What Were Your First/Earliest Albums?

[What Would Jesus Do?]

At least 3 people in the Led Zeppelin thread said Zep II was their first album. What were some of your first albums, if you can still remember, and how do you feel about them today?

Three that pop to my mind from my undergrad days at UNC are

Cheap Thrills - Big Brother and the Holding Company (Janis Joplin)
It's a Beautiful Day - It's A Beautiful Day
First Taste - Potliquor

I figure most people know the first one, but the others are worth checking out. Although the style of It's a Beautiful Day (and maybe the others, too, for all I know) are out of vogue, I think all 3 have held up quite well.

 

[Formerly Rockymtnole]

 

[Menace Sockeyes]

First bought for me as a child because I was obsessed with it:

First asked for as a kid:

First purchased with my own money:

First contemporary album purchased with my own money:

 

[Tom Paris]

 

[ggmditka]

 

[cfbfan23]

My very first two albums (bought at the same time) were:

and

At age 7, my musical taste wasn't for everyone.

 

[pablow]

I'm going guess one of the Kingston Trio albums, probably this one -

 

[joelbc1]

Somewhere I believe I have a “Little Richard Sings Pat Boone” album....

 

[Fan In Black]

 

[SSG T]

My first was a hand me down from my mom.

The first one I bought with my own money (my daughter has it now)

 

[Menace Sockeyes]

My first was a hand me down from my mom.

The first one I bought with my own money (my daughter has it now)

Now THIS is a family with generations of good taste.

 

[SeaPA]

The first I remember owning:

But not the "25th anniversary Deluxe Edition" - the real thing, with the great liner notes article about the band:

It can be said very simply. On stage Lynyrd Skynyrd are as white-hot as a band can get. This is the first album to record them exactly that way. The result is not surprising. One More For From The Road may well be the most excitingly authentic Lynyrd Skynyrd album yet.

It's only right that the band should come of age with a live album. Under such other names as The Wild Things, The Noble Five and One Per Cent, Skynyrd have been playing together since high school. That was ten years ago.
I first met them in '73, when they had only just escaped the Southern bar and club grind to release their debut album, Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd. Suddenly, it was all coming at them fast and hard. Skynyrd's first major road trip was as opening act on The Who's entire North American tour. In their cramped dressing room at the Omni, Atlanta's vacuous rock and roll arena, the group was too pale and nervous to reflect their already-considerable experience. Shaking, they headed out on stage in front of 18,000 Who fans.
From the first moment of Lynyrd Skynyrd's set, there was no mistaking them for amateurs. Brandishing three lead guitarists (Allen Collins, Gary Rossington and Ed King) and a refreshingly uncultured, barefoot lead singer (Ronnie VanZant), the band ripped through their repertoire with the vengeance of a champion. Their final song, a powerful guitar opus called "Free Bird," earned them a standing ovation.
Backstage, Pete Townshend stopped himself in mid-conversation, "They're really quite good, aren't they?"


Over the next year, we crossed paths several times. Enthustiastic reviews had been rolling in, sales were good and the band began to build a following. By the time of their next album, Second Helping, the momentum was snowballing. "We're going to put out this one single from the album," I remember VanZant saying with a gambler's grin, "and it's either gonna break us wide open or piss everybody off so bad that we won't get a second chance...."
"Sweet Home Alabama" proved to be Lynyrd Skynyrd's first huge blast of stardom. Both musically and lyrically, it was the ballsiest single to break through in years. Crowds knew all the words. Even Neil Young, who is teased by name in the song, had to admit it: "They play like they mean it. I'm proud to have my name in a song like theirs."
A third album, Nuthin' Fancy, was their victorious follow-up. Skynyrd had thrown themselves into second gear. The live shows began to exude a new-found self-confidence. Why not? Skynyrd had even aquired the same selective management as the Rolling Stones, Peter Rudge's Sir Productions.
The band would later lose Ed King and drummer Bob Burns to their relentless touring pace. Artimus Pyle replaced Burns, but the group chose to forge onwithout a third guitarist for a time. They also changed producers. Al Kooper, who had helped frame the group's style, gave way to the simple professionalism of Tom Dowd. The subsequent album, Gimme Back My Bullets, showed Skynyrd at their lean and basic best.
I last saw the band during the three days (July 7-9) they recorded this album at the Fox Theatre.
We were in Atlanta again, the city that has since become their honorary homw town, and it was a momentous homecoming to watch. Steve Gaines, the new third guitarist, had just joined the band.


Not unlike most classic performances, it was the variable suspense that worked to take those three Slynyrd Skynyrd concerts to an all-time high.
When the last notes of "Free Bird" had faded out on the third night, they had given everything. Euphoric and exhausted, Ronnie VanZant plopped on a backstage sofa and kicked his bare feet onto a table. His voice was gone.
" I sure am glad I don't wear shoes when I'm out there singing," he whispered. "I love to feel that stage burn."
One More For From The Road, if nothing else, shows that Lynyrd Skynyrd have built up quite a tolerance over the years. It must get blistering on that stage.
- Cameron Crowe
Contributing Editior, Rolling Stone

 

[SSG T]

Now THIS is a family with generations of good taste.

My mom was about a half step from being a hippie, my dad was just a touch further right, but not much. They both had a VERY eclectic taste in music. My mom turned me onto Bowie, VU, Pink Floyd (like old, pre Dark Side stuff), Status Quo, prog rock stuff. My dad turned me on to the harder stuff, The Stooges, MC5, The Sonics...the stuff that influenced and later became punk.

