#406: Bonnie Raitt - Nick of Time (1989)

Emily: You don't necessarily think of white red-haired women singing the blues, but Bonnie Raitt somehow makes it work. It definitely was not a straightforward blues album, though. A few songs have slick and polished production more reminiscent of pop and country music (and definitely characteristic of '80s), while others have a slightly shaggier quality that provided more of a blues and rock vibe. Both strategies work fairly well and create a cohesive sound reflective of an artists straddling multiple musical worlds, but I preferred the latter.
Favorite Tracks: Real Man; Nobody's Girl; Thing Called Love

Zack: After the novel I wrote for N.W.A., I figured I would keep this review brief. Nick of Time was a good album, but I didn’t find it particularly exciting. It was the epitome of 4-out-of-5 star. Solid throughout, no complaints to be voiced, but hardly engrossing. As I listened to it, I found myself generally liking every song, but there really aren’t any that I would plan on relistening to. Overall, there are certainly worse ways to spend 40 minutes, and Nick of Time is certainly a good album, but I left the experience certainly unimpressed.

Favorite Tracks: Real Man; Nobody’s Girl; I Ain’t Gonna Let You Break My Heart Again

#305: B.B. King - Live at the Regal (1965)

Zack: Wow wow wow wow wow! I was excited to listen to B.B. King, but I was not aware of just how amazing my morning was about to become. My only real exposure to B.B. King before this was his work with Clapton on Riding with the King, which I listened to once like 5 years ago. I don’t remember it too well, but it definitely doesn’t hold a candle to Live at the Regal. If I’m being honest, Regal blew away pretty much all of the blues I’ve listened to before (a list that includes Robert Johnson, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and Muddy Waters, so I’m at least marginally credible in this assessment). From start to finish it was just a masterpiece. I can’t even imagine what it would have been like to be in the crowd that day, listening to him blast through all the other delicately arranged sounds with both his voice and guitar. I'm just glad something this good was immortalized so we could all appreciate it. We have another 95 albums to listen to before the next time I need to really think about this, but I can already say I’ve filled in a slot for my favorite album.

Favorite Tracks: Please Love Me; You Upset Me Baby; You Done Lost Your Good Thing

Emily: Live at the Regal was selected for permanent preservation in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress. That means someday, when all vinyl has lost its grooves, when all CDs are scratched up beyond repair, when that new wave of cassettes comes crashing into a pile of plastic and blob of recording type, when your hard drive explodes and Spotify goes bankrupt and Pandora retreats into her box, we'll still have Live at the Regal. This is an album that has been deemed worth saving above so many others, and honestly, now that I've listened to it I agree with that assessment 100%. Live at the Regal embodies blues in a way that few other albums do because it captures a live show by a master of the genre. Blues music that is recorded in the studio just doesn't have the same feel of the musicians interacting with the audience, feeding off of their energy in tune with their own emotions and musicianship. That's the feeling you get from Live at the Regal, like you were in that club with a drink in your hand and your toes tapping along with B.B. King. Only a few people actually got to be there that day, but the feeling that you were lives on forever in the recording.

Favorite Tracks: How Blue Can You Get?; Worry, Worry; Please Love Me

#285: Derek and the Dominoes - Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1970)

Emily: When I queued up this album today, my first thought was, "Hey, isn't Layla by Eric Clapton? What's it doing on this album? Is this a weird cover thing? Hmm..." Clearly I was uninformed, because a few bluesy rock songs in, I looked up the album on Wikipedia and found out that Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs "is often regarded as Eric Clapton's greatest musical achievement." You learn something new every day. Even if I hadn't looked it up, though, I would've figured out it was Clapton far before Layla actually started playing. This album is filled with the classic sounds of Clapton's blues guitar (plus Duane Allman) and emotional lyrics of love both desired and lost. I wasn't totally off base with the cover idea, though. Although Layla and most of the rest of the double album is original, there are also covers of blues standards as well as a Jimi Hendrix song. Just goes to show how even the most influential artists and albums are always harkening back to what came before. Now, the next great blues album should have its own cover of Layla.
Favorite Tracks: Layla; Why Does Love Got to be So Sad; Have You Ever Loved a Woman

Zack: I’m not entirely sure why, but I thought we had listened to Cream a lot more recently than we actually had. No matter, because it is always a good time to listen to Layla. For a lot of people, Derek and the Dominos is Clapton’s crowning achievement. Surprisingly, I haven’t put that much time into this question. Gun to my head, I’d say: 

