OK, since everyone else is getting in on the act, herewith my Top 15 that I'd like to be marooned with, if I had to be marooned.
Harry Chapin: Just about anything, but especially the albums Greatest Stories Live and Legends of the Lost and Found. Chapin was a great humanitarian and a damned good musician and writer, solo or with his band. Saw him live twice, and he was electrifying. He profoundly influenced my musicianship (such as it is). "It was rainin' hard in 'Frisco...."
Joni Mitchell: Ditto, with special emphasis on Blue. Joni rewrote the book for singer-songwriters and remains a huge influence on any number of current artists. "I could drink a case of you...."
Cat Stevens: Tea for the Tillerman. He may have changed his name and his religion, but "Father and Son", "Hard-Headed Woman" and a myriad of other songs still resonate. "There's so much you have to go through...."
Gordie Lightfoot: Don Quixote, Sit Down Young Stranger and Gord's Gold. Lightfoot's influence can't be over-estimated, in much the same way Joni's can't. His version of "Me and Bobby McGee" was the first I ever heard, and "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" was and is amazing. He's also great live. "For they looked in the future, and what did they see...."
The Clash: Cut the Crap. Cut the Crap wasn't their best-selling album, but the cut "This is England" should be required listening for anyone who wants to know what's going on in North America right now. "This is England, we can chain to a rail/This is England, we can kill you in our jail...."
Semisonic: Feeling Strangely Fine. "Closing Time" is one of the great anthemic songs of the 90s. Used part of it as an inspiration in a post called "Last Call". "Closing time, one last call for alcohol/So finish your whiskey or beer...."
Train: Drops of Jupiter. If "Meet Viriginia" didn't turn you on to this group, then "Drops of Jupiter" certainly should have. "Now she's back in the atmosphere, drops of Jupiter in her hair...."
Pete Seeger: Anything. I was born loving his music (although my parental units didn't). "Oh, Mary, don't you weep don't you mourn...."
Bruce Springsteen: Born to Run and The Seeger Sessions. I limited myself to two here, but there are so many more. "Highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last-chance power drive...."
Tom Petty: Southern Accents and a whole lot more. "Rebels" sends a shiver down my back, but then a lot of his stuff does, for one reason or another. "Yeah, with one foot in the grave/And one foot on the pedal/I was born a rebel...."
Bob Seger: Nine Tonight, Against the Wind, and much more. Seger's rags to riches story is amazing. His record company folded after his first hit -- "Heavy Music" -- and he was all ready to give up music, until he wrote "Night Moves". And that changed everything. "Woke last night to the sound of thunder/How far off, I sat and wondered...."
Etta James: At Last. Too many superlatives, too little space. "At last my love has come along, my lonely days are over...."
Golden Earring: Twilight Zone. Amazing orchestration and vocals by a group whose first language wasn't English. "When the bullet hits the bone...."
Queen: An anthology that contains "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Under Pressure" and "Hammer to Fall". "Just surrender and it won't hurt at all...."
Joe Cocker: Can't remember what specific album it was on (another that we have in an anthology) but come on ... is there a sexier song than "You Can Leave Your Hat On"? "You give me reason to live...."
TIP:
Enter the amount, and click "Tip" to submit!
OS Readers' Picks
Brassawe
Missilynn
Arthur Louis
Firechick
Kim Gamble
Salon.com
Comments
If you could read my mind love
What a tale my thoughts could tell
Just like an old time movie
'bout a ghost from a wishin' well
In a castle dark or a fortress strong
With chains upon my feet
You know that ghost is me
And I will never be set free
As long as I'm a ghost that you can't see
If I could read your mind love
What a tale your thoughts could tell
Just like a paperback novel
The kind that drugstores sell
When you reach the part where the heartaches come
The hero would be me
But heroes often fail
And you won't read that book again
Because the ending's just too hard to take
Are those some beautiful lyrics or what? Good list, all of it but thanks for including Gordon.
Mark, I prefer the live version now, but it was the original studio recording that sold me on Seger.
Spud, that too is a great Gordie song. Well ... most of them were, come to think on it.
Eastinidaho, it was The Redhead who turned me on to Etta James. And Joan Armatrading and Dionne Farris.... Shoot. More left off the list.
Thanks for putting together the list, Kathy. I'll be by to check it out. Was the "Under Pressure" version the one with David Bowie and Freddie?
Fetlock, I didn't know about Mercury's teeth (well, except that he had a bad overbite). It doesn't surprise me that he'd forego getting them fixed for such a reason. I remember Queen at Live Aid doing Radio Gaga and Hammer to Fall. Amazing performance that energized the whole crowd.
I haven't read that, but it doesn't surprise me, Crank, not one little bit. Especially when you take the long view of contemporary music and how, say, the pioneering black rock and blues singers were shamefully treated by the industry.
(Damn. Forgot Dylan, The Band, The Guess Who, Peter Gabriel, The Kinks ... and the beat goes on.)
In The Early Mornin' Rain, Springsteen's, Greeting From Ashbury Park. Chapin was highly influential. Him and Jim Croce and a number of songwriters died waaay too young. Petty, The Clash, Etta, Golden Earring ... See what I mean!
I'm thinking you just can't do this right with only 15 picks.
Yeah, Scarlett, every time I sit down to think about it, I want to add more: Rompin' Ronnie Hawkins, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash.... They all influenced me one way or another. Arrrrgh. Tough to limit it to 15.
ScanMan, Petty gets a lot of airplay in this house (to the neighbours' chagrin, I'm sure, since we tend to jack up the volume a tad for him).
So did I, Joan. He was due to come back to our area and I wanted to see him for the third time. I surely miss his commitment as much as his music.
Cappy! I had no idea you were a Chapin fan, but I'm not very surprised. Taxi, Sequel, A Better Place to Be, WOLD, Cats in the Cradle, Copper, The Old Folkie, Remember When the Music, Northwest 222 ... I learned and played them all. Still have the sheet music.
And ain't that a great guitar riff that follows the Seger lines you quoted?
Rated.
When was that, Matt? I first saw him in concert about 1968, in London, Ont. I think it was Ian and Sylvia who gave him a big boost when they recorded a couple of his songs. And oh hell, there's ANOTHER one for the list.
Bernadine, no one really knows what happened that sad day, but I've always believed Harry had a heart attack before crashing into the semi. He was merciless in driving himself. Did you ever see the tribute concert?
Julie, I know exactly what you mean....