In no particular order, and certainly subject to change…
Songs:
Visions of Johanna - Bob Dylan
Spike Drivers’ Blues - Mississippi John Hurt (or a multitude of covers that are almost as good)
Cowboy Junkies’ Lament - Townes van Zandt
Sympathy for the Devil - Rolling Stones
Southern Cross - Crosby Stills & Nash
Veronica - Elvis Costello
Waiting Room - Fugazi
Return of the Grievous Angel - Gram Parsons
The Road to Ensenada - Lyle Lovett
1952 Vincent Black Lightning - Richard Thompson
Groups or solo artists
Doc Watson
Bob Dylan
Grateful Dead
Richard Thompson
Allman Brothers
Gram Parsons/Flying Burrito Brothers
Steve Earle
Townes van Zandt
Bruce Springsteen
The Pogues
Albums
Blood on the Tracks - Bob Dylan
Graceland - Paul Simon
London Calling - The Clash
Live as I’ll Ever Be - Chris Smither
Rain Dogs - Tom Waits
Arkansas Traveler - Michelle Shocked
If I Should Fall From Grace With God - The Pogues
El Corazon - Steve Earle
Trouble No More - John Mellencamp
Red on Blonde - Tim O’Brien
Songs:
The Beatles - Come Together
ZZ Top - Cheap Sunglasses
Frank Zappa - Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow
Max Webster and Rush - Battlescar
Sugarloaf - Green Eyed Lady
Styx - Medley: Put Me On / Mademoiselle
The Beach Boys - Surf’s Up, tied with Heroes And Villains
Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) (live Stockholm 1-09-69)
Muddy Waters - Got My Mojo Working
Led Zeppelin - Nobody’s Fault But Mine
Artists:
The Beatles
The Kinks
The Guess Who
The Beach Boys
Jimi Hendrix
Led Zeppelin
Muddy Waters
ZZ Top
Frank Zappa
Dave Edmunds
Perfect Albums:
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Paul McCartney - Flowers In The Dirt
Max Webster - High Class In Borrowed Shoes
The Guess Who - So Long Bannatyne
Tom Waits - Nighthawks At The Diner
Dave Edmunds - Rockpile
Deaf School - Second Honeymoon
REM - Fables Of The Reconstruction
Brian Wilson - Smile
King Crimson - Discipline
ask me tomorrow and most of them will be different…
I’ll have to come back for the other two topics, but since I’ve been doing Top Ten Songs in my head recently, here’s that. If you think of “I Wish I Knew” as a Nina Simone song, this would pretty much be my Top Ten artists anyway. When I do these lists, I always limit myself to one song per artist to make it more interesting.
I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free (Billy Taylor/Dick Dallas)
Superstition (Stevie Wonder)
Moanin’ at Midnight (Howlin’ Wolf)
Catfish Blues (Muddy Waters)
Clair de Lune (Debussy)
Redemption Song (Bob Marley)
The Bends (Radiohead)
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan)
Hard Times (No One Knows Better Than I) (Ray Charles)
This Sky (Derek Trucks Band)
Groups:
Led Zeppelin
Bad Company
Aerosmith
AC/DC
Queen
Pink Floyd
Deep Purple
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Queensryche
Alice In Chains
Albums:
Physical Graffiti, Led Zeppelin
Comes Alive, Peter Frampton
Wish You Were Here, Pink Floyd
Back In Black, AC/DC
One More From The Road, Lynyrd Skynyrd
Nevermind, Nirvana
Breakfast In America, Supertramp
Van Halen, Van Halen
Made In Japan, Deep Purple
Live At Budokan, Cheap Trick
Songs:
Do You Feel Like We Do, Peter Frampton
Smoke On The Water, Deep Purple
Green Grass and High Tides, The Outlaws
Stairway To Heaven, Led Zeppelin
Money, Pink Floyd
Soul Stripper, AC/DC
Radar Love, Golden Earring
Freebird, Lynyrd Skynyrd
I Don’t Believe In Love, Queensryche
You Could Be Mine, Guns & Roses
Groups (which I choose to interpret as excluding solo artists, to make things easier)
The Beach Boys
The Beatles
Daniel Amos
The Kinks
Lost Dogs
Madness
The Moody Blues
Something Fierce
They Might Be Giants
Trip Shakespeare
Albums (limited to no more than one per group)
Adam Again: Dig
The Beatles: Abbey Road
David Bowie: The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars
Daniel Amos: Motor Cycle
The Kinks: The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society
Madness: Keep Moving
Sam Phillips: Martinis and Bikinis
The Swirling Eddies: Outdoor Elvis
Trip Shakespeare: Lulu
Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life
Songs - I wouldn’t know where to begin. And these two lists could be radically different if I gave myself 10 more minutes to think them over…
groups/artists: (I’m assuming solo acts are OK…)
King Crimson
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention
Mike Keneally and Beer For Dolphins
Genesis (pre-1977)
Adrian Belew
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones (back on tour next month!!!)
