1,001 Albums [I] Must Hear before [I] Die: 17

Live at Mister Kelly's - Sarah Vaughan and Her Trio

To all of my readers - if you have never been to a jazz club (and I mean a Jazz Club, not a bistro that sometimes has a jazz quartet playing to back your dining experience), go as soon as humanly possible.

A small candle lit bar with a small stage and a really great jazz band is unlike anything else in the world, and I mean that in the best way possible. A great jazz club has an ambience that is unique, cozy, and inviting. It's a place where rarely are there people trying to conduct a conversation while the band is playing, but somehow their is a special intimacy - everyone is united, bound by the music.

If you cannot make it to a jazz club, for whatever reason, listen to this record.

Every time I closed my eyes while listening to this record, I was transported there - to Mister Kelly's in Chicago. Now, I have never been to that club - I've never even been to Chicago - but I could swear I was in the room when this was being recorded.

The audience is just as much a part of this record as the band is. In the beginning, an announcement is made, informing that the performance was being recorded, and that everyone in the audience, for the night, was a Mercury recording artist. Throughout the record, you can hear glasses clink, an occasional cough, applause, etc., and it really adds to the record - providing every tune with atmosphere.

My favorite part of this record come during the second track, "Willow Weeps for Me", when Sarah Vaughan apparently drops her lyric sheets and has to improvise, singing at one point something to the degree of, "man, I really flubbed this one", and the audience laughs. She also improvises almost all of the lyrics to"How High the Moon", reverting to scatting a short way through. I forgot which musician said this, but someone once described jazz as being, "a long string of mistakes" that you make work. This record embraces that philosophy.

There is little that needs to be said about Sarah Vaughan's voice that hasn't already been said, except to say that I agree with every positive statement. She is pretty unanimously considered one of the greatest jazz singers of all time, and her incomparable talent is on full display on this album.

On the next rainy day, curl up on your couch with a glass of whiskey and turn this one on.

P.S. - Having Jimmy Jones, Richard Davis, and Roy Hanes as your supporting trio means that you're inevitably going to make a great record - hell, I could be singing on this and it would still sound (at least) decent. Man, do they kill!

Note From the Listener: Breaking Rules

I broke a rule... big time.

I was not supposed to go more than two days without posting at least two albums - and, as you can see, I went much longer than that. It seems that in making that rule, I forgot that life happens, and sometimes things will occur that make it impossible to continue for unforeseen periods of time. Well, I have no intention of stopping this project and I am picking up where I left off.

The great thing about being the person that invented the rules, is that I get to choose appropriate punishments for my transgressions. In this case, since we're only sixteen albums in, I went back and listened to three tracks from the previous records before moving onto record number seventeen.

Hopefully this will satisfy you, the reader, and seem to you a punishment that fits the crime. If not... oh well, it's my blog.

1,001 Albums [I] Must Hear before [I] Die: 16

Jack Takes the Floor - Ramblin' Jack Elliot

Man, for an album people apparently "must" hear before they die, even with the internet being the vast expanse of media which it is, this album sure was hard to find. And, honestly, I don't think it was really worth all of the searching...

While I am still waiting anxiously for an album that I hate, I certainly don't like this one. I am not a huge fan of "American folk music" in general - it takes a lot for me to like "guy with a guitar music", and this is just that with a Southern twang - and worse than that, it's a fake one.

I had to look up Ramblin' Jack Elliot on Wikipedia, and was shocked to discover that he was a fellow Jew from Brooklyn. When he speaks on this record, he does so with a Southern drawl - the only Southern accent that exists in native Brooklynites is the Coney Island, "'Ey, How you doin' " accent. The flashing lights started going of in my head - neon signs reading, "FRAUD! FRAUD!"

I would hope that if I recorded an entire record in a British accent, people would be smart enough to call me out on my fraudulence. This doesn't come across to me as a person playing a character, it's a person denying who they are. It's disingenuous.

