Certain albums remind me of specific years in my life. When I think of a year there seems to be one album that stands out. Not necessarily the hit album of the year but the record that speaks to where I was at that time. Here are the 70’s.
1972: “Aqualung”, Jethro Tull– This is the year I started really listening to music. When I was ready to buy my first album I asked my sister for a recommendation. This was her somewhat eclectic choice but what a cool album. I didn’t know what it was about until much later. If you own a Jethro Tull album it’s this one.
1973: “John Barleycorn Must Die”, Traffic– I swiped this one from my sister. This is one of those desert island records for me. I became a lifelong Steve Winwood fan on the spot. It’s hard to think of another record that starts with an instrumental (“Glad”). Parts jazz, rock, English folk and prog-rock this album has it all.
1974: “On The Beach”, Neil Young– I bought this record that summer. It captures the mid-seventies, Watergate, Patty Hearst malaise perfectly. “Revolution Blues” is one scary song. And side two is a three-song masterpiece.
1975: “Late For The Sky”, Jackson Browne– Thanks to my friend Joe who forced me to buy this album in the summer of 1975. It changed by life. I played this album twice a day for the next six months. Also one of the best album covers ever.
1976: “Black Rose”, J.D. Souther– This was a close one because at the end of the year the Eagles released “Hotel California” that took up all your musical mind space for the next year[1]. This one is a sentimental favorite. I bought it having never heard the man’s voice. There are some great songs here (e.g., “Faithless Love”, “Silver Blue” and “Doors Swing Open”).[2]
1977: “Warren Zevon”, Warren Zevon– Another “never heard before buying” purchase.[3] I just wrote about this album in my last post so I won’t put you through it again. The reason I bought it was because Jackson Browne produced it. This was quite a year with Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours” in the spring and Browne’s “Running On Empty” in the fall.
1978: “Waiting For Columbus”, Little Feat– I was late to the party discovering this band and its leader Lowell George(who died in June 1979). This music just soars from the opening “Fat Man In The Bathtub” across both sides of this live album. This band should have been huge. Close second: “Darkness on the Edge of Town”from Bruce Springsteen that came out during the summer that year.
1979: “Damn The Torpedoes”, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers– This was a game changer of an album for me. It was the kind of rock and roll I wanted to play. Not a bad cut on the album. And who looked cooler than Tom on the cover with that Rickenbacker?
ARTS ROUNDUP
Listening– “Burnout”, Ox– I stumbled onto this band on Spotify. The lead singer sounds like Ryan Adams (I thought maybe an anonymous side project?). At first it was hard to find anything about the band. Turns out they’re from Canada and have been around since 2003. This album was released in 2009. Worth a listen.
Reading– “Some Die Nameless”, Wallace Stroby. I was reading an article on the writer George Peleconosand this was the next book he was going to read. Ray Devlin is a retired mercenary living a quiet life in Florida when an old colleague finds him and tries to kill him. Devlin sets off to find out why he and his old comrades are being targeted. When two are killed in Philadelphia a local reporter, Tracy Quinn, joins the hunt. There’s a lot of shooting going on here and the bodies pile up as Ray and Tracy get closer the truth.
Watching– “Ordeal by Innocence” (Amazon). Three-part mini series based on an Agatha Christie story. It stars Bill Nighy as the patriarch Leo Argyll whose tyrannical wife has been murdered the previous year. Their son Jack, also killed while awaiting trial, was believed to be her killer. Then just as Leo is to be remarried a stranger shows up with an alibi for Jack. Everyone, his other four children, the maid, et al, are now in play for the murder. It’s fun trying to figure it out.
[1]A long-time collaborator with the Eagles, Souther co-wrote “New Kid In Town” and “Victim of Love” on “Hotel California”.
[2]Many of them covered by Linda Ronstadt.
[3]This type of purchasing didn’t always work out. Now we have Spotify for trying out new artists.