I'm on the pavement thinking about the government

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

#182 : Sweet Baby James - James Taylor (1970)

Taylor’s second album landed him on the cover of Time magazine, and its gentle melodies drew the blueprint for many of the Seventies singer-songwriters that followed. But he went through a private hell on his way to success; the hit “Fire and Rain” was inspired by his stay in a psychiatric institution in the mid-1960s (he had committed himself) and the suicide of a close friend. In the months before making this album, Taylor committed himself again, this time to kick heroin. His confessional lyrics set a new standard, as did the spare melodicism of his songs. But it was the quiet strength in his voice that makes this album a model of folk-pop healing.

I was vaguely aware of James Taylor - mostly from "You've Got A Friend" with Carole King, but his mellifluous voice has popped up on various things over the years and I generally like it.  So I was expecting this to stand or fall entirely on the strength of the songs - the fact that I didn't recognise the hit (from the title at least) didn't give me a great deal of hope.  And well, they're OK - a bit jazzier than I was expecting, but very middle-of-the-road and I didn't think the songs showcased his voice particularly well.  But they're definitely no more than OK - after I'd listened to the whole thing I had to go back and relisten to "Fire And Rain" because I'd totally missed it.  And it was still OK.  Listening to the album, I was amazed I'd never seen him on Later with Jools (it's exactly the sort of thing they love) - it turns out he has been on a few times, but I obviously missed him and a no-doubt absolutely fascinating chat about the good old days. 

Wikipedia has remarkably little to say about the album except for this amusing quote from Robert Christgau - "Taylor's vehement following bewilders me; as near as I can discern, he is just another poetizing simp. Even the production is conventional. For true believers only".  And his page suggests he has quite a few true believers who have followed him over the years through thick and thin - over 100 million albums sold, which seems unbelivable on the strength of this, allegedly his best album.  And there have been some pretty thin years for the lad (he is this round's obligatory heroin addict), but he seems to be doing OK now (and looking very much like a college professor).  Obviously, the marriage/nice guy correlation theory disapproves of his three marriages, but the fact that the shortest of them was 9 years gives us hope that he might not be a complete bastard.

"Customers also listened to" Carly Simon (his ex-wife) and Carole King (he's got a friend!) - I suspect we'll be seeing at least one of them later on.  But all in all, I'm somewhat mystified as to how this found its way onto the list at all, let alone this high - he's got a nice voice, but that's about it.

#181 : Bringing It All Back Home - Bob Dylan (1965)

“It’s very complicated to play with electricity,” Dylan said in the summer of 1965. “You’re dealing with other people.… Most people who don’t like rock & roll can’t relate to other people.” But on Side One of this pioneering album, Dylan amplifies his cryptic, confrontational songwriting with guitar lightning and galloping drums. “Subterranean Homesick Blues” and “Maggie’s Farm” are loud, caustic, and funny as hell. Dylan returns to solo acoustic guitar on the four superb songs on Side Two, including the scabrous “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” and the closing ballad, “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” arguably his finest, most affectionate song of dismissal.

Talking of albums that stand or fall on the strength of their songs - let's have some more Bob, eh?  We've not seen him since #255 after all - I do hope he's not been feeling left out, poor lad.  Despite my rudeness, I actually quite liked the last album but had a suspicion that was because it was an early one and he'd not worked out how to annoy me yet - so I was interested to see what I thought of this one which is 2 years older but still early enough for me to hold out some hope.

And well, he's certainly been working on his annoying whiny voice - my teeth were clenched for large portions of the album.  But I liked some of the songs - particularly "Subterranean Homesick Blues" with it's very cool and VERY early music "video" accompaniment playing on my internal cinema.  I also liked "Maggie's Farm", "It's Alright Ma" and "Mr Tambourine Man", although I think the latter suffers in comparison with The Byrds cover.  

Sigh - the Bob Dylan fan club have really been to town on the album's Wikipedia page.  Every song is examined in minute and excruciating detail - which I have no interest in whatsoever.  I do appreciate this is an important album in the sacred canon of Bob given that he picked up an electric guitar and, in the process of doing so, pissed off a HUGE number of people that really had better things to worry about.

Weird Wikipedia diversion - I was amazed to hear someone laughing at the start of "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" and thought "that can't be Bob, surely? Laughing?" so I checked it out and was relieved to find it wasn't him - imagine him wasting time on such a trivial activity.  But I also learned that, whilst that track was recorded in 1965, he didn't actually play it live until 1988 - which just gives you an idea as to size of his catalogue.  It also lead me to Rolling Stone's 100 Best Bob Dylan tracks here - it will probably not surprise you to learn I will not be reviewing this.

"Customers also listened to" all those people from around that time - and I'm very happy for them.  Overall, I'd say this was mostly a just-about-bearable educational experience but not one I'll be rushing back to, although there are songs on there I would suffer again if I had to.

#180 : Forever Changes - Love (1967)

“When I did that album,” singer Arthur Lee said, “I thought I was going to die at that particular time, so those were my last words.” Lee, who died of cancer in 2006, was still performing this album live well into the ‘00s. And for good reason: Love’s third record is his crowning achievement. A biracial cult band from L.A. that rarely gigged out of town in its 1960s heyday, Love were Lee’s vehicle for a pioneering folk-rock turned into elegant armageddon with the symphonic sweep and mariachi-brass drama of “Alone Again Or,” “Andmoreagain,” and “You Set the Scene.” In the late Nineties, Lee served time in prison. After his release, he brought extra pathos to “Live and Let Live” when he sang, “Served my time, served it well.”

I was surprisingly familiar with this album cover because, growing up, it was ALWAYS in the Our Price bargain bin.  And did I ever even once consider buying it or listening to it?  No, I did not - so I had absolutely no idea what to expect (especially after reading the description above).  And having listened to it, I'm not entirely sure how I'd describe it - i'm pretty sure I wouldn't plump for "pioneering folk-rock".  It's a bit like Simon & Garfunkel, with an extra shot of adrenaline from time to time (not for a whole song's worth though).  It's "fine", I guess - further listens may turn up reasons to listen to it further, but then again, they may not.  Some weird track titles as well - particularly "Bummer In The Summer" and "Maybe The People Would Be The Times Or Between Clark And Hilldale".

Wikipedia tells me it was one of those "did fair-to-middling at the time (particularly in the UK), but everyone now agrees it's the best thing ever".  It also tells me that after it was released, one of the band left and the lead singer sacked the rest of them - so that was that for the original line-up.  The band's entry is interesting in that it notes that they were one of the first racially diverse groups - which, given that this was only just before I was born, somewhat surprised me.  The only other unfortunate fact I took away is that a lot of the original line-up died young, including Bryan Maclean who died of a heart attack at the age of 52 - whilst he was having dinner with someone who was researching a book about the band.  How rude - the researcher must have been super pissed off!

"Customers also listened to" a load of people with very freaky album covers - it's obviously what people did back in the day.  But I'm afraid this is another album I'm mystified by its presence on the list - even more so than the James Taylor effort.

Oh God, I'm going to have to give another round to Bob, aren't I?  Or can I play a reverse joker and give it to Cyndi from the last round?  (I suspect Mr Stanniland would never forgive me if I did).  I did consider playing the joker here and adding another album in, but looking at the potential candidate I wasn't sure it would have helped (and looking at some of the albums coming up, I feel there might be more deserving rounds).  I am actually prepared to accept this is a "great" album given the overall kerfuffle surrounding it and the influence it had - but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

#185-183 - A very close two horse race
#179-177 - An "OK, I guess" selection