Perfect (or near perfect) again

I've approached this topic several times before here and here and here and here. It is a fun thing to consider, but also clearly a matter of taste, and so not everyone will agree. I won't be listing any Genesis or Yes albums, or anything by the Jam or Pink Floyd, even though I know people who would certainly have those bands' records on a list like this. This time I'll stick closer to the "classics" perhaps than my previous posts.

Obviously, I find Rubber Soul to fit the description, but with one caveat. I think the original American release is perfect, but I don't feel quite the same about the UK version, which became the standard once the Beatles were on CD. Of course now the American releases can be had on CD (individually since 2014, or in a 2006 box set).

Elvis Costello and the Attractions This Year's Model and Imperial Bedroom. For This Year's Model, I prefer the UK release because it included I Don't Want To Go To Chelsea, maybe the best song on the record, and not included on the original American release. Imperial Bedroom is the last great record with the Attractions, and the most Beatles-like record in Costello's catalog.

The Who Who's Next. Almost as interesting a story as the record itself. In the wake of Pete Townsend's overblown expectations and failed completion of his Lifehouse project, the best of that project and a few others were recorded for the Who's finest moment. A classic radio staple, it got played to death and still somehow sounds great today. One of many fantastic Glyn Johns produced records.

The Clash London Calling. They hit it out of the park. Nothing else compares to it. Not as punk as their earlier records, and not as indulgent (or in the case of Combat Rock, lame) as what came after it.

Moby Grape Moby Grape. A fabulous debut that the band could never again match. They had some great songs, but never again a great LP.

Bob Dylan Blond On Blond. It's hard to digest in one sitting, but any side is enjoyable on its own. There are of course other Dylan records to consider (Bringing It All Back Home, John Wesley Harding, Blood On The Tracks, Time Out Of Mind, "Love And Theft"), but Blond On Blond is the one that almost no one will disagree with as a perfect (or near perfect) outing.

David Bowie Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars. Again, every song a winner. Would we even have a glam rock category without this record? It also makes a case for Mick Ronson being one of the most underrated guitarists in rock.

Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers. This one is about the songs. The record contains the most consistently strong list of Jagger-Richards compositions of any Stones album. The pinnacle of their amazing 1968-1972 run of four great ones.

Kelly Willis What I Deserve. Perfect country record. Easy and Translated From Love come in awfully close. Willis has a great voice, writes great songs (many with husband Bruce Robison), and lays off the "modern" country sound that emulates 80's arena rock to stick to a more traditional mainstream.

Allen Toussaint The Bright Mississippi. Just right New Orleans jazz, and Toussaint's late career masterpiece.  Not "challenging" jazz, but melodic and skillful. As near perfect as music gets these days, and timeless.

Irma Thomas Love Is The Foundation. Another New Orleans classic, Thomas has made a lot of fine music in her career. This one was recorded and released by Newvelle Records, a pricey niche vinyl-only label that produces (mostly) jazz records. Again, a late career masterwork.

I don't discuss jazz here as often as I listen to it, but here's three slices of jazz perfection: Nat King Cole After Midnight, Bill Evans Sunday At The Village Vanguard (both classics from the golden age of jazz in the 50s and 60s) and Stacey Kent Breakfast On The Morning Tram, a more recent choice, but no less compelling.

Moby Grape

Their debut album from 1967 is as close to perfect as rock and roll records get. Thirteen tracks, every one a winner, and all but two under three minutes long. A perfect blend of musical styles, great vocals, outstanding three-guitar interplay, and excellent songs. It's really all there. The record sold reasonably well and made it to #24 on the Billboard album charts. But Columbia records decided to promote the record by audaciously releasing five singles from the album on the same day of LP's release. Only Omaha cracked the top 100 because DJs had no idea with what to do with five simultaneous singles. This was 1967, and "hype" was a bad word in the counter culture, so that just made things worse.

As brilliant as they were musically, they were naive and ill-guided in the legal department. Their manager Matthew Katz, who had also managed Jefferson Airplane (they fired him before Moby Grape formed) and It's A Beautiful Day, was a special kind of dick. He ended up owning the rights to their name as well as to their publishing, and the legal dispute continued for over 30 years until 2006 when Katz at last lost in court, but only after destroying any chance the band had of making some sort of comeback. 

