More of the ‘537 Essential Rock Albums’ book

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537 Essential Rock Albums – Pt. 1 The first 270: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9781502787408: Books

121. Jefferson Airplane – Crown of Creation

This was the fourth Jefferson Airplane album and a nicely textured one. There were nice dynamics with softer phases and more rocky parts in which Jorma’s guitar seared. There was even a short electronic track. It had the usual range of vocalists, harmonies and sound that we associate with the Airplane. It also worked the same philosophy. We had to build our own society. The rules of the other one were no good. This was the counter-culture. We could play in the sand if we wanted. We didn’t have to put on a suit, make loads of money or shoot people. There were alternatives. We could make new rules and do what we wanted.

The stand-out tracks for me were the David Crosby track ‘Triad’ left off the Byrds album ‘Notorious Byrd Brothers’ because of their bust up, ‘Lather’ which was very atmospheric, ‘If you feel like china breaking’, and ‘Crown of creation’, which was based on the words from the John Wyndham novel Chrysalids. ‘House at Pooneil corners’ was a great finale with its feedback, harmonies and lyrics.

I love the ‘Crown of Creation’ track best which was basically saying that we were the new mutants who were superior and destined to take over. The old society was destined to become fossils. The counter-culture was at war with society and we were going to win. Life is change. My only gripe at a biologist is that we aren’t created; we evolved.


122. Beatles – With the

After the revolution of the first album everyone was expectantly waiting to see if the Beatles could maintain the momentum. The answer was not long in coming. It was yes and no.

I remember the excitement of going down to pick up the album and the nervous energy. I was almost beside myself with horror when my Dansette broke and had to rush down to my friend Jeff down the road to play. He was only too delighted and we played it over and over, then he kept it for a week until my Dansette was repaired.

In many ways it was as good as the first. It certainly did not disappoint. There were the same mix of great R&B covers this time with half the numbers being quality originals.

The covers were all great – ‘Devil in her heart’, ‘Please Mr Postman’, ‘You really got a hold on me’, Chuck Berry’s ‘Roll over Beethoven’ and the brilliant Barrett Strong cover ‘Money (that’s what I want)’. They proved they could do the stuff different and every bit as good as the originals.

Then there were their own songs; good Poprock for the most part – ‘All my loving’, ‘It won’t be long’, ‘I wanna be your man’, ‘Hold me tight’ and the others. There was even a George Harrison song ‘Don’t bother me’.

There was also the obligatory classic song from the shows in ‘Til there was you’.

They had moved on in that they were writing more songs but somehow the album slightly lacked the spark and vibrancy of the first. Overall it kept them at the same level. They’d proved they weren’t a one album band.


123. Doors – Doors

The Doors debut album was a stormer and another of those 1967 wonder albums. It was definitely out there in the sixties counter-culture though it would be hard to classify it as Acid Rock or Psychedelic. It came in from the Blues side with a great cover of Willie Dixon’s Howlin’ Wolf classic blues ‘Backdoor man’. There were lots of musical elements, Jim Morrison’s great poetry, drug references and a lot of controversy. The album was censored because of the drug references and Jim’s version of ‘The End’.

‘The end’ was the focal point of the album and their live performances at the time. It was an epic song, coming in at just short of twelve minutes, which featured an oedipal vision of a son killing his father and fucking his mother. I can’t see why the record company had a problem with that? Anyway they edited out Jim’s use of the word ‘Fuck’ and also references to getting high.

‘Light my fire’, which, unbeknown to the Doors, was the song I first started to learn to play on the guitar and subsequently led to me giving up any pretension of being a guitarist, was released as a single, created more controversy with Ed Sullivan, became a big hit and also propelled the album to the top of the charts.

‘Break on through (To the other side)’ was basically the story of how the Doors got their name and the philosophy that Jim espoused. It came from Aldous Huxley and William Blake. Life as we know it is one limited dimension. It we pushed hard enough we could break through the barriers that held us back; there were doors to higher dimensions of existence and drugs and drink could get you there. Well no one could say Jim didn’t live his philosophy. He was prodigious in his consumption and towards the end was a bloated alcoholic who sadly died in the bath-tub in Paris at the age of twenty seven.

Strange how those two numbers crop up time after time – 1967 and 27.

It was another incredible debut though they were to go on and surpass it.


124. Captain Beefheart – Drop out boogie aka. Safe as Milk

Well, what do you know? – Another 1967 release. The debut from Captain Beefheart was very weird for 1967 but positively normal by comparison with his later work.

It featured none other than Ryland Cooder on guitar. Ry soon left saying that Don was completely impossible to work with.

It might not have been psychedelic but it was acid drenched desert blues/rock of the first order. Nobody had ever heard anything quite like it and it positively roared and rumbled.

I saw the band, who were John Peel’s favourites, when they came over for their first tour and they blew me away. I have never seen anything like them. The numbers charged along like a runaway train.

This was an amazing debut album with incredible tracks the like of no one had imagined before – ‘Electricity’, ‘Drop-out boogie’, ‘Abba Zabba’ ‘Yellow brick road’ and ‘Sure enough ‘n yes I do’. They were so far out they’d gone out the other end of the counter-culture.

That was quite something but shortly they were going to get a lot weirder and better and more complex and blow away all these early efforts with even greater works.

Without doubt they were, and still are, my favourite band. Even the present Magic Band under John French and without the good Captain is immaculate.

When they arrived at customs for a subsequent tour Rockette Morton arrived with a huge American toaster pulled out and splayed on his head like a helmet. They weren’t weird at all.

This album stonked!


