by Mike Martinez
There has been a Facebook Challenge making the rounds to name "20 albums that have influenced my musical taste and upbringing. One record per day over the coming 20 days." I definitely could tell the stories, but my life has been full enough that I was reluctant to take the time on evenings or a weekend. That is, to recollect a lifetime of music favorites and image search all of the album artwork.
Well, at the same time I took a sabbatical from the working world (March 2020), the Coronavirus took over the country. So I found myself home “in shelter,” recharging my batteries and having plenty of spare time…and I did post the 20 daily album covers on Facebook.
Here is some backstory, in random order…
1 The Beach Boys | In Concert: Everyone knew of the Beach Boys as a Top 40 band with pop hits like Surfin’ USA and Good Vibrations. When I heard this album and saw the cover pix, I thought “who ARE these laid back, bearded hippies playing rock and roll with loud guitars?” It was a quintessential California summer vibe, and led me to the rest of their catalog. All of it. Essential cuts: Surfin USA, Darlin, Sail On Sailor, Marcella.
2 Outkast | The Love Below/Speakerboxx: The college students at The UCSD Guardian were playing this in the office, and I had heard Hey Ya on the radio and seen the video. I found this double album to be irresistible hip hop with a debt to Prince, Sly and the Family Stone, and Earth Wind and Fire. So I dived in and learned that Big Boi did the Speakerboxx side and Andre did The Love Below. I was hip to the ATL and The Dungeon, and even ventured onto Stankonia and Idlewild. Essential cuts: Prototype, Spread, Ghetto Musick, The Way You Move.
3 Frank Sinatra | Only The Lonely: When I was a kid Sinatra was my parents music. But when a roommate turned me on to the song New York, New York, I was hooked. I dived into the career, and found that Only The Lonely was the Holy Grail for his signature “saloon songs.” I also learned what an arranger did, and this one was directed by the exquisite Nelson Riddle. Essential cuts: One For My Baby (and One More For the Road), Angel Eyes, What's New, Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out To Dry.
4 Stevie Wonder | Songs in the Key of Life: I could have easily selected Innervisions, but this bouquet from the fall of ’76 provided the soundtrack for many house parties and summers to come. It was the Big Bang of soul-pop. Love Stevie’s drumming almost as much as his voice, keyboards and songwriting. Essential cuts: Summer Soft, As, Another Star, Sir Duke.
5 Steely Dan | Pretzel Logic: Maybe this pick should have been Aja, or an eight-way tie including The Nightfly. This whole album still sticks in my mind as one long, catchy song - from Rikki to Monkey in Your Soul. Acoustic guitar folk songs, fender Rhodes, Duke Ellington – and more. Essential cuts: Parker’s Band, Night By Night, Pretzel Logic, Rikki Don’t Lose that Number.
7 64 Greatest Motown Hits: I think my brother scored this 4-disc set somewhere. It had all the best hits of anybody who was anybody on the Motown roster: Marvin, Diana and the Supremes, Stevie, The Temps and Tops, the Jacksons and more. I can't even remember how many mix tapes my brother and I got out of this set. Essential cuts: Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone, Someday We’ll Be Together, Get Ready, What’s Goin’ On.
9 The Beach Boys | Pet Sounds – I admit that this album was a treasure of my adulthood. I was not hip to it as a 12-year old when it was released - but I loved the single Sloop John B. It was in college, when I became an amateur pianist myself and a true Beach Boys aficionado, that I got it. These 13 songs were a masterpiece of pop arranging and one cohesive, emotional statement. It was much later that I realized the genius of Brian Wilson and his cultural influence on the Beatles and the rest of the pop music world. Essential cuts: Wouldn’t It Be Nice, God Only Knows. Caroline No, I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times.
11 Alicia Keys | The Diary of Alicia Keys – I have always been a fan of the piano playing singer-songwriter, and Alicia Keys rocked my world with her debut LP Songs in A Minor. My wife and I even saw this newbie live in San Diego in 2001. A Carole King for the hip hop generation, and I was waiting on this second release. It’s a joy from start to finish. Essential cuts: If I was Your Woman/Walk On By, Heartburn, You Don’t Know My Name, If I Ain't Got You.
12 Antonio Carlos Jobim Songbook – I was well familiar with the standard The Girl From Ipanema as a child. My more extensive introduction to the songs of Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim was the Sinatra-Jobim collaborations. This album was a great compilation that had all the signature compositions from the man that virtually invented the Bossa Nova genre in the early 1960s. Essential cuts: The Girl From Ipanama (Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz), Wave (Oscar Peterson), Dindi (Gilberto and Jobim) and Agua De Beber (Gilberto and Jobim).
