Nomads Indians Saints, Indigo Girls

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1990. Thirty years down, thirty to go!

Nomads Indians Saints, Indigo Girls, 1990, :47

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

This band is another college discovery.  I absolutely love three or four of their songs, and the rest of their ouevre is basic folk-rock stuff, but when Ray and Saliers harmonize or trade off lines with their contrasting voices, they rise above the pack.  This album doesn't have an exceptional standout, but it's what you might expect from the Indigo Girls.  Actually, "Keeper Of My Heart" sounds so much like their debut's "Blood and Fire" they ought to sue themselves.  Favorite tracks: "Hammer And a Nail," "World Falls," "1 2 3."

Don't Tell a Soul, the Replacements

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1989.

Don't Tell a Soul, the Replacements, 1989, :38

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ 

1989! This was the year Madonna, 2 Live Crew, Sinead O'Connor, and Judas Priest all got into well-publicized legal troubles over artistic expression. Distracting people from wealth inequality is fun. Meanwhile, the 'Mats released this album, to very little legal trouble. It features the typical witty wordplay and sense of fun, but it's comparatively musically restrained.  I don't know how much of a cohesive unit the Replacements were at this point, but to me this album evokes Westerberg's solo album 14 Songs. I read that Westerberg wasn't very happy with the "radio-ready" mix. It's true it isn't as ragged as some of the more Replacements well-known stuff, but it's hardly glossy. In the end it's a decent album, but all I keep thinking is, this isn't as good as Tim.  Favorite tracks: "Asking Me Lies," "I'll Be You."

Surfer Rosa, Pixies

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1988.

Surfer Rosa, Pixies, 1988, :34

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

The debut of the original quietLOUDquiet band.  Produced by Steve Albini, who no doubt helped with the visceral, raw sound that propelled it to the top of so many college radio lists.  "Something Against You" seems like Nirvana came back in time to record (and name) it.  Otherwise its inchoate but recognizable Pixies: pained yelps, inscrutable lyrics, buzzy guitar.  This album was a nail in the coffin of 1980s era synth-pop, or at least I like to think so.  Favorite tracks: "Gigantic" (the only song co-written with Kim Deal, sadly, because it's a real standout), the stuttering weirdness of "Tony's Theme," "Bone Machine."

Echo & the Bunnymen, Echo & the Bunnymen

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1987. 

Echo & the Bunnymen, Echo & the Bunnymen, 1987, :46

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Echo's Porcupine is somewhat a mixed effort.  Ocean Rain, "the greatest album ever made," is a five-star album.  This eponymous album, the followup, leans far more toward the greatest side of the spectrum.  From the voluble and musically shifting opener "The Game," everything just clicks.  It's beautiful ornate pop-rock.  It was met with a rather frosty reception upon its release by those who loved Ocean Rain, but I can't see why.  To me they have the same ambitious orchestral reach.  A candidate for a revisit to determine a fifth star.  Favorite tracks: "The Game," "Over You," "Bedbugs and Ballyhoo," "Bombers Bay."

The Blind Leading the Naked, Violent Femmes

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1986.

The Blind Leading the Naked, Violent Femmes, 1986, :37

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

I discovered the Femmes right before college when I stumbled upon the gem "Good Feeling," and never looked back.  This is (I believe) the one Violent Femmes album that I haven't listened to all the way though, barring their end-of-career shite. I read that the band itself disavowed the production by Jerry Harrison.  To me it may have a somewhat less manic tone and crisp sound as 3 and Why Do Birds Sing, but it's still a fine Femmes album with all the trademark musical virtuosity and Gano yelping weirdness alternating with earnest raw emotion.  I always felt "Good Feeling" sounded a lot like the Velvet Underground's more quiet work, and on this album, "Good Friend" makes me think of early solo Lou Reed.  I vacillated on rating this and decided to round up.  Favorite tracks: "Breakin' Hearts," "I Held Her In My Arms," "Cold Canyon."

