All of my pre-1977 albums only total 6% of my record collection. It might be that I've been scared off of a lot of '60s and '70s artists due to classic rock radio.

The only artists from this era that I own multiple albums from are Elvis, Dave Brubeck, and The Stones.

I also own one album each from Dylan, The Free Design, The VU, Nico, Van Morrison, Cat Stevens, and Nick Drake.


That's pretty much it which is not a lot for two and a half decades of what many people consider the pinnacle of rock music. Granted there are others like Simon & Garfunkel and Neil Young that I love but haven't had a chance to buy yet. But I fully admit that there are many artists I have probably overlooked.


So get recommending. Specific albums would be most helpful, though I'm a box set fan too.

I hear that The Beatles were purty good.




edit: seriously though, everyone should have early work done by these artists:

Black Sabbath
Kiss
David Bowie
The Ramones
The Who

just off the top of my head - some of my favorite albums of all time which everyone should own

Gram Parsons - Grievous Angel
Big Star - #1 Record
The Band - Music from Big Pink
Elvis Costello - My Aim is True (1977)

Badfinger - Straight Up, Wish You Were Here
King Crimson - Red, Starless and Bible Black, Larks' Tongues in Aspic, In the Court of the Crimson King
David Bowie - Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, Station to Station, Low, Heroes, Scary Monsters
Gene Clark - No Other, Roadmaster
Beach Boys - Pet Sounds, Today
Brian Eno - Here Come the Warm Jets, Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy, Another Green World
Bruce Springsteen - Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ
Can - Tago Mago, Future Days, Monster Movie, Ege Bamyasi
Frank Zappa/Mothers of Invention - Freak Out, Absolutely Free, Hot Rats, Weasels Ripped My Flesh, Roxy and Elsewhere
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Foxtrot
Yes - Close to the Edge, The Yes Album, Fragile
Henry Cow - Unrest
Stooges - Funhouse, Raw Power, S/T
Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison
The Kinks - The Village Green Preservation Society, Lola, Arthur, Something Else, Face to Face
Led Zeppelin - 1,2,3,4, Houses of the Holy, Physical Graffiti
Pink Floyd - Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Meddle, Dark Side of the Moon
Marvin Gaye - What's Goin On
T. Rex - The Slider, Electric Warrior
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
KISS - Alive!

That should get you started.

Here are a few suggestions:

What's Going On - Marvin Gaye (1971)
Desire - Bob Dylan (1976)
Songs In The Key Of Life - Stevie Wonder (1976)
Who's Next - The Who (1971)
Led Zeppelin IV - Led Zeppelin (1971)
Talking Book - Stevie Wonder (1972)
Blood On The Tracks - Bob Dylan (1975)
Harvest - Neil Young (1972)
Physical Graffiti - Led Zeppelin (1975)
Pink Moon - Nick Drake (1972)
Electric Warrior - T. Rex (1971)
Moondance - Van Morrison (1970)
Ramones - Ramones (1976)
Mothership Connection - Parliament (1976)
Exile On Main St. - The Rolling Stones (1972)
Houses Of The Holy - Led Zeppelin (1973)
After The Gold Rush - Neil Young (1970)
Sticky Fingers - The Rolling Stones (1971)
Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel (1970)
Bryter Layter - Nick Drake (1970)
Superfly - Curtis Mayfield (1972)
Blue - Joni Mitchell (1971)
The Slider - T. Rex (1972)
Paranoid - Black Sabbath (1971)
The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars - David Bowie (1972)
Led Zeppelin III - Led Zeppelin (1970)
Funky Kingston - Toots & The Maytals (1973)
Innervisions - Stevie Wonder (1973)
Fun House - The Stooges (1970)
Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd - Lynyrd Skynyrd (1973)
Closing Time - Tom Waits (1973)
Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye (1973)
Horses - Patti Smith (1975)
Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen (1975)
Country Life - Roxy Music (1974)
Tago Mago - Can (1971)
Maggot Brain - Funkadelic (1971)
There's A Riot Goin' On - Sly & The Family Stone (1971)
Imagine - John Lennon (1971)
Young, Gifted & Black - Aretha Franklin (1971)
Transformer - Lou Reed (1972)
Aladdin Sane - David Bowie (1973)
Raw Power - The Stooges (1973)
Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd (1975)
A Night At The Opera - Queen (1975)
Autobahn - Kraftwerk (1974)
Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) - Brian Eno (1974)
All Things Must Pass - George Harrison (1970)
Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround Part One - The Kinks (1970)
Let It Be - The Beatles (1970)
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John (1973)
The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle - Bruce Springsteen (1973)
Hunky Dory - David Bowie (1971)
Tonight's The Night - Neil Young (1975)
Plastic Ono Band - John Lennon (1970)
Loaded - The Velvet Underground (1970)
I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight - Richard & Linda Thompson (1974)
Shaft - Isaac Hayes (1972
Let's Stay Together - Al Green (1972)
The New York Dolls - The New York Dolls (1973)
Kristofferson - Kris Kristofferson (1970)
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (1976)
Court And Spark - Joni Mitchell (1974)
Here Come The Warm Jets - Brian Eno (1974)
Amazing Grace - Aretha Franklin (1972)
The Modern Lovers - The Modern Lovers (1976)
Nilsson Schmilsson - Harry Nilsson (1971)
Another Green World - Eno (1975)
Sail Away - Randy Newman (1972)
Muswell Hillbillies - The Kinks (1971)
Warren Zevon - Warren Zevon (1976)
Curtis - Curtis Mayfield (1970)
Master Of Reality - Black Sabbath (1971)
Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. - Bruce Springsteen (1973)
Good Old Boys - Randy Newman (1974)
Up For The Down Stroke - Parliament (1974)

