10 Albums Influence 7-of-10

Continuing to pop these in every couple of days, will get through all 10 sometime!!

So, over on the Book of Face, I recently did a challenge:  "Choose 10 albums that greatly influenced my taste in music.  post one album per day for 10 consecutive days.  No explanations, no reviews, just album covers."

Obviously, I had to do it.  But as hard as it was to pick 10 personally influential albums, it was harder yet to post with no explanations!!  Fortunately, I have no such restriction on my blog.  'Cause I make the rules!  So here we go, a reposting of the 10 albums I posted on Facebook, but now with a short explanation of each explain WHY I chose it as influential. And not exactly consecutive days, but t'll have to do!

Note:  these are presented in the same random order I used over there....

Day 7 of 10

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Dirt Silver and Gold - 1976

A three disc compilation from NGDB, covering the first 10 years of their material.  Can't really call it a greatest Hits album, but it's still a treasure trove of music, covering their Jug Band days through "Mr. Bojangles" and "Will The Circle Be Unbroken".  I expect that I only knew Mr Bojangles at the time that I bought tise (when it was current, 1976).

As to influence, this album really opened the doors for me to the world of bluegrass music.  It didn't hurt that I discovered backpacking about the same time I discovered this album, and significant time in my personal growth.  Blah blah blaaah....  The original release came with a (folded) poster of the album cover, which adorned my dorm room in college (and subsequent apartment).

But this is an album where I know every note of every song, one I still listen to today.  And one that opened new doors for me.

10 Albums Influence 6-of-10

So, over on the Book of Face, I recently did a challenge:  "Choose 10 albums that greatly influenced my taste in music.  post one album per day for 10 consecutive days.  No explanations, no reviews, just album covers."

Obviously, I had to do it.  But as hard as it was to pick 10 personally influential albums, it was harder yet to post with no explanations!!  Fortunately, I have no such restriction on my blog.  'Cause I make the rules!  So here we go, a reposting of the 10 albums I posted on Facebook, but now with a short explanation of each explain WHY I chose it as influential. And not exactly consecutive days, but t'll have to do!

Note:  these are presented in the same random order I used over there....

Day 6 of 10

Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue -1959

I didn't really discover Jazz until college, and this was the first album I owned  A great album, very accessible,  I had this on a cassette, and never did own it on vinyl.  Obviously,  I  have it on CD these days.  As noted on wikipedia:  "Kind of Blue has been regarded by many critics as the greatest jazz record, Davis's masterpiece, and one of the best albums of all time. Its influence on music, including jazz, rock, and classical genres, has led writers to also deem it one of the most influential albums ever recorded. The album was one of fifty recordings chosen in 2002 by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry, and in 2003 it was ranked number 12 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It was voted number 14 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums."

It is still one of my favorite Jazz albums, but get's tagged here as the one that really got me exposed to the genre.

10 Albums Influence 5-of-10

So, over on the Book of Face, I just did a challenge:  "Choose 10 albums that greatly influenced my taste in music.  post one album per day for 10 consecutive days.  No explanations, no reviews, just album covers."

Obviously, I had to do it.  But as hard as it was to pick 10 personally influential albums, it was harder yet to post with no explanations!!  Fortunately, I have no such restriction on my blog.  'Cause I make the rules!  So here we go, a reposting of the 10 albums I posted on Facebook, but now with a short explanation of each explain WHY I chose it as influential. And not exactly consecutive days, but hopefully close!

Note:  these are presented in the same random order I used over there....

Day 5 of 10

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Pronounced Leh nerd skin nerd - 1973


During the mid to late 70's, I was a huge Southern Rock fan.  And this was the album that kicked it off.  I think it was sometime in '74 when I picked up this album, because of hearing Free Bird on the radio.  Not too long after, a friend introduced me me CDB (Fire On The Mountain) and MTB (Searchin' For A Rainbow) and it was off to the races.  But Skynyrd was my favorite, through most of High School and into college. I think this was the first album that I wore out and had to replace.  Either this or Skynyrd's live album...

The liner notes for the album listed who played "lead guitar" on each song.  I would try and discern the differences in each player's sound/style...  pretty geeky.

10 Albums Influence 4-of-10

So, over on the Book of Face, I just did a challenge:  "Choose 10 albums that greatly influenced my taste in music.  post one album per day for 10 consecutive days.  No explanations, no reviews, just album covers."

Obviously, I had to do it.  But as hard as it was to pick 10 personally influential albums, it was harder yet to post with no explanations!!  Fortunately, I have no such restriction on my blog.  'Cause I make the rules!  So here we go, a reposting of the 10 albums I posted on Facebook, but now with a short explanation of each explain WHY I chose it as influential. And not exactly consequtive days, but hopefully close!

Note:  these are presented in the same random order I used over there....

