Song of the Day #6,110: ‘Oh, Sister’ – Bob Dylan

Concluding a countdown of my favorite albums of 1976…

#1 – Desire – Bob Dylan

Desire might be my eighth or ninth favorite Bob Dylan album, but that’s enough to make it my favorite release of 1976.

This album is a showcase of Dylan as a collaborator. He co-wrote most of the songs’ lyrics with psychologist Jacques Levy; Emmylou Harris’ backing vocals add grace and texture; and most important, Scarlet Rivera’s violin gives the record a rich air of mystery. Desire sounds like nothing else he ever recorded.

Continue reading

Song of the Day #6,109: ‘Have a Good Time’ – Paul Simon

Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 1976…

Oops.

I’ve made the mistake a few times in the Decades series of trusting an online source for the release dates of certain albums. Usually I catch it in time and adjust my posts accordingly before anybody knows any different.

Not this time. I failed to double-check the date of the album I had slated as my #2 of 1976 — Paul Simon’s Still Crazy After All These Years.

Continue reading

Song of the Day #6,108: ‘Word on a Wing’ – David Bowie

Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 1976…

#3 – Station to Station – David Bowie

It turns out I’ve done deep dives on quite a few artists who released albums in 1976. And I’m going to cover most of those records in a single post in a week or so.

But one of those deep dive albums stood out enough to warrant placement in this top five, and that’s David Bowie’s Station to Station.

Continue reading

Song of the Day #6,107: ‘Sir Duke’ – Stevie Wonder

Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 1976…

#4 – Songs in the Key of Life – Stevie Wonder

Like Hotel California, this is a classic album with which I don’t fully vibe. But I certainly appreciate it more than that one.

Stevie Wonder’s double album is his top-selling and most critically-acclaimed work, a Grammy Album of the Year winner that is certified Diamond in the U.S. It’s a sprawling showcase of Wonder’s talents as a writer and performer, combing R&B, soul, jazz, and pop sounds in a 17-track suite.

Continue reading

Song of the Day #6,106: ‘Wasted Time’ – Eagles

It’s been nearly six months since my last installment of the Decades series, wherein I feature notable albums from the years 1970 through 2009.

So far I’ve covered the first six years of each of those decades, so I’m more than halfway there. Over the next few weeks, I’ll set my sights on the year 1976.

As usual, I’ll count down my own favorite albums from the year before turning to ones I don’t know well or at all.

Continue reading