208. Marvin Gaye | What's Going On (1971)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. What's Going On
2. What's Happening Brother
3. Flyin' High (In the Friendly Sky)
4. Save the Children
5. God Is Love
6. Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)
7. Right On
8. Wholy Holy
9. Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)

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What's Going On is a passionate album. The music is soul. It's a combination of bass, congas, strings, vocals. The music doesn't seem to have much structure. The bass moves the music from one place to another and Marvin Gaye's vocals follow along.

It's disappointing that the 1001 Albums list isn't listed chronologically within each year. Sly and the Family Stone's There's a Riot Goin' On is listed before What's Going On, but the latter was released before the former. In fact, Sly had another name in mind for Riot, but he renamed the album as a response to What's Going On.

It's disappointing because the bass style is similar and mentioning the style as first and attributing to Sly makes sense in context in the context of the list, but it makes little sense historically.

Besides the music, which is really good, the songs are significant for the message in the lyrics. There are songs about the Viet Nam war, poverty, unemployment, the environment, children, drug abuse, the haves and have nots and religion. There's hope in these songs, but there's frustration, anger and bewilderment. It's just as relevant today as it was in 1971.

I think this album is fantastic. It's definitely one of the best I've ever heard. It is definitely a different kind of soul—a more socially aware soul. The music is just as energetic, but it's more conservative. This album is worth listening to and I think any serious collector would be hard pressed not to include it in his collection. It certainly also deserves to be on the 1001 Albums list.

All of the songs are excellent. The stand outs for me are: What's Going On, What's Happening Brother, Save the Children, Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology), Right On and Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler).

★★★★★★★★★★

195. Rod Stewart | Gasoline Alley (1970)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Gasoline Alley
2. It's All Over Now
3. Only a Hobo
4. My Way of Giving
5. Country Comfort
6. Cut Across Shorty
7. Lady Day
8. Jo's Lament
9. You're My Girl (I Don't Want to Discuss It)

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Gasoline Alley is a smart album. The music is rock and roll, but it's not a retrospective. This is a contemporary incarnation of rock and roll. Other rock bands since the early Beatles' albums have been heavily influenced by the blues. While this album is informed by the blues, it doesn't draw too directly from the source, unlike the blues rock and psychedelic rock bands.

This album is really strong throughout. The first two songs are really catchy and energetic. Only a Hobo is a great cover of a Dylan song and it slows the pace right down for the next two songs which are slow but really great songs. Country Comfort is one of my favorite songs. It really gets going when Ronnie Lane joins Rod Stewart on vocals. From Cut Across Shorty to the end, the album begins to rock harder and harder which is a perfect way to end an album.

I think this is one of the best albums I've ever heard. I like how it strips away all the ostentation of the past decade to return to a clean rock and roll sound. This is certainly an album worth listening to frequently. It's certainly an album that any seriously collector should have. I do believe it should be on the 1001 Albums list. It may not be the album responsible for the backlash toward psychedelic rock and prog rock, but it's certainly demonstrative of a desire to make things simpler.

There's not a bad song on this album. My favorites are: Gasoline Alley, Only a Hobo, Country Comfort, Cut Across Shorty and You're My Girl (I Don't Want to Discuss It).

★★★★★★★★★★

189. Van Morrison | Moondance (1970)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. And It Stoned Me
2. Moondance
3. Crazy Love
4. Caravan
5. Into the Mystic
6. Come Running
7. These Dreams of You
8. Brand New Day
9. Everyone
10. Glad Tidings

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Moondance is a gentle album. The music varies from R&B to jazz to country to folk. And it works! Van Morrison makes it work. His voice is plastic and fits any style naturally. His backing musicians make it work too. The rhythm section is fluid and lively. The saxes and flute do a good job in support.

I really liked this album. Van Morrison makes interesting music and he tells stories in his lyrics that are enjoyable and sensible—a rare treat. I do think this album is worth listening to, but I don't think it necessarily belongs on the 1001 Albums list. Van Morrison's range is impressive, but there's nothing new on this album, either.

All of the songs are quite good. The stand outs are: And It Stoned Me, Moondance, Caravan, Into the Mystic, These Dreams of You and Glad Tidings.

