight up in the air, apparently forgetting that gravity sucks. It nailed him on the way down. And, of course, I like what Weird Al did with the Nirvana song... With a few exceptions, I always liked the other horn bands working better than I liked Chicago; they just seemed too white to me. Given the option of Chicago or BS&T, Tower of Power or any of the R%B bands with horns - Earth Wind and Fire or the Commodores, Chicago sounded suspiciously like my high school stage band...

Sonic Dogg's list - Remember that Waiting for Columbus is kind of a live album, but it's mostly a George Massenburg record. George has talked about the editis, the overdubs, the splices - all the stuff he had to do to that record. You hanna hear a real live album? Try and find a copy of Bugs Henderson's "Live at the Armadillo World Headquarters". Two shows by the trio, and the record was mixed that night after the second show. THAT's live... Or the Couint Basie record that's just been re-released from the DJ convention in Miami. Or the Ellington record that was recorded by a fan somewhere in Minnesota or North Dakota - a mono recording, and it kicks ass.

Elvin Bishop, Deep Purple and John Hyatt, I could see, though I'm not sure that you haven't moved from "Records that Everyone Should Know" to "Records You Can't Live Without" For instance, while I agree that Mutt did his usual exceptional job on the Shannia records, They aren't good country records and they aren't good pop records. They're enormously successful, but that doesn't mean that they're 'good'. All of the art-rock tend to leave me wondering why they bothered... And while I thought that ELO had the potential to be magical - using a string quartet with a rock band - it didn't work out that way to me. Now it the Nice had used a quartet, things could have been MUCH more interesting... John Lennon, like the rest of the Beatles, seems to be an either/or situation. Either you love them or you don't. To me, they are great examples of how a tight recording budget can improve an album.

MidlandMorgan's list is interesting - I forgot Aqualung. And Running On Empty - the era that thought it was OK for a singer/songwriter to ramble on for 5 or 6 minutes abot not a whole lot... But that record also introduced the world at large to David Lindley - an introduction still having an impact on country music. (You don't think all that lap steel you hear on current country records comes from guys listening to Don Helms, do you? It's derived from Lindley, Duane Allman, and (to a lesser extent) Lowell George.)

Mama's Hungry Eyes? I'd rather hear Merle sing the songs himself... Rich Obrien and Tom Morrell do really cool records - I'd rather hear them that Asleep At The Wheel, but besides buying all of the Bob Wills Spade Cooley, and Light Crust Doughboys records you can find, you'll really want to get a copy of the Time Jumpers record I recorded and mixed. I'm married to the girl singer and am prejudiced, but it IS the real deal. check out www.thetimejumpers.com for more information about the record.

I'm still bummed that I forgot about Aqualung.

Dave - you married into the Time Jumpers? Too cool! As you may have guessed, I am a western swing slut...played it for a long time...that and bluegrass are pretty much what I listen to by choice...

You nailed it on the Lindley stuff...given his wardrobe and choice of instruments, he has had just as much influence on 'today's hot country sound' (sidebar: the string of forgettable sound alikes which permeat the airwaves) as anyone out there...

And yes, I too would rather listen to Merle sing badly than most people singing well...

MAN!!! I am so glad that western swing is still in the minds of people...

K

BTW: do you get a % of the TJ CD? If so, consider yourself that % richer, as I wanna order that (several reasons, really....)

Well, we were married long before the Time Jumpers existed... And I don't think I'm getting a percentage (except that Carolyn is...).

I don't have time today for a comprehensive reply - but the two that pop into my head immediately (and haven't already been mentioned ) are (in no order) :

Radiohead : OK Computer
Bob Marley : Burnin and/or Exodus
Beach Boys : Pet Sounds (how did you guys miss this or did I miss it above?)

Too new to count ? / not yet classic - but you should hear them! :
Wilco : Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Super Furry Animals : Rings around the World - in surround!
Bjork : Vespertine - in Surround DVD-audio

In reverse order, remember that we're talking about things that were important to rock music. Pet Sounds apparently wasn't important at the time, though it has been recognized as a classic. And since a couple of generations of musicians cite Pet Sounds as a major influence, I guess that you're right. It just doesn't sound that much like a rock record to me....

Marley certainly influenced a whole bunch of rock bands (If someone would enlighten me as to the difference between ska and reggae, though, I'd appreciate it...). Do you feel that the two records you mentioned (Burnin' and Exodus) are the 'Must Have' Marley records? I've got a couple of his things on vinyl, but I'm not sure which ones they are.