Is it bad, however? Well, it depends on how you define bad. It certainly isn't offensive, to my ears or otherwise - I wasn't running to shut it off or hoping mercilessly that it would just end already. If you define bad as being the absence of good, though - then, yup, it's bad. It's boring, aside from its inherent dishonesty. There's just nothing in it that I find particularly enjoyable. At most points, it's just dull.

(And, risking beating a dead horse to death again - dude, you're a Jew from Brooklyn - the cowboy hat just looks silly on you).

Don't go crazy looking for this one, like I did. It really isn't worth the effort.

1,001 Albums [I] Must Hear before [I] Die: 15

Lady in Satin - Billie Holiday

That voice - the vulnerability, the pain, the sense of unfulfilled hope, the pure humanity contained within it - it's impossible for me to listen to Lady Day without, at least, choking-up. Every word, every phrase is heartbreaking.

There is a genuineness to her melancholy which few other artists have ever been able to achieve, let alone have it come so naturally to them. Billy Holiday never had it easy, to say the very least. By the time she had achieved fame, she had already become a truly broken individual.

Raped as a child, forced into prostitution, a drug addict and alcoholic as a result, the pain and isolation in every note she delivers is real. Easily one of, if not my favorite singer of all time - you can't help but wish you never heard her voice at all. The suffering she went through that resulted in such a unique delivery... a truly moral person could never wish what she went through upon another human being, even if it provides one with hours of entertainment and joy as a result. It simply isn't worth it.

As I mentioned before, my grandmother actually knew her. I try, sometimes, to imagine meeting Billie Holiday, and I cannot see myself doing anything other than breaking down in tears. It would not be in pity for her- pity never got anyone anywhere - but she is the embodiment of the cliché, "man's inhumanity to man". She is a reminder that there is (not to use another cliché, but) always someone who has it so much worse than you. The striking realization that there are people in the world who, even in our modern day, somehow have it worse than Lady Day ever did is unfathomable.

(If often wondered about that adage - that there is always someone who has it worse than you. That statement simply cannot be true. With a finite amount of people living, there must, by definition, be one person in the world in which no one has it worse than them. I often wonder what their life could possible be like - and I am grateful for the fact that I can't even begin to imagine that sort of life.)

This is what listening to Billy Holiday does to me - makes me ponder the topics of pain and suffering - makes me think of morality, the evils which exist in the world - as well as the good. It kills me to know that the amount of pain which would cause a person to have this kind of voice exists, let alone the fact that even more pain can exist - yet it strangely makes me feel better about my own life.

My New Year's resolution was to stop complaining (as much as possible), and to remember that I have it relatively good - very good. I'm a white, middle-class American, with a roof over my head, a job I like quite a bit, a girlfriend I love tremendously, a good quantity of supportive and loving friends and family, and four wonderful kitty-cats (yes, I have four cats - don't you judge me!). Do I have problems, stresses, etc.? Yes I do - but nothing I cannot overcome. I have so much more to be grateful for than things to lament.

If you feel at like contemplating life, the goods and evils in the world, etc. - this is a great soundtrack to such meditations.

P.S. - Billie Holiday didn't live to see this album released - she died just before it came out - making it that much more gut-wrenchingly moving.

1,001 Albums [I] Must Hear before [I] Die: 14

Brilliant Corners - Thelonious Monk

I can't remember for the life of me which Jewish holiday it was - either Passover or Chanukah - but the entire Jewish side of my family came over to my house to celebrate whatever holiday it was. I was still in High School, and I had just recently gotten into jazz and had started playing jazz guitar. My grandparents on my mother's side, both being there, and being big fans of jazz, asked me to play a few tunes on my guitar. One song I decided to play was "Straight No Chaser" by Thelonious Monk. After I had finished, my grandmother said one of the coolest statements I've ever had said to me - "I knew him. I used to see him play over on 52nd street all the time and hangout with him after his sets. I was friendly with Billy Holiday too." Wow. My grandmother, a person whose blood flows through me, was friendly with Thelonious Monk and Billy Holiday!