★★★★★★★★★☆

152. Elvis Presley | From Elvis in Memphis (1969)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Wearin' That Loved On Look
2. Only the Strong Survive
3. I'll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms)
4. Long Black Limousine
5. It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin'
6. I'm Movin' On
7. Power of My Love
8. Gentle on My Mind
9. After Loving You
10. True Love Travels on a Gravel Road
11. Any Day Now
12. In the Ghetto

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From Elvis in Memphis is an anachronistic album. Almost, that is. Much of the music has an early rock and roll/rockabilly sound. Or maybe it doesn't. Perhaps Elvis is the anachronism and will forever only exist in 1956. However, that doesn't explain Elvis is Back!.

Despite being a decade-and-a-half out of sync, this is a great-sounding album. I suppose that money was no object during most Elvis Presley recording sessions, so it should sound great. No matter, Elvis has never sounded better himself. His singing on this album and Elvis is Back! is very expressive and what was lacking on his debut album.

One blemish to this album is In the Ghetto. Apparently, it was the biggest hit on this album, but I just think it's so out of character for Elvis. He never included (overtly) social or political commentary in his music, as far as I know. He should have sung a gospel song instead.

I don't necessarily think this needs to be on the 1001 Albums list. I don't think Elvis was breaking new ground, instead he was digging up relics of the past. Of course, it could be argued that this album deserves to be on the list because this album resurrected his flagging career. Anyway, it's worth listening to.

The stand out songs on this album are: Wearin' That Loved on Look, Only the Strong Survive, I'm Movin' On, Power of Love, Gentle on My Mind, After Loving You, True Love Travels on a Gravel Road and Any Day Now.

★★★★★★★★☆☆

107. The Rolling Stones | Beggars Banquet (1968)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Sympathy for the Devil
2. No Expectations
3. Dear Doctor
4. Parachute Woman
5. Jig-Saw Puzzle
6. Street Fighting Man
7. Prodigal Son
8. Stray Cat Blues
9. Factory Girl
10. Salt of the Earth

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Note: The album was originally meant to be released with the left album cover, but it was released with the right cover instead. See the Wikipedia entry for the details why the bottom cover was used.

Beggars Banquet is an edgy album. The songs are a mix of hard edged and quiet acoustic rock and roll. The mix of songs surprisingly works well together. The Rolling Stones certainly draw more directly from the blues than more of the recent rock and roll albums.

The album has a transcendent quality to it, something akin to what the Beatles accomplished from Revolver on. After listening to the album one time, there's no question about how great it is. I've yet to figure out for myself why there are albums like this. Is it just a convergence of production quality, mature song writing and mature playing? Maybe there's no way to define it; instead, you just feel it in your bones.

I've never been a big fan of the Rolling Stones, but the 1001 Albums list is making me one. Naturally, it follows from the observation above that this is not only an album that must be listened to, but it's an album that should be part of any serious music listener's collection. 

There isn't a bad track on this album, but the real stand outs are Sympathy for the Devil, Jig-Saw Man, Street Fighting Man, Prodigal Son, Stray Cat Blues and Salt of the Earth.

★★★★★★★★★★

75. Nina Simone | Wild Is the Wind (1966)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. I Love Your Lovin' Ways
2. Four Women
3. What More Can I Say
4. Lilac Wine
5. That's All I Ask
6. Break Down And Let It All Out
7. Why Keep On Breaking My Heart
8. Wild Is the Wind
9. Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair
10. If I Should Lose You
11. Either Way I Lose

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Wild Is the Wind is a gritty album. The music does a good job supporting Nina Simone, since the music is all about her singing. She has deep and powerful voice; it's not beautiful, but it's emotional–and that's what really matter.


And it's the emotion which links all these songs together. Without that, these songs become an arbitrary collection. She puts more emotion in one note than most singers put in a whole career. 


The first time I heard this album, I liked it, but it didn't appreciate it. After having listened to it a few more times, I'm just so overwhelmed by the honesty and purity of her singing.


The songs are all great, but the really outstanding ones are: I Love Your Lovin' Ways, Four Women, Lilac Wine, Break Down And Let It All Out and Wild Is the Wind.

★★★★★★★★ ☆☆

51. Otis Redding | Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul (1965)

Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Ole Man Trouble
2. Respect
3. Change Gonna Come
4. Down in the Valley
5. I've Been Loving You Too Long
6. Shake
7. My Girl
8. Wonderful World
9. Rock Me Baby
10. Satisfaction
11. You Don't Miss Your Water

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Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul is heavy, sexy album. Otis Redding seduces us with a voice that is as smooth as silk and as rough as gravel. When the music is slow it comes with a mean groove and when it's more lively it borders on being funk.

