The Wall Street Journal column last November by Andy Kessler (“A Long Time Since ‘Zeppelin IV’”) comments on the unusually high number of classic rock albums released in 1971. Kessler’s column contends that “More legacy-defining albums were released in 1971” than any other year. “Legacy-defining” being somewhat in the ears of the beholder, 1971 was a big year for rock music. These albums put a stake in the ground for the seventies being THE decade of rock music. These albums are still getting maximum airplay today on classic rock stations, satellite radio and streaming services. The column reminded me that others in the media (books, television, online) have also recently been weighing in on the best years of the seventies. I’ll offer my own thoughts as well.[1]
The streaming service Apple TV+, aligning with Kessler, had a program last year called “1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything”. The show presents a view of the year’s music and how the social and political environment influenced the artists and vice versa. There is some overlap with the WSJ article (e.g., Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On”). Each episode focuses on a different genre and social backdrop like George Harrison’s “Concert For Bangladesh” which was the first rock benefit concert.
Paste (online pop culture daily) recently listed its top albums for 1972. This included “Close to the Edge by Yes, “Eat a Peach” by the Allman Brothers Band, “Rock of Ages” by The Band, “Harvest” by Neil Young, “Exile on Main Street” by The Rolling Stones, “Let’s Stay Together” by Al Green, “Super Fly” by Curtis Mayfield and “Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” by David Bowie. 1972 certainly has a strong case.
Then there is the book “Rock Me On The Water: 1974-The Year Los Angeles Transformed Movie, Music and Television” by Ronald Brownstein. The author makes the case for 1974 being seminal year for southern California being the driver of American culture. Brownstein casts his nets wider to include movies[2] and television. For the music of 1974 he focuses on Linda Ronstadt and Jackson Browne. Though Ronstadt broke that year with “Heart Like A Wheel” and Browne released his masterpiece “Late For The Sky” I would argue that the peak of southern California music was still a few years away.[3] In 1974 I was still a year away from discovering Jackson Browne and Linda Ronstadt. My southern California tastes ran to Neil Young (“On The Beach) and the Eagles (“On The Border). It is also hard to make the case that Los Angeles was the only region creating influential music in 1974. From England we had Eric Clapton emerging from his heroin exile with “461 Ocean Boulevard”[4] , The Rolling Stones released “It’s Only Rock and Roll” and Elton John continued on his seventies roll with “Caribou”. Also, from England, Emerson, Lake and Palmer were dominating the prog-rock scene with the live album “Welcome Back My Friends…”. Back in the American the Georgia-based Allman Brothers were still riding high from 1973’s “Brothers and Sisters” with their hits “Ramblin’ Man” and “Jessica” still all over the radio. Mid-west transplant Dan Fogelberg released the guest-player heavy “Souvenirs”. There is no debate that a lot of great music was coming out of Los Angeles in 1974 but I think Brownstein is selectively picking his examples to make them fit his thesis.
Two other periods of the seventies deserve consideration for delivering some of the best rock albums. First, there is late 1975 through early 1977. Some of the biggest selling albums of all time were released during this period. The list includes Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours”, Eagles’ “Hotel California”, Boston’s first album, Steely Dan’s “Aja” and “Frampton Comes Alive!” There were also one-hitters like Al Stewart’s “The Year of the Cat”. These albums were on everyone’s turntables at the time.
