Audiogon "RECORDINGS TO DIE FOR" list


I've been listening to some of my favorite recordings this weekend and was wondering what others on Audiogon felt were there favorites. We have all seen the Stereophile "Records to Die For", The Absolute Sounds recommended list, Music Directs' list, The Golden Ear, etc. now I'm hoping to assemble the Audiogon "Recordings To Die For". Please list your five favorite recordings, the ones you listen to over and over or play for friends. I would assume the sonic quality is excellent in that this is an audiophile site. The performance and enjoy ability should also be excellent. Please leave your top five, even if they are already chosen so we can discover the very top for the Audiogon listeners. ALSO PLEASE REFRAIN FROM CRITICIZING OTHERS OPINIONS AND JUST LEAVE YOUR FAVORITES!

August 2002: I have compiled a summary and a full printer-friendly list of all of the recommendations below.
click here to view summary
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1. argerich live recordings Tchaikovsky 1st and rachmaninoff 3rd. what a concerto really means, no wimps here.
2. the kinks- one for the road- new remastered version. soaring guitar work.
3. return of the hellecasters- unbelievable guitar work no vocals. If you can sit still or drive under the speed limit while listening to this version of orange blossom special, you are legally dead. collect on your insurance.
4.Panama Francis and the savoy sultans vol.II - Classic Jazz CJ-150 LP dance music from the harlem glory days that moves.
5. Beethoven cycle von Karajan 1962 simply the best.
Tony Bennett with Bill Evans on JVC XRCD is really enthralling. Evans' lyricism is bettered only by the utterly
astounding fluidity and sonic coherence of Bennett's oh-so-nakedly-miked crooning. Phew!
What? No Southern Rock? Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker. You don't have live South of the Mason-Dixon line to appreciate this stuff. Especially early Allmans. E-mail me for any suggestions.
1)Charles Mingus - Ah Um (Title is supposedly some kind of joke in latin, does anyone get it?)
2)Duke Ellington - Afroeurasian Eclipse: got this one referral from W. Marsalis and the LCJO.
3)T. Monk - Might as well start with his earliest compilation of classics, but you wont stop there...
4) For God sakes lets get Van Morrison on the list; Moondance is surely deserving but I listen to A night in San Francico more.
5) Springsteen - The Wild the Innocent...
Did I really leave off Dylan, Beatles, Steely, Floyd, Sting...
Sonny Rollins, Way Out West (XRCD is best, but any version sounds great); Rodney Crowell, Houston Kid; Guy Clark, Cold Dog Soup; Van Morrison, Astral Weeks; Bach, Solo Cello Suites, performed by anybody!