Otis Redding does well re-imaging contemporary hits. However, I didn't really like the use of horns on Wonderful World and Satisfaction.

While the songs are super, they don't jell into a cohesive album. It's more like a greatest hits compilation. It's still worth listening to. The songs that stand out are Ole Man Trouble, Respect, Change Gonna Come, Down in the Valley, I've Been Loving You Too Long, My Girl and Rock Me Baby. 
★★★★★★★★☆☆

46. The Rolling Stones | The Rolling Stones (1964)

Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Route 66
2. I Just Want to Make Love to You
3. Honest I Do
4. Mona (I Need You Baby)
5. Now I've Got a Witness
6. Little by Little
7. I'm a King Bee
8. Carol
9. Tell Me
10. Can I Get a Witness
11. You Can Make It If You Try
12. Walking the Dog

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The Rolling Stones is quite good. It's energetic, but not exciting. The songs consist mostly blues covers, but they have been given a rock and roll treatment that has a much harder edge than anything that has come before.

This album didn't appeal to me the first time I heard it, but I've come to appreciate it. It's not just unpolished, it's raw. The role of the lead guitar is a novel one on Mona (I Need You Baby), Tell Me and Walking the Dog and that's what makes this album worth listening to. Besides those three songs, the other stand outs are: I Just Want to Make Love to You, Honest I Do, Little by Little and King Bee. 
★★★★★★★★☆☆

44. Solomon Burke | Rock 'n' Soul

Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye)
2. Cry to Me
3. Won't You Give Him (One More Chance)
4. If You Need Me
5. Hard, Ain't It Hard
6. Can't Nobody Love You
7. Just Out of Reach
8. You're Good for Me
9. You Can't Love Them All
10. Someone to Love Me
11. Beautiful Brown Eyes
12. He'll Have to Go

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Rock 'n' Soul is a good album. However, it doesn't inspire me when I listen to it. Solomon Burke is has a powerful voice and there's strong emotion coursing through many of the songs.

The title of the album suggests it's a rock and roll album as well as a soul album. Solomon Burke certainly sings in a similar way to James Brown and Sam Cooke, but the music is completely different. The music on this album is more closely related to the blues. And there's certainly little relation to rock and roll. Again, it's musically more like the blues, like Fats Domino's rock was more blues than rock and roll.

I should like the album more than I do. Maybe it's because I was spoiled with two outstanding live soul albums. Whatever the problem is, it's certainly an album worth listening to. The second half of the album is stronger than the first half. The first half has catchier songs, but the second half the songs are more emotional.  The stand out songs are: Cry to Me, Won't You Give Him (One More Chance), Can't Nobody Love You, You Can't Love Them All, Someone to Love Me, Beautiful Brown Eyes and He'll Have to Go.
★★★★★★★☆☆☆

40. James Brown | Live at the Apollo (1963)

Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Introduction to James Brown "Mr. Dynamite" / Theme
2. I'll Go Crazy
3. Try Me
4. Think
5. I Don’t Mind
6. Lost Someone
7. Medley: Please, Please, Please/You’ve Got The Power/I Found Someone/Why Do You Do Me/I Want You So Bad/I Love You, Yes I Do/Strange Things Happen/Bewildered/Please, Please, Please
8. Night Train

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James Brown 'Live' at the Apollo is an uneven album. Most of the songs are between two and three minutes long, but Lost Someone and the medley are over ten and six minutes long, respectively. The total album is a little over a half hour long, so those two songs take up more than half the album.

Despite the imbalance, the music is really exciting and fun. James Brown does a great job winning over the crowd. This recording captures the crowd's response well. If it hadn't, Lost Someone and the medley and, subsequently, the whole album would have fallen flat. It's quite clear that James Brown can win over a crowd just as well as Sam Cooke can.

It's a very good album, but after listening to it a few times Lost Someone loses its freshness and becomes quite tedious. It's certainly one of the best songs on the album; the others being I'll Go Crazy, Think and the medley. 
★★★★★★★★☆☆

38. Sam Cooke | Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963 (1963)

Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Feel It
2. Chain Gang
3. Cupid
4. Medley: It's All Right/For Sentimental Reasons
5. Twistin' the Night Away
6. Somebody Have Mercy
7. Bring It On Home to Me
8. Nothing Can Change This Love
9. Having a Party

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Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963 is a raw and sexy album. Sam Cooke is irresistible. When he first comes on stage, the crowd is subdued. Then from one song to the next he builds up the sexual tension and by the end of the show he's got them whipped into a frenzy and ready to go home to let their sexual urges take over.