1) Disraeli Gears
2) Layla
3) 461 Ocean Boulevard
4) Five Live Yardbirds
5) Unplugged

6) August, solely because of my affinity for Miss You
7) Fresh Cream
8) Blues Breakers
9) Blind Faith
10) Ridin’ with the King

I’d need to put more thought into it, though, especially reevaluating my take on some of his solo stuff. Regardless, of that and even if you take the possibility of a priming effect into account, I’ve got Layla at 2 and have a hard time justifying it any lower than 4, at worst. In such a long and storied career, it really stands out. Part of that has to be just the emotion that bleeds through, specifically the parts where Clapton is singing about lusting for his best friend (George Harrison)’s wife. It’s really a message we can all relate to. (aside: Seriously, where does Pattie Boyd rank on the list of all-time muses? I’m not qualified to figure that one out, so someone get on it.) The other part is the obvious chemistry between Clapton and Duane Allman. You could just feel two kindred guitar spirits challenging each other but also feeding off each other spectacularly well. It doesn’t hurt that – I’m trying not to break out into another spontaneous list but it’s hard – those have got to be two of the top 10 guitarists of all time. Anyway, Layla is incredible, even beyond the title track that is such a classic rock staple. Even though it’s a double album and does occasionally feature like 3 minute blues intros into songs, it never really feels like it’s lagging anywhere. And it’s got some of the most impressive solos you’ll hear anywhere.

Favorite Tracks: Layla (duh); Key to the Highway; Little Wing  

#277: Jeff Beck - Truth (1968)

Zack: My dad is a pretty big Jeff Beck fan (although a bigger fan of Eric Johnson, not that there’s a natural competition between the two), so I’ve been exposed to the virtuosity that is Beck shredding. I’ve also listened to a decent amount of The Yardbirds, especially Beck-era (Jeff’s Boogie, anyone?). So I knew what to expect from Truth, even if I had never listened to this particular album before. And I certainly wasn’t surprised by much of what I heard, except for the fact that there were certainly about infinity times more tracks with vocals than I expected. Apparently, that’s because Rod Stewart was an early member of Jeff Beck Group, something I did not nor really wanted to know. The whole album is filled to the brim with notable cameos, including Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Keith Moon all on the world-shattering Beck’s Bolero. But more important than all the famous Faces (see what I did there?) are all the genres being blended together to form a beautiful bisque of guitar mastery. Blues, psychedelic, and heavy metal all get stirred together in Beck’s capable hands and nimble fingers in a way that is unique and that lets you know that a master is at work.

Favorite Tracks: Beck’s Bolero; Morning Dew; I Ain’t Superstitious

Emily: I actually listened to Truth a few weeks ago on an early-morning train ride to DC. I was computer-less on my journey, so I couldn't actually write anything at the time. Once I got home later that afternoon, I was tired and couldn't think of anything to write. I told myself that I would get back to it as soon as I could. Well, the end of the semester had gotten in the way so I didn't exactly have the time for leisurely blogging activities. Now, though, I am done with class and in the midst of preparing for finals. Since I'm not one to be able to focus for hours and hours on end, I need a few breaks in between outlines, studying, and practice exams. Forty-five minutes or so does the trick; consequently, many of the albums on our list are about forty-five minutes long. The point of that summary of my life at the moment is this: I foresee much blogging between now and next Thursday. And that (finally) brings me to Jeff Beck. I still don't know much about his guitar virtuosity beyond a cursory skim of Wikipedia and Zack's review, but this album really demonstrated what he's all about. With blues guitar at the core, Beck and his band blend together multiple genres of rock into a sound that's unique for its time and definitely classic today.

Favorite Tracks: Blues de Luxe; Let Me Love You; I Ain't Superstitious

#271: Nina Simone - Wild is the Wind (1966)

Zack: I could talk about the epic title track here, but I won’t. Instead, I’m going to focus in on Lilac Wine, a song we saw a couple hundred albums ago on Grace by Jeff Buckley that I had, at the time, no idea was a cover. I’ve listened to Grace roughly a billion times since then and Lilac Wine remains a song that I sort of like. It’s part of a three-track break between the powerful intro of Mojo Pin and Grace and the mid-album tear-makers of Hallelujah and Lover, You Should’ve Come Over that lulls you into just the right headspace. On Grace, it’s more a placeholder than a powerful, album-defining song. Not here. Not for Nina Simone. Lilac Wine was the first song that made my brain draw parallels to Jeff Buckley. But once I had finally made the connection, I just couldn’t stop hearing it. Honestly, I’m kind of disappointed it took me so long. They have almost identical singing voices (gender be damned!) and the music is almost identical in composition. I’ll admit to liking Grace more. But it was still cool to hear where that all came from and it was fantastic hearing someone perform Lilac Wine in such a way that was so similar, and yet so different, from the way I had initially heard it.

