Keven Oxford - Co-owner
It’s hard to compile a list of my favourite albums of all-time, the list could easily exceed 1000. I’ve decided to limit myself to a Top 50, & here they are in no particular order.
With almost everything recorded in the sixties & seventies it would seem I’m tragically lost in the past, but that’s when my favourite albums were made. This is music that made me happy & its music that made me sad, but more importantly its music that made me think. Just like the best music should. I wonder if you had to be there, whether you had to live through that era to really get it? In the sixties & seventies music ruled the world & we all believed that the music being made at that time had the ability to change that world. It was more than the sound or the fashion; it was a state of mind, a culture. You were either enraptured, or you were completely ignorant, there was no middle ground. I didn’t just listen to these albums, they became old friends, and they became part of my life. Music didn’t belong to the record companies back then, it didn’t even belong to the artists, it belonged to us the fans & that’s the way it should be. Back then there was a light at the end of the tunnel; it was visible to most of us that lived through that time. The one thing that bonded us together on our journeys of the mind & soul was the music; it made us believe that anything was possible & even when we got there what held us together was the music.
That’s why I still listen to the old stuff. It possesses an untarnished honesty that I can’t seem to find in most contemporary music. These albums listed don’t even necessarily contain my favourite songs (that’s a completely different list). Most of my life has had a great musical soundtrack, the first time I fell in love, the first time I had sex, the first time I watched the sunrise high, the first time I left Australia, when I met my wife, when my children were born, where I was & who I was with when I first heard that magical track jumping out of the stereo, headphones or car speakers. I admit that I’m totally lost in the past, but I treasure every minute that I spend there.
I still enjoy listening to these albums regularly & (unlike me) they show absolutely no signs of aging.
Top 40 Albums
Jimi Hendrix, Band Of Gypsy’s – Live At The Fillmore East - 1970
The Band – Music From Big Pink - 1968
The Beatles – Rubber Soul - 1965
Joni Mitchell – Blue - 1971
Tim Buckley – Starsailor - 1970
The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground & Nico - 1967
Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited - 1965
Miles Davis – In A Silent Way - 1969
The Beachboys – Pet Sounds 1966
Van Morrison – Astral Weeks - 1968
The Rolling Stones – Let It Bleed - 1969
Neil Young – After The Goldrush - 1970
The Wailers – Catch A Fire - 1973
Bruce Springsteen – Darkness On The Edge Of Town - 1978
Buffalo Springfield – Again - 1967
Al Green – Greatest Hits Volume 1- 1975
Love – Forever Changes - 1967
The Doors – The Doors - 1967
Marvin Gaye – What’s Goin’ On - 1971
Various Artists – The Harder They Come (Original Soundtrack) - 1973
Stevie Wonder – Innervisions - 1973
Pete Townshend & Ronnie Lane – Rough Mix - 1977
Patti Smith – Horses - 1975
Carole King – Tapestry - 1971
Nina Simone – The Soul Of Nina Simone - 1975
Spirit – The Twelve Dreams Of Dr Sardonicus - 1971
The Staple Singers – The Best Of The Stax Years - 1976
Little Feat – Dixie Chicken - 1973
Lewis Taylor – Lewis Taylor - 1996
Lewis Taylor – Lewis II - 2000
Lewis Taylor – Stoned Part 1 - 2002
Lewis Taylor – Stoned Part II - 2004
Lewis Taylor – LTD Edition 2004
Lewis Taylor – The Lost Album - 2005
Robert Johnson – King Of The Delta Blues Singers – 1961
Otis Redding – Otis Blue – 1965
Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band – Clear Spot 1972
The Who – Who’s Next - 1971
Santana – Abraxas - 1970
Sly & The Family Stone– There’s A Riot Goin’ On - 1971
Curtis Mayfield – The Anthology 1961-1977
Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin III - 1970
James Brown & The Famous Flames - Live At The Apollo Vol. 1 - 1963
John Lee Hooker – The Legendary Modern Recordings – 1948- 1954
Donny Hathaway – The Best Of Donny Hathaway - 1978
Dr John – In The Right Place - 1973
