527 Essential Albums in Alphabetical Order.

527 Essential Albums in Alphabetical Order.

Below I have listed 527 absolutely essential albums.

Just because something does not appear in the list below does not automatically mean I do not like it. I have a collection of some thirty thousand albums. Cutting it down to 527 was immensely difficult. I’ve probably missed a few out that I love.

You won’t find any Gram Parsons, Queen, or Smiths in there though – because I don’t like them!

Everyone has their own taste.

This list is biased towards the 50s, 60s and 70s because that was when it was best – before the Big Labels sanitised it to death with production and playing safe!

Why not have a browse through and tell me what I’ve missed?

AC/DC	Albert King	Al Stewart
For those about to Rock	Born under a bad sign	Love ChroniclesZero she flies
Angelic Upstarts	Aretha Franklin	Arlo Guthrie
Angel dust	Respect	Alice’s Restaurant
Arthur Alexander	Arthur Brown	Band
Greatest hits	Fire	Music from Big PinkThe Band
Beach Boys	Beatles	Bert Jansch
Pet Sounds	White albumSrgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts-club BandLet it bePlease Please MeRevolverWith theAbbey RoadRubber SoulHelpA hard day’s night1967-701962-66Beatles for sale	It don’t bother meBert Jansch
Bessie Smith	Big Bother & the Holding Company	Big Mama Thornton
Blue spirit blues	Cheap Thrills	The original hound dog
Billy Boy Arnold	Billy Bragg	Black Sabbath
I wish you would	Brewing up withMermaid AveBack to basics	We sold our soul for Rock ‘n’ Roll
Black Uhuru	Blondie	Blue Cheer
Liberation	Denis	Summertime Blues
Bob Dylan	Bob Marley	Bo Carter
Bringing it all back homeThe times they are a changingHighway 61 revisitedBlonde on BlondeAnother side ofPlanet WavesDesireFreewheelin’Blood on the tracksTime out of mind	ExodusRastaman VibrationCatch a fireJammin’SurvivalKayaConfrontationUprising	Banana in your fruit basket
Bonzo Dod Doo-Dah Band	Bo Diddley	Booker T & the MGs
A dog’s body	Bo’s big 20Bo’s a gunslingerHey Bo DiddleyBo Diddley	Green Onions
Bruce Springsteen	Buddy Guy	Buddy Holly
The RiverDarkness at the edge of Town	Damn Right I got the Blues	Memorial AlbumMemorial Album Vol 2Chirping CricketsReminiscingThat’ll be the day
Buffalo Springsteen	Buffy St Marie	Byrds
Buffalo Springfield	Native North American Indian Child – an Odyssey	Notorious Byrd Brothers5th DimensionYounger than yesterdayMr Tambourine man
Canned Heat	Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band	Carl Perkins
Boogie with Canned Heat	Lick my decals offTrout Mask ReplicaSpotlight kidClear spotDrop out Boogie/Safe as MilkIce Cream for CrowDoc at the RadarBat chain pullerStrictly PersonalShiny Beast	Boppin’ Blue Suede Shoes
Chicken Shack	Chuck Berry	Clash
40 fiongers, freshly packed and ready to serve	On StageMoreChuck BerryAfter school sessionIs on topOne dozen berries	London callingSandinistaCombat RockThe Clash
Cliff Richard & Shadows	Coasters	Country Joe & the Fish
Cliff	Coasters	Electric Music for the body & mindFeel like I’m fixin’ to die
Cowfish	Cramps	Cream
Aplacetofolkin	A date with Elvis	Disreali gearsWheels of fireGoodbye
Creedence Clearwater Revival	Crosby Stills Nash & Young	Crystals
Green River	Four Way StreetDéjà vuCarry on	Best of
Dale Hawkins	David Crosby	David Gray
Suzie Q	If I could only remember my name	White ladderA century ends
Dead Kennedys	Deep Purple	Devo
Fresh fruitPlastic Surgery DisasterIn God we Trust inc.Give me convenience or give me death	Smoke on the water	Q- Are we not men? A – We are Devo
Dick Dale	Desmond Dekker	Dire Straits
Surfers’ choice	Isrealites	Dire StraitsAlchemyMoney for Nothing
Doctor’s of Madness	Dillinger	Don & Dewey
Late night movies All night brainstorms	Dillinger	Jungle Hop
Donovan	Dominoes	Downliners Sect
Sunshine SupermanFairy taleSutrasCatch the WindOpen Road	Sixty Minute man	Downliners Sect
Dr Feelgood	Doors	Dr John
Down at the jettyMalpracticeStupiditySneakin’ SuspicionBe Seeing youPrivate practice	Strange daysAbsolutely liveDoorsMorrison HotelWaiting for the sunSoft paradeLA Woman	Gris grisZu Zu ManAnutha Zone
Duster Bennett	Drifters	Eddie Cochran
Complete Blue Horizon	Under the boardwalk	Memorial album
