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All Music Guide!
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GREAT ALBUMS BY BASSISTS
JAZZ AND FUSION FAVS
PUNK RECORDINGS
NEW WAVE & POWER POP
90S TO CURRENT
EIGHTIES
SEVENTIES
SIXTIES AND BEFORE
WISCONSIN ARTISTS
90'S TO CURRENT | |
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JONNY LANG Wander This World 1998 A&M |
| Jonny Lang is one of the new blues gunslingers and is known by many people for his guitar playing. And the fact that he's 19 years old or something like that. All I know is I'd KILL to be able to SING like he does on this record! The fact that he's so DAMN young makes this album even MORE amazing - what a special musician he is! I love this record. It's flawlessly produced by David Z - who also produced the STORYVILLE album listed above... All the Jonny Lang albums are worth a look, this one is my favorite so far. Oh, yeah - KILLER grooves throughout! | |
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CAKE Prolonging The Magic 1998 Capricorn |
| ALL the recordings by CAKE are great, this is just my favorite. The bass lines ROCK! Excellent songwriting and production as well. If you're not familiar with this band, check them out ASAP! | |
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STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN Live At Carnegie Hall 1997 Sony |
| Stevie Ray is to guitar what Jaco Pastorius is to bass for me - the BEST EVER. I recommend getting everything he ever did - it's ALL great! I'm specifically recommending the Live at Carnegie Hall CD because some of you MAY have overlooked it. It was recorded on October 4, 1984 and everything about this disc rocks - it sounds great, the band is kickin', there are guest artists... The entire SRV collection is a MUST to me - not only for Stevie's playing, but for that of DOUBLE TROUBLE as well. | |
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STORYVILLE A Piece Of Your Soul 1996 Atlantic |
| I love everything about this record. It features the Tommy Shannon/ Chris Layton rhythm section DOUBLE TROUBLE along with David Holt and David Grissom on guitar and Malford Milligan on vocals. The production, songwriting and musicianship are first rate - this is one of my favorite albums of all-time. There are two other Storyville records available - DOG YEARS and BLUEST EYES (if you can find it). They're good, too - but nowhere near as good as this record. This one is a MUST! | |
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EIGHTIES | |
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VULGAR BOATMEN You and Your Sister 1989 Safehouse |
| Another unheralded indie release most people overlooked - great songwriting, cool vibe & production quality. The Vulgar Boatmen have two other releases that I know of - 1992s PLEASE PANIC is another recording I'd highly recommend and I have never been able to find a copy of their 1995 release OPPOSITE SEX but I'll buy it as soon as I do! | |
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FOSTER & LLOYD Foster & Lloyd 1987 RCA |
| This disc is out of print, although you might be able to find a copy from an internet site such as eBay or Half.com - Foster and Lloyd only released 3 albums before breaking up. As far as I know the only thing in print is their greatest hits CD "Essential" which features some songs from all three of their recordings. That's too bad because this disc has some GREAT hooks - it's very melodic country rock/pop. All their CDs are good, but this is my favorite. Vocalist RADNEY FOSTER has had some succes as a solo artist and guitarist BILL LLOYD continues to do session work and also released several solo pop/rock CDs since the breakup. | |
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SEVENTIES | |
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ELVIS COSTELLO This Years Model 1978 Rykodisc |
| I'm a HUGE Elvis Costello fan, especially his early work with The Attractions. Bruce Thomas is one of the best (and highly underrated) bass players in rock history! I highly recommend this CD, I also like his 1st recording (MY AIM IS TRUE) and pretty much everything else with 4 or more stars on his Allmusic.com page. | |
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GOOD RATS Tasty 1974 Rat City |
| HIGHLY overlooked & under-rated, this recording by the GOOD RATS is one of the great unheralded releases from the early 70s! Great songwriting, love the guitar & bass tones, very cool production - It's got everything! I found this recording on CD through eBay - paid $30, but it was WELL worth it! A huge influence on me when I first started playing bass - there's some excellent bass work and a couple short bass solos on this recording that I had to learn note-for-note! | |
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LED ZEPPELIN Houses Of The Holy 1973 Atlantic |
| I guess I think of Led Zeppelin as THE rock band of the 70's. What a lineup! I just recently began to realize what a GREAT bassist John Paul Jones was and still is. All the records they released from 1969's LED ZEPPELIN through 1975's PHYSICAL GRAFFITI are GREAT - Classics! I'm not as familiar with the albums released after that. Led Zeppelin is one of the best rock bands ever - you pretty much can't miss with any of the albums through PHYSICAL GRAFFITI. | |
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GRIN 1 + 1 1972 Epic |
| I think this is the best recording Nils Lofgren ever did. The original album had a "rockin" side and a "dreamy" side (1+1). There's some great songwriting, catchy melodies and good production for it's time. Grin was a trio - just bass, guitar, drums & all vocals by the players themselves. If you like 70s pop/rock you'll LOVE this disc! | |
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THE WHO Who's Next 1971 MCA |
| Some people might consider The Who a sixties band, but I think their strongest work was in the seventies based mostly on this album (totally a CLASSIC) and QUADROPHENIA. Another GREAT lineup of musicians! John Entwistle and Keith Moon form one of the greatest rock rhythm sections EVER. They're all over the place, but somehow it always seems to work with The Who. This album & QUADROPHENIA kick ass! | |
