music friday, baker's dozen edition

A friend following a friend took part on Facebook in a meme where you listed 12 favorite albums, plus one for luck. I’m going to do it here, with a couple of caveats. First, like many folks, I’ve become much less of an “album” guy in the Streaming Music Era, so this will likely include a lot of old albums. Second, I’m going to take advantage of the wording … this will be 12+ favorites, not my 12+ favorites, which is a different thing. I’ll list them in alphabetical order, just so I don’t have to try to rank them.

Van Morrison, Astral Weeks. Alphabetical or not, this is probably my favorite album of all time. Lester Bangs’ essay on Astral Weeks is one of the great pieces of rock writing.

Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run. After all of these years writing this blog, I shouldn’t have to explain this one. Remember, in the end, nobody wins unless everybody wins.

Sleater-Kinney, Dig Me Out. The change was made uptown and Janet Weiss joined the band.

Prince, Dirty Mind. Damnit, Prince, you make it hard to find a proper video link.

B.B. King, Live at the Regal. He was a great singer, but listen to the guitar solo around the 3-minute mark … 30 seconds of ecstasy. Because this track comes in the midst of a medley, you can quit listening after the solo.

The Clash, London Calling. Great album, full of great songs, but I worked in a factory when it came out, and so “Clampdown” hit especially close to home.

Pink, M!ssundaztood. The video for “Don’t Let Me Get Me” takes a great song and, in the last minute, gives it extra depth. I want to be somebody else.

Blondie, Parallel Lines. It’s like a greatest hits album.

The Beastie Boys, Paul’s Boutique. Contains the single most aggravating/pleasurable sample in history, so of course, I can’t find it on YouTube. So I stuck a demo version on there.

John Lennon, Plastic Ono Band. Interesting that this is the closest the list comes to The Beatles.

Sly & the Family Stone, Stand! I must be feeling OK today, or I would have included There’s a Riot Goin’ On.

Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, and Linda Ronstadt, Trio. My kids were forced to listen to this album for much of their formative years.

The Velvet Underground and Nico. I don’t know just where I’m going.