SUMMER PROJECT: Whole Albums to Travel By

Those rare musical treasures that require no song-to-song cherry picking, no fast forwarding (for those 35-plus who know what that is...), no selective exclusion from playlists. They are their OWN playlists...each a greatest hits package of brand new material, still fresh even decades on from their release. You know...desert island albums. 

In the case of 1/48/50, whole urban areas, entire counties, fully one half of any state even, may be traversed on the power of a single inspired album playing all the way through.

So good, in fact, they require no two cents thrown in by the likes of me.  Just listen.  ;-)

"THRILLER" by Michael Jackson

"BACK IN BLACK" by AC/DC

SUMMER PROJECT: Whole Albums to Travel By

Those rare musical treasures that require no song-to-song cherry picking, no fast forwarding (for those 35-plus who know what that is...), no selective exclusion from playlists. They are their OWN playlists...each a greatest hits package of brand new material, still fresh even decades on from their release. You know...desert island albums. 

In the case of 1/48/50, whole urban areas, entire counties, fully one half of any state even, may be traversed on the power of a single inspired album playing all the way through.

So good, in fact, they require no two cents thrown in by the likes of me.  Just listen.  ;-)

"Dressed to Kill" by Kiss

"G N' R Lies" by Guns and Roses

(The B side, at least!! ;-)

SUMMER PROJECT: Whole Albums to Travel By

Those rare musical treasures that require no song-to-song cherry picking, no fast forwarding (for those 35+ who know what that is...), no selective exclusion from playlists. They are their OWN playlists...each a greatest hits package of brand new material. You know...desert island albums. In the case of 1/48/50, whole urban areas, entire counties, fully one half of any state even, may be traversed on the power of a single inspired album playing all the way through.

So good, in fact, they require no two cents thrown in by the likes of me.  Just listen.  ;-)

"Vincebus Eruptum" by Blue Cheer

"Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" by The Beatles

(Happy Fiftieth!)

Yet ANOTHER Top 100 (or so) Songs I Absolutely Must Have With Me on 1/48/50

#253) "Are You Experienced?" by Jimi Hendrix - Quintessential Hendrix here, I'd say...sexually charged melody, guitar singing (or in this case groaning) rather than merely being played, and lyrics that are beautifully poetic, deceptively smart, and kind of predatory all at once.

"Are You Experienced?" is also one of those songs that, I think, has become historical, representative of everything that was going on at the time it was released (1967), not just out in the world, but in people's minds, as everything "out in the world" was changing so drastically.

"If you can just get your mind together, then come on across to me..."

#254) "A Thousand Miles From Nowhere" by Dwight Yoakum - For many years I've heard people talk about what's roundly considered the greatest country song of all time - "He Stopped Loving Her Today" by George Jones.

Meh, that's all right, but I've never understood why people consider it worthy of country music canon. For my money, it's not even the best George Jones song.

"A Thousand Miles From Nowhere", on the other hand, casts the ideal country mold - sorrow, heartache, a larger sense of lonesomeness - without trying to be "country". It doesn't try to be anything. It just is.  A thousand miles from nowhere.

"All that I keep hearing, are the cruel, cruel words that you said..."

#255) "Maple Leaf Rag" by Scott Joplin - I rediscovered this music only in the last few months, after about a four-decade hiatus. I hadn't heard it since I was a kid, but there was a time, long ago, when it was a pretty big deal. My parents had an 8-track of ragtime composer Scott Joplin's greatest hits (seriously, it existed), and I wore that cartridge out jamming to Joplin in days when I was barely out of diapers (no, not high school). "Maple Leaf Rag" was my first experience feeling emboldened by music, first time being struck by the impulse to air play along.

Honestly, that's still the case. You can't help but have a little swagger after listening to this. It's not cool, hip or sexy, but it's simply good. The bratty-sounding melody coupled with an equally sassy rhythm make you feel good , which, at the end of the day, is the thing we most expect - and crave - from our music.

Right...?

Three Things That Always Stir Restlessness

1) This Sky....(and the little camper van driving under it...)

2) This Sky....(I know I've cited rainbows before, but hey, that's okay...they deserve more than one mention...)

3) This Sky....

4) This Sky....(that's four, not three, I know...but again, that's okay...;-)