Extremely sadly, she died a few months ago. She was as amazing of a person as possible. I miss her tremendously. Whenever I listen to Monk or Lady Day, however, I remember her - and not in a sad way - I can't help but smile. For this reason, aside from the fact that Thelonious Monk is simply awesome, I love this music - it holds a special place in my heart.

The band is like an all-star game lineup. Sonny Rollins is on sax, and, as per usual, he is, to quote Miles Davis, and pardon my mouth (or typing fingers, I guess) a "motherfucker" (if you cut that word from Miles Davis' autobiography, I swear it would be 200 pages shorter). Clark Terry is on trumpet and is as amazing as ever. The second half of the album has Paul Chambers, Mr. PC himself, on upright bass and, as a bass player myself, I am consistently floored by his playing - this album being no exception. For the second time in these reviews I have the honor of mentioning the incomparable Max Roach on drums - and he's just as outstanding, if not more, this time around than the last.

If you are into jazz at all, I recommend you listen to this album, and pretty much anything else put out by Thelonious Monk. I don't personally have a favorite Monk album, they're all great, so I won't recommend anything over this - this would be just as good of a start as any other record if you're looking to check him out for the first time. Seven stars.

1,001 Albums [I] Must Hear before [I] Die: 13

The "Chirping" Crickets - Buddy Holly and The Crickets

Is it just me, or does the lead singer of this band look just like Rivers Cuomo?

(Crowd groans).

Okay, now that that's out of my system...

I can clearly remember being a small child, rummaging through my parents record collection, turning on what ever caught my eye. This is exactly how I was introduced to, and became a fan of Buddy Holly. As a kid, for whatever reason, I was drawn to and loved this thick-rimmed-glasses-clad pop singer of the 1950s. So, the question is, having not listened to The Crickets in quite a while, does the music hold up from when I was a kid?

The answer, in short, is yes and no.

I certainly still enjoy it, and had a fantastic time listening to this album. The musicianship is over par, and the songs are great - almost every track is both memorable and fun.

However, at the same time, it's all a bit cheesy.

Music being cheesy is not a deal breaker for me, though. As a progressive rock fan, having just been playing along to Yes songs before doing this review, it would be ridiculous for me to say that I am turned off by music being cheesy, but I simply cannot ignore that The Crickets have a strong feta-esque aroma surrounding their music. Even back in the day in which rock and roll first came out, shrouded in controversy, and considered to be "the Devil's music", I can't see anyone finding this to be offensive in the slightest. It is almost the musical equivalent of a Disney movie. Everyone loves it, it's classic, there's nothing offensive about it, but it also lacks any challenge to it.

Long after the untimely death of bandleader Buddy Holly, the impact of his is still felt. The Beatles, arguably the greatest rock band ever (not my favorite rock band - although they're up there - I do recognize them as very likely being the greatest) even named their band to be a twist on 'The Crickets'. Buddy Holly and The Crickets defined and pioneered pop-rock, and every pop-rock band since, up to and including modern bands such as Maroon 5, owe more than just a bit to this band.

If you are not familiar with Buddy Holly's music, this is probably my favorite album of his and I certainly recommend it. If you are already familiar with his music, then I suppose you can skip this one, although I doubt you'd be disappointed if you don't.

P.S. - My girlfriend just noted that I reviewed my 13th of these 1,001 albums of Friday the 13th. That is pretty cool, I guess.

1,001 Albums [I] Must Hear before [I] Die: 12

Palo Congo - Sabu

Ah, a chance to redeem myself and my latin jazz credibility after the last album review. This one I actually know!

While I've only heard Sabu a few times, and don't own any of his records, if you're a jazz fan, and have even a passing knowledge of latin jazz you've probably heard at least one of his songs.

This is yet another record you can't sit still while listening to. The grooves are hypnotic and seep into your brain. I found myself at times almost in a trance, which I suppose is an intended effect of the music.

