Rock legend Alice Cooper is renowned for his dramatic live shows and contentious lyrics. He started an Alice Cooper band in the late 1960s, using the name as his stage identity. Early albums by the group, such as “Love It to Death” and “Killer,” had hard rock music and dark subjects. Fake blood, guillotines, and other shocking techniques were frequently used in Cooper’s theatrical productions.
Cooper recently discussed some of his all-time favorite songs in an article with Rolling Stone. The fact that the master of shock deviated from the records’ sonic textures is evident from the fact that his roster includes a number of iconic rock, blues, and folk songs, which give some indication of the inspirations behind his music. His music and stage performances were at their height in the 1970s, when he himself had a major influence on the rock scene.
He discusses some albums which were relatively unknown to anyone. Such a choice was ‘East-West‘ by the Butterfield Blues Band. About it, he said, “It’s one of those albums that nobody knows about. Musicians know about it.” He also explained how he discussed the album with ELvin Bishop, “The thing that really topped it off, I think, after I had worn the album out maybe five or six times — and I still have it in my 1968 Mustang — is I talked to Elvin Bishop, and he mentioned that most of those tracks were done live in the studio.” He also added more details, and said, “One or two takes, maybe, which made it even more astounding. Because there’s not a mistake, there’s nothing. The feel is magnificent on every song.” Elvin Bishop and Michael Bloomfield, who played for Bob Dylan, both performed on the 1966 album.
Alice also chose Fab Four’s album. He said, “I picked Meet the Beatles! only because it was the first one that totally knocked me out, because I’d never heard anything like that before. We were listening to the Beach Boys and the Four Seasons, and all of a sudden, here’s this band coming along with all this hair and Beatle boots and these suits, and they were singing these songs that you could hear them one time, and you knew them.”
Classic albums by artists like The Beach Boys, The Yardbirds, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Love, and Laura Nyro are mentioned. Below is a collection of all of Alice Cooper’s favorite albums.
Alice Cooper’s 10 favourite albums
- Pet Sounds – The Beach Boys
- Meet the Beatles! – The Beatles
- East-West – Butterfield Blues Band
- Eli and the Thirteenth Confession – Laura Nyro
- Having a Rave Up – The Yardbirds
- Da Capo – Love
- The Doors – The Doors
- England’s Newest Hit Makers – The Rolling Stones
- Chuck Berry’s Greatest Hits – Chuck Berry
- My Generation – The Who
