Ted Grimsrud—March 16, 2014
In honor of my late, great Wavelength radio show, featured on WEMC from 2002 to 2010 (archived shows are here), I am making a list of Wavelength’s 100 favorite albums—all in good fun. There is nothing scientific (or even necessarily accurate) about this list. The list was completed on March 16, 2014. It does include several albums that have been released since December 2010, hence it is a list of Wavelength’s current favorites, not the favorites of what was featured on the show.
I also prepared a list of the second 200, those that didn’t quite make the cut. These records are listed alphabetically, not in order of preference. Here is the link to that list.
[May 11, 2017 note—I do hope to return to this list some day, to finish the annotations and revise the list to include materials from the past three years as well as a few egregious oversights. I do want to mention one artist who should be on the list, Gram Parsons. There are at least three of his albums that merit consideration for this list: GP and Grievous Angel, both released as solo works, and Gilded Palace of Sin, released with the Flying Burrito Brothers.]
Here are the Favorites—in inverse order:
99. Gregg Allman. Low Country Blues
98. The Blind Boys of Alabama. Spirit of the Century
97. Crash Test Dummies. The Ghosts That Haunt Me
96. 16 Horsepower. Sackcloth ‘n’ Ashes
93. James McMurtry. Childish Things
92. Creedence Clearwater Revival. Willy and the Poor Boys
91. Buddy Miller. Your Love and Other Lies
90. Nick Cave. The Boatman’s Call
89. Charlie Rich. Pictures and Paintings
88. Emmylou Harris. Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town
87. Steve Young. No Place to Fall
86. Willis Alan Ramsey. Willis Alan Ramsey
84. Norah Jones. Feels Like Home
83. Slaid Cleaves. Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away
82. Dave Alvin. King of California
81. The Avett Brothers. I and Love and You
79. Tom Waits. Heartattack and Vine
78. Gillian Welch. Hell Among the Yearlings
76. Robert Earl Keen. A Bigger Piece of Sky
75. Van Morrison. Avalon Sunset
73. Slim Cessna’s Auto Club. Always Say Please and Thank You
71. Teddy Thompson. Up Front and Down Low
70. Hothouse Flowers—Songs from the Rain
69. Cowboy Junkies—The Trinity Session
68. Billy Joe Shaver—Old Five and Dimers Like Me
67. Richard and Linda Thompson—Pour Down Like Silver
66. James McMurtry—Live in Aught-Three
65. Warren Zevon—Stand in the Fire
64. Willie Nelson—Red Headed Stranger
63. Richard Thompson—Rumor and Sigh
61. Ray Wylie Hubbard—Dangerous Spirits
60. Patti Smith. Dream of Life
59. Bruce Springsteen. The Ghost of Tom Joad
58. The Handsome Family. Through the Trees
56. The Rolling Stones. Beggar’s Banquet
55. Alejandro Escovedo. A Man Under the Influence
54. Van Morrison. Into the Music
52. Leonard Cohen. I’m Your Man
51. Jerry Jeff Walker. A Man Must Carry On
Peace Theology 