Easy Come Easy Gaughin

Paul Newman’s been gone for nearly a month now, so it’s past time to identify his high points. He was, by all accounts, a great guy, and obviously a true philanthropist. Rest in peace.

Here’s the chronological listing of my personal favorite of his roles.

1963 Hud

1967 The Hustler

1967 Cool Hand Luke

1967 Hombre

1969 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

1973 The Sting

1981 Absence of Malice

1982 The Verdict

1990 Mr and Mrs Bridge

1994 Nobody’s Fool

This selected filmography puts him in a tie in terms of overall achievement with Woody Allen, behind only Robert DeNiro (so far, at least, I am still stalled out alphabetically in the J’s.)

When I was a kid growing up in the 70s (I graduated high school in 1976), my taste in music was limited pretty much to the kind of rock music that any normal middle class white kid would listen to; Grand Funk, Uriah Heep, The Guess Who, and so forth. I was terrified of reggae music, had a real resentment of most country music (growing up in Nashville, as a kid I just got sick of hearing about it.)

Subsequently, there are still these enormous gaps in my musical knowledge.

As I read through the Virgin book, I made notations about albums. Those albums mainly fell into two categories; those that were very important to me, and those that I have an interest in hearing to fill in those gaps.

When I finished the book, I had a list of about 300 records that I subsequently narrowed down to the 100 that make up this list. I don’t even know what to call it. How about “100 Albums from the 70’s that deserve another look”? Really rolls right off the tongue, eh? Except for those few records that made the list because I just couldn’t bear to leave them off, we could call it “Gaughin’s 70s Wish List”.

1970

Larry Coryell – Spaces

Crusaders – Old Socks New Shoes New Socks Old Shoes

Joni Mitchell – Ladies of the Canyon

James Taylor – Sweet Baby James

Tammy Wynette – Tammy’s Touch

Neil Young – After the Goldrush

1971

David Bowie – Hunky Dory

John Cale and Terry Riley – Church of Anthrax

Ry Cooder – Into the Purple Valley

Larry Coryell – At the Village Gate

Family – Fearless

The Kinks – Muswell Hillbillies

Led Zeppelin 4

Joni Mitchell – Blue

Pink Floyd – Meddle

1972

The Band – Rock of Ages

David Bowie – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

Can – Ege Bamyasi

Al Green – I’m Still in Love with You

Ralph McTell – Not Until Tomorrow

The Moody Blues – Seventh Sojourn

Tammy Wynette – Bedtime Story

Neil Young – Harvest

1973

The Chieftains 4

The Dramatics – Dramatically Yours

Rory Gallagher – Blueprint

Al Green – Call Me

Presenting I Roy

Keith Jarrett – Solo Concerts, Bremen and Lausanne

Bob Marley – Catch a Fire

Anne Murray – Danny’s Song

Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon

Earl Scruggs – Duelling Banjos

Paul Simon – There Goes Rhyming Simon

Tammy Wynette – Kids Say the Darndest Things

1974

David Bowie – Diamond Dogs

Jack Bruce – Out of the Storm

Can – Soon Over Babaluma

Kevin Coyne – Blame It On the Night

Brian Eno – Here Come the Warm Jets

Al Green Explores Your Mind

I Roy – Hell and Sorrow

Keith Jarrett and Jan Garbarek – Belonging

King Tubby – Black Board Jungle

Joni Mitchell – Court and Spark

Van Morrison – It’s Too Late To Stop Now

Anne Murray – Country

Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton – Porter n Dolly

Parliament – Up For the Down Stroke

Barbra Streisand – The Way We Were

Tower of Power – Back to Oakland

Weather Report – Mysterious Traveler

Neil Young – On the Beach

Frank Zappa – Apostrophe

1975

The Band – Northern Lights Southern Cross

Burning Spear – Marcus Garvey

King Tubby – The Roots of Dub

Kate and Anna McGarrigle (debut)

Bob Marley – Natty Dread

Willie Nelson – Red Headed Stranger

Dolly Parton – The Bargain Store

Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run

Frank Zappa – One Size Fits All

1976

Keith Jarrett – Sun Bear Concerts

King Tubby Meets The Rockers Uptown

The Maytals – Reggae Got Soul

Steve Miller – Fly Like an Eagle

Joni Mitchell – Hejira

June Tabor – Airs and Graces

Don Williams – Harmony

Frank Zappa – Zoot Allures

Warren Zevon (debut)

1977

David Bowie – Heroes

The Clash (debut)

Kevin Coyne – In Living Black and White

Gregory Isaacs – Mr Isaacs

Keith Jarrett – My Song

Kraftwerk – Trans Europe Express

Steve Miller – Book of Dreams

Pink Floyd – Animals

1978

Burning Spear – Social Living

Elvis Costello – This Year’s Model

Brian Eno – Music for Airports

Gregory Isaacs – The Cool Ruler

The Kinks – Misfits

Fela Kuti – Kalakuta Show

John McLaughlin – Johnny McLaughlin Electric Guitarist

Willie Nelson – Stardust

Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings – Waylon and Willie

Barbra Streisand – Songbird

Tom Waits – Blue Valentine

1979

Burning Spear – Living Dub

The Clash – London Calling

Emmylou Harris – Blue Kentucky Girl

Gregory Isaacs – Soon Forward

Fela Kuti – Coffin for Head of State

Bob Marley – Survival

Graham Parker – Squeezing Out Sparks

Neil Young – Rust Never Sleeps

Frank Zappa – Sheik Yerbouti

The plan was to go back to the 60s book next, but a recent episode of NPR’s All Songs Considered was uncharacteristically condescending to fans of 80s music, so I am going to check that out next.