Adendum to The Greatest Album

I forgot The Beach Boys! Oops. I admit I compiled my list in a hurry so forgetting some deserving artist was bound to happen. So add Brian Wilson and Co. to the list, I suppose with "Pet Sounds," though another Greatest Hits package would suffice. You wouldn't even want to contemplate a trip to a desert island without "Don't Worry Baby" to keep you company.

I forgot Sam Cooke too, though since I referenced him in the post previous to the Greatest Album post it's not so egregious. But he belongs on the list; no doubt about that. I'll address him in some future "greatest vocalists in rock and roll history" post because he had a voice for the ages. As for which Sam Cooke album should go on the list, "A Change Is Gonna Come" would fit in fine, but again, his most popular songs were his best songs so another Greatest Hits package would do. Perhaps his best music, though, was made during his pre-rock and roll days with The Soul Stirrers - better gospel music you will never hear. Their version of "Peace In The Valley" is simply sublime - often after listening to it the song will resonate in my head for days at a time. I'll leave his Soul Stirrers work off the list though because we're dealing with rock and roll here.

I didn't forget Jimi Hendrix, whose music I can do without. Certainly a giant talent, but also a supremely undisciplined one. I much prefer Duane Allman's or Eric Clapton's guitar work to Hendrix's.

Nor did I forget The Doors, whom I loathe. The only list they belong on is The Most Overrated Band in Rock and Roll History list - number one with a bullet.

Nor did I forget The Grateful Dead, whose music bores me silly. Or, to be more accurate, it used to bore me silly. It's been about thirty years since I've listened.

Anyone who reads my list probably will have objections, which is fine - these lists all become matters of personal taste at a certain point and the whole idea behind compiling one is to get the conversation rolling. If you prefer The Stones to The Beatles you'll probably be outraged that I didn't include more of The Stones; I acknowledged yesterday that I was light on them. Or you might say U2 belongs on the list, and you might be right. But rock and roll faded away and died for me about the time U2 was appearing on the scene so I am unfamiliar with most of their work. Probably I should have titled my list The Greatest Rock and Roll Albums Pre-1980. Taking a quick perusal of my list it appears the latest record on there is Elvis Costello's "This Year's Model", which was originally released in 1977. I was nineteen years old at the time. This was at the height of my rock and roll fanaticism - I lived and breathed rock and roll at the time, gathering a record collection of nearly one thousand albums, seeing on average about thirty shows a year from the time I was seventeen until I was in my mid-twenties, spending endless hours in every record shop in the vicinity, driving hours to attend record conventions in the hope I might discover some rare gem that had always eluded me. I still remember finding Dusty Springfield's "Dusty in Memphis" which had been out of print for years, at a convention somewhere in West Virginia - what a thrill!. Anyhow, that music was rock and roll to me. If I'm accused of not giving proper respect for post-1980 rock and roll, I plead guilty. Go make your own list.

I should also acknowledge that I focused on the all-timers, the artists and bands that were around for years and now hold honored places in the collective rock and roll memory we all share. However there are hundreds, if not thousands, of great songs by lesser artists, artists who were only around for a few years, some who had only one thing to say and were never heard from again. Some of that stuff belongs so I'll allow a couple of personal compilation records onto the list, stuffed with songs I adore - "Goin' Out of My Head" by Little Anthony and the Imperials, "Party Lights" by Claudine Clarke, "Maybe" by The Chantels, "Since I Don't Have You" by the Skyliners, "Get It On (Bang A Gong)" by T. Rex, "Invitation to the Blues" by Tom Waits, "Boulder to Birmingham" by Emmylou Harris - I could go on for days. These songs belong on my personal list of greatest rock and roll music so I'll put them on a compilation record of my own making. Like I said yesterday, in compiling my list I was thinking of the music you'd need if exiled to a desert island. And I would need these. Or, if you looked at it with the other great question, the Martian question. A Martian appears on earth and asks you "what is this thing rock and roll?" How would you explain it? Well, the records in yesterday's and today's posts are my explanation. That's rock and roll to me.