Favorite Tracks: Lilac Wine; Wild is the Wind; If I Should Lose You

Emily: What's crazy to me about this album is that it's made up of leftover songs from previous recording sessions. If these are the leftovers, the choice cuts must be absolutely amazing. Wild is the Wind is excellent exhibition of Nina Simone's talents. Her voice combines the musicality of jazz with the heart-wrenching emotion of soul and blues, creating music that pulls in both the listener's mind and heart. Some of the tracks have an upbeat Motown feel as well, adding in another element to reflect the music of the times but which didn't really fit in with the rest of the album. Where the album really shines is on the ballads. With a little bit of music and a lot of Simone's voice, these songs will fill a room with emotion and soul.
Favorite Tracks: Four Women; Either Way I Lose; I Love Your Lovin' Ways

#262: Aretha Franklin - Lady Soul (1968)

Zack: I’m writing this just a few days after the surprise release of Beyonce’s latest album, and I still haven’t listened to it. I had a fierce internal debate over whether I should knock out another blog album or that. When I saw that next up for me was Aretha Franklin, I figured I might as well tackle the original diva before moving on to her (goddess) understudy. Unfortunately, I’m also writing this before listening to said Beyonce album, so I as of yet can’t compare them. But that may work out well for Beyonce, because it would be hard to compare to the complete package that is Lady Soul. It has its groovy songs, its bluesy songs, and more than enough soul to go around. Lady Soul may only have 10 very short songs, but it has more heart and talent than a triple album from most artists. That last sentence sort of got away from me there at the end, but Lady Soul never deviates from its excellence. Overall, it’s the tight, consistent work of a masterful singer that doesn’t need the pomp of 17 videos to make it excellent.

Favorite Tracks: (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman; Good to Me As I Am to You; Chain of Fools

Emily: As I listened to Lady Soul today, I felt like it was speaking directly to me. This may be because of what's going on in my mind and life right now, but I think I would have the same reaction any day under any circumstance. Aretha, the original diva and current most fabulous wearer of hats, created an album of soul and blues that speaks to what it's like to be in love (or not) on multiple universal levels. If you've ever been head over heels in love in with someone, or been incredibly angry at what someone you thought you loved did, or did something you thought screwed up a relationship, or apologized for screwing up said relationship, or forgave someone for screwing up, or moved on with your life from someone not good for you in the most fabulous way possible, or pretty much any other emotion that goes along with relationships - you will find something that you relate to on Lady Soul. Aretha can make anyone sad, angry, grateful, and incredibly happy, all with her amazing voice, emotional lyrics, and the power of soul.

Favorite Tracks: (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman; Chain of Fools; Since You've Been Gone

#238: Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde (1966)

Emily: On an album like Blonde on Blonde, you can't help but be blown away by Bob Dylan's songwriting. The instrumentation is simple, just an acoustic guitar and harmonica solos. While sometimes the harmonica was a bit screechy for my taste, the overall subtlety and simplicity allow the lyrics to shine through. Dylan is a storyteller through and through, and here we get elegantly painted stories inspired by and with a backdrop of the blues. Rather than exploring social messages and issues, Dylan takes us through the stories of individuals, of cities, of love, of loss - beautiful stories of humanity. I guess I can't count myself in the anti-Dylan cohort anymore, because I know I'll return to Blonde on Blonde again and again.
Favorite Tracks: Visions of Johanna; Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again; One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)

Zack: I meant to relisten to Highway 61 Revisited before listening to this because I know that both take place in Dylan’s random electric phase and I wanted to compare them.  But then I decided just to listen to it with my brother instead because, hey, screw it. I’m kind of glad I did because it allowed me to appreciate Blonde on Blonde by itself in a vacuum of harmonica solos and screechy vocals. And damn, it was great. It was a double album, but it never seemed to get old or lag or anything. Every song felt fresh and unique from all the others. From reading Wikipedia’s helpful breakdown of each individual song (really useful on Dylan albums because it can give you a snapshot of what he’s talking about – not exactly easy when really compelling instrumentation meets classic Dylan crytpiticism,) I learned that this variation was caused mostly from different blues influences. Some were Memphis blues, some were Delta blues (hell yeah, Lightnin’ Hopkins!), some were Chicago blues, and so on. All of it was fantastic. Now that I’ve finished, I think I’d like to go back and listen to both Highway 61 and Blonde on Blonde back-to-back to get an idea of which I like better. But both definitely stand apart as really great albums.