And tell me why Radiohead's record is important. I don't have it, so I'm not familiar with it.

Hiya All...
I guess i was trying to approach this thread in the light of the producer/recordist as far as being influential...ya know ...sonically important...one reason i put todd rundgren on my list..basically for his recordings of the early eighties that were 'live' digital direct-to-disk...and all the mutt stuff...carefully crafted and sonically complete...
but in discussing from a historical point-of-view as far as music is concerned...well theres several 500+ page books out there that never get close to listing them all
much of music's influence starts with a regional feel to it....what's being played most in your area when you were in your most impressionable age
i grew up in the southwest and have heard a butt-load of western swing and bluegrass...and the radio stations of the area at the time played a much different style than the stations back east so what influenced me and the kids around me would be somewhat dictated by what we had easy access to at the time...
of course i did spend several hours a day lieing between the speakers of my dads stereo listening to mr.jimi playing guitar on axis:bold as love
after which i listened to mike bloomfield stuff
after which i listened to eldon shamblin play his stuff
after which i learned every note on led #1.......peace

Frank Sinatra.

A lot of records and bands allready mentioned here are on top of my list too .... but Frank Sinatra just has that very special spot .... Over the years since I heard him first I will listen too his records .... forget about them for months and then just come across one of his albums and then go .... hey .... I should listen to this ..... actually had forgotten about him and reading this thread got me thinking about him.


I'm not his biggest fan .... it is just something about his records .... especially a live album with the Count Basey Orchestra ..... It just keeps on amasing me after all these years evey single time I listen to it.

Radiohead aren't important yet, but they might end up being important. Their last two albums are as advanced in their own way as Sgt Peppers and Dark Side of the Moon were. Time will tell if they have a lasting (or even measurable) influence on other musicians, but they are stellar achievements on their own, and I would recommend them to anyone who enjoys innovative, lusciously textural recordings.

As to the rest, this is a semi-impossible list, but I'd like to add that George Martin hated (and contributed relatively little to) the White Album. Also, Physical Graffitti is a better Zeppelin album than the first two, no matter how much AOR stations beat us about the head and ears with I & II.

Can't believe no one's mentioned Back in Black. And I'd like to nominate Robbie Robertson's eponymous 1987 album, which shows some of the best work of Robinson, Lanois, Clearmountain, U2, and Peter Gabriel. That's at least a "can't live without" if not a "everyone should have this". Though I think everyone should.

I think Van Morrison's group Them followed by the Doors' first album redefined both rock and rock recording as something separate from R&B, blues, folk or rockabilly. Hearing the Doors' album here recently on the big Duntechs for the first time completely floored me. I remembered it as being great but I'd really forgotten just HOW great this album is.

Toy Matinee - Toy Matinee (Kevin Gilbert at his finest)

Madonna - Ray of Light (IMO her best album by far)

Patti Smith - 3 first albums are the bomb

Television - Marquee Moon (My all time favourite LP)

Suicide - First album (quite bad recorded, but what an album!)

Kraftwerk - Computer World (no computers used...!)

The Residents - Full catalog (Really! always pushing the envelope)

Prince - 1984 (boy, was he good!)

T. Rex - The Slider

David Bowie - Pin Ups (covers only, often overlooked but great album). Almost all Bowie up to Scary Monsters is essential listening.

Jonathan Richman & Modern Lovers - The Modern Lovers

Neil Young - Rust Never Sleeps

XTC - English Settlements

Talking Heads - Remain in Light

Grace Jones - Nightclubbing

Lou Reed - Berlin, Transformer, New York, Magic and Loss

Lou Reed & John Cale - Songs for Drella


I'll stop here, for now. Gotta play some old LP's

/Mats

[QUOTE]Originally posted by sonic dogg
Hiya All...
>> I guess i was trying to approach this thread in the light of the producer/recordist as far as being influential...ya know ...sonically important...one reason i put todd rundgren on my list..basically for his recordings of the early eighties that were 'live' digital direct-to-disk...and all the mutt stuff...carefully crafted and sonically complete... <<

Yeah. I understand the reason for the Todd and the Shannia - I just don't care a lot for either The Todd stuff I know all sounds like it would have been improved my putting less stuff on it, and the Shannia records seem to have given a generation of producers, engineers, and singers a bad idea of what 'country' records should sound like. It would be like doing rock records with drum machines and samples.... Oh, yeah. Sorry.

