# An Album You Bought As A Teenager...



## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

...but couldn't really hear and appreciate until years later.










I picked Pink Floyd's 1969 album Ummagumma, because I listened to the whole thing the other night for the first time in 39 years. I think this is their best pre Dark Side effort. As a 17 year old listening to this record I just thought it was weird. But now I find it quite interesting and fascinating. And it doesn't sound dated like their early psychedelic stuff. And even though it features many different types of music, it sounds more confident and focused than Atom Heart Mother. And it's definitely not bland like Obscured By Clouds. It's a winner in my book.

I grew up in a non musical household with almost no records, so I didn't have much to choose from. So if you had access to your parents' hip record collection, you can fluff off the Floyd, and I won't be offended.

Your pick?7


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

starthrower said:


> I think this is there best pre Dark Side effort. .


Good album, but my preference for the best Pre-Dark Side album is still "Meddle". Will have to think a bit more about your original question though as far as album from my youth that I appreciate more now...


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## Guest (Mar 22, 2018)

I've not heard Ummagumma for years either. My recollection was the long, live pieces were brilliant, the studio stuff not so much?


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I'm scratching my head trying to think of one. My experiences tended to be the reverse - buying albums assuming I'd like them for ever and then a few years down the line wondering why the hell I bothered. :lol:


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## Guest (Mar 22, 2018)

elgars ghost said:


> I'm scratching my head trying to think of one. My experiences tended to be the reverse - buying albums assuming I'd like them for ever and then a few years down the line wondering why the hell I bothered. :lol:


Yes, a lot of stuff loses its flavour on the bed post overnight. Very few of my teenage kicks have survived into my dotage.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

As regards _Ummagumma_, I'm pleased that Starthrower had a lightbulb moment with it but it's never worked for me. The live sides were good, but the idea of two sides of solo compositions gave me the impression that Gilmour was still bedding in and that the band were lacking collaborative common ground, a situation not truly rectified until _Meddle_.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I bought this when I was in high school. I was so into Johnny Winter that I bought a blue jean blazer like the one he is wearing on the cover. Johnny Winter still is my favorite guitarist.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

I am such a geezer that the first non-classical music I bought were not albums (albums??) but 45's of doo-*** and R&B. First albums as such were of Blues artists: Lightnin' Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, Champion Jack Dupree, etc., and, later, Folkies. Having begun as focused on individual songs, I later bought Rock and Pop albums because they contained specific songs I liked that I had heard on the radio but maybe weren't available easily as 45's; whatever else was good on the album was extra gravy and always welcome. I can't be sure, but the Beatles' _Revolver_ may have been my first Rock/Pop album. With few exceptions, I do not adhere to the notion that an artist's or group's albums represent an entity greater than the sum of its parts--for me, they are a grab-bag of songs assembled onto/into a package. Some of the songs may be good; others, not so much. I still think Arthur Brown's _Fire_ side of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown represents a very fine example of a coherent expression over a group of songs.


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

I think the first album I ever bought was Depeche Mode : Violator and then The Cure: Wish and I also bought some set of 10 CDs with classical music (some kind of best of) but did not appreciate it then.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

realdealblues said:


> Good album, but my preference for the best Pre-Dark Side album is still "Meddle". Will have to think a bit more about your original question though as far as album from my youth that I appreciate more now...


I agree that Meddle is also one of their best early records.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Magic, that is cool that you were listening to hard core blues at a young age. I had no clue about this stuff as a teenager. It wasn't until I discovered college radio just out of high school that I got hip to non pop and rock music.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Black Magic Woman (Fleetwood Mac compilation) on cassette. I thought its sounded old and dated and had no idea really about the scene it came from till much later..........................


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I didn't know about the Peter Green era Mac until about 20 years ago when I bought And Then Play on.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

^ What a great Album also featuring another lost guitar legend Danny Kirwan, (I know Peter is still around and I have some of his Splinter group and other stuff but its not the same- although he kept on making some great songs post FM)


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## Marinera (May 13, 2016)

wrong............................................thread.....deleted


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

I more often bought records I grew tired of quite soon (e.g. Focus) than the other way around. In fact the only record I remember I could not really appreciate (at 16) was Tales from Topographic Oceans although I was into Bartók and Coltrane at the time. I sold it and was sorry later. I bought it back a few years ago.


