Essential Studio Albums

[Kevin Davis]

Bob Dylan

Everyone has to start somewhere, and this is surely quite a bit of a stretch on the whole essential thing, but I thought he would be one of the few artists where starting at the beginning would advance whatever disjointed arc we’re chasing here. The album isn’t bad by any means, the guitar work and harmonica is pretty damn good in spots, Baby Let Me Follow You Down is a real hint at the greatness shortly to follow. So there’s stuff here, though essential it’s probably not.

I used to really hate this album, not least because of the comically extreme stereo panning on the original CD issue (the 2005 remaster, which I am guessing is the one that exists on streaming services, is much more natural, though I ultimately like the mono box version best). Over time, though, I've come to appreciate the awkward little curio it is. Happy Trees is right that it's non-representative of what he was doing outside the recording studio at the time. But there's something uniquely endearing about the undisciplined, nervous energy of the studio record too. I especially like the version of "In My Time Of Dying" -- whatever old bluesman he's forcing an impression of, he turns in a damn fine vocal performance on that track, plus some great acoustic playing.

[VinylGuy]

Im actually looking forward to liebzz dive into early Dylan or classic Dylan because its time for me to listen to those again.

[liebzz]

The Beatles - Please Please Me

…and now for something completely different. Even if the superlatives don’t come as easy as the mind blowing jazz albums I just finished, the Beatles debut is quite important. I mean, really in popular music there was a time before the Beatles and then there’s the time after. From the opening blast of I Saw Her Standing There all the way through Lennon’s howls in the epic cover of Twist and Shout, this album brims with youthful energy. The songs, outside of all time classics like Love Me Do, Please Please Me, and I Saw Her Standing There, well they are not besides the point, but they underscore a band on pure adrenaline. Given that this was recorded in a day, that energy is well conceived. A Taste of Honey is a sleeper great on this one, but for me there’s no denying that cover of Twist and Shout.

The Essential Track: Twist and Shout

Up Next: Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan

[oasisfan35]

We have a couple more jazz albums before we stroll right into Beatlemania, so I was going to take this moment to see if folks wanted to make a few suggestions on classics I might have missed. There’s still plenty of jazz to go of course since the format didn’t stop with the Beatles arrival, and I got those recs in that thread, so we’re looking at early age of classic rock, and for that I will focus us on ‘63-‘66, where there’ll be focus on early Beatles, Stones, Dylan, etc. - here’s what I got so far, and let me know if I am missing anything in this era:

The Beatles - Please Please Me
Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan
The Beach Boys - Surfin’ USA
The Beach Boys - Little Deuce Coupe
The Beatles - With the Beatles
The Rolling Stones - England’s Newest Hitmakers
The Animals
The Beach Boys - Shut Down, Vol. 2
The Beach Boys - All Summer Long
The Rolling Stones - 12x5
The Beatles - A Hard Day’s Night
Bob Dylan - The Times They Are A-Changin’
Bob Dylan - Another Side of Bob Dylan
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles - Going to a Go-Go
Otis Redding - Otis Blue
Nina Simone - I Put A Spell On You
The Rolling Stones - No. 2
The Rolling Stones - Now
The Beatles - Help!
The Who - My Generation
The Rolling Stones - Out of Our Heads
Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home
The Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man
Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
The Beatles - Rubber Soul
The Who - A Quick One
Grateful Dead
Buffalo Springfield
Simon & Garfunkel - The Sounds of Silence
Nina Simone - Wild Is the Wind
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers - The Bluesbreakers
Cream - Fresh Cream
Otis Redding - The Dictionary of Soul
The Rolling Stones - Aftermath
Bob Dylan - Blonde On Blonde
The Beatles - Revolver
The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

(Note that there’s the next progression in albums and sound after Revolver and Pet Sounds I will account for, but this period from the arrival of the Beatles to likely the proper beginning of the prime of the album era is the first focus - I did not include in this list a bunch of jazz and blues albums that will be included but they will be there).