Eddie Floyd	Edgar Broughton Band	Elmore James
Knock on Wood	Wasa Wasa	King of the slide guitar
Elvis Costello	Eels	Esquirita
Armed ForcesThis year’s modelGet happyMy aim is trueSpikePunch the clock	Daisies of the galaxyMeet the EelsElectro-shock bluesWonderful Glorious	Believe me when I say Rock ‘n’ Roll is here to stay
Everly Brothers	Elvis Presley	Fall
The fabulous style of the Everly BrothersEverly Brothers	Sun recordingsElvis PresleyElvisA date with Elvis	Slates50,000 Fans can’t be wrongRebellious JukeboxHex Enduction Hour
Family	Fairport Convention	Fela Kouti
Family entertainment	What we did on our holidaysUnhalfbrickingLiege & Leaf	Zombie
Fleetwood Mac	Fats Domino	Free
Fleetwood MacBlue Horizon SessionsMr WonderfulThen Play onLive in Boston	The Fat man sings	Free StoryFire & WaterLive
Fugs	Fred McDowell	George Harrison
Belle of Avenue AIt crawled into my hand honestFugs first albumGolden filthFugs 2nd album	Shake ‘em on down	All things must passLiving in the material world
George Thorogood	Gang of Four	Grateful Dead
Bad to the bone	EntertainmentA brief History of the twentieth centurySongs for the freeReturn the gift	American BeautyBlues for AllahLive/Dead
Hank Williams	Gil Scott Heron	Hound Dog Taylor
40 greatest hits	ReflectionsSmall talk at 125th and Lenox	Natural boogie
Howlin’ Wolf	Hawkwind	Ian Dury
Moanin’ in the moonlightHowlin Wolf	HawkwindX In Search of Space	New boots & pantiesJuke Box DuryDo it yourself
Ian Siegal	Huey ‘Piano’ Smith	Incredible String Band
Meat & Potatoes	Having a good time	Wee Tam & the big HugeHangman’s beautiful daughterChanging HorsesI looked up
Inex & Charlie Foxx	Iggy Pop	James Brown
Mocking Bird	Raw PowerLust for life	The wonderful world of James Brown
James Taylor	Jackson C Frank	Janis Joplin
Fire and rain	Blues run the game	I got dem old Kosmic blues againPearl
Jeff Beck	James Varda	Jerry Lee Lewis
Truth	Hunger	Great balls of fire
Jethro Tull	Jefferson Airplane	Jimmie Rodgers
This was	Surrealistic pillowVolunteersAfter bathing at Baxter’sCrown of Creation	Best of
Jimmy Reed	Jimi Hendrix	Joan Baez
Bright Lights Big City	Electric LadylandAxis bold as loveJimi Hendrix ExperienceLive at MontereyConcertsRainbow BridgeSmash hits	Farewell Angelina
Joe Tex	JJ Cale	John Lee Hooker
Greatest hits	NaturallyOkie	I’m John Lee Hooker
John Lennon	John Cooper Clarke	Johnny Kidd & the Pirates
ImaginePlastic Ono BandShaved fish	Snap Crackle and Pop	Memorial album
John Renbourn	John Mayall	Juicy Lucy
Another Monday	John Mayall plays John MayallBluesbreakers	Lie back and enjoy it
Junior Kimborough	Joni Mitchell	Ken Nordine
Sad days lonely nights	BlueLadies of the canyonBig yellow taxiSongs of a Prairie girlMingus	Son of Word Jazz
Kenny Brown	Keith Cross & Peter Ross	King Crimson
Going back to Mississippi	Bored civilians	The concise King Crimson
Kinks	Killing Joke	Last Poets
KinksKink Kontroversy	Killing Joke	The real rap
Larry Williams	Kokomo Arnold	Lee Dorsey
At his finest	Bottleneck guitar	Ride your pony
Leonard Cohen	Led Zeppelin	Lee Scratch Perry
I’m your manSongs from a roomLeonard CohenSongs of love and hateVarious positionsSongs from the roadLive in London	Led ZeppelinLed Zeppelin 2Led Zeppelin 3Led Zeppelin 4Physical Graffitti	Time boom and de devil dead
Linton Kwesi Johnson	Leon Rosselson	Lightnin’ Hopkins
Dread, Beat & BloodForces of victoryBass culture	The world turned upside down	Lightnin’ Strikes
Loudon Wainwright	Little Richard	Little Walter
School daysAlbum 2A live oneCharlie Poole Project	Here’s Little RichardLittle Richard vol 2	Little Walter
Lovin’ Spoonful	Lou Reed	Love
Greatest hits	TransformerSally can’t dance	Forever ChangesDa CapoLove
Marvin Gaye	Malvina Reynolds	Marianne Faithful
What’s going on?	Sings the truth	Broken English
Meters	MC5	Merseybeat – This is Merseybeat
Cissy strut	Kick out the jams	Compilation
Miracles	Michael Smith	Mimi & Ricahard Farina
Cookin’ with the Miracles	Mi Cy-aan Believe it	Celebration for a grey day
Motorhead	Mose Allison	Mothers of Invention
No sleep til Hammersmith	Original Jazz Classics	We’re only in it for the moneyFreak outBongo furyHave I offended someone?Hot ratsApostrophe
Nice	Muddy Waters	Neil Young
