537 Essential Rock Albums – Pt. 1 The first 270: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9781502787408: Books
36. Clash – London Calling
This was the Clash at their very best. They were already pioneering heroes of Punk and revered as the intelligent political ones. They amalgamated reggae into the mix and were quick to realise that the revolutionary fire of reggae could be allied to the anger of Punk.
London Calling was a more mature album than those that had gone before. They were breaking out from the strictures of Punk and incorporating Hard Rock into the mix.
‘London Calling’ was a great track but so was ‘Spanish bombs’, ‘The Guns of Brixton’, ‘Lost in the Supermarket’ and ‘Rudie can’t fail’.
It was such a shame they split up. They were the best.
37. Michael Smith – Mi Cy-aan Believe it
It is a great injustice that this album is not available on CD. It is one of the best reggae albums ever made.
Michael was an outspoken, political Dub-poet from the early seventies. He was an inspiration for the likes of Linton Kwesi Johnson.
Legend has it that Michael was stoned to death by an angry mob after speaking out at a political rally. Jamaica was a scary place.
This album has the fabulous poem that is the title track but it also has amazing tracks like ‘Long time me no have no fun’ sand ‘Black and white’. It was brilliant reggae with great poetry and political sentiments.
38. Nick Harper – Light at the end of the kennel
Nick is Roy’s son but he is his own man. As a musician, songwriter and singer he is totally different.
Nick is probably the best acoustic guitarist I have ever seen. This was his first album and it is a beauty. It is sparse and cut back just the way I like it. It shows off Nick’s skill, the beauty of the songs and the great lyrics to perfection.
There is intelligence and humour built into these songs.
Nick is a remarkable performer and deserves to be much more greatly recognised than he is. His day will come and this album will be recognised for the genius that went into producing it.
Just listen to ‘A hundred things’ it sings itself. The message is so positive.
39. James Varda – Hunger
James was championed by Roy Harper and I was fortunate to catch this incredibly original singer/songwriter supporting Roy on one of his eighties tours.
Hunger was recorded for Andy Ware’s Awareness label and has not been heard by a lot of people. This is a great shame because it is a set of intelligent, thoughtful and distinctive songs delivered in an entirely original manner.
What a shame James decided to leave music at this stage. This album should have been huge. It is one that I go back to again and again. It deserved to be followed up straight away with something of a similar standard.
James’ later work is very good but doesn’t compare with the power of this.
40. Stranglers – Rattus norvegicus
I think the Stranglers were a Pub band who had been around a while when Punk hit. They were identified as Punk because of their aggressive vibe and raw sound. The singles ‘Go Buddy Go’ and ‘Peaches’ with its addictive riff, established them as front line favourites.
Rattus norvegicus has that sinister edge to it and darkness.
They were unusual for Punk with that upfront organ sound. They sounded as if the were down in the sewers. This first album set the tone as a dangerous group who liked to push the lyrics to the limit.
It was a great debut but the second one was just as good.
41. Bruce Springsteen – the River
Bruce emerged as the saviour of Rock ‘n’ Roll. It was in the doldrums in the 70s and Bruce had a real driving act that was high on energy and showmanship. I love all that but I prefer the quality of lyrics and song-writing that Bruce brought to bear. The River was a brilliant double album. There was a mixture of listenable fast rockers with some great slower ones but the three tracks that made it special for me were ‘Point Blank,’ ‘The River’ and the amazing ‘Independence Day’. They raised it up into another dimension for me. ‘Point Blank’ seemed to sum up to me that feeling that you reached when you realise that life is not going to work out quite the way you idealistically thought it was. The harsh reality intrudes and you get a sense that something is over. We all put our own interpretations and meanings to songs. This one seemed to conjure up that feeling I got when I was twenty two when I realised that my free-wheelin’ days were over. I was going to have to compromise. It felt like something died that day.
‘Independence Day’ was a song I used to play over and over because it summed up all those memories of those days feuding with my parents. They could not understand why I was intent on growing my hair and throwing away my future. They wanted me to have a good happy life. I wanted a good fulfilling life. To them that meant getting qualifications and a good job with enough money to get the things you wanted. To me it meant having fun, sex and friends. I wanted to experience life, do things, meet people, explore ideas and get out there and grabbing it by the balls. I wanted it all. I knew I’d never be happy washing the car, mowing the grass and waving at the neighbours. I was much happier madly rapping with my friends about the universe, music, Kerouac, and the madness of society, war and the machine of society. I wanted my freedom. They despaired. That song hit some of those feelings for me. I loved the word-play.
‘The River’ was also very evocative. It had that same ethereal evocative quality that seemed to sum up that same story. You had your hopes and dreams and they were shattered on the altar of the real world – the society we lived in with all its claustrophobic expectations.
42. Buddy Holly – Buddy Holly Story
What a disaster. Buddy was one of those rare geniuses who had it all. He could play guitar, sing and write incredible songs. He had an ear for a melody. Then a couple of short years and he was gone. It was tragic. We were robbed of decades of brilliance.
