A friend of mine nominated me on the Facebook “10 Albums in 10 Days” challenge. It’s been around for at least a couple of years, and turned out to be a fun exercise. The challenge is, each day for 10 days one of your favorite albums of all time, with music that has deeply impacted you. No explanations needed. Each day you nominate a different person to do their own challenge.
So here I decided to post the 10 albums that made my list on Facebook, but with a brief commentary on each one. I may have missed a personal favorite or two… and they are in no particular order.
Day 1:
“Siembra” from Rubén Blades was a favorite of mine when I was studying in Mayagüez in the 70’s. I knew the lyrics of every song by heart, and attempted to sing each one while listening and studying at the same time.
Day 2:
Newly married and living in Indiana, I discovered the jazzy R&B side of me that would become part of my permanent musical tastes. “Breezin’” by George Benson was my favorite album of that time.
Day 3:
Back to my Puerto Rican side. My oldest daughter once gave me the FANIA All-Stars “Live” (1994) CD (not album, by that time) and I totally fell in love with it. I mimicked the bongos like Ray Barretto, and the piano playing like Papo Lucca. I’ve rarely played a CD as much as this one.
Day 4:
Regarding rock bands, I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t like Journey. Their “Escape” album is chock-full of hits and one of my favorites, from one of the few rock bands I’ve seen live in concert.
Day 5:
Even before discovering George Benson, I loved listening to Steely Dan. I remember owning their “Greatest Hits” album and playing it a lot. They’re a mixture of jazz with R&B as well, always a favorite of mine.
I will post Day 6 through Day 10 in my next article.