It’s been a while since I last wrote anything for the site. I’ve been recording some covers and a few originals for YouTube and will be posting them on Facebook periodically. So, now’s the time to talk 2020 Albums of the Year!
Yes, I have grown out the beard. I’m still waiting on inspiration to see if it will make it into next year. I’m looking forward to a great 2021. Hopefully, the vaccine kicks in, and we can move back to some semblance of normal.
That being said, the vacuum created by 350k+ lost lives in America alone will leave an echo for the ages to come. Music has always gotten me through the hard time, and it was no different in 2020. Here are my top albums of the year.
2020 Album of the Year
Bob Dylan – Rough and Rowdy Ways – I’ve written about this album before, so I won’t repeat all that. I’ll just say Bob was back and better than ever, just when we all needed him most. “Murder Most Foul” still makes me tear up. This was my number one in the 2020 Albums of the Year!
Honorable Mentions (in no particular order) 2020 Albums of the Year
Keith Richards and the X-Pensive Winos – Live at the Hollywood Palladium – An awesome reissue of this great concert shows why Keef is so great in his own right. “Happy” and “Connection” are clear favorites, but every song is a keeper with other standouts being “Too Rude” and “Take it So Hard,”
Elizabeth Cook – Aftermath – EC is back with a vengeance and rocking it through and through. I put this on the first time, and it blew me away. It continues to do so. Why she is not a bigger star, I don’t know, but you should check her out. Stand out tracks are “Bad Decisions” and “Girls of Perfect Pop.”
Jesse Dayton – Gulf Coast Sessions – Get it, son! This is a rollicking good time from one of our favorite Texas Rockers. He took us to his hometown of Beaumont and showed us what it was all about. “Mardi Gras Shake” was my favorite track, but put this one on and enjoy the evening. I’m a believer in Jesse Dayton, and I didn’t have to do it, and I do like it.
Drive-by Truckers – The New OK – Right now, we need an album from DBT. They are speaking truth to power. “The Perilous Night” was a Record Store Day issue a while back about the Charlottesville White Supremacists. We need to reckon with the things going on in America, and DBT takes us there. “The New OK” title track and the Ramones cover “The KKK Took my Baby Away” are standouts.
Old 97’s – Twelfth – One of my favorite bands is back with a new collection of songs that make you feel like you know them, even though they are new. These guys continue to bring it. “The Dropouts” and “Happy Hour” are the great ones here to me.
Gillian Welch & David Rawlings – Boots No. 2 & All the Good Times – These two are one of my all-time favorite duos, and they showed up strong with the first collection of reissues and then the collection of covers. Awesome songs, and there are too many to mention. Check them out if you don’t already know them.
Supersuckers – Play that Rock-n-Roll – The greatest rock-n-roll band in the world was back with a new collection of awesomeness. The boys rock hard and make you want to get in a van and head out. “Bringin’ It Back” and “Dead Jail or Rock-n-Roll” are my favorites on this collection.
Neil Young – Homegrown—I’ve written about how much I have been waiting for this album, so I’ll link to that and let you know here that this is just a damn fine record. Neil was at his best in this era.
Tom Petty – Wildflowers & All the Rest – This reissue with unreleased tracks was a project that Tom wanted to release and tour before his untimely death. Wildflowers still ranks up there as one of my all-time favorite records. I can remember shooting pool at the bowling alley in Miami, OK and hearing “You Don’t Know How It Feels” on the jukebox for the first time. The outtakes are incredible and insightful. The live album makes you want to get back out (post-Covid) and see a real rock show. Long Live the Memory of Tom Petty!