1. Bruce Springsteen: ‘Nebraska’. I still remember the thrill at discovering this album soon after realising there was more to Bruce than stadium rock. Recorded at home on a four-track cassette player and originally meant as a demo, this shows that good songs and good performances are enough to make a great album. You don’t need drum machines, computers or £5,000 microphones.

2. Johnny Cash: ‘Johnny Cash At San Quentin (1969)’. I heard this for the first time in January 2004 and wondered how it had passed me by until then. It shows why Cash is so revered: the playing, the songs and the way he communicates with his convict audience. If anyone wants to learn how to play live they should hear this album.

3. Lucinda Williams: ‘Essence’. I first heard Lucinda’s breakthrough ‘Car Wheels On A Gravel Road’ album in a bar in New York and became a fan right away. But I think that ‘Essence’ is her greatest album. I could hear songs like ‘Blue’ and ‘I Envy The Wind’ over and over and never grow bored of them.

4. Ron Sexsmith: ‘Ron Sexsmith.’ I first saw Ron live when I had gone to see Richard Thompson at the Royal Albert Hall and Ron was the support act. It was like seeing everything I wanted from a singer/songwriter all in one place: beautiful songs, a modest and sincere stage presence and an honest, touching voice. I have seen him many times since then, and will always remember the great gigs at places like the old Mean Fiddler in London where I stood at the front, two feet away from Ron and always asked him to do his wonderful version of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘I Wanna Marry You’.

5. Bruce Springsteen: ‘The Rising’. This one took a while to grow on me but after a while I realised this is perhaps the most consistent collection of songs on any of Bruce’s albums, apart from Nebraska. He deals with difficult issues in a mature way, without slipping into mawkish sentimentality. Hearing this always reminds me of the two concerts I saw on ‘The Rising’ tour, the only two times I have seen Bruce live. The first time was in Paris and I’ll probably never feel as glad to be in one place as I did when the E Street Band took the stage.

6. Billy Bragg: ‘Life’s A Riot With Spy Vs Spy’. This changed my life more than any other record before or since. For a 16-year-old growing up in a sleepy village, hearing this was nothing short of a revolution. It changed the way I felt about music, politics and love. And I taught myself guitar by learning these seven songs.

7. Paul Lamb & The King Snakes: ‘Paul Lamb & The King Snakes’. I used to make the trip from Watford to Ladbroke Grove every Sunday to see Johnny Whitehill play guitar in the house band at the Station Tavern’s lunchtime jam session. Johnny is also the King Snakes’ guitarist and for about a year all I wanted to do was play blues like him. I played along to this album over and over. They are perhaps the greatest British blues band, and I think this debut album surpasses anything they’ve done since.

8. Yo La Tengo: ‘And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out’. Driving back to my flat in Harrow in 1998, I heard a track from this album on the radio. When I got home I stayed in the car, not wanting to miss a second of their music. I didn’t see YLT live until March 2004 and they were even better than I had hoped.

9. Neil Young & Crazy Horse: ‘Ragged Glory’. Every second of this album is perfect. Just Neil and the guys playing loud and furious. I’d already started to get into Neil but hearing this made me a total convert. I’ve seen Neil play live three times: first with Booker T and the MGs as his backing band, then backed by Pearl Jam and then with Crazy Horse.

10. Ron Sexsmith: ‘Other Songs’. Apart from Bruce Springsteen, Ron is the only person to appear twice in my top ten. At the time I thought this was even better than Ron’s debut album, but now I think the debut just edges it. Nonetheless, ‘Other Songs’ is a masterpiece of superb song writing and performance. His third album, ‘Whereabouts’ is great too.