So a while back, me and the homie Joe Carlos exchanged emails where we discussed music. I apologize for the lateness in it’s seeing the light of day, but better late than never right?
At any rate, here are 10 albums that Joe and I have deemed essential for grown folks to have in their collections….review and revise accordingly:
Cal’s Suggestions-
Don’t misinterpret this list, it’s not by any means a compilation of the BEST albums of all time. These are simply ESSENTIAL ALBUMS FOR GROWN FOLKS. Once again, these aren’t the BEST albums, as a matter of fact, some of them you will only want to listen to them once. With that said, here are the essential grown man/woman albums:
Here, My Dear by Marvin Gaye - This album started as an intentionally bad album for Marvin and turned into one of the most heartfelt, heartwrenching, and heartbreaking albums of all time. When it was first released it was almost universally panned, but over time, the genius of it shone through and it was recognized as a true watershed album in Marvin’s discography. One of the stipulations around it’s release was that all royalties were to go to his ex-wife Anna Gordy Gaye, and he definitely takes some shots at her. It’s so personal at times that it is hard to listen to, but what ends up happening is that you get a real TRUE glimpse into the grieving process of divorce and ending a relationship.
Live In New Orleans by Maze featuring Frankie Beverly - If you ask 100 soul and R&B fans about the best concert experience they’ve had, roughly half will mention seeing Frankie Beverly and Maze perform at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans. It’s a life changer according to those who have seen it. Sadly I haven’t, and so this album is the closest thing I have to it. The live version of “Joy and Pain” and the studio cut of “Before I Let Go” highlight this aural delight, and for me it’ll have to do until I can get the real thing.
Death Certificate by Ice Cube - Other albums sought to give us insight on hood living, and other albums sought to teach us (beat us over the head sometimes…I’m looking at you KRS-1), but before this album there was not a real GROWN rap album. This album to me is when hip hop grew up from juvenile rantings and became a complete work of adult art. Even the childish rant (”No Vaseline”) has the focus of a grown man chiding his juvenile friends about their ignorant ways. “Doing Dumb Shit” is a great piece of nostalgia that has just enough wisdom and insight with a bit of wistfulness thrown into the mix.
Kind of Blue by Miles Davis - Bitches Brew was more hip and ground breaking but Kind of Blue is the music to live life to. From the flowing and bouncy “All Blues” to the deeper and more introspective cuts like “Blue In Green” and “So What”, for an album with 6 tracks (the first edition CD that is, most new editions have a few more alternate takes and what not) it has a song literally for any occassion.
Come To My Garden by Minnie Riperton - The opening track “Les Fleur” is grandiose and explosive and yet somehow peaceful much like Minnie’s voice. In part this is the concept album that I believe Stevie Wonder wanted to create with “Journey Through ‘The Secret Life of Plants’” but it becomes much more. Minnie’s voice rides all over the production smoothly, like a high performance vehicle on the autobahn. This album is the soul/R&B version of an operatic masterpiece.
Joe’s Suggestions-
Brian McKnight - His debut effort was by far his strongest, and most
R&B heavy. More importantly, it gave us a better picture of the
artist past the single ‘Love Is’. The first half of the album has
certified hits in ‘One Last Cry’ and ‘Never Felt This Way’ and it’s
clear that the rest of the album follows the logic of a grown man
seeking love and finding it difficult along the way. This album
teaches lessons of love, its extremes and its advantages.
Baduizm - Erykah Badu’s debut was hardly a whimper. She came out with
a bang, and she didn’t let up. There are very few disappointing tracks
on this album, and because of that, the work as a whole is very
strong. Sure there are hits, but I love the interludes, the
individuality and her penchant to truly show us that she oozes
creativity. For a young woman at the time, this album is full of
themes of love, and premonitions connected to its many layers and
possibilities. I love this album, because it feels like I’m being
serenaded the whole time by someone who loves music.
Only the Lonely - Frank Sinatra is full of emotion. He’s full of love.
He’s full of passion. He makes it known throughout his music. He is
also a person who went through a great deal of disappointment, and he
has no problem sharing what it’s like for him to be broken-hearted. If
you’re feeling low, and I mean very low, and you want to stay that way
for a while to remind you of how low you feel, and to inspire you to
never be that low again, take a listen to the following off of this
album, “Only the Lonely”, “What’s New”, “Willow Weep for Me”, “Guess
I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry”, and “One For My Baby”. He does give a
little rebound song though in ‘Sleep Warm’. This is Sinatra at his
best; vulnerable and human and yet bold and just below the surface as
strong as ever.
In Square Circle - I’m very glad that Stevie Wonder had the genius
idea to hold off from including Overjoyed on ‘Journey Through the
Secret Life of Plants’. By doing so, he put it on ‘In Square Circle’
and put together one of his strongest post-Songs In the Key of Life
albums. In Stevie Wonder time, there is music before Songs in the Key,
and after. In Square Circle is after, and has a great deal of the
courage, originality, strength, beauty and perfection that we have
come to know from Stevie. Overjoyed anchors the album, but it’s merely
a snapshot compared to the others on the album like ‘Go Home’, ‘Part
Time Lover’, ‘I Love You Too Much’, ‘Whereabouts’ and the culturally
aware, ‘It’s Wrong (Apartheid)’. Stevie is STEVIE on this album, and
not to be denied.
The Black Album - If you’re going to retire, or supposedly retired,
you might as well do it in style. Jay did just that with his magnum
opus in 2003. This was grown man’s rap, not hip hop, but rap. He did
it with style and flare, and he used the best producers in the world,
regardless of genre. The music was inventive, the messages were clear,
concisely and timely, and the overarching theme was clear; I’m a grown
man, and I get to do this for a living, and because of that, I can do
all of these other things and explore my myriad of interests as well
while entertaining you. The Black Album will always be played on my
iPod and in my home later in life because of its utter completeness.
For me, there’s nothing better than ‘My First Song’.