What's your fancy?

In 2010, no less an institution than the Vatican revealed the identity of its top ten favourite music albums. Eye-brows were raised on two fronts. In the first place, it was unusual for this secretive body to reveal anything let alone its musical preferences. The second surprise was the names of the albums. To be fair, as far as top tens go, I would have gladly put my name to it. Their list displayed huge knowledge and taste. The biggest surprise for me was the album they placed in second place. Released in 1971 "If only I could remember my name" was the first solo outing of one of the most celebrated and charismatic musicians of the last 50 years. Following his initial success with the Byrds and Crosby, Stills and Nash, David Crosby assembled as stellar a cast of musicians as you could hope for to put together his first solo album. Such outings for Crosby are rare indeed. His next such offering came in 1989 and his third is due for release in September. Not exactly prolific as a solo artist but then he hasn't needed to be. Even at the age of 72, he is still in demand as one of the foremost harmony singers in the music world. His first album featured a galaxy of musical talent. Paul Kantner and Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane joined up along with then lovers Graham Nash and Joni Mitchell. Jerry Garcia and Jack Casady also came along for a bit of fun. It goes to show that the Vatican probably has a lot more in common with us than we normally imagine.