50. Bob Dylan – Bringing it all Back Home
Well, how can you not like an album that kicks off with “Subterranean Homesick Blues”? I first heard that aged…
49. The Sonics – Here are the Sonics!!!
One could argue that it was a bit irresponsible for the 1001 publishers to stick this one right after Jerry…
48. Jerry Lee Lewis – Live at the Star Club Hamburg
If ever there was an artist who unashamedly oozed rock and roll from its very beginnings, then Jerry Lee Lewis…
47. Buck Owens and his Buckaroos – I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail
The first time I listened to this, driving down to Southampton on a drizzly afternoon, it felt like an album…
46. The Rolling Stones – The Rolling Stones
One thing that’s struck me recently, listening to The Beatles’ “Please Please Me” is how much it DOESN’T sound unsure…
45. Dusty Springfield – A Girl called Dusty
Handy Tip: When you listen to this album, one great way to improve the experience even more is to get…
44. Solomon Burke – Rock n’ Soul
“Without soul, there’d be no rock and without rock, there’d be no soul.” – Solomon Burke Well I started this…
43. Jacques Brel – Olympia 64
So there we were driving to Ikea on Saturday morning, the lad in the back seat and a weekend ahead.…
42. The Beatles – A Hard Day’s Night
TWAAAAANNNNGGG!!!! There’s no mistaking the intro to this one. “A Hard Day’s Night” feels like a trumpet call – this…
41. Stan Getz/João Gilberto – Getz/Gilberto
When Stan Getz unleashed “Jazz Samba” with Charlie Byrd just a year before, he kicked off a revival of love…
40. James Brown – Live at the Apollo
One of the things that worried me when I started this 1001 albums adventure was that, eventually there were going…
39. Charles Mingus – The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
So how am I doing on this jazz stuff? Have I earned my stripes yet? By now there’s been a…
38. Sam Cooke – Live at the Harlem Square Club
Love this album. Sam Cooke, who was tragically (and suspiciously) shot in a hotel in 1964, never really got the…
37. Phil Spector and Friends – A Christmas Gift for You
Let’s face it – Christmas music is hardly the domain of musical genius… it’s a haunting and dark time where…
36. Bob Dylan – The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan
It’s interesting that, just like the last album I reviewed, this is not the debut of a legendary artist that…
35. The Beatles – With the Beatles
“IT WON’T BE LONG YEAH….” If ever an album burst into life, flying the flag for a revolution of music…
34. Ray Price – Night Life
Another hidden surprise here. Ray Price was a part of the country heritage that sprang up in 1940s Nashville. He…
33. Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd – Jazz Samba
The other night, I streamed this album over AirPlay as I was having a meal around a friend’s house, and it’s a telling testament to this bossa nova trailblazer that we were only about 30 seconds in before the conversation turned to “Mad Men”.
32. Booker T and the M.G.s – Green Onions
Seeing as it wasn’t long since Jimmy Smith liberated the Hammond organ from gospel church uncoolness, this fiery album,…
31. Ray Charles – Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music
It’s only when I look back now, in the context of the era, that I realise just quite how…
30. Bill Evans – Sunday at the Village Vanguard
Who knows? Maybe I’ll start liking jazz after all. I’m sure there’s got to be a good fifty or so…
29. Muddy Waters – Muddy Waters at Newport
You know how I said I’ve been listening ahead on these, so usually I’m about five albums ahead of what…
28. Jimmy Smith – Back at the Chicken Shack
There’s something nice about the sound of the Hammond organ. In these enlightened days when we can look back at…
27. The Everly Brothers – A Date with The Everly Brothers
Looking back, the years have not been kind to the Everly Brothers. They cranked more than a few hits in…