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July 11 is Dollar & A Dime Day!
365 Days of Album Recommendations: January – June
181 Recommended Albums so far!
Here you go people, every recommended album so far—all 181 of ’em, in chronological order! How many have YOU heard?
- Muddy Waters – Rare & Unissued
- Skip James – She Lyin’
- Albert King – I’ll Play The Blues For You
- Dave Van Ronk – Folksinger
- Robert Pete Williams – Louisiana Blues
- The Best of Nina Simone
- Johnny Winter Progressive Blues Experiment
- Don’t Mess With Miss Watkins
- Lightnin’ Hopkins – Autobiography in Blues
- Howlin’ Wolf – His Best – Chess 50th Anniversary Collection
- Chris Whitley – Dirt Floor
- Bo Diddley – Bo Diddley
- Janis Joplin – I Got Dem Ol Kozmic Blues Again Mama
- Stevie Ray Vaughan – Couldn’t Stand The Weather
- Kelly Joe Phelps – Shine-Eyed Mister Zen
- Gil Scott-Heron – Pieces of a Man
- Oliver Nelson – The Blues and the Abstract Truth
- The Victoria Spivey Collection 1926-1937
- Phil Ochs – All The News That’s Fit To Sing
- Joseph Spence – Good Morning Mr. Walker
- Clara Smith – The Essential Clara Smith1924-1929
- Mazzy Star – So Tonight That I Might See
- John Mooney – Comin’ your Way
- The Pretenders – Learning to Crawl
- Manifesto Mix Tape Vol. 1
- Robert Johnson – King of the Delta Blues Singers, Vol I & II
- Jimmy Smith – Back at the Chicken Shack
- Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath
- Greg Brown – Slant 6 Mind
- Tim Buckley – Dream Letter, Live in London, 1968
- Muddy Waters – Folk Singer
- Bukka White – Sky Songs
- The Brothers Johnson – Look Out For #1
- Ivie Anderson – It Don’t Mean A Thing
- Oscar Levant – Levant Plays Gershwin
- Blind Willie McTell – Last Sessions
- Leon Redbone – On the Track
- Guitar Slim – I Got Sumpin’ For You
- Soul Coughing – Ruby Vroom
- Fred McDowell – Levee Camp Blues
- John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers – Crusade
- Angelique Kidjo – Oremi
- At Home With Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
- Bobby Rush – Porcupine Meat
- Miles Davis – Sketches of Spain
- Horace Silver and The Jazz Messengers
- Stray Cats – Built for Speed
- Charley Patton – The Complete Recordings 1929-1934 (Disc 1)
- Lonnie Johnson – Vol 1. 1937-1940
- The Electrifying Aretha Franklin
- Chuck Berry – After School Session
- Junior Kimbrough – Sad Days, Lonely Nights
- Mississippi John Hurt – 1928 Sessions
- Stevie Nicks – Bella Donna
- Jelly Roll Morton – Oh, Mister Jelly
- The Mississippi Sheiks – Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, Vols 1-3
- Kokomo Arnold – Restored and Remastered Hits
- Roy Rogers – Chops Not Chaps
- Irma Thomas – Wish Someone Would Care
- Woody Guthrie – The Asch Recordings, Vol 1-4
- James Brown’s Funky People (Part 3)
- Doc & Merle Watson – Down South
- Dolly Parton – The Grass Is Blue
- Creedence Clearwater Revival – Green River
- Albert Collins – The Complete Imperial Recordings
- Dolores Keane – May Morning Dew
- Bessie Smith – The Complete Recordings Vol. I
- Lyle Lovett – Joshua Judges Ruth
- The Modern Lovers – The Modern Loves
- Robert Petway – Catfish Blues
- B.B. King – Live in Cook County Jail
- The Waterboys – Fisherman’s Blues
- Grant Green – First Session
- Son House – Father of the Folk Blues
- Alvin Youngblood Hart – Big Mama’s Door
- The James Cotton Blues Band
- The American Graffiti Soundtrack
- Willie Dixon – I Am The Blues
- Memphis Minnie – All The Published Sides 1929-1937
- Charlie Christian & Dizzy Gillespie – After Hours
- Blind Lemon Jefferson – The Complete Classic Sides Remastered Chicago 1926 Disc A
- Bob Dylan – Bob Dylan
