The Five Royales: 17 Hits (King 5014X, 1978).
The “5” are my favorite 50s rock and roll group. A perfect combination of jump blues and doo wop, they are the coolest, oozing with charisma and badass guitar and sax solos. Listen to “Women About to Make Me Go Crazy” if you need convincing. This comp is perfect but you can’t go wrong with any of the stuff they recorded for King.
First Aid Kit: Stay Gold (Columbia 88843 06661 1, 2014).
Why don’t I listen to the Söderberg sisters more often? This is great. Was Mike Mogis the real talent in Bright Eyes after all? Because the production and arrangements on this are really good. Happy I’m doing this. What else will I rediscover?
First Aid Kit: The Lion’s Roar (Wichita WEBB320LP, 2012).
I’ve maybe played this once. That’s dumb. It would be a good first-thing-in-the-morning record. Lots of pedal steel via Mike Mogis and of course those sweet sibling harmonies from the Söderberg sisters. “Emmylou” is a perfect song.
Father John Misty: Pure Comedy (Sub Pop SP1200, 2017).
FJM takes the easy targets of Honeybear’s “Bored in the USA” and makes a whole album sanctimoniously skewering them/us. Not to say those targets aren’t easy for a reason, but to make fun of middle-aged losers for “bedding Taylor Swift every night inside the Oculus Rift” was never going to age well. His voice, however, has never sounded better.
Father John Misty: Fear Fun (Sub Pop SP970, 2012).
It’s getting harder to remember how fun and liberated this sounded in 2012, before Tillman became a grumpy old blowhard (again). This was the sound of a young man throwing off the uptight shackles of propriety and busting loose. Plus he can sing like a motherfucker. Vinyl sounds like shit though, sibilant and noisy like a lot of new #vinyl.
Donovan: Sixty Four (Donovan Discs VI0001, 2017).
My wife got me this (signed!) for my birthday in 2020. I kept the padded envelope it came in because Donovan filled out the customs slip himself. Pretty cool. Demos of five covers and four originals. (And I’m still mad at Dylan for being so mean in Dont Look Back.)
Doctor & the Medics: Laughing at the Pieces (IRS-5797, 1986).
A few years ago I realized the version of this on streaming is the original UK release and not the superior US release that I had on tape as a 15yo. This is the third copy of this dumb album I’ve purchased: once on tape, twice on #vinyl; it did not survive the great purge of 2005-2008…which was probably fair.
Detroit with Mitch Ryder (MCA-25970, 1987).
Reissue of a 1971 album with one bonus track (“Gimme Shelter”) and updated liner notes by Dave Marsh. I somehow ended up with two copies. Produced by Bob Ezrin. Ryder can belt and his band includes Steve Hunter who would go on to work with Ezrin on albums by Alice Cooper and Lou Reed. Detroit hard boogie.
Paul & Linda McCartney: Ram (Apple SMAS-3375, 1971).
Jumping out of alph order because I’m watching that new Paul doc and wanted to hear this. I should probably find a cleaner copy. This one’s scratched up pretty bad. The quality cuts through the noise and still sounds great. Top three solo Beatle album for sure.
Jake