Fables of the Reconstruction, R.E.M.

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1985.

Fables of the Reconstruction, R.E.M., 1985, :39

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Was 1985 the worst year in history for music? Yes. Yes, it was. Musicologists estimate that the ratio of crap to good music produced during this year was 99 to one.  Anyhoo, this is (I believe) the one R.E.M. album that I haven't listened to all the way though, barring their end-of-career shite.  I read that the band itself disavowed the album (though later came to speak well of it).  I think it's a perfectly good R.E.M. album.  It's not one of their masterworks — "Old Man Kensey" is kind of lugubrious, and "Good Advices" rather sluggish — but neither it is somehow a failure.  Actually, since over the majority of R.E.M.'s career they stuck with and refined pretty much one low-fi jangle-pop sound, I don't see how this album could stand out for obloquy. It sounds like their usual stuff to me.  Favorite tracks: "Driver 8," "Can't Get There From Here," "Life and How To Live It."

Zen Arcade, Hüsker Dü

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1984.

Zen Arcade, Hüsker Dü, 1984, 1:10

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

So, I'm thoroughly taken aback by this. I thought I knew the Dü a tiny bit, from some of their later stuff, and I know Bob Mould's work, and I've loved the punk-folk track "Never Talking To You Again" for decades. But, uh.  I guess I didn't really know the Dü at all.  I had no idea that Hüsker Dü was so hardcore. I had no idea that they had made anything as sonically ferocious as "Beyond the Threshold" or "Pride."  It's not really my favorite thing.  And it's overlong at 70 minutes.  All that hardcore assault gets exhausting.  What a wuss I am!  Still, there's some good stuff here, and you can't deny the young lads' angsty enthusiasm.  Favorite tracks: "Never Talking To You Again" (very much an outlier), "Something I Learned Today," "Chartered Trips."

Sports, Huey Lewis & the News

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1983.

Sports, Huey Lewis & the News, 1983, :37

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

The best bar band in the world (until the Hold Steady showed up)!  Tight power pop with funny, self-aware lyrics.  This is another one I know from the hits but not much else.  Although those probably are the best songs on the album, I'd say that once again I was missing out by not digging further into the band.  These guys epitomize the '80s, but in a unique way; they aren't all glamor and synth and big shoulders.  They're taking an older formula and giving it a slick pop '80s veneer.  After all these years, the muscle of the classic rock (the horns! the guitar!) beneath the clear, crisp sound is still what gives these songs power.  He's an American Elvis Costello!  Favorite tracks: "The Heart of Rock And Roll," "I Want a New Drug," "If This is It," "Walking on a Thin Line."

Thriller, Michael Jackson

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1982.

Thriller, Michael Jackson, 1982, :42

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

A cultural behemoth that went utterly ignored by me. I've never heard the songs on this album except for the inescapable "Billie Jean," "Beat It," and probably most of the title track. Impeccably produced (of course) by the master Quincy Jones, it's probably the pinnacle of R&B-tinged pop.  But it's not for me.  Nothing wrong with it, aside from a little corniness (the duet "The Girl Is Mine") and synth slickness ("P.Y.T.").  It just doesn't move me.  I realize now with a couple of recent entries in this blog I've kind of strayed from the purpose of the album a day project.  The project isn't really an exercise in broadening my horizons so much as catching up on stuff I missed and would like to hear.  I've been bending my brain into knots giving stuff like this and Van Halen three stars for their technical skill when I know that, for me, these are two-star albums, in that I'm not interested in them.  Oh well, I tried.  Favorite tracks, besides the big hits: "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," "Human Nature."

Shake It Up, the Cars

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1981. 

