1976: The Year In Mucus – Cover Art

Here’s the cover art for my mix 1976: The Year In Mucus.

Read the complete liner notes for this mix.

Here’s the front cover:

Here’s the inside front cover:

Back cover:

The inspiration:

And here’s the track listing:
Ramones [1] Judy Is A Punk
Stevie Wonder [2] I Wish
Parliament [3] Unfunky UFO
The Modern Lovers [4] Pablo Picasso
Led Zeppelin [5] Royal Orleans
AC/DC [6] Rocker
K.C. & The Sunshine Band [7] I’m Your Boogie Man
Burning Spear [8] The Ghost
Steely Dan [9] The Fez
Aerosmith [10] Get The Lead Out
Bob Marley & The Wailers [11] Positive Vibration
Lee “Scratch” Perry & The Upsetters [12] Underground
Tom Waits [13] Step Right Up
Thin Lizzy [14] Running Back
Graham Parker [15] White Honey
Rose Royce [16] Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
Black Sabbath [17] It’s Alright
Kiss [18] Detroit Rock City
Marvin Gaye [19] I Want You
Peter Tosh [20] Whatcha Gonna Do
Joni Mitchell [21] Coyote

What, me worry?

Buried Treasure: Shorty & Doc

[Today: Two little-known trumpeteers join forces and spin jazz gold...]

Trumpeters Harold “Shorty” Baker and Adolphus “Doc” Cheatham were hardly household names when they met for this session on January 17th, 1961. Baker was a veteran of Duke Ellington’s band, so he was known in music circles, but Cheatham was relatively unknown – this was just the second album to bear his name (after an obscure French session), which is misspelled on the cover. He would go on to an incredibly long and productive career that lasted into his 90′s – unheard of on such a physically demanding instrument as the trumpet.

The album’s only original composition ‘Baker’s Dozen’ might also be its finest moment, but there are plenty to choose from. Opener ‘Chitlins’ finds Baker and Cheatham economically and seductively blending the sound of their horns. ‘Good Queen Bess’ bounces, ‘Night Train’ chugs, and ‘Lullabye In Rhythm’ swings.

Joe Goldberg wistfully concluded in his original liner notes that “surely one (sic) Doc Cheatham album is not enough. Let us hope that this is the first of several.” He would get his wish, and then some. Doc would go on to record dozens of albums, but he never did better than Shorty & Doc.

[For more buried treasure, go here.]

1976: The Year In Music

“The future is purchased by the present.” – Samuel Johnson

The Grammy™ for record of the year went to Captain & Tenille for ‘Love Will Keep Us Together’ and the Grammy for best song went to Stephen Sondheim for ‘Send In The Clowns’. It wasn’t an accident. Overall, 1976 was truly a forgettable year in music, and the list of laughably bad albums is two to three times the length of the good ones. This was big-production-rock’s last hurrah before the punk meanies crashed the party and made the guitarist an everyman (or everywoman). A quick scan of the charts show that heads needed to roll, and roll they soon would.

Clearly the most redeeming quality about 1976 isn’t the music on record (though some of that is outstanding) but the movements that were underway and nearing explosion. In addition to punk’s incubation in a scummy Bowery club, rap was being created out of virtually nothing in the South Bronx, disco was starting to find a wider audience than clubgoers with frosted noses, and something called reggae was gaining real traction in the U.S. In spite of all its excesses (or quite possibly because of them) this year was a flashpoint in music and nothing would be the same after.

There was other music that went unheard but would soon resonate; The Band held their legendary farewell concert The Last Waltz in ’76, but the music wouldn’t see general release until two full years later. Additionally, Neil Young had several great songs in the can and ready for release, but he balked at the last second. These songs would form the backbone of his legendary late 70’s albums, and can be heard in their original form on the bootleg Chrome Dreams, a sure top 5 album here had it been minted.

Also, a number of normally reliable artists made either gigantic missteps or merely failed to meet their own high standard. And there were a number of others who released landmark albums in both ’75 and ’77, but nothing (or nothing of note) in ’76 (including Neil, Pink Floyd, Kraftwerk, Little Feat, and many others). Focusing on just the calendar year, it looks pretty bleak, but looking at the larger continuum, this was just a down year within an exceptionally strong musical era.

So maybe I’m just making excuses for the really ugly kid in class, but if you look at the whole picture, it was a pretty significant year for music; Uriah Heep, Jethro Tull, Kansas, Styx, Bad Company, Linda Rondstadt and the rest notwithstanding. For good or bad it was a year when anything was possible, and people were grabbing the power in music in ways that would still have revolutionary implications 30 years later.

———

The Best Albums Of 1976…

Ramones – Ramones

#1 – Not just the finest album of ’76, Ramones’ self-titled debut may very well be the most important album of the entire decade. It put Punk on the map, set the blueprint for the look and sound of an entire genre, and – most importantly – it’s filled to the brim with top-notch songs that still sound fresh, tough, and ahead of the curve 30 years later.

