Me thinking really hard about which albums to list*.

This is a little different than my standard fare here on Lyrical Venus, but there was a meme going around on Facebook that kind of surprised me when I filled it out and I thought it would be fun to share here since it’s musically related.   Plus this is close to the kind of question I ask the people interview on my radio show, and I’m always afraid someone is going to ask me back and I’ll have a stumbling, “uh, erm, uh, well, good question!  I’ll have to get back to you!” answer like the time Cory (the DJ who comes on the air after me) asked me what MY favorite sandwich was after hearing the tail end of one of my interviews!  So now I’m a little more prepared for a question like this.   I’ll paste it with the instructions included and links if you want to check them out on iTunes where available:

Think of 15 albums, CDs, LPs, cassettes, whatever, that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life. Dig into your soul. Music that brought you to life when you heard it. Royally affected you, kicked you in the wazoo, literally socked you in the gut, is what I mean. Then when you finish, tag 15 others, including me. Make sure you copy and paste this part so they know the drill. Get the idea now? Good. Tag, you’re it!

1. Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill

2. No Doubt – Tragic Kingdom

3. Green Day – Dookie

4. Weezer – Weezer (The Blue Album)

5. John Mayer – Room for Squares

6. Avril Lavigne – Let Go

7. Madonna – The Immaculate Collection

8. Sarah McLachlan – Mirrorball

9. The Beatles – The Beatles / 1967-1970 ‘The Blue Album’ (I listened to this on on vinyl!)

10. Ingrid Michaelson – Girls and Boys

11. Dar Williams – The Green World

12. R.E.M. – Out of Time

13. Rachel Ries – For You Only

14. Collective Soul – Disciplined Breakdown

15. Live – Throwing Copper

This was a rather interesting exercise in finding out which albums, some from 15 or more years ago, will still bubble up to the front of my consciousness when asked “What has made a big impression on me musically?” These were the ones that came back to me with the least amount of effort and digging, which makes me inclined to believe they left a deep mark.  Some of them I mostly just had an album cover or a snatch of a lyric and I had to Google to remember the album name!   They’re definitely not in any particular order like chronological or most influential or anything like that.

I could probably come up with a bunch of others that would seem more worthy for a list like this. I’m not entirely sure all these albums literally changed my life, but I would still stand by these ones as being formative for me in one way or another, opening my eyes to new possibilities in musical and emotional expression.  A large percentage of them I discovered through my childhood best friend. I’m guessing we might have similar lists if we only pulled from the early 90′s and totally different lists if we were restricted to the last 8-10 years.

Even if I don’t listen to a lot of them them anymore, at the time I discovered them, whether it was days, weeks, months or years after they were released, these were the albums I had on repeat for for days, weeks and months afterward.  They were the CD’s I made sure where in my carry cases. With the more recent releases, these were the mp3s I made sure were on my iPod.

I also find it interesting that the feelings and memories were generally so strongly intertwined with the album covers/packaging, as well as music videos, and wonder if in the digital age people will lose that association of music to visual, and if so, does that make the music less memorable 10+ years down the line when trying to recall it?  There really is something to be said for holding an object in your hand, but I suppose website design could become the new album art.  It’s not uncommon for an artist to change their website with each new release though, so does that mean the archive of the previous albums are lost?

If you read this and want to join in, consider yourself tagged!  Leave your list (or a link to your list on your own site) in the comments!

*OK, I took that picture a while ago for something else, but I bet I looked a lot like that when I was thinking about which albums to list!

I can probably credit much of the beginning of my love of singer songwriter music to Dar Williams. I think the other portion of credit goes to a whole bunch of fabulous ladies at Lilith Fair in Atlanta, including Sarah McLachlan, but that’s a whole other entry!

I was first introduced to Dar’s music by this boy I had a crush on in college. He was from the East coast and had heard her out there. He could play guitar, which was probably a big factor in my initial attraction to him. Dar’s song Iowa was of course a big hit at our little college in the cornfields and we often requested that he play it (although he once changed the words from “I’ve never found a way to say I love you” to “I’ve never found a way to say I like you” in subtle hint that I was not quite his type – ouch. He really did try to let me down gently, and I have him to thank for several song inspirations and the Dar introduction, so it’s all good).