I personally would choose Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme over Sounds of Silence... I have zero idea how you are going to make it through '67 to '69.

[liebzz]

Added. I think we have like 5+ years of me doing this. I’ll be okay but will ask for suggestions when I get close. There’s a lot of albums to get through.

[Birds in Hell]

Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady

From a purely creative standpoint, this is the most mind blowing album I have ever heard. It is intense, jarring, stunning, maybe even playful in parts despite a tortured mind clearly directing this effort. The performances fit the mood perfectly. This is Mingus’s creativity with the dial turned all the way the hell up. If we’re gonna shift from here to greater emphasis on rock music, what a way to cap things off at the present moment. Granted, there are more jazz records to come, but this one captured every bit of my imagination and then exceeded anything I could have conjured for expectations. This was, in a word, insane.

The Essential Track: every goddamn second of this

[liebzz]

Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady

From a purely creative standpoint, this is the most mind blowing album I have ever heard. It is intense, jarring, stunning, maybe even playful in parts despite a tortured mind clearly directing this effort. The performances fit the mood perfectly. This is Mingus’s creativity with the dial turned all the way the hell up. If we’re gonna shift from here to greater emphasis on rock music, what a way to cap things off at the present moment. Granted, there are more jazz records to come, but this one captured every bit of my imagination and then exceeded anything I could have conjured for expectations. This was, in a word, insane.

The Essential Track: every goddamn second of this

Yeah good god I loved this album.

[LooseGroove927]

We have a couple more jazz albums before we stroll right into Beatlemania, so I was going to take this moment to see if folks wanted to make a few suggestions on classics I might have missed. There’s still plenty of jazz to go of course since the format didn’t stop with the Beatles arrival, and I got those recs in that thread, so we’re looking at early age of classic rock, and for that I will focus us on ‘63-‘66, where there’ll be focus on early Beatles, Stones, Dylan, etc. - here’s what I got so far, and let me know if I am missing anything in this era:

The Beatles - Please Please Me
Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan
The Beach Boys - Surfin’ USA
The Beach Boys - Little Deuce Coupe
The Beatles - With the Beatles
The Rolling Stones - England’s Newest Hitmakers
The Animals
The Beach Boys - Shut Down, Vol. 2
The Beach Boys - All Summer Long
The Rolling Stones - 12x5
The Beatles - A Hard Day’s Night
Bob Dylan - The Times They Are A-Changin’
Bob Dylan - Another Side of Bob Dylan
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles - Going to a Go-Go
Otis Redding - Otis Blue
Nina Simone - I Put A Spell On You
The Rolling Stones - No. 2
The Rolling Stones - Now
The Beatles - Help!
The Who - My Generation
The Rolling Stones - Out of Our Heads
Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home
The Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man
Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
The Beatles - Rubber Soul
The Who - A Quick One
Grateful Dead
Buffalo Springfield
Simon & Garfunkel - The Sounds of Silence
Nina Simone - Wild Is the Wind
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers - The Bluesbreakers
Cream - Fresh Cream
Otis Redding - The Dictionary of Soul
The Rolling Stones - Aftermath
Bob Dylan - Blonde On Blonde
The Beatles - Revolver
The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

(Note that there’s the next progression in albums and sound after Revolver and Pet Sounds I will account for, but this period from the arrival of the Beatles to likely the proper beginning of the prime of the album era is the first focus - I did not include in this list a bunch of jazz and blues albums that will be included but they will be there).

I'd definitely reccomend The Mannfred Mann Album from 1964 and The Angry Young Them from 1965.

Thanks for chronicling this journey. It's just as enjoyable as the Live albums and I'm having fun re-discovering classic albums and finding some new stuff I missed.