Stevie Wonder – Songs In The Key Of Life

#2 – The high point of an incredibly productive decade for Wonder, SITKOL is a massive, double album (and ep) length masterwork that touches on all the delight, pain, and emotions that go into the struggle of living life. From the joyful nostalgia of ‘I Wish’ to the downcast resignation of ‘Pastime Paradise’ it’s all in there.

Parliament – Mothership Connection/The Clones Of Dr. Funkenstein
Funkadelic – Hardcore Jollies/Tales Of Kidd Funkadelic

#3 – George Clinton was mighty busy in ’76. Parliament’s Mothership Connection took funk interplanetary and owned the dance charts for much of the year. Spawning single after single, the album plays like a Best-Of. And to keep the Bicentennial party moving, Funkadelic released the typically weird Hardcore Jollies, which includes the oddly satisfying “Comin’ Round The Mountain” and the cerebral “If You’ve Got Funk You’ve Got Style”. And if those weren’t enough, Parliament also released The Clones Of Dr. Funkenstein and Funkadelic added Tales Of Kidd Funkadelic, leaving little doubt as to who were the hardest working bands in outer space.

The Modern Lovers – The Modern Lovers

#4 – Boston’s Modern Lovers recorded these tracks in 1972 (with John Cale producing), but the results didn’t see daylight until ’76, when Beserkley Records stepped in, purchased the masters from a befuddled Warner Records, and put out this gem. While not precisely punk (nor precisely anything), tracks like ‘Roadrunner’ and ‘Pablo Picasso’ would go on to be covered endlessly by punk bands. Unfortunately, the original Lovers had split before the album was released, but for a one-off statement, it’s tough to top The Modern Lovers.

Led Zeppelin – Presence

#5 – The most criminally underrated album in the Zep canon, Presence was recorded and mixed in just 18 days in Munich, Germany in November of ’75. In Hammer Of The Gods, Jimmy Page claims to have laid in every guitar overdub in two marathon overnight sessions on studio time borrowed from the Stones. ‘Hots On For Nowhere’, ‘Royal Orleans’ and ‘Tea For One’ prove that not all of their finest songs got played to death on the radio.

AC/DC – Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap/High Voltage

#6 – The raunchiest album of the Bon Scott era (and that’s truly saying something), Dirty Deeds features stag-ready tracks like ‘Big Balls’, ‘Squealer’, and the title track, but also features their best slow jam, ‘Ride On’. For good measure, AC/DC also dropped High Voltage, which added ‘It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll)’, ‘T.N.T.’, ‘Live Wire’, and ‘Little Lover’ to the mix. Put them together and you’ve got one of the most rockingly productive years of any band in the ‘70’s.

KC & The Sunshine Band – Part 3

#7 – The rainbow on the cover naturally led to a pot of gold singles inside. For many, this album was the introduction to the disco era, and it’s the rare album that has footing in both funk and disco. With singles ‘(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty’, ‘Baby I Love You (Yes I Do)’ and ‘Keep It Comin’ Love’, this was the de facto sound of dancefloors everywhere, the groove behind the spirit of ’76.

Burning Spear – Man In The Hills/Garvey’s Ghost

#8 – Burning Spear (a.k.a. Winston Rodney) has long been overlooked as a reggae pioneer. His 1975 release ‘Marcus Garvey’ made him only the second reggae artist (after Bob Marley) to release an entire album of original compositions. In ’76, Spear followed that up with a pair of fine releases, Garvey’s Ghost, (a dub version of Marcus Garvey), and Man In The Hills. If you’re wondering where to look in reggae after Marley, start here.

Steely Dan – The Royal Scam

#9 – Their first three albums dabbled in wry observation and ironic reflection, but Steely Dan obviously had some axes to grind on The Royal Scam. From the scathing title track to the bitter ‘Sign In Stranger’ to the upraised middle finger of ‘Kid Charlemagne’ and the world weary ‘Haitian Divorce’ the Dan never sounded angrier – or better. And while they would make albums that sold more, they’d never make another with this much fire and brimstone.

Aerosmith – Rocks

#10 – Before they nearly imploded their career in a haze of drugs and alcohol, Aerosmith were capable of the most swaggering groove this side of the Stones. Rocks finds them at the height of their powers, with rock star attitude to match monster riffs. This album sold through the roof and was primary inspiration for the next generation of hard rockers; it allegedly caused a young Slash to pick up the guitar.

Bob Marley – Rastaman Vibration

#11 – If 1976 was a breakthrough year for many reggae artists in America, Bob Marley clearly remained the genre’s leading ambassador. Every song on this album is politically motivated, and some of Marley’s strongest statements, including ‘War’, ‘Rat Race’ and ‘Roots, Rock, Reggae’ are found right here. Still, in spite of the heavy messages, Rastaman Vibration feels more like celebration than sedition.

