Citizen Bare

I know there are some glaring exclusions here namely Bob Dylan, Elvis
Presley, Woody Guthrie, Bruce Springsteen, Hank Williams, Robert
Johnson, Stevie Wonder and The Who. But I only had 10 spots that I
could fill and shamefully I need to admit that I have never heard a
whole album (or that would be considered better than the albums that I
have up there already) of these people that was not a greatest hits or
just one or two songs and since this is a Andy’s greatest albums of
all time one requirement is that I have actually heard the album in
which I would be putting in the top 10.

So let me give you the criteria that I have understood need to be
taken order to make my list
first it has to an album for the sake of the album, can not be a
greatest hits album or Elton John and Bob Dylan would have made it
hands down
second all the songs have to congruent, they have to flow has to
follow the theme
third all or the majority of the songs have to be listenable zero to 1
tracks that i would want to skip
fourth consideration on how has affected albums after it
fifth cover art

10. Thriller Michael Jackson
wow what can be said about this album, this is the first album that I
ever listened to from track to track, I know what you are thinking how
can justify keeping it out of the top five? well mostly because there
are a few tracks that I do not enjoy compared to others. But if there
is going to be a standard album i would have think this would be it.
Sure the lyrics were mostly about love and lady’s and did not
institute a need for change, but serioulsy who knew that we would need
to change in the 80’s . Sometimes I find the music to be a bit cheesey
but everybody was experimenting with synths and electronic sound in
the early 80’s. Also the Glam shot of Jackson in the white suit and
the black background is classic.

9. II Led Zepplin
Man to try to pick just one Zepplin album to throw in here was
difficult, these guys were Rock n Roll, they did it better than anyone
else. Specifically the reason I picked this album over Zoso or Houses
of the Holy was because I do not need to skip any song on the album.
It starts out with whole lotta love and ends with bring it on Home and
has the greatest story to song adaptation of all time with Ramble on.
This album also has the coolest looking cover of all the Zepplin
albums which gives it a notch above the other albums and I love the
brown.

8. Cosmos Factory CCR
To me this is the essential CCR album there no songs on this album
which one would even think about skipping, They have amazing covers
and classic originals. This album introduced me to the idea that
country and rock n roll can coexsist. Serioulsy though did you see the
dude in the onepeice orange suit riding a bike indoors? That my
friends is a classic

7. The animal years Josh
OK I suppose if you guys are going to have qualms with any of my picks
it  is going to be this one, but just hear me out. To me this album
speaks to our generation more than any other album out there. If
“smells like teen spirit” is the anthem for our generation, I wonder
aloud if THe animal Year isn’t the album of our generation thoughtful
lyrics speaking about such things as false spirituality, war,
consumerism and our constant need to understand what is happening with
in our psyche. The music is just as good as the Lyrics the whole album
is superb and in a few years might have to move up depending on how it
influences newer artists. Also it has the coolest cover art of all the
albums formentioned

6. Joshua Tree U2
U2 unlike Bob Dylan has the luxury of me being born when there music
was popular, that means I get to hear a wider selection of there
catalog on the radio. It also means that when there records come out,
I am alive to be excited by them. This in my opinon is the best of all
the U2 albums because again no songs I feel a need to skip and I
believe this album more than the others has inspired other musicians
to get back to a more natural rock sound during a time period in which
everyone seemed to be experimenting with synths. Not my favorite of
the covers but what can you do? the POP album just wasn’t as good.

5. Legend Bob Marley
Ok Now we start to get into the top five and now is where the real
justification starts. This album is like a meal for the soul, the
lyrics grab you the music moves you, you know you are not just
listening to music but you are actually experiencing something. Marley
finds a way to connect you to the music in a way that no one else can.
Seriously I am not even oppresed and I feel ready for the revolution
after listening to this. Each song on this album is a classic and
could be argued for the top 5 songs of all time. The cover art is
classic with the portait and chosen font. This album is perfect in
everyway

4. Abbey road Beatles
Ok wow this was a hard decision, which Beatles albums to put in the
top 10? I mean there are so many great Beatles albums I could feel
justified in myself to put atleast 5 in the top 10 and three in the
top five. This album gets the nod above the others quite simply
because A) the medley at the end of this album is better than any
other single song out there hands down. I mean you go from talking
about a hooker together with a Police officer to the summing up of all
human interaction???? Seriously Lyrically it was amazing and musically
seemless, you think is this one song or 4 and then convince yourself
it is one song with four different themes. Just amazing and the cover
art is probably the most recognizable cover of all time, hands down

3. Dark side of the moon Pink FLoyd
Ok if the medley at the end of Abbey Road is the best of all time than
the second best would have to be the way that Floyd merges the the two
songs at the end of Dark Side, Brain Damage and Eclipse are classic
and that doesn’t even begin to mention the other songs on this album.
As far as concept goes this one takes the cake you actually feel liek
you are being taken to a different realm. The cover art is second only
to Abbey Road, but the inserts are better, I have a soft spot for the
pyramids and other wonders that Floyd includes

