Seventy-Five Albums You Should Hear
These may not be the 75 greatest albums of all time. They may not even be the best albums these artists ever made. But here are 75 albums that were an essential part of my musical education and should be part of yours…in no particular order.
The Great Twenty-Eight. Chuck Berry, Chess Records, 1982. John Lennon once said that if you were going to give rock ‘n’ roll another name you’d call it Chuck Berry. He was right.
In The Wee Small Hours of the Morning. Frank Sinatra, Capitol Records, 1955.
Led Zeppelin II. Led Zeppelin, Atlantic Records, 1969. My first and still my favorite Led Zeppelin album. Not a bad song on it, and the sound is perfect.
Pet Sounds. The Beach Boys, Capitol Records, 1966. Paul McCartney and Sir George Martin have both said that it inspired Sgt. Pepper’s…enough said.
Swinging Doors and The Bottle Let Me Down. Merle Haggard & The Strangers, Capitol Records, 1966.
Kind of Blue. Miles Davis, Columbia Records, 1959.
Elvis Presley. Elvis Presley, RCA Victor, 1956. I grew up with a fat, sweating, clearly out of it Elvis making a mockery of himself in a karate suit and couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about. Then I went back to the early stuff and saw footage of a young, good-looking Elvis in his prime and it all became clear. A great voice and a dynamic performer. Couple this with The Sun Sessions.
Blonde on Blonde. Bob Dylan, Columbia Records, 1966.
Born to Run. Bruce Springsteen, Columbia Records, 1975.
Honkey Tonk Heroes. Waylon Jennings, RCA Records, 1973.
The Complete Hot Five and Seven Recordings. Louis Armstrong, Columbia/Legacy, 2000. This is where jazz begins. It’s impossible to overestimate the impact of these records on all of the American music that followed.
I Wanna be Around… Tony Bennett, Columbia Records, 1963.
The Band. The Band, Capitol Records, 1969.
Armed Forces. Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Columbia Records, 1979. What IS so funny ‘bout peace, love and understanding?
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. Derek and the Dominos, Polydor, 1970. A cry from the soul.
Revolver. The Beatles, Parlophone Records, 1966. Not as obvious a choice as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, but a great collection of songs, and the studio experimentation was already bearing fruit.
Jailbreak. Thin Lizzy, Mercury, 1976.
Clifford Brown with Strings. Clifford Brown, EmArcy, 1955. Just a beautiful, beautiful record. That tone!
Truth. Jeff Beck, Epic, 1968. Led Zeppelin before Led Zeppelin. British blues guitar great partners with charismatic lead singer (in this case Rod Stewart) to form four piece heavy rock band. Listen to this and then listen to Led Zeppelin I. Zep even copped You Shook Me.
Shotgun Willie. Willie Nelson, Atlantic Records, 1973.
Late for the Sky. Jackson Browne, Asylum Records, 1974. His masterpiece. The lyrics and melodies on this record are so beautiful and the way they work together to create an emotional landscape is so effective that is has to rank as one of the greatest examples of the songwriter’s art you’re likely to find.
Are You Experienced? Jimi Hendrix, Track Records, 1970. If Chuck Berry was the Louis Armstrong of rock ‘n’ roll guitar, laying the foundation for everything that followed, Jimi Hendrix was its Charlie Parker. He totally redefined the possibilities and did things no one else had imagined. After this record was released, nothing was the same.
Hard Time Killin’ Floor. Skip James, Yazoo Records, 2005.
Who’s Next. The Who, Track Records, 1971. What began as an attempt to create a concept album more ambitious than Tommy disintegrated into the Who’s best album. We should all fail this magnificently.
Willie and the Poor Boys. Creedence Clearwater Revival, Fantasy Records, 1969.
Honky Chateau. Elton John, DJM Records, 1972. I could have chosen any Elton John album from the early seventies, but this one has Rocket Man, which is probably my favorite Elton song, except of course for…
Faithfully. Johnny Mathis, Columbia, 1959.
Lola vs. Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One. The Kinks, Reprise Records, 1970.
Genius of Modern Music, vol. 1. Thelonious Monk, Blue Note, 1952.
The Doors. The Doors, Elektra Records, 1967.
A New World Record. Electric Light Orchestra, Jet Records, 1976.
The Blanton-Webster Band. Duke Ellington, RCA/Bluebird, 1986. Collects all of the tracks by what many consider to be Duke Ellington’s greatest lineup.
