Island Records

I just finished reading “Stranded: Rock and Roll for a Desert Island.” Given that the book is almost 30 years old, I probably should have read it long before now. But the recent release of a new trade paperback edition seemed like the perfect excuse to pick it up. And, now that I have completed it, I can move on to “Marooned: The Next Generation of Desert Island Discs.”

For those of you unfamiliar with “Stranded,” its premise is simple: In 1978, 20 music critics such as Dave Marsh, Lester Bangs and Greil Marcus, who edited the book, each chose a “desert island disc,” an album so near and dear to them that if they were to be stranded on said island, they’d want their disc of choice marooned with them.

It’s a ridiculous question. Even if you had electricity, there are many, many things that would be much more practical to have on a desert island. Like food, for starters. Or perhaps a boat. Or matches. Or Scarlett Johansson.

In defense of Marcus and the other writers, though, there’s written evidence in the book that some of them thought it was a foolish premise. But you can’t blame a bunch of writers for seizing the opportunity to get paid.

Reading the book got me thinking about some of the albums I consider indispensable. I stopped well short of choosing just one. I don’t care how great Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited” is; after a few months of nothing but that disc I’d be ready for a change. (Plus there was no need to single out one album; I’m not getting paid). In the spirit of “Stranded,” though, here are 50 albums that I hope to always have on a nearby shelf, be it on an island or in the comfort of my own home:

“Gold,” Ryan Adams
“Live at the Fillmore East,” The Allman Brothers Band
“The Band,” The Band
“A Hard Day’s Night,” The Beatles
“The Great Twenty-Eight,” Chuck Berry
“Time Out,” The Dave Brubeck Quartet
“The Tigers Have Spoken,” Neko Case
“The Complete Original Sun Singles,” Johnny Cash
“Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music,” Ray Charles
“Just One Night,” Eric Clapton
“Dublin Blues,” Guy Clark
“Broke Down,” Slaid Cleaves
“Portrait of a Legend,” Sam Cooke
“My Aim is True,” Elvis Costello
“Marshall Crenshaw,” Marshall Crenshaw
“Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs,” Derek & The Dominoes
“Decoration Day,” Drive-By Truckers
“Blonde on Blonde,” Bob Dylan
“El Corazon,” Steve Earle
“Ammunition,” Tim Easton
“White Ladder,” David Gray
“Slow Turning,” John Hiatt
“From the Original Master Tapes,” Buddy Holly
“Forever Blue,” Chris Isaak
“Hollywood Town Hall,” The Jayhawks
“Kristofferson,” Kris Kristofferson
“Trouble,” Ray Lamontagne
“The Road to Ensenada,” Lyle Lovett
“Parallel Lives,” David Mallett
“Too Far to Care,” Old 97’s
“O.C.M.S.,” Old Crow Medicine Show
“Ten,” Pearl Jam
“The Complete Sun Singles,” Carl Perkins
“Greatest Hits,” Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
“The Sun Sessions,” Elvis Presley
“Lifes Rich Pageant,” R.E.M.
“Tim,” The Replacements
“Unit of Measure,” The Tony Rice Unit
“Trace,” Son Volt
“Born in the U.S.A.,” Bruce Springsteen
“Built for Speed,” The Stray Cats
“The Joshua Tree,” U2
“89/93: An Anthology,” Uncle Tupelo
“Texas Flood,” Stevie Ray Vaughan
“The Anthology,” Muddy Waters
“Southbound,” Doc Watson
“Time (The Revelator),” Gillian Welch
“Stereo/Mono,” Paul Westerberg
“A.M.,” Wilco
“Sun Records: The 50th Anniversary Collection,” Various Artists