2. August and everything after Counting Crows
Ok if you have a problem with Josh Ritter in the top 10 then you must
be having a cow with COunting Crows as the number two greatest album
of all time, not that I can blame you obviously influenced by Bob
Dylan and Van Morrison it would seem only fair that I put those guys
ahead of COunting Crows, but alas the only Dylan album I have heard
the whole way through is Desire and I have to skip more than 2 songs
on it, so we go with the Crows. This album lyrically helped my get in
touch with my more melancholy side, Lyrically Duritz is the man, using
perfect metaphors describe deep feelings of angst and joy and
musically it’s spun together so tight that you think these melodies
and words must have been born together like two twins coming from the
birth canal at the same time. There are no songs that one needs to
skip on this album and they all seem to flow together as though it was
meant to be. Counting Crows rescued me from bad pop music and helped
me appreciate the deeper side of music. The cover art is fantastic it
is words burned on paper just like the what the songs do to your soul.
Yeah I said that, I am ok with it.

1. Revolver Beatles
Alright number one album of all time, Revolver by the Beatles. This
album is front to back the most complete listenable Beatles album
there is. It has a general pitching in of all four lads. The song
writting is perfect, great folk lyrics and great melodies and
harmonies. THis album was the Beatles first full fledge attempt at
making music that makes a difference, Rubber Soul was there first
departure from pleasing the masses but it was only done on a song by
song basis, it was the metamorphosis album, Revolver front to back was
the butterfly of the Beatles. It is the best album out there for this
reason, they gave a voice to all musicians to use there medium to
speak out against the injustices of the world. Speak out to the common
person and give them a voice and with Taxman they were forever done
with making music to feed the ears an forget the soul. The Cover art
whilst maybe isn’t the most intriguing of all the art is by far the
most revolutionary because it signifies the end of making things the
same way everyone else was. The starkness of the black and white ink
images ushers in the dawning of a new era in music.

* Let it bleed Rolling Stones
* Are you experienced? Jimi Hendrix
* In Utero Nirvana
* The Chronic Dr Dre

Hey Guys,

Sometimes I get thoughts in my head and just gotta get em out. Sometimes those thoughts turn into songs, poems, emails, discussions and blogs. Sometimes those thoughts stay with me a long time and sometimes they are fleeting, turn into one of the hundreds of songs I have written that will never played for anyone but myself.

Today I have been thinking about being a grassroots musician as opposed to a professional musician. What’s the difference you say? Well I am glad you asked. You see a grassroots musician is one who plays not for money but for the betterment of the community, obviously sometimes money of all amounts is involved in this process. I guess it’s almost like a means/ends discussion.

My main reasons for these thoughts have been sparked by the recent 90th birthday of the great Americana song writers ever Pete Seeger and also by book(Bound for Glory) that I have been by his mentor Woody Guthrie. These two men, along with countless others paved the way for people like RIchie Havens, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Dar Williams, Bruce Springsteen and countless others to make a profit from their talents. But watching the coverage on Pete Seegers birthday party and seeing and hearing about everything his energy has gone towards over the last 90 years got me excited for my journey.

At one point my goal was to make money from music, in some way shape or form. Mostly I wanted to sing but I also really enjoy writing music, which makes the singer/songwriter genre a win/win for me. But after spending some time abroad and realizing the competiveness of the inustry my mind has changed. I think that playing local events and offering up music to the greater good of the community is the way to go, so that the talents of the individual enrich the people and music is able to do what it is supposed to do.

Inspire Creativity amongst the community.

Please don’t misunderstand what I am saying and think that if you are a professional musician you can not inspire the community. I am speaking more to the industry that ropes people in and makes them into something that will sell and in doing so zap all the creativity out of them.

So hopefully that is what I accomplish everytime you come out to a show, we inspire creativity in your life.

Enjy it while you got it

Andy out

Hey All,

A huge thanks to all who came out the other night to the Monkey House, we can’t even express how much we appreciate your support. We are playing out more sporadically lately than we have in the past, some of that is due to the fact that John and have been busy with school.

Hopefully John and I will have the opportunity to not only play out more as the weather gets warmer as well as trying to get some stuff recorded.

Andy out

I am going to go ahead and write down all of my original tunes that we play here. It’s possible that we may publish set lists in the future. If I get enough requests I may go ahead and publish the lyrics to my tunes as well

Enough

Imagining Everything Gratton/Patterson

Da Da Da

In His Eyes

Waiting For Gratton/Patterson

It Won’t be Long

American Dream Gratton/Patterson

The Game (we’ll probably go ahead and remove this one for the time being)

I Understand

Joyful Cry

John and I are working on new songs all the time, so stayed tuned to see what’s next…..

Welcome to the blog of Citizen Bare!  While we are building the official CitizenBare.COM website we thought it would be cool to still give people a glimpse into the world of the Bare Citizens.  Andrew James & John Gratton will be posting about various topics that stir them to commentary.  Please come back often and comment on anything you would like.  If you enjoy the blogs, rants, and raves you can always subscribe to the RSS Feed for a category, or for the entire blog site.

Thanks for the visit!

Peace

Citizen Bare