1,000 RECORDINGS TO HEAR BEFORE YOU DIE By Tom Moon

1000 RECORDINGS
Art Scott generously sent me this quirky tome. This is not a “Best of” volume. This is Tom Moom talking about his 1,000 favorite recordings that he thinks everyone should listen to. You can probably guess how this turns out. Minnie Riperton is here, but no Mary Wells, Billy Joel, or Mariah Carey. The Classic music choices are equally quirky. Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart are here, but no Telemann. Browsing through the 1,000 pages of 1,000 Recording to Hear Before You Die took me some time, but it generated a list of CDs I’ll give to “Santa.” There’s something here for everyone. Here’s a sample of the offerings in “A”: (The complete list can be found here)

Gold
ABBA

Moorish Music from Mauritania
Dimi Mint Abba and Khalifa Ould Eide

Blu Blu Blu
The Muhal Richard Abrams Orchestra

Shakin’ the Rafters
The Abyssinian Baptist Choir

Back in Black
AC/DC

Harmonium
John Adams
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra (Edo De Waart, cond.)

The Death of Klinghoffer
John Adams
Christopher Maltman, Sanford Sylvan, Yvonne Howard, London Symphony Orchestra (John Adams, cond.)

The Real Me: Johnny Adams Sings Doc Pomus
Johnny Adams

Heartbreaker
Ryan Adams

At the Lighthouse
The Cannonball Adderley Quintet

The Best of the Classic Years
King Sunny Ade

Toys in the Attic
Aerosmith

Éthiopiques, Vol 7: Erè Mèla Mèla
Mahmoud Ahmed

Air Lore
Air

The Ultimate Arthur Alexander
Arthur Alexander

Dirt
Alice in Chains

Allison Wonderland
Mose Allison

At Fillmore East
The Allman Brothers Band

The Complete General Recordings
The Almanac Singers

Whipped Cream and Other Delights
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass

Arepa 3000: A Venezuelan Journey into Space
Los Amigos Invisibles

The First Day
Albert Ammons and Meade “Lux” Lewis

Spirituals
Marian Anderson

“The House of the Rising Sun”
The Animals

Selected Ambient Works 85–92
Aphex Twin

When the Pawn. . .
Fiona Apple

Neon Bible
The Arcade Fire

Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3
Martha Argerich
Berlin Philharmonic (Claudio Abbado, cond.)

The Complete Hot Fives and Hot Sevens
Louis Armstrong

3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life of. . .
Arrested Development

Urban Bushmen
Art Ensemble of Chicago

Steppin’ Out: Astaire Sings
Fred Astaire

Chester and Lester
Chet Atkins and Les Paul

Spiritual Unity
Albert Ayler

16 thoughts on “1,000 RECORDINGS TO HEAR BEFORE YOU DIE By Tom Moon

  1. Art Scott

    No Telemann? Why on earth should there be Telemann? I have 7000 classical recordings, but no Telemann, and proud of it. Telemann is Baroque elevator musica. Of Moon’s A listings, I strongly endorse the Argerich Prok3, and the Fred Astaire (originally an LP set entitled The Astaire Story).

    Reply
  2. Jeff Meyerson

    You know Bill Crider will ove that ABBA inclusion. In the 60s I probably listened to “Whipped Cream” a couple of hundred times.

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  3. George Kelley

    Art, I consider Telemann the classical music equivalent of Smooth Jazz. I find that music soothing. I think I own the Argerich Prok3 (it’s around here somewhere). I’ll have to seek out the Fred Astaire.

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  4. Art Scott

    Smooth jazz? Like I said, elevator music. For soothing, I’ll stick with the English pastoral school: Vaughan Williams, Butterworth, Finzi, etc.

    Reply
  5. Richard

    I have 7 of the albums listed, including the Argerich, Allman Bros. and Adderley. Also, I do have Telemann, and enjoy some of his choral works such as Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu (“The Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus”) TWV 6:6, 1716], played LOUD. Crank that baby up and it’s most definitely not elevator music or smooth jazz.

    Reply
  6. George Kelley

    Art, I like Corelli, too, and he’s not here either. I also like the English pastoral school, but Diane thinks I belong in the Baroque Period because I play so much of that music.

    Reply
  7. Cap'n Bob

    Okay, let’s schedule a bare knuckles bout between Art and George the next time they attend the same Bouchercon. And no dives this time, George. We can charge admission. Winner gets to either break or play a Telemann record. Who’s with me?

    Oh, and as for books like this, pfui. I don’t need some yahoo to tell me what music I need to hear, and if I do I’d trust Bill Crider’s selections first.

    Reply
  8. Todd Mason

    Moon is primarily a jazz reviewer, so some of these lacunae are not too surprising. (Not including Carey and including Ripperton just seems like good taste to me, but jazz-oriented people, of whom I’m one, are particularly going to lean this way.)

    Reply

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