272. Incredible Bongo Band | Bongo Rock (1973)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Let There Be Drums
2. Apache
3. Bongolia
4. Last Bongo in Belgium
5. Dueling Bongos
6. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
7. Raunchy '73
8. Bongo Rock '73

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Note: The album cover on the left side is for the original US release; the one on the right is for the original UK release.

Bongo Rock is a exciting album. The music is quite lively and rhythmic, featuring bongos, keyboards and various horns and some guitar. The songs are all instrumentals, even the cover version of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.

I think this is a fun album to listen to. I especially like good instrumental songs and they are in profusion here. It does take some time to get comfortable with all of the songs. I didn't find In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida interesting at first, and now it's something to marvel at. The interlude is really good.

I think this album is worth listening to. It's one whose relevance had to wait until hip-hop and big beat came into being. And so any fan of those genres should be familiar with at least Apache, Bongolia and Last Bongo In Belgium. In that way, this album is way ahead of its time because the rhythms being played were so useful. However that's probably just accidental more than intentional. And that's why this album doesn't need to be on the 1001 Albums list.

All the songs are excellent. The stand-outs are: Let There Be Drums, Apache, Bongolia, Dueling Bongos, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida and Bongo Rock '73.

★★★★★★★★☆☆

259. David Ackles | American Gothic (1972)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. American Gothic
2. Love's Enough
3. Ballad of the Ship of State
4. One Night Stand
5. Oh, California!
6. Another Friday Night
7. Family Band
8. Midnight Carousel
9. Waiting for the Moving Van
10. Blues for Billy Whitecloud
11. Montana Song

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American Gothic is a peculiar album. The music has a vaudevillian and orchestral quality to it. David Ackles sings in a style similar to Tim Buckley and Jacques Brel.

The songs are ostensibly snapshots of American life—a loveless, dysfunctional marriage, the end of the Vietnam War, love vs. lust, mass consumerism, loneliness and alcohol, religiosity, the pioneer spirit. It's a dark, sad and cynical album that ends on a hopeful note; even the music is upbeat when the lyrics aren't.

This album has moments of profound beauty and insight. Other moments border on the banal. In that, it's an uneven album which can be forgiven because of it's adventurousness. I think the album is most definitely worth listening to, after a brief review of American history. This album can be seen either as a last gasp of pre-rock and roll popular music or as passing the baton to a new generation of singers like Tom Waits. Which it actually is ought to determine whether this album deserves to be on the 1001 Albums list. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.

All the songs are quite good, but the strongest part of the album is the opening three songs. The stand outs are: American Gothic, Love's Enough, Ballad of the Ship of State, One Night Stand, Another Friday Night, Midnight Carousel, Waiting for the Moving Van, Blues for Billy Whitecloud and Montana Song.

★★★★★★★★★☆

252. Hugh Masekela | Home Is Where the Music Is (1972)

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Tracks

1. Part Of A Whole
2. Minawa
3. The Big Apple
4. Uhomé
5. Maseru
6. Inner Crisis
7. Blues For Huey
8. Nomali
9. Maesha
10. Ingoo Pow-Pow (Children's Song)

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Home Is Where the Music Is is a soothing album. The music is jazz. The music is performed by a five-piece group, comprising of three South Africans and two Americans. That's interesting because of the possibilities of inflecting jazz with music from another culture.

And looking at the exotic titles for some of the pieces would suggest that Hugh Masekela is bringing in musical styles from his native South Africa. Perhaps that's what's responsible for the strong melodies since the jazz that they're doing is certainly more melodic that the jazz from artists previously featured on this list. If the influences are manifesting themselves in other ways, I can't tell, though.

This is a good album, but it's a little longer than it needs to be. Like I've said before: since the 1001 Albums list is primarily a list of rock albums from the US, UK and Canada, it's unnecessary for jazz albums and music from artists outside those countries to appear on this list. This album belongs to both categories, so there's two reasons for it not to be on the list. I think it's worth listening to, especially for those who enjoy jazz.

All the songs are good and are fairly equal in quality. All, or at least most, have a strong melody that makes it interesting and compelling to listen to. I'll leave it at that.

