A Few Recommendations
Like my show (or just my website)? Got a few extra
bucks burning a hole in your pocket? Wonder where those bucks would be
best applied? Here are the recordings I would buy first, if I didn't
already own them. I have tried to keep this list very small, so you will
not feel overwhelmed, thinking, "Oh my god, where am I going to get the
money to buy all THAT?" But the thought of life on a desert island
without these CD's is unbearable.
These picks are just my opinion, so you might want to go to a record store
that lets you give a listen first, to verify that you will also love them.
Furthermore, I must say that I have no financial interest in your buying
any of this stuff. I would suggest that if you do end up buying this
stuff, you try to buy from a local, non-chain-owned record store or direct
from the artist, if you can.
Compilations
In my opinion, compilations are a great application
of your hard-earned music budget, because you get to hear maybe a dozen
new artists, often live (usually I like live music better than studio),
often unusual songs, and all for the price of one tape or CD! This can
give you wonderful ideas about what to buy next, and it's seldom a
complete loss if you don't like one or two of the songs featured.
- Follow That Road
Well, this is actually a 2-CD set. It was put together by Christine Lavin, who called it "Quite Possibly
the Definitive Singer-Songwriter Collection of the late 20th Century". She
was half-kidding, I think, but she was totally right. You will find so
much to love in here, you will never want to be parted from it. All the
songs were recorded live at the Second Annual Martha's Vineyard
Singer/Songwriters' Retreat.
- Ben & Jerry's Turn Of The Decade Newport Folk Festival
Includes two of my favorite tracks by Greg
Brown and Cheryl Wheeler! They are the
live versions of awesome songs. You might have to fast-forward through
a couple of songs that get loooong towards the end, but most of the stuff
on this tape is utterly necessary.
- Big Times in a Small Town
Like Follow That Road, this is a Christine Lavin compilation, put
together at the first annual Martha's Vineyard Singer/Songwriters'
Retreat. Wonderful live music.
Individual Artists
- 1200 Curfews, Indigo Girls
If you don't have any Indigo Girls albums, and if you like live stuff,
this 2-CD set should be the first thing you buy. Oh, so much wonderful
music on here! And when you become hooked, and buy everything else they've
ever made, you won't even feel like you're buying the same thing (as you
sometimes do if you purchase a Best-Of album first). This is all live,
rare, or unreleased material. So rocking.
- Buy Me, Bring Me, Take Me, Don't Mess My Hair: Life According to
Four Bitchin Babes Volume 1, The Four Bitchin' Babes
Guess who? Yep, another fine Christine Lavin production. This was the
beginning of the Four Bitchin'
Babes, and I like it better than the second FBB album, though I
haven't heard the third one yet. (Guess what? Volume 1 is live. Sense a
pattern?) I wasn't sure whether to count this under Individual Artists or
Compilations, since the Bitchin' Babes idea is that the four babes band
together to sort of alternate whose songs they sing...But whatever. You
will become hooked on Christine Lavin, Sally Fingerett, Megon McDonough,
and Patty Larkin.
Gee. Prior to making this page I had no idea just how much I loved live
music. Why do musicians even bother with studios? Anyway, if you
violently disagree with any of my choices, email me and we can thrash it out.
Webmistress: Andrea Crain
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