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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

Showing 1 response by dawgfish

dawgfish
157 posts
 
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!
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