★★★★★★★★★☆

192. Ananda Shankar | Ananda Shankar (1970)

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Tracks

1. Jumpin' Jack Flash
2. Snow Flower
3. Light My Fire
4. Mamata (Affection)
5. Metamorphosis
6. Sagar (The Ocean)
7. Dance Indra
8. Raghupati

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Ananda Shankar is a progressive album. The music is Indian classical music heavily influenced by Western music. In fact, Anandar Shankar covers the Rolling Stones' Jumpin' Jack Flash and the Doors' Light My Fire. They have a psychedelic quality to them. The remainder of the songs are his own works. Everything except for Sagar has a more Western 4/4 rhythm (at least to my untrained ears) and very little droning. Sagar is the only piece that doesn't seem to have any essential Western qualities, although the eerie keyboards in the background might be less Indian and more Western.

I prefer the Ananda's original material over the covers. The covers are well done, but they seem like out-of-place novelties on an otherwise serious album.

I enjoyed listening to this album and I think anyone who does listen to it will enjoy it, too. However, this album has no place on the 1001 Albums list for the simple fact that less than 1% of the albums on the list are either non-Western or can't trace their roots back to rock and roll. I can't say whether it's essential to listen to or not since I have very little experience with Indian music. 

All of the songs are excellent. The two that really impressed me were Sagar and Raghupati.

★★★★★★★★★☆

76. Astrud Gilberto | Beach Samba (1967)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Stay
2. Misty Roses
3. The Face I Love
4. Parade
5. Oba Oba
6. Canoeiro
7. I Had The Craziest Dream
8. Beach Samba
9. My Foolish Heart
10. Dia Das Rosas
11. You Didn't Have To Be So Nice
12. Não Bate O Coração

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Beach Samba is a mellow album. There are American and Brazilian songs on this album, most of which are performed in the samba or bossa nova style.


The songs mostly work well together, but I am confused by what makes this album exceptional. Usually when the artist is a vocalist, the music is passable at worst. The music isn't meant to steal the show; it's meant to support the vocalist. This music on this album is no exception; it gets the work done.


Since the music isn't the draw, then it has to be the vocalist and on the 1001 Albums list there have been some great vocalists featured so far. I don't think Astrud Gilberto is exceptional enough to warrant her own album, let alone be on a list of must-listen albums. I suspect this album and her career are a direct result of the surprise popularity of her singing on The Girl from Ipanema on Getz/Gilberto.


I didn't hate the album, I just found it pointless. It's not a bad album, but it's not a good album either. It's like sitting in lukewarm water–you get no feeling from it. Some songs worth listening to are: Stay, Misty Roses, Parade and Beach Samba.

★★★★ ☆☆☆☆☆☆

5. Fats Domino | This Is Fats Domino! (1956)

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Tracks

1. Blueberry Hill
2. Honey Chile
3. What's The Reason I'm Not Pleasing You
4. Blue Monday
5. So Long
6. La La
7. Troubles Of My Own
8. You Done Me Wrong
9. Reeling And Rocking
10. The Fat Man's Hop
11. Poor Poor Me
12. Trust In Me

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[It seems the title and cover of this album as presented in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die are wrong. There is an album titled This Is Fats, but it contains different tracks. The correct album is the above mentioned This Is Fats Domino!.]

This Is Fats Domino! is a difficult album. It all seemed so simple when I was listening to it, but now that I try to write about it, it doesn't appear simple at all.

Some songs have a jazz sound, e.g. Blueberry Hill, Honey Chile, and others have a blues sound, e.g. Troubles of My Own, Reeling and Rocking. All of them, except for Poor, Poor Me which is straight blues, have a lively, uptempo rhythm. So, since the songs aren't jazz and they aren't blues, what are they? They certainly aren't country songs.

They are most likely categorized as rhythm and blues, but that's just a catch-all phrase for music marketed to black listeners. Of course, the answer is that these songs are either rock and roll songs or they are songs that bridge the gap between jazz and blues, and rock and roll.

No matter how these songs are defined or categorized, they are enjoyable to listen to. The most notable songs are Blueberry Hill, Honey Chile, Blue Monday, So Long, La La and Trust In Me. However, they are too short in length to be memorable.

★★★★★★★★☆☆