A Musical Journey – Danny’s Top 9 Influential Albums

“What kind of arrogant prick thinks their taste in music deserves a list?” I hear you exclaim in disgust at your computer. Let me explain. Liam Mcdermott (of Myspace fame, singer and all-round quality songwriter) made a list of 5 albums who changed his life a while ago, which made me think about my top 5. Yeah, ok, basically I just copied him. Except I needed an extra 4 because the choice was too hard. This is in chronological order and has nice little pictures of the album covers, how lovely. Its not a list of my favourite albums, more a list of the albums that affected me the most at particular turning points in my life, which is slightly more interesting i think.

(Note that this is purely my list and represents none of the other members of the Mob)
Danny

1. The Bothy Band – The Bothy Band

I had this album on cassette when I was 8 years old, and it gave me great delight to listen to it, practically all the time. I didn’t know anything about music, let alone Irish traditional music. In fact I disliked most trad that I’d heard, until The Bothy Band. They played trad with the vigour of a rock band. They used new instrumentation and arrangements (check out ‘The Butterfly’) that were previously unheard of in trad, but are now commonplace ( i.e. guitar and bazouki accompaniment). It is audible that they’re having fun while playing. This must have shaped my entire perception of music, which could be why I amn’t a big fan of bands that sound like they aren’t having fun when they play (Radiohead is the first example that comes into my head but are by no means the only ones). This album is mostly instrumental, but the vocal tracks are great too ‘Is Trua Nach Bhfuil Me In Eirinn’ and ‘Do You Love an Apple’ especially. This is one i still listen to a lot of the time. Its a classic. Incidentally my older brother Paddy recorded over the original tape I had with Coolio. I still hold a grudge to this day

2. Gloria Estefan – Cuts Both Ways

This is one that I’m not going to make any excuses for. Here it is, the album that convinced my older brothers that I was gay. We all make mistakes I am told. Basically I was 10 and it was in my papa’s CD collection. He’s one of the cheesiest guys around ( if you don’t believe me – check out his myspace onJack Groenland). However, i recently rediscovered this album with great joy. Now I don’t know if this is just nostalgia, or genuine affection for her music. She has a gorgeous voice, and has several cheesy heart-wrenching songs and latin-tinged upbeat groovy ones. Its her best-selling album, recorded at her peak in 1989. This probably won’t mean anything to you, but if you are curious, check out ‘Oye Mi Canto’ – Latin dancefloor anthem, ‘Here We Are’ – cheesy ballad, ‘Get on Your Feet’ and ‘Nothin’ New’ – funky disco numbers, or ‘Don’t Wanna Lose You’ which was the number one single from this album, though it isn’t the best song on it at all. If you can get past the 80’s production and unabashed cheesiness, then there is great beauty to be found here. Really nice harmonies, rhythms and songs with a really positive vibe that had an 10 year old me dancing around my papa’s apartment.

3. The Beatles – Rubber Soul

What more can anyone say about these four lads from Liverpool that hasn’t been covered to death by adoring nerds? Rubber Soul is generally regarded as the moment when they stopped writing fantastic throwaway pop songs and started doing fantastic lyrically meaningful pop songs. They also had more time in the studio and used ‘weird’ instruments like the sitar (Norwegian Wood) and Baroque-style harpsichord (In My Life). Basically i had a tape with this album on one side, and Elton John’s Greatest Hits on the other. Needless to say this was the side that I played non-stop, no disrespect to the Queen of Pop who has some great tunes. Every song (bar Ringo’s contribution) on Rubber Soul is brilliant. This album influenced me more than any other I think. It made me fall in love with harmony, there is extensive 3-part harmony on display (‘If I Needed Someone’, ‘Wait’, ‘The Word’). There are few sounds humans can produce that can better the three Beatle singers in harmony together. George Martin excelled himself on this album, the production is fantastic, considering the technology available at the time. 12 year old me loved it.

4. Crosby, Stills & Nash – Crosby, Stills & Nash

This supergroup (a member each of Buffalo Springfield, the Byrds and the Hollies) turned me into a tree-hugging longhair for a few teenage years. I took their every word as gospel. It didn’t matter that they were singing about a subject of which i knew very little. Why? Because they constantly sang in 3-part harmony, and to a lesser extent, they had several drug references. Teenage me thought this was cool. Current me probably still does, but pretends to be more mature. But if the Beatles taught me harmony, CSN took i to another level, not just harmonising choruses or hooks, but for whole songs, with just an acoustic guitar for accompaniment; “Helplessly Hoping”, “You Don’t Have to Cry”. The fact that all three members were exquisite songwriters was also very impressive, as was the musicianship of Stills throughout. The Epic “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” is clearly the stand-out track here, but every song on this album merits its’ place. Often the harmonies would fade in and out “Guinevere”, or they would act as solo instruments “Lady of the Island”. The idea of one melody line was banished, as listeners weren’t sure which voice was the main vocal, and which were harmonies. Which of course makes listening a lot more interesting.

5. Stevie Wonder – Talking Book

A lot of people dismiss Stevie as ‘cheesy’ and don’t give him a chance. I think this is due to the pure commercial timbre of his vocal style, which has become associated with bland pop, as countless boy-bands have attempted to recreate it. But scratch a little deeper under the surface and there are amazing songs to be discovered. My older brother Tim takes the credit for introducing me to this album. Every track is brilliant. The synthesizer was a relatively new instrument in 1972, but with the exception of Herbie Hancock, no one has made it sound so sweet. The clavinet-driven funk of ‘Superstition’ is the hit, but ‘Maybe Your Baby’ and ‘Tuesday Heartbreak’ feature similarly genre-defining keyboard work. Wonder lays down most of the parts himself, including drums, vocals, moog, rhodes and anything else with keys on it. He was given complete artistic freedom by Motown which was unheard of at the time. The ballads are effortless: ‘You and I’, ‘I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)’ and ‘Looking For Another Pure Love’. His melodies never go where you expect them to, which 16 year old me found fascinating. He harmonised when he felt like it, but the emphasis is more on style and groove, the blend of the instruments, and the soulful lyrics.

