Double Album

Can anyone name the very first double album of the rock era (without perusing the internet)? Also, what is your all time fave?

Here are a few I like:  White Album (Beatles) Tommy ((The Who), Electric Ladyland (Jimi Hendrix), Live At The Fillmore (Allman Brothers Band),  Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs (Derek & The Dominoes),  Grateful Dead (Grateful Dead) 4 Way Street (CSNY),  Exile On Main Street (Rolling Stones).

7 Responses to “Double Album”

  1. #1 by huskysooner

    Hmmmmm. I like Cream “Wheels of Fire.”

  2. Good choice, HS. I also played the grooves off that one. Jack Bruce one of my main influences while learning to play bass.

  3. I’m guessing you are refering to Bob Dylan’s 1966 double alblum (Omage to Brother Dave Gardner) Blonde on Blonde. A must have for any serious music historian. Or maybe earlier dan dat, The Beatles Story from ’64 one of the Capitol Throw togethers of a few music clips and some interviews. As for favs, Too many to list.

  4. Impressive, J! The first double album I bought was Peter, Paul & Mary In Concert. However, that was the folk genre. Dylan had crossed over by the time Blonde on Blonde was release.
    Taking a different approach, what is the first double album purchased by members of this blog?

  5. I almost went the smart-ass route and asked “what’s an album?”, but I’m not *quite* that young. Not sure, but I think it was The Wall. I do remember the last vinyl I bought, Weird Al’s “Even Worse”. (Which I still had up until a couple of years ago, it got tossed when I thought I was going to be moving. Then not 6 months later Weird Al was at the nearby Barnes & Noble for his children’s book signing, so I could have had him actually autograph the damned thing!)

    One interesting near-double album I remember seeing was a work of genius… Monty Python’s “Matching Tie & Handkerchief”… from the Wikipedia entry:

    “The album’s original LP edition …. is particularly notable in that it was mastered with two concentric grooves on side two, so that different material would be played depending on where the stylus was put down on the record’s surface. For this reason it is sometimes referred to as a “three-sided” record. The cutting was carried out by George “Porky” Peckham. To further confuse the listener, both sides of the LP are labelled “FREE RECORD Given away with the Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief – Side 2″ – only the matrix numbers identify which are the first and second sides.

    The album did not have a track listing, so that this feature would come as a complete surprise to listeners, who might on a second listening hear material they had never heard before, creating genuine confusion.

    Since the record had two concentric grooves, they were spaced considerably apart, halving the length of the playing time. Subsequent editions of the vinyl incorporated both grooves sequentially as separate tracks, eliminating the double groove. CD reissues provide the full contents of the album and every track on one side.”

    Sheer genius!!!

  6. Hmm..might have to pull out my Rutles LP to see if there is some unknown surprise on it.

  7. Found a CD copy of Matching Tie & Handkerchief. Would prefer the vinyl for the anomaly you described.

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