Unlike "Kenya" by Machito, which was a big-band record in essence, the instrumentation on "Palo Congo" is sparse aside from the percussion, and this one also has vocals throughout the record, while the former album was purely instrumental.

Aside from the hard-grooving syncopated percussion, another thing I find noteworthy is the guitar playing from Cuban instrumentalist/composer Arsenio Rodriguez, whose tone, note-selection, and phrasing is immaculate (something about his playing reminds me a bit of Marc Ribot - perhaps Ribot was influenced by Rodriguez?).

I found the track "Asabache" to be particularly enjoyable, as it is entirely percussion, dropping the bass, guitar and vocals that accompany the master congueros on much of the rest of the record. (Warning: the following statement is purely opinion!): I personally feel that it is particularly difficult to make drums sound musical when unaccompanied. It seems pretty easy for the final product to simply sound like banging, to me at least. These master percussionists have no problem making totally enjoyable, tasteful music simply banging on some tightly-stretched animal skins attached to wooden bowls. I think that's pretty cool.

I am certainly happy that this project has put Sabu and this record back on my radar. If you like latin jazz at all, this is required listening.

1,001 Albums [I] Must Hear before [I] Die: 11

Kenya: Afro-Cuban Jazz - Machito

I pride myself on my ludicrously extensive knowledge of post-1940 Western music. I know an ungodly amount of musicians, records and songs, especially for a 26 year old.

Having said that, it's with some reluctance and sadness that I write this next statement for the first time in doing this project:

I have never even heard of - not only this record - but this artist either.

It seems more than a bit strange to me that this is the case. Afro-Cuban jazz is not entirely alien to me, and there are several musicians involved with this album that I know quite well. Cannonball Adderly is on alto-sax, and Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie, and J. J. Johnson all have composition credits - these are all musicians I have a great amount of affection for. Yet, somehow this record/artist has never managed to cross my path.

So what do I think of this entirely new listening experience? Well, I'll start with a complaint: it's way too short a record. I felt like I had just started listening, looked at Rhapsody, and saw that I was two thirds of the way through. I almost said, "hey! I was listening to that!" out-loud when the record finished. I suppose that's probably the greatest complaint you can possibly make about a record - it's too short, I wanted more.

The musicianship is nothing short of brilliant, the percussion being particularly noteworthy. I caught myself spontaneously dancing a few times in the kind of way that only an amazing rhythm section can make you. As to be expected, the Mingus composition, "Conversation" was my favorite track (Charles Mingus is easily one of my favorite composers of all-time, and can do almost no wrong in my eyes).

Will I be listening to this album again in the future? You can bet on it

A quick aside: it's getting to the point in listening to these albums and reviewing them that I am developing a masochistic desire to finally find an album on this list that I hate. I keep finding myself either writing extremely positive reviews, or simply writing reviews that can be summed up with the single word, "meh". You, as a reader, are probably thinking to yourself, "this guy likes everything... when is he going to rip into an album?" Well, trust me, I don't like everything, and I promise there are some albums on this list I already know are going to get the fullest extent of my wrath - it's simply that, so far, everything has ranged from absolutely brilliant (i.e. this record) to simply mediocre. For now, enjoy my words of praise, and perhaps, maybe, the next album will be the first I loathe (I'm really not sure, I haven't looked at what's next yet).

1,001 Albums [I] Must Hear before [I] Die: 10

Here's Little Richard - Little Richard

I know that I am going to get several earfuls for this, but I have never really known what to make of Little Richard.

On the one hand, he's an extremely innovative and talented musician, an amazing, fun stage performer whose flamboyance and flare is not only unique, but pretty much always works in his favor.

On the other hand... the squeak.

