Billy Recommends

The following list was made off of the top of my head and written down in about an hour on a rainy Thursday when the Yankees game that I was going to was rained out. These are some of the most influencial artists I remember loving. In many cases, I STILL listen to this stuff.

A few Favorite drummers with recomended albums:

• Bonham - Led Zep boxed set
  
• Art Blakey - anything by Art, my favorite version of the band was with Lee Morgan
  
• Ringo Starr - "Revolver" and "Rubber Soul" and ALL the rest
  
• Papa Jo Jones - "Jo Jones Trio" (on Everest Records # FSR-CD 40) Hands!
  
• Keith Moon - "Live At Leeds" and "Who’s Next"
  
• Elvin Jones - "Speak No Evil" by Wayne Shorter and by John Coltrane,
  "Crescent", "Transition", "A Love Supreme"
  
• Paul Motian - with Bill Evans or one of his solo albums
  
• Joey Baron - his solos albums, or there’s one John Scofield album...?
  
• Ziggyboo Modelese - anything by The Meters - funky funky funky!
  
• Bernard Purdie - "Royal Scam" by Steely Dan (not to mention the Aretha + stuff!)
  
• Nigel Olsen - any Elton John
  
• Levon Helm - "Music from Big Pink" by The Band plus any of The Band. Have
  you seen the film, "The Last Waltz"? (incredible!)
  
• Steve Gadd - "Aja", Steely Dan + many. many more
  
• Ginger Baker - "Disraeli Gears", by Creme and "Blind Faith" by Blind Faith (on Polydor)
  
• Ed Blackwell - "Circle With a Hole In The Middle", by Ornette Coleman
  
• Billy Cobham - "Birds Of Fire" by John McClaughlin Orchestra and "Jack Johnson", by Miles Davis
  
• Mark Craney - "Brother To Brother", Gino Vanelli
  
• Eric Gravatt - "I Sing The Body Electric", by Weather Report
  
• Dave Grohl - Nirvana. Any of em. Wow, what a band!
  
• Roy Haynes - "Now He Sings, Now He Sobs" by Chick Corea
  
• Mel Lewis - "Monday Night, Live At The Village Vanguard" by Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band
  
• Jerry Marotta - with Peter Gabriel
  
• Rick Marotta - with too many to mention here!
  
• Joe Morello - "Take Five", by Dave Brubeck, of course!
  
• Mitch Mitchell - The Jimi Hendrix Experience. All of it. Are You Experienced?
  
• Buddy Rich - "Big Swing Face" by B.R. Big Band
  
• Pete Thomas - "Imperial Bedroom", by Elvis Costello and the Attractions
  
• Alex Van Halen - Another great band... well, sometimes you have to overlook the singer! :)
  
• Charlie Watts - any Stones!
  
• Tony Williams - All of his solo albums, but mostly "Miles Smiles" and "Seven Steps To Heaven", by Miles Davis
  
• B. J. Wilson - "Shine On Brightly" by Procol Harem (passionate fills and beats)

Other albums of great interest to me:

• "You’d Prefer An Astronaut" by Hum, (RCA #88577-2) This is as loud as it gets - great drummer too.
• "Ten Easy Pieces" by Jimmy Webb (Guardian Records #2438-52826-2)
  "Surf’s Up and Sunflower" by the Beach Boys (Brother Records #72435-25692-2-9)
• "Bone Machine" by Tom Waits. In fact, all of the Tom Waits stuff is great!
  "Blood On The Tracks" by Bob Dylan. See above statement!
  "Essence" by Lucinda Williams
• "Jazz Me Blues - The Best Of Jimmy Witherspoon" (Prestige#PRCD-11008-2) Money back guarantee on this one!
• "Live At The Aollo" by James Brown (Polydor) Another money back guarantee!)
  "Kiko" by Los Lobos.
• "Loveless" by My Bloody Valentine. (Sire/Warner Bros. #9 26759-2) So different and incredible. Should’ve earned ALL engineering awards. This is stuff that you never hear anywhere else and it’s now over ten years old!
• "Donovans’ Greatest Hits" by Donovan. Nobody knew for sure how to "rock drum" then, and it’s cool the choices that are made.
• "Passion" by Peter Gabriel
• "Fear" by Toad The Wet Sprocket
• "Living With The Law" by Chris Whitley. This record is so damn beautiful...
• "Joshua Tree" by U2
• All Weather Report albums, especially the first one!
• "In Pursuit Of Blackness" by Joe Henderson
• Both of Robbie Robertson’s albums. The first is titled "Robbie Robertson", and the second is titled, "Storyville"
• "Cat Stevens Greatest Hits" by Cat Stevens. Someday, somebody’s gonna cover the song "Peace Train" and make a lot of money. Great record.
• All Frank Sinatra Records. He’s got SERIOUS time and vibe.
• "George Shearing and The Montgomery Brothers" by George Shearing and The Montgomery Brothers. this is a great record that Jim Beard hipped me to.
• All the Mingus albums are great.
• All the Radiohead albums are great. And yes, I’m "thumbs up" with Kid A!

Misc. Extras:

• Favorite tech recording magazine: (forget about Mix...) subscribe (for free) to Tape Op www.tapeop.com
• Favorite food: Mexican, Indian and French.
• Favorite New York Restaraunt: Gascogne in New York City
• Favorite Hot Sauce: Hectors Smokin Habanera Hot Sauce www.HectorSauce.com
• Favorite comedy album: "No Cure For Cancer" by Dennis Leary
• Favorite motion picture film directors: The Cohen Brothers and Terry Gilliam
• Favorite baseball team: The Cincinnati Reds. www.redszone.com
• Favorite painters: Pollack, Bleckner, Rothko, Miro, Van Gogh, Calder.
• Favorite baseball players: Jackie Robinson, Seaver, Morgan, Bench, Perez, Rose, Clemente, Marachal, Griffey Jr., Koufax....
• Favorite book about music: "Tunesmith", by Jimmy Webb
• Favorite book (otherwise): J.R.R. Tolkien, "The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy"
• Favorite coffee machine: Gaggia www.gaggia.it.