CDs from the Vault

I don't have anywhere near the number of CDs I used to – too many moves, too much purging along the way – but I value the survivors and play them regularly. It's been the most difficult list for me to rank – I change my mind about these every minute or so.

20.  Miranda Lambert, Revolution: I used to like country music more than I do, mainly because so much of it has strayed so far from its roots and become diluted by pop. (My admiration for country reached its peak in the 1980s, when I became so addicted I had to enter a two-step program.) But I like Lambert because she's the real deal, and there isn't a cut on here I don't enjoy. Favorite cuts: “Only Prettier,” “The House That Built Me.”

19.  John Coltrane, A Love Supreme: The only love letter to God by a jazz master that I'm aware of.

18.  The Very Best of Nanci Griffith: I was smitten the first time I heard her voice on a promo for Austin City Limits years ago. To call her a folk singer is too limiting, but it's the best I can do. Favorite cuts: “Once in a Very Blue Moon,” “Gulf Coast Highway.”

17.  American Graffiti soundtrack: I once had scads of movie soundtracks, and I regret each and every loss. My favorites were the scores for Jules and Jim and especially Interlude, both by Georges Delerue. But of the remaining few, American Graffiti is an easy choice. I think it's the best rock and roll compilation, not just for a movie, but period. I liked the movie enough that reliving it through its songs is always a pleasure. Heck, I don't even mind Wolfman Jack's occasional intros. Favorite cut: The Beach Boys, “All Summer Long.”

16. Bach, Cello Suites: One of the few composers I can listen to while writing at the same time.

15.  Loudon Wainwright III, So Damn Happy: As much as I like John Prine, Wainwright is hands-down my favorite witty folksinger. Not only witty, but often introspective and profound. Seeing him perform in Seattle was sheer delight. This is a live CD that really captures his personality and also some of his best work. Favorite cuts: “The Picture,” “4x10,” “Tonya's Twirls” (his ode to Tonya Harding that starts out funny and then turns into something else).

14.  Hole, Live Through This: Released not long after Kurt Cobain's death, this is rock at its most lacerating. With this CD, Courtney Love surprised and impressed me with her ferocious lyrics and a voice to match. Favorite cut: “Doll Parts.”

13.  The Best of Simon and Garfunkel: The soundtrack of my youth (I'm sure I can't be the only one). Favorite cut: “Scarborough Fair/Canticle.”

12.  The Best of Ken Burns Jazz: I always want to put a possessive apostrophe after “Burns” when I see that, but whatever. This is an abbreviated selection of songs from his popular documentary and takes us on a journey from Louis Armstrong all the way up to Miles Davis. Favorite cuts: everything.

11.  Emmylou Harris, Luxury Liner: I only recently started collecting her earlier recordings after realizing how much I liked her and yet didn't have a single CD. It's all good, but this one edges out the others for two cuts I was already familiar with: “Pancho and Lefty” and “You Never Can Tell” (the Chuck Berry song that Uma Thurman and John Travolta twisted to in Pulp Fiction).

10.  Caedmon's Call, Share the Well: I like Amy Grant, I like Steven Curtis Chapman, and I like Jars of Clay, but this was my absolute favorite Christian CD from the first moment I heard it. You'd have to listen to really understand why; I can't explain it.

9.  Frank Sinatra, No One Cares: No one did heartbreak like Sinatra, not even Hank Williams. He's been credited with making the first “concept” albums (way before Sgt. Pepper), and this compilation of songs about lovelorn loneliness is great for wallowing. Stephen Bishop nailed it when he wrote, “Puts on Sinatra and starts to cry.” Favorite cut: “Why Try to Change Me Now.” (Funny that I mentioned Williams, as “Why Don't You Love Me” is thematically the country version of that one.)

8.  Three-way tie (sorry): Dave Brubeck, Take Five, Art Tatum, Live 1955-1956, Erroll Garner, The Original Misty: There's no end to my admiration of jazz pianists. I don't know how they do what they do, but I don't need to. I saw Maynard Ferguson live in Seattle once, and his pianist, whose name I no longer remember, just blew me away. All these performers do.

