Southside Johnny Lyon, the nationally known rock/blues...

Southside Johnny Lyon, the nationally known rock/blues singer from the Jersey Shore now making his home in San Clemente, picks some records that influenced him through his life and career: “These five were sort of revelatory to me.”

* “Hoochie Coochie Man,” Muddy Waters: I was a pre-teen or younger, and I was listening to a lot of black radio . . . .It was raw, and although I’d heard raw on some of my parents’ records, this was much more raw than anything I’d ever heard . . . . It’s as close to the bone as you can cut it.

* “Speedoo,” the Cadillacs: Too cool for words . . . .I was a teen then, and that was an attitude you really wanted to cop, but you couldn’t quite pull it off.

* “Try A Little Tenderness,” Otis Redding: One of the greatest records of all time. (It) helped start the modern era of R&B; . . . . I just love the gospel tinges on this record.

* “Sticky Fingers,” the Rolling Stones: They made it OK for white guys to sing the blues, which I always appreciated . . . . This is just my favorite Stones album. It’s got everything.

* “My Aim Is True,” Elvis Costello: I just loved the way he fused the anger and the lyrics . . . .Some of these bands that were coming out, the Damned and the Sex Pistols, were all anger, which was fine, but he was angry and he could focus it.

Favorite Things appears Wednesdays in the Calendar section of The Times Orange County Edition.