- The Yardbirds For Your Love
- Bukka White – Mississippi Blues
- Hank Mobley – Workout
- Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band – Safe as Milk
- Rickie Lee Jones – Rickie Lee Jones
- Mance Lipscomb – Texas Sharecropper & Songster
- The Beat Farmers – Van Go
- Sleepy John Estes – I ain’t gonna be worried no more
- Eric Dolphy – Outward Bound
- Cowboy Junkies – The Trinity Sessions
- Rev. Gary Davis – At Newport
- Bob Dylan – Bringing it all back home
- Robert Wilkins – The original Rolling Stone
- Edwin Starr – War & Peace
- Ma Rainey – Mother of the blues
- Jessie Mae Hemphill – She-Wolf
- Little Jimmie Dickens – Raisin’ The Dickens
- Tom Waits – Swordfishtrombones
- Grant Green – The Complete Quartets With Sonny Clark
- Emmylou Harris – Wrecking Ball
- Louis Armstrong – The Complete Hot Five & Hot Seven Recordings
- Dock Boggs – Country Blues : Complete Early Recordings
- Thelonious Monk – Plays Duke Ellington
- 16 Horsepower – 16 Horsepower
- Dvorak: Symphony No. 9, “From The New World” / Symphonic Variations
- Bix Beiderbecke – 20 Classic Tracks
- Bruce Springsteen – Nebraska
- Willie Nelson – Teatro
- Billie Holiday & Lester Young: Complete Studio Recordings
- Fred McDowell – Long Way From Home
- Dwight Yoakam – Guitars Cadillacs Etc, Etc.
- Benny Goodman – Complete Capitol Trios
- Blind Boy Fuller – Volume 1: 1935-1938
- Ella Fitzgerald – Sings the Cole Porter Songbook
- Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps – Blue Jean Bop
- Los Lobos – Kiko
- Leonard Cohen – Songs of Leonard Cohen
- Johnny Horton – The Spectacular Johnny Horton
- Hungry Dog Brand – Boy Meets Dog
- DI3 – Torch
- Eagle-Eye Cherry – Living In The Present Future
- Colin Brooks – Blood and Water
- Queer Eye for the Straight Guy – Soundtrack
- Dusty Wright – Elevened
- Will Scott – Gnawbone
- Charles Mingus – Mingus Ah Um
- Billie Holiday – Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia, 1933-1944
- The Clash – The Clash
- Nick Drake – Five Leaves Left
- Sam & Dave – Hold On, I’m Comin’
- Cream – Fresh Cream
- Big Mama Thornton – Essential Recordings
- Frank Sinatra – sings for Only The Lonely
- Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Extra Width
- Bruce Springsteen – The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle
- Tracy Chapman – Our Bright Future
- Bob Log III – My Shit Is Perfect
- Joe Cocker – Mad Dogs & Englishmen
- Tomasz Stańko – From The Green Hill
- Paul Chambers – Whims of Chambers
- Booker T. & the MGs – Green Onions
- Bob Dylan – The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan
- J.J. & Kai: The J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding Trombone Octet
- John Coltrane – A Love Supreme
- The Shangri-Las – The Complete Collection
- Furry Lewis – In His Prime 1927-1928
- Phil Ochs – A Toast To Those Who Are Gone
- The Clash – Give ‘Em Enough Rope
- Skip James – Greatest of the Delta Blues Singers
- The Original Sonny Boy Williamson
- Leon Redbone – Champagne Charlie
- Curtis Mayfield – Superfly
- Gillian Welch – Hell Among The Yearlings
- Beth Gibbons – Out of Season
- Buddy Holly – A Rock & Roll Collection
- Mance Lipscomb – Vol. 5, Pure Texas Country Blues
- Jimmy Reed – Ain’t That Lovin’ You Baby – Singles As & Bs 1953-1961
- Fats Navarro – The Fats Navarro Collection, 1943-50
- Jeffrey Halford & The Healers – Lo Fi Dreams
- Lennie Tristano & Warne Marsh – Intuition
- Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Let Love In
- Bill Withers – Just As I Am
- Jacques Brel – Enregistrement Public à l’Olympia 1964
- Leroy Carr – The Essential
- Etta James – At Last!
- Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders
- John Mayall – Bluesbreakers (w/ Eric Clapton)
- Ted Hawkins – The Final Tour
- Elmore James – Slide Order of the Blues, The Singles As & Bs 1952-1962
- Ida Cox – Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, Vol. 1, 1923
- Hoagy Carmichael Sings Hoagy Carmichael
- Blind Willie Johnson – The Complete
- Thelonious Monk – Monk Alone: The Complete Solo Studio Recordings of Thelonious Monk 1962-1968
- The Replacements – Tim
- Bad Company – Bad Company
- Duke Ellington – Money Jungle
- Bill Evans – Interplay
- Big Joe Williams – The Essential
- Kiss – Love Gun
90 Album Recommendations later …
90 Album Recommendations later, and we are officially through Q1! We’ve completed January, February, and March, and we’ve recommended 90 albums so far! Thanks so much to everyone who’s listened, read, liked, shared, commented, and more—this has turned out to be really fun!
How many of these do YOU own?
| Jan 1 – Muddy Waters, Rare & Unissued | Rare & Unissued | 1/1/17 |
| Skip James | She Lyin’ | 1/2/17 |
| Albert King | I’ll Play The Blues For You | 1/3/17 |
| Dave Van Ronk | Folksinger | 1/4/17 |
| Robert Pete Williams | Louisiana Blues | 1/5/17 |
| The Best of Nina Simone | 1/6/17 | |
| Johnny Winter | Progressive Blues Experiment | 1/7/17 |
| Don’t Mess With Miss Watkins | 1/8/17 | |
| Lightnin’ Hopkins | Autobiography in Blues | 1/9/17 |
| Howlin’ Wolf | His Best – Chess 50th Anniversary Collection | 1/10/17 |
| Chris Whitley | Dirt Floor | 1/11/17 |
| Bo Diddley | 1/12/17 | |
| Janis Joplin | I Got Dem Ol Kozmic Blues Again Mama | 1/13/17 |
| Stevie Ray Vaughan | Couldn’t Stand The Weather | 1/14/17 |
| Kelly Joe Phelps | Shine-Eyed Mister Zen | 1/15/17 |
| Gil Scott-Heron | Pieces of a Man | 1/16/17 |
| Oliver Nelson | The Blues and the Abstract Truth | 1/17/17 |
| The Victoria Spivey Collection 1926-1937 | 1/18/17 | |
| Phil Ochs | All The News That’s Fit To Sing | 1/19/17 |
| Joseph Spence | Good Morning Mr. Walker | 1/20/17 |
| Clara Smith | The Essential Clara Smith1924-1929 | 1/21/17 |
| Mazzy Star | So Tonight That I Might See | 1/22/17 |
| John Mooney | Comin’ your Way | 1/23/17 |
| The Pretenders | Learning to Crawl | 1/24/17 |
| Manifesto Mix Tape Vol. 1 | 1/25/17 | |
| Robert Johnson | King of the Delta Blues Singers, Vol I & II | 1/26/17 |
| Jimmy Smith | Back at the Chicken Shack | 1/27/17 |
| Black Sabbath | Black Sabbath | 1/28/17 |
| Greg Brown | Slant 6 Mind | 1/29/17 |
| Tim Buckley | Dream Letter, Live in London, 1968 | 1/30/17 |
| Muddy Waters | Folk Singer | 1/31/17 |
| Bukka White | Sky Songs | 2/1/17 |
| The Brothers Johnson | Look Out For #1 | 2/2/17 |
| Ivie Anderson | It Don’t Mean A Thing | 2/3/17 |
| Oscar Levant | Levant Plays Gershwin | 2/4/17 |
| Blind Willie McTell | Last Sessions | 2/5/17 |
| Leon Redbone | On the Track | 2/6/17 |
| Guitar Slim | I Got Sumpin’ For You | 2/7/17 |
| Soul Coughing | Ruby Vroom | 2/8/17 |
| Fred McDowell | Levee Camp Blues | 2/9/17 |
| John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers | Crusade | 2/10/17 |
| Angelique Kidjo | Oremi | 2/11/17 |
