Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young: Deja Vu

I've heard this album several times over the past couple of years and was really taken with how strong the songs were from beginning to end. It definitely has that "folk" flavor with a country twist that was ebbing in and out of popularity in the late 60's and early 70's and it has a strong dose of "hippy" thrown in for good measure. Neil Young's guitar is great and their voices mesh together like cotton candy for your ears. Graham Nash wrote his two most iconic songs "Our House" and "Teach Your Children" and as strong as those songs are, the non-hits such as "Almost Cut My Hair" and "Deja Vu" stand right beside them in terms of strength and "enjoyability". 

The Band: The Band

Sometimes you just over look an album or a band. In this case, I did both. Very earthy sounding, with great musicianship and songwriting. "Lonesome Pine" and "King Harvest" are highlights for me, but I'm not sure I can find a song that I don't care about on this record. It may well be my very favorite album ever. I guess I gotta go drag out "The Last Waltz"! 

James Brown : Live At The Apollo 1963

This another great album from Chris that I am sorry I've missed for all these years. James Brown was doing funk and soul when people didn't know what those two words meant in a musical context. It's a very short album, and one that I think I'll be listening to again pretty soon. I have always thought of James Brown as a bit of a caricature based on his appearance in the Rocky film, but the man could sing and he delivered some punch, especially as a young man. This album is ranked #24 on the Rolling Stones best of all time list. 

It's smooookin!