Saturday, October 5, 2013

Musical Hat Tricks - album, cassette and cd

ROSEMARY HARRIS: As I mentioned earlier this week, I attended a phenomenal concert on Monday night. Steely Dan at the Beacon Theatre in New York. The Beacon is a great place for a show - big but not too big, and it was filled with like-minded souls who were ready to dance in their seats and pay homage to "the Cuervo Gold and the fine Colombian" even if the only Colombian we'd indulged in recently was in a coffee cup.

The band did about 7 shows and each was billed with an album title. I went to Aja, IMHO one of the best albums ever recorded. They performed the entire album and then treated the audience to at least another hour of incredible music from 3-4 (scary number here...) DECADES of hits.

I left on a cloud. And I was reminded that I have owned Aja as an album, a cassette and a cd. Clearly I like it. It made me wonder which other pieces of music I've owned in all formats.  I instantly excluded classical and operas since I own so many different versions of..for example...The Four Seasons, Carmen, the Messiah, etc.

Off the top of my head and in no particular order, this is my list -
Aja - Steely Dan
Child is Father to the Man - Blood, Sweat and Tears
The White Album - The Beatles
A Renaissance Christmas - Waverly Consort
The Christmas Album - John Fahey
Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
Last Tango in Paris - Gato Barbieri
Songs in the Key of Life - Stevie Wonder
Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys
Eli and the Thirteenth Confession - Laura Nyro
Nilsson Schmilsson - Harry Nilsson



Okay that's enough for me. What about you?

Which albums  have stayed with you and stood the test the time?
Through ALL the delivery systems and formats...and yes....they're all on my iPod, too.





 

14 comments:

  1. Most of the music I listen to is on either vinyl or CD; I don’t have an iPod and there’s no music on my phone [except for my ringtone, which is the opening phrases of Julie London’s “Cry Me A River”]. The only music I’ve ever had in all formats is anything recorded by Julie London and, yes, I have everything she recorded.
    I am not an eclectic listener; I tend to return to the same few artists I consistently enjoy: Julie, Il Divo, Jackie Evancho, and Bobby Troup.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm a giant Aja fan, too. Hot tidbit: "Peg" was written about Peggy Lipton of Mod Squad fame -- this from Michael McDonald who sang backup on the cut.

    ReplyDelete

  3. Oooh - I love this piece, Ro.

    When Donald and I started dating, one of the things we discovered was our mutual love of music. And when we started living together we discovered we both owned many of the same albums. But, while my first love remains Motown, his remains Southern Rock. Like you, we've since bought a lot of those albums in cassette, and then in CD.

    Some of the music I never want to live without would include:

    Red Headed Stranger - Willie Nelson
    Butterfly - Streisand
    Hitsville USA - Motown boxed set
    Rumours - Fleetwood Mac
    No Secrets - Carly Simon
    Tapestry - Carole King
    August - Eric Clapton
    Hot Rocks - Rolling Stones
    Blue Skies - Greg Allman
    Maria Muldauer - Maria Muldauer
    Crazy by Patsy Cline

    ReplyDelete
  4. I missed out on albums, but I do have most of the grunge bands on cassette and CD.

    I had to say ... my younger self would have responded to Steely Dan with a hearty, "You've got to be kidding." But my husband played "Aja" for me, and that record is so perfect and glossy. It now lives in my digital files, sitting beside my folder of Sonic Youth albums.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I went to see them in CT last weekend at Foxwoods. They were fabulous there, too. One of my all-time favorites groups. For me, Fagan's solo The Nightfly always soothes my soul.

    I also love Steve Wonder (made my mom get me Secret Life of Plant for my birthday), but my taste ranges into a lot of varied stuff. I don't think I could put together a "favorite" list. Going to see Queens of the Stone Age tonight, though--yay!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Since I still own a working turntable (with a new stylus), and several cassette players, I'm still okay with one format. The one I have themost trouble with is CD players, which are highly unreliable.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Awhile back we went to a yard sale where a former radio DJ was getting rid of all of his vinyl. We bought tons. Some of my favorites include a really early Fanny Brice, Fats Waller, The Andrews Sisters, Bob Dylan Blonde on Blonde, Paul Simon Graceland, of course Tapestry. Can also listen endlessly to the original cast recordings of Oklahoma, Funny Girl, and Rent.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ro, what a fun quiz! Rick and I still have most of our vinyl, but it's stored in closets. We have a good turntable but it doesn't fit in our media cabinet. Someday we should set it up for fun.

    All of our CDs we also have in digital form--on our computers, tablets, some on my phone, and a lot on my Samsung P2 (non-Apple version of iPod.)

    I have no idea what we duplicated in cassette tapes--those are LONG gone. But a few highlights that made it from vinyl to CD/digital:

    Everything by the Beatles
    Tapestry, Carole King
    Surrealistic Pillow, Jefferson Airplane
    Everything by Crosby, Stills, and Nash
    Ditto James Taylor
    Ditto Paul Simon
    Sunshine Superman, Donovan
    Some Girls, The Rolling Stones
    Soundtrack from The Big Easy
    Albums by Kenny Rankin, Dan Fogleberg, and America
    Fragile, Yes
    It's a Beautiful Day
    The Long Run, the Eagles
    Tea for the Tillerman, Cat Stevens
    Songs for Beginners, Graham Nash
    Cream
    Skin Dive, Michael Franks
    McCartney

    Funny, I was never a Steely Dan fan, and although Rick was I don't see any Steely Dan in our catalog.

    Will have to listen anew!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh... Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and Cat Stevens.

    ReplyDelete
  10. OMG..soundtrack from The Big Easy, It's a Beautiful Day, Maria Muldaur - having flashbacks!
    Cool trivia about Peggy Lipton. She was so gorgeous..probably still is!

    Yes to Tapestry and Rumours, too. And The Nightfly. An almost perfect album...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Rosemary, looking at your list brings tears to my eyes. Laura Nyro, Harry Nillson. I am not kidding. I love you. ELi's Coming! I mean--it's fabulous. And when I worked at teh record store, my goal in life was to sell Nillson albums.

    Graceland, of course. And Carly Simon's song Let the river Run. Judy Colilns Both Sides Now. And Marat/Sade. Leonard Cohen's--what was it called? The one with Suzanne.

    Abbey Road. Sgt. Pepper. The Joni Mitchell with Carey.

    The CSNY with Suite Judy Blue Eyes.

    My Broadway confession soundtrack is A Chorus LIne.

    Just home from Philadelphia and now making dinner..I wish I had more time to think about this! What an amazing blog.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Moody Blues
    Gerry Rafferty
    Little River Band
    Justin Hayward
    Super Tramp
    Beatles
    Simon & Garfunkle
    Chicago
    Gary Pucket & Union Gap
    Crosby STills & Nash
    David Gates
    Elton John
    America
    The EAgles
    Dan Fogleberg
    Jimmie Spheeris
    Bee Gees
    Association
    The Doors
    Andy Williams
    Seals & Croft

    ReplyDelete


  13. OH! A Chorus Line! Yes!!!!

    Soundtrack from The Big Chill.

    this is fun, I could play this all night long.



    ReplyDelete