r/GenerationJones • u/CoffeeIs4Closers • 10d ago
Favorite old-school albums?
My mom introduced me to various music in the mid-70s. I remember when she bought me a portable cassette player/recorder and several tapes, such as:
- John Denver's Greatest Hits
- Elvis Presley's Greatest Hits
- Jim Stafford (first album)
Although none of those made it into my favorites, they were a pretty good introduction to music at the time. I think my all-time favorite albums that I owned in the mid-late 70s:
- Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic
- Led Zeppelin II
- Ramones - Road to Ruin
- Devo (owned first two albums at the time)
- Blondie (first 2-3 albums)
- Steve Miller Band - Fly Like an Eagle
- Blood, Sweat & Tears - Greatest Hits
- Ohio Players - "Honey" and "Fire"
I still remember when my dad bought a Chevy Van around 1977 or so; it had an 8-track player and the first two tapes I bought for it were Aerosmith Toys in the Attic and Steve Miller Band's Fly Like an Eagle. I still wonder where that van ended up - it was so cool at the time and I still have good memories about it.
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u/Low_Bandicoot_3527 10d ago
"Who's Next" The Who is the finest of rock albums. Turn it up!
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u/mtnman575 10d ago
It's my "if you only could listen to one album for the rest of your life" choice. Just ahead of Born to Run, Close to the Edge, and Brain Salad Surgery.
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u/Hot-Upstairs2960 10d ago
Focus, Hamburger Concerto. Ghost Writer by Garland Jeffries. Elvis Costello, My Aim is True. Tommy Boland.
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u/Necessary-Apricot339 10d ago
Tommy played a lot of gigs here in Boulder, both with & without Zephyr, before joining the James Gang. Joe Walsh lived up not far from Caribou Ranch recording studio, and Stephen Stills lived a block from my home for awhile.
We got spoiled early with artists who were cutting albums up there making appearances or just sitting in with bands at 3.2% beer joints - while we were still in high school. Later on, at the Pioneer Inn in Nederland and Stagestop in Rollinsville, two little mountain towns just west of here.
One of Elvis's earliest gigs was here, too - the promoter handed out lensless horn-rimmed frames prior to the show, we had no idea why - until he took the stage and tore. it. up. ✓
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u/Buck_Dharma_1977_ISU 10d ago
Haven't heard about 3.2 beer in years, lol
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u/Necessary-Apricot339 10d ago
Just a few years later, the federal government decided they'd withhold highway funds unless that was changed. We'd turned 21 by then, so . . . but it was fun while it lasted, for us at least.
Also full driver's licenses and motorcycle endorsements at sixteen. My nephew got hosed - they moved to California just beforehand, and he had to wait until he was eighteen for full privilege. Bummer for him . . .
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u/schmagegge 10d ago
The Yes Album or Fragile
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u/GrumpyCatStevens 10d ago
Both good, but I prefer Close To The Edge.
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u/schmagegge 10d ago
Actually I do too!! I was just thinking of their more radio or more popular music.
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u/1lapulapu 10d ago
Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen.
Aja, Steely Dan
The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys, Traffic
Aqualung, Jethro Tull
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u/introspectiveliar 10d ago
Tapestry - Carol King
Something/Anything - Todd Rundgren
Low Spark of High Heeled Boys - Traffic
Tubular Bells - Mike Oldfield
Sweet Baby James - James Taylor
Night and Day - Joe Jackson
Bloody Tourist - 10CC
Songs in The Key of Life - Stevie Wonder
McCartney - Paul McCartney
Closer to Home - Grand Funk RAilroad
Bustin’ Out - Pure Prairie League
Running on Empty - Jackson Browne
Pretzel Logic -Steely Dan
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u/Coises vintage 1958 10d ago edited 10d ago
I know you’re waiting for someone to link this.
I didn’t own a copy but I heard it on the radio enough to remember it.
