I used to really like sharing music with people. I liked finding music they had never heard of and playing it for them. A musical tripmaster of sorts.

In that spirit, I'm going to spoil myself and list a few of the albums I've recently ripped from my sorely neglected collection of vinyl LPs. I'll add a little annotation as well. It's a selfish gesture but hey, it's my blog and I'll cry if I want to.

Winwood, Steve Winwood. This was a two record anthology of his work through 1971, including groups such as the Spencer Davis Group, Blind Faith, and Traffic.

New Orleans Piano, Professor Longhair. A well-known New Orleans musician and legend who never really made it big on the national level. Recorded in 1971. Songs include "Tipitina", "Ball the Wall", and "Boogie Woogie."

The First Supergroup, The Steampacket. The title is hyperbole but it's an interesting recording from 1965. Members of the group included Long John Baldry, Rod Stewart, Brian Auger, and Julie Driscoll. The songs were recorded in a day for a demo tape. Kind of gospel-y with songs like "The In-Crowd", "Can I Get a Witness", and "Cry Me a River".

Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Fleetwood Mac. Before the Mac were super famous, they had a very different sound. This was very, very blues oriented. I liked them better then.

Okay, that's not 10 songs (or albums) but then again it wasn't randomly generated either. Sue me.

[Addendum: Power in the Darkness, Tom Robinson Band. One of the first rock bands I was aware of that had an explicitly pro-gay song, "Glad to be Gay". They also actively promoted "Rock Against Racism" and sang against authoritarianism.]

Labels: songs