101 ESSENTIAL ROCK RECORDS


101 Essential Rock Records is, as you might have expected, a book about 101 rock records that are, well, essential. It’s all about the golden age of vinyl from The Beatles “Please Please Me” to the Sex Pistols’ “Never Mind the Bollocks.” It’s an impressive collection regardless, but what we find most interesting is the list of authors. Jeff Gold, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Devendra Banhart, Peter Buck, Nels Clien, Jac Holzman, Johnny Marr and Robin Hitchcock are the credited authors and Kill Your Idols is credited as the editor. In other words, it’s a collection of industry perspectives from outside and within about the music that made rock and roll what it is. Also included are thought-provoking interviews with musicians who discuss the albums and artists that changed their lives. Graham Nash describes meeting The Beatles at a 1959 talent show where they were billed as Johnny and the Moondogs and how, four years later, John Lennon and Paul McCartney sang him the just written “Misery,” “one voice in each ear.” He writes of meeting Joni Mitchell at a party in Ottawa in 1967 and calls her Blue his “most favorite solo album,” confessing, “the thought that I spent much time with this fine woman and genius of a writer is incredible to me.”For more information follow the link after the list in chronological order bellow .


 1. The Beatles – Please Please Me

2. Bob Dylan – The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan

3. The Rolling Stones – The Rolling Stones

4. Bob Dylan – Another Side of Bob Dylan

5. Davy Graham – Folk Blues & Beyond…

6. Them – Angry Young Them

7. The Byrds – Mr. Tambourine Man

8. Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited

9. The Who – My Generation

10. Simon & Garfunkel – Sounds of Silence

11. The Rolling Stones – Aftermath

12. The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds

13. Bob Dylan – Blonde On Blonde

14. The Mothers of Invention – Freak Out!

15. Yardbirds – Yardbirds

16. John Mayall with Eric Clapton – Blues Breakers

17. The Butterfield Blues Band – East West

18. The Beatles – Revolver

19. Jefferson Airplane – Takes Off

20. The Kinks – Face to Face

21. The 13th Floor Elevators – The Psychedelic Sounds Of

22. Laura Nyro – More Than A New Discovery

23. The Doors – The Doors

24. Jefferson Airplane – Surrealistic Pillow

25. The Velvet Underground & Nico – The Velvet Underground

26. Grateful Dead – Grateful Dead

27. The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Are You Experienced?

28. The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

29. Moby Grape – Moby Grape

30. Tim Buckley – Goodbye and Hello

31. Pink Floyd – The Piper At The Gates of Dawn

32. Buffalo Springfield – Again

33. Love – Forever Changes

34. Cream – Disraeli Gears

35. Traffic – Mr. Fantasy

36. The Who – The Who Sell Out

37. Leonard Cohen – Songs of Leonard Cohen

38. The Velvet Underground – White Light/White Heat

39. Fleetwood Mac – Fleetwood Mac

40. The Incredible String Band – The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter

41. The Zombies – Odessey & Oracle

42. Small Faces – Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake

43. The Band – Music From The Big Pink

44. Grateful Dead – Anthem of the Sun

45. Jeff Beck – Truth

46. Big Brother & The Holding Company – Cheap Thrills

47. The Byrds – Sweetheart of the Rodeo

48. The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Electric Ladyland

49. Van Morrison – Astral Weeks

50. The Beatles – The Beatles (White Album)

51. The Pretty Things – S.F. Sorrow

52. The Pentangle – Sweet Child

53. The Soft Machine – The Soft Machine

54. Creedence Clearwater Revival – Bayou Country

55. Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin

56. The Flying Burrito Bros. – The Gilded Palace of Sin

57. MC5 – Kick Out The Jams

58. Sly And The Family Stand – Stand!

59. Neil Young With Crazy Horse – Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

60. Alexander Spence – Oar

61. The Who – Tommy

62. Crosby, Stills & Nash – Crosby, Stills & Nash

63. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band – Trout Mask Replica

64. Blind Faith – Blind Faith

65. Jethro Tull – Stand Up

66. The Stooges – The Stooges

67. Nick Drake – Five Leaves Left

68. King Crimson – In The Court of The Crimson King

69. Vashti Bunyan – Just Another Diamond Day

70. Fairport Convention – Liege & Leaf

71. The Move – Shazam

72. James Taylor – Sweet Baby James

73. Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath

74. Emerson Lake & Palmer – Emerson Lake & Palmer

75. David Bowie – The Man Who Sold The World

76. Cat Stevens – Tea For The Tillerman

77. Carole King – Tapestry

78. Can – Tago Mago

79. Yes – The Yes Album

80. Joni Mitchell – Blue

81. The Allman Brothers Band – At Fillmore East

82. Genesis – Nursery Cryme

83. Faust – Faust

84. The Rolling Stones – Exile On Main St.

85. David Bowie – The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars

86. Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon

87. Roxy Music – For Your Pleasure

88. Iggy And The Stooges – Raw Power

89. New York Dolls – New York Dolls

90. Big Star – #1 Record

91. Kraftwerk – Autobahn

92. Bruce Springsteen – Born To Run

93. Patti Smith – Horses

94. Ramones – Ramones

95. The Modern Lovers – The Modern Lovers

96. AC/DC – Dirty Deeds Done Cheap

97. Fleetwood Mac – Rumors

98. The Damned – The Damned

99. The Clash – The Clash

100. Talking Heads – Talking Heads: 77

101. Sex Pistols – Never Mind The Bollocks Here’s The Sex Pistols


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