I'm not saying any of these are the greatest or whatever. It's my often-updated DESERT ISLAND DISCS, what I would choose to listen to if I was on a desert island and had the means to play only these personally selected recordings:

3 albums

Johnny Horton's Greatest Hits -- Johnny Horton

Johnny Horton was best known for his “saga songs,” historical narratives that were popular in country music in the early sixties, right around the time the urban folk movement was hitting the pop charts. The longtime Tyler resident’s best-known saga song was “Battle of New Orleans,” which was written by a folklorist who put lyrics about the final battle of the War of 1812 to the melody of the traditional fiddle tune “The Eighth of January.” Horton’s rendition—with some throaty grit roughing up his molasses-smooth East Texas accent—topped the pop and the country charts. He sang with pop music clarity and diction, with a hard twang, or with a threatening rumble. Before saga songs, he specialized in rockabilly- and boogie-tinged country but was just as comfortable with honky-tonk ballads. He never got more of himself on one album than this one.

Gord's Gold -- Gordon Lightfoot

Though he rose from the ranks of journeyman '60s folksinger to become a potent and consistent '70s hit maker, Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot's stock in trade was as much hard-eyed, dispassionate observation as romance or poetic whimsy. Perhaps that's why his songs have been covered by everyone from Elvis (this set's "Early Morning Rain") to Dylan. If there's such a thing as an alpha-male folkie, Lightfoot certainly fits the bill. Spanning the tongue-in-cheek chauvinism of 1965's "For Lovin' Me" and the cheatin' ways of "Sundown" to more introspective fare like "If You Could Read My Mind" and "Beautiful," this 20-track collection presents a concise primer on Lightfoot's career and craft. After his career peaked with one of the most unlikely top five hits ever, the gloom-laden 1976 narrative "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," Lightfoot's production tailed off sharply, though this anthology's "Stay Loose" ('86) and "Restless" ('93) are testament to his enduring skills as a songwriter and performer. --Jerry McCulley

Paul Simon's Concert in the Park (live) 1991

Reviewed on March 15, 2024, Amazon customer

My favorite Paul Simon live album. Great setlist, amazing band, ecstatic audience reaction, and Simon at his vocal peak. It just doesn't get any better than this. Two discs of transcendent pop nirvana that covers his entire singer / songwriter career to that point. The fact that this concert disc is 33 years old is absolutely mindboggling. It's all so fresh, current, and of the moment that it could've been recorded last summer in Central Park, rather than 32 summers ago! Five brightly shining stars and, needless to say, very highly recommended.

10 singles

Goin' Skinny Dippin' -- Mayf Nutter

I Love a Rainy Night -- Eddie Rabbit

I Can Help -- Billy Swan

Somethin' Else -- Eddie Cochran

Summer Wind -- Frank Sinatra

Silver Wings -- Merle Haggard

Carefree Highway -- Gordon Lightfoot

Love in the Hot Afternoon -- Gene Watson

Six White Horses -- Tommy Cash

California Dreamin' -- The Mamas & the Papas

Bubbling under

Bop -- Dan Seals

14 Carat Mind -- Gene Watson

The King is Gone -- George Jones

Hotrod Lincoln -- Commander Cody

Dropped

Gentle on my Mind -- Glen Campbell

(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay -- Otis Redding