Some classics
Mar 30 '00
Picking the 10 best 'pop' albums can be a little tricky. What exactly is 'pop'? Can I include T-Bone Walker, or world music, or folk? I'll try and narrow the confines of 'pop' to it's classic sense - rock, if it's not too hard, jazz, if it's not too jazzy, etc. In no particular order:
1. Louis Prima - Capital Collector's series. What a great 'feel good' album. Put this on when your having a pizza party, or painting the house, you'll have a ball!
2. James Taylor - Sweet Baby James. Sweet and mellow folk/jazz/rock at it's best. Not a bad cut on the album. Taylor has done so many good things, but this is still my favorite!
3. Carol King - Tapestry. The female version of the above. Soo listenable.
4. Laura Nyro - The First Songs. Laura Nyro is a very underrated singer, better known for her songwriting abilities. She has a voice right from heaven. It was hard picking a favorite record, but this is the one I most often play. Another great one if you can find it is 'Live at the Bottom Line'.
5. Manhattan Transfer - Down at Birdland. Perhaps the ultimate vocal group. They can do it all - jazz, pop, doo-wop. This is a great collection.
Catch them live if you can!
6. Frank Sinatra - Best of the Capital Years. The more I listen, the more I appreciate Sinatra. This is true American pop at it's best. The 'Capital Years' is a great collection of the material we all associacte with Sinatra - 'Night and Day', 'Witchcraft' ,'Lady is a Tramp', etc.
7. Mose Allison - Best Of. Mose is actually a jazz/blues singer/pianist,
but his appeal reaches out to every taste. Very cool smokey stuff. If you've never heard him, you're in for a treat!
8. Moonglows - Blue Velvet - the Ultimate Collection. Again this is stretching the definition of pop just a little, but this is 50's doo-wop at it's best. The Moonglows had such a unique sound, that still holds up 40+ years later. So glad they finally got in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
9. Van Morrison - A Night in San Francisco. Van 'the Man' keeps getting better! It was tough to pick a favorite, this is a wonderful live recording on 2 cd's. A musical feast of Van at his best.
10. Tony Bennet - Astoria. Tony is one of the last of the great 'saloon singers'. This is a fairly recent (late 80's?) collection. Some very pretty ballads, an album that can be played over and over without tiring of it.
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
DougNH
|
|
Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.