This book owes its existence to David Barker, whose championing of the open submission process for the 33 1/3 series kept the door open long enough for me to stumble through. Special thanks as well to Ally Jane Grossan and Kaitlin Fontana for shepherding the series into a new era of continued success, and for handling my occasional panicked emails with calm and poise.
For their patience, insight, assistance, and, above all, time, thank you to: Jeff Jank, Eothen Alapatt, Freddy Anzures, Khaiam Dar, Jay Hodgson, House Shoes, Linda Hutcheon, Chris Manak, Ronnie Reese, J. Rocc, Joseph Schloss, Les Seaforth, Waajeed, Dean van Nguyen, and R. J. Wheaton.
For general support and sanity maintenance, thank you to Greg Atkinson, Glenn Evans, Melanie Correia, Chris Kozak, Jeff Meloche, the crews at YD 286 and HHK Toronto, the Toronto Public Library, and, my parents, Danny and Kathy Ferguson.
Raise it up for Ma Dukes.
Caitlin MacKinnon did the work.
Nicole Bryant kept the faith.
Sarah Jacobs saw it through.
1. | Dusty in Memphis by Warren Zanes |
2. | Forever Changes by Andrew Hultkrans |
3. | Harvest by Sam Inglis |
4. | The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society by Andy Miller |
5. | Meat Is Murder by Joe Pernice |
6. | The Piper at the Gates of Dawn by John Cavanagh |
7. | Abba Gold by Elisabeth Vincentelli |
8. | Electric Ladyland by John Perry |
9. | Unknown Pleasures by Chris Ott |
10. | Sign O the Times by Michaelangelo Matos |
11. | The Velvet Underground and Nico by Joe Harvard |
12. | Let It Be by Steve Matteo |
13. | Live at the Apollo by Douglas Wolk |
14. | Aqualung by Allan Moore |
15. | OK Computer by Dai Griffiths |
16. | Let It Be by Colin Meloy |
17. | Led Zeppelin IV by Erik Davis |
18. | Exile on Main Street by Bill Janovitz |
19. | Pet Sounds by Jim Fusilli |
20. | Ramones by Nicholas Rombes |
21. | Armed Forces by Franklin Bruno |
22. | Murmur by J. Niimi |
23. | Grace by Daphne Brooks |
24. | Endtroducing by Eliot Wilder |
25. | Kick Out the Jams by Don McLeese |
26. | Low by Hugo Wilcken |
27. | Born in the U.S.A. by Geoffrey Himes |
28. | Music from Big Pink by John Niven |
29. | In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Kim Cooper |
30. | Pauls Boutique by Dan LeRoy |
31. | Doolittle by Ben Sisario |
32. | Theres a Riot Goin On by Miles Marshall Lewis |
33. | The Stone Roses by Alex Green |
34. | In Utero by Gillian G. Gaar |
35. | Highway 61 Revisited by Mark Polizzotti |
36. | Loveless by Mike McGonigal |
37. | The Who Sell Out by John Dougan |
38. | Bee Thousand by Marc Woodworth |
39. | Daydream Nation by Matthew Stearns |
40. | Court and Spark by Sean Nelson |
41. | Use Your Illusion Vols. 1 and 2 by Eric Weisbard |
42. | Songs in the Key of Life by Zeth Lundy |
43. | The Notorious Byrd Brothers by Ric Menck |
44. | Trout Mask Replica by Kevin Courrier |
45. | Double Nickels on the Dime by Michael T. Fournier |
46. | Aja by Don Breithaupt |
47. | Peoples Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm by Shawn Taylor |
48. | Rid of Me by Kate Schatz |
49. | Achtung Baby by Stephen Catanzarite |
50. | If Youre Feeling Sinister by Scott Plagenhoef |
51. | Pink Moon by Amanda Petrusich |
52. | Lets Talk About Love by Carl Wilson |
53. | Swordfishtrombones by David Smay |
54. | 20 Jazz Funk Greats by Drew Daniel |
55. | Horses by Philip Shaw |
56. | Master of Reality by John Darnielle |
57. | Reign in Blood by D. X. Ferris |
58. | Shoot Out the Lights by Hayden Childs |
59. | Gentlemen by Bob Gendron |
60. | Rum, Sodomy & the Lash by Jeffery T. Roesgen |
61. | The Gilded Palace of Sin by Bob Proehl |
62. | Pink Flag by Wilson Neate |
63. | XO by Matthew LeMay |
64. | Illmatic by Matthew Gasteier |
65. | Radio City by Bruce Eaton |
66. | One Step Beyond by Terry Edwards |
67. | Another Green World by Geeta Dayal |
68. | Zaireeka by Mark Richardson |
69. | 69 Love Songs by L. D. Beghtol |
70. | Facing Future by Dan Kois |
71. | It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back by Christopher R. Weingarten |
72. | Wowee Zowee by Bryan Charles |
73. | Highway to Hell by Joe Bonomo |
74. | Song Cycle by Richard Henderson |
75. | Kid A by Marvin Lin |
76. | Spiderland by Scott Tennent |
77. | Tusk by Rob Trucks |
78. | Pretty Hate Machine by Daphne Carr |
79. | Chocolate and Cheese by Hank Shteamer |
80. | American Recordings by Tony Tost |
81. | Some Girls by Cyrus Patell |
82. | Youre Living All Over Me by Nick Attfield |
83. | Marquee Moon by Bryan Waterman |
84. | Amazing Grace by Aaron Cohen |
85. | Dummy by R. J. Wheaton |
86. | Fear of Music by Jonathan Lethem |
87. | Histoire de Melody Nelson by Darran Anderson |
88. | Flood by S. Alexander Reed and Philip Sandifer |
89. | I Get Wet by Phillip Crandall |
90. | Selected Ambient Works Volume II by Marc Weidenbaum |
91. | Entertainment! by Kevin J. H. Dettmar |
92. | Blank Generation by Pete Astor |
The Cedars-Sinai Medical Center makes for an unlikely and unassuming hip-hop landmark. Located in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles, the building is nevertheless a monument on the topography of hip-hop tragedies. In 1994, NWA founder Eric Eazy-E Wright died there from complications brought on by AIDS. Three years later, staff at Cedars-Sinai pronounced Christopher Wallace, the Notorious B.I.G., dead on arrival after suffering four gunshot wounds in a drive-by shooting as he left a party at the nearby Petersen Automotive Museum. Kanye West received reconstructive surgeries following a 2004 auto collision. A year before doctors repaired Wests jaw, Anthony Berkeley, known as the rapper Too Poetic and a founding member of the underground supergroup Gravediggaz, succumbed to colon cancer there, addressing his condition on the groups final album. Cedars has been name-checked in lyrics from Tyler the Creator, Slaughterhouse and Kool Keith. But, despite the hospitals role in some of the musics most tragic endings, Cedars-Sinai was also the site of completion for some of the weirdest, most beautiful and influential music the genre has ever seen.