College was also where I started learning to play guitar myself. darwilliams.net had a super nice tab/chords page and much of Dar’s music was simple enough for me to play. Some of her less easy stuff was the big motivating factor to finally learn some B minor chords.

After college I had a brief stint of living in Boulder, Co. While I was in Robb’s Music Store I saw a black and white poster printed on blue paper for a Dar concert at the Boulder Theater. I was broke, my roomies didn’t want to go and I had beg one of my co-workers to at least come in a little early since no one would swap shifts with me at the juice bar. I got there just in time and ended up sitting in the very, very back of the theater. It was totally worth it. I soaked up every minute, every note, I was in pure bliss, including the opening set by Catie Curtis.

When the show was over the theater emptied out pretty fast, but a few people were hanging out in the lobby looking like they expected her to come out, so I bought a CD and my very first guitar case sticker that said “We Find Magic Everywhere” (line from The Christians and the Pagans) and then patiently bummed around, even after several people gave up. Sure enough, Dar eventually came out. I was shocked at how small she was physically, compared to how much she radiated on stage. When I got to her at the table, all I could do was put my hand over my heart and say “Thank you!” and pray that she understood even one fraction of the gratitude I was feeling. I can still remember how she signed the lyric booklet of Out There Live on the white space of the picture of her arm.

This the email I sent to one of my friends after that first concert:

Wed, 17 Oct 2001. I just got back from a Dar Williams concert and it was AWESOME!!!! I love getting to see these powerful women perform, it’s so inspiring. Any good performance reminds me that I want to offer something to the world too, and hearing someone with similar experiences, issues, desires or feelings makes me feel that my voice is valid, and could actually inspire as well. Woosh! Too many things rushing through me right now.

The desire to create and connect, the frustration of knowing I don’t have the technical skills to communicate what’s on the inside to the fullest extent, the pure happy high of being in the presence of an amazing artist…

Sigh!

I’m still working on those technical skills, but in the meantime this blog lets me, in my little way, contribute to the sharing of some pretty inspiring voices with the world.

The thing that got me thinking about Dar Williams in particular tonight was this contest they are running right now for people to host pre-screenings of her new live concert DVD. People who host screenings and then put up photos/reviews of the event are entered to win a guitar signed by Dar. OH. MY. SHEESH. How exciting would that be? (I’d probably write an entry about it on par with Ingrid Michealson’s excitement at being featured on Zach Braff’s MySpace page.)

I already sent in my questionnaire. Fingers crossed. If nothing else I am very looking forward to when the DVD is available for purchase. Dar is very fun to watch live – she tells the most amazing stories, and it’s fabulous to see how her imagination works!

If you are new to Dar, I definitely recommend you check her out:
Official Site
Fan Site
MySpace
Dar on iTunes
Dar on Amazon

Want to know when I find more great stuff by and about women in music? Subscribe to Lyrical Venus by Email or by RSS Feed and have the updates come straight to you!

Just found this cool list on Amazon of Dar’s top picks for albums she thinks her fans might enjoy. There’s a wide variety of artists included, some I know and some I don’t: Don McLean, Judy Collins, Joan Baez, the Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush, Jane Siberry, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Brahms, Suzanne Vega, Cheryl Wheeler. Dar gives a line or two about why the particular album she is highlighting was inspirational to her music or career or childhood. Seems like pretty much every female folk artist is going to be influenced at least at little by Joni Mitchell, and for good reason, (I remember the first time I heard Joni Mitchell I almost gave up the idea of writing songs altogether. Here’s someone who already said everything I’ve ever felt and so much of it before I was even born! What’s left?) but it’s kinda neat to have Brahms thrown in there too.

I always love finding out the influences of my favorite artists. It just goes to show that no one creates in a vacuum, and quite often I’ll discover some new favorite musicians!