Albums that didn't make the cut

Hey, readers, we're six albums in on my 10 most influential albums. Let's take a look at the ones who came close but didn't make the cut into the top 10.

Crosby Stills & Nash: One of the first supergroups, CSN included former members of The Byrds and Buffalo Springfield. "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" is a tremendous opening track.

Led Zeppelin IV: IV may be a better album, front-to-back, then Led Zeppelin II but II was the album that helped form my taste in rock music. "When the Levee Breaks" is the underrated song on this LP.

White Album: The Beatles ninth studio album is sadly remembered for "Helter Skelter," the song that cult leader Charles Manson used as a message predicting interracial war in the U.S.

Tommy: The Who's rock opera. And, one of the great movie scenes ever is when William (in Almost Famous) looks under his bed and finds albums left for him by his sister, Anita. He opens Tommy and sees a note, which reads "Listen to 'Tommy' with a candle burning and you'll see your entire future." He puts it on the turntable and "Sparks" comes to life. A great moment...

Let It Bleed: Second best Stones' album ever. Underrated cut: "Monkey Man."

Desperado: This is the one that'll be a head scratcher for many. But, I love this Eagles album, which features the title cut plus "Tequila Sunrise." Henry Diltz's album photography is great too.

Born To Run: Springsteen didn't crack the top 10 but this album came close. "Thunder Road," "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out," "Jungleland" and the title cut. Man...great music from The Boss.

Damn the Torpedoes: RIP Tom Petty. His and the Heartbreakers' masterpiece.

Sports: The best in '80s pop has to be this classic from Huey Lewis & the News. Listening to this album just makes me smile.

10 Albums: Sticky Fingers

Sticky Fingers. The name alone conjures up sexual overtones and then - the cover. Andy Warhol's cover photo/art shows tightly clad jeans with an obvious male bulge. The original album cover featured working zipper and underwear but that design was later scrapped given retailer warnings about damage to the vinyl record.

The model used for the cover photograph was never identified. While many assumed that the photo was of Mick Jagger, he was not photographed by Warhol for the album.

Cover photo intrigue aside, I think that Sticky Fingers is the best rock album of all time. Not only is this the best Rolling Stones album of their four album quartet of Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street (name another band with four albums back-to-back of that caliber) but it shines as the best album by "the greatest rock-and-roll band in the world" (opening to Get Your Ya Yas Out), thus cementing status as best rock LP ever.

The album starts with "Brown Sugar," the Stones' best single ever, and then moves right into "Sway," "Wild Horses," and "Can't You Hear Me Knocking." Side two features "Bitch," "Sister Morphine," and the underrated "Moonlight Mile."

Sticky Fingers is the Stones' at their raunchy best. Released in 1971, the album preceded a U.S. tour in 1972 that validated the band's status as the greatest live rock act, at the time, in the world.

Sticky Fingers--my favorite rock album ever and my pick for greatest rock album of all time.

10 Albums: Abbey Road

"Paul is dead."

One can't talk about The Beatles 11th studio album without acknowledging the furor surrounding the release given rumors of Paul McCartney's death. One of the reasons for the fan hubbub about McCartney was the album's cover photo, which is perhaps the most famous album cover shot in history. In the photo, McCartney is barefoot and out of step with the others.

The rumors about McCartney begin in 1967 but hit their peak in 1969, when Abbey Road was released. The oddities of the album's cover photo were a primary cause for the ongoing debate about McCartney, who many believe had been replaced by a double.

Abbey Road is, I believe, The Beatles best album. And, while the White Album was on heavy rotation on my turntable, it was Abbey Road that I played over-and-over, especially side two, which is one long piece made up of several song fragments.

The album also contains the two best songs written by George Harrison--"Something" and "Here Comes the Sun." Those two songs rank among the band's best and deserve their place among the classics penned by McCartney and John Lennon.

Abbey Road was released in September 1969 and achieved immediate commercial success. Critical success was harder to come by as many critics cited the album's artificial sound. It wasn't until years later that Abbey Road achieved its place, critically, as the best album released by a band that is still the standard for pop music success.

Abbey Road--the best album from the most successful band in music history.

10 Albums: Poco

Say the words, "country rock," and most immediately think of The Eagles. (And, there will be an Eagles entry in this blog soon.) Yet, the group who first fused country and rock sounds with upbeat harmonies was Poco, a group closely linked with The Eagles given band members who started with the former and ended with the latter.

I played the heck out of the band's second album, Poco. It was so unique and, in some ways, polarizing (among my contemporaries), when it was released in May 1970. It was too country for rock fans; it was too rock for country fans.

Richie Furay, guitarist and vocalist, founded Poco along with Jim Messina, who would late go on to team with Kenny Loggins in Loggins & Messina. Furay previously helped form Buffalo Springfield, the group which birthed Crosby Stills Nash & Young.

Unlike Springfield and CSNY, Poco's notoriety and commercial success was uneven, at best. "You Better Think Twice" was the most successful cut off of Poco. And, while a bit harsh, noted music reviewer Robert Christgau (The Village Voice) perhaps said it best about Poco in explaining why they did not achieve the heights of bands they birthed or influenced. "The most overrated underrated group in America. All of CSNY's preciosity with none of the inspiration; all of bluegrass's ramifications with none of its roots. In short, the perfect commentary on the vacuity of competence," wrote Christgau.