Add to that, during the recording of their second LP, Wow/Grape Jam, Skip Spence went nuts when his manic depression was stoked by LSD and hard drugs. He tried to attack his fellow band members, and eventually arrived at the studio with axe in hand, only to be carted off by police. Spence wound up spending six months in Bellevue being treated for psychosis.

 Wow 1968 received a lukewarm reception at the time, and while it is certainly indulgent, it has a number of fine tracks. Murder In My Heart For The Judge, Can't Be So Bad, He, Bitter Wind, and Miller's Blues are all solid. The record charted at #20, and the Grape Jam record was included in the package for the price of a single record. Which was certainly appropriate since it was nothing special.

With Skip Spence on extended hiatus due to instability, the other four got back to work and produced Moby Grape '69, an outstanding record that almost equals their debut. It didn't crack the top 100 on the charts. The buying public had been disappointed by Wow, and maybe there was limited promotion, but Ooh Mama Ooh, Ain't That A Shame, It's A Beautiful Day Today, Trucking Man, and Spence's Seeing are all good songs performed well. The record has a little more of a country feel than they had previously established, but the rockers rock.

They owed Columbia one more record, and that's why there's Truly Fine Citizen 1969. Bob Mosley had left to join the marines (!), so Peter Lewis, Don Stevenson, and Jerry Miller recorded this one in Nashville with famous session bassist Bob Moore on bass. The record was recorded in just three days, and while it has some fine moments, mostly from Peter Lewis's pen, it is a disappointing outing at best.

Then in 1971, all five members reunite to record 20 Granite Creek for Reprise. It has a strangely murky sound, but there are a bunch of solid songs in Gypsy Wedding, I'm the Kind of Man That Baby You Can Trust, Going Down To Texas, Road To The Sun, and Ode to the Man at the End of the Bar. It's better than Truly Fine Citizen at least, but the magic of the debut and '69 are missing.

The band would reunite for Moby Grape '84 and again in 1989 for Legendary Grape. I've heard them both, and while they are still a talented bunch, neither record lives up to their reputation. Columbia released a two CD compilation in 1993 titled Vintage: The Very Best of Moby Grape that contains the entire first album, tracks from Wow, '69, and Truly Fine Citizen, plus a number of live, demo, and assorted alternate versions. It has good sound and is worth seeking out.

Based on Wow and '69, the band had at least one more great record to make after the debut. Legal woes with a terrible manager, and bad decisions by Columbia, not to mention psychological troubles for both Spence and Mosley, all add up to a classic could have been, should have been story that seems far too familiar in the annals of rock and roll.

Moby Grape '69 1969

I suppose by now everyone's heard the sorry tale of this great band. Their debut, Moby Grape 1967 was and still is one of the finest rock and roll records. Perfect rock and roll. The debacle that was the promotion of the record and the band are well documented, and there was never a repeat of the success, either commercial or artistic, of that debut. The second album, Wow, was a scattered mess with several great songs, and was packaged with the yawn-inducing Grape Jam.

But Moby Grape '69 was an overlooked gem. The blues-y R&B of Ooh Mama Ooh starts the record off with a wonderful display of their vocal prowess. It's A Beautiful Day Today is a gorgeous ballad that could only be from sixties San Francisco, but in a good way. We should have heard it on the radio for years, especially given some of the dreck from the era that we still must endure from time to time. I Am Not Willing is a slow love ballad with a sweet Peter Lewis vocal.

Side two comes out of the gate with Trucking Man, a real pile driver of a song with a great riff and driving drums. If You Can't Learn From My Mistakes is a charming country ditty with a fun lyric. Captain Nemo hearkens back to the fabulous syncopation, vocal harmonies and guitar interplay of the debut album. Going Nowhere rocks hard, with big riffs and hooks. Seeing is a early example of the soft-loud-soft aesthetic that would get famous thirty years later. The song was written by Skip Spence, who had by now left the band in a fit of psychosis, and the blues-y guitar is some of Jerry Miller's fine work.

This one might not be quite as timeless as their debut. But it's their next best, and it's the sound of a super-tight band out to prove something. They get it done in spades.