>>but in discussing from a historical point-of-view as far as music is concerned...well theres several 500+ page books out there that never get close to listing them all<<

I agree, but there seems to be a difference between what's 'significant' and what's 'important'.

>>much of music's influence starts with a regional feel to it....what's being played most in your area when you were in your most impressionable age<<

I tried to avoid mentioning records that really betray that regional influence - for example, the first two ZZ Top records loom fairly large in my musical past - The bands I was in dduring high school played essentially all of the songs on both of those records.


>>of course i did spend several hours a day lieing between the speakers of my dads stereo listening to mr.jimi playing guitar on axis:bold as love
after which i listened to mike bloomfield stuff
after which i listened to eldon shamblin play his stuff
after which i learned every note on led #1.......peace <<

Yep - ZZ Top, then Johnny Bush, then Return To Forever, then Pink Floyd, then the Light Crust Doughboys, then Johnny Winter, then Chet Atkins.

I get that with Ella Fitzgerald, except that I'm a huge fan of hers, Mut I'll go a year or two without thinking about her work, then spend a month playing her CD's incessantly.

Regarding Ella, a friend says that he can't understand why ANYBODY would try to scat sing - Ella raised the bar to such an impossible height that no one will ever be able to come close...

Well, she made it *seem* easy. Amazing.
I still can't find a copy of that live Ella record you played for me, but I keep trying.

And I can't belive I forgot Black Sabbath's Paranoid. I find it interesting that Ozzy's voice was so thin and whiney on what is probably the archetypical 'Metal' record (much like it is today, of course), while other apparently feel that metal singers need to sound like the Cookie Monster (Rob Zombie, anyone?)...

I'll go with pretty standard stuff, all of which has had enough time to place it in a historical perspective. If you're recoding musicians 30 years old or younger, these are probably important to know.

Fishbone's "The Reality of My Surroundings". Absolutely stunning, as much groove as anything P-Funk did, as much muso cred as King Crimson, and social commentary equal to anything from the Woodstock generation. I think Fishbone's subsequent decline is largely a result of the fact that this masterpiece didn't get any of the recognition it should have.

My Bloody Valentine's "Loveless". This is the definition of dream pop. None of the antecedents are as perfectly realized, and nothing has touched it since. Kevin Shields, the mastermind of the band, has been working for 10 years, but hasn't made a follow up he thought could measure up. The audio is giddy, hallucinatory, and unsettling to the inner ear at times.

Jane's Addiction's "Ritual De Lo Habitual". Of the "Alternative" music that came to light on the wave Jane's started, the vast majority now sounds dated and doesn't have the same impact it initially did. Every track on this album seems to stand in a timeless state of grace. The distance traveled in the epic "Three Days" and "Then She Did . . ." measure up to the most ambitious tracks from the previous generation of rock. Stephen Perkins is the most underappreciated drummer of his generation.

Bear

Try:
http://www.towerrecords.com/product.asp?pfid=1116819

My local Tower had it in stock as well.

Sweet. Thanks.

But you must admit that Terry Kath played a great guitar. He was the balls of that band.

Peter Gabriel "III" - Probably the most innovative recording of the 80s. No cymbals, very early sampling, great vocal distortions.

Santana "III" - Tons of energy, great use of the TOP guys, and better sounding that the earlier Santana records. Still my favorite Santana album (and Paul Reed Smith's too).

Eno "Another Green World" - Ambient meets fusion. A great blend of experinmental ambient and fusion jams. The nod to Zawinul is cool as well.

more to come.........

Beatles - Sgt Pepper's
Atari Teenage Riot - 60 Second Wipe Out
Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
Tribe Called Quest - Low End Theory
Shark Quest - Battle of the Loons
Rodger's Waters - Amused to Death
The Pixies - Doolittle
The Byrds - Sweatheart of the Rodeo
Slayer - Reign In Blood
Family Dollar Pharoahs - Haunted
Archers Of Loaf - Icky Mettle
Beastie Boys - Paul Boutique
The Who - Who's Next
The Clash - London Calling
Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
Violent Femmes - Self Titled
Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left
Peter Gabriel - So / 3
Iggy Pop - Lust For Life
Portishead - Dummy
Blackstreet - Another Level
Blake Babbies - Sunburn
R.E.M. - Mumur
Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Blackstar
Dixie Chicks - Fly
Bjork - Homogenic

There sure is a lot of music listed on here that I've never heard...by some artists I have never heard of. Looks like I have some shopping to do!