Lee Perry & The Upsetters – Super Ape

#12 – Lee Perry lent his trademark production to a string of fine albums throughout the decade – perhaps none more so than Super Ape. The apex of his ‘70’s Black Ark Studio output, this album jumps from song to song and – much like the giant gorilla on its cover – leaves a large imprint at each step. Perry would later burn the studio down in a fit of (depending on who you ask) rage, madness, or self-protection, but not before creating a body of work unmatched in scope or quality by any other Jamaican producer.

Thin Lizzy – Jailbreak/Johnny The Fox

#13 – Thin Lizzy was one of the first hard rock bands to use the twin lead guitar formula, and front man and bassist Phil Lynott wrote songs that were street tough but sparkled with literary observation and wit. But aside from Jailbreak’s monster hit ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’ Lizzy flew under the critical and popular radar for much of the 70’s. The fact that artists as diverse as The Cure, Metallica, and Huey Lewis have covered their songs is testament to one of the most versatile and overlooked bands of the decade.

Tom Waits – Small Change

#14 - Waits’ fourth full-length LP, featuring jazz legend Shelly Manne on drums, sees him perfecting his drunken-piano man act on tracks like – naturally – ‘The Piano’s Been Drinking’ and ‘Tom Traubert’s Blues’. The epic title track describes in detail the murder of a petty thug, and is Waits at his storytelling best.

Graham Parker – Howlin’ Wind

#15 – Graham Parker emerged from (or more to the point, survived) the English pub-rock scene to stand nearly alone at the crossroads of folk and punk. His debut, Howlin’ Wind, is filled with great songs, excellent hooks, and stinging vocal deliveries. These literate, intensely sung songs were well-received at the time, but Parker would go on to be overshadowed by Elvis Costello and overlooked throughout much of his unfulfilled and disappointing career.

Various Artists – Car Wash Soundtrack

#16 – It doesn’t matter if you don’t remember the movie, this album was more than the soundtrack to a cornball comedy – it was the soundtrack of its era. The title track is a cultural pearl that will be handed down for generations to come, but there is much more to love here: from the sultry ‘I Wanna Get Next To You’ to the funky ‘Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is’ to the Richard Pryor skits, it all kills.

Black Sabbath – Technical Ecstasy

#17 – Many Sabbath fans decry this as the beginning of the end, but on the next-to-last album before Ozzy left, they slowed the pace without losing any urgency. ‘Dirty Women’ is a slow burner to match ‘War Pigs’ or ‘Iron Man’, and the Bill Ward sung ‘It’s Alright’ is simply beautiful and unlike anything else in their catalog.

Marvin Gaye – I Want You

#18 – Let it be said: very few singers in the history of popular music can match the beauty and grace of Marvin Gaye. Throughout his career, Gaye sang a great deal about heaven – both above the clouds and below the belt. I Want You is the perfect middle ground of sacred and profane, with Marvin singing like a perfect angel about getting down. Being bad never sounded so good.

KISS – Destroyer

#19 - In a career more storied for pyrotechnics and naughtiness than music, this is without a doubt KISS’ finest studio effort. The epic ‘Detroit Rock City’ is nearly worth the price of admission alone, but throw in ‘God Of Thunder’, the rarely played ‘Great Expectations’, and their biggest hit, ‘Beth’ (which peaked at #7 on the Billboard charts), and you’ve got a great album, even without the crazy makeup, fire-breathing, and 7-inch tongues – but that stuff is great too!

Peter Tosh – Legalize It

#20 – Peter Tosh might be the most enigmatic personality to emerge from the Jamaican music scene. He cheerfully sang “legalize it/and I will advertise it” about ganja, but always seemed to be the edgiest of reggae stars, and many of his songs took on tough topics in uncompromising terms. This tough stance would make him a star second only to Bob Marley in reggae, but his fame came with a price. On September 11, 1987, he was murdered by an acquaintance. Legalize It stands as one of Tosh’s finest moments.

Joni Mitchell – Hejira

#21 – While Joni Mitchell can come off as whiny, on Hejira, she sounds tough, confident and playful. From the opener, ‘Coyote’ onward, there’s spirit at work that belies the gloomy cover photo. ‘Furry Sings the Blues’ features a guest harmonica shot from Neil Young, and the admission “W.C. Handy, I’m rich and I’m fay/And I’m not familiar with what you played”. More people should be familiar with this.

————

12 more that just missed the cut…

Lee Oskar – Lee Oskar
Lynyrd Skynyrd – One More From The Road
J.J. Cale – Troubador
Steve Miller Band – Fly Like An Eagle
Earth, Wind & Fire – Spirit
Rolling Stones – Black & Blue
Augustus Pablo – King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown
Peter Frampton – Frampton Comes Alive
Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson – Wanted! The Outlaws
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
War – Why Can’t We Be Friends?
Bunny Wailer – Blackheart Man

————

And some stars that didn’t align…

In 1976, a number of normally reliable artists released albums that ranged from slightly disappointing to utterly perplexing (or, in Neil Young’s case, nothing at all). A few notable examples:

Bob Dylan – Desire * By no means abominable, (like Self-Portrait) or annoying, (like the religious era) – just not very good by Dylan’s admittedly massive standards.

