This is an alphabetical list of vinyl rock n roll record albums that I bought when they came out that I still listen to (on vinyl), and that I can remember without going to look. No, I didn’t remember them in alphabetical order, I used Excel to sort them, and now I’m stuck with a table in this post.
With the exception of American Woman , and three Band albums I have not included Canadian rock records. I will give them a separate list maybe with a little more information as they are less well known than most of the selections on this list (i.e. King Biscuit Boy, Crowbar, Lighthouse). The Jazz list is already on this site, and there will be others including Blues, Roots and Reggae for example.
Saw T.Rex live in Winnipeg twice.
This rock and roll list would be common to most white guys my age (over 50) who were paying attention to rock n roll music and buying records. With the exception of Greatest Hits compilations most of these records were conceived of, and listened to , as albums, as an artistic unit, even if you had to turn them over, or they were part of a double album set. I contend the return of vinyl records is not just about a warmer sound, but a desire to listen to a bunch of songs by the same band as a cohesive work of art, currently best exemplified by The Black Keys. The other upside, is that though you can always plug in earphones to the tuner/receiver, albums played on turntables are usually played through (stereo) speakers conducive to communal listening, and hey – it can even lead to dancing.
| Abraxas – Santana |
| Agua Lung – Jethro Tull |
| American Woman – The Guess Who |
| Are you experienced – Jim Hendrix |
| Aretha Franklin’s Greatest Hits |
| Avalon – Roxy Music |
| Beggars Banquet – Rolling Stones |
| Blonde on Blonde – Bob Dylan |
| Blue Valentine – Tom Waits |
| Bop Till you drop – Ry Cooder |
| Cahoots – The Band |
| Conquistador – Procol Harum with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra |
| Dark Side of the Moon – Pink Floyd |
| Eat to the Beat – Blondie |
| Electric Warrior – T Rex |
| Elton John – Elton John |
| Exile on Main Street – Rolling Stones |
| Foreign Affairs – Tom Waits |
| Fragile – Yes |
| Graceland – Paul Simon |
| Hard Rain – Bob Dylan (Live with Rolling Thunder Review) |
| Heat Treatment – Graham Parker |
| Heart Like a Wheel – Linda Ronstadt |
| Highway 61 Revisted – Bob Dylan |
| Horses – Pattis Smith |
| Hot Rats – Frank Zappa |
| LA Woman – The Doors |
| Let it Bleed – Rolling Stones |
| Live at Fillmore East – the Allman Brothers Band |
| Live at Leeds The Who |
| Living in the U.S.A. – Linda Rondstad |
| London Calling – The Clash |
| Lucky Man – Emerson Lake & Palmer |
| Marquee Moon – Televesion |
| Moondance – Van Morrison |
| Music from Big Pink – The Band |
| My Aim is True – Elvis Costello |
| Never Mind the Bullocks – Sex Pistols |
| Nilson Schmilson -Nilson |
| O Lucky Man – Alan Price |
| Otis Redding Double Album set |
| Parallel Lines – Blondie |
| Pearl – Janis Joplin |
| Pretzel Logic – Steely Dan |
| Ramones – Ramones |
| Refrigerator White (One) Dave Edmunds |
| Remain in the Light – Talking Heads |
| Rock n Roll Animal – Lou Reed |
| Rumours – Fleetwood Mac |
| Sam Cooke’s Greatest Hits |
| Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band |
| Sexual Healing – Marvin Gaye |
| Shout Out the Lights – Linda and Richard Thompson |
| Silk Degrees – Boz Scaggs |
| Speaking in Tongues – Talking Heads |
| Songs in the Key of Life – Stevie Wonder |
| Sticky Fingers– Rolling Stones |
| Stuck in the Middle of Road – The Pretenders |
| Surrealistic Pillow – Jefferson Airplane |
| Talking Book – Stevie Wonder |
| Tapestry – Carole King |
| Tea for the Tillerman – Cat Stevens |
| The Band – The Band |
| The Bride Stripped Bare – Bryan Ferry |
| The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972) – David Bowie |
| The Slider – T.Rex |
| Troubadour – J.J. Cale |
| Who Loves the Sun-Velvet Underground |
| Who’s Next – The Who |