| At Home With Screamin’ Jay Hawkins | 2/12/17 | |
| Bobby Rush | Porcupine Meat | 2/13/17 |
| Miles Davis | Sketches of Spain | 2/14/17 |
| Horace Silver and The Jazz Messengers | 2/15/17 | |
| Stray Cats | Built for Speed | 2/16/17 |
| Charley Patton | The Complete Recordings 1929-1934 (Disc 1) | 2/17/17 |
| Lonnie Johnson | Vol 1. 1937-1940 | 2/18/17 |
| The Electrifying Aretha Franklin | 2/19/17 | |
| Chuck Berry | After School Session | 2/20/17 |
| Junior Kimbrough | Sad Days, Lonely Nights | 2/21/17 |
| Mississippi John Hurt | 1928 Sessions | 2/22/17 |
| Stevie Nicks | Bella Donna | 2/23/17 |
| Jelly Roll Morton | Oh, Mister Jelly | 2/24/17 |
| The Mississippi Sheiks | Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, Vols 1-3 | 2/25/17 |
| Kokomo Arnold | Restored and Remastered Hits | 2/26/17 |
| Roy Rogers | Chops Not Chaps | 2/27/17 |
| Irma Thomas | Wish Someone Would Care | 2/28/17 |
| Woody Guthrie | The Asch Recordings, Vol 1-4 | 3/1/17 |
| James Brown’s Funky People (Part 3) | 3/2/17 | |
| Doc & Merle Watson | Down South | 3/3/17 |
| Dolly Parton | The Grass Is Blue | 3/4/17 |
| Creedence Clearwater Revival | Green River | 3/5/17 |
| Albert Collins | The Complete Imperial Recordings | 3/6/17 |
| Dolores Keane | May Morning Dew | 3/7/17 |
| Bessie Smith | The Complete Recordings Vol. I | 3/8/17 |
| Lyle Lovett | Joshua Judges Ruth | 3/9/17 |
| The Modern Lovers | The Modern Loves | 3/10/17 |
| Robert Petway | Catfish Blues | 3/11/17 |
| B.B. King | Live in Cook County Jail | 3/12/17 |
| The Waterboys | Fisherman’s Blues | 3/13/17 |
| Grant Green | First Session | 3/14/17 |
| Son House | Father of the Folk Blues | 3/15/17 |
| Alvin Youngblood Hart | Big Mama’s Door | 3/16/17 |
| The James Cotton Blues Band | 3/17/17 | |
| The American Graffiti Soundtrack | 3/18/17 | |
| Willie Dixon | I Am The Blues | 3/19/17 |
| Memphis Minnie | All The Published Sides 1929-1937 | 3/20/17 |
| Charlie Christian & Dizzy Gillespie | After Hours | 3/21/17 |
| Blind Lemon Jefferson | The Complete Classic Sides Remastered Chicago 1926 Disc A | 3/22/17 |
| Bob Dylan | Bob Dylan | 3/23/17 |
| The Yardbirds | For Your Love | 3/24/17 |
| Bukka White | Mississippi Blues | 3/25/17 |
| Hank Mobley | Workout | 3/26/17 |
| Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band | Safe as Milk | 3/27/17 |
| Rickie Lee Jones | Rickie Lee Jones | 3/28/17 |
| Mance Lipscomb | Texas Sharecropper & Songster | 3/29/17 |
| The Beat Farmers | Van Go | 3/30/17 |
| Sleepy John Estes | I ain’t gonna be worried no more | 3/31/17 |
365 Days of Album Recommendations – March 16
Alvin Youngblood Hart – Big Mama’s Door
The mid-90s were a wonderful, brave, exciting, and brazen time for its early resurgence of interest in country blues music. Corey Harris was coming out with his first music. Chris Whitley had only just arrived on the scene. G. Love was just starting to make waves with his version of the thing. The Loved Ones were bringin’ that Yardbirds touch to it all. Kelly Joe Phelps had just released his debut. Yours truly debuted on Blind Pig Records with Preacher Boy & The Natural Blues.
