We call our readers' attention to the left column, Great Albums, the Ultimate Music Collection. Here it is, a CD collection for all occasions with a heavy emphasis on good, solid classic rock. Start with the Beatles and work forward.
We're making no attempt to keep current. Most albums are at least twenty years old. Our assumption is most listeners know what they like from whatever's current at the time. Most of these albums are ones that have withstood the test of time whether they represent landmarks, albums which helped define the essence of pop music of their time or are finely crafted albums representing an artist's talent on display vividly.
We represent a broad spectrum of styles and genres from songbook standards: works of Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald as examples to most of the most loved styles of music since World War Two.
The listener will notice an absence of conspicuously commercial music, the fare that keeps American Idol afloat we called "Top 40 bullshit" in our high school and college days in the late 60's and early 70's. There's a nice cross section ranging from the outstanding pop music that evolved out of the blues which matured as soul in the 60's and funk in the 70's. Before rock n roll was here to stay, jazz was the hip genre. Post World War II jazz was a new generation of jazz breaking away from big band stylists like Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey to the brilliant small combos which made Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Charles Mingus, Oscar Peterson and many others both the hip pioneers of creative new possibilities while continuing a tradition Louis Armstrong mastered in the 20's. Country music evolved from rural gospel, Appalachian folk, and the singing cowboy into a well defined pop genre anchored in Nashville but also fueling a counter culture who'd never be welcome on the Opry stage. From England to Jamaica, traditional American blues and and host of pop influences on the radio helped set the stage for the British invasion lead by the Beatles and Rolling Stones while disaffected young Jamaicans could pull in American radio after dark. Melding ethic island music with 1960's American pop, reggae stood ready to creep into the American record shelves.
By 1950, the music industry had the capacity to market lp's capable of providing over 20 minutes of music per side instead of being limited to just a single short song as were the limitations of the old 78 rpm records or their apparent replacement, the 45 rpm single. Frank Sinatra was the first significant artist who truly recognized the album as an art form as his famous albums from the 1950's were built around loosely structured themes: an album of ballads, swinging numbers, or torch songs, for instance. Sadly, for many artists right from the beginning, an album might consist of a hit single or two and a lot of baloney. Most pop albums lacked coherence and were often stuffed with so-so material beyond the hit tunes released as singles. Jazz performers not only did a better job using the album to their benefit but also understood the benefits of recording in stereo. Deep into the 1960's, rock producers aimed to make something that would sound explosive booming out of a car's dashboard speaker.
Looking over our list, the listener can see the history of the of these issues unfold. Even the Beatles' Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band was not fully realized as a stereo production. Some of the placement of voices or instruments seemed arbitrary at best. English recording technology was far behind American where engineers like Tom Dowd with Atlantic records was exploring multi track capacity and other techniques that expanded the creative possibilities in the studio.
The right-minded fellow presents this list for your consideration. Please comment on the selections or feel free to request a review which we'll be happy to publish for the listener's consideration. RMF is a passionate music fan who enjoys almost all styles of pop music but club music, rap/hip-hop, highly commercial glitzy pop, syrupy schmaltz has no place in this library.
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