Epiphany 1

Back in 1972, without much money to spend, but lots of music to discover, I bought a number of label compilation LPs. These were always cheap & were a way into all sorts of music.
One I bought was "The New Age of Atlantic", the second such compilation that Atlantic Records had done. In amongst the likes of Led Zeppelin, Yes and Buffalo Springfield was Loudon Wainwright III.
Just a guy with a guitar it turned out to be like nothing I'd heard before. Not for the music, the singing or the guitar playing, but the lyrics. I was only 15 at the time & had mostly just heard the usual Top 30 stuff, and now here was a song with lines like;
"Come up to my motel room, save my life"
It's a song that appears to be autobiographical. The narrator is a musician on the road, lonely, basically begging a girl to go back to his room. It seemed painfully honest & far more adult than anything I'd heard before.
A couple of weeks ago I saw Loudon Wainwright live again (I've lost count of how many times Ive seem him). I think he may be the only artist that I've listened to constantly since. (And of course, he may be one of the few still performing and recording.)