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name an essential record made by people over 50 years old (non-jazz format)


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Fripp was in his middle 50s when The ConstrucKtion of Light came out. "Essential"? Probably not. Still boldly going where no one has gone before? Definitely. 

 

Damn this is a HARD question!

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Fripp was in his middle 50s when The ConstrucKtion of Light came out. "Essential"? Probably not. Still boldly going where no one has gone before? Definitely. 

 

Damn this is a HARD question!

 

I think KC's last album Power To Believe is excellent.

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Patty Griffin.  Her latest album "American Kid" is widely regarded as her best work.

 

She came into my mind.

Emmylou's Red Dirt Girll. (Wrecking Ball was a couple of years shy).

I liked Aimee Mann's Charmer too.

I wonder if there's something in the fact that they are all female artists?

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Alejandro Escovedo has put out 3 or 4 really great records post-50.

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Mark Knopfler - Shangri-La.

That's the one solo record of his that I have been playing over and over, for the last decade. Never get tired of it.

For Los Lobos, my vote goes to The Town and the City (2006). Road to Gila Bend is one of their best tunes ever, plenty of room for guitar wailing on that one. Little Things is also a real heavy tune.

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Absolutely! 

 

Along the Escovedo front, Chuck Prophet's new record, Night Surfer, might fit this thread after a few more listens.  Fantastic!

 

I heard about the new Prophet record the other day. Definitely gonna check that one out.

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  • 2 weeks later...

PLENTY to choose from...off the top of my head...some of these I'd say are absolutely essential & rate with the best work these artists have ever done, & some of the others are at least very good to great albums that should be considered...

~"So Beautiful Or So What" & "Surprise" by Paul Simon- easily as great as any albums he's ever made.... & "Rhythm Of The Saints", which is that great too, was made when he was 49.

~"Popular Songs" & "Fade" by Yo La Tengo... the band that most strongly rivals Wilco, for best American catalog ever...they are celebrating their 30th anniversary this year...

~"Electric" by Richard Thompson...I'd say it's his best since "Rumour & Sigh" (20+ years) , but "Mock Tudor" is pretty great too & he made that when he was 50.

~"Psychedelic Pill" by Neil Young & Crazy Horse- I'd say his best since "Broken Arrow", 20+ years...

~"Various Positions", "I'm Your Man" & "Old Ideas" by Leonard Cohen (maybe "Popular Problems" & "The Future" too...all the others are at least very good as well).. all recorded when he's 50, or older...

~"Brainwashed" by George Harrison... while it was released posthumously in 2002 (he died in 2001), the album was recorded throughout the 90's & Harrison turned 50 in '93...along with "All Things Must Pass" & "Thrity-Three & 1/3" it stands at the very top echelon of his solo output.

~"Flaming Pie", "Chaos & Creation In The Backyard" & "New" by Paul McCartney (maybe "Memory Almost Full" & "Electric Arguments" as well...all the others are at least very good as well)...all when he's 50 or older

~"The Next Day" by David Bowie... I'd say his best since "Let's Dance" (30+ years)

~"Magic" by Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band... I'd say his best since "Born In The U.S.A." (nearly 30 years...and "The Rising" is very good too)

~"Gone Again" & "Banga" by Patti Smith... the two great albums she's made after hitting 50...

~"Raising Sand" by Robert Plant & Alison Krauss... this album may owe as much to the magic of producer T-Bone Burnett, but a classic it is...and Plant's "Band Of Joy" & "Lullabye & The Ceaseless Roar" are worthy of consideration as well as fine works...

Subjects for further consideration....

"The True False Identity" by T-Bone Burnett & "The Terror" by The Flaming Lips...both great & underrated albums, & the first one for Wayne Coyne after the half-century mark...but not sure if they quite make it, especially considering the heights of the past catalog...
                                                                                                
~Lucinda Williams 5 albums she's recorded since turning 50 in '03 all certainly are up for the very good or better (with great moments) range, but I'm not sure myself yet...especially considering the heights of the past catalog...

~Bob Dylan's 5 albums or original material that started with "Time Out Of Mind" are certainly all in that very good or better (with great moments) range again, but I do think they are very overrated as well & I'm not so sure about how high I'd go with these to this day...especially considering the heights of the past catalog...

~The Mekons major songwriters all hit 50 fairly recently & either "Natural" or "Ancient & Modern" would qualify for the half-century mark, but while they are again in that very good or better (with great moments), I don't know if I'd toss them up as essential, especially considering the heights of the past catalog...

~Tom Waits recent albums have been up there with his always high standard, I've just spent less time with them...but I don't know if I'd toss them up as essential, especially considering the heights of the past catalog...

~ Ray Davies two albums from the mid-00's are both his best works since the early-mid 80's & the best of the two together would make an essential album, but on their own I don't know if I'd toss them up as essential, especially considering the heights of the past catalog...







 

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considering the best work of Dylan, Neil, Led Zep, Fairport Convention/Richard & Linda, Bowie, Springsteen, Beatles/Wings, etc that's a pretty weighty statement.

And one I absolutely stand by in relation to the works I listed here!!

Thompson's best work in, I'd say 20 years, same for Neil Young. Bowie's & Springsteen's best in more like 30! You notice I didn't list loads of albums for those artists, but the single albums I did list for them, produced after any of them were 50, are what I consider real high water marks indeed.

 

Paul Simon, Paul McCartney & Leonard Cohen have all been staggeringly great & consistent, since they've turned 50, even more so than Dylan in my opinion. Each of the three of them have released three album each (if we count "Rhythm Of The Saints" made when Simon was 49) that stand amongst their greatest works ever, and...on top of that, they've each released a few more beyond that that aren't far behind that mark.

 

 

 

 

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