ROSEMARY HARRIS: As I mentioned earlier this week, I attended a phenomenal concert on Monday night. Steely Dan at the Beacon Theatre in New York. The Beacon is a great place for a show - big but not too big, and it was filled with like-minded souls who were ready to dance in their seats and pay homage to "the Cuervo Gold and the fine Colombian" even if the only Colombian we'd indulged in recently was in a coffee cup.The band did about 7 shows and each was billed with an album title. I went to Aja, IMHO one of the best albums ever recorded. They performed the entire album and then treated the audience to at least another hour of incredible music from 3-4 (scary number here...) DECADES of hits.
I left on a cloud. And I was reminded that I have owned Aja as an album, a cassette and a cd. Clearly I like it. It made me wonder which other pieces of music I've owned in all formats. I instantly excluded classical and operas since I own so many different versions of..for example...The Four Seasons, Carmen, the Messiah, etc.
Off the top of my head and in no particular order, this is my list -
Aja - Steely Dan
Child is Father to the Man - Blood, Sweat and Tears
The White Album - The Beatles
A Renaissance Christmas - Waverly Consort
The Christmas Album - John Fahey
Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
Last Tango in Paris - Gato Barbieri
Songs in the Key of Life - Stevie Wonder
Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys
Eli and the Thirteenth Confession - Laura Nyro
Nilsson Schmilsson - Harry Nilsson
Okay that's enough for me. What about you?
Which albums have stayed with you and stood the test the time?
Through ALL the delivery systems and formats...and yes....they're all on my iPod, too.
Most of the music I listen to is on either vinyl or CD; I don’t have an iPod and there’s no music on my phone [except for my ringtone, which is the opening phrases of Julie London’s “Cry Me A River”]. The only music I’ve ever had in all formats is anything recorded by Julie London and, yes, I have everything she recorded.
ReplyDeleteI am not an eclectic listener; I tend to return to the same few artists I consistently enjoy: Julie, Il Divo, Jackie Evancho, and Bobby Troup.
I'm a giant Aja fan, too. Hot tidbit: "Peg" was written about Peggy Lipton of Mod Squad fame -- this from Michael McDonald who sang backup on the cut.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteOooh - I love this piece, Ro.
When Donald and I started dating, one of the things we discovered was our mutual love of music. And when we started living together we discovered we both owned many of the same albums. But, while my first love remains Motown, his remains Southern Rock. Like you, we've since bought a lot of those albums in cassette, and then in CD.
Some of the music I never want to live without would include:
Red Headed Stranger - Willie Nelson
Butterfly - Streisand
Hitsville USA - Motown boxed set
Rumours - Fleetwood Mac
No Secrets - Carly Simon
Tapestry - Carole King
August - Eric Clapton
Hot Rocks - Rolling Stones
Blue Skies - Greg Allman
Maria Muldauer - Maria Muldauer
Crazy by Patsy Cline
I missed out on albums, but I do have most of the grunge bands on cassette and CD.
ReplyDeleteI had to say ... my younger self would have responded to Steely Dan with a hearty, "You've got to be kidding." But my husband played "Aja" for me, and that record is so perfect and glossy. It now lives in my digital files, sitting beside my folder of Sonic Youth albums.
I went to see them in CT last weekend at Foxwoods. They were fabulous there, too. One of my all-time favorites groups. For me, Fagan's solo The Nightfly always soothes my soul.
ReplyDeleteI also love Steve Wonder (made my mom get me Secret Life of Plant for my birthday), but my taste ranges into a lot of varied stuff. I don't think I could put together a "favorite" list. Going to see Queens of the Stone Age tonight, though--yay!
Since I still own a working turntable (with a new stylus), and several cassette players, I'm still okay with one format. The one I have themost trouble with is CD players, which are highly unreliable.
ReplyDeleteAwhile back we went to a yard sale where a former radio DJ was getting rid of all of his vinyl. We bought tons. Some of my favorites include a really early Fanny Brice, Fats Waller, The Andrews Sisters, Bob Dylan Blonde on Blonde, Paul Simon Graceland, of course Tapestry. Can also listen endlessly to the original cast recordings of Oklahoma, Funny Girl, and Rent.
ReplyDeleteRo, what a fun quiz! Rick and I still have most of our vinyl, but it's stored in closets. We have a good turntable but it doesn't fit in our media cabinet. Someday we should set it up for fun.
ReplyDeleteAll of our CDs we also have in digital form--on our computers, tablets, some on my phone, and a lot on my Samsung P2 (non-Apple version of iPod.)
I have no idea what we duplicated in cassette tapes--those are LONG gone. But a few highlights that made it from vinyl to CD/digital:
Everything by the Beatles
Tapestry, Carole King
Surrealistic Pillow, Jefferson Airplane
Everything by Crosby, Stills, and Nash
Ditto James Taylor
Ditto Paul Simon
Sunshine Superman, Donovan
Some Girls, The Rolling Stones
Soundtrack from The Big Easy
Albums by Kenny Rankin, Dan Fogleberg, and America
Fragile, Yes
It's a Beautiful Day
The Long Run, the Eagles
Tea for the Tillerman, Cat Stevens
Songs for Beginners, Graham Nash
Cream
Skin Dive, Michael Franks
McCartney
Funny, I was never a Steely Dan fan, and although Rick was I don't see any Steely Dan in our catalog.
Will have to listen anew!
Oh... Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and Cat Stevens.
ReplyDeleteOMG..soundtrack from The Big Easy, It's a Beautiful Day, Maria Muldaur - having flashbacks!
ReplyDeleteCool trivia about Peggy Lipton. She was so gorgeous..probably still is!
Yes to Tapestry and Rumours, too. And The Nightfly. An almost perfect album...
Rosemary, looking at your list brings tears to my eyes. Laura Nyro, Harry Nillson. I am not kidding. I love you. ELi's Coming! I mean--it's fabulous. And when I worked at teh record store, my goal in life was to sell Nillson albums.
ReplyDeleteGraceland, of course. And Carly Simon's song Let the river Run. Judy Colilns Both Sides Now. And Marat/Sade. Leonard Cohen's--what was it called? The one with Suzanne.
Abbey Road. Sgt. Pepper. The Joni Mitchell with Carey.
The CSNY with Suite Judy Blue Eyes.
My Broadway confession soundtrack is A Chorus LIne.
Just home from Philadelphia and now making dinner..I wish I had more time to think about this! What an amazing blog.
Moody Blues
ReplyDeleteGerry Rafferty
Little River Band
Justin Hayward
Super Tramp
Beatles
Simon & Garfunkle
Chicago
Gary Pucket & Union Gap
Crosby STills & Nash
David Gates
Elton John
America
The EAgles
Dan Fogleberg
Jimmie Spheeris
Bee Gees
Association
The Doors
Andy Williams
Seals & Croft
ReplyDeleteOH! A Chorus Line! Yes!!!!
Soundtrack from The Big Chill.
this is fun, I could play this all night long.