all the best soul is pre-1977. a few that haven't been mentioned:

charles wright and the watts 103rd st. rhythm band - express yourself (1970)
cymande - cymande (1973)
ramsey lewis - the in crowd (1965)
just about any otis redding album

But I will look into the rest. I've always looked down on Kiss but, out of all those others, Sabbath, Zeppelin, and Floyd are pretty much the only ones my dad listens to enough for me to feel I've got a comfortable opinion about.

Those would be the ones not already on my shopping list.

Noted. I might have a couple of Redding tracks and one or two Ramsey Lewis downloaded but that is it. These are more along the lines of stuff I'm looking for.

I might not listen to a lot of '60s and '70s stuff but I'm more than well-acquainted with my distaste for Zeppelin, Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Queen, Beatles, John Lennon, etc.

FLAMIN' GROOVIES - TEENAGE HEAD (the album, not the song)

The Congos - Heart of the Congos
The Modern Lovers - S/T
Love - S/T
Plastic People of the Universe - Egon Bondy's Happy Hearts Club Banned (actualy, 1978 but it kicks ass so I included it)
Harry Nilsson - Nilsson Schmilsson
The Kinks - Village Green Preservation Society
David Bowie - Hunky Dory (Low and Heroes as well but they're from '77)
Iggy Pop - Lust For Life, The Idiot (both also '77)
T. Rex - Electric Warrior (try to get a version w/the bonus tracks)
Neil Young - On the Beach (my fav by him)
The Band - Music From Big Pink, S/T, Stage Fright
Shugie Otis - Inspiration Information
Al Green - I'm Still in Love With You, Let's Stay Together, Call Me
(I'll leave it to someone else to name all the soul/R&B stuff)
Can - all of their first 4 albums
Neu - all of their first 3 albums
Harmonia - Musik Von Harmonia
Os Mutantes - the best of collection is a good place to start
Gilberto Gil/Jorge Ben - Gil e Jorge (an amazing album)
Faust - IV
Cluster - Cluster 71, Zuckerzeit, Sowiesoso, Cluster & Eno
Brian Eno - all of his first 4 (5th album was in '77)
Silver Apples - S/T, Contact
White Noise - An Electric Storm
The United States of America - S/T
Fifty Foot Hose - Cauldron
v/a - Ohm: the Early Gurus of Electronic Music
v/a - Bes of Moog: Electrronic Pop Hits From the 60's and 70's
Django Reinhardt - anything

lots more but I'm falling asleep

John Coltrane - Blue Train, Giant Steps
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um
Modern Jazz Quartet - Django
Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced?, Electric Ladyland
Woodstock: 3 days of Peace and Music

Here are a couple that I have not yet seen mentioned:

The Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man, Younger than Yesterday, Sweetheart Of the Rodeo
Emitt Rhodes - Emitt Rhodes
Brinsley Schwarz - Nervous On the Road/The New Favourites Of Brinsley Schwarz (available as a 2-fer), Silver Pistol
The Creation - Our Music Is Red With Purple Flashes
Hank Williams - 24 Greatest Hits
Robert Johnson - The Complete Recordings
Magic Sam - West Side Blues
Tom Zé - Massive Hits: The Best Of
The Impressions - Greatest Hits
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Syd Barrett - The Madcap Laughs
Sly & The Family Stone - Fresh
Sun Ra - Jazz In Silhouette, Supersonic Jazz, Sound Of Joy
Caetano Veloso - Transa (preempting Billy G on this one)
The Move - The Move, Shazaam

and I will second just about everything mentioned before.

Skip Spence, Oar

sounds like someone needs to spend time with "A Day In The Life"

flamin groovies

Check out Saint Etienne's "mix project" The Trip which includes "Chicago soul, TV chat show themes, rare psychedelia and a mish mash of everything in-between."



