Elvis Costello's 500 Albums You Need To Own A – D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I was gonna write something about the great blues singer Bobby “Blue” Bland recent death  but really felt I had nothing much to add to the conversation. I’d seen him live a couple of times and found him quite good but other than that, I had nothing. Then I thought I might write about the first time I’d become aware of him. 1982, Elvis Costello covered “Two Steps From The Blues” on the Imperial Bedroom tour (I think, something around that time) and blew me away and so i started listening to him.

So I googled Costello and Blue Bland and what I found was an old Vanity Affair with Costello’s 500 must own albums. So I cribbed it, and here is the first installment, A – D

ABBA

Abba Gold(1992) Knowing Me, Knowing You

 

David Ackles

The Road To Cairo(1968) Down River

Subway To The Country(1969) That’s No Reason To Cry

 

Cannonball Adderley

The Best Of Cannonball Adderley(1968) Mercy, Mercy, Mercy

 

Amy Allison

The Maudlin Years(1996) The Whiskey Makes You Sweeter

 

Mose Allison

The Best Of Mose Allison(1970) Your Mind Is On Vacation

 

Almamegretta

Lingo(1998) Gramigna

 

Louis Armstrong

The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings(2000) Wild Man Blues Tight Like This

 

Fred Astaire

The Astaire Story(1952) They Can’t Take That Away From Me

 

Johann Sebastian Bach

The Well-Tempered Clavier (Edwin Fischer; 1934)

The Six Cello Suites (Pablo Casals; 1936)

Six Partitas BWV 825-830 (Andras Schiff; 1984)

Mass in B Minor (conductor: Otto Klemperer; 1999)

 

Burt Bacharach

The Look Of Love: The Burt Bacharach Collection(1998) Alfie

 

Chet Baker

The Best Of Chet Baker Sings(1989) The Thrill Is Gone You Don’t Know What Love Is

Broken Wing (1978)

 

The Band

Music From Big Pink(1968) Tears Of Rage

The Band(1969) The Unfaithful Servant

 

Dave Bartholomew

The Monkey (1985)

 

Béla Bartók

Six String Quartets (Emerson String Quartet; 1988)

 

Cecilia Bartoli

If You Love Me, 18th Century Italian Songs(1992) Alessandro Parisott – Se Tu M’Ami Antonio Vivaldi – Sposa son disprezzata

 

Count Basie

The Atomic Mr. Basie(1957) Li’l Darlin’

 

The Beach Boys

Pet Sounds(1966) Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) God Only Knows

Carl and the Passions – “So Tough”(1972) Cuddle Up

Holland(1973) The Trader

Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of the Beach Boys(boxed set; 1993) Surf’s Up Wonderful

 

Beastie Boys

Paul’s Boutique(1989) Shadrach

 

The Beatles

With The Beatles(1963) You Really Got A Hold On Me

A Hard Day’s Night(1964) Things We Said Today

Help!(1965) You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away

Rubber Soul(1965) Girl

Revolver(1966) And Your Bird Can Sing For No One

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band(1967) A Day In The Life

The Beatles(White Album; 1968) I’m So Tired

Past Masters, Vol. 2(1988) Paperback Writer Rain

 

Beck

Odelay(1996) The New Pollution

 

Bee Gees

Best Of Bee Gees(1969) To Love Somebody

 

Ludwig Van Beethoven

Otto Klemperer Live At The Concertgebouw (1954)

Symphony No. 9; Piano Sonatas Op. 109, 110, 111 (Sviatoslav Richter; 1965)

Symphony No. 7 (conductor: Carlos Kleiber; 1975)

Late Quartets (Budapest String Quartet; 1997)

Violin Concerto (soloist: Yehudi Menuhin; 1997)

 

Derek Bell

Derek Bell Plays With Himself (1981)

 

Tony Bennett and Bill Evans

The Tony Bennett Bill Evans Album(1975) Some Other Time

 

Alban Berg

Violin Concerto (soloist: Anne-Sofie Mutter; 1993)

 

Hector Berlioz

Damnation Of Faust (conductor: John Eliot Gardiner; 1987)

 

Agnes Bernelle

Father’s Lying Dead On The Ironing Board (1995)

 

Leonard Bernstein

West Side Story (1957)

 

Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry’s Golden Decade(1967) Don’t Lie To Me

 

Björk

Debut(1993) Venus As A Boy

Post(1995) Hyper-ballad

 

Rubén Blades

Buscando America (1984)

 

Bobby “Blue” Bland

Two Steps From The Blues (1961)

 

Blondie

The Best Of Blondie(1981) In The Flesh

 

Blur

13(1999) No Distance Left To Run

 

Dirk Bogarde

Lyrics For Lovers(1960) A Foggy Day

 

David Bowie

Hunky Dory(1971) Life On Mars?