(Anyone mentioned Emerson Lake and Palmer's Brain Salad Surgury, King Crimson's Court of the Crimson King, or The Stanley Brothers yet?)

well well it takes all sorts ! i have never heard 90%
of the records on daves list and those i have i dont like !
u think hendrix was playing with himself and prefer band of gypsies ??! wierd
and speaking personally being as nirvana where without question
*getting flame proof suit on* the greatest rock band to ever grace
this stupid rock then they gotta top the list

so im going

nirvana
hendrix *not the band of gypsies...*
beatles
sex pistols
leadbelly
the clash
the beasties
busta
bunny wailer (thats not essential its just 4 my sanity)
and tho not rock ..JAMES BROWN *jumps around the room a bit*
the RED hoT CHILLIS i mean c,mon *sexy*
maybee a tiny bit of zep ..
and the incredible string band
and floyd (no good hippys)
ZZ top
ok the stones *darn*
motorhead (gotta dig that bass)
RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE *inspiration*
and the beatles again..and again ..


but thats it 4 me all the rest can go hang
fuuck

whilst feeling a tad contrversial i gotta say i fail to see how a radio head record can matter they sound awful the drums suk
and the bass should have stayed in bed
peter gabrial .. *cough cough* very intrestin n all that lovley vox etc but WTF ??
and mutt records are good pointers if u wanna make a bucket load of cash

ps .. nice list eq (apart from rem!)
pss i know these are my personal favs but thats what inspires me
ppsss *small cheer for brain salad surgery*
ps i mean there is rock then there is rock right ?

A bunch of records... But why do you think that they're important? Some of them I would happily agree with, but the Dixie Chicks "Fly"? Other than the fact that they didn't use any artificial reverbs and sold a bunch of copies for Sony (the only Sony Nashville act that did sell anything, why might that someday be an important record to know? In the category 'neo-traditional country with female vocals and acoustic instruments playing a dominant role', I'd tend to look at the Judd's first album, - the one that Don Potter played acoustic guitar on, and thereby created the sound of the the Judds. Or, to be fair, Emmylou Harris did all that 20 years before the Chicks.

Part of my interest in this subject is to learn about music I missed. So 'fess up - why do you think that the records you mentioned should be part of the common heritage of rock music?

the beatles - wubbah soul, wehvolva, & everything prior.
ya know, in retrospect, they wore their influences on their sleeves like the rest of us. it's just that at a very direct point in time, something crystallized for them, and they became this machine that seemingly landed from another planet. they quite literally invented guitar-pop as we know it today. funny how unfresh they, to this day, make other artists sound.

cream - wheels of fire (studio album)
clapton's guitar sound on sittin' on top of the world remains etched into my brain to this day. but in hindsight, i've come to realize that it was jack bruce's writing that made clapton stand out the way he did; he woulda just been another blues player otherwise. and "as you said" still gives me chills.

jimi - band o' gypsies, cry o' love, & electric ladyland (c'mon dave, you can't seriously listen to rainy day dream away & not lose control of your head from doin' the serious bop)
this guy just had the feel. yeah, he was all over the map as far as continuity, but that feel & groove in his playing trancended the excess, in a very major way. voodoo chile (the slow jam) is quite magical. i kinda picked from that point on in his career, as i've always felt billy cox brought out jimi's real groove, & by the time mitch was back in the fold (buddy who? ugh-h-h), he had his finest band. hence cry of love, which is a wonderful album. i think his most heartfelt.

jeff beck - ola & the orange album
my 2 fave beck bands. rod was awesome, & cozy powell never played better.

miles davis - nefertiti
what makes this record such a milestone (no pun), is the fact that miles had it in him to totally re-invent music (little did we know, he wasn't through) a 2nd time. and, at 17, tony williams did the best & most intuitive playing he's ever done, to this date.

mahavishnu orch - inner mounting flame
these guys were an explosion. yeah, they rung in the fuso excess to follow, but for that one moment in time, they were untouchable. just consider for a moment that these guys could hold a crowd in the palm of their hands that'd come to see poco & johnny winter. people used to sitting around the campfire singin' cat stevens' or elton john songs. what a sleight of hand!

stevie wonder - songs in the key of life
to me, this album was the real sgt. pepper's. people will squak about this or that of his other records being much better; don't listen to 'em. this is the one.