7.  Joni Mitchell, Ladies of the Canyon: In a just world, Mitchell would be as venerated as Dylan. (If you ask her, she'll probably tell you herself.) No one writes a song like she does, and her voice (which took me some getting used to when I was younger because the notes seemed to have a mind of their own) is beautiful. Favorite Cuts: “Willie,” “Rainy Day House,” “The Circle Game.”

6.  Stevie Wonder, Original Musiquarium I: There's just one word I can think of that perfectly sums up Wonder's unique gift: joy. You'd have to go back to the early Beatles to come close, but when I listen to “Sir Duke” or “Living in the City,” I just feel all kinds of happy. Where would we be without him?

5.  Godspell, original stage recording: The first stage musical I ever saw (1972), the only CD I play every Thanksgiving for some unknown reason (well, along with Alice's Restaurant), and lately the one CD I've been playing most often. I'd add this to the “joy” category along with Stevie Wonder and early Beatles.

4.  Paul Simon, Hearts and Bones: This wasn't a commercially successful venture for Simon, and although he came back strong with Graceland a few years later, I believe Hearts and Bones has some of his very best songwriting. I mean, just listen to the opening of “Song About the Moon”: “If you want to write a song about the moon/Walk along the craters of the afternoon.” Then the beginning of the second verse: “If you want to write a song about the heart/Think about the moon before you start.” That's not even the best song here. Favorite cuts: that one, “Hearts and Bones,” “Rene and Georgette Magritte With The Dog After the War.”

3.  Peppino D'Agostino, Venus Over Venice: I first came across his work in Barnes and Noble when I was sampling CDs in their headphones, and I chose Venus to listen to because I saw “Walk Away, Renee” listed there. One minute in and I was hooked. He's my favorite acoustical guitarist, and if my copy were vinyl, I'd have worn it out by now. Favorite cuts: “Renee” and “Ancora Un Istante.”

2.  Diana Krall, Live in Paris: My current favorite jazz pianist/singer. Listening to her is, as Mike Myers' Linda Richman used to say, “like buttah.” Too bad about her looks, though. . . . (Avoid her latest CD, Wallflower, I'm sorry to say. I'm not a purist by any means, but this collection of reworked pop favorites really disappointed me. Every song sounds the same, and her heart doesn't seem to be in any of them. Stick to her jazz recordings.)

1.  Samuel Barber, Adagio for Strings: Made newly popular at Princess Grace's funeral and in the movie Platoon. I love it for its beautiful, elegiac tone. But something sets this CD apart from anything else I've ever owned: It's eight different versions of the Adagio by different artists – for instance, James Galway on flute with Hiro Fujikake on synthesizers, The Choir of Trinity College, Richard Stolzman on clarinet, and, most powerful, David Pizzaro on organ. All Adagio, all the time. It's one classical piece I could listen to over and over, and with this CD, I can.

There are so many CDs I wish I still had just so I could mention them here – Springsteen's Nebraska and Sam Kinison's Have You Seen Me Lately? keep nagging at me (I really do need to replace those). But here are three artists you might not be familiar with but might want to be (yes, I'm ranking these, too – I'm just a ranking fool):

3.  Doug and the Slugs: An 80s pop band with style and personality. “Real Enough” is my favorite song, though I forget which CD it's from. You should be able to hear it on YouTube (along with most of everything else I singled out).

2.  Baillee and the Boys: Country band from the same decade. You'd probably recognize “Long Shot” and “Oh, Heart” if you heard them. So talented, but I guess it takes luck, too – they really should have made it to the big time.

1.  Bonnie Koloc:  Well, I just get tingly when I think about her voice. She must have a couple dozen octaves in there. I first saw her in 1974 at what was then called Gusman Hall in downtown Miami. She was the warm-up act for comedian David Steinberg, and she so completely captivated us with her vocals and her infectious charm that when Steinberg came on, there was a palpable restlessness in the crowd – we wanted more Bonnie. I saw her again approximately six years later at Michael's Pub in New York. Her long hair was shorter, and she looked more homemaker than hippie, but there was no denying that voice. She's a mainstay of the Chicago music scene these days, and I'd almost travel out there to see her again. Favorite cuts from various albums: “Roll Me On the Water,” “Up Is a Nice Place to Be,” “Children's Blues,” and on and on and on.