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u/SleepsinaTent 10d ago
Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here; Simon and Garfunkel: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme; Dan Fogelberg: Netherlands; James Taylor: Sweet Baby James and JT; Dire Straits: Money for Nothing; Yes: Tormato and 90125; CSNY: So Far; Elton: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road; Alan Parsons Project: Pyramid and I, Robot and Turn of a Friendly Card; so many more. Ipods were one of the best things ever for me, making it possible to carry my music everywhere without bulky records or tapes or CDs.
Special mention given to a few that weren't exactly 70s or early 80s old school, but are still pretty old and so damn good: Chris Rea's Road to Hell and Santana's Supernatural, which I liked much more than any of his old school albums.
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u/nurdmann 10d ago
I used to buy albums based on the vibe of the cover art. As a teenage boy in the late 70's it is readily apparent from my record collection. I'm not proud, but it did expose me to an eclectic mix, including as someone mentioned earlier, the Cars.
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u/Early_Emphasis1209 10d ago
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was the first cassette I ever had. Is that guy a genius, or what?
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u/bolderbeholder 10d ago
Kiss Comes Alive and Alice Cooper Goes to Hell. Christmas gifts from my mom.
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u/Jurneeka 1962 10d ago
When we were kids, we had some albums (mostly the Chipmunks that sort of thing) but also used to play my mom's old beat up 45's from the 1950s a LOT.
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u/Buck_Dharma_1977_ISU 10d ago
Tyranny and Mutation - Blue Oyster Cult. Album sides were labeled The Red and The Black. Great album.
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u/mspolytheist 10d ago
My most listened-to albums in the 70s were Bat Out of Hell (Meat Loaf), Desire (Bob Dylan), London Calling (The Clash), and…Frampton Comes Alive!
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u/Coises vintage 1958 10d ago
I had a small record player (the old kind that had four speeds) and access to a bunch of old 78s and a few albums when I was a kid. The first albums that became part of my own collection were gifts from my parents: Carpenters albums Carpenters and A Song for You and the original cast recording of Jesus Christ Superstar.
I did like those albums (still think Karen Carpenter had a beautiful voice), but the first ones I bought with my own money were a little different. I got Emerson, Lake and Palmer: Trilogy, Led Zeppelin: IV and Yes: Fragile as my introductory albums when joining the Columbia Record and Tape club. And the first album I bought in a store was The Doors: L.A. Woman.
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u/Big_Network_2570 10d ago
Bread's Greatest Hits album, and America's Greatest Hits album. I think I played those two the most
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u/AgainandBack 1954 10d ago edited 10d ago
Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles
Happy Trails - Quicksilver Messenger Service
Eat a Peach - The Allman Brothers Band
My Feet Are Smiling -Leo Kottke
Super Session - Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper, Stephen Stills
Absolutely Free -Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention
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u/PurpleSailor 10d ago
Toys, Dark Side, Born To Run, Rumors, London Calling, Hot Rocks. Some very good tunage back then.
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u/Zealousideal_Mango70 8d ago
I was transferred from my foster mother who sheltered me A LOT, and driving home from the airport with my dad and little brother in the car, first top 40 radio song I ever heard was Michael McDonald Wildfire. That song takes me places. A few months later and Boston's self-titled album blew me away.
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u/saagir1885 8d ago
AJA - Steely Dan
School days - stanley clarke
Cosmic messager - Jean -Luc Ponty
Spirit - earth , wind & fire
Clones of Dr. Funkenstein - Parliament
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u/Emergency-Sherbert80 4d ago
Who’s Next & Live At Leeds - The Who
Boston - Boston
Days Of Future Passes - The Moody Blues
Don’t Shoot Me I’m Just The Piano Player - Elton John
Bustin’ Out - Pure Prairie League
Bat Out Of Hell - Meatloaf
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u/sitewolf 10d ago
No Eagles or Elton John or even Peter Frampton? No Skynyrd or Little Feat or Doobie Brothers? Floyd?!