125. Phil Ochs – I ain’t marching any more

Phil’s second album carried on it the same vein as the first. He was adept at taking a new headline of a social issue that had taken his interest and developing it into a song. This is what had prompted Bob Dylan into scathingly calling him more of a journalist that a song-writer.

These early songs did not have the poetry of Dylan or even his later more complicated songs which were a lot more poetic but they did have a lot of humour, bile and passion and they fired their heavy artillery at their mark. There was no mistaking what Phil stood for. It was right in your face. He was for equality and civil rights. That came straight at you through songs like ‘Here’s to the State of Mississippi’. He was for the unions and fairness for black and white with ‘Links on the chain’ and he was against the whole hideous threat of war in all its guises as with ‘Draft-dodger rag’, ‘I ain’t marching anymore’ and ‘The men behind the guns’.

Phil lacked the genius of Dylan and suffered by comparison but his songs were good and honest and his aim was true. His passion shone through. He knew what he believed in and he set about doing something about it.

Phil epitomised what became known as ‘the protest movement’. It wasn’t so much a protest about what was going on so much as a desire to create something a whole lot better. There was nothing negative about Phil’s songs. He was highlighting what needed addressing. His anger was focussed and he wanted something doing about it.

This is an album packed with socially motivated songs that is both stimulating and thought provoking. That is summed up by Phil’s song ‘Days of decision’. He was part of that movement towards building a new, fairer world.

We need our idealists and men of conscience. Where are the voices speaking out right now? Where are our Dylan’s and Och’s when you need them?


126. Buddy Holly – Buddy Holly story vol. 2

This was the second posthumous album to come out after Buddy’s terrible death. The first one was crammed with all the hits and this one had a few of those plus a lot of lesser known tracks including some that Buddy had not quite finished.

It was less Rock ‘n’ Roll than the first and represented more of the last chapter in Buddy’s life when he was separated from the Crickets and living in New York. A number of these songs are softer but they all have the Buddy Holly trademark melodies, vocals and genius.

There isn’t a bad Buddy Holly album. I chose this one because it was one I used to play a lot and it kind of closes the circle for me.

At the time of his death on that last silly tour Buddy was already talking with the Crickets about getting back together. He was writing great songs and the future looked great.


127. Chuck Berry – More Chuck Berry

More Chuck Berry was a compilation album of great singles. It featured a lot of the familiar tracks such as ‘School days’, ‘Sweet little sixteen’, ‘Sweet little Rock ‘n’ Roller’, ‘Carol’, ‘Little Queenie’, ‘Reelin’ and rockin’’, ‘Rock and Roll music’ and ‘Too much monkey business’ as well as equally as good lesser known material such as ‘Anthony boy’, ‘Jo Jo Gunne’, and ‘Beautiful Delilah’.

I played this real loud and it rocked the house.

This was one of those albums that got my Mum yelling for me to turn it down!

If you want an album of good solid Chuck then this is it!


128. Incredible String Band – Hangman’s beautiful daughter

This was the album where the talents of Robin Williamson and Mike Heron conspired to create a new sound with their array of ethnic instruments and a type of mystical psychedelic Folk.

The album is often seen as the quintessential hippie statement with its mysticism, magic and long rambly dream-like tracks.

Led Zeppelin were among the artists inspired by the Incredible’s efforts. Even if people did not subscribe to the spiritual nature of the songs they were transfixed by the musicianship, complex structures to the songs and the great sound that they produced.

They were extremely uplifting and inspiring to see live. No other band put out such a positive and warm vibe.

My favourite track is the twelve minute ‘A very cellular song’. As a biologist I know amoebas are very small but it was nice to say it. The section that went ‘May the long time sunshine upon you’ was very beautiful indeed and never failed to make you feel good. What more could you want from an album?

This is another groundbreaking album from the late sixties. This just missed the 1967 wonder-year though. It was released in 1968.


129. Bert Jansch – It don’t bother me

This was Bert’s second album and not quite so political as the first despite the sound of the title. There are a couple of socially inspired songs such as ‘Anti-apartheid’ and the title track.

This album continued to set the pace for the British Folk revival in the mid sixties. It exemplified the type of contemporary style that was pushing the old Folk of Ewan McColl into the shadows. This was a move to creating your own songs, to paint pictures that reflected life now and not the days gone by.

Bert, John Renbourn, Roy Harper, Jackson C Frank and others were setting the standard for a new type of music and this album was at the forefront of it. The guitar style was new and completely modern. There was a different sensibility.


130. Creedence Clearwater Revival – Bayou Country

Although these guys came from San Francisco they portrayed themselves as an authentic Cajun Rock band from the depths of the bayou. That was weird but John Fogerty and co. certainly made a success of it. They forged a really bright style that chugged.

The first time I heard them was at some underground club or other in London. In between bands there was a DJ playing tracks and he played a Creedence track and offered the album to anyone who could identify the band. Nobody did but the track sounded interesting.

This was a band who created a very distinctive sound all of their own.

I chose Bayou Country as the album because of the tracks ‘Born on the Bayou’, ‘Keep on Chooglin’ and ‘Proud Mary’. They are good tracks to be motorin’ to even if you never hunted on the Bayou with your dogs.

They had a string of great sounding hits and certainly did not fit the mould for the sixties sound. There was nothing psychedelic, progressive or Acid about Creedence. It was good driving Rock ‘n’ Roll.

This style was continued in ‘Green River’ with its classic ‘Bad moon rising’ and ‘Green river’.

You could have had either one of these albums in my essential 537 albums but not both.

Another slice of the 537 essential Rock Albums!!

Posted on by Opher

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’.