Jun 2, 2020 17:03:07 GMT 12 papahemi said:

Isn't it funny the wee details we remember regarding our purchases, I even recall the carousel stand in which the Leadbelly records sat.

Ha!

I'm the exact opposite. I keep forgetting more and more where or why I bought my albums. Early onset Alzheimers?

Not sure how I got into blues, but this Willie Dixon album certainly had a great influence, which led me to explore more of this genre, including Leadbelly, Robert Johnson, B.B. King, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, Howlin' Wolf, Lightnin' Hopkins, Little Walter, Muddy Waters, etc

The Folk Box.  My first box set and I can still picture it displayed on the wall at Wray Wilsons record shop, Esk St Invercargill.
I think I purchased it around 1966 on the recommendation of the stores owner. The lps and the accompanying book were a revelation, showing me the threads that linked the early strands of UK and American folk/roots music to what were then contemporary artists like Judy Collins and Phil Ochs.
My copy was probably the NZ version and I do remember that there was more than the usual amount of surface noise on the records.
I have been tempted over the years to replace my long gone copy but there are now better compilations around but this set still holds a secure part in my music journey and was responsible for leading me down pathways I hadn't known of previously.
The set was re released by Rhino a few years ago and again, never seen on cd.      







www.discogs.com/Various-The-Folk-Box/release/9852356

Bought this film soundtrack album in 1959, my last year at school, after seeing the movie, “Satchmo”. The album has long gone, and can’t find an image of it, but this is close enough!

Son House- Father of the Folk Blues.
This purchase around 1966 was a direct result of my earlier purchase of the Elektra Folk Box and the unexplored worlds it laid bare.
I still have my NZ stereo copy in very, very good state but over the years have added the Pure Pleasure 2xlp set that covers the complete sessions, the Analogue Productions hybrid SACD and at least 2 other cd sets. For me Son House has always been the Delta blues, even ahead of Robert Johnson.  Pre war, Son House, post war Howlin' Wolf.

As a Who fanboy (over the beatles, stones etc) in '70 I was focussed on british music. Then came this: 



For me, the quintessential live rock album. I have the NZ pressing, that had the 'Marquee' poster, postcards, replica invoices for 'damage repairs/fireworks' etc.


honourable 'live rock' mentions for these favs too:
 '72:
 

'74:



 

"I see music as a lifetime affair." [Rory Gallagher]

Howlin' Wolf does it for me, too. Pre-war, too many to choose from, though Bukka White is up there.

Down By Law started my obsession with Tom Waits

This had a few tracks from Rain Dogs

Jun 3, 2020 15:08:37 GMT 12 robertr said:

Howlin' Wolf does it for me, too. Pre-war, too many to choose from, though Bukka White is up there.

Bukka White gets some great rhythm . Easy to see him playing this at a back country dance. 

who needs to say more?, I didn't form a band after hearing this.

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.

U.K. from 1978 with John Wetton (RIP John), Allan Holdsworth and Bill Bruford. Still one of my favourites, especially the 7/4 timing on In The Dead Of Night. Also love the intense Alaska, and the track that got me into this album, heard on PBS radio in Melbourne in the 1990s, Nevermore.

AMR-iFi R&D

That is a great link to Bukka White, Cooksferry. Bukka White was much more limited than greats like Son House and Robert Johnson, but I find his driving rhythm irresistible.
Here is the cover of my Bukka White album. I think it goes in the Whatever Were They Thinking category.

today's influencer from '67:




Schoolmate from affluent Otautau farming family had this album and it just 'clicked' for me.
Thinking we'd convert others, we used to slip it on at parties amidst the usual deep purple, led zepp fodder - we were almost 'skewered' every time! 
Didn't waver me: Ry Cooder fanboy thereafter leading to US west coast music, americana etc.
And, followed the wonderful 'Captain' to Zappa...another story altogether. 

"I see music as a lifetime affair." [Rory Gallagher]

I never owned this album, but heard it often when my Dad played it when I was about 12-13. Dad also frequently played two of his favourites- Begin the Beguine and the Harry Lime Theme. All on his beloved Pye radiogram

Jun 4, 2020 11:13:01 GMT 12 foveaux said:

today's influencer from '67:




Schoolmate from affluent Otautau farming family had this album and it just 'clicked' for me.
Thinking we'd convert others, we used to slip it on at parties amidst the usual deep purple, led zepp fodder - we were almost 'skewered' every time! 
Didn't waver me: Ry Cooder fanboy thereafter leading to US west coast music, americana etc.
And, followed the wonderful 'Captain' to Zappa...another story altogether. 