You know what I'm talking about - that awful squeak sound he does at the end of about 20% of the phrases that he sings annoys the hell out of me. It's not his voice or his singing as a whole, I really love his voice, the grit and growl - even the "Whoooooo!" thing he does (maybe a little too) frequently is pretty cool - it's just that friggin' squeak! I want to give him some WD-40 to gargle with before he sings. Luckily, on this record, the squeak is at a minimum (it seems it has only gotten worse with age), but every time he does it, I instinctively cringe. To all of you that love Little Richards and are getting upset reading this, again, I don't dislike him, his voice, or his music... just that goddamned squeaking sound.

With all of that blaspheming out of the way, onto how I feel about the album as a whole.

I like it. The band is hopping, the tunes are all pretty good (which it's quite a feat to be able to write an entire album with only three chords at your disposal and still produce unique, fun, enjoyable tunes without sounding monotonous), and the energy is intense as hell.

I just really wish he would stop doing that whole "I stepped into the shower, turned on the water, and it was ice-cold" sound he does. If that bit was dropped from his act, I very possibly would be an active Little Richard fan. While, almost entirely due to the mouse-being-stepped-on-sound, I probably won't be running to re-listen to this record, nor to any other Little Richard records, I'm happy I listened to it, and will continue to enjoy his music as much as I can anytime I happen to hear it.

Note from the Listener: Rules to Listening

In case you were wondering, I have set a few rules for myself concerning how I go about listening to these albums, that way I don't cheat, and you don't feel cheated:

RULES:

1) All music will be listened to in headphones, the same headphones - Perhaps it's simply that I have a bit of hearing loss from playing music my whole life (as well as doing things like listening to ungodly amounts of albums in a relatively short span of time), but I find that I have a much easier time absorbing music through headphones, especially if it's my first listening. Also, being that I will be listening to all of these the same way, using Rhapsody for pretty much all of it, I will be better able to judge audio quality and production value of each record. (The headphones I am using for the project are Sony MDR-ZX100 Studio Headphones, in case you were wondering, which, although inexpensive, I like quite a bit.)

2) If I absolutely must take a break in the middle of an album, no more than one hour can pass, or I have to start the entire record over - This is not a review of songs, this is a review of albums as a whole, a cohesive unit. Too long of a break, and you lose the feel and atmosphere of the record as a whole.

3) If I absolutely must take a break, I cannot listen to any other music before I start up again, or I have to start the entire record over - (see the explaination for Rule #2)

4) I can't do anything that would distract me from fully absorbing an album while listening - There are things I know will actively distract me from giving a record a proper listen, such as reading while listening, having a conversation aloud, etc. - if I'm not paying attention, I have to start over.

5) No skipping - this is pretty obvious, but I'll say it anyway - I can't skip any albums. Even if I get to an album like "Dark Side of the Moon", which I have listened to well over a hundred times, I have to listen to it again, and review it. When I get to an artist I despise with all of my being, I have to sit through the album, from start to finish. No cheating.

6) No breaks of more than two days between listening to albums on the list - One of the cool things about doing this, for me at least, is comparing all of these different records, so taking long breaks between them would disrupt that.

7) On a day I am listening to the albums, I must listen to at least two - again, for comparison's sake.

If there are any other rules you think that I should add to these, let me know, and I will seriously consider them. Thanks again for reading, and back now to the project.

1,001 Albums [I] Must Hear before [I] Die: 9

The Atomic Mr. Basie (aka - E=MC2: The Complete Atomic Basie) - Count Basie

One classic jazz record after another - man was this project a good decision!

This is another record I have heard several times before doing these reviews, and it's one I have enjoyed every time I've listened to it.

While I am not as big of a Count Basie fan as I am a Miles Davis fan, Basie and his Orchestra certainly were no slouches. The unique combination of Eddie Jones on upright bass, Freddie Green on guitar, and Sonny Payne on drums made for, in my opinion, the tightest, hardest swinging, all around coolest rhythm section in all of big band jazz, ever. And, the horns... I have no words.

Again, this is not my favorite record from this group. I do think that "Basie Straight Ahead" is far superior, but that album is, sadly not on the list - this is the one deemed a "must" hear - and I won't complain, since this record is also really really cool.