I loved this album because it was so different for its time. And, it moved me as a listener away from rock, at least temporarily, to a fusion of country, rock and sweet harmonies. (A side note--those harmonies on Poco featured Timothy B. Schmit--the group's bassist who took over for Randy Meisner. Meisner quit Poco shortly after their first album was released in order to join The Eagles. Schmit would replace Meisner in The Eagles lineup in 1977, joining them for their Hotel California tour.)

Poco--the album that broadened my music consumption and tastes.

10 Albums: Chicago Transit Authority

My first concert was seeing Chicago play Memorial Hall in Kansas City, KS. The band, previously known as Chicago Transit Authority (only to have the real Chicago Transit Authority threaten legal action if the name wasn't changed), by that point had released three double albums and a multi-disc live album from their multi-night appearance at Carnegie Hall in New York.

This first album stands out as Chicago's best. The original lineup of Terry Kath, Robert Lamm, Danny Seraphine, Walt Parazaider, Lee Loughnane and James Pankow brought a sound to rock-and-roll that was similar to Blood, Sweat & Tears, but with more rock influence given Kath's guitar playing prowess. (Jimi Hendrix once famously told band members that "he (Kath) is better than me!" Kath died in 1978 of an accidental gunshot wound to the head.)

This debut album was yet another great record from 1969. It was unique in that it was a double album--unheard of at the time for debut albums. The album netted a Grammy nomination for the band and stayed on the Billboard 200 chart for 171 weeks, beating the previous record of 155 weeks for a rock album's longevity.

Initial sales of Chicago Transit Authority were slow but FM radio helped push out songs that would be later released as singles--"Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?," "Beginnings," and "Questions 67 and 68." All made it to the Billboard 100, eventually, with "Time" and "Beginnings" both reaching number 7 on the chart.

I loved this band's early work given the blend of horns, guitar, keyboard and drums. Their initial focus on politically-focused lyrics evolved into a softer, ballad-heavy sound that helped the band sell over 40 million units--one of the most successful U.S. rock bands ever. It's the early stuff, though, that is still listenable today for me.

Chicago Transit Authority--another album from my formative music-listening years.

10 Albums: Who's Next

I could make an argument that Who's Next is the greatest rock album of all time. The Who's 1971 album is the only vinyl that I literally wore out through repeated plays.

My love for The Who began through a high school friend who saw them play Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas and came away a devotee. I initially fell in love with Tommy, the band's 1969 rock opera album that was hailed by critics and was the foundation for The Who's 1970 set at Woodstock. (The band, scheduled to appear prior to Jefferson Airplane at the festival on Saturday night, August 16, 1970, did not play until 5:00 a.m. on Sunday morning given the disorganization and chaos of the event. To this day, surviving band members Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey have only negative things to say about Woodstock and their performance there.)

The following year, Who's Next was released and became an immediate hit. The songs on the album were part of an aborted Townsend project called Lifehouse, which was another Townsend rock opera that was to be a follow-up to Tommy.

The bombast of The Who is on full display on Who's Next. A better band live than in studio, this album captured drummer Keith Moon's flailing attack on his drum kit, Daltrey's voice at the peak of its range, bassist John Entwistle's steady complement to Moon's tempest, and the genius of Townsend displayed through both song and guitar. Every song on this album stands the test of time. And, to the dismay of some fans, that's been proven out in how many songs from Who's Next have shown up as music tracks for television shows or commercials.

I finally got to see The Who perform in December 1975 at Kemper Arena as part of The Who By Numbers tour. The band was in its original format and did not disappoint given that they played a 23-song set that included Baba O'Riley, My Wife, Behind Blue Eyes and Won't Get Fooled Again.

Who's Next--album number two on the list of my 10 most influential albums.

10 Albums: Led Zeppelin II

Yes, I know you saw the headline and probably thought, "Wait--isn't that the Facebook thing where a friend challenges another friend to name 10 albums?" Yep, you're right, but this iteration of the game is to go into a bit more depth on each selection in my top 10.

These are the albums that influenced my taste in music--the ones that I play over and over and that are foundations for the various playlists on my Spotify account.

The first is Led Zeppelin II. And, in my history of love for music, my biggest regret is not seeing this band live.

Zep II was released on October 22, 1969--the year when my consumption of music moved from AM radio, and top single cuts, to vinyl albums. Zep II wasn't the first album I purchased (that distinction goes to Three Dog Night's first release) but was the first where I had this need to get to the local record outlet right now to check out the vinyl that included "Whole Lotta Love."

The album came on the heels of Led Zeppelin, the debut release, which was released in January of the same year. Rarely has a band had two initial albums with the punch and virtuosity of these two releases. The second album went to #1 on the U.S. charts and knocked The Beatles' Abbey Road off that perch, which in the late '60s was unprecedented given John, Paul, George and Ringo's hold on the album and singles charts.

Six of the nine cuts on II were written by Zeppelin; the other three ("Bring It On Home, "Whole Lotta Love," and "The Lemon Song") were Chicago bluesmen standards or inspired by the same.

For me, II was an opening into the world of hard rock--of Robert Plant's shriek and Jimmy Page's guitar licks. And, of course, there was John "Bonzo" Bonham. For this kid who aspired to be on stage playing drums, Bonham and Keith Moon were my standards--the guys who I wished I could be in order to experience the high of setting the foundation for a band of that magnitude.

Led Zeppelin II--the first album in my set of 10 that impacted my lens into the role of music in my life. Led Zeppelin II is the first album in the soundtrack of my life.