Eric Clapton – No Reason To Cry * I can think of one.

Grateful Dead – Steal Your Face * Possibly the worst in a long string of bad albums from this group. How the Dead could release a bad live album is beyond me.

David Bowie – Station To Station * This tops some polls as the best album of the 70’s, but I’m not hearing it.

Led Zeppelin – The Song Remains The Same * With all the amazing soundboards Zep had to choose from, why they’d release this tepid piece of crap remains a true mystery.

Lynyrd Skynyrd – Give Me Back My Bullets * This isn’t terrible, but it’s pretty clearly the least great release by the pre-plane crash Skynyrd.

Neil Young – Chrome Dreams * If only…

————

10 Things That Happened In Music In 1976…

BIG DEAL – Promoter Bill Sargent offers The Beatles $30 million to reunite for one concert.

MASKED MEN – Kiss add their footprints to the “Walk Of Fame” outside Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

NOT FORGOTTEN – The Band play their final show together at Winterland in SF. Martin Scorcese films it for what will become The Last Waltz.

FUCKING ROTTERS – The Sex Pistols infuriate the British public (and inspire that classic Daily Mirror headline “The Filth & The Fury”) when their profanity-laced tirade is broadcast live on television on December 1st.

BOOTS ON – Former Yardbirds singer Keith Relf dies from electrocution while playing his guitar on May 14th.

BIGGER DEAL – Lorne Michaels offers The Beatles $3,000 to play together on Saturday Night Live. Lennon and McCartney reportedly are watching the show together in NYC and consider walking to the studio to take Michaels up on his offer.

LONG LIVE THE BLUES – Bluesmen Howlin’ Wolf, Mance Lipscomb, and Freddie King pass away.

FUTURE SHOCK – CBGB OMFUG, a music venue in New York’s rundown Bowery district, turns a profit for the first time in club history – foreshadowing the explosion of Punk music in the late ’70′s.

FUTURE SHOCK II – The first international Punk festival is held at London’s 100 Club on September 20th and 21st. Performers include The Clash, Sex Pistols, The Damned, Siouxsie & The Banshees, and The Vibrators.

BLOW OUT – Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards is arrested and charged with possession of cocaine after a car accident. The substance was found by police in Richards’ wrecked automobile.

————

10 groups that formed in ’76…

Black Flag
Cheap Trick
Culture
The Cure
The Damned
Devo
Iron Maiden
The Jam
U2 (under the name Dublin)
Wire

[The above are liner notes for my mix 1976: The Year In Mucus. Take a look at the cover art.]

Opinion: ‘Definitive 200′ Lacks Punch, Vision

The National Association Of Recording Merchandisers, in conjunction with the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, recently put together a list of what they consider to be the “200 ranked albums that every music lover should own.” It’s pretty easy to see that NARM has an interest in promoting certain artists (ie, those currently under contract and producing revenue for their companies). The fuzzier part of the equation is why the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame would attach its name to such a dubious list.

I’d like to take a few minutes to break down the Definitive 200, and look at where NARM has hit the mark, and where they’ve strayed horribly off course.

SLAM DUNKS (63 albums)
These are albums that most casual music fans would – and should – identify as ‘definitive’:

Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Pink Floyd – Dark Side Of The Moon
Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin IV
U2 – Joshua Tree
Rolling Stones – Exile On Main St.
Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited
Beach Boys – Pet Sounds
Prince – Purple Rain
David Bowie – The Rise & Fall Of Ziggy Stardust
Guns ‘N Roses – Appetite For Destruction
Rolling Stones – Let It Bleed
The Doors – The Doors
Nirvana – Nevermind
Pearl Jam – Ten
Beatles – Abbey Road
The Who – Who’s Next
Stevie Wonder – Songs In The Key Of Life
Pink Floyd – The Wall
Miles Davis – Kind Of Blue
Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On
Beatles – White Album
Soundtrack – Saturday Night Fever
Jimi Hendrix – Are You Experienced?
Beatles – Revolver
U2 – Achtung Baby
Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II
Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers
Led Zeppelin – Houses Of The Holy
AC/DC – Highway To Hell
Elvis Presley – Elvis At Sun
The Clash – London Calling
Johnny Cash – At Folsom Prison
John Coltrane – A Love Supreme
Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here
Michael Jackson – Off The Wall
Black Sabbath – Paranoid
Sex Pistols – Never Mind The Bollocks
Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti
Beatles – Rubber Soul
Radiohead – OK Computer
Van Halen – Van Halen
George Harrison – All Things Must Pass
Neil Young – Harvest
Prince – 1999
Tupac – All Eyez On Me
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Outkast – Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
Beck – Odelay
Prince – Sign O’ The Times
Public Enemy – It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
Bob Dylan – Blood On The Tracks
Rolling Stones – Beggar’s Banquet
Steely Dan – Aja
Willie Nelson – Stardust
Bob Marley – Exodus
Soundtrack – O’ Brother Where Art Thou?
Willie Nelson – Red-Headed Stranger
John Lennon – Imagine
Curtis Mayfield – Superfly
Bob Dylan – Bringing It All Back Home
Al Green – Call Me
White Stripes – White Blood Cells
Nas – Illmatic