If you like jazz, particularly big-band, you'll like this a lot - but, again, I would recommend "Basie Straight Ahead" over this to anybody looking for a Count Basie Orchestra album to listen to.

1,001 Albums [I] Must Hear before [I] Die: 8

Birth of the Cool - Miles Davis

Anyone who knows me probably also knows that my favorite musician of all time is Miles Davis. If you look up the word "iconoclastic" in the dictionary, one of the definitions is "Miles Davis". The master trumpeter and jazz composer is credited with having pioneered approximately thirteen different genres of jazz! Most musicians would be content with being associated with one genre - to pioneer thirteen is mind-boggling - but that's what makes Miles Davis so incredibly special.

Lisa Simpson's all-time favorite record, "The Birth of the Cool", according to Miles Davis' autobiography, was inspired by the fact that, while he loved the Be-Bop he was playing at the time, he couldn't walk down the street arm-in-arm with his girlfriend whistling the bombastic melodies which were characteristic of the genre - he needed sweeter, more melodic tunes for that. Thus, "Birth of the Cool".

While this is not the first album I have reviewed for this project that I had heard before, this is the first album I'm reviewing that I know well, which I have listened to repeatedly, and even studied a bit. I will admit that this is far from my favorite Miles Davis record (that honor goes to either "Sorcerer" or "Live at the Filmore East - It's About that Time" - I can't decide which, and please don't make me even try to) there is a reason this one is considered a classic and is so highly regarded. It is a truly groundbreaking, revolutionary record, and the musicianship is extraordinary. This is also, I believe (please correct me if I'm wrong), the first time Miles Davis ever collaborated with arranger Gil Evans, a partnership which would continue to create classics and redefine jazz for years to come. The album also features Max Roach, a favorite drummer of just about anyone who has ears, and his playing is as inspired as ever.

This is an album that need not be recommended, since, if you like jazz at all, you've probably already heard it. If you haven't heard it yet, I simply feel bad for you.

P.S. - I could listen to this recording of "Darn That Dream" on repeat for an hour or so, but I have 993 more records to listen to, so I won't. On to the next one.

Note From the Listener: Slight Change in Order

There seems to be some disagreement online concerning the chronology of the albums being reviewed. I have decided to switch to the list provided on 1001beforeyoudie.com, which seems to be both the most accurate concerning release dates, but also is the most recently updated (the list is altered every few years in order to accommodate newly released records).

This is only a minor change, and won't effect anything but the order in which I listen to the next few albums.

Also, if you are interested in buying the book that has inspired this project, here's a link:

"1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die", Edited by Robert Dimery.

Okay, back to listening.

1,001 Albums [I] Must Hear before [I] Die: 7

Songs for Swingin' Lovers - Frank Sinatra

The second Frank Sinatra album on the list (the first being "In the Wee Small Hours") couldn't be more different than the one that started this list - except, perhaps, in the sense that it is also awesome.

The thing that hits you instantly is the dramatic shift in mood. While "In the Wee Small Hours" is sad and melancholy, "Songs for Swingin' Lovers" is much more light-hearted, and, well... swingin'.

This one is filled with love songs (I suppose Sinatra got over Ava Gardner pretty quickly - or, more likely, the record label didn't want another depressing break-up album). The arrangements are not nearly as sparse and minimal, and the album, as a whole, sounds much bigger.

Featuring a whole slew of classic Sinatra tunes ("Old Devil Moon", "Pennies From Heaven", "I've Got You Under My Skin", "Makin' Whoopie", etc.), while I don't think I've ever listened to this album, at least not as a whole, it fells oddly familiar - like I had heard it a hundred times before. Having grandparents that were obsessed with Frank Sinatra, and spending a lot of time with them as a child, this may be a possibility - but if this is the case, those listenings are stored somewhere in my subconsciousness. It is like meeting someone for the first time but feeling as if you have known them your whole life.