Always enjoyed this one. Sad to say my Beefheart never progressed any further.

I bought this record '81 - '82 because the cover intrigued me, and it featured Alex Chilton. I was little prepared for the dizzying mix of swamp blues, rockabilly and punk. Still amazes to this day.

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.

Great Choice papa, I have a few of his that I was playing through the lock down.

My well-worn copy of Santana’s Welcome.

AMR-iFi R&D

Bought nothing during the 60s, too busy getting married, buying a house, raising children, but in the 70s, some spare cash, and a modest system installed. Among the first albums I bought was this one, a real eye opener.

For many of us I expect for US(west coast) americana, influencers were the Beach Boys, Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Crosby Still Nash and Young etc., to a greater or lesser extent.

Since release in '72 I've consistent listened to:



This is the album that was/is my prime influencer: it's indelibly in my musical DNA.
 

"I see music as a lifetime affair." [Rory Gallagher]

The band that George Harrison wanted to join, but they never asked him.

Jun 5, 2020 12:24:13 GMT 12 cartridgeguyonline said:

The band that George Harrison wanted to join, but they never asked him.

might have been a queue..."Bill Wyman (who guested on "The Love Gangster") has said he would have quit the Rolling Stones to join Manassas." 

"I see music as a lifetime affair." [Rory Gallagher]

Another Captain Beefheart - I finally got this on vinyl after spinning a tape of it for years, I was prompted to get a proper copy after viewing this: 

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.

Jun 5, 2020 17:26:36 GMT 12 papahemi said:

Another Captain Beefheart - I finally got this on vinyl after spinning a tape of it for years, I was prompted to get a proper copy after viewing this: 

Ditto. Bought a vinyl copy about 6 months ago. Not nearly as bizarre as I remember thinking it was way back when. Don't know what all the fuss was about!

Cream- Fresh Cream.
Big Cream fan from the get go and first hearing  I Feel Free/NSU single .
Had to grab their first album when it was released and it's still the Cream record that I return to most often.
I now have multiple copies (6), mono/stereo/SACD/digital and vinyl box sets etc.
Personal leaning is definitely for the mono version, the early stereo mix is a little weird and lacks the impact of the mono.

AMR-iFi R&D

From its cover to its contents Sweetheart of the Rodeo bears the indelible stamp of Gram Parsons. It marked the beginning of his brief but brilliant recording career, which ended with the posthumously released album Grievous Angel in 1974.

ECM...hmm, where to go for 'the' influencer?  hard task for an ECM disciple/fanboy 

As noted on another thread, Pat Metheny/Lyle Mays 'As Falls Witchita, So Falls Witchita Falls' was my first ECM album purchase.
I quickly delved into their earlier work. From '78, this album proved to be my ECM foundation:



Plain cover c.f. other ECM releases, however this may have been a disguise for the extraordinary music inside!  especially side 1: exemplified the maestro partnership of Metheny/Mays.
I recall, like yesterday, hearing this album demo'ed at the Sound Organisation in London on a fine Linn/Naim based system: so dynamic and immersive. ECM vinyl pressings are exemplary, never had a duff.  


 

"I see music as a lifetime affair." [Rory Gallagher]

Small Faces, Odgens Nutgone Flake.
There were quite a few lps that enjoyed much attention during my later teens, from the first two Jefferson Airplane through Big Brother/Cheap Thrills, Jeff Beck/Truth to Led Zep1 but the one that has remained a constant is Ogdens.  It's a record that I still enjoy, even the narration on side 2. I confess that it was a purchase initially based solely on the great cover which unfortunately came apart at the card hinges rather quickly. The only thing that would have lifted the lp even higher would have been the inclusion of Tin Soldier, one of the great singles of the '60s.
Despite having sold a couple of copies over the last few years I still have 7 versions including a very nice NZ stereo copy from 1968 thanks to Tony at Too Tone(Dn), the mono reissue from 2012 and the mono picture disc from the same year. Digital includes the 2006 3 cd set which comes in a nice reproduction metal tobacco tin.  

Years ago when I visited Cape Town with my South African friends I heard about Dollar Brand with Abdulla Ibrahim. I still love the severe, distorted piano and saxophone landscape on Bra Joe from Kilimanjaro and the zen-like Sathima.

AMR-iFi R&D

Started listening to 'jazz fusion' seriously in the early 80's, incl. Miles, Corea/Return to Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra & Weather Report.

Here's the album I return most to nowadays, over others from the period. My favourite for Wayne Shorter's sax work:

    

"I see music as a lifetime affair." [Rory Gallagher]