Day 4 of 10

Joe Jackson - Look Sharp - 1979

Summer of 1979...  I had just finished my freshman year of college, and was home for the summer.  And it was a pretty dynamic time for new music.  The previous 12 months had seen debuts from band s like The Cars, The Police, Dire Straits,   Bands like Blondie, Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, Cheap Trick and Tom Petty were ascending.   Lots of good stuff, and my tastes were broadening from my high school days...  . And my brother slipped Joe Jackson into the mix.  Or maybe shoved.  And this quickly became one of my favorite albums, of that "new wave". 

Joe Jackson was one of my favorite artists throughout the 80's, and I picked up each of his first 8 alums pretty much when they were released.  I was able to see him twice in the decade (Merriwether Post Pavilion, in the DC suburbs).

40+ years later, still love this album.

10 Albums Influence 3-of-10

So, over on the Book of Face, I just did a challenge:  "Choose 10 albums that greatly influenced my taste in music.  post one album per day for 10 consecutive days.  No explanations, no reviews, just album covers."

Obviously, I had to do it.  But as hard as it was to pick 10 personally influential albums, it was harder yet to post with no explanations!!  Fortunately, I have no such restriction on my blog.  'Cause I make the rules!  So here we go, a reposting of the 10 albums I posted on Facebook, but now with a short explanation of each explain WHY I chose it as influential.

Note:  these are presented in the same random order I used over there....

Day 3 of 10

Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon -1973

I made the comment once that this album was not just good, it was "important".  And I still feel that way.  It was released inn the spring of 1973, when I was in 7th grade.  A I don't remember exactly when I got the album, but it wasn't too much later. And it blew me away.  The soundscape, the lyrics, the overall look and feel.  It really opened my eyes to a broader scope of music than I'd previously listened to. 

DSOTM spent 741 weeks on Billboard's album charts, from 1973 to 1988. Kind of impressive...

I'm not sure Sark Side was ever my most played record, but it has gotten regular play for +45 years.

10 Albums Influence 2-of-10

So, over on the Book of Face, I just did a challenge:  "Choose 10 albums that greatly influenced my taste in music.  post one album per day for 10 consecutive days.  No explanations, no reviews, just album covers."

Obviously, I had to do it.  But as hard as it was to pick 10 personally influential albums, it was harder yet to post with no explanations!!  Fortunately, I have no such restriction on my blog.  'Cause I make the rules!  So here we go, a reposting of the 10 albums I posted on Facebook, but now with a short explanation of each explain WHY I chose it as influential.

Note:  these are presented in the same random order I used over there....

Day 2 of 10

J.J. Cale - Troubadour - 1976

Sometime in the second 1/2 of 1977 (I think), I first heard J.J. Cale's (original) version of the song Cocaine, on the local Album-Oriented-Rock station.  I'm pretty sure it was before Clapton's version, but not by much.  (But I could be wrong, it was, after all over 40yrs ago). And it really grabbed my 17 year old spirit, a great rock song.  I knew that J.J. Cale had written two songs covered by Lynyrd Skynyd, and Eric Clapton's "After Midnight".  And now this!  So I had to pick up the album.

And as I listened to it the first time...  well, I didn't quite get it.  Because it's not head banging rock and roll.  And while his original of Cocaine sounds very much like Clapton's, Cale's original versions of After Midnight, Call Me The Breeze and I Got The Same Old Blues do NOT sound like the covers...   [Aside, none of those other songs are on Troubadour].

But as I gave it more listens, it drew me in, and before long had me totally hooked.  Totally hooked.  I like how one web site put it:  "Cale's signature laid back, bluesy style of country rock features rambling snapshots of love and life on the road that are unconventionally addicting. "   Before long I had his previous 3 albums, and I picked up his next 5 albums as soon as I knew about them (working through 1990). 

All these years later, J.J. Cale is still a staple on my iPod, still a favorite.  I own all but one of his albums, two if you include the posthumous collection of unreleased stuff.  I should probably get those two, just to be a completest, and prove the point...

10 Albums Influence 1-of-10

So, over on the Book of Face, I just did a challenge:  "Choose 10 albums that greatly influenced my taste in music.  post one album per day for 10 consecutive days.  No explanations, no reviews, just album covers."

Obviously, I had to do it.  But as hard as it was to pick 10 personally influential albums, it was harder yet to post with no explanations!!  Fortunately, I have no such restriction on my blog.  'Cause I make the rules!  So here we go, a reposting of the 10 albums I posted on Facebook, but now with a short explanation of each explain WHY I chose it as influential.

Note:  these are presented in the same random order I used over there....

Day 1 of 10

The Band - Rock Of Ages - 1972

The first live album from The Band, released after their first 4 studio albums.  This is one of the early albums I owned, not when it was brand new, but certainly within a couple of years.  It was the fist album I owned by The Band, I picked it up as means to get the several songs I know from the radio (there was no Greatest Hits package at the time), but it was also a time when I especially liked live recordings.

So, this was, for all practical purposes, my introduction to the Band.  And one of my early exposures to "Americana". or whatever you want to call it.  Or as the Rolling Stone review says:  "It is a kind a summation of American music, if you will. A cultural mix unequaled in contemporary music".  This was really my introduction to that whole "scene".  And, nearing 50 years later, still my favorite Band album.  And still one of my favorite live albums.