Didn't I make you feel like you were the only man?

Continuing my trip up Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time...

#373 : Hot Buttered Soul - Isaac Hayes (1969)

Isaac Hayes demanded Stax Records give him complete artistic control for his second album. What happened next sounded like nothing else in music at the time, an orchestral-soul watershed that forecast R&B’s turn toward symphonic excess and plush introspect. Hayes’ 12-minute Southern-psychedelic version of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David “Walk On By” and his spectacularly tortured 18-minute take on Jimmy Webb’s “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” took easy-listening tunes and refashioned them in his own radically laid-back image.

Ah - Chef.  As he very much doesn't like to be known these days (although since his death 12(!) years ago, I'm not sure he cares quite so much).  Although I'm not a huge soul fan, I was expecting to quite like this album - but I'd have to admit that the phrase "spectacularly tortured 18-minute take" didn't exactly fill me with confidence.  This confidence wasn't further increased when I saw there were only 4 tracks on the album - and one of them is called "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic".  I ploughed bravely on though - and I'd have to say I'm glad I did because otherwise I wouldn't be able to attempt to explain to you how completely and utterly barmy this album is.

It's actually quite hard to know where to start - probably the best example is that "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" starts with a monologue which is exactly in the style you'd expect from Isaac Hayes.  What you wouldn't expect is for it to continue until almost 9 minutes into the track.  9 minutes!  To be fair, the rest of the track (the other 9 minutes) does sound like you'd expect it to - unlike "Walk On By" which is just very curious indeed.  I'd have to say the instrumentation throughout the album is of a high quality and his voice is very fine indeed - but the overall effect is just a bit too much for me, I'm afraid.

Wikipedia makes it very clear that Isaac Hayes is very much responsible for the album - he demanded creative control and I can't help but suspect more than one person must have asked him "are you sure this is what you want to do?".  Amusingly, Henry Rollins (of Black Flag "fame") has frequently claimed this is one of his favourite albums - which possibly explains a lot of his anger issues.  "Customers also listened to" a load of people I don't know, but the album covers suggest they've very much got soul - but I'm not sure they can have quite as much soul as Isaac does.  Overall, I'm glad I listened to this album, but let me assure you it won't be happening again.

#372 : Cheap Thrills - Big Brother And The Holding Company (1968)

After Big Brother’s performance at the Monterey Pop Festival made Janis Joplin a star, fans were heatedly expecting a live album from them. But their in-the-red loudness and sloppy performances meant they had to cut their second album in a New York studio, with crowd noise added in later. “We’re just a sloppy group of street freaks,” Joplin said. But these San Francisco acid rockers were the most simpatico band she ever had, especially when their raw racket backs Joplin up on “Piece of My Heart,” perhaps her greatest recording.

I'd heard of Janis Joplin but wasn't aware of her connection to Big Brother And Friends - but the phrase "acid rockers" didn't exactly encourage me.  I think my expectations of a late 60s album out of San Francisco with cover art by Robert Crumb were exactly where you'd expect them to be - and that's pretty much what I got.

However, I'd have to say there was more skill involved on the album than I was expecting - some of the guitar work is particularly impressive.  And whilst I'm not a huge fan of Joplin's vocal style, it mostly works well - but personally, I got somewhat tired of it over the course of the whole album.  I also don't particularly like their version of "Piece Of My Heart" (which I learned was first recorded by Aretha Franklin's sister - and there's also a Shaggy version out there, which I've not felt brave enough to listen to yet).  The vague attempts to pretend it was a live album are curious and feel half-hearted at best - the fact that people believed it just suggests there really were too many drugs around back then.  And the fact that I can quite believe they were impressive as a live act just makes the whole thing stranger.

Wikipedia doesn't have a lot to say about the album, but does point out it was the best selling album of 1968.  The entry for the group is slightly more interesting - they were very unhappy about Janis leaving the group later that year, but it's interesting that they're still hanging in there (and you wouldn't believe the number of vocalists they've worked their way through!)  "Customers also listened to" Jefferson Airplane and Jimi Hendrix - no surprises there.  All in all, I liked this way more than I was expecting without going as far as saying that meant I actually liked it, but it was an interesting musical education.

#371 : Anthology - The Temptations (1973)

Indisputably the greatest black vocal group of the modern era, the Temptations embodied Motown, channeling unique individual voices and talents into pristine hits and tight, tuxedoed choreography. This three-album set features masterpiece after masterpiece of chugging, gospel-tinged soul, including “My Girl,” “I Can’t Get Next to You,” and “I Wish It Would Rain,” and later, psychedelic-soul adventures like “Cloud Nine” and the gritty message-song masterpiece “Ball of Confusion.”

Ah - another Motown "best of" entry on the list.  I have to admit I couldn't find "Anthology" (any of the three versions released over the years) on my streaming provider of choice, so I had to choose between "Greatest Hits", "Best Of" and "The Definitive Collection".  And to be honest, I'm not sure which I went for but it's not like it made any difference - any of them would have been a fine collection of classic Motown.

But, it's still a greatest hits and you know what we think of such albums on this list - so sorry guys, but we can't be seen to be encouraging such behaviour.  Wikipedia has an absolutely astounding amount to say about the group - I think it's safe to say their legacy is unquestionable.  I was amazed to find out they were still going with Otis Williams from the original line-up still hanging in there (and he'll be 80 next year!).  "Customers also listened to" all the people you'd expect - and mostly greatest hits albums as well.  So, an impressive collection of tracks, but not valid for this list in my eyes.

Which leaves us in a tricky place - The Temptations aren't allowed to win and Isaac really shouldn't be encouraged on the strength of that album, so it has to go to Big Brother And The Holding Company for a wildly successful but somewhat average and often quite annoying album.  Them's the breaks, I guess.

#376-374 - I don't get the blues
#370-368 - And the award for best feuds goes to...