My brother dips a toe back into rock music


He gave up rock in the early '70's and eventually became an opera fanatic. About a month ago (now age 58)he asked me -out of the blue (pun intended) - about Joni Mitchell and Buffalo Springfield. Yesterday he asked an interesting question:

Recommend 5 albums by people he hasn't heard of.

Bearing in mind that

A)Anyone who isn't either a household name from the sixties or famous at the Michael Jackson/Madonna level qualifies as "not heard of"

B)The Joni/Buffalo Springield starting point and "art song" inclination likely to appeal to an opera guy

and

C)The desire to sprinkle a little bit of the rock reductionist esthetic

Who would you point him to?

I gave him 4 on the spot, but I'll share those later if the interest in this thread warrants.

Marty
martykl
Thanks all, great feedback.

I should note that my brother is 56 (my oldest brother is 58). My bad!

FWIW, he called me from a record store so I was time constrained and limited to stock on hand. My recommendations:

Townes Van Zandt:

First 2 cd compilation "Late, Great TVZ and "Lost Highway"(?). I thought this was a direct historical successor to dylan/joni/ Buffalo Springfield and more interesting than most others from that period.

Richard Thompson;

"Action Packed" Best of Capitol years. I first suggested "Watching The Dark', but the store didn't stock it. I wanted a segue into more rockin' music, but one that still had a folk based songwriter's feel to it. This choice also allowed some screamin' guitar into the mix. In some ways these later songs may prove easier for him to relate to.

Paul Westerberg:

"Best of". I thought Westerberg's solo music mixed songwriting craft, straightforward emotion, and a certain drunken rocker's mindset to the list. Replacements music might have gone too far.

Lindsey Buckingham:

"Gift of Screws". I wanted one recent recording and this is my personal favorite of the new millenium. Carefully crafted, easily accessible, yet rocks like little else.

I thought that many of your ideas were inspired and all were interesting at some level. If he asks again, I'll likely go with a few of your recommendations. Other choices are unfamiliar to me and I'll look to chase them down for my own benefit.

Either way, thanks again for your input.

Marty
Seventh Sojourn - The Moody Blues
Moving Waves - Focus
In The Court of the Crimson King - King Crimson
Breathless - Camel
The Yes Album - Yes
I don't know about Martykl's brother, but you guys just cost Rootmann a lot of money having to add all this stuff to my collection....LOL

Thanks for all the suggestions...
Dear Steve Hoffman & Kevin Gray:

Please remaster all the LPs listed in this thread. I would be set for life. Cheers,

Spencer
I would suggest the following pop/rock artists for your brother:

Jennifer Warnes "Famous Blue Raincoat" (20th anniversary edition) or "The Well" -- great voice and if he likes Joni he will like Jennifer

Christy Baron "Steppin'" -- another great female vocalist and a beautiful Chesky recording

Counting Crows, "August and Everything Else" -- kind of folky rock, and a great collection of songs

Peter Gabriel, "Secret World Live" -- amazing songs and performances (the DVD is probably even better)

Pearl Jam, "Live at Benaroya Hall" -- an acoustic concert fundraiser for a homeless youth program in their home town of Seattle, this show is packed with wonderful music -- rockin' but still musical.

Plus a bonus pick:
Paul Simon, "Graceland" -- OK, kind of cheat because he has surely heard of Paul Simon, but this is one of the great albums of all time, IMHO. The latest remastered version includes a couple of very cool alternative takes.

Happy listening!