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## Room2201974 (Jan 23, 2018)

I am going with something pretty vanilla, CSN&Y's _Deja Vu_. Its not so much that I didn't appreciate it when it came out, but that I appreciated it more later when I learned a few things about how it was made. At the time I bought _ Deja Vu_ I knew who the Buffalo Springfield were, but I didn't know much of their repertoire. I had heard the hit _For What Its Worth_ and the lesser hit _Rock And Roll Woman_, (Stills' paean to Grace Slick and one of my all time favorite rock tunes.) But that's about it. Later, after getting into Buffalo Springfield I realized that in keeping with _Deja Vu's_ concept, both Stills and Young had recycled parts of old BS tunes for "new" tunes on the album. Already seen, already heard!

The other thing that impressed me when I found out about it later is that they had originally recorded _Woodstock_ live in the studio. But CSN were not happy with the vocals so they overdubbed them. The rest of the music on that song is all live, no dubs, no punches. Which means that Neil's guitar work is live, no dubs, no punches. Also, Neil's guitar solo on _Almost Cut My Hair_ was recorded in one pass, no punches. I still think that manic brilliant outburst may be his best all-time solo.

BTW, back in the day, my music cronies and I thought Pink Floyd "sold out" after _Ummagumma_. To this day its my favorite Floyd!


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I got rid of Topographic Oceans and bought it again, but I'm still not crazy about it as a whole. I think Jon Anderson is an interesting character. Of course many cynics and skeptics dismiss his lyrics as New Age ramblings, but I feel like he's a very creative person. He's obviously into spirituality, but he leaves the dogma to the religious folks. Look up Yestival '94 on YouTube and listen to his talk with the fans. It's pretty interesting.


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

Nothing wrong with spirituality! The best music is a spiritual, even transcendant experience in my view.


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## cwarchc (Apr 28, 2012)

Never really got Zep
Seem to remember swapping it for this one


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## Jay (Jul 21, 2014)

_Trout Mask Replica_

I bought it when it first came out and had no clue how to approach it. In time I "got it," but it's still not my "go to" Beefheart album.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

In a general sense I was somewhat put off by Peter Hamill's vocal delivery on some of VDGG's earlier stuff - in his more excitable moments he seemed to sound like a student losing it at a debating society. One day I realised how brilliant his lyrics often were and that I shouldn't attempt to imagine him singing them any differently.


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## Luchesi (Mar 15, 2013)

Because of these recent posts I've searched around - and searched around - and finally found THE LP that got me into music beyond the Beatles and the DC 5 at the time. I don't know why -- it must've been just at the right time in my life and my experiences. It's some fine playing but I didn't know that at the time. I was just interested in these famous pieces, that I didn't even know were famous when I bought this in a bargain bin at Caldor for $.49. It had The Swan on it so I could afford to give it a try, within all the spread out pop purchases I was making weekly on my small allowance.

I was surprised to find it. I've never heard of John Curtis. I didn't remember his name. I probably never even read it, because I didn't know any pianists. All these years I assumed it was someone more famous like Leonard Pennario.

I had heard the Moonlight and I was playing a simple version of The Swan on the piano, but Liebestod totally captured my imagination for what could be done at the piano among my friends who were also interested in playing the piano. It was quite a different world back then for peer groups. The pianos in all the homes was a center for ours, figuring out the latest of the top 20 biggest sellers, especially after the Beatles invaded because their songs were the most interesting musically.

https://www.discogs.com/John-Curtis-Moonlight/release/12183179


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## Guest (Sep 18, 2018)

Fritz Kobus said:


> I bought this when I was in high school. I was so into Johnny Winter that I bought a blue jean blazer like the one he is wearing on the cover. Johnny Winter still is my favorite guitarist.


Your original photo is gone, Fritz, and so I'm assuming that this is the one that you were referring to - Johnny Winter Live -

View attachment 108015


I hope you were wearing blue jeans when you wore that blue jean blazer because if so then you my friend were wearing what is colloquially known as a "*Canadian Tuxedo*" - :lol:

https://boingboing.net/2015/10/27/surprising-history-of-the-ca.html


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

First two classical albums I bought when in mid teens were:

Handel's Water Music (Boyd Neel)

Tchaikovsky piano concerto 1 played by Julius Katchen

Before that I was a fan of Johnny and the Hurricanes and Duane Eddy


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

I bought the Groundhogs' 'Split' album from a guy selling off his albums around 1978. I played it and thought it was 'weird'. Fast-forward to 1981 and Tony McPhee was playing a gig at the Band on the Wall in Manchester. I was with a mate who encouraged me to go and see McPhee with him. I reluctantly paid £1.50 on the door and for the next 2 hours was blown away by Tony and his band. He played nearly three quarters of Split and i immedistely went home and played the album. It was briliant. My enthusiasm for the Groundhogs may have waned a little over the years since but i still see it as a blues-rock classic. Groundhog, Split Part 2 and Cherry Red are absolute classics. Saw McPhee numerous times after that.