6. John Coltrane – Blue Train

At the age of 18, I began to notice more and more jazz albums perpetuating my brother Paddy’s music collection. They always seemed too heavy for me to get into, and so, in my ignorance I simply looked the other way. Until I heard this album. I think the common misconception people make about jazz is that it is difficult to understand and therefore enjoy. True, there are a lot of details within a piece, but the structure of most jazz tunes is straightforward. To simplify, the tune or ‘head’ is played 2 or 3 times on the main instrument (in this case tenor sax), then each instrument solos over the chord structure until they want to finish the piece by playing the ‘head’ again. Most of this album is played in this fashion. For example, ‘Moment’s Notice’. Quick chord changes and an infectiously enthusiastic theme drives the tune, and Coltrane and his fantastic band take it home with interesting and inspiring solos. This album was the first time I heard several brass instruments really playing in harmony with each other and it blew me away. Coltrane’s own lines are so lyrical they might as well be sung by a voice. Listen to the opening minute of ‘I’m Old Fashioned’ and you’ll see what I mean. It is also the most relaxing piece of music that I own. Hard to believe this music was created as long ago as 1959, and Coltrane in the throes of heroin addiction I might add. Miles Davis’ ‘Kind of Blue is generally regarded as the best ever Jazz album, but personally ‘Blue Train’ does it for me.

7. Marvin Gaye – Here, My Dear

‘What’s Going changed my whole perception of music, but I wrote a big piece on that a while back, so the Marvin album I’ll mention in this list is ‘Here, My Dear’. Like most people do at some point in their lives, I went through a not-very-nice break up about 3 years ago. By coincidence I discovered Marvin Gaye’s break up album at the same time. The story behind the album is fascinating, I suggest checking it out (Here, My Dear). Basically the judge said that all the revenue from this album would have to go to his ex-wife, so he dedicated the album to her. The music is pure Marvin, multiple vocal lines, gorgeous falsetto, funky grooves etc. But the lyrics are so bitter and personal, and sung with such emotion that it touches the soul. Each track cuts deep. “What I can’t understand is if you love me, how could you turn me into the police?” from the epic ‘When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You’ which was unusual for its length, having no distinct melody, no bridge and no distinct chorus. “You don’t have the right to use this son of mine, to keep me in line” from the title track, and the mantra “She was too possessive, jealous” from ‘Is That Enough?’. Lyrics regardless, there are some seriously funky tunes on the album, including ‘Time (To Get it Together)’, ‘Anger’ and ‘Falling In Love Again’. This album seems to be very underrated. Possibly because ‘What’s Going On’ and ‘Let’s Get It On’ were so famous, or because the release was delayed for 2 years as the material was deemed too personal, or because it was 1978 and people were now listening to disco. For anyone who’s experienced a tough break up, this is musical therapy in all its soulful glory.

8. Kurt Elling – Nightmoves

While Kurt Elling is globally recognised as the the best jazz vocalist of our generation, jazz accounts for less then 3% of all album sales, so don’t worry if you haven’t heard of him.Georgiaintroduced me to Kurt, then I saw him live at the 2007 North Sea Jazz festival in Rotterdam. He sounds like Sinatra, though he has a stronger control over his pitch, and his range is far superior. Comfortable as a baritone or a tenor, Elling handles old classics and puts his own atmospheric touch on them. Vocalese, the technique of putting lyrics to old instrumental jazz solos is not a new one, but he surely takes it to a new level on ‘A New Body and Soul’, the most arresting track on the album, simply for Elling’s incredible technique, singing several notes in a split second with frightening accuracy, but also with perfect intonation. He quotes Duke Ellington and Keith Jarret, and puts French and Persian poetry to Dexter Gordon’s sax solos. Betty Carter’s ‘Tight’ is also transformed into a hip, upbeat number. The wonderful ‘Change Partners/If You Never Come To Me’ takes a bossa nova feel to describe the tragedy of unrequited love. The theme of the album is sleep, and our preoccupation with it. Stick it on late at night or early in the morning for the best impact.

10. The RH Factor – Hard Groove

The king of instrumental jazz/funk is of course Herbie Hancock. And while albums such as ‘Man-Child’, ‘Secrets’ and ‘Headhunters’ have had a profound influence on my musical development, this album is the one that warrants repeated listening. It continues the genre into the 21st century. What Roy Hargrove’s RH Factor have done though, is introduce vocals over this instrumental funk. It is both musically interesting while being commercially appealing. ‘Poetry’ featuring Erykah Badu on guest vocals is a beautiful feel-good anthem. Other highlights include ‘I’ll Stay’, ‘Forget Regret’, ‘Kwah/Home’, ‘How I Know’, and the instrumentals ‘The Joint’ and ‘The Stroke’. The general feel to the album is a laid-back soulful groove on the slower tracks, and seriously funky dance-orientated fun the rest of the time, which current me is all about.

Well there it is. My 22 years dissected musically. Interesting how it goes from pop to soul to funk to jazz. If you’re still reading then you must have enjoyed my musical journey. I suggest you make a similar list, I had a great time doing it, and it tells you a lot about yourself at the same time.

Danny