Inspired by Hans Postcard’s fun 2020 album draft, where 10 participants pick albums in 10 rounds for a total of 100, I decided to put together my list of 10 albums I would take on a desert island. Essentially, I already came up with such a collection in May 2018, but some things have changed in the meantime and this list features five new picks, including three different artists.
While each of the albums are longtime favorites, I still can’t exclude the possibility that my picks might be different in a month or two. Since I couldn’t figure out how to rank my selections, I ingeniously decided to put them in chronological order. Conveniently, this means kicking things off with my favorite band of all time.
The Beatles/Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (May 1967)
While I dig all albums by the Fab Four, on most days, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is my favorite. The innovative use of recording technology, the cover art and the combination of different music styles like vaudeville, circus, music hall, avant-garde and traditional Indian music with pop and rock make Sgt. Pepper a true masterpiece. The first album after The Beatles had stopped touring was influenced by The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, which Brian Wilson had created in response to Revolver, as well as Freak Out! by the Mothers of Invention. Had it not been because of silly pressure from EMI to issue Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane as a single, Sgt. Pepper hands-down would have been the strongest Beatles album. Still, with tunes like the title track, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, Within You Without You and the magnificent A Day in the Life, there’s lots of great music.
Carole King/Tapestry (February 1971)
Carole King’s Tapestry perhaps is the ultimate singer-songwriter album. Her sophomore release from 1971 featured 10 new tunes and two reinterpretations of songs King had written together with her former husband and lyricist Jerry Goffin in the ’60s. Like many of their other songs, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? and (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman became hits, in these cases by The Shirelles and Aretha Franklin, respectively. There’s really no weak tune on Tapestry and I could have selected any. It’s Too Late has always been one of my favorites.
The Rolling Stones/Sticky Fingers (April 1971)
I know many fans of The Rolling Stones consider Exile on Main St. or Some Girls as their best albums. While I can’t claim to know all of their records in detail, my favorite is Sticky Fingers. This was the second full-length record with Mick Taylor who had replaced Brian Jones in June 1969. Between Brown Sugar, Wild Horses, Can’t You Hear Me Knocking, Bitch, Sister Morphine and Dead Flowers, there are so many classics on this album. I just think the Stones never sounded better. And interestingly, it’s the country-influenced Dead Flowers that has become one of my favorite Stones tunes. I just love the guitar work!
Marvin Gaye/What’s Going On (May 1971)
I think Marvin Gaye had one of the most beautiful soulful voices I know. This artist was a smooth operator, even when he sang about serious issues like on this album. …(Oh, crime is increasin’) Oh, woo/Trigger happy policin’/panic is spreadin’/God knows where we’re headin’/Oh baby/Make me wanna holler/They don’t understand/Make me wanna holler/They don’t understand…It’s remarkable these lyrics were written almost 50 years, yet they sound frighteningly relevant in America in the year 2020.
Neil Young/Harvest (February 1972)
I dig a good number of Neil Young songs and feel his first compilation Decade is one of the best greatest hits collections I can think of. When it comes to his albums, my favorites are Harvest from 1972 and Harvest Moon from 1992. While I think the title track of the latter is among Young’s best tunes, I have a slight preference for Harvest from an overall album perspective. Featuring David Crosby, Graham Nash, Stephen Stills, James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt as guests, it became Young’s most successful record and the best-selling album in the U.S. in 1972 – in part thanks to Heart of Gold, which remains Young’s only no. 1 song on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 to this day. There are many other gems on the record, including The Needle and the Damage Done.
Deep Purple/Machine Head (March 1972)
I don’t listen to hard rock a lot these days, but when I do, Deep Purple remain my favorite choice, especially their sixth studio album Machine Head from March 1972. I’ve always thought one of the cool things about this band are the equal roles the guitar and the keyboards play as solo instruments. Jon Lord was a true master of the Hammond organ who skillfully blended blues, hard rock and jazz with elements of classical music. Lazy is one of the tracks on which Lord shines in particular.
Pink Floyd/The Dark Side of the Moon (March 1973)
First, I was going to pick Meddle, Pink Floyd’s sixth studio album from October 1971. With the great Echoes, it foreshadowed the band’s classic mid-’70s sound on The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here. All three albums are among my favorite Floyd records. Eventually, I settled on The Dark Side of the Moon. It’s a perfect album for headphones, and I’ve listened to it countless times at night in bed. The sound is just phenomenal. One of the standout tracks is The Great Gig In the Sky and the amazing vocal performance by British singer Clare Torry.