14 Kalapana | Kalapana – I was turned on to Kalapana by close friends of mine (all cousins) who were from Hawaii. This first album (as well as Kalapana II) was another staple of all our summer parties and in-car cassette players. Kalapana’s folky vibe was all island sunsets, singalongs, acoustic guitars on the beach and harmonizing. Their good time feelings made them a Hawaiian Beach Boys for me – high praise indeed. Mackey Feary Jr. was their primary songwriter and vocalist, and a cult figure in our circle to this day. Essential cuts: The Hurt, Nightbird, When The Morning Comes. You Make it Hard.
15 Allman Brothers at Fillmore East – In my junior year of high school I took an art class where anyone could bring in albums to play. That’s where I first heard the Allman Brothers, and this live Fillmore east album. I distinctly remember the long blues jams and solos, the slide guitar of Duane Allman and soulful vocals of Gregg Allman. Sadly, Duane died in a motorcycle crash a year later, but a whole genre called Southern Rock was born. Once you had this one, you also had to buy Eat a Peach. Essential cuts: In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, Whipping Post, Statesboro Blues.
16 Chicago II - I remember at 16 being somewhat dazzled by the stainless steel album cover and logo, and the radio hit Make Me Smile.This was just one of those albums every teenager had to have, and I loved their combination of big band horns, Terry Kath’s psychedelic guitar licks, and catchy keyboard backing. Even the harmonies were good. Of course, this album’s success led a bunch of us to peel back and grab their first album, Chicago Transit Authority. Essential cuts: 25 or 6 to 4, Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon, Fancy Colours, Where Do We Go From Here.
17 John Legend | Get Lifted - Hearing the plaintive, soulful and straightforward delivery (voice and solo piano) of Ordinary People led me straight to Tower Records (remember record stores?) I have a soft spot for any piano man playing gospel-tinged soul. Like Michael McDonald, Ray Charles and a few others, John Legend’s voice has that rare quality of being instantly recognizable. The rest of this early album was equally great, and captures an original voice before he went mainstream with the pop duets and cloying love songs for Chrissy. Essential cuts: Prelude | Let’s Get Lifted, Ordinary People,So High, It Don’t Have to Change.
18 Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks | Striking It Rich - This is another esoteric LP that some fellow hippie shared in my high school art class. Dan Hicks’ art is equal parts country swing, jazz, and sardonic humor. It was almost better to see their live performances (On ABC-TV In Concert or the Midnight Special) because the floor show and choreography was as amusing as the songs were catchy. Essential cuts: Walking One and Only, Moody Richard, I Scare Myself, Canned Music.
19 Led Zeppelin II - This was another one of those albums every teenager had to have in 1970, especially after Whole Lotta Love was a hit. You just set the needle down on side one and then listened to the whole thing in sequence, maybe 2 times in a row. I don’t know the history of heavy metal, but it could have sprung whole from Led Zep. Jimmy Page was a god, and no drummer sounded quite like John Bonham. Essential cuts: The Lemon Song, Heartbreaker, Livin’ Lovin’ Maid, Ramble On.
20 Sly and the Family Stone | Greatest Hits - Hearing Dance To The Music for the first time was almost one of those “remember where you were” moments. Seems like they were more of a cult favorite until an explosive set at Woodstock and their Hot Fun in the Summertime (Billboard # 2) made this psychedelic pop-funk group a darling of the post-civil rights zeitgeist. And don’t forget that the music they made in their prime influenced the Temptations, Miles Davis, Michael Jackson, Prince and many others. Best compliment you can give - no one else sounded like them. Essential cuts: Dance to the Music, I Want to Take You Higher, Stand, Thank You (Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin).
My Bonus Picks
I got so deep into this topic that I had some real decisions to make getting this down to just 20. The albums on this bonus list could have all tied for no. 20, or replaced others on my list.
Layla | Derek and the Dominos: Eric Clapton, Duane Allman and Layla.
Creedence Clearwater Revival | Cosmo’s Factory: America’s most popular rock band for a strong 4-year run. This was my favorite of all their albums.
Earth Wind & Fire | That’s The Way of the World: Reasons? This band provided romantic mood music as well as classic dance numbers. Many imitators.
The Beach Boys | Smile Sessions: If only Smile had come out in 1967 as a rival or American answer to Sgt. Pepper. Brian Wilson planned originally for Smile to precede Sgt. Pepper, and the reasons for the breakdown are legendary and well documented.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young | 4 Way Street: For a brief time, they were the American Beatles. This unsweetened live album was the one that resonated most for me, curiously.
The Eagles | Desperado: The Eagles, when they were still a banjo-lick mellow country-rock band. Megastardom was on the horizon.
Billy Joel | The Stranger: His breakout album. Just The Way You Are still transports me to a happy, fun loving time in my life.
The Band | Rock of Ages: This live album led me to their other albums like Music From Big Pink.
Michael Jackson | Off the Wall: You knew little Michael of the Jacksons had this in him. I prefer this to Thriller.