[liebzz]

We have a couple more jazz albums before we stroll right into Beatlemania, so I was going to take this moment to see if folks wanted to make a few suggestions on classics I might have missed. There’s still plenty of jazz to go of course since the format didn’t stop with the Beatles arrival, and I got those recs in that thread, so we’re looking at early age of classic rock, and for that I will focus us on ‘63-‘66, where there’ll be focus on early Beatles, Stones, Dylan, etc. - here’s what I got so far, and let me know if I am missing anything in this era:

The Beatles - Please Please Me
Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan
The Beach Boys - Surfin’ USA
The Beach Boys - Little Deuce Coupe
The Beatles - With the Beatles
The Rolling Stones - England’s Newest Hitmakers
The Animals
The Beach Boys - Shut Down, Vol. 2
The Beach Boys - All Summer Long
The Rolling Stones - 12x5
The Beatles - A Hard Day’s Night
Bob Dylan - The Times They Are A-Changin’
Bob Dylan - Another Side of Bob Dylan
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles - Going to a Go-Go
Otis Redding - Otis Blue
Nina Simone - I Put A Spell On You
The Rolling Stones - No. 2
The Rolling Stones - Now
The Beatles - Help!
The Who - My Generation
The Rolling Stones - Out of Our Heads
Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home
The Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man
Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
The Beatles - Rubber Soul
The Who - A Quick One
Grateful Dead
Buffalo Springfield
Simon & Garfunkel - The Sounds of Silence
Nina Simone - Wild Is the Wind
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers - The Bluesbreakers
Cream - Fresh Cream
Otis Redding - The Dictionary of Soul
The Rolling Stones - Aftermath
Bob Dylan - Blonde On Blonde
The Beatles - Revolver
The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

(Note that there’s the next progression in albums and sound after Revolver and Pet Sounds I will account for, but this period from the arrival of the Beatles to likely the proper beginning of the prime of the album era is the first focus - I did not include in this list a bunch of jazz and blues albums that will be included but they will be there).

I'd definitely reccomend The Mannfred Mann Album from 1964 and The Angry Young Them from 1965.

Thanks for chronicling this journey. It's just as enjoyable as the Live albums and I'm having fun re-discovering classic albums and finding some new stuff I missed.

That’s the idea on both ends. Will add to the list those recommendations.

[liebzz]

Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan

On this one, there’s no question that is one is an essential album. I’d venture to say never before had a recording artist been so fully engaging with a voice, guitar, and harmonica, and I can’t really think of one since (I am pretty it’s not just my mind going blank). We can chat for days about his singing voice, but I would just note that the trade off of a traditionally pretty singing voice for his delivery brings a sense of authenticity, and underscores the political and societal messages he brings throughout the album. And the songs are frankly just incredible. The trio of opening tracks, Blowin’ in the Wind, Girl From the North Country, and Masters of War could be career highlights from any other artist. The one-two punch of two if my favorites here in A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall, and Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright is so great, maybe unrivaled on a rock or folk album to this point. Corina Corrina is great. I mean, this is nearly flawless, where you can draw from repeated listens the lessens of the lesser known tracks while never tiring of the foundational songs that are so important in the scheme of folk and rock music’s histories.

The Essential Track: Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright (I could have named a good number of songs here)

Up Next: The Beach Boys - Surfin’ USA

[liebzz]

The Beach Boys - Surfin’ USA

Certainly bouncing around here, this one is fascinating because there’s the obvious hit song that the title track, Finder’s Keepers is also quite good, but then I think I like the instrumental tracks best after that. Misirlou, Stoked, and Honky Tonk are pretty damn good. As an aside, Let’s Go Trippin’ is a sleeper one on this fun and quick album.

The Essential Track: Surfin’ USA

Up Next: The Beach Boys - Little Deuce Coupe

[liebzz]

The Beach Boys - Little Deuce Coupe

A concept album about cars. I took this one on precisely because of its early example of a concept, or at least single theme, across an album. There’s a few songs here that do stick out, but largely these are all pretty similar and decent enough. The title track, Cherry Cherry Coupe, and Shut Down stuck out as highlights. This one lacks the fun punch of Surfin’ USA’s instrumentals, so I would place it slightly below that one.