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## Guest (Sep 18, 2018)

I really wanted to impress Paulette Stanton in Grade 10 who was so sophisticated that she disliked everything on principle and so I purchased Frank Sinatra's "A Swingin' Affair" based on the recommendation of a record store owner (who was like a hundred years old) who told me that "When it comes to romance, it all begins and ends with Sinatra, trust me, kid".

View attachment 108017


Paulette was not at all impressed by Sinatra and even while we were making out (and she was a great kisser - one of the all time greats) all I could think about was how sorry I was that I had purchased Frank Sinatra's "A Swingin' Affair" because despite what the record store owner (who was like a hundred years old) told me about how "when it comes to romance, it all begins and ends with Sinatra, trust me, kid" - it didn't... at least it didn't with Paulette Stanton because she had me turn if off halfway through "Nice Work If You Can Get It" which is only the fifth of the sixteen songs on the album which set me back almost 10 dollars which was a lot of money at the time even if they were Canadian dollars.

And even though I was making out with the second prettiest girl in high school all I could think about was how I could have bought both Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon and Frampton's Camel for that 10 dollars and would have even had a couple of bucks left over for the new Uriah Heep album which I was kind of on the fence about to tell you the truth - I later bought it and was almost as sorry as I was about the Sinatra album...

That Sinatra album was never played again and I have no idea what ever happened to it... But sometime in the early '90s I suddenly decided that I never wanted to ever hear anything that I had ever heard before... which was kind of problematic when it came time to actually listen to anything as you can imagine and for reasons so obscure that they escape even me I once again purchased that title except this time it was on CD... and it was a revelation... a revelation that led to me eventually owning every legitimate recording that Frank Sinatra ever released (which at one point numbered around 150 discs) and I listened to each one of those discs obsessively...

... until sometime in the late '90s when I suddenly decided that I never wanted to ever hear Frank Sinatra sing anything ever again... and even though it is now 20 years later I still reply with a rather brusque "thanks, but no thanks," when asked if I want to hear some Sinatra...

I neither care nor know whatever happened to Paulette Stanton but despite the passage of literally decades of time I'm still bitter about the 10 dollars that I wasted on that Sinatra album... even if they were Canadian dollars... it was a lot of money at the time.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Merl said:


> I bought the Groundhogs' 'Split' album from a guy selling off his albums around 1978. I played it and thought it was 'weird'. Fast-forward to 1981 and Tony McPhee was playing a gig at the Band on the Wall in Manchester. I was with a mate who encouraged me to go and see McPhee with him. I reluctantly paid £1.50 on the door and for the next 2 hours was blown away by Tony and his band. He played nearly three quarters of Split and i immedistely went home and played the album. It was briliant. My enthusiasm for the Groundhogs may have waned a little over the years since but i still see it as a blues-rock classic. Groundhog, Split Part 2 and Cherry Red are absolute classics. Saw McPhee numerous times after that.
> 
> View attachment 108018


_Split_ was the nearest the Groundhogs got to making an album which was great all the way through. Although I liked their music in general I thought the albums themselves were less than the sum of their parts. As a result, I tended to live off this United Artists seventeen-track double album compilation during the vinyl days. I wouldn't mind getting it on CD but as this was released back in the mid-90s it may well need a remaster first. The more recent EMI best-of probably has better sound but the track-listing isn't as strong.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Sydney Nova Scotia said:


> Your original photo is gone, Fritz, and so I'm assuming that this is the one that you were referring to - Johnny Winter Live -
> 
> View attachment 108015
> 
> ...


That is the album I am talking about! Never heard of the Canadian Tuxedo before. Funny. No I wore nothing but blue jeans in high school. They were handy when you had no ash tray you could rub the ashes into the denim materiel and that way not leave them all over your friend's parent's house's floor. :lol: (Wow, a chain of posessives, not sure the rules on that, maybe can leave all but the last one off?)


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

I'd have to go with this pretty obscure album, T2 - It'll All Work Out in Boomland.










At the time, I was listening to Black Sabbath, Ten Years After, Cream, Grand Funk, etc. For the most part, blues based rock, all pretty straight forward.

Then, someone recommended this to me, and it kind of shook up my impressions of what music could be.

From the psychedelic cover; seriously, what the hell is going on there? The fishing cartoon mouse*, the guy running in terror, the impossible dome, etc. To the music, which has a sidelong track with multiple sections, a beautiful song with horns, some incredible guitar playing by 17 year old Keith Cross (seriously, this guy was blazing fast, for a rock guitarist for the time).