Jean-Luc Ponty
The Beatles
Jethro Tull
Chick Corea and Return to Forever
albums: The Universe Will Provide, Mike Keneally and the Metropole Orkest Absent Lovers, King Crimson Ommadawn, Mike Oldfield Starless and Bible Black, King Crimson One Size Fits All, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention Roxy and Elsewhere, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention The Beatles (White Album), The Beatles Brain Salad Surgery, Emerson, Lake & Palmer Time Out, Dave Brubeck Quartet Dancing, Mike Keneally and Beer for Dolphins songs: Fracture, King Crimson Starless, King Crimson Echidna’s Arf/Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing, Frank Zappa / Mothers Ommadawn Part 1, Mike Oldfield Supper’s Ready, Genesis Sartori in Tangier. King Crimson The Return of the Giant Hogweed, Genesis Aquatarkus (live version), Emerson, Lake & Palmer Waka/Jawaka, Frank Zappa / Mothers Four Slices of Toast, Mike Keneally and the Metropole Orkest
Albums In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel Surfer Rosa - The Pixies Oddesey & Oracle - The Zombies Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco Kill the Moonlight - Spoon Daydream Nation - Sonic Youth Illinois - Sufjan Stevens Freewheelin’ - Bob Dylan London Calling - The Clash Village Green Preservation Society* - The Kinks
Artists Spoon
The Beatles
Bob Dylan
The Kinks
The Zombies
The White Stripes
Sufjan Stevens
Radiohead
Mission of Burma
The Clash
Songs are too hard to figure out. My favorites at the moment are The Sporting Life by The Decemberists and about half of Wold Parade’s album Apologies to the Queen Mary.
*This album was one of many by the Kinks that were recommended to me in a thread on the Dope. I am aboslutely in love with Village Green Preservation Society, and they have other amazing albums as well, so thanks to you all.
I don’t have time to do this right. Just assume that my list would be similar to the other Zeppelin / Allman Brothers / Pink Floyd lists but heavier on the Santana (especially Lotus).
Some names off the top of my head that would have to be considered:
Return To Forever (Romantic Warrior or Where Have I Known You Before)
moe. (no doy)
Jeff Beck (Blow By Blow)
Ted Nugent (Ted Nugent) and Lou Reed (Rock And Roll Animal) even though I don’t really like much else by either of them.
Screaming Cheetah Wheelies (Magnolia)
Gov’t Mule
Derek Trucks Band (just bought Songlines today and it already has to be considered)
Widespread Panic (Bombs And Butterflies or Space Wrangler)
Tommy Bolin (Teaser)
See, no way I can do this justice when I should be doing something else, anyway.
And I’ll think of ten more as soon as I post. Enough.)
