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
These books are always fun to read because they are quirky.
Patti, you’re right. There are plenty of unexpected choices in this book.
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).
You know Bill Crider will ove that ABBA inclusion. In the 60s I probably listened to “Whipped Cream” a couple of hundred times.
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.
Jeff, I wore out my first album of WHIPPED CREAM and had to buy another. The cover on the album fueled a lot of teenage dreams…
Smooth jazz? Like I said, elevator music. For soothing, I’ll stick with the English pastoral school: Vaughan Williams, Butterworth, Finzi, etc.
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.
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.
Exactly, Rick! Telemann rocks!
No Hoyt Axton? **sob**
Jerry, I think the Country & Western picks are the weakest part of 1000 RECORDINGS TO HEAR BEFORE YOU DIE.
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.
Bob, I’m game if you agree to referee again! You’re right: Bill Crider should put out his version of 1,000 RECORDINGS TO HEAR BEFORE YOU DIE.
I still have my bell.
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.)