The style of music is something that hasn't been encountered on the 1001 albums list yet. Most of the songs have a slow groove with either Sam singing or a saxophone playing. There's certainly a relation to the blues with the groove. Anyway, it's hypnotic, seductive and fun.

This album instantly became one of my favorites when I first heard it. It's a perfect album to put on when you've had a bad day, but it's also a prefect album to put when you've had a great day. Chain Gang, Cupid and the last half of the album: Twistin' the Night Away, Somebody Have Mercy, Bring It On Home to Me, Nothing Can Change This Love and Having a Party are amazing. Feel It and the It's All Right/For Sentimental Reasons are great too. What a great album. 
★★★★★★★★★★

32. Booker T. and the M.G.s | Green Onions (1962)

Wikipedia entry

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Tracks

1. Green Onions
2. Rinky Dink
3. I Got a Woman
4. Mo' Onions
5. Twist and Shout
6. Behave Yourself
7. Stranger on the Shore
8. Lonely Avenue
9. One Who Really Loves You
10. You Can't Sit Down
11. A Woman, a Lover, a Friend
12. Comin' Home Baby

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Green Onions has a nice, crisp sound. Except for Green Onions and Mo' Onions, all the songs are instrumental cover versions. Besides sounding good, it's not very interesting. More interesting is that the organ reminds me of being at the Boston Garden as a kid and watching the Boston Bruins.

It's worth listening to for the sound and if you really enjoy organs. No matter what though, Green Onions is definitely worth listening to, and Behave Yourself and One Who Really Loves You are pretty good, too.
★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

31. Ray Charles | Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music (1962)

Wikipedia entry

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Tracks

1. Bye Bye Love
2. You Don't Know Me
3. Half as Much
4. I Love You So Much It Hurts
5. Just a Little Lovin' (Will Go a Long Way)
6. Born to Lose
7. Worried Mind
8. It Makes No Difference Now
9. You Win Again
10. Careless Love
11. I Can't Stop Loving You
12. Hey, Good Lookin'

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Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music is a pleasant album. Ray Charles covers a dozen country and western songs—a bold and risky move for a soul musician! He could have alienated his fans and not won over any country and western listeners. But, Ray Charles is a charismatic guy and it always comes out in his music. So, of course his experiment worked!

He certainly gives a few of the songs a rhythm and blues twist, but with the others, he stays true to their origin as country and western songs. The more lively songs such as Bye Bye Love and Hey Good Lookin' are great. The slower songs are well done, but some of them are a drag on the album.

It's definitely an album worth listening to. The songs that really stand out are Bye Bye Love, You Don't Know Me, Just a Little Lovin' (Will Go a Long Way), It Makes No Difference Now, You Win Again, I Can't Stop Loving You and Hey, Good Lookin'.
★★★★★★★★☆☆

20. Ray Charles | The Genius of Ray Charles (1959)

Wikipedia entry

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Tracks

1. Let the Good Times Roll
2. It Had to Be You
3. Alexander's Ragtime Band
4. Two Years of Torture
5. When Your Lover Has Gone
6. 'Deed I Do
7. Just for a Thrill
8. You Won't Let Me Go
9. Tell Me You'll Wait for Me
10. Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin'
11. Am I Blue
12. Come Rain or Come Shine

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The Genius of Ray Charles is a superb album. Half the songs are vibrant and lively pieces, while the other half are soulful ballads. And while the music is great, they wouldn't be as outstanding without a singer like Ray Charles. He is so charismatic that he easily convinces you that the emotion and feeling in his singing is sincere.

While the first group of songs on the album are undoubtedly excellent and are more exciting, lively and easier to connect with at first blush, it's the ballads on the last half of the album that will leave a more lasting impact.

This is another album that I will never tire of hearing. All the songs are excellent, but the absolute stand outs are: Let the Good Times Roll, Alexander's Ragtime Band, When Your Lover Has Gone, You Won't Let Me Go, Tell Me You'll Wait for Me, Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin', Am I Blue and Come Rain or Come Shine.

★★★★★★★★★★