Favorite Tracks: Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat; Pledging My Time; Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again 

#212: The Doors - LA Woman (1971)

Zack: I’ve been meaning to get into The Doors forever, but never really had enough motivation. That feels weird to say, being such a huge Hendrix and Pink Floyd fan, as well as a moderate Joplin and Jefferson Airplane enthusiast. I feel like this should have happened a lot sooner, but here we are. L.A. Woman is the first Doors album I’ve ever listened to, and I was really impressed. It had that bluesy feel that I love so much but was also just pretty heavy and psychedelic. I was enamored by this album and can already guarantee multiple listens. What I’m also pretty excited for is to delve into the rest of their discography. That’s been a minor subplot to this whole adventure. If I like a band from listening to a list-worthy album, I’m usually quick to obtain and devour the rest of their discography, or at least what’s not on the list. I went right through The Flaming Lips (except Soft Bulletin, which I’ve heard almost every song off of because of Pandora at this point) and Joy Division from way back when and have dipped my toes into extra Bowie, Neil Young and Pixies. I’m now an avid Johnny Cash fan and can’t wait to listen to San Quentin. It’s always a gamble because the albums that didn’t make the list usually fell short for a reason, but I have a good feeling about Strange Days, Soft Parade and Waiting for the Sun. So when either Morrison Hotel or The Doors rolls around, you can bet I’ll be a much more informed Doors fan.

Favorite Tracks: Changeling; Crawling King Snake; Cars Hiss by My Window

Emily: The Doors are a legendary classic rock band, but if you had asked me what I thought of them before about an hour ago, I would probably hum in a perplexed fashion and ultimately admit that all I really knew about them was that when America's Next Top Model was in Paris two of the girls went to visit Jim Morrison's grave and dramz ensued because the other two girls wanted to go shopping or something. Luckily, I am substantially more informed now that I have listened to LA Woman. This is the last album that Morrison recorded with the band before his death and consequent membership in the "27 Club." So I'm working backwards here, but as a later album I'll conjecture that LA Woman showcases the developed Doors sound. It's bluesy and rock and psychedelic, but put together in a unique way with Morrison's vocal prowess. As we continue through the list and come across The Doors again, I hope we continue to move backwards in the band's discography. I'm curious to see how this evolution of heavy blues psychedelia came to be.

Favorite Tracks: L'America; LA Woman; Been Down So Long

#93: Fats Domino - This Is Fats (1956)

Zack: Come, precious readers, and climb into a time machine with me. We’re going all the way back to the mystical year of 1956. Housewives are vacuuming in pearls while a roast cooks in the oven for an average Tuesday dinner. America has just recently mobilized for a war effort in Vietnam. And the suburbs are beginning to near bursting point. Down in good ol’ NOLA, Fats Domino was busy fashioning himself into a musical icon by producing hit single after hit single.  He was crafting music into what it is today by mixing every sort of genre into a cauldron, stirring it up, and adding some cayenne, the trinity, and Zatarains. The finished result was one part rock & roll, one part jazz, one part R&B, and one part gumbo. This album is a great concoction that has something for everybody. Fats provides some great vocals to accompany strong instrument work. But my favorite song, The Fat Man’s Hop, dropped those vocals entirely and just featured a bunch of musicians going to town. Seriously, if you want to hear some great piano, I recommend checking that song out.

Favorite Tracks: The Fat Man’s Hop; Blueberry Hill; You Done Me Wrong 

Emily: We have arrived at one of the oldest albums on the list. All the way from 1956, we have blues legend Fats Domino. Fats was one of the first, and one of the best, to combine jazz, blues, and R&B into this little thing we call rock and roll. He sang and played the piano with soul, style, and heart, and that really shines through on this album. From up-tempo, jazzy love songs to bluesy tales of woe, Fats infuses each note and lyric with emotion and personality. That emotional element is what separates the talented musicians from the legends, and Fats Domino is certainly a legend in his own right.