Whenever I hear someone say they don't like Frank Sinatra, I have the exact same reaction as when I hear some one say they "don't like water". Is that not a requirement in order to be alive? I feel like liking Sinatra is simply part of what defines humans as human. What is there not to like? What is there not to love? To Sinatra haters, all I can do is stare, speechless, eye-brow raised, observing a creature which cannot possibly be of this planet.

Do I recommend this album? You'd better believe it! A+++.

1,001 Albums [I] Must Hear before [I] Die: 6

Ellington at Newport - Duke Ellington

I love jazz. I studied jazz guitar in college, I still play some on my bass, and I listen to quite a bit of jazz in my free time. So, it's understandable that I was looking forward to this record, since as a jazz lover, I obviously love Duke Ellington.

Again, I must admit a bias concerning this one. I'm very familiar with Duke Ellington's music, so it's a little bit hard to judge this album without comparing it to other recordings from the master bandleader. The same day I listened to this album, I happened to have listened to "Money Jungle", easily my favorite Ellington album, so I still had that in my head a bit.

With that said, this album is very good (but it's still no "Money Jungle") - The arrangements are great, the musicianship is great, and the trumpet playing is just awesome. While the tunes have a tendency to occasionally meander and become unfocused from time to time, when this band is on, they're on. Ellington's ability to update his sound throughout his career, without ever losing or compromising his unique style, is remarkable.

While this probably wouldn't be the first album of Mr. Ellington's I would suggest people listen to, especially if the person is unfamiliar with his music, this is an enjoyable listen and a great example of the jazz master's genius.

1,001 Albums [I] Must Hear before [I] Die: 5

This is Fats - Fats Domino

This was the first record I have listened to so far that surprised me in that I thought I was really going to like it, but didn't.

Aside from the opening track, the classic "Blueberry Hill", very little stood out to me.

Was it bad? No.

Was it good? No.

It was mediocre, and, in my opinion, that's the worst thing you can possibly say about any piece of art.

This one can be skipped.

1,001 Albums [I] Must Hear before [I] Die: 4

The Wildest! - Louis Prima

There is one, perfect word for this album:

Fun.

Man, did I have a blast listening to this record. Prima is having an amazing time, you can hear it in every word he sings, and he sucks you write into it. This is a party in the form of music.

I can't really think of much else to say about this one, aside from mentioning that the arrangements are awesome, especially concerning the horns. Go listen to this - you'll have a great time, . I guarantee it!

1,001 Albums [I] Must Hear before [I] Die: 3

Tragic Songs of Life - The Louvin Brothers

Before listening to this record, my only knowledge of the Louvin Brothers was of their notorious, cheesy cover for their album, "Satan is Real":

(Man, is that embarrassingly awful!)

So, with that image engrained in my mind, you could probably see why I really wasn't expecting much from this record, aside from my lactose intolerance to kick-in.

Boy, was I pleasantly surprised.

I wouldn't consider myself to really be an active fan of country music, although there are some artists I will go out of my way to listen to (i.e. Emmylou Harris). While I do like quite a bit of the country music I have heard, I have to reluctantly admit that I haven't sought out much, and my knowledge is, sadly, very limited on the genre.

The Louvin Brothers are pioneers of the close harmony style of singing often associated with country... and the style is really beautiful. The two brothers' voices blend perfectly, and their harmonies both compliment and even strengthen the melancholy, often pessimistic subject matter of many of the songs.

It is records like this that make the challenge I have accepted for myself worthwhile. It is discovering music like The Louvin Brothers, music I otherwise might not have ever heard, that is the reason I decided to listen to this massive quantity of albums. This is something I would certainly recommend you listen to, unless you hate country music, then you definitely will not like this one.

1,001 Albums [I] Must Hear before [I] Die: 2

Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley

Before I write this post, I should inform you of a personal bias: I don't care much for Elvis Presley.

