42. The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night (1964)

1. A Hard Day's Night*

2. I Should Have Known Better

3. If I Fell

4. I'm Happy Just to Dance With You

5. And I Love Her*

6. Tell Me Why

7. Can't Buy Me Love*

8. Any Time at All

9. I'll Cry Instead

10. Things We Said Today

11. When I Get Home

12. You Can't Do That

13. I'll Be Back

A-

So I'll preface this by stating that I'm going on holidays, and won't be doing this for a while. Anyway, on to the album.

Where With the Beatles showed the band at a transition point between pumping-out rock & roll covers and experimenting with their own song writing, A Hard Day's Night is an album comprised entirely of Lennon & McCartney originals. And really, the music is a quantum leap above the previous album. Of course these days the sound of the Beatles is ingrained in our DNA, but at the time the songs, while very catchy, must have sounded incredibly strange. I mean, what do you make of the bung chord that opens the title track? Or the weird little guitar figures that open and close many of the songs. Or the oddball approach to harmonies and melodies that characterises these songs. The Beatles were a pretty odd band, really, and they were pushing the envelope with this album. Yes, all the songs are catchy, and they're all ultimately pop songs about love, but this real marks the point where pop rock began to transition from bubblegum nonesense to something that could be considered art. Just look at the pop art album cover, showing the band members in rows pulling a variety of goofy expressions. It's all fun and easy to enjoy, but it's also very strange and musically adventurous. It's the blueprint for a million rock bands, really.

That said, this is mostly just another album of goofy love songs. "A Hard Day's Night" and "Can't Buy Me Love" are absolute classics, and a couple of the Beatles very best songs, but nothing else on the album really comes close to them. Add to that that you have a couple of John Lennon's little misogynistic fantasies in "I'll Cry Instead" and "You Can't Do That", and it's far from a perfect album. But it is a fun, modern pop record that helped to redefine what pop music could be, and it was hugely influential both musically and lyrically. I mean, I disparage the endless parade of love songs, but these are at least songs written with maturity and intelligence (mostly), examining the various bi-ways and little struggles and victories of the typical romance in a clear and interesting way that none of the pure pop albums on this list have really managed before.

But, ultimately, I have to admit that I'm just not much of a fan of this sort of music. I thought it was pretty good, but others might consider it transcendent. I do like the Beatles, but I really only consider the White Album and Revolver the masterpieces that everyone proclaims them to be. This is a very good pop album, but not really my thing. Except for "Can't Buy Me Love", of course, which is just one of the truly great pop songs and has a wonderful message to boot.

Anyway, this was another edition of "Tom is underwhelmed by the Beatles". They changed music, but I tend to think a lot of the people coming after them did what they were trying to do better. But then I'm not really sure why I'm being so negative. I think it's just that with so many great songs on this album I feel disappointed that it's not great all the way through. I am going to blame John Lennon, because fuck that guy. 

41. Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto - Getz/Gilberto (1964)

1. The Girl from Ipanema* 

2. Doralice

3. Para Machucar Meu Coracao

4. Desafinado

5. Corcovado (Quite Nights of Quiet Stars)*

6. So Danco Samba

7. O Grande Amor*

8. Vivo Sonhando

A

I don't know why but for some reason this album always assumes a perhaps undue importance in my mind. I guess because it's my touchpoint for Brazilian music, because it's very pretty, because it sold a million copies... All sorts of reasons. And this is a landmark album, not only consolidating bossa nova's hold on the world's imagination but revitalising the careers of the Brazilian musicians involved and introducing the world to Astrud Gilberto - whose vocal contributions on this album would have to be some of the most iconic and influential in popular music.

And really, maybe it's just because I don't speak Portuguese, but the Astrud Gilberto tracks where she sings in English are the ones that stick with me. Then again I have a habit of preferring the female vocalists on male dominated albums - a good example would be my frustration with the Pixies, which resulted in my becoming a devoted Kim Deal fan after I realised she only sang on like two songs for them but had a wealth of great albums of her own. But I'm rambling.

So this is a beautiful album. It's very pretty. The arrangements are minimal - just guitar, a tiny bit of drum, and the odd piano flourish, all there to support the vocals. Luckily, Brazilian Portuguese is a very beautiful language to listen to. For all I know Joao Gilberto could be reciting a list of war crimes or expostulating on his love of scat porn, but it comes across as very pretty and relaxing. "The Girl from Ipanema" is the standout track, and it actually serves as a good example of the economy of song writing displayed on this album - it's basically just the same melody repeated a few times, with Joao, Astrud and saxophonist Getz taking turns playing it through. The same thing happens on a few of the other songs, and it's kind of neat but kind of unusual too. 