Also, Songs for Mario's Cafe: Compiled By St. Etienne which is 60's/70s obscure dream pop.

Most of what I would recommend to start with has already been mentioned, but once you have the early stuff by Love, Van Morrison, mid- to late-60s era Kinks, Byrds, Ramones, Modern Lovers, Otis Redding, Stooges, and Nick Drake, I'd get some early rock such as Buddy Holly or some country such as Johnny Cash's At Folsom Prison or just about anything by Patsy Cline.

Man, this topic kinda opens the floodgates.

A lot of this has already been mentioned, and you may already have some of this. Anyway, here's my contribution with multiple albums by some artists listed in the order of my preference:

Krautrock:
Can - Ege Bamyasi, Future Days, Tago Mago, Monster Movie
Faust - So Far, Tapes, IV
Neu! - s/t, Neu! 2
Cluster - Zuckerzeit
Harmonia - Musik von Harmonia, De Luxe
Kraftwerk - s/t, 2, Ralf & Florian
Ash Ra Tempel - Schwingungen, s/t
Tangerine Dream - Phaedra

World (OK, I really know very little about this):
Fela Kuti - Zombie, Shuffering & Shmiling, No Agreement
Os Mutantes - s/t
Caetano Veloso - Transa

Funk/Soul (I'm also pretty much a novice here):
Sly and the Family Stone - There's a Riot Goin' On, Stand!, Fresh, Life
Funkadelic - Free Your Mind, Maggot Brain, s/t
Parliament - Up for the Down Stroke, Mothership Connection
Al Green - Let's Stay Together, Call Me, I'm Still in Love with You
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
Stevie Wonder - Talking Book, Innervisions
James Brown - Live at the Apollo 1962

Pre-Punk:
Stooges - Funhouse
The Modern Lovers - s/t
The Velvet Underground - all of it
New York Dolls - s/t, Too Much Too Soon
Ramones - s/t
Patti Smith - Horses
Captain Beefheart - Clear Spot, Trout Mask Replica, Safe as Milk
(I'm not big on the MC5)

Jazz:
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue, Bitches Brew, On the Corner, Miles Smiles, In a Silent Way, Birth of the Cool
John Coltrane - Meditations, Giant Steps, Blue Train, A Love Supreme
Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um, Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, Pithecanthropus Erectus
Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come, Free Jazz
Eric Dolphy - Out to Lunch
Louis Armstrong - Hot 5's and 7's
Bill Evans - Sunday at the Village Vanguard, Waltz for Debby
Art Ensemble of Chicago - Les Stances a Sophie
Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unity
Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Collossus
Thelonius Monk - Brilliant Corners
Cannonball Adderley - Somethin' Else
Sun Ra - The Futuristic Sounds of, Atlantis, Heliocentric Worlds Vol. 1, Space Is the Place

General Rock, some Country-ish:
Big Star - #1 Record/Radio City, Third/Sister Lovers (also Chris Bell - I Am the Cosmos)
T. Rex - Electric Warrior, The Slider, Tanx
Van Morrison - Astral Weeks, Moondance
Led Zeppelin - III, IV, Houses of the Holy, Physical Graffiti
David Bowie - Low, Station to Station, Hunky Dory, Aladdin Sane, Ziggy Stardust
Neil Young - On the Beach, Zuma, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Harvest, Tonight's the Night, After the Goldrush
The Kinks - Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur, Something Else, Lola, Muswell Hillbillies, Face to Face
Zombies - Odyssey and Oracle
Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
Love - Da Capo, Forever Changes
Steely Dan - Countdown to Ecstacy
Willie Nelson - Shotgun Willie, Phases & Stages
Townes Van Zandt - High, Low and in Between/The Late Great
Pink Floyd - Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Meddle
Brian Eno - Here Come the Warm Jets, Another Green World
Roxy Music - s/t
John Fahey - The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death
Joni Mitchell - Blue
Leonard Cohen - Songs of Leonard Cohen, Songs of Love and Hate
Tom Waits - Small Change
Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left, Pink Moon
Black Sabbath - s/t, Master of Reality, Paranoid
Rolling Stones - Exile, Sticky Fingers, Let It Bleed, Beggars Banquet, Aftermath
Beatles - Abbey Road, White Album, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's
Dylan - Basement Tapes, Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, Freewheelin', Blood on the Tracks
The Band - s/t

I think you've got enough to go on for starters ( at least ) - so what'll I recommend is becoming a yourmusic.com member if yer not already. You'll be able to get a LOT of the above albums for $5.99 shipped that way.

And as far as KISS goes, yeah - "Alive!" is definitely the place to start. If you don't enjoy it, you'll never like 'em for sure.