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1971 1971 - another very good year, in which at least two masterpieces were released: The Who's Who's Next and the Stones' Sticky Fingers - Tom The Allman Brothers - At Fillmore East The Beach Boys - Surf's Up Jeff Beck - Rough and Ready Black Sabbath - Master of Reality ("Sweet Leaf") David Bowie - Hunky Dory ("Changes") Captain Beefheart - Mirror Man Alice Cooper - Killer Crosby Stills Nash and Young - 4 Way Street Deep Purple - Fireball The Doors - L.A. Woman ("Love Her Madly," "Riders on the Storm") Emerson Lake and Palmer - Tarkus Emerson Lake and Palmer - Pictures at an Exhibition The Faces - A Nod's As Good As A Wink ("Stay With Me") Marvin Gaye - What's Going On ("Mercy Mercy Me") The Grateful Dead - The Grateful Dead (original title: Skullfuck) Al Green - Let's Stay Together Isaac Hayes - Shaft soundtrack Jethro Tull - Aqualung Elton John - Friends (soundtrack) Tiny Dancer: Not a commercial hit and the movie itself was a bit of a bomb but I have to stick up for the title track, "Seasons," and "Michelle's Song", three lovely ballads and "Can I Put You On", an early taste of the rocker he would become in later years. Elton John - Madman Across the Water ("Tiny Dancer", "Levon") Tiny Dancer: This was my first exposure to Elton (2 years later). I had asked my hip babysitter (hey, I was 9!) if she had any good music to listen to and she handed me two albums from this "great new guy": Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only The Piano Player and Madman Across the Water. Fate had me choose the latter to listen to first on my cheap little record player (I had to put a quarter on the needle arm to hold it down) and with that first track both a love affair with Elton's music and my namesake many years later on the net were born. It's a shame pictures don't do justice to the fab artwork on the album's jacket (it looked exactly like denim material with all the writing in neat rows of hand-stitching, really quite something at the time, also a shame CDs have killed this artform). The title track and singles still hold up (my tune was used to great effect in the movie "Almost Famous") as does the fan classic, "Indian Sunset". The Kinks - Muswell Hillbillies ("20th Century Man," "Holiday," "Here Come the People in Grey") Led Zeppelin - IV (aka Zoso aka The Ruins Album) ("Stairway to Heaven," "Black Dog," "Rock and Roll") John Lennon - Imagine ("Imagine," "Jealous Guy," "How Do You Sleep?") Van Morrison - Tupelo Honey ("Wild Night") Mountain - Nantucket Sleighride Pink Floyd - Meddle Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers ("Brown Sugar," "Bitch," "Sister Morphine") Todd Rundgren - Runt: The Ballad of Todd Rundgren Carly Simon - Carly Simon ("That's The Way I Always Heard it Should Be") Cat Stevens - Tea For The Tillerman ("Father and Son," "Wild World," "Where Do The Children Play?," "Hard Headed Woman") Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells A Story ("Maggie May") T-Rex - Electric Warrior ("Jeepster," "Get It On (Bang A Gong)") James Taylor - Mud Slide Slim ("You've Got A Friend") Thin Lizzy - Thin Lizzy Traffic - Low Spark of the High Heeled Boys War - All Day Music The Who - Who's Next ("Baba O'Riley," "Behind Blue Eyes," "Won't Get Fooled Again") Stevie Wonder - Where I'm Coming From Yes - The Yes Album ("I've Seen All Good People," "Yours Is No Disgrace") Yes - Fragile ("Roundabout") Dixon Hayes adds: Carole King - Tapestry ("I Feel The Earth Move," "So Far Away," "It's Too Late," "You've Got A Friend," "Where You Lead," "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?," "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman") Jeff Troutman adds: Electric Light Orchestra - No Answer andy749 adds: Jimi Hendrix - Rainbow Bridge MC5 - High Time Tiny Dancer adds: America - America ("Sandman," "A Horse With No Name," "I Need You") The debut of one of the biggest groups of the decade, the three singles still hold up as