This came out just after King Crimson's, "In the Court of the Crimson King", and was possibly as unique and groundbreaking,

I just did not pick up everything that was going on here, and hardly listened to it at the time. A few years later, after getting deeply into prog-rock, I pulled this out for another listen, and was shocked at the progressiveness that was going on, that I was not ready to hear a couple years earlier.

I give this lots of credit it for planting the seeds that allowed me to get into prog those few years later, and by extension, classical.

* *It's a freaking DUCK, not a mouse!*


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

elgars ghost said:


> _Split_ was the nearest the Groundhogs got to making an album which was great all the way through. Although I liked their music in general I thought the albums themselves were less than the sum of their parts. As a result, I tended to live off this United Artists seventeen-track double album compilation during the vinyl days. I wouldn't mind getting it on CD but as this was released back in the mid-90s it may well need a remaster first. The more recent EMI best-of probably has better sound but the track-listing isn't as strong.


Couldn't agree more, Elgar's Ghost. Most of the Groundhogs albums are flawed. Split and Thank Christ for the Bomb are easily the best. But you can get a great best of double CD out of their output. I have that best of cd you posted but the sound is not great. They're stuff is long overdue a remix. The best thing about seeing McPhee live was he used to play 2 sets. The first was a 45 minute blues set inspired by his heroes (and former band leader, John Lee Hooker). The 2nd set was a best of Groundhogs and lasted anywhere from an hour to 2 hours depending on how he was feeling. Saw him around 83 at the Band on the Wall (again) and he played half of Split, most of TCFTB and a 10 minute version of Amazing Grace that brought the house down. The encores were about an extra half hour. Didn't get out of the gig till close on midnight. He looked knackered at the end (and very pissed / stoned). One of my fave gigs ever. I have pics of that gig too.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Gig wasn't 1983. Apologies. It was June 1982. Just looked in my photo book.


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## Guest (Sep 19, 2018)

Simon Moon said:


> I'd have to go with this pretty obscure album, T2 - It'll All Work Out in Boomland.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Whoa... this is superb! How is that I've never even heard of them?

Allow me to add a couple of links to help bring this title to everyone else's attention -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T2_(band)

This is a link to the full album -






Bravo Simon Moon! - I will definitely be adding this title to my collection.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

I havent heard that T2 album for about 20 years. No More White Horses was always the standout track, for me. Good shout.


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

Sydney Nova Scotia said:


> Whoa... this is superb! How is that I've never even heard of them?
> 
> Allow me to add a couple of links to help bring this title to everyone else's attention -
> 
> ...


Glad I can help.

Just a heads up, on Swedish prog band's 1992 album called "Lonely Land" (along with some really good originals), they do a great cover of "No More White Horses".


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## Guest (Sep 20, 2018)

My first album which my mother gave me the money to buy on my 12th birthday.









A year later, I had a paper route and was making my own money and this was the first album I bought with my own money.









This was my second. It got me looking for electronic avant-garde.









But first, I had to begin my descent into underground music with this album, my fourth. This was really esoteric stuff in '72.

I'm not sure what I bought after that. Might have been T. Rex "Slider."


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## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

I'd say the only album that I bought as a teenager that I really didn't appreciate fully was Miles Davis' Bitches Brew. I have listened to it many time over the years but never really discovered its magic until about ten years ago.


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

I was so into the space stuff that I started looking for artists using synthesizers from an early age, probably around 8. Basic rock like Rod Stewart, Elton John, and Graham Nash moved quickly to Yes and ELP, and by around 15 Synergy and Tangerine Dream. Got into the "punk" stuff at that time (1978) because Fripp, Gabriel, and Eno were into them. Nothing back then I didn't like, but some I don't go to much anymore, like VDGG. If anything, I listen to that stuff more than I should and should be focusing on my own music


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

cwarchc said:


> View attachment 102483
> 
> 
> Never really got Zep


I borrowed the live LZ from a childhood friend. I connected with it immediately. I used to zone out to Dazed and Confused listening through my Koss headphones.


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## philoctetes (Jun 15, 2017)

Two bands that I actually saw together in one show, Fleetwood Mac and Jefferson Starship, both had periodic identity crises that totally destroyed my appreciation of them. For me, Peter Green and Paul Kantner were essential members of these bands and the music the imposters were making was too "commersh" and therefore unacceptable.

Now, I can enjoy the highlights of Buckingham and Nicks, and not cringe when I hear the later Starship, but it took a long time.


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