Thoughts of Emmerlist Davjack	Chess mastersHard againI’m Ready	HarvestAmerican stars and barsComes a timeRust never sleepsZumaEverybody knows this is nowhereFreedomLiving with war
Nico	Nick Drake	Nick Harper
Chelsea Girls	Bryter Layter5 Leaves Left	Light at the end of the kennelSeedSmithereensBlood songsMiracles for beginnersHarperspace
North Mississippi Allstars	Nina Simone	Nirvana
Do it like we used toShake hands with Shorty	Young, gifted and black	Smells like Teen SpiritIn uteroBleachIncesticideUnplugged in New York
Oasis	Nuggets	NWA
(What’s the story) Morning Glory?	Compilation	Straight outa Compton
Patti Smith	Otis Redding	Paramounts
EasterHorses	BlueDictionary of soul	Whiter shades of R&B
Phil Ochs	Paul Simon	Pebbles Vol.3 The Acid Gallery
A toast for those who are goneI ain’t marching anymoreIn concertGreatest hitsThere & Now – Live in VancouverTape from CaliforniaThe pleasures of the harbour	Paul Simon song bookGracelandThere goes Rhymin’ SimonStill crazy after all these years	Compilation
Pogues	Pink Floyd	PJ Harvey
Rum, Sodomy & the LashIf I should fall from Grace with GodRed Roses for Me	Wish you were herePiper at the gates of dawnDark side of the moonSaucer full of secretsThe WallAnimals	Rid of meDry
Prince Buster	Pretenders	Pretty Things
Fabulous greatest hits	Don’t get me wrong	Get the picture
Pulp	Professor Longhair	Public Enemy
Different Class	Rock ‘n’ Roll Gumbo	It takes a nation of millions to hold us back
Randy Newman	Quicksilver Messenger Service	Ramones
Good ole boysLittle criminalsLonely at the top	Happy Trails	Leave home
Richard Hell	Ray Charles	Red Guitars
Blank Generation	In person	Slow to fade
Robert Johnson	Ritchie Havens	RL Burnside
King of the Delta blues singers	Richard P Havens 1983Something else again	Burnside on Burnside
Rory Gallagher	Rolling Stones	Ronettes
Live in Ireland	Exile on MainstreetRolling StonesRolling Stones No. 2Get your Yay-Yas out40 LicksLet it BleedGoats Head soupTheir Satanic Majesties RequestBeggar’s Banquet	Da Doo Ron Ron
Rufus Wainwright	Roy Harper	Roy Orbison
Poses	StormcockHQLifemaskFlat Baroque and BerserkFolkjokeopusCome out Fighting Ghenghis SmithFlashes from the archives of oblivionBullinamingvaseLive in Les CousinsUnknown Soldier	Golden Days
Sam & Dave	Ruts	Ry Cooder
Soul man	London Burning	BorderlineChicken skin musicParadise & LunchGet Rhythm
Screaming lord Sutch	Sam Cooke	Screaming Jay Hawkins
Jack the Ripper	Portrait of a legend	Cow fingers and Mosquito PiePortrait of a man
Shadows	Searchers	Sex Pistols
Greatest hits	Pye Anthology	Never mind the bollocks
Slim Harpo	Simon & Garfunkel	Smallfaces
Best of	Book endsParsley Sage Rosemary & TimeBridge over troubled water	Anthology
Sonny Boy Williamson 2	Snooks Eaglin	Son House
Bring it on homeDown & out Blues	Country boy	Death letter blues
Squeeze	Spencer Davis	Spirit
Singles 45’s & UnderSqueeze	I’m a man	Spirit
Stephen Stills	Status Quo	Steel Pulse
Stephen StillsStephen Stills 2	12 Gold Bars	Handsworth Revolution
Stiff Little Fingers	Steppenwolf	Steve Earle
Inflammable materialNobody’s Heroes	Born to be wild	Copperhead Road
Sun Rockabilly	Stone Roses	Stranglers
Compilation	The Stone Roses	Rattus norvegicus
Talking Heads	Syd Barrett	T2
Stop talkingSand in the vaseline	BarrettThe Madcap Laughs	It’ll all work out in Boomland
Tinariwen	Taste	Them
Water is life	Best of	Them
Tomorrow	Tom Robinson Band	Tommy Tucker
Tomorrow	Power in the darkness	Hi Heeled Sneakers
Townes Van Zandt	Tom Waits	Tone loc
Texas Troubador	SwordfishTrombonesSmall change	Loc-ed after dark
Undertones	Tracy Chapman	Traffic
Teenage kicks	Tracy Chapman	TrafficDear Mr Fantasy
Wayne/Jayne County	Van Morrison	Velvet Underground
Rock ‘n’ Roll Cleopatra	Hard nose the highwayAstral weeksMoondance	Velvet Underground with NicoVelvet UndergroundWhite heat- White light
Wilco	White Stripes	Who
Being there	De StiljWhite blood cellsWhite Stripes	Who’s nextLive at LeedsMeaty Beaty Big & BouncyMy GenerationTommy
Wreckless Eric	Wilson Pickett	Woody Guthrie
Whole Wide WorldGreatest Stiffs	In the Midnight hour	Dust Bowl BalladsColombia River Collection
Yardbirds	ZZ Top
Roger the engineerOver under sideways down	Six Pack