Shake It Up, the Cars, 1981, :40

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

I was way too cool at the time* to go for the Cars' studio-polished synth-pop-rock, and never really looked back until now, but this album has got some heart and energy to it. Ric Ocasek is an undeniable musical talent. I like his detached New Wave voice. Underneath the synths is a heartbeat and maybe even some funk. There's even a Dylan-like yelp on "Since You're Gone" ("I can't help it / You're so treeeeeeacherous / When it comes / To tenderness!") Never having given it more than a glance, I always thought the girl on the cover was holding up a giant mobile phone and was clearly happy to hear from the person on the other line. But in keeping with the album title, it's a girl holding a large cocktail shaker.  You learn something new in so many places!  Favorite tracks: "Since You're Gone," the very catchy "Shake It Up," "Victim of Love," "Think It Over."

* note: this is false

One Trick Pony, Paul Simon

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1980.

One Trick Pony, Paul Simon, 1980, :38

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

I'm a big Paul Simon fan from way back. I have most of his albums and have seen him in concert at least twice. I never got around to this one, a soundtrack album for a a film that Simon also starred in. It's new to me except for the Afro-Cuban-tinged hit "Late in the Evening."  Sadly, aside from that first terrific single, I was disappointed.  I hate to give a musical titan like Paul Simon only three stars, but this is a pretty somnolent affair.  The reissue of this album includes the funky "Stranded in a Limousine," which made it on his earlier Greatest Hits, Etc. album; it would improved One-Trick Pony.  Favorite track: "Late in the Evening," the duet "Ace in the Hole."

The Feeding of the 5000, Crass

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1979.

The Feeding of the 5000, Crass, 1979, :31

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Holy fuckballs!  Where has this band been all my life?  From the utterly-shocking-even-in-2020 gratuitous spoken-word blasphemy of the first track, to the inexorable proto-Clash machine gun bass and guitar, to the denunciation of sexual politics on the female-bellowed "Women," to the anti-war chants, to the social rebellion of the last track ("Do they owe us a living? Course they do, course they fucking do"), this is pure punk.  A less melodic, angrier, and more vulgar Clash, they rail against all organized religion, the military-industrial complex, private prisons, war, Thatcher, and every other authority.  In true punk fashion, they also include a personal complaint, about being "Banned From the Roxy."  These guys should have taken over the fucking world.  Apparently later they moved closer to something like a feminist art collective.  Their third album was called Penis Envy!  Truly, the world was not worthy of Crass.  A lot of people I know would hate this.  To me it's the antidote to the infected tattoo on the face of music that is David Lee Roth.  I could listen to it on repeat several times in a row.  Could, and did.  Favorite tracks: "Do They Owe Us a Living?," "So What" ("So what if the master walked on the water / I don't see him trying to stop the slaughter"), "General Bacardi."

Van Halen, Van Halen

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1978.

Van Halen, Van Halen, 1978, :35

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Every since Eddie Van Halen died on October 6, I've been seeing tributes from not only celebrities but the musicians I know, making me rethink my stance on this band. I have always utterly rejected Van Halen on the basis of their flashy presence and buffoonish front man. So I figure I was missing something and chose to really listen to their debut, an album released before I came of music listening age. My thought was that before all the flash and spandex and mugging in the tacky wrong-side-of-Spinal-Tap videos, the For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge juvenilia and the "Just a Gigolo" desecration, I could hear a more grounded, hungry Van at their prime. I dunno. It's just not for me, I guess. All I hear is some hard rock guitar noodling and a singer whooping alpha male lyrics. I'm sure that the guitar virtuosity is very impressive, but it's not something that interests me. The otherwise quite good "Running With the Devil" is marred by Roth's idiotic yowls and whoops. Their "You Really Got Me" rocks harder than, but isn't an improvement over, the original. "Atomic Punk" is affirmatively terrible.  The whole is all a bit polished and there's always some oaf whooping throughout the songs. Favorite tracks: "Jamie's Cryin'," "Little Dreamer" is a pleasant surprise, and I always liked the playful "Ice Cream Man."

Young, Loud and Snotty, Dead Boys

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1977.

