The Five Best Albums For Fall
Fall is a wondrous time of year. Leaves change color and "fall" to the ground. People break out their leaf-blowers and blow their leaves onto the neighbor's lawn when nobody's looking. Young couples go to New England and sleep in quaint B&Bs, some without television!
And music geeks break out albums that remind them of the season. And for readers of this column, I choose five albums that from the looks of the album cover, it must be Fall! That's right, take your picture in a sweater or light coat surrounded by leaves and next thing you know you've made this column. Besides, the one thing I've learned writing this column is that Puddle of Mudd fans crave more Fairport Convention coverage! On its way, guys!
The Critters--Younger Girl: I don't think a week passes at List Of The Day without at least a dozen emails demanding more coverage of the Critters, New Jersey's finest folk-rock band from the mid-1960s. I sometimes suspect they're all being written by the same person. In any case, mission accomplished. Here they are. One of the finest bands to ever have their picture taken in the leaves. Which raises the question of why the band The Leaves never did anything so conceptual. Or did they?
Fairport Convention--Fairport Convention: Once upon a time every band had their picture taking in nature amongst the fallen leaves and no one looked more convincing doing it than Fairport Convention, who have gone on to have a hundred members come and go, release dozens of records on tiny labels, and have festivals held in their honor. Their guitarist, Richard Thompson, has enjoyed a career where he's watched Eric Clapton succeed, despite being the "more better" player. He also issued several boxed sets which deserved to win Grammy Awards but didn't.
Nick Drake--Bryter Layter: The patron saint of crybaby songwriters worldwide, Nick Drake made three albums in his lifetime that all deserve to be listened to as the nights get longer and colder and the world becomes a more difficult place. But this second album just seems to scream FOLIAGE. No nature shot on the album cover, but those shoes!
Black Sabbath--Black Sabbath: One look at the album cover with the ghoul in green amongst the leaves and you can tell it's Halloween time. To think they started as a blues band is horrific. But as they proved, if at first you don't succeed, try something else. And that something else led them to superstardom and a rotating cast of lead singers, once their first one, Ozzy Osbourne, discovered he could do it on his own. Which is amazing in its own way.
Bill Morrissey--North: By law I have to include a New England folksinger in my list or else the foliage police will come after me. I choose Bill Morrissey because a friend made me a compilation CD of his first five albums or so and it made me immediately think of sitting by a fire and sucking down some maple syrup at a quaint bed and breakfast before setting some witches on fire. Hey, isn't Jack Kerouac buried somewhere around here?