The Essential Track: Little Deuce Coupe

Up Next: The Beatles - With the Beatles

[liebzz]

The Beatles - With the Beatles

Released the same year as Please Please Me, this one feels much more cooked than the harried energy of the former. Where that energy serves the Beatles well on Please Please Me, the full realization of their early sound seems to come from here, with a mix of covers and originals that are mostly all fantastic. My sense of this is that it is very front loaded, with It Won’t Be Long, All I’ve Got to Do, All My Loving, and Don’t Bother Me as the strongest run. Please Mister Postman is a spirited cover, as is You Really Got a Hold on Me and Money, but I Wanna Be Your Man is the song of the second half of this and probably the whole album.

The Essential Track: I Wanna Be Your Man

Up Next - The Rolling Stones - England’s Newest Hit Makers

[McParadigm]

We have a couple more jazz albums before we stroll right into Beatlemania, so I was going to take this moment to see if folks wanted to make a few suggestions on classics I might have missed.

I would have Sam Cooke’s Night Beat and Ain’t That Good News on this list.

[liebzz]

We have a couple more jazz albums before we stroll right into Beatlemania, so I was going to take this moment to see if folks wanted to make a few suggestions on classics I might have missed.

I would have Sam Cooke’s Night Beat and Ain’t That Good News on this list.

Added

[liebzz]

The Rolling Stones - England’s Newest Hitmakers

Given the Stones proximity geographically and their emergence around the same time as Beatlemania is in overdrive, the comparisons are inevitable even if somewhat not fair to either band, who take American blues and pop and transform those song through their own sensibilities. The Stones, even as early as here, have a bit of an edge to them, a rawer and more sleazy approach, whether that’s in Jagger’s delivery or the way the guitars have some sort of sharper edge to them. Whatever it is, it’s always drawn me a little closer to them, and while this is all covers, the Stones personality is still peeking through. On this listen, the three songs that jump out are Not Fade Away (of course), Carol, and I Just Want to Make Love to You (which seems to underscore their juxtaposition with the Beatles in some way).

The Essential Track: Not Fade Away

Up Next: The Animals

[liebzz]

The Animals

It wasn’t all Beatles and Stones in the initial British Invasion, though it seems that’s how history was written on this. Not that the Animals were anywhere on that level of fame, but their version of House of the Rising Sun here is the definitive one I heard growing up. Other than that, and a few hits on future albums, that’s really all I knew of them, but there’s a deeper connection to the work they were doing on the blues standards here than what the Stones started out doing, just sort of digging a bit deeper at least on their debut. The Stones would soon master the line between blues and rock & roll, but this is a pretty damn good exploration of that early sound.

The Essential Track: House of the Rising Sun

Up Next: Sam Cooke - Twistin’ the Night Away

[liebzz]

Sam Cooke - Twistin’ the Night Away

I decided to take the recommendation and expand it to this album as well in a 3 part run of albums. Same Cooke’s live album was covered in the Essential Live Albums thread, and is fantastic. This is pretty much an album about doing the twist and other love songs, and overall it is pretty good. Sam Cooke’s voice is in great form, and there’s almost an innocence to this album that is in that 50s/early 60s rock & roll that is endearing. Looking forward to the actual recommendations on this artist.

The Essential Track: Twistin’ the Night Away

Up Next: Sam Cooke - Night Beat

[Buby]

The Beatles - With the Beatles

Released the same year as Please Please Me, this one feels much more cooked than the harried energy of the former. Where that energy serves the Beatles well on Please Please Me, the full realization of their early sound seems to come from here, with a mix of covers and originals that are mostly all fantastic. My sense of this is that it is very front loaded, with It Won’t Be Long, All I’ve Got to Do, All My Loving, and Don’t Bother Me as the strongest run. Please Mister Postman is a spirited cover, as is You Really Got a Hold on Me and Money, but I Wanna Be Your Man is the song of the second half of this and probably the whole album.

The Essential Track: I Wanna Be Your Man

Up Next - The Rolling Stones - England’s Newest Hit Makers

Beatles For Sale is a better studio album though.

[liebzz]

I will listen and try Beatles For Sale again, but I always had a different take on that album.