Music Gourmets Presents 60 Years of Great Music - 1970

[Zeeba Neighba]

Book 'em, Danno! What are the charges? Why it's the next year in the MG's "60 Years of Great Music" series.
(yes I know Hawaii 5-0 debuted in 1968 but going strong in...what year?
It's 1970!

Here's the rules:

Each Friday, I'll introduce a new year from 1957 through 2016. Each member selects an album released in that year with a few lines (or more) on why you picked it/enjoy it. Your selection does not have to be the most important release or the most admired release of that year (though it certainly can be), simply an album that grabs you and that you really love.

However, once an album is selected by a member, you must choose a different album.

Together we will compile quite the canon of "Great Music" and, who knows, maybe inspire each other to check out some new artists (or to revisit old forgotten classics).

This week - the albums of 1970

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Neil Young - After the Gold Rush

Plenty of tremendous albums that I play quite regularly (excited to be in the 1970s as it's my favorite decade in music, but that also means lots of disappointment for threads like these) but gotta go with Neil here.
First picked this up in freshman year of college based purely on its appearance as a top 10 album in Rolling Stone's Top 100 Albums of the mag's first 20 years. I really didn't like Neil Young based on the radio favorites - "Old Man" and "Cinnamon Girl" had no aural traction with me. Still bought this one just the same. Though the album starts quiet ("Southern Man" doesn't rock out until track 4), it was one of those albums that hit me over the head immediately for unexplained reasons. I still would rank this quite high on a personal album list. To me, it's just a perfect album where Neil mixes country, rock, and folk deftly, and unlike the stuff I had heard from Neil to that time (clearly I wasn't hearing it though as certainly I knew "Heart of Gold") it struck me as just so beautiful ("Only Love Can Break Your Heart" and "I Believe You") despite the limitations of his voice (I should say perhaps because of...).

 

[Unsomnambulist]

Amon Düül II - Yeti



Absolutely fantastic German psych rock. Great virtuoso guitar.

Easy pick this year.

 

[Nickyboy]

Many, many strong choices. But I have to go with one on Nickyboy's Top Ten list. George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass". This was a big part of the soundtrack to my youth. From folky ballads, to a Bob Dylan cover, to the cacophonous wall of sound on "The Art of Dying", to the "extra" Apple Jam (which actually took me a long time before it clicked). Musicians contributing to this album are an all-star line up from the late 60s. This album is an absolute masterpiece to my ears and might even surpass anything the Beatles produced (aside from SPLHCB). I don't give this album five stars. It gets ten.

 

[axolotl]

For the non-apocalyptic this week:

https://rateyourmusic.com/charts/top/album/1970

 

[Nickyboy]

Sure. Post the link after I had to get the local neighborhood kids and the firemen to help me find the link! Useless! Bah!

 

[axolotl]

Sure. Post the link after I had to get the local neighborhood kids and the firemen to help me find the link! Useless! Bah!

Maybe, I should change that descriptor as to and for the apocalyptic, too.

Sorry. Typical thing on Friday. A claimant called into the HQ all-suicidal-and-stuff, and I had to neglect MG for a few moments.

Won't happen again. I'll just chant: "Jump, jump, jump" like the rest o' youse.

Did I hyperbolize the passive-agressiveness enough? :nunja:

 

[patrikc325]

Workingman's Dead -The Grateful Dead

It was between American Beauty and I flipped a coin!

 

[lpfreak1170]

Elton John - Tumbleweed Connection


Tons of great albums to choose from, but this was actually a pretty easy choice.

 

[LeslieC]

Chicago - Chicago II

The centerpiece is the thirteen-minute song cycle "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon". I played this album over & over so much. The Terry Kath years were the best!

 

[Mattafett]

Easy choice

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young - Deja Vu

My all time favorite record. The harmonies. The musicianship. The songs. Everything about this is perfect.

 

[axolotl]

^ Coolness. You can even double-click to embiggen.

 

[axolotl]

Whew... The apocalypse did not occur yesterday.

Hopefully, I've got a few hours left ... to listen to...

Spirit ~ Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus




A veritable psychedelicatessen of ...you name it, you got it.

Edit: By the way, it seems I just rediscovered the universal ellipsis.

 

[Mass Hysteria]

 

[lpfreak1170]

Whew... The apocalypse did not occur yesterday.

Hopefully, I've got a few hours left ... to listen to...

Spirit ~ Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus




A veritable psychedelicatessen of ...you name it, you got it.

Edit: By the way, it seems I just rediscovered the universal ellipsis.

I love the ellipsis...very much.

 

[axolotl]

I love the ellipsis...very much.

For heaven's sake, don't stare at it ...too long!

 

[earcartoons]

God these last few years are tough! I literally listened out so many of these albums it's bringing back so many memories I'm afraid of what this may unleash and get bogged down to even pick one.

This one though, brings back such a strong memory, I couldn't pass. Up till about 1970, the Monkees and Top 40 were about it for me. Then laying in the orthodontists's chair, I hear two songs that still to this day I remember vividly altering my view on what was music, what felt right and the rest is history. Those two songs were on this album, "Cecilia" & "Keep The Customer Satisfied" no idea why. Maybe the pain mixed with hearing it, maybe the cute assistant liked the music and that affected a 12 year old boy. Whatever is was, love this album, this memory and from about 1970 on my perspective changed forever.

 

[Ojai Sam]

Here's the Spotify playlist:

 

[Ojai Sam]

Easy choice

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young - Deja Vu

My all time favorite record. The harmonies. The musicianship. The songs. Everything about this is perfect.

 

[Old Uncle Toe]

I hate to go with one of the obvious, but this is my favorite album. I can't take the chance it will go unloved.

I was at an all-night party, preparing for a Johnny and Edgar Winter concert the next afternoon. Suddenly this amazing music came over the stereo. One song after another with these slick guitar solos, killer songwriting, expert production. There were too many people between me and the stereo to get there and find out what that magical record was on the turntable. From across the room I saw someone handling the album and I memorized the cover art. It wasn't until a few years later that I stumbled on it at the record store. I set aside anything else I had in my grubby teenage fists to purchase that record, race home and wallow in the goodness that was -- Derek and the Dominoes - Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. To this day, it's still my favorite album. I can't imagine how many times I've heard it. While I cannot tolerate Classic Rock stations because I'm sick to death of hearing those old songs over and over, I can still listen to this album and enjoy it without reservation. Eric and Duane at their finest, with the Bonnie And Delanie backup section doing yeoman's work surrounding them with melodies and rhythms.

Stars are not enough. Five supernovas.