Frontier Archaeology, vol. 5: Double Your Pleasure

[FP's weekly column on music before 1990 appears on Sundays]

Bonus Top 5!

As the music and arts press have made abundantly clear, a new deluxe issue of the Rolling Stones' 1972 double-LP Exile On Main Street hit shelves earlier this week.  Like a handful of other great records (Pet Sounds, Blonde on Blonde, The Beatles), there is nothing to be left written about Exile (although Mr. I-Write-For-The-New-York-Times might disagree).

Rather than opine at length about a bunch of records the greatness of which is already established, let's listen to some music.  Later this week, in honor of the Stones great double album, we'll be offering up our top 5 contemporary double albums.  But, in the spirit of double-ness, we offer an equivalent archaeological top 5 for the weekend.  Every record below was so nice, they did it twice.  We bring you songs from each and, as a double double bonus, we give you some re-workings of these songs by contemporary acts.

5. The Rolling Stones - Exile On Main Street (1972)
 Ooooohhhh.....just said that there was nothing to be written about this one.  Kind of backed myself into a corner there.






The Rolling Stones - Rocks Off


Spoon - Rocks Off (Live, Rolling Stones Cover)

4. Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica (1969)
Well...if you like your music to be listenable, this record might not be for you.  But, if you don't mind a bit of adventure (and if you have any interest in the history of rock music), you should give TMR a chance.  It opened new doors for the blues, permitting a cerebral, experimental element to enter while simultaneously putting the word "primitive" in every critic's lexicon.  Worth listening to, and worth reading about.

Captain Beefheart - China Pig


The White Stripes - China Pig (Captain Beefheart Cover)

3. The Beatles - The Beatles (1968)
Oops...according to the opening, nothing to be said about this one either.  Suffice it to say that because of this record we now have Blue Albums, Brown Albums, and Black Albums.




The Beatles - Happiness is a Warm Gun


The Breeders - Happiness is a Warm Gun (Beatles Cover)

2. The Clash - London Calling (1979)
What Captain Beefheart did for the blues, The Clash did for punk with this record.  As a bonus, it has one of the top 5 album covers of all time (future column alert!).




The Clash - Clampdown


The Strokes - Clampdown (Clash Cover)

1. Bob Dylan - Blonde On Blonde (1966)
 Please refer to paragraph one.  Easiest column I ever sort-of wrote.







Bob Dylan - Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands


Phoenix - Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands (Bob Dylan Cover)

Frontier Archaeology, vol. 5: Double Your Pleasure