Rock music has informed my life. It still does.

I have written a number of books on Rock Music and Roy Harper. If you want to find out more about them you should go to the books section and look up Rock Music there.

This is a list of my favourite Rock, Blues, Folk, Reggae and Country artists so you can get an idea where I am coming from:

Roy Harper, Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, Bob Dylan, Nick Harper, Doors, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Country Joe and the Fish, Eels, R L Burnside, Woody Guthrie, Jake Bugg, Billy Bragg, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, Rich & Lou Duffy-Howard, Cream, Tinariwen, Junior Kimbrough, Son House, Beatles, Pink Floyd, Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed, Traffic, Velvet Underground, Ian Dury, Elvis Costello, Bo Diddley, Buddy Holly, Bert Jansch, White Stripes, Stiff Little Fingers, Sex Pistols, PJ Harvey, Stone Roses, Elvis Presley, Joan Baez, Stones, Who, Pretty Things, John Renbourn, Howlin’ Wolf, Free, John Mayall, Fleetwood Mac (Blues), Band, Arthur Brown, Pogues, John Lennon, George Harrison, Lee Scratch Perry, Buddy Guy, T-Model Ford, Bob Marley, Carl Perkins, Little Richard, Larry Williams, Arthur Brown, Love, Buffalo Springfield, CSN&Y, Stephen Stills, Byrds, Fugs, Jerry Lee Lewis, Arthur Alexander, Stranglers, Clash, Tommy Tucker, Booker T & the MGs, Meters, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Joe Tex, Bruce Springsteen, Eddie Cochran, Lightnin’ Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, Bo Carter, Memphis Minnie, Bessie Smith, North Mississippi Allstars, Phil Ochs, Slim Harpo, Lonesome Sundown, Lazy Lester, Them, Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, Ken Nordine, James Varda, Nick Cave, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Devo, Ruts, Buzzcocks, Cramps, Jeff Beck, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Janis Joplin, Kinks, Fall, Everly Brothers, Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention, Tom Waits, Bessie Smith, Mose Allison, Loudon Wainwright, Chuck Berry, Gil Scott Heron, Elmore James, Gang of Four, Jimmie Rodgers, Doc Boggs, Billy Lee Riley, Doctors of Madness, Magic Band, Hawkwind, Deep Purple, Leonard Cohen, Incredible String Band, Ry Cooder, J J Cale, Townes Van Zandt, Red Guitars and a few thousand more………