classics all these years later. April Wine - April Wine ("Fast Train") Meanwhile in Canada one of our supergroups debuts and has their first hit with "Fast Train". Bread - Manna ("If") "If" is still one of my favorite love songs. The Carpenters - Carpenters ("Rainy Days And Mondays," "For All We Know," "Superstar") Three more huge hits for this fabulous duo. John Denver - Poems, Prayers, And Promises ("Poems, Prayers And Promises," "Take Me Home, Country Roads," "Sunshine On My Shoulders") Neil Diamond - Stones ("I Am ... I Said") Laugh at the weird lyrics if you must but it was a massive hit. The Guess Who - The Best Of The Guess Who ("These Eyes," "Laughing," "Undun," "No Time," "American Woman," "No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature," "Hand Me Down World," "Bus Rider," "Share The Land," "Do You Miss Me Darling?," "Hang On To Your Life") Not a dud in the bunch, just look at the track listing! Please note that I couldn't find a good discography for the band so if anyone can help add more albums for the era please let me know. Kris Kristofferson - The Silver Tongued Devil And I ("The Silver Tongued Devil And I," "Jody And The Kid," "Billy Dee," "Good Christian Soldier," "Breakdown (A Long Way From Home)," "Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)," "The Taker," "When I Loved Her," "The Pilgrim - Chapter 33," "Epitaph (Black And Blue)") I can't bear to cut even one of the tracks from this outstanding album, every single song is a keeper. "He's a poet (he's a picker), he's a prophet (he's a pusher), he's a pilgrim, and a preacher, and a problem when he's stoned." Maybe so but he's also a genius in blue jeans. Gordon Lightfoot - Summer Side Of Life ("Cotton Jenny") Joni Mitchell - Blue ("River") Olivia Newton-John - If Not For You The debut of the gorgeous and talented Olivia, this was released as Olivia Newton-John in the UK and If Not For You in Australia and the US. I've followed her for not only the obvious reasons (she's beautiful to look at and to listen to) but for a personal one as well. Olivia's career began when she won a talent contest in Australia where the grand prize included a recording contract. My mother was just beginning her career as well and placed second in that same contest. What might have been, eh? Mum did well for herself, recorded one album in '74 with my father and their band which was nominated for a Juno (Canada's Grammy), but never reached the heights she deserved to. Ask people who've heard her, I'm not the only one that still gets chills when she sings. Bonus trivia: I was shocked to discover many years later that the title track was written and originally recorded by ... get this ... Bob Dylan! From his 1970 album New Morning, there's a brief Real Audio clip at the link if you want to blow your mind :-) The Partridge Family - Up To Date ("I'll Meet You Halfway," "Doesn't Somebody Want To Be Wanted," "She'd Rather Have The Rain") The Partridge Family - Sound Magazine ("I Woke Up In Love This Morning") Linda Ronstadt - Linda Ronstadt ("Rock Me On The Water," "Crazy Arms," "I Still Miss Someone," "I Fall To Pieces," "Rescue Me") Rolling Stone (2/17/72) - "When Linda sings the kind of material that sends up her tremendous emotional power, she can always be devastating." Linda started to find her feet and her voice with this album and she sure knew how to pick a band! She was backed by Don Henley, Glen Frey, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner, who would later form The Eagles (they debuted with The Eagles next year). Three Dog Night - Harmony ("Old Fashioned Love Song," "Never Been To Spain," "Family Of Man") Proving again that they know a good tune when they hear it, Three Dog Night have three massive hits thanks to songwriter Paul Williams ("Old Fashioned Love Song" and "Family Of Man") and Hoyt Axton ("Never Been To Spain"). 1970/ 1971/ 1972/ 1973/ 1974 1975/ 1976/ 1977/ 1978/ 1979 
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