Favorite Tracks: La La; Honey Chile; Troubles of My Own

#56: Muddy Waters - At Newport (1960)

Zack: One of the things that has me excited about this project of ours is listening to some good old blues music. I am an occasional blues listener but I’ve never had the incentive to sit down and really submerge myself in the genre. Unfortunately, the list does not include that many blues album (one of the few complaints I have), but the stuff that does make the cut is all by some of the most renowned bluesmen of all time. This particular album happens to be a perfect sampling of what the blues is all about. It’s about an even split between the traditional slowed down, depressing songs that most people associate with the genre (Soon Forgotten, Goodbye Newport Blues) with the faster paced tracks (Tiger in Your Tank, I’ve Got My Mojo Working 1&2). Instrumentation prominence varies from track to track and included the staples of guitar, bass, drums, piano, and harmonica. Overall, this album is a strong representation of blues music and a great choice for a first time blues listener.

Favorite Tracks: I’ve Got My Mojo Working Part 2; Soon Forgotten; Goodbye Newport Blues

Emily: I've never listened to much blues, but after listening to Muddy Waters I think I will. Blues is the root of almost all modern music, and after listening to that for my entire life it's very cool to go back and see where it came from. As Zack said, this album captures two different, yet equally compelling, sides of blues music. The fast songs are fun and full of joy, and you can truly sense the pain and sadness of the slower songs. Each is rooted in emotion and tradition, and I think that is what makes it great.

Favorite Tracks: I've Got My Mojo Working Parts 1 and 2; Goodbye Newport Blues

#44: G. Love and Special Sauce - G. Love and Special Sauce (1994)

Emily: Two reasons to listen to G. Love and Special Sauce: one, they're from Philadelphia (gotta rep my hometown!); and two, they are one funky bunch of white guys. They infuse blues with soul, alt rock, and a laid-back sensibility. The combination of harmonica and guitar echo their blues predecessors, but they make it modern with their lyrics and G. Love's staccato delivery. To me this would be an ideal summer album - the relaxed vibe would be perfect for the beach.
Favorite Tracks: Cold Beverage; Garbage Man; Fatman

Zack: It’s difficult to define G. Love & Special Sauce’s sound. It’s very unique. There are elements of alternative hip-hop, blues, alternative rock, R&B, and just about everything else mixed into it. The one constant is the delivery of the lyrics by the one and only G. Love. It reminds me of spoken word poetry. The words aren’t sung or rapped, but simply stated. Despite this fact, emphasis and power is never lost during the entire album. There is a quiet forcefulness to way G. Love delivers his message. The instrumentation is well utilized to compliment the vocals. The bass is very prominent, but not overpowering. Overall, this is a well-crafted album by a very different and special band that deserves more than just a single listen by anybody and everybody.

Favorite Tracks: Baby’s Got Sauce; Eyes Have Miles; Shooting Hoops

#43: Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison (1968)

Emily: More often than not, concert albums do not encapsulate the concert experience. Though the tracks are recorded live during an actual concert, the listener doesn't get the sense that they are in the crowd listening to the band perform. The instruments are overdubbed, mistakes are fixed, and stage banter and crowd interaction is filtered out, making it more of a sanitized studio album than a concert experience. I say all this because At Folsom Prison breaks all of these concert album norms. It is pretty much a straight recording from his 1968 concert for the prisoners at Folsom - bloopers, cheers, jokes, and all. It even includes announcements from the prison staff so that concert was kept in order. Cash really understood who his audience was, singing multiple songs about the prison experience and incorporating novelty songs to get the crowd laughing. He ends the concert with something truly unique - a song written by one of the Folsom prisoners. This personal connection from artist to audience is genuine and powerful, and rings true throughout the entire album.
Favorite Tracks: Cocaine Blues; Folsom Prison Blues; 25 Minutes to Go

Zack: Normally, I don’t enjoy country music, but Johnny Cash is iconic enough to earn an exception. In the first handful of tracks on this album, he displays pretty clearly why he is good enough to earn that special status. However, about halfway into the album, right after Orange Blossom Special, comes a section that he describes as full of ballads that is really just quite boring. When he slows everything down, he loses some of the oomph that makes him so entertaining in the first place. Once he gets those out of his system, however, the album picks back up with a pair of duets with June Carter and a few other terrific gems. But the real selling point, for me at least, was the beginning. To be more specific, Folsom Prison Blues and Cocaine Blues simply blew me away. Both songs are heavy on subject matter (a common theme for Cash, especially on this album) and dynamic in sound. Right there, in those two songs, it becomes very visible why Johnny Cash was such an important and influential musician in the first place.

Favorite Tracks: Cocaine Blues; Folsom Prison Blues; Green, Green Grass of Home