Bruce Springsteen/Born to Run (August 1975)
Bruce Springsteen entered my radar screen in 1984 with the Born in the U.S.A. album. While I’m still fond of that record, I subsequently explored and came to appreciate his earlier work. To me, Born to Run turned out to be Springsteen’s Mount Rushmore. After two albums that were critically acclaimed but not successful from a commercial perspective, he really needed a hit. Born to Run would turn out to be exactly that and catapult Springsteen to fame beyond the U.S. Apart from the title song, my favorite tracks on the album include Thunder Road, Backstreets, Jungleland and the beautiful soul-oriented Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out.
Stevie Wonder/Songs in the Key of Life (September 1976)
Stevie Wonder has been one of my favorite artists for 40 years. I dig many of his songs starting from when he was known as Little Stevie Wonder. But it’s his classic period in the ’70s I like the most, especially the albums Talking Book (October 1972), Innervisions (August 1973) and Songs in the Key of Life (September 1976). The latter became the best-selling and most critically acclaimed album of Wonder’s long career. Here’s his beautiful tribute to jazz legend Duke Ellington who had passed away in May 1974.
Steely Dan/Aja (September 1977)
I’m wrapping up this list with Steely Dan. Walter Becker and Donald Fagen made many great records, but it’s this gem from September 1977 that’s my favorite: Aja. As usual, Becker and Fagen assembled top-notch session musicians to record the album. There were also prominent guests, including Michael McDonald and Timothy B. Schmit. All of the tracks on this album are great. Deacon Blues is my favorite Steely Dan song, but since I previously featured it more than once, I’m going with the closer Josie.
Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube
I dig all of these – I’ve never quite got into Deep Purple, but have that record. A lot of times (except Steely Dan and Carole King) you’ve picked my second or third favourite, but that’s just quibbling….
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks. It’s pretty tough to keep it to 10, so hopefully I will never be in a desert island situation!😆
One band I’ve really come to dig are the Allman Brothers. So they are missing, as are Led Zeppelin. Plus, my representation of female artists with just Carole King is dismal. Bonnie Raitt is another great artist who comes to mind.
It’s kind of mission impossible to do this exercise!😀
LikeLiked by 2 people
I think women got a lot less opportunities before the 1990s – it’s hard to make a list of best albums from before that and make it 50/50 women. There were clearly some very talented women around, but not often playing in a band context.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I can’t argue with your list- great choices. The only album on it that I don’t own is Deep Purple. A good variety of music there!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’ve enjoyed watching what folks pick in your album draft. The list is shaping up quite nicely.
I’m a bit surprised “Tapestry” is still up for grabs. That would have been one of my first picks after Sgt. Pepper. Well, I guess there’s still time left!😀
LikeLiked by 2 people
There are still a number of artists and albums that haven’t been picked that surprise me- Tapestry is a great album no question about that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great choices Christian…No argument at all. You can’t go wrong with any of these. I grew up with Tapestry from my sister’s collection…
A question Christian… What would be your second favorite Beatle album?
LikeLiked by 2 people
For my second Beatles album, it would be between Abbey Road and Revolver.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ok…fair enough…I was just wondering…great list.
LikeLike
Great stuff, Christian. Our opinions on pretty much everything you wrote mirror each other, from not listening to much hard rock anymore but with Deep Purple being an exception, to It’s Too Late being the favorite Tapestry track. I even chose the same Stones album in the draft.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I did a post on this a few years back and your earlier selection -or some variant of it – is there.
https://musicenthusiast.net/2018/07/27/my-desert-island-discs/
LikeLiked by 2 people
Great list. 20 picks and allowing 2 box sets, 1 compilation and 2 live albums definitely adds some flexibility. I stuck to regular studio albums only.
Using your criteria, I would have picked Neil Young’s Decade instead of Harvest and a Beatles box set. I also would have added the Allmans’ Live at Fillmore East. And Led Zeppelin IV and something from Bonnie Raitt. Determing other additional picks would require more thinking!
I think the best solution is to avoid going to a desert island in the first place! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sure, well an album is an album is an album. I had no criteria limiting it to studio only.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I would take a few of those.
LikeLiked by 2 people