Getting closer....
16. McCartney (Solo Debut) - Paul McCartney
More than any other member of the Beatles Paul had tipped his hat on the final group recordings as to what lay ahead for him, and later Wings. A quick listen to the “White Album” (we’ll get to it later) reveals Paul stripping it all away and relying on his acoustic guitar and piano for his current recordings. Any bootleg connoisseur knows that he had tested some of this material with the Beatles and revisited it here in its more intimate form.
One, including me, could argue that had he included the single “Another Day, ” saved “Blackbird” and dumped some of the instrumental forays he would have come up with an unimpeachable classic. I think he came close enough to include it on this list. And, if it matters, this album has one of the best covers I have ever seen. As an amateur photographer and album cover junkie I have seen few that come close to this one. The values and placement of the three colors of black, white and red are stunning. Nice job Linda.
17. Kristofferson (Debut) - Kris Kristofferson
This album should probably be ranked higher, but the clock is ticking and it’s hard to shuffle things around again. When this album came out he was thirty three years old and another struggling songwriter in Nashville with rugged good looks, a smoke stained voice and a guitar case full of songs. A quick couple of years later this album was a 401K in waiting for Nashville acts looking for job security. Perhaps his greatest accomplishment was waking country music from its decade long slumber of precision production, mannered instrumentalists and pitch perfect vocals. The “outlaw” movement was born in the grooves of this album. Country was relocated from its comfortable suburban setting and returned to the open road, by the hour motels and dive bars where it came from. The songs on this album contain no heroes or role models to cling to. These characters are dusty, windblown, burned out, looking for a place to crash and spend any available cash on booze and cigarettes. They clearly have “nothing’ left to lose.” Cash only, no checks or PayPal please.
There’s much to single out here, but “Sunday Morning Coming Down” is my universal choice. It’s more than the musings of some stoned drifter. This song is profound on several levels. Over the course of the song he touches nearly every theme that comes to mind when stepping outside on any Sunday morning and staring at the sun in any town where you suddenly realize you’re on your own. Over the past thirty plus years hundreds of artists have tried to re-write this song and have never come close. There was no precedent for this song in 1969 and any attempt since then or now comes of as just that.
I would venture to say that Hank Williams, Roger Miller, Kristofferson and later Willie Nelson have contributed to more changes in country music than just about anyone. I’m not saying they are better artists than everyone else, but what they brought to the table changed the music and helped shape its future like few others
18. Lucky Town - Bruce Springsteen
After the over the top success of “Born In The USA” and the modest acceptance of “Tunnel Of Love” Columbia somehow convinced Bruce to resort to a cheap gimmick for his next studio releases. This album along with “Human Touch” were both released on the same day in 1992. The similarity ends there. The two albums couldn’t be more different. The most glaring difference is one is great and the other is all but forgettable. For the first time in years Springsteen forgot about where he was in the world and instead longed for the times when the next meal was going to come wrapped in wax paper and paid for with change. Free of all the trappings of his fame he simply went in the studio and made a straight ahead rock album. In an age of CD’s this one even felt like an album. Running about forty minutes and having what appears to be an intended sequencing this one borders on classic.
As with many great albums this one ended up on the scrap heap and can be bought for about the price of a happy meal on Amazon. The frat boys and hangers on who propelled him to the top had no time for more poignant subject matter. Tales of love and redemption in the arms of others had far less appeal than thinly veiled metaphors for them. No problem, Bruce was happy and so was I that he got back to where it all felt right for him again. When these two releases came out I was in the retail music business. When my customers asked me which one to buy my reply was to buy two of this one and share it. The advice still holds today.
19. For Everyman - Jackson Browne
We’ve all heard of the “sophomore slump” in sports and of course music. We seldom hear about the “sophomore success.” On this second album from Browne he simply hits it out of the park and then some. Everything attempted or hinted at on his compelling debut is fleshed out here into one of the best albums ever from a singer songwriter. The thing that drives this one is his wide eyed vision and perception. At the age of twenty five he came up with an age appropriate album that didn’t preach or pretend any profound observations. Instead he chose the road less traveled and turned to the rest of us and said “here’s what’s happening to me, what’s everyone else thinking.” The brilliance of the writing is how it asks so many questions without pretending to know any definitive answers.
As ridiculous as this sounds, next time you hear “Take It Easy” from either him or the Eagles take the time to absorb the lyrics. I know we’ve all been on autopilot with this one for decades, but give it a chance. It’s “Me And Bobby McGee” from a different angle. There’s no sad ending, but more a celebration of love, life and its possibilities. He also included his version of the oft recorded “These Days” and reminds us all how powerful a song about thoughts can be. By the time of the album ending title track comes along we’ve come full circle and are ready for the world.
He would go on to have some serious commercial successes and even pen some more classic songs. He would never, to my tastes, come up with another complete album like this one though. Politics and the realities of the world we all live in took their toll over the years. If I could offer him any advice at this point it would be from his own song: “Lighten up while you still can.”
20. Down & Dirty - Bobby Bare
If you know me at all, even a little bit, then you know of my admiration of Bobby Bare. Like many of the sixties country acts who recorded for RCA he as was part of the assembly line that Chet Atkins and the powers that be were churning out. Unlike a lot of those acts Bare had a voice that was suited for more than AM country radio. He didn’t write his own material, instead he interpreted the songs of others. The thing about those “others” was that they were Tom T. Hall, Kris Kristofferson and most notably Shel Silverstein more often than not. Those guys were all great writers who wrote songs that everyone wanted to record. The key word here though is vocalist. Bare has one of those conversational voices that is capable of either singing or speaking the lyrics. A friend I used to work with referred to him as the best friend a song ever had. I couldn’t agree more. You would have to hear him to fully understand what it is he does. He takes a lyric and doesn’t so much sing it as he caresses it. If you’ve heard him then you know what I mean. If not, pick up something and give it a listen. You could start with this one if you’re adventurous enough.
This live recording from 1979 features him in his element in a small room with an enthusiastic crowd along for the ride. The twist with this album is that all of the selections had not been recorded by him previously. A risky approach but in his capable hands it all seems natural as can be. My guess is that this was an in the studio live recording with an invited crowd. That said it sounds anything but canned. Artists considering recording a live album would do well to check this one out to see how a master works the room.
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