STRONG CASES (29 albums)
These are albums that wouldn’t make my personal ‘definitive 200′ but would support a strong argument for inclusion:

Bruce Springsteen – Born To Run
AC/DC – Back In Black
Dr. Dre – The Chronic
Michael Jackson – Thriller
Notorious B.I.G. – Life After Death
N.W.A. – Straight Outta Compton
Metallica – Master Of Puppets
Bruce Springsteen – Born In The USA
Paul Simon – Graceland
Fleetwood Mac – Rumors
Carole King – Tapestry
Van Halen – 1984
Metallica – Ride The Lightning
Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Police – Synchronicity
George Michael – Faith
Simon & Garfunkel – Bridge Over Troubled Water
Cars – Cars
Queen – A Night At The Opera
Frank Sinatra – In The Wee Small Hours
Oukast – Aquemini
Etta James – At Last
Elvis Presley – Elvis Presley
Cat Stevens – Tea For The Tillerman
Dave Brubeck – Time Out
Paul McCartney & Wings – Band On The Run
Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin
Stevie Ray Vaughn – Texas Flood
Madonna – Like A Virgin

NOT BAD BUT NOT EPIC (20 albums)
Albums that I think are pretty good, but are nowhere near the pantheon:

Eminem – Marshall Mathers LP
Metallica – Metallica
Aerosmith – Toys In The Attic
Crosby Stills & Nash – Deja Vu
Lauryn Hill – Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill
Def Leppard – Pyromania
Tom Petty – Full Moon Fever
TLC – Crazysexycool
Bonnie Raitt – Nick Of Time
Janet Jackson – Control
Journey – Escape
Earth Wind & Fire – Gratitude
Fugees – The Score
Rush – 2112
Stone Temple Pilots – Core
George Benson – Breezin’
Sade – Diamond Life
Fleetwood Mac – Fleetwood Mac
Earth Wind & Fire – That’s The Way Of The World
LL Cool J – Mama Said Knock You Out

UN-DEFINITIVE (16 albums)
Even their hardcore fans would agree that these albums aren’t the definitive efforts by the artists that made them:

Grateful Dead – American Beauty (definitive album = Blues For Allah or any Dick’s Picks)
Aretha Franklin – Sparkle (I’ve Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You or Lady Soul)
Santana – Supernatural (self-titled debut or Abraxas)
Beastie Boys – Lisenced To Ill (Paul’s Boutique)
U2 – All That You Can’t Leave Behind (Joshua Tree or Achtung Baby)
Joni Mitchell – Blue (Court & Spark)
Van Morrison – Moondance (Astral Weeks)
Marvin Gaye – Let’s Get It On (What’s Going On?)
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication (BloodSugarSexMagik)
Michael Jackson – Dangerous (Thriller or Off The Wall)
Metallica – …And Justice For All (Master Of Puppets, ‘Black Album’)
ZZ Top – Eliminator (Deguello or Tres Hombres)
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-erd (Second Helping or Street Survivors)
Dire Straits – Brothers In Arms (self-titled debut)
Tupac – Me Against The World (All Eyez On Me)
Ozzy Osbourne – Blizzard Of Ozz (Any Sabbath album or Tribute)

TOO SOON TO TELL (15 albums)
With few exceptions, an album should be 10 years in the rearview mirror before anyone starts calling it definitive:

Norah Jones – Come Away With Me
50 Cent – Get Rich Or Die Tryin’
Nelly – Country Grammar
Green Day – American Idiot
Linkin Park – Hybrid Theory
Eminem – The Eminem Show
Usher – Confessions
Jay-Z – The Black Album
Jay-Z – In My Lifetime, Vol. 1
Jay-Z – The Blueprint
Alicia Keys – The Diary Of Alicia Keys
Tool – Lateralus
R Kelly – R
Destiny’s Child – Writing’s On The Wall
Dixie Chicks – Wide Open Spaces

YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING (47 albums)
Self-explanatory:

Shania Twain – Come On Over
Alanis Morrisette – Jagged Little Pill
Def Leppard – Hysteria
Soundtrack – Grease
Grand Funk Railroad – We’re An American Band
Dave Matthews Band – Crash
Boston – Boston
Bon Jovi – Slippery When Wet
Green Day – Dookie
Whitney Houston – Whitney Houston
Eagles – Hotel California
Jewel – Pieces Of You
Coldplay – Rush Of Blood To The Head
Meatloaf – Bat Out Of Hell
Kid Rock – Devil Without A Cause
Billy Joel – The Stranger
R.E.M. – Automatic For The People
Faith Hill – Breathe
Bob Seger – Night Moves
Creed – Human Clay
Dixie Chicks – Home
Dixie Chicks – Fly
Mariah Carey – Daydream
Soundtrack – Top Gun
No Doubt – Tragic Kingdom
Oasis – (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?
Natalie Cole – Unforgettable With Love Natalie Cole
Soundtrack – Footloose
Lionel Richie – Can’t Slow Down
Sarah McLachlan – Surfacing
Sheryl Crow – Tuesday Night Music Club
Toni Braxton – Toni Braxton
Janet Jackson – Janet
Will Smith – Big Willie Style
Boyz II Men – Cooleyhighharmony
Enya – Day Without Rain
Avril Lavigne – Let Go
Jethro Tull – Aqualung
Shakira – Laundry Service
Soundtrack – Forrest Gump
Live – Throwing Copper
Beyonce – Dangerously In Love
Anita Baker – Rapture
Anita Baker – Rhythm Of Love
Andrea Bocelli – Andrea
Luther Vandross – Never Too Much
Christina Aguilera – Christina Aguilera

WORST OF THE WORST (10 albums)
Here are 10 selections that deserve special merit for being not only undeserving of a place on this list, but albums that no right-thinking music fan would EVER recommend to a friend:

Eagles – Hell Freezes Over
Soundtrack – Titanic
Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness
Phil Collins – No Jacket Required
Kenny G – Breathless
Celine Dion – Falling Into You
Original Cast – Phantom Of The Opera Highlights
Soundtrack – Dirty Dancing
Matchbox Twenty – Yourself Or Someone Like You
Barbara Streisand – A Star Is Born

WHAT’S MISSING?
Here are a few albums to replace the Barbara Streisand, Avril Lavigne, and Kenny G. albums that I’d strip of the ‘definitive’ label:

Miles Davis – Bitches Brew
Eric B & Rakim – Paid In Full
Ramones – self-titled debut and Rocket To Russia
Nick Drake – Pink Moon
The Band – Music From Big Pink
New York Dolls – New York Dolls
Various Artists – Nuggets: Orginal Artyfacts From The Original Psychedelic Era
Various Artists – The Anthology Of American Folk Music
Flying Burrito Brothers – Gilded Palace Of Sin
The Cure – Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
Talking Heads – Remain In Light
Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures
Los Lobos – Kiko
Kraftwerk – Trans-Europe Express
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five – The Message
Velvet Underground – Loaded and White Light/White Heat
Funkadelic – Maggot Brain
Parliament – Mothership Connection
Bob Dylan & The Band – The Basement Tapes
Bob Dylan – Time Out Of Mind
Jimi Hendrix – Axis Bold As Love and Electric Ladyland
Woody Guthrie – Dust Bowl Ballads
X – Los Angeles and Wild Gift
The Stooges – Fun House and Raw Power
James Brown – Live At The Apollo
Otis Redding – Otis Blue
Massive Attack – Blue Lines
Eric Clapton – 461 Ocean Blvd.
Cream – Disraeli Gears
Derek & The Dominoes – Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs
Allman Brothers – Live At Fillmore East
Minutemen – Double Nickels On The Dime
Hank Williams Sr. – 20 Greatest Hits
The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
Jeff Buckley – Grace
Johnny Cash – American Recordings
The Byrds – Notorious Byrd Brothers and Sweetheart Of The Rodeo and Untitled
Sly & The Family Stone – There’s A Riot Goin’ On

A FEW THOUGHTS…

*By my count roughly one-third of their list is definitive, one-third is debatable, and one-third is detestable.
*No Eric Clapton, in any form, solo or group. Huh?
*No Lou Reed or Iggy Pop either.
*Included: three albums by Jay-Z, two by Eminem, one by Kid Rock. Not included: any albums by Eric B & Rakim, Run DMC or Grandmaster Flash.
*Besides Bob Marley, no world music. No Ali Farka Toure, Fela Kuti, or tropicalia.
*No future stars: the White Stripes and Tool are as forward-thinking as NARM got. Creed? Live? Linkin Park? Yuck. How about using those spots for Arcade Fire, Kings Of Leon, and Gnarls Barkley? If you’re going to make a dumb choice, at least make it an interestingly dumb choice.
*Some country but not much. Let’s see: three albums by the Dixie Chicks, two by Willie Nelson, one by Johnny Cash, none by Hank Williams. At this point I guess we should be happy there’s no Garth Brooks either.
*Two albums by Anita Baker, and one each by Alanis Morrisette, Avril Lavigne, Christina Aguilera, Celine Dion, and Sarah McLachlan. None by Billie Holiday or Janis Joplin.
*Two albums by Green Day, none by the Ramones, Stooges, or MC5.
*Not one Blues album, unless you’re counting Led Zep or SRV. No Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Leadbelly – nothing.
*In spite of the 90′s being generally over-represented, there isn’t a single electronica album in sight.