Buck Owens. Buck Owens, Capitol, 1961. Before Hee-Haw made him a laughingstock, Buck Owens was the hippest thing in country music, scoring 21 number one hits in the 60’s playing hard driving, honky tonk country music on Fender Telecasters. The Nudie suits were cool, too.
A Night at the Opera. Queen, EMI, 1975.
The Wildest! Louis Prima, Capitol, 1957. An Italian trumpet player from New Orleans who’d started out in big bands playing driving, small group, party music that sounds a lot like rock ‘n’ roll, at least by 50’s standards. This record is a lot of fun.
Louisiana Blues & Zydeco. Clifton Chenier, Arhoolie, 1965.
Damn the Torpedoes. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Backstreet Records, 1979. It used to be common for record companies to give an artist a couple of albums to develop, but the third album was make or break. If you didn’t have a hit, you’d be dropped. This was Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers third album, and they hit it out of the park. Still my favorite Heartbreakers album. See Born to Run for another third album, career-defining, masterpiece.
Dark Side of the Moon. Pink Floyd, Harvest, 1973.
The Original Singles Collection…Plus. Hank Williams, Polydor, 1990.
Another Year. Leo Sayer, Chrysalis, 1975.
Let it Bleed. The Rolling Stones, London Records, 1969.
Leon Russell. Leon Russell, Shelter Records, 1970.
Moondance. Van Morrison, Warner Bros. - Seven Arts Records, 1970. Into the Mystic…
Electric Warrior. T. Rex, Reprise Records, 1971.
Sings for Two in Love. Nat King Cole, Capitol Records, 1954.
Summerteeth. Wilco, Reprise Records, 1999.
Giant Steps. John Coltrane, Atlantic Records, 1960.
Dust Bowl Ballads. Woody Guthrie, RCA Victor, 1964.
The Buddy Holly Collection. Buddy Holly, MCA, 1993. Like Chuck Berry, a guitar playing rock ‘n’ roll pioneer who wrote his own songs. Possibly the biggest influence on the young Beatles whose choice of name pays homage to Buddy Holly’s band, The Crickets.
Gone. Dwight Yoakam, Reprise, 1995.
Portrait of a Legend, 1951-1964. Sam Cooke, Abkco, 2003.
After the Gold Rush. Neil Young, Reprise Records, 1970. I’m not as big a fan as some. What some call eclectic or mercurial, I call undisciplined and unfocused. His albums always strike me as inconsistent, and many seem to be assembled haphazardly. But ATGR is a masterpiece, one of the great albums of its era.
In the Court of the Crimson King. King Crimson, Atlantic, 1969.
A Nod is as Good as a Wink…To a Blind Horse. The Faces, Warner Bros. Records, 1971. Possibly the greatest British rock ‘n’ roll band of the seventies not called the Rolling Stones. Criminally underrated.
Hunky Dory. David Bowie, RCA Victor, 1971.
18 Original Sun Greatest Hits. Jerry Lee Lewis, Rhino Records, 1984.
This Time I’m Swingin’! Dean Martin, Capitol Records, 1960. Dean Martin with arrangements by Nelson Riddle. Possibly his best album.
The Fabulous Johnny Cash. Johnny Cash, Columbia Records, 1958. Maybe his best studio album until he teamed up with Rick Rubin some 36 years later.
Sings the Harold Arlen Songbook. Ella Fitzgerald, Verve, 1961. Quite possibly the greatest female singer of all-time.
The Birth of Soul: The Complete Atlantic Rhythm & Blues Recordings, 1952-1959. Ray Charles, Rhino/Atlantic, 1991.
Music from Big Pink. The Band, Capitol, 1968.
Cadence Classics. The Everly Brothers, Rhino Records, 1985.
Disraeli Gears. Cream, ATCO, 1967.
Tea for the Tillerman. Cat Stevens, A&M, 1970.
Let’s Stay Together. Al Green, Hi Records, 1972.
They Call Me the Fat Man: The Legendary Imperial Recordings. Antoine “Fats” Domino, Imperial, 1991.
The Complete Decca Recordings. Count Basie, GRP, 1992. Classic Basie.
Breakfast in America. Supertramp, A&M, 1979.
Dixie Chicken. Little Feat, Warner Bros. Records, 1973.
Family Tradition. Hank Williams, Jr., Curb, 1979.
King of the Delta Blues Singers. Robert Johnson, Columbia, 1961.
Recovering the Satellites. Counting Crows, DGC, 1996.
The Yes Album. Yes, Atlantic, 1971.
The Cars. The Cars, Elektra, 1978.
The Complete Aladdin Recordings. Lightnin’ Hopkins, Aladdin/EMI, 1991.