And then along came Alvin Youngblood Hart, and just blew us all away.
There will be a great deal more to say about Alvin across these 365 days, as his journey has taken him all over the musical map, but for now, for today, just check him out at the core of his roots.
Pony Blues and When I Was A Cowboy are amazing, but for kicks, start with Hillbilly Willie’s Blues.
And let Alvin kick yer door down.
365 Days of Album Recommendations – March 9
Lyle Lovett – Joshua Judges Ruth
I like to think about the idea of perfect albums. The idea that, somewhere along the journey of a career, it all comes together for a talented artist, and they produce that one genuinely perfect album.
They’re understandably very few and far between. The lack of one can be a point of particular exasperation for those of us who really love a particular musician. Why did they add that ONE song! It would have been so good w/out that! Like “Castanets” on Alejandro Escovedo’s otherwise brilliant “A Man Under The Influence.” Or “Honey Now” on Gillian Welch’s mostly bittersweetly beautiful sophomore release. Or that one song on almost every Dylan album.
I choose these as examples because Lyle Lovett’s oeuvre travels in ostensibly similar territory as the artists I’ve already mentioned, tho Lovett is probably cleverer, smarter, weirder, and funnier than all three combined. He’s certainly the best singer of the three, which may not be a commonly-held opinion, but it’s true.
All of which leads me to the point that Joshua Judges Ruth is Lyle Lovett’s perfect album. This is a song-by-song juggernaut of singer-songwriter mastery; and one that somehow manages to capture everything Lovett does so well. It is rootsy, and bluesy, and folky, and jazzy, and funky, and soulful, and gospel-ish, and it’s brilliantly performed, and it’s heroically sung, and it’s funny and heartbreaking and wise, and as with so many of Lovett’s great creations, the lyrics are so complicatedly simple in the most genius of ways—this is soulfully-sung American haiku in action.
Congratulations Mr. Lovett. You have a perfect album. You have joined the gods.
Recommended track to start with: Baltimore. Just a devastating song.
365 Days of Album Recommendations – March 6
Albert Collins – The Complete Imperial Recordings
I’ve always had a soft spot for Albert Collins, and it goes without saying that his guitar playing is mesmerizing.
Now, I’m going to get in trouble for saying this, but I generally feel that Alligator Records is where good talent goes to become an imitation of itself. And while I won’t go so far as to say that about Mr. Collins, I will say that Albert Collins the Alligator Entertainer is not my favorite version of Albert Collins.
Which is why this collection is such a delightful revelation, collecting as it does so much of his earlier work, and showcasing as it does just how FUNKY he was.
It’s fine to listen to his Alligator Records. Go right ahead. Just know that you won’t any longer, after you hear these.