The other period is 1978-9 and the emergence of next generation of stars with artists including the likes of Bruce Springsteen (“Darkness on the Edge of Town”[5]), Tom Petty (“Damn The Torpedoes”) and Elvis Costello (“My Aim Is True”). Neil Young came out with one of his best albums of the seventies with “Rust Never Sleeps”. This time period had its own blockbusters like the Doobie Brothers “Minute by Minute” (and the ubiquitous single “What A Fool Believes”). My own favorites from that time include Graham Parker’s “Squeezing Out Sparks”[6] and Lowell George’s solo album “Thanks I’ll Eat It Here”.[7]
In the final analysis no one year can tell the story of rock music in the seventies. The decade has to be viewed as a whole to understand how things evolved from year to year and the evolution was drastic at times. New kids from early in the decade became bloated superstars (e.g., Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles) and crash-landed into the eighties. The next generation (e.g., Springsteen, Petty) took the baton. The seventies had every kind of music. In addition to rock there was punk, disco, post-punk and new wave. It was a glorious mess of a decade. I’m so glad this was the time of my youth. Here is Kessler’s list of albums from 1971 as he presented it, titles only (I’m sure you can guess the artist or band):
“Sticky Fingers,” “Who’s Next,” “L.A. Woman,” “Aqualung,” “Tapestry,” “What’s Going On,” “Fragile,” “Imagine,” “At Fillmore East,” “Madman across the Water,” “Pearl,” “Anticipation,” “Shaft,” “The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys,” “The Concert for Bangladesh.” How many did you get? Now add the Grateful Dead’s first gold album, and of course “Led Zeppelin IV,” sometimes known as Zoso.”
ARTS ROUNDUP
Streaming – I have been watching a few series lately that have what I would call The “Big Con” theme. First there is “Inventing Anna”, starring Julia Garner, which is a true story about a woman passing herself off as a rich European socialite. Anna gets the gullible around her (friends, banks) to pay for her lifestyle until she runs out of rope and winds up in jail (where she it today). Next there is “We Crashed” about the WeWork founder Adam Neuman and his wife Rebekah (Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway). Trying to pass off a shared workspace company as the next Amazon, Neumann raises tons of money (J.P. Morgan and Soft Bank) and spends it lavishly. Finally it all comes tumbling down as a planned IPO smokes them out. Finally we have “The Dropout” about Elizabeth Holmes and her company Theronos. Like Anna this is a con from the get-go because the technology (rapid blood tests) doesn’t work. Still Holmes raises lots of money and attracts A-list people and companies (George Schultz, Walgreens) before… well you know how this turns out.
Books – “Sea of Tranquility” by Emily St. John Mandel. The author of the hit book “Station Eleven” is back with a shape-shifting story of time travel spanning five centuries and people commuting from earth to colonies on the moon via advanced air ships. A novel about how humanity grapples with the passing of time. I don’t read books that quickly but I read it in three days. From the non-fiction aisle there is “The Nineties: A Book” by Chuck Klosterman. Klosterman made his name as a writer by being an astute observer of popular culture. I picked up this book just to read him but it was fascinating to remember all that went on in the nineties: groundbreaking music (e.g., Nirvana), the rise of the internet, movies (e.g., “Titanic”), politics (the Clinton years) and lots more. Check it out. He’s fun to read.
Music – “Raise the Roof”, Robert Plant and Alison Krause. It’s been 14 years since the 2008 release “Raising Sand” but it has been worth the wait. This one is as good and in some ways better than the first one. I’ve been playing it a lot.
Podcasts – “Fresh Air”. The NPR series hosted by Terry Gross. Gross is legendary and I’ve been sampling her artist interviews. It’s a varied list that includes musicians like Dave Grohl and Richard Thompson and actors like Sam Waterston and Adam Scott. Gross, like the best interviewers, seems genuinely interested in her guests.
[1] I was in high school and college during the seventies. So many rites of passage with this music as the soundtrack to those years.
[2] Certainly, films like 1974’s “Chinatown” were high water marks but this was hardly the end of the artist driven period for movies which would continue into the late seventies with movies like “The Deer Hunter” and…. For a more expansive take on the movies in the seventies I would recommend the book “Easy Riders, Raging Bulls” by Peter Biskind.
[3] Browne subsequently released “The Pretender” (1976) and “Running on Empty” (1977). Rondstadt, who had a run of hit albums, hit ever-higher commercial peaks into the late seventies.
[4] A set of shuffling songs that played down his guitar pyrotechnics with Cream and Derek and the Dominoes.
[5] Bruce saved his career with 1975’s “Born to Run” but some consider Darkness his masterpiece.
[6] There was a great radio bootleg from the summer of 1979 which was better than the studio album. It was a treasured recording which I mourned when the cassette tape broke some years later.
[7] George died a few months later on tour in support of the album.