The three great losses that give me the greatest heartache are Buddy, Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon. There are others, like Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin, Brian Jones, Otis Redding, Kurt Cobain and Jackson C Frank, but I always go back to those three. Jimi was at his creative best and I would have given everything to hear what he would have come up with. John’s death robbed us of any chance of the Beatles getting back together.
All those early Rock ‘n’ Rollers were great but they all seemed to get stuck in a rut that they could not get out of. Their song-writing was all on that one level. Buddy was different. I think he would have fed off the expansion of Rock in the 1960s and done something more adventurous. I would love to have heard him interacting with the Beatles. So sad.
Buddy was the first Rock Star that I got listening to. When I was just ten years old my older friend Clive would play me his Buddy Holly and Adam Faith singles on his old Dansette record player. I was hooked. ‘Peggy Sue’ with that drum-beat was my favourite. I loved all his stuff but this was the first album of Buddy’s that I bought and that young eleven year old me played it to death. I still have it.
Buddy Holly lives!
43. Otis Redding – Otis Blue
Otis was another one-off! An irreplaceable loss!
Soul music for me was that Atlantic Stax label sound that was created by Steve Cropper, Duck Dunn, Booker T and the rest of the MGs – the Memphis Group. That sound summed up Soul for me with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Joe Tex, Sam & Dave, Wilson Pickett and Otis. Tamla was too smooth for my tastes and while I liked some of it I preferred it raw and wild. I cannot get my head round some of this modern insipid stuff that goes under the name Soul. For me Soul has that power and intensity that comes straight out of those Gospel roots. It has a seminal raucous energy. If it doesn’t have that it’s not Soul in my book. Otis had so much of it that it roared out of him in every bead of sweat.
During the sixties Soul was not quite part of the Underground scene. That was more about Blues, Progressive, Psychedelia, Folk and Acid Rock. The Underground was into album music with stuff that had a political edge. Soul was more into singles and the charts.
I used to go with Liz to the Soul clubs to dance. That was where it was at. Otis and that Stax sound created a sound that was so full of power and energy that it got your heart and feet pounding.
Otis was brilliant. His voice, energy and performances knocked you into next week. He was also winning over the Underground with his performances. His Monterey act was a tour de force.
Then he was gone.
44. Who – Who’s next
I first heard the Who on ‘Ready Steady Go’ that early sixties Rock TV programme. There wasn’t really much in the way of Rock Music on TV and Radio. The BBC did not value it. It did not fit in with their ethos. We only had a few programmes after the demise of Jack Goode’s 1950s Rock adventures with ‘Oh Boy’ and ‘6 5 Special’; we had ‘Ready Steady Go’, ‘Thank Your Lucky Stars’ and ‘Juke box jury’. It wasn’t much but we looked forward to it.
‘Ready Steady Go’ was the best. I suppose it was our equivalent of Ed Sullivan except ours was hosted by the exuberant Mod Kathy McGowan and not some old geezer in a suit. It was live, energetic and featured a lot of those early Beat and R&B acts. A lot of bands broke into the scene through those shows.
The Who sounded hard and different with their chunky riffs on ‘I can’t explain’. They caused my ears to prick up and they looked good and different to my fourteen year old self. I loved the power and disdain they brought to proceedings.
The Who featured the best drummer of all time in Keith Moon who was amazing to see live with his pouting mouth and mad flailing hands. Nobody else has really succeeded in making the drums a centre of focus in the act. Keith was a showman par excellence in a band with two other extrovert exhibitionists.
‘Who’s next’ was the best Who album for me. It came out in the heady days of 1971 when the sixties scene had not yet died. We were still buzzing with possibility. We were hopeful of permanent change to society and the music was still vibrant and assertive. ‘Won’t get fooled again’ seemed to sum it up. There was just a hint that things might just be about to fall apart. Within a year the hippie dream was dead and buried. This album is a roaring torrent of the Who in full force at the height of their powers. It seemed far stronger than their more popular Tommy and Quadrophenia. This was raw Who!
45. Traffic – Traffic
Stevie Winwood was the young kid with the powerful Blues voice in the Spencer Davis Group. I think in the latter part of the 1960s he was getting a little jaded with the limitations of Spencer Davis and wanted to get into the Underground Progressive scene and do something different. Traffic were certainly different. By teaming up with Dave Mason, Jim Capaldi and Chris Wood Steve turned his talents into producing a more psychedelic experimental sound that was completely different with flute and a range of instruments.
They still did the singles but the strength was in the albums and the live performance. Their sound was really trippy and when played live in full extended jams would groove along into a mesmerising liberating extravaganza.
The first album had the great track Dear Mr Fantasy but I always felt that ‘Feelin’ Alright’ was their best song. Live it was a really hypnotic song spread out over twenty minutes. I don’t think they ever quite captured that magic on the album but none the less the second album ‘Traffic’ had a great range of incredible songs and was one of my favourites. When I was at college I played it over and over. I think it has the edge over ‘Mr Fantasy’.