365 Days of Album Recommendations – March 5
Creedence Clearwater Revival – Green River
If any band in history can have claimed for them the mantle of having “invented” “Americana,” then Creedence Clearwater Revival is probably one of the more likely candidates. Virtually every song they put down is a textbook example of the core Americana ingredients in action, and when you really start to count up the great tunes, it gets more and more remarkable as you go. Bad Moon Rising, Lodi, Green River, Who’ll Stop The Rain, Proud Mary, Born On The Bayou, Run Through The Jungle, Lookin’ Out My Back Door, Long As I Can See The Light, Fortunate Son, Have You Ever Seen The Rain … I mean, it’s pretty fucking ridiculous.
And in general, the ingredients are so straightforward. Some drums in 4/4 time. A bass playin’ the tonics. Some acoustic guitar, some electric guitar. A voice. A handful of simple chords. And some magic.
Obviously we could just pick a Greatest Hits, but it’s more fun to really understand the individual achievement of each album in its original form.
This one is rather astonishing for including not one, not two, but three totally classic songs, including my personal favorite CCR tune ever: Green River. Someday, when I grow up, I’m going to write a song this good. I’ve been trying to write these lyrics my whole life:
I can hear the bull frog callin’ me
Wonder if my rope’s still hangin’ to the tree
Love to kick my feet way down the shallow water,
Shoe fly, dragon fly, get back to mother
Pick up a flat rock, skip it across Green River
If you’re a songwriter, and you get lost, c’mon home to Green River. That’ll learn ya.
365 Days of Album Recommendations – March 3
Doc & Merle Watson – Down South
This is tied with one other collection for being my favorite Doc Watson album. The other is his “Essential” collection on Vanguard.
But I really love this record. Partly it’s just beautiful to hear him play with his son.
Partly it’s the musicianship across the board—the playing is just outstanding.
Partly it’s the recording aesthetic. It’s just very clean, very pure, very natural.
Partly it’s the track list. It’s simply a remarkable roster of songs, and includes so many of my favorites, including: Sliding Delta, Coal Miner’s Blues, Cotton-Eyed Joe, and the gorgeous instrumental Twin Sisters.
Especially it’s Bright Sunny South. My lord, I love this song.
And mainly, of course, it’s Doc Watson.
365 Days of Album Recommendations – March 1
Woody Guthrie, The Asch Recordings, Vol. 1-4
I’ve been reading the news too much. I need this album. We all need this album. Because “Fascist” isn’t just a word on a guitar.
These are THE Woody Guthrie recordings. These are the Dead Sea Scrolls. This is the Tibetan Book of the Dead.
You don’t know about anything if you don’t know about these.
365 Days of Album Recommendations – Feb 23
Stevie Nicks – Bella Donna
Betcha didn’t see this one comin’, didja? Well, I didn’t really either. But there I was, drivin’ home from a gig tonight, and on the radio comes Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around, and the whole time it was on, I just kept thinkin’, Jesus, I’m such a fanboy for Mike Campbell’s guitar playing. And then I’m thinkin’, damn, her voice is just so damn cool when she sings over minor chords.
So here it is, Bella Donna, the debut solo album from Stevie Nicks.
The incessant repetitions of Edge of Seventeen on so-called classic rock stations have unfortunately obscured a number of important facts, the first of which is that Edge of Seventeen is actually a fucking badass song, and a total masterpiece.
What is also obscured is the extent to which this album is really a modern folk-rock album produced at a time when folk-rock really wasn’t a thing anymore.
And finally, what is obscured is that Stop Draggin’ My Heart around is a fuckin’ great song. These lyrics, man, are seriously beautiful:
There’s people running ’round loose in the world
Ain’t got nothing better to do
Than make a meal of some bright eyed kid
You need someone looking after you
I know you really want to tell me goodbye
I know you really want to be your own girl
Baby you could never look me in the eye
Yeah you buckle with the weight of the words
Did you know that the mighty Donald “Duck” Dunn played the bass on this track? So yeah, there’s that too …
And by the way, Stevie can write a hell of a country song too:
Even though the living
Is sometimes laced with lies
It’s alright
The feeling remains
Even after the glitter fades
It’s just a great record. It really is. Bella Donna indeed.
Preacher Boy | The National Blues 