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The Rotation, #36

stack of lp records close up

Tom Paxton: AIN’T THAT NEWS (1965)*

A lot of poignant 1960s politics that still resonate today.

Collected Tracks

  • Ain’t That News
  • Bottle of Wine
  • Buy a Gun for Your Son

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: INTO THE GREAT WIDE OPEN (1991)*

It’s Tom, y’all. The longer he’s gone the more I miss him.

Collected Tracks

  • Learning to Fly
  • Into the Great Wide Open
  • All the Wrong Reasons
  • Too Good to Be True
  • Out In the Cold
  • You and I Will Meet Again
  • Built to Last

Tom T. Hall: THE MAGNIFICENT MUSIC MACHINE (1976)*

Was not aware of Tom T. Hall until fairly recently. Seems to be a bit of a deep cut in the country world, but his style and his songs are right in line with the classic country that I enjoy. An album I heard earlier was straight-up 60s country. But this one is a bluegrass record through and through.

Collected Tracks

  • Fox on the Run
  • Mama’s Got the Catfish Blues
  • Bluegrass Break Up

Tom Waits: THE HEART OF SATURDAY NIGHT (1974)*

Still not sold on Waits’ voice, but he does write a nice song.

Collected Tracks

  • Diamonds on My Windshield
  • (Looking For) The Heart of Saturday Night
  • Fumblin’ with the Blues

Tommy James & The Shondells: HANKY PANKY (1966)*

It’s a recurring conflict with my spouse (who remembers the 60s) that I enjoy Tommy James & The Shondells. That’s mostly based on my love for Tiffany’s rendition of “I Think We’re Alone Now,” and my subsequent enjoyment of Tommy James’ version. I’ve never really spent time with the band though. I’m not expecting much, but maybe some cheesy 60s fun.

Can’t help but wonder how much of what I’m hearing is them, and how much is The Wrecking Crew, or the like.

Collected Tracks

  • The Lover
  • Don’t Throw Our Love Away
  • Shake a Tail Feather
What is The Rotation?

The primary way I build my digital music collection is by maintaining a playlist called, “The Rotation.” On this list, I load albums of artists I’m interested in hearing; mostly new-to-me artists or albums. Because I need some organizational principle to conduct this survey, I go by the alphabetical listing of the artist. I typically move from earlier records to later records, although there are exceptions. If I’m excited to hear a new album by a favorite artist I’ll add it in an apparent random placement to hear it sooner than later. From this list I’ll select tracks to add to my collection. It’s rare that I DNF a record, and uncommon for me to not select a single track from it. I’ve been doing this for a while and am currently on my 9th trip around the alphabet. Above are the albums heard in a given session and what thoughts, if any, I have about them. These are mostly first impressions, so don’t expect in-depth analysis.


Asterisks (*) after the album title indicate that it is a new-to-me record.

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