Young, Loud and Snotty, Dead Boys, 1977, :35

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

A short, sharp shock. Vocalist Stiv Bator's wanna-be-a-snarl-but-actually-a-whine might have influenced a thousand angry teens to turn to punk, but it's kind of annoying after a few songs. More important, though, is their stance. You might write off "Caught With the Meat in Your Mouth," a nasty account of a groupie, as juvenile lewdness, but there's something to object to on nearly every song. Take "I don't need none of your bedroom bruised sweet box / And I don't need none of your spoiled ass sweet talk / I wanna write on your face with my pretty knife / I wanna toy with your precious life" from "What Love Is." The full-on sexist bile of "Look at me that way, bitch / Your face is gonna get a punch" from "I Need Lunch." Not to mention the totally unnecessary "Ya got dents in your head that tell me all the beds / You've been shoved on" from "All This and More." I get they're young, dumb, and high on a wave of rejection of all social and sexual mores, but it's just too misogynistic to take today. The punk ethos shouldn't be represented by these nasty fellows.  Two stars, barely, for having influence.  Favorite tracks: "Sonic Reducer" and "High Tension Wire," I guess.

Waking and Dreaming, Orleans

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1976.

Waking and Dreaming, Orleans, 1976, :39

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

I thought I knew nothing about this band, but it turns out they're responsible for the ubiquitous monolith "Still the One."  Fellas, is it gay to release an album cover showing us shirtless, with our arms around each other, maybe lovingly pressing a stray hand to a nipple? Just asking. Orleans is one of the only musical acts to have a member later become a state congressman. Their fourth album is pleasant vocal pop. It's poppy and has some hints of disco; not really my thing, but it's decent. At times it even brings the straight funk ("What I Need" could appear on a Sly & the Family Stone album). Actually the instrumentation is better than the singing. Favorite tracks: "Still the One," the gospel-pop of "Reach," and the musical outlier "The Bum."

Chocolate City, Parliament

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1975.

Chocolate City, Parliament, 1975, :37

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

"Uh, what's happening CC? / They still call it the White House / But that's a temporary condition."  And only 33 years later, George's prediction came true!  "God bless CC and its vanilla suburbs."  CC is Chocolate City, a term for a major black-inhabited city.  This album features the classic P-Funk lineup with George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, and Bernie Worrell, who cowrote most of the songs.  This disc is highly groovy, crammed with uptempo funk, showing considerable jazz, gospel (like in "I Misjudged You"), blues, and doo-wop influences.  A highly booty-shakeable album.  Favorite tracks: "If It Don't Fit (Don't Force It)" and "Ride On," two of the funkiest!

Goodnight Vienna, Ringo Starr

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1974.

Goodnight Vienna, Ringo Starr, 1974, :34

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

I love how Ringo's solo albums were practically Beatles and Friends side projects. John Lennon wrote the title track and suggested a couple of other songs. Ringo also got a song each from Elton John and Harry Nilsson. Everybody just wanted to help Ringo out! He was the least talented but the most beloved one. Are Ringo Starr albums groundbreaking, or influential? No, they are derivative and fun. He was a Wilbury before there were Wilburys. One of the only songs he wrote on this album is called "Oo-wee," which tells you where he stands.  But you know, on the Roger Miller cover "Husbands and Wives," and on the Platters' "Only You," he turns in strong, serious, sentimental vocals. It’s a pleasant surprise. All told, this is a solid entry in the post-Beatles canon. Favorite tracks: "Snookeroo," "No No Song," the ironic "All By Myself."

Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., Bruce Springsteen

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1973. 

Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., Bruce Springsteen, 1973, :37

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

I've always been a lukewarm Springsteen fan. He has some undeniably brilliant songs, even two or three on each one of a long spate of consistently good albums, but... his down-home, working-man earnestness has typically left me indifferent.  In this, his first album, he comes out swinging, young and brash and voluble.  These songs sound like Lou Reed and Bob Dylan had a baby and he was raised by steelworkers in a small town he couldn't wait to get out of, just as soon as he memorized this rhyming dictionary.  These songs come in a flood of words, of characters and scenes, stories of the street and of disaffected youth.  I mean, come on, "I had skin like leather and the diamond-hard look of a cobra / I was born blue and weathered but I burst just like a supernova." A debut like this pays a lot of debts forward.  Maybe a five-star album?  Favorite tracks: "Blinded By the Light," "Growin' Up," "It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City."  I'd heard all three of these in various forms or via covers (I love Bowe's "Saint").  Favorite tracks I hadn't heard: "Spirit in the Night," "Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?"

St. Dominic's Preview, Van Morrison

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1972. 

St. Dominic's Preview, Van Morrison, 1972, :41

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

A sort of Astral Weeks light, meditative and somewhat abstruse, a personal journey in song. From the immediately catchy opener that pays homage to soul to the freewheeling jazz of the closer, these songs tell where Van is musically.   Strongly influenced by jazz and soul and blues, leaning into the mystical power of music. The songs rise and fall like waves, and at times Van seems to be possessed by them rather than recording them. "Listen to the Lion" would be an all-time classic, meditative and defiant, but for me is marred a bit in the middle by the somewhat goofy sound of Van growling and roaring. Favorite tracks: "Jackie Wilson Said (I’m in Heaven When You Smile)," "Redwood Tree."

Tapestry, Carole King

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1971.

Tapestry, Carole King, 1971, :44

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

This is, of course, King's hugely influential, billion-selling album of songs she wrote or co-wrote, mostly made famous by other artists. The songwriting is undeniably brilliant, but to me there’s something missing in King's performances. And it's not that her vocals are thin or anything; she's a great singer.  These songs just feel to me like they're waiting for the right artist to come breathe life into the.   I wouldn’t go so far to say that this is an album of demos for more vibrant artists, because it's certainly not that, but there's definitely a songwriter feel to it rather than a performer feel. Sometimes the performance matters more than the song (as the success of the Ramones proves). I mean, there's a reason why Aretha Franklin's and James Taylor's renditions are universally celebrated. The title track "Tapestry" is one of the pieces with the most heart, but the lyrics are decidedly goofy.  Favorite tracks: "I Feel the Earth Move," "Smackwater Jack."

After the Gold Rush, Neil Young

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1970.

After the Gold Rush, Neil Young, 1970, :34

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

I generally like Neil Young well enough, but came to his music mostly through his later material like Freedom and Harvest Moon (aside from the classic rock radio standards, of course). On this album we hear a young Young, his voice higher, his spirit a little less ragged.  His fierce streak of independence and his refusal to censor his voice are already proudly on display, however.  This is a career-making album, the kind that can keep an artist's reputation solid for decades. There's very few the heavy-handed maudlin lyrics of his later period (like on the leaden "Natural Beauty").  What we do get are thoughtful, earnest messages like "Southern Man" and "After the Gold Rush."  But also love songs and (yes, at times) some dreamy, maybe-druggy-not-very-sensical lyrics. But there's a revelatory remake of "Oh, Lonesome Me" that shows that Young has power as an interpreter as well.   Favorite tracks: "After the Gold Rush," "Southern Man."  Favorites that are new to me: "Tell me Why," "Cripple Creek Ferry."

Stand!, Sly & the Family Stone

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1969.

Stand!, Sly & the Family Stone, 1969, :41

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

A psychedelic-funk-soul powerhouse with elements of gospel and acid rock. Powerful, energetic, and provocative.  There's some catchy stuff here that grabs you by the ears, but a couple of the jams are perhaps better regarded as snapshots of the era. "Sex Machine" is a skippable 14 minutes of funk noodling. And "Don’t Call Me Nigger, Whitey," a title that has intrigued me for many years, turns out to be lacking the hard-hitting lyrics that I always imagined; instead the title, repeated and distorted, serves as the vocals.  Favorite tracks: "Stand," "Everyday People" (though it's sadly short at 2:22), "You Can Make It If You Try," "Somebody's Watching You."

