Sam Phillips – A Boot and a Shoe (Nonesuch)
Since I’m on vacation, these are the 10 CDs I happened to take with me. Not sure why; I grabbed them pretty fast off the shelves. But I guess I thought these would work well in a relaxing island paradise. (My wife, who is with me, says they must be my 10 “Stuck on a Desert Island For a Week” CDs!) This is the one I keep playing over and over. Ms. Phillips’s music is so calm and beguiling, yet full of wizened observations about life and love. Mostly, I’m going for the folky music and hushed singing here, but it’s just a fabulous 2004 LP. Can’t wait for her next.
Os Mutantes – Everything is Possible; the Best-of (Luaka Bop)
OK, I mostly brought this one for my missus, who is in love with the song “Baby” and often plays this CD when she works out (of course, she has her iPod with her, so she’s all set for that). This U.S. collection seems to eschew this ‘60s Brazillian band’s most psychedelic moments, but is most pleasant, nonetheless.
Nick Drake – Pink Moon (Rykodisc)
I mentioned Drake last week, and as it happens, I grabbed this one for the trip as well. “Pink, pink, pink, pink…” I’ll never forget the time Jeff Tweedy played a note-perfect version of this for myself and my friend Paul Regelbrugge after we interviewed him in his Wilco studio—just an off the cuff request. I didn’t even know he knew it. Listening to it again now, I can see why anyone who played guitar would want to learn it!
Astrud Gilberto – Compact Jazz (Polygram)
Hmmm, another Brazillian CD. Not sure why! Does Brazil just go with the Beach, even in Bermuda? Whatever, this 1987 CD is my favorite of the many I have of the ‘60s heyday of this Bossa Nova queen (who, the one I saw her a decade ago, seemed to have a bad attitude about doing her old great bossa nova songs, and wanted to do salsa fusion instead, darn it). Critics have often disparaged her singing, possibly because her career was an accident, but to heck with that, I’ve always loved her voice, and her quiet mastery of the vibe that this great jazz genre is known for. Who wouldn’t have their heart broken by “How Insensitive,” “Once I Loved” and, of course, the famous “Girl From Ipanema? (That Stan Getz sax solo still blows my mind after having heard it, oh, 600 times since I was a toddler.)
Beach Boys – Today/Summer Days & Summer Nights (Capitol)
Corny, I know, bringing the Beach Boys to a beach, but I honestly wasn’t thinking of it that way. I just loved the bittersweet, starting to lose the innocence, two wonderful albums circa 1965 that immediately preceeded Pet Sounds and were handily collected on one CD (the 2001 CD is still available). People always say Pet Sounds came out of nowhere, but I’ve longed disagreed with that. I swear I can hear it coming in “Let Him Run Wild” “She Knows Me Too Well,” “Kiss Me Baby,” and “Girl Don’t Tell Me,” and it sooths me to this day.
Louis Armstrong – The Essential (double CD) (Sony)
Having mentioned this one last week, I’m still listening to this down here. As it happened, a documentary about the great Satchmo came on TV yesterday on Ovation (They give me 40 channels here, and that’s oddly one of them!), and I watched it hungrily, as I love footage of the guy singing and playing. As soon as it was over, I put on this CD, and took in “Memories of You,” and thought about all the greats of the 20th Century music scene (no longer with us) that really blew the doors off.
Pernice Brothers –
Overcome By Happiness (Sub Pop)
Not all “get away from it all” music is vintage. This 1998 debut by this wonderful band is windswept pop with multiple early ‘70s influences. Just lovely for a lovely scenery!
Buffalo Springfield – Again (Atco)
One of those incredible 1967 albums I revisit every year and get something entirely new out of. Just for “Broken Arrow” and “Expecting to Fly” alone, you have a few of the songs that have moved me more than any others in the world. Unspeakable bittersweet beauty. But it also has “Mr. Soul” and, just to get away from the great NEIL YOUNG for a second, “Hung Upside Down.” Brilliant.
Gene Clark – Echoes (Sony)
A little country-pop goes really well down here, along with the sound of the waves lapping on the shore!!! Both his early Byrds material added to the and the Gosdin Bros LP stuff here are just primo! Don’t miss “So You Say You Lost Your Baby.”
Colin Blunstone – One Year (Sony)
In a better world, I wouldn’t have to say much about this orchestral pop masterpiece as everyone would already own it! But the first, and by far best solo LP by Blunstone in 1971 after the breakup of the immortal Zombies (who themselves only released two LPs) a few years before is perfect for the down-time mood I am in on vacation. It’s really the last Zombies record in a way, since two other members are all over it and some of the material goes back that far. And what a menthol voice Blunstone has, perfect for this gentle but lush music!!!!
