1967-68 - The Byrds, the 45, “Hey, Mr. Spaceman”: my first purchase of music, at 7 or 8 years old, at The Grande Place in Brussels, Belgium. I was the youngest of 4, didn’t have my own record player at the time, but by God I was gonna keep up with my older siblings.
1972 - Emerson, Lake & Palmer, “Trilogy”: ok, definitely not my style now, but it was my first lp (as a Record Club of America member).
1973 - Pink Floyd, “Dark Side of the Moon”: My family stayed for a week at the beach in Bethany Beach, Delaware. The condo had a record player and one lp. We listened to it a lot! I think this may have been the same week I experienced my first serious kiss, and my first beer; the kiss was great, the beer was awful - a Colt malt liquor, and warm to boot.
1975 - Jeff Beck, “Blow by Blow”: It would take me about 30 years to recognize it, but this was a harbinger of my future passion for jazz.
1977-78 - Elvis Costello, “My Aim is True”; The Cars, “The Cars”,; Bruce Springsteen, “Darkness on the Edge of Town”: A collective delivery from disco hell.
1978 - Mighty Joe Young: Not an lp, but my intro to chicago blues, freshman year (at a frat party of all places!), and definitely life-changing.
1989 - Lyle Lovett, “Lyle Lovett and His Large Band”: Was in grad school, and saw him perform “Here I Am” off that lp on Austin City Lights. Jazz, blues, country and even a little rock all in one place. Opened my eyes not just to the possibilities of country, but bluegrass and roots music more broadly.
1991 - Bonnie Raitt, “Luck of the Draw”: didn’t really happen until 1995, but “Something to Talk About” off that lp became a little bit of a soundtrack of my life as I wooed my future wife (the love of my life)
1996-99 - Bob Marley, “Legend”: Ok, so this was released in 1984, but as my soon-to-be wife (1999) and I blended our 5 children into one family, this CD played frequently on the cd player in the 7-seat Mitsubishi Montero (nicknamed “the beast”) that we hauled the kids around in - much dancing in seats ensued whenever we put it on: “No woman, no cry....”
2013 - Pachelbel, “Canon”: This was the piece my ex-wife and I listened to frequently at lamaze class when she was pregnant with my oldest son in 1984-85. We played it at the celebration of his life after he died in June, 2013.