The only real misstep on this album is "Doralice". The overall mood of the album is chill and laid-back and super-relaxed, but "Doralice" is an annoying up-tempo number with Joao singing in a slightly smug tone of voice, and really feels out of place. My favourite song that isn't "The Girl from Ipanema", however, is "O Grande Amor". It's a beautiful, melancholy number that features some of Stan Getz' very best playing, and in a sane world it would have been the closer for the album instead of the not-terribly-remarkable "Vivo Sonhando".

Honestly, though, I can't fully judge this album because it's vocal jazz and I speak two words of Brazilian Portuguese and both of them are dirty. It's a beautiful listen. Obviously there's some exoticism involved, but I get the sense that the original composers intended these songs to evoke a mood of another place and time to begin with - of quiet nights drinking alone, days on the beach, unrequited loves and so forth. I mean, I know "Desafinado" is meant to be a joke about the song not following traditional harmony, and "So Danco Samba" is about someone who refuses to dance anything but samba, but my point stands, I feel.

Anyway this is a great album and if you only know "The Girl from Ipanema" you should listen to the whole thing. Astrud Gilberto will be back in a few years worth of albums, so that's something to look forward to. I mean, without her we probably never would have gotten Stereolab. 

40. James Brown - Live at the Apollo

1. Introduction to James Brown and the Famous Flames

2. I'll Go Crazy

3. Try Me

4. Think*

5. I Don't Mind*

6. Lost Someone*

7. Medley: Please, Please Please / You've Got the Power / I Found Someone / Why Do You Do Me / I Want You So Bad / I Love You, Yes I Do / Strange Things Happen / Bewildered / Please, Please, Please

8. Night Train

A+

So these days James Brown is mostly remembered for his funky numbers. And really, once you unleash a song like "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" on the world it's not surprising if it tends to eclipse your earlier achievements. But Live at the Apollo is interesting because it captures Brown at an earlier stage in his career, when he was still basically a 50s-style soul singer, producing gospel-tinged R&B numbers. The extraordinary precision of his band and the almost too perfect rhythms are all there, but they haven't yet coalesced into anything you could even remotely call funk.

Which is not to do this album a disservice. It's incredibly good. And really, the Book has done a great job of selecting live albums so far - I've enjoyed every one of them immensely. This album starts out merely pretty good, with a couple of very pretty soul numbers. Then suddenly "Think" erupts out of the stereo, with its sharp horn stabs and dizzying bassline. Following that is the lovely "I Don't Mind". But the real centrepiece of the album, and the moment when it goes from being "pretty good" to "fucking incredible", is the sprawling 11-minute "Lost Someone". It's one of my absolute favourite recordings, and to my mind maybe one of the best recordings ever made. True, the original song is pretty good, but here the whole thing is stretched out into a slow, gentle groove that's one of the prettiest and catchiest I've eve heard. Over the top, Brown wails and exhorts to the very peak of his ability. And then, hilariously, he claims to have screwed up and has to sing the song again. And through it all you have the women in the audience screaming in time to the music, making smartass comments, and honestly it's all very much dancing about architecture at this point. You really should just listen to the song. It's basically perfect.

So after such an amazing bit of music anything short of a cash prize would be a bit of a let down, and really following "Lost Someone" with a so-so medley wasn't the best idea, but then "Night Train" picks things up again with its astonishing rhythm. Then suddenly the album's over. 32 minutes. All killer, no filler.

Many people argue that this is the greatest live album ever recorded. I don't quite agree (I liked the Sam Cooke one more) but I can't really argue with the opinion. I mean, It's an incredible showcase for the talents of Brown, his back-up singers and his band, and a tremendously fun experience. And it really benefits from being so short. It leaves you wanting more. If I had a time machine and could go back and witness any performance, it'd probably be this one.

Oddly this is the last we'll see of Brown. I would have though The Payback or something would have made the list. I guess the compilers of the Book thought we needed room for two Supergrass albums instead. 

39. Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963)

1. Track A - Solo Dancer (Stop! Look! And Listen, Sinner Jim Whitney!)*

2. Track B - Duet Solo Dancers (Hearts'Beat and Shades in Physical Embraces)

3. Track C - Group Dancers ((Soul Fusion) Freewoman and Oh, This Freedom's Slave Cries)

4. - Mode D - Trio and Group Dancers (Stop! Look! And Sing Songs of Revolutions!)

     - Mode E - Single Solos and Group Dance (Saint and Sinner Join in Merriment on Battle Front)

     - Mode F - Group and Solo Dance (Of Love, Pain, and Passioned Revolt, then Farewell, My Beloved, 'til It's Freedom Day)

A+

Well Charles Mingus didn't make it easy for me. This album, which I happen to own on CD, comes with liner notes constituting a lengthy screed by Mingus against music critics, who he derides for their lack of technical education and tendency towards facile judgements. So I feel like kind of a dink for trying to write about this album. But then again there is a second set of liner notes, written by Mingus' psychoanalyst, where the writer professes to a lack of musical knowledge and just sort of explores the music in relation to Mingus' mental state. So I'm not really sure what to think.