The vast shortcomings of the Definitive 200 come into better focus when the list is broken down by decade:

50′s = 4 albums
60′s = 18 albums
70′s = 58 albums
80′s = 42 albums
90′s = 54 albums
00′s = 24 albums

Think about this: according to NARM, there were three times as many ‘definitive’ albums produced during the 90′s as were produced in the 60′s. Really? That seems like a stretch, as does the contention that more definitive albums have been produced in our current decade than were produced during the whole of the 60′s. Or put another way, NARM would have us believe that 39% of the greatest albums of all time were produced in the last 16 years and only 9% were produced during the 60′s. If you believe that, I’ve got a bridge to sell you…

I understand that the mechanics of compiling lists like this result in a watered down compromise of the tastes of many people, but even with that caveat in place, the Definitive 200 is at best a joke (and at worst a scam). A room full of true music fans would never have turned in a list that looked anything like this. However, a room full of desperate music executives looking for a device to sell more records just turned in a list that looks exactly like this.

If you were looking for a good used car, the last opinion you’d want would be that of a used car salesman. The Definitive 200 proves that when you’re looking for a great album, the last people to ask are those that work in the industry. They’re out there right now, trying to sell you lemons by the bushel…

On The Fence: My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts

Every so often I come up against an album I just can’t make up my mind about. I’ve decided to use this blog to answer the unanswerable: Is David Byrne & Brian Eno’s My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts a visionary masterpiece, or an outdated relic? I’ll present both sides of my thinking, and then let your comments make up my mind. Truly democracy* in action:

THUMBS UP: Coming off the making of Talking Heads’ superb Remain In Light, Eno and Byrne were at the top of their game, and created an album years ahead of its time. Sampling manic preachers and other strange voices, and layering them over beats that are one part Fela Kuti and two parts Kraftwerk, Eno/Byrne laid together an album that still sounds utterly unique. My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts is part world beat, part techno, and entirely the sound of two musical geniuses taking their music to new places.

THUMBS DOWN: My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts is hailed as a visionary masterpiece, but in truth it doesn’t hold a candle to its sister album, Remain In Light. Furthermore, Ghosts sounds incredibly dated, and flaunts many of the worst tendencies of early electronica (overly repetitive, weird dead spaces, too many samples and not enough speeds). It’s an album that was undoubtedly ahead of its time, but this is a quaint, dated relic that has clearly passed its expiration date.

What do you think? Your comments will alter the direction of my listening habits…

[*offer not valid in the states of Ohio and Florida]

Hitting The Links III

Before I get to this week’s fun, I’d like to give a special shoutout to the two browsers who found this site using the search terms ‘Grace Slick Overrated’ and ‘Ganja 3d’. You folks are always welcome here.

Now for our regularly scheduled links:

Let loose your inner sleeve.

Get some truth on the Summer Of Love.

Bask in the genius of M. Ward.

A curious list of rock milestones.

This cracked me up.

A little something about the original DJ.

They’re turning water into music in Croatia.

Some break dancers can float on air.

Ian Curtis – gone, but not forgotten.

Keith Moon does his thing.

The 33 & 1/3 crew are at it again.

Kevin likes this clip of The Warriors vs. The Fugees.

John Lennon’s death had a personal impact for some.

A semi-intimate portrait of Rick Rubin.

Worth it just for the piano player.

Elvis Costello has a few recommendations.

This list is junk.

Seems like poor taste to me.

Random Propaganda IV

Every album has a story. Here are a few of mine…

Billy Preston * Music Is My Life – This album gets props just for the cover photo. The P and I have had a pretty rough couple of weeks, and at some point during that time, this worked its way to the front of our record pile. So Billy Preston’s smiling face has been cheering us as best it can. The album’s got the #1 hit ‘Will It Go Round In Circles’ and a nice cover of ‘Blackbird’, but it’s mentioned here mainly so I can say RIP Billy Preston (he passed away last June) and thanks for smiling on us during times of woe.

Victor Villadangos * Guitar Music Of Argentina – This classical guitar virtuoso was born in Buenos Aires, and the pieces he plays here were all written by Argentinian composers, including Maximo Diego Pujol, Narciso Saul, and Walter Heinze. An excellent album in the mold of Andres Segovia and Julian Bream, Guitar Music Of Argentina is the perfect music for when you’re absorbed in something else, because it’s not intrusive, and it stimulates areas of your brain that other albums never get to.

Amy Winehouse * Back To Black – An early front-runner for the title of ‘Best Album to Slip Under My Radar in 2006′. Granted, it was released in the States during the last week of the year, but I’m only just getting to it now. Winehouse has an exceptional voice and loads of sass that come through on every track. She sings about getting the short end of the stick romantically and trying to stay out of rehab, and Back To Black sounds every bit a lost gem from another time and place.

James Luther Dickinson * Free Beer Tomorrow – I’ve already written about Dickinson’s lost classic Dixie Fried, but his 30-years-later follow-up is nearly as good. The rambling, epic ‘Ballad Of Billy And Oscar’ imagines the meeting of Billy The Kid and Oscar Wilde (“in a whorehouse for specialized tastes”) and spins a narrative that’s every bit as incisive and biting as the works of Wilde himself. Dickinson spends a lot of time making other people sound good, but when he lays down an album of his own, it’s always worth stopping in for a listen.