Aretha Now, Aretha Franklin

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1968.

Aretha Now, Aretha Franklin, 1968, :29

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

I haven't heard a lot of Aretha beyond the hits everyone has heard, but this is just a stunning soul album,  scorching and energetic from start to finish. She takes "The Night Time is the Right Time" and remakes it into something her own, and even breathes new life into "You Send Me."  The sheer power of her voice and her ability to inhabit a song are astonishing.  Favorite tracks: "Think," "I Say a Little Prayer," "You're a Sweet Sweet Man."

Surrealistic Pillow, Jefferson Airplane

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1967.

Surrealistic Pillow, Jefferson Airplane, 1967, :34

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

This is a big deal in the history of early psychedelic rock, but it's hit or miss to me. Grace Slick is a phenomenal vocal talent, but she's sort of hidden away here amongst the diluted Byrds aesthetic. "Comin' Back to Me" is five minutes of undiluted snooze. "Embryonic Journey" is some acoustic guitar strumming. “In the Morning” is six minutes of that slow, drawling, shuffling harmonica-based blues I am no fan of. Favorite tracks: "Somebody to Love," "White Rabbit." Favorite track they don’t play on the radio constantly: "She Has Funny Cars" for its drumming and male-female trade-off vocals.

And Then... Along Comes The Association, the Association

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1966.

And Then... Along Comes The Association, the Association, 1966, :32

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

This is a style of music you don't hear much anymore, a sort of Baroque "sunshine pop" you hear echoes of in the Polyphonic Spree and Beulah.  It's the kind of powerhouse vocal folk-pop sent up by the New Main Street Singers in the movie A Mighty Wind.  Over the years, this group has had approximately five thousand members, so later releases by them may vary, but I found this to be toe-tapping, catchy, and fun, a refreshing change from the juggernaut of straight guitar-driven folk-rock.  These guys may be a dozen nerds in suits but they pack a musical punch.  Favorite tracks: "Enter the Young," "Don't Blame It On Me," "Changes."

I Put a Spell On You, Nina Simone / Beach Boys' Party!, Beach Boys

Currently doing one two albums for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1965.

I Put a Spell On You, Nina Simone, 1965, :32

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

I adore Nina Simone, one of the true vocal titans, easily up there with Aretha and Frank Sinatra if not their superior.  Her rich, commanding contralto just gives power to everything she sings, and her material usually tends toward the serious.  This album is more swingy and pop than some of her other material, and even includes an instrumental.  She also does "You've Got To Learn," an English translation of Charles Aznavour's "Il Faut Savoir," which I find odd since she sings with ease in French, such as on "Ne Me Quitte Pas" here.  Favorite tracks: "Tomorrow Is My Turn," "Marriage Is for Old Folks," "Gimme Some."

-- 

Beach Boys' Party!, Beach Boys, 1965, :31

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Corny acoustic sing-alongs with the Beach Boys, with tambourine and bongo accompaniment. Brian Wilson mostly sits out, and "fun" "impromptu" crowd noises were dubbed in later. It sounds truly dreadful, but I have to give this a guilty-pleasure four stars. It's not by any means a great album, but good clean fun. They do Beatles and Dylan songs! And it has "Barbara Ann," an essential track.  Favorite tracks: "Barbara Ann," "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow," "I Should Have Known Better."

12 x 5, Rolling Stones

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1964.