As you may have gathered by this point, what with the peculiar track list and the even more peculiar liner notes, this is not your typical album. In fact, it bears almost no relation to the previous albums on this list - the only point of comparison might be with Duke Ellington, who attempted similarly complex and ambitious works. But then again Charles Mingus was a very strange, tortured, and volatile man, and his music reflects this. 

Honestly it's quite difficult to describe this album. It's a single continuous suite of songs, which makes listening to it on CD a bonus as presumable, without the need to flip the record, it's more in line with what Mingus originally intended. As to what it sounds like, I don't really know how to describe it. The first track, "Solo Dancer", is probably the best, and encompasses a lot of what the rest of the album is about. It starts with the great Dannie Richmond playing a snappy beat in an odd time signature, over which are slowly layered repetitious bass notes on the tuba and a snarling saxophone vamp. This builds and builds as a horn solo launches into the sort of music you'd associate with a gritty neo-noir, and then just when you can't take the sprawling, intense music anymore suddenly the whole thing collapses into a gentle, latin-tinged bit of bebop. I'm sorry if that doesn't do it justice, but the rest of the album is equally difficult to describe. There are snatches of African and Latin music, including a flamenco guitar, and really the whole thing is I guess sort of a ballet. Anyway this is High Art and very difficult to explain. All I'll say is that you should definitely listen to it. It's like literally nothing else. A swirling maelstrom of jazz and classical influences that defies classification even as it swings like nobody's business.

That said, if you're going to get a Charles Mingus album I recommend Mingus Ah Um, which is a great record of much saner and more conventional music that really should have been included in the Book. Black Saint is a great album but its intensity makes it difficult to listen to very often. But it's hard to argue that this isn't Mingus' masterwork. It is to the other jazz albums on this list what Wagner is to "Pop Goes the Weasel".

 

38. Sam Cooke - Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963 (1985)

1. Feel It

2. Chain Gang *

3. Cupid

4. Medley: It's All Right/For Sentimental Reasons *

5. Twistin' the Night Away

6. Somebody Have Mercy

7. Bring It On Home to Me *

8. Nothing Can Change This Love

9. Having a Party

A+

No, I haven't skipped twenty years of albums. The Book cheats on this one - this album was recorded in 1963 but it wasn't released until 1985. I guess they felt it benefited from being placed in its proper context, even though no-one heard this back when it was recorded excepted for the people present at the Harlem Square Club and a few nervous executives at RCA. 

I'm not complaining, though. This is a truly brilliant album. As someone whose total exposure to Sam Cooke was his hits - "Chain Gang", "Cupid", and "A Change is Gonna Come" - this was something of a revelation. I mean, those are all fine songs, but they don't really prepare you for the astonishing energy that Cooke displays on stage. It's a testament to the brilliance of this album that I can even stand it, honestly - I used to work at a shopping centre where every day a busker would come and play a medley of "Chain Gang" and "Cupid" in a soft, vaguely reggaeish style to the point where I was ready to walk up and sock the guy with my mop handle. Truly, there's no substitute for the original.

This album is nothing but high points, but the really special songs are the ones where Cooke works the crowd up and gets them to sing along with him. Medleys are usually something to worry about, but "It's All Right/For Sentimental Reasons" is a beautiful one-two punch where Cooke starts feeding the audience the lines and getting them to sing the song. It's wonderful. And he repeats the trick on "Bring It One Home to Me", creating a wonderful sense of energy and a truly joyful atmosphere where you can really appreciate just how great a time everyone is having. Cooke also shows himself a master of stage banter, making jokes and providing clever lead-ins to the songs that contribute to the warmth and fun of the album.

Of particular interest to music nerds, this is probably the first album on this list that can be said to contain soul music as we understand it today - in the 1960s smooth style of Otis Redding or Aretha Franklin, a heady mix of gospel, R&B and pop that finally broke free from its 1950s roots. I guess that's why they called Sam Cooke the "King of Soul".

Anyway, if you're at all fond of soul music, or live albums, or 60s pop, then I can't recommend this enough. It's unfortunate that Cooke was shot dead under contentious circumstances less than two years after its release, as he was obviously a phenomenal talent. It's unfortunate that the circumstances surrounding his death have tainted his legacy - either he tried to rape a girl and then went on a rampage after she fled, or he hired a prostitute and lost his shit after she robbed him, but either way he was gunned down by a motel owner under unfortunate circumstances. I don't go in for conspiracies so I'm going to say it seems to have been one or the other. Still, the music is what matters, and this album is nothing but great music. I probably shouldn't even have brought that up.