Was it because he was a thief that stole the music of much more talented black artists, watered them down, and made tons of money off of the lifted material (which he did)? Believe it or not, no. As the quote goes, "a good artist borrows, but a great artist steals". It was through Elvis' musical thievery that the mainstream came to know of a lot of these artists who otherwise would have remained in complete obscurity. It's simply that I don't think he wasn't nearly as good as his contemporaries. Every time I hear an Elvis Presley song, all I can think is how I would much rather be listening to Johnny Cash or Carl Perkins.

Speaking of Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins, the opening track to Elvis' self-titled record is "Blue Suede Shoes", a song written by Carl Perkins, based on a story told to him by Johnny Cash, about a war buddy of Cash's. This song was initially supposed to be Perkins' breakthrough single, but thanks to his apparent knack for drinking, driving, and crashing into things, causing himself considerable bodily harm, Mr. Perkins was unable to promote the single... so now the public recognizes it as an Elvis hit.

While the album certainly wasn't horrible, I can't admit to liking it very much. It was Elvis, being Elvis, and, for the reasons stated above, I simply don't care for it. It was okay, but I'm not going to recommend it, except for its historical importance.

1,001 Albums [I] Must Hear before [I] Die: 1

In the Wee Small Hours - Frank Sinatra

I had just come home from a day of work, and I was tired. My girlfriend's friends were over, watching the new Special Edition release of the first Harry Potter movie, and, while I watched it with them for a short while (I do very much enjoy the Harry Potter movies), I was much too excited to get started listening to the 1,001 records that I apparently "must" listen to before I expire.

After watching the young wizard find out about his magical lineage and purchasing his first wand, I plugged some headphones into the laptop, still sitting on the couch, passively glancing at the TV from time to time, and hit play on album number one, "In the Wee Small Hours" by Old Blue Eyes himself, the Man from Bayone, Frank Sinatra.

I am certainly a Sinatra fan, he has one of my favorite voices of all time, and his melodic phrasing is probably the best of any musician ever, save, perhaps Miles Davis (although Miles admits to Sinatra being a huge influence on his phrasing and note choices), but this was an album whose existence I only a had passing knowledge of, and had never listened to before. By the time the opening track, "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning", was over, I was even more excited about taking up this challenge.

Apparently, this record was recorded shortly after Ava Gardner and Sinatra split, so it is essentially a break-up record... but it does what a break up record should do. There's no whining or self-pity here - simply melancholy and a man coming to terms with his situation. It's sad, pretty much from start to end, but it's filled with a sadness which is bizarrely beautiful. At the end of it, you feel a sense of hope... and I felt even more excited to hear what the next thousand albums had to offer. Of the six albums I have listened to so far, this one is easily my favorite, and if you haven't ever heard it, I recommend you give it a listen.

1,001 Albums [I] Must Hear before [I] Die: Introduction

There has been a book on my radar for quite awhile now; 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

It has been, not only on my "to read" list, but on my "to listen to" list, pretty much since its first publication in 2005 - and has haunted me since I first learned of it. As both a musician, one with a short attention span for musical genres as well as an eclectic taste in general, the idea that someone could possibly tell me that there is a set of albums (primarily comprising of music from the Western culture from which I am from) that I must hear before I die, felt like nothing less than a challenge. So, I have accepted that challenge.


Initially, my plan was simply to listen to all 1,001 albums straight through for my own personal pleasure - for my own (selfish) benefit. However, my girlfriend, upon hearing the challenge I had adopted for myself, recognizing that I, as a musician, may potentially have some form of unique insight, some comments which may not be thought of by other individuals without a musical background and formal training, suggested that I blog about my experience listening to these 1,001 ablums - 1,001 albums that a group of music critics, that, for whatever reason, feel that [I] "must" listen to before [I] "die".

Confused as how to go about this, I decided not to approach it considering what would be most interesting stylistically, but what would come most naturally: reviewing each album - one by one. If all goes well, this will work out - reviewing each album, all 1,001 individually, even if I have very little to say about them (hopefully I have a lot to say... we'll see).

Hopefully you will enjoy.

So it begins...