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PAUL McCARTNEY Ram 1971 Apple |
| "Too Many People" and "Uncle Albert" as well as MANY other classic tunes from McCartney. This has been one of my all-time favorite recordings since it was first released in the 70's. Great songwriting, very cool "vibe" throughout the recording. McCartney's best in my book... | |
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SIXTIES AND BEFORE | |
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ROLLING STONES Let It Bleed 1969 ABKCO |
| Well, where the hell do you put THE ROLLING STONES? They fit in every decade since the sixties. They had some GREAT albums in the seventies. I guess I'll always love the original sixties Stones, though. Let It Bleed is one of their best. If you click on the All Music Guide link to the Stones page listed in the first sentence I guess I'd pretty much go along with all the records that get 4 or more stars as albums I'd recommend. STICKY FINGERS, EXILE ON MAIN STREET, GOAT'S HEAD SOUP are classic albums from the seventies. There are just SO MANY of them, it's hard to recommend only a few. GREAT band, one of the best ever. They just keep going and going and going... | |
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THE BEATLES Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 1967 Capitol |
| A CLASSIC album that changed rock music forever. The GREATEST rock band ever. If you haven't heard everything The Beatles ever did, then get it all & listen to it. I am always amazed at the songs, the musicianship & the overall sound of their recordings. I have everything they ever released while they were together and HIGHLY recommend it all, including their movies! IT DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THE BEATLES! | |
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THE MONKEES Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. 1967 Rhino |
| OK, it's true - I actually liked The Monkees more than The Beatles during the sixties. And they are STILL one of my favorite bands EVER. I think this is their best album, but everything released while the four original members were still together is good - from 1966's THE MONKEES to 1968's THE BIRDS, THE BEES & THE MONKEES. The TV show is great as well, I don't think I can recommend their movie HEAD to anyone but hardcore Monkees fans, though... | |
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WISCONSIN ARTISTSHere's some of my favorite artists from my home state of Wisconsin! | |
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ANDY'S AUTOMATICS Things Have Changed 2005 Topsoil Records |
| Great americana release flawlessly produced by Justin Perkins of The Obsoletes. Another fine offering from an awesome Wisconsin band! | |
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THE OBSOLETES Is This Progress? 2004 1-4-5 Records |
| Singer/songwriter/bassist Justin Perkins is a rising star in the Wisconsin music scene. He's one of the best young producers in the state as well. The Obsoletes are a great band, featuring Justin and Tim Schweiger (both formerly with Yesterday's Kids) and Jon Philip (The Benjamins) on drums. They do a lot of punk shows, I saw them live with tthe Mr. T Experience once... but they seem kinda "americana" to me. Whatever it is, it ROCKS! Justin's a great songwriter! | |
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THE MIGHTY LUMBERHORN Blood is Thicker than Moonshine 2004 Indie |
| A *GREAT* CD. If you're not smiling while listening to this disc you're not really listening. I bought multiple copies, you should too. Kinda punk bluegrass I guess. Click on the cover for more info and music files. | |
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BOXKAR Boxkar 2002 Indie |
| BOXKAR is an awesome band and this CD really was done very well, produced locally by Marc Golde at Rock Garden Studios in Appleton, WI. Great songs, production, vocals, guitar tones... And a great live band, too. | |
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EIEIO That Love Thang 1988 Frontier |
| EIEIO released two albums in the late 80s before beaking up, both recordings are worth checking out and can be found relatively cheaply used at www.half.com. Their first disc is 1986's LAND OF OPPORTUNITY. Kinda roots/rock country rockin' stuff. Featured former OFF BROADWAY guitarist ROB HARDING. | |
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THE BODEANS Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams 1986 Warner Brothers |
| Wisconsin icons - this album is their first and still by far their best (in my opinion). I like The Bodeans a lot, but I don't think they have another album I'd strongly recommend besides this one. | |
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VIOLENT FEMMES Violent Femmes 1983 Slash |
| The Violent Femmes have also become Wisconsin icons, lagely due to the success of this album. I would also recommend their recordings HALLOWED GROUND and 3. | |
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SPOONER Every Corner Dance 1982 Mountain Railroad |
| The crown jewel of Wisconsin locally produced recordings. Great band, GREAT record! SPOONER is most well known for guitarist/songwriter Doug Erikson and drummer/producer Butch Vig who later emerged with the band GARBAGE. In between was another great band called FIRE TOWN who released two records for Atlantic in the late 80s. I HIGHLY recommend all three Spooner CDs as well as the two FIRE TOWN recordings if you can find them! EVERY CORNER DANCE is the best of the lot in my opinion, but all five are strong recordings. Best place to try purchasing would be MADCITY MUSIC EXCHANGE - it's run by Dave Benton who was the other guitarist with Spooner. Great songwriting, production & vibe throughout all their records. EVERY CORNER DANCE is available on CD with WILDEST DREAMS as a 2-for-1 set, but one of the songs from the original LP (Doing Time) isn't included an the CD... | |
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