John Martyn * The Church With One Bell – This album of covers gets the 10-4 here for Martyn’s chillingly effective take on Ben Harper’s ‘Excuse Me Mister’. It’s an unlikely cover, but it works mainly because Martyn has a voice for the ages and he sells it out big-time for this song. It’s the ultra-rare case of a very good song being made great through the combination of the right voice and an artist who just wants it.

Jorma Kaukonen * Blue Country Heart – Former Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna guitarist Kaukonen dives into some old-time songs with the help of Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, and Bela Fleck. This album was recorded in Nashville, and all of the musicians mentioned are highly regarded players, but it retains the friendly feel of a front porch jam session.

Jurassic 5 * Jurrasic 5 EP – Just heard that Jurrasic 5 broke up… (moment of silence for muttering under my breath) and had to fire up their debut ep on vinyl. It isn’t nearly their finest moment, but it includes the great hip-hop primer ‘Lesson 6: The Lecture’ plus ‘In The Flesh’ and ‘Action Satisfaction’. This ep was a clear statement of intent, and laid the foundation for their outstanding album Quality Control. They will be missed around these parts…

Velvet Underground * Fully Loaded – The second disc of the Deluxe Reissue of the Velvet Underground’s Loaded is alone worth the cost of the package. Featuring the album in demo/rough versions, it’s a beautiful blueprint of a classic album. Highly recommended.

Buried Treasure: Let’s Get Killed

[The ‘Buried Treasure’ series is my attempt to uncover some great albums that deserve a larger audience. Today: David Holmes' twisted NYC freak carnival…]

Just as Mayor Rudy Guliani’s ‘Quality Of Life’ crime program was beginning to sweep the human filth from the streets of New York City, David Holmes dropped in to record some of the characters wandering those streets. Armed with a portable DAT recorder, the snatches of conversations, rants, fortune-telling, hustling, stories, and general creepiness that Holmes captured is a chilling and thrilling relic from a time before Times Square conjured up visions of Disney and the Virgin Megastore.

This is one of the scariest albums ever committed to tape, and like the city it represents, it’s filled with an energy that is constantly threatening to spill over into something dangerous. Holmes scores the spoken passages with appropriately spooky electronic works, and the album thrums with an overt promise of violence. It inspires fear, while creating a grotesque alterna-reality that you won’t be able to turn away from. Definitely not for the faint of heart.

Masterpiece: Untitled

[Today: Blasting off with The Byrds' lost classic...]

One friday night last fall, I came home from work sick as a dog, stuffed up, and flu-ridden. I could barely stand, and finally surrendered to the virus – going to bed at 7pm with the help of a big shot of Nyquil™.

I awoke at 5am the next morning not exactly cured, but refreshed and rested. I went to our music room and cued up The Byrds Untitled album. It’s an album I bought during college for 25 cents but historically hadn’t given much play. But for some reason I gravitated right to it that morning. Side one starts off with an aggressive, live version of ‘Lover Of The Bayou’ – an excellent song to listen to in the deepest dark of night [creepers! this song popped up on the cd changer as the 't' of that last sentence went off the tip of my finger - voodoo indeed].

Then I cued up side two – the album length ‘Eight Miles High’ – and watched the sun come up from pitch black to completely over the horizon in one incredible album side. Around the 12 minute mark, the band sounds like they’re about to lift off into orbit. And that’s exactly what the sun did while I watched it rise over the Oakland hills. It’s an album that hasn’t been far from the turntable since, and a constant reminder that there are lots of masterpieces kicking around my music collection, waiting to be (re)discovered.

20 Greatest Blues Albums – Cover Art

Here’s the cover art for my mix of ‘The 20 Greatest Blues Albums Of All-Time’.

Read the complete liner notes for this mix.

Here’s the front cover:

Front inside:

Inside Gatefold:

[These liner notes are a condensed version of my April 29th post.]

Front Gatefold:

Back:

[caption reads: Often duplicated. Never imitated.]

Here’s the track listing:

Robert Johnson – Traveling Riverside Blues
Howlin’ Wolf – Smokestack Lightnin’
Leadbelly – You Don’t Know My Mind
Billie Holiday – Stars Fell On Alabama
Mississippi John Hurt – Stack O’ Lee Blues
Bessie Smith – Jail-House Blues
Reverend Gary Davis – Sampson & Delilah
Big Bill Broonzy – Long Tall Mama
Skip James – Hard Time Killin’ Floor Blues
Albert King – Born Under A Bad Sign
Mance Lipscomb – Jack O’ Diamonds
John Lee Hooker – Johnny Lee And The Thing
Lonnie Johnson – C.C. Rider
Muddy Waters – Put A Tiger In Your Tank
Blind Willie McTell – Three Women Blues
Bo Diddley – Ride On Josephine
R.L. Burnside – Chain Of Fools
Magic Sam – Sweet Home Chicago
Jimmy Reed – Big Boss Man
Lightnin’ Hopkins – Mojo Hand