Station To Station(1976) Wild Is The Wind

Low(1977) Always Crashing In The Same Car

Heroes(1977) Joe The Lion

 

Johannes Brahms

Ein Deutsches Requiem (conductor: Otto Klemperer; 1962)

 

Johnny Bristol

Hang On In There Baby (1974)

 

Benjamin Britten

Serenade For Tenor, Horn And Strings (soloist: Ian Bostridge; 1996)

 

Charles Brown

Driftin’ Blues: The Best Of Charles Brown(1992) Black Night

 

Clifford Brown

Clifford Brown With Strings(1955) Yesterdays

 

James Brown

Live At The Apollo(1963) I Found Someone

Star Time(boxed set; 1991) Talkin’ Loud & Sayin’ Nothing

 

Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne (Saturate Before Using)(1972) My Opening Farewell

 

Anton Bruckner

Symphony No. 9 (conductor: Gunter Wand; 1990)

 

Jeff Buckley

Grace(1994) Corpus Christi Carol

 

Harold Budd and Brian Eno

Ambient 2: The Plateaux Of Mirror(1980) Above Chiangmai

 

Buffalo Springfield

Retrospective: The Best Of Buffalo Springfield(1969) Expecting To Fly

 

Bulgarian State Radio & Television Female Choir

Le Mystère Des Voix Bulgares (1990)

 

T Bone Burnett

Proof Through The Night(1983) Fatally Beautiful

T Bone Burnett(1986) River Of Love

The Talking Animals(1988) Image

 

The Byrds

Younger Than Yesterday(1967) So You Want To Be A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star

The Notorious Byrd Brothers(1968) Goin’ Back Artificial Energy

Sweetheart Of The Rodeo(1968) Hickory Wind

 

John Cale

Music For A New Society(1982) Taking Your Life In Your Hands

 

Maria Callas

Five Heroines – Operatic Extracts(1990) Vissi d’arte

 

Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band

Trout Mask Replica(1969) The Dust Blows Forward ‘n’ The Dust Blows Back

Clear Spot(1972) Big Eyed Beans From Venus

 

Hoagy Carmichael

Hoagy Sings Carmichael(1956) Rockin’ Chair

 

James Carr

At The Dark End Of The Street(1987) Pouring Water On A Drowning Man

 

Johnny Cash

The Essential Johnny Cash(1992) I Still Miss Someone

 

June Carter Cash

Press On(1999) Tiffany Anastasia Lowe

 

Ray Charles

Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music(1962) You Don’t Know Me

A Life In Music(1982) I Believe To My Soul Just For A Thrill

 

Chic

Chic’s Greatest Hits(1979) My Forbidden Lover

 

Frédéric Chopin

Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 (pianist, conductor: Krystian Zimerman; 1978)

 

The Clash

London Calling(1979) Rudie Can’t Fail

The Singles(1991) (White Man) In The Hammersmith Palais

 

Patsy Cline

Greatest Hits(1973) Sweet Dreams

 

The Coasters

The Ultimate Coasters(1986) Shoppin’ For Clothes

 

Leonard Cohen

The Best Of Leonard Cohen(1976) Who By Fire

More Best Of(1997) The Future Tower Of Song

 

Ornette Coleman

The Shape Of Jazz To Come(1959) Peace

 

John Coltrane

My Favorite Things(1961) Every Time We Say Goodbye

The Impulse! Years(1993) A Love Supreme

 

Ry Cooder

Paradise And Lunch(1974) Married Man’s A Fool

 

Sam Cooke

Night Beat(1963) Get Yourself Another Fool

 

Don Covay

Checkin’ In With Don Covay(1989) It’s Better To Have Than Not Have

 

Noël Coward

The Master’s Voice: His HMV Recordings(1993) The Stately Homes Of England

 

Bing Crosby

His Legendary Years(1993) Gigi

 

David Crosby

If I Could Only Remember My Name(1971) Laughing

 

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Déjà Vu(1970) Helpless

 

Crowded House

Temple Of Low Men(1988) Into Temptation

 

D’Angelo

Voodoo(2000) Devil’s Pie

 

Miles Davis

Birth Of The Cool(1956) Boplicity

Miles Ahead(1957) My Ship

Porgy And Bess(1958) Bess, You Is My Woman Now

Kind Of Blue(1959) All Blues

Sketches Of Spain (1960)

My Funny Valentine (1964)

In A Silent Way(1969) Shhh

On The Corner(1969) New York Girl

 

Miles Davis and Stan Getz and Lee Konitz

Conception(1975) Ezz-thetic

 

Claude Debussy

Pelléas et Mélisande (conductor: Claudio Abbado; 1992)

Preludes (Krystian Zimerman; 1994)

 

Alfred Deller

William Byrd and His Age(1956) Ye Sacred Muses

 

Destiny’s Child

The Writing’s On The Wall(1999) Say My Name

 

Bo Diddley

His Best(1997) Crackin’ Up

 

Dr. John

Dr. John’s Gumbo(1972) Junko Partner

 

Eric Dolphy

Outward Bound(1960) G.W.

Iron Man(1969) Come Sunday

 

Lee Dorsey

Ride Your Pony(1966) Get Out Of My Life, Woman Wonder Woman

Yes We Can(1970) Tears, Tears And More Tears

 

John Dowland

Awake Sweet Love(The Deller Consort; 1965) Flow My Tears

Dowland: The Collected Works(Consort of Musicke; 1980) A Pilgrimes Solice

 

John Dowland And William Byrd

Night’s Black Bird (Fretwork; 1989)

 

Henri Duparc

Melodies(baritone: Bernard Kruysen; 1971) Phidyle

 

Jimmy Durante

September Song (1963)

 

Ian Dury

New Boots And Panties!!(1977) Sweet Gene Vincent

 

Dyke & the Blazers

So Sharp (1983)

 

Bob Dylan

Bringing It All Back Home(1965) Subterranean Homesick Blues

Blonde On Blonde(1966) Most Likely You Go Your Way And I’ll Go Mine

John Wesley Harding(1968) All Along The Watchtower

Planet Waves(1974) Dirge

Blood On The Tracks(1974) You’re A Big Girl Now

The Basement Tapes(1975) Nothing Was Delivered

Shot Of Love(1981) Every Grain of Sand

Time Out Of Mind(1997) Not Dark Yet

Bob Dylan Live 1966: The “Royal Albert Hall” Concert(1998) Like A Rolling Stone I Don’t Believe You