12 x 5, Rolling Stones, 1964, :32

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Yeah, yeah, this is the Rolling Stones, the Greatest Rock ’n’ Roll Band in the World, yet I’m just not sure that this album adds anything to their accomplishments. White British lads covering Berry’s “Around and Around” without adding their own spin on it is pretty much the extent of this album’s raison d’être. Showing that the Stones were still working toward their bad-boy sound, the version of “Time Is On My Side” (also a cover; I never knew) here is more languid than the later, justly more well-known version, and features an organ solo rather than guitar.  Their one-and-a-half minute version of "Susie Q" doesn't need to exist.  The three originals here are decent enough, but are early shuffle blues, nothing special. Favorite tracks: “Under the Boardwalk” is utterly inessential and slavishly faithful to the original, but it’s a good song.  And I guess the same goes for "It's All Over Now."

With the Beatles, the Beatles

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1963.

With the Beatles, the Beatles, 1963, :33

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

The second Beatles album. I’ve never actually heard this album all the way through. In fact, I think I have never so much as heard maybe six of these songs, ever. Some Beatles fan I am! In my opinion, the Beatles' godlike songwriting skills tend to overshadow their very solid interpretation ability. They should get more credit for it.  Their rollicking "Please Mr. Postman" overshadows the original, and even Chuck Berry and Smokey Robinson's material, if not definitively redone, are given a bold new energy by these four daring lads from Liverpool.  Some favorite tracks: "I Wanna Be Your Man," "It Won’t Be Long," "Hold Me Tight," "You Really Got a Hold On Me."

Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Ray Charles

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1962.

Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Ray Charles, 1962, :39

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

A fantastic concept, executed brilliantly. Country songs dressed up in pop, R&B, and jazz. Since country is just the white man's blues, it's a natural fit, but maybe only a titan like Charles could have made the crossover. Most of the songs are about heartbreak and tears in my beer. I know I should probably rate this classsic higher, but while the high points are exceptionally high, I’m not enamored of every track. The Hank Williams tune "You Win Again" is just a little too sleepy a rendition for my taste, although it is true that everything Charles sings is in some way enticing. I'm also not a huge fan of the bright choruses that echo the main singer line by line, as was the style at the time. On the other hand, the version of "Careless Love" here is slow, but builds up to something powerful and emotional. There's a hint of heartbreak and/or menace in that languid singing. Favorite tracks: "Bye Bye Love," "Just a Little Lovin' (Will Go a Long Way)," "Hey Good Lookin'."

Charles Aznavour (Il faut savoir), Charles Aznavour

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1961.

Charles Aznavour (Il faut savoir), Charles Aznavour, 1961, :21

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

This album (more of an EP, really) is actually called Charles Aznavour, but Aznavour titled a lot of albums after his own name even more so than Peter Gabriel, so this one is known by its first song title. I'm no stranger to French singer-songwriters, but I've always considered Georges Brassens to be pinnacle of French songcraft.  However, this brief collection makes a case for Aznavour's high status.  With his bold, slightly tremulous voice, he's a French Frank Sinatra to Brassens' Bob Dylan.  Like the Chairman, Aznavour comes across as world-weary, born old, and rueful about everything, even as he emanates stylistic confidence.  Favorite tracks: "Le Carillonneur," sung from the point of view of a very cynical church bell-ringer, "Voila Que Ça Recommence," a song about, uh, loving life ("a skirt passes by / And I get ready to lose my mind").

At Last!, Etta James

Day themes are on hold. Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1960.

At Last!, Etta James, 1960, :29

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Near-universally acclaimed, this album showcases Etta James' singing talents; she's easily the equal of Aretha Franklin.  Here she belts out raunchy blues (Willie Dixon's "I Just Want to Make Love to You"), croons pop standards and torch songs ("Stormy Weather," "All I Could Do Is Cry"), lets out an "Ungh!" like James Brown, and throughout growls, croons, and belts in equal measure.  She lays her heart out on her sleeve on fearless songs about heartache and losing love, a soul singer in perfect control of her instrument.  While music people know James' worth, she deserves to be as commonly venerated and ubiquitous as Aretha.  Favorite tracks: "At Last," "My Dearest Darling," "Tough Mary."