todd rungren - a wizard, a true star, initiation & hermit of mink hollow (and dave, todd's noiz is the reason there's a prince. sometimes we muso's like to hear our music stretched to the limits. it can't all be simplistic, all of the time. that'd be a yawn)

egg - civil surface
this is musician, composition stretchin stuff. you won't get it. and it's killin'. mont cambpell's bass playing & writing are one muscle. and dave stewart (the original one) is what keith emerson shoulda been.

henry cow - unrest & living in the heart of the beast
what i said for egg goes double here. this was fred frith's 1st band. and they were on virgin.

xtc - oranges & lemons, skylarking
as far as i'm concerned, these are the only guys that learned from the beatles, & then took it to a new plateau. chalkhills & children is about the most exquisite tune written in the last 20 years. andy partridge is a genius with a heart on his sleeve, & colin moulding is the most inventive, yet believable, bass player in the pop domain, bar none.

the who - tommy & LIVE AT LEEDS
these 2, & next, are the extent of my who liking. they're very singular, both for the writing, & sonically, and that damn drug company advert gets me every bloody time!!!

jack bruce - out of the storm
the 1st side of this album will make you weep. gorgeous songs with wonderful changes, pete brown was past his picture has a moustache period, and that meant it was all paired down to jack's voice & the most poignant of lyrics. & steve hunter does very admirably.

focus - live at the rainbow
this is the guy who showed me that a flatted 5th was so much more than a passing tone in a blues run.

hatfield & the north - rotter's club
side one starts off with a tune called "john wayne socks psychology on the jaw." what's not to like about that.

robert wyatt - rock bottom & ruth is stranger than richard
this guy was one of the greatest rock drummers (term "rock" used very loosely) to sit behind a kit (with a band called soft machine), that had an accident (he jumped out a bathroom window at a party, where he was gettin' a bj, because his wife came knockin' on the door.), which left him paralyzed from the waist down. with only a fertile imagination, and a very unique voice left at his disposal, the guy produced these 2 wonderful lp's. ever heard shipbuilding? that's robert. legend has it he can sing any miles solo, note for note.

the police - regatta de blanc & ghost in the machine
reggae & rock; who woulda thought! many before, that's who. what made these guys so ingenious, is that they really sounded like neither. and they had this knack for finding the center, kinda like the beatles, no matter how far out the music went.

i'm gettin' too tired to think. i know i'm forgettin' stacks. as for van halen, it always seemed to me that the guy had just figgered out how to play the same ol' rock riffs faster; the writing was rather pedestrian...not a whole lotta boundary pushin' goin' on there. and by then, as a geetar player myself, i'd already discovered holdsworth. eddie was a bit anti-climactic for me.

btw, if any of you'ze guys haven't already heard him, you really have to check out lewis taylor's 1st album. yowza!!!


ml

Well, it kind of makes sense to me - I'm guissing that you're NOT in your mid 40's .... plus, more than half of the bands I've worked with over the last 30 years have been trios, or trios with a singer (And I worked with a duo a large part of that time). I was working with a trio the night I discovered that Quaaludes don't help you keep good time, even when the guitar player had taken them, too. I was with a trio the night I discovered that it's not a good idea to take Orange Microdot the day of a gig (Especially when you have to go to school the next morning). I was even with a trio (backing a singer) the week I discovered that (A) it's possible to continue playing after you've passed out, and (B) I kind of liked being the only sober person in the bar, a discovery that was a direct response to (A). But I digress...

In small ensembles (like a Band Of Gypsies) you can hear Hendrix' playng change in response to what Billy Cox played, and Buddy Miles' playing changed to fit what Jimi played. Part of what makes an event 'musical' to me is hearing guys play off of each other's talents, strengths, and weaknesses.

Back in about 1972 or 73, I ended up sitting essentially btween Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill during a ZZ Tcp concert. (Monitors were on the edge of the stage and they were right up against them - I was in the front row, less than 5 feet from where they were standing.) It was a jam thing, where they were listening to each other and talking to each other as they played. And that's a big part of what makes it music to me. When youv'e got guys sitting in the studio for as long as they want to be there, overdubbing to a track (that itself may not be the final track), the immediacy goes away. Band Of Gypsies was recorded in one night - mistakes, warts and all, and I think that it's a better representation of the way Hendrix played with other people than the studio records are.

You probably won't be surprrised to know that I prefer the early Beatles records...