What I detest is:

Muzac, cover bands, tribute bands, bland commercial over-produced rubbish, Pop, anything to do with Simon Cowell, Britain/America’s got talent, as well as Queen, Smiths, Gram Parsons, and Abba.

But Hey – everyone is different! I’ll respect your tastes! As long as we keep it real. It wouldn’t do for us all to like the same things, would it?

‘in search of Captain Beefheart’ and ‘intergalactic Rockstar – Starturn’ now available at Amazon.

Steve Froy thought I should say something about the various people I like – So blame him!

Roy Harper

I first heard Roy Harper in 1967 when I was a mere lad of eighteen. I caught him in Les Cousins sandwiched between Bert Jansch and John Renbourn. I really like Bert & John but I felt an amazing affinity for Roy as soon as I heard him and Bert & John melted into insignificance. Listening to Roy was like looking in my own head. He was articulating my thoughts. I was smitten and I had to meet him. Well I did meet him and we’ve been friends ever since.

Roy is a highly creative person. He is a unique guitarist who carved out a totally new sound that is as far removed from acoustic Folk Music as you can get. He described himself as a one man Rock ‘n’ Roll band but he’s much more than that. What you get from Roy is a highly intelligent, inquisitive mind with a penchant for history and politics. Except Roy does not come at anything from the standard direction. He is not quirky; he is different. He is perceptive and applies his intelligence and unique perspective to everything he touches.

Roy is a poet who carves words into multi-layered epics full of insight and social observation in a way nobody else has ever done. His long songs are so full of vitriol, bile and barbs that some people find him hard to take. Roy is never easy listening. His love songs are achingly beautiful. His music is complex and incorporates jazz chords and changes. His voice can range from fierce to hauntingly beautiful. His musicianship is brilliant. When Roy is speaking there is usually something worth listening to. Everything about Roy engages the brain as well as the ears and heart. I enjoy listening to him talk and rant as much as play, although, sadly, many people don’t.

As far as I am concerned Roy is the full package. He has everything and is the greatest songwriter/singer to have come out of Britain. No one else comes close.

I have seen Roy play hundreds of times and never get bored. He should have been enormous but, like many other artists, always sabotaged his own career whenever he started heading for the big time.

It is a shame he can be such a cantankerous individual and piss people off!

Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band

They are undoubtedly the most original and extraordinary Rock Band there has ever been. The music is so unique and complex that you can never get bored with it and yet it is accessible and rocks. The lyrics are poems which are like nothing you have ever heard. The poems and music blend to create something that is indescribably brilliant.

The drumming and bass drive the band and provide a base for the guitars to weave in and out of each other. At first hearing it appears discordant but it isn’t; once your ears have acclimatised you find that it is intricate and fluid. It is like bird flight or a human running full pelt down a hill; always on the cusp of crashing into disorder and yet holding it together to create something exceptional. I even love the way the saxophone wails and shrieks. It is like nothing else.

The sensibilities are ecologically founded, social concern and some politics.

There is a general weirdness to it because both the lyrics and music are so extraordinary. Nobody has heard anything quite like it.

Then there is Don’s voice which is the most powerful weapon in Rock Music. It can roar.

The musicianship has been fantastic throughout the bands many incarnations (with the exception of the mid 1970’s Tragic Band) and they all exude the Beefheart magic. This is true right up to the present day – the incredible Magic Band are still producing the sound and doing justice to the music even though Captain Beefheart is no longer with us. I still marvel at talents like Zoot Horn Rollo, Rockette Morton, Denny ‘Feelers Rebo’ Walley, Winged Eel Fingerling, Gary Lucas, Drumbo and the latest extraordinary Eric Klerks.

I first saw them in Middle Earth in 1968. I was at the fantastic Rainbow show in 1973 and they have been a favourite of mine throughout. I caught the Magic Band twice last week and I’m still knocked out by their power, skill and the brilliance and originality of their songs and lyrics.