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Thursday, July 17, 2008

My life in music

I am going to pick my favorite album from each year of my life, selecting them from Wikipedia's "year in music" because I don't have them all in iTunes, especially the stuff I have only in vinyl. If the years are wrong, blame the wiki people. I did have to add the 1996 item, because it wasn't listed - for shame!

Rules say that I have to own it or would most likely have owned it, as I understand them.

1953 - Jazz at Massey Hall - The Quintet. Own on CD.
1954 - Songs For Young Lovers - Frank Sinatra. Don't own, but have Capitol Singles box set.
1955 - Oklahoma! - Original Broadway Cast. Own a later iteration of this.
1956 - Ella and Louis - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong. Own on CD.
1957 - Ella and Louis Again - Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong. Own on CD.
1958 - South Pacific - Original Soundtrack. My mother owned it on LP.
1959 - Kind of Blue - Miles Davis. Own on CD. Adore.
1960 - Joan Baez - Joan Baez. My father owned, and I own her LP from the previous year.
1961 - Judy at Carnegie Hall - Judy Garland. I think my mother owned LP; in any case, saw the TV special.
1962 - West Side Story - Original Soundtrack. Mom owned on vinyl; I own on CD.
1963 - With the Beatles - The Beatles. Own on CD.
1964 - A Hard Day's Night - The Beatles. Own both US and UK versions on CD.
1965 - The Sound of Music - Original Soundtrack. Owned on vinyl, own on CD.
1966 - Daydream - The Lovin' Spoonful. Owned on vinyl, own on CD. Sure I could pick Beatles for every year the rest of this decade (this year, Revolver), but what's the fun in that?
1967 - The Supremes Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland - The Supremes. Own on LP.
1968 - Bookends - Simon and Garfunkel. Own on LP.
1969 - The Band - The Band. Own on CD.
1970 - After the Gold Rush - Neil Young. Own on CD.
1971 - Jesus Christ Superstar - Various Artists. Own on LP.
1972 - Fragile - Yes. Own on CD.
1973 - Piano Man - Billy Joel. Own on LP, saw him on tour in New Paltz.
1974 - Endless Summer - Beach Boys. Own on vinyl. Actually really discovered early Beach Boys then; my first Beach boys album was Pet Sounds.
1975 - Still Crazy After All These Years - Paul Simon. Own on LP and CD. Defines old relationship.
1976 - Songs in the Key of Life - Stevie Wonder. Own on LP and CD. My old record player would automatically return before the 45 that comes with the LP was over.
1977 - "Heroes" - David Bowie. Own on LP.
1978 - Saturday Night Fever - Original Soundtrack. It is what it is. Own on vinyl.
1979 - Squeezing Out Sparks - Graham Parker & the Rumour. Own on vinyl.
1980 - Peter Gabriel ("melt", the 3rd album with Biko) - Peter Gabriel. Own on LP in German and in English, and on CD in English. A MOST prodigious year! I had to pass on Empty Glass - Pete Townshend and London Calling - The Clash, among MANY others.
1981 - Discipline - King Crimson. Own on vinyl.
1982 - Night and Day - Joe Jackson. Own on vinyl.
1983 - Genesis (the one with "Mama")- Genesis. Own on vinyl.
1984 - Purple Rain - Prince and the Revolution. Own on LP and CD.
1985 - Soul to Soul - Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble. Own on vinyl.
1986 - Bring On the Night - Sting. Own on vinyl.
1987 - The Joshua Tree - U2. Own on LP and CD.
1988 - Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 - Traveling Wilburys. Own on CD.
1989 - Spike - Elvis Costello. Own on CD. My favorite Costello.
1990 - Shooting Straight in the Dark - Mary Chapin Carpenter. Own on CD.
1991 - Out of Time - R.E.M. Own on CD.
1992 - Ingénue - k.d. lang. Own on CD. Also tied to a relationship.
1993 - I'm Alive - Jackson Browne. Own on CD. A thin year.
1994 - Wildflowers - Tom Petty. Own on CD.
1995 - Now That I've Found You: A Collection - Alison Krauss. Own on CD.
1996 - Unchained - Johnny Cash. Own on CD.
1997 - Time Out of Mind - Bob Dylan. Own on CD.
1998 - Mermaid Avenue - Billy Bragg and Wilco. Own on CD.
1999 - Play - Moby. Yeah, I know everyone tired of it. Own on CD.
2000 - American III: Solitary Man - Johnny Cash. Own on CD.
2001 - Love and Theft - Bob Dylan. Bought on September 11. Own on CD.
2002 - American IV: The Man Comes Around - Johnny Cash. Own on CD.
2003 - Unearthed - Johnny Cash (Box Set). Lots of songs my father used to sing. Own on CD.
2004 - Van Lear Rose - Loretta Lynn. Own on CD.
2005 - Chaos and Creation in the Backyard - Paul McCartney. Own on CD. By this point, Lydia is 1 and I'm hardly getting ANYTHING.
2006 - We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions - Bruce Springsteen. Own on CD. Out of the fog of new parenthood.
2007 - Raising Sand - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Gave to my wife on CD.
2008 - Liverpool 8 - Ringo Starr. By default. Own on CD. i tend to buy more in the second half of the year. I have at least $50 in gift cards, so Costello, Hiatt, E. Harris and Mudcrutch are among the possibilities for purchase in the near future.

This took at least 67% longer than it did Tosy.

ROG

1 comment:

Johnny Bacardi said...

Jesus Christ Superstar, eh? Good call, love the original record.

If I had been around in '59, Kind of Blue would definitely have been my choice.

And Songs in the Key of Life is an unquestioned masterpiece, especially side one, which may be the best-sequenced side of a recording in history. That's one that didn't occur to me when I made my list, and it should have...there are many more like that, I'm sure!