 

[hawkbirch]

First album I remember having:

Birthday present for my 10th birthday:

First cassette tape I bought:

First CD I bought:

 

[SSG T]

Now THIS is a family with generations of good taste.

Oh, and my youngest daughter (no pic)? Her favorite artist is David Bowie and her favorite band is Pink Floyd. Which both kind of go along with her favorite TV show...Dr Who.

 

[Funky Bunch]

 

[joelbc1]

Was Lady Rudolf on this album?

 

[GES4]

At least 3 people in the Led Zeppelin thread said Zep II was their first album. What were some of your first albums, if you can still remember, and how do you feel about them today?

Three that pop to my mind from my undergrad days at UNC are

Cheap Thrills - Big Brother and the Holding Company (Janis Joplin)
It's a Beautiful Day - It's A Beautiful Day
First Taste - Potliquor

I figure most people know the first one, but the others are worth checking out. Although the style of It's a Beautiful Day (and maybe the others, too, for all I know) are out of vogue, I think all 3 have held up quite well.

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First tape I ever bought for myself was Billy Joel's Glass Houses. Second was Queen The Game.

First CD was New Order Substance.

 

[The Tradition]

Meet The Beatles
Jesus Christ Superstar
John Denver's Greatest Hits
The Best of the Guess Who
Grand Funk Railroad Caught in the Act
Alice Cooper Goes to Hell

 

[Funky Bunch]

Was Lady Rudolf on this album?

Yeah, Miss Rudolph the voodoo lady

 

[83Hawk]

The first album I purchased myself:

The first album I ever owned (purchased by my parents):

 

[Rudolph]

I’ll never forget my first self-purchased, no chaperone just me riding my diamondback to the record store—Co-Op Tapes & Records—albums.

Babylon by Bus by Bob Marley
Escape by Whodini

Dude at the counter regarded the selections of 11 year-old Rudolph with admiration.

“Nice choices, man,” the antiauthoritarian-looking counter dude said as I counted out my paper route cash.

Later that night, transfixed by Babylon by Bus, I was duct-taping an old bed sheet to a basement wall to paint my first large scale work, a portrait of Bob Marley, using house paint and 3- and 4-inch brushes. Years later sold that painting to a rich stoner kid for $500.

/csb

 

[3 and Out on D]

I was 17 and this was the bomb.

 

[Menace Sockeyes]

My mom was about a half step from being a hippie, my dad was just a touch further right, but not much. They both had a VERY eclectic taste in music. My mom turned me onto Bowie, VU, Pink Floyd (like old, pre Dark Side stuff), Status Quo, prog rock stuff. My dad turned me on to the harder stuff, The Stooges, MC5, The Sonics...the stuff that influenced and later became punk.

Have you seen this documentary?...

...Three black brothers from Detroit who put out a kick-ass album, from a limited release on a motown label that went virtually unnoticed and unappreciated for years because the brother who led the band refused to sell out. Very much in the vain of the other great Detroit proto-punk bands from that era. Quite an incredible story...

 

[FlickShagwell]

I’m 37. My mom and dad got me Michael Jackson’s Bad on tape when I was in kindergarten.

in junior high when I got my first CD player for Christmas, i also got:

Shortly thereafter, I traded my buddy some comic books for:

The first cd I bought with my own money (and hid under my bed) was:

Mom didn’t let me have cds with explicit lyrics until we had a big fight about it freshman year of high school.

 

[BrunoMars420]

Nine Lives by Aerosmith

 

[Menace Sockeyes]

I’m 37. My mom and dad got me Michael Jackson’s Bad on tape when I was in kindergarten.

in junior high when I got my first CD player for Christmas, i also got:

I got that for Xmas in '94 too.

 

[BelemNole]

Hmmm...first I owned was the Star Wars soundtrack. First I bought was Police - Synchronicity.

 

[IAHawk2011]

Received Europop by Eiffel 65 as a gift. The first CD I purchased on my own was Country Grammar by Nelly.

 

[SSG T]

Have you seen this documentary?...

...Three black brothers from Detroit who put out a kick-ass album, from a limited release on a motown label that went virtually unnoticed and unappreciated for years because the brother who led the band refused to sell out. Very much in the vain of the other great Detroit proto-punk bands from that era. Quite an incredible story...

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Heard of the band and heard a couple of cuts off their album. No idea there was a movie made about them, though. Will definitely have to check it out.

 

[hawk halen]

"Machine Head" Deep Purple

Bought it in '74 when I was 13-years-old. Wanted it for "Smoke On The Water" but liked "Lazy" even more.

 

[strummingram]

Yeah, Miss Rudolph the voodoo lady

And, that monkey didn't give her no trouble.

And, it worked on me cause it been 8 years since I seen the bitch!

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I was 17 and this was the bomb.

Still is.

 

[FAUlty Gator]

First Album I ever bought on my own was "Back in Black".

 

[jpphawk]

 

[Menace Sockeyes]

@SSG T

Tubi and Vudu apps have it streaming for free, if you have a Roku or SmartTV to download those.

 

[NDallasRuss]

One Christmas my older brother (13 years older) gave me two cassettes, and my aunt gave me one, that were my first albums ever. They were:
Krokus: Headhunter
Def Leppard: High and Dry
Jim Croce: Down the Highway

 

[WisestIowan]

Don't judge me. After this is was ZOSO, Warren G "Regulate" and STP Core.

 

[Menace Sockeyes]

Don't judge me. After this is was ZOSO, Warren G "Regulate" and STP Core.

We might have bought these in the same order. Weird.

 

[lonestar50]

First one I remember buying with my own money