It’s hard to chose - but (in no particular order):
SONGS
1 No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature
2 Undun
3 Ballroom Blitz
4 Big Man On Mulberry Street
5 Theme from Casino Royale
6 Rhythm Of Life (from Sweet Charity)
7 Birdland
8 Grapefruit Diet
9 Highway 61 Revisited
10 Happy Feet ARTISTS
1 The Beatles
2 Santana
3 Manhattan Transfer
4 Moody Blues
5 The Guess Who
6 The Monkees
7 Bette Midler
8 Billy Joel
9 Glenn Miller
10 Uncle Bonsai ALBUMS
1 Abbey Road
2 Time And Tide
3 Company
4 There Goes Rhymin’ Simon
5 Stranger
6 Flood
7 Apology
8 Dare To Be Stupid
9 Brasil
10 The Mason Williams Phonograph Record
ARTISTS
Bob Marley
Nina Simone
Derek Trucks Band
Howlin’ Wolf
Radiohead
Stevie Wonder
Tori Amos
The Beastie Boys
Jimi Hendrix
Carlos Santana
ALBUMS
Allman Brothers Band - At Fillmore East
Howlin’ Wolf- His Best
Stevie Wonder - Talking Book
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Radiohead - OK Computer
R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
Bob Marley and the Wailers - Live at the Roxy
Los Lobos - Colossal Head
Derek Trucks Band - At Georgia Theatre [my copy of Songlines came in the mail today, and I thought the same thing DfrntBreign did - I’m sure if we did this thread in a month or two, it’d make my Top Ten. I’ve already got a song from the album on my list.]
Santana - Santana
Like everyone else’s, this list would change with each typing.
Albums
1 Songs for Swingin Lovers- Sinatra
2 Pet Sounds- Beach Boys
3 Crooked Rain Crooked Rain- Pavement
4 Surfer Rosa/ Come On Pilgrim- Pixies
5 Exile On Main Street- Rolling Stones
6 Exile in Guyville- Liz Phair
7 New York- Lou Reed
8 London Calling- The Clash
9 Paul’s Boutique- Beastie Boys
10 My Aim is True- Elvis Costello
Songs
1 Sing Sing Sing- Benny Goodman
2 Summer Babe- Pavement
3 Been Caught Stealin’- Jane’s Addiction
4 Shake Rattle and Roll- Bill Haley and his Comets
5 If You Want Blood- AC/DC
6 Peggy Sue- Buddy Holly
7 You Make Me Feel So Young- Frank Sinatra
8 Head On- Pixies (cover of Jesus and Mary Chain)
9 Heart Shaped Box- Nirvana
10 Billie Jean- Micheal Jackson
Artists
1 Pavement
2 Pixies
3 Beastie Boys
4 Frank Sinatra
5 Elvis Costello
6 Johnny Cash
7 Beach Boys
8 Pogues
9 Tragically Hip
10 Elvis
The following lists were put together off the top of my head in about fifteen minutes while watching Law & Order. They will change as soon as I turn on the radio and think “ARGH! How could I hve forgotten **that **one?!?”
Groups:
Pink Floyd
Led Zeppelin
The Grateful Dead
Bob Marley
Rush
Bruce Springsteen
Tom Petty
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Paul Simon (with or without Art Garfunkel)
The Beatles
Albums:
Dark Side if the Moon - Pink Floyd
Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
War - U2
Back in Black - AC/DC
Paranoid - Black Sabbath
Revolver - The Beatles
American Beauty - The Grateful Dead
Pyromania - Def Leppard
Who’s Next - The Who
Rumours - Fleetwood Mac
Songs:
Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
Fearless - Pink Floyd
Landslide - Fleetwood Mac
Back in the Saddle - Aerosmith
No Woman No Cry - Bob Marley
Ripple - The Grateful Dead
Bell Bottom Blues - Derek and the Dominoes
Thunder Road - Brice Springsteen
Subterranean Homesick Blues - Bob Dylan
War Pigs - Black Sabbath