Music Reviews 1970 - One of the Great Years in the History of Rock Music
Deep Purple In Rock - Deep Purple 9
The album by which all heavy metal music should be judged and quite simply the most perfect record of its genre ever released. This album has virtually everything - guitar riffs to kill for from Ritchie Blackmore, exceptional vocals from Ian Gillan and wonderful keyboards from Jon Lord. The album still sounds fresh almost 40 years after it was released and in Child in Time, Purple hit heights that they were rarely to achieve again. Child in Time is one of those blistering pieces of rock music that builds and builds and is in the same league as the brilliant Emerson, Lake and Palmer track "Take a Pebble" and King Crimson's "In the Court of the Crimson King" as arguably the finest trio of prog rock tracks ever written. The great thing about this album is the way the band manages to capture the highs and lows, the quiet almost soulful sections written alongside the banshee type vocals. It's almost as if the band have stepped outside themselves to write such classics as "Speed King" et al. This is the bands incomparable legacy to its genre.
After the Goldrush - Neil Young 9
Boy did Neil Young find the style with one of the greatest albums of all time. Gone is the waffle. Everything on Goldrush is stripped down to its bare essentials This album regularly appears in top 100 lists and it is easy to see why. I defy anybody to listen to Goldrush and not end up singing along. Every single song is a gem in its own right. Here Young had created a style and feeling all of his own. This was near genius at work as the list of songs shows: Tell Me Why, After the Gold Rush, Only Love Can Break Your Heart, Southern Man, Till teh Morning Comes, Oh Lonesome Me, Don't Let It Bring You Down, Birds, When You Dance I Can Really Love, I Believe in You and Cripple Creek Ferry - virtually unsurpassed songs. The brilliance is that so many people have heard these songs but probably don't realise that every one of them was penned by young apart from Don Gibson's Oh Lonesome Me which Young still manages to twist into his own. Young's voice was never better, his songwriting superlative and arguably the height of his career.
The Man Who Sold The World - David Bowie - 8.5
I view this as a stepping stone album towards the greatness that was to follow. Bowie was defining his style. He was almost there, almost achieving his aim of taking on the rock world. Some of the songs are mini epics in their own right. The album gives the feel that Bowie was evolving his songwriting style. It is a stark album that would eventually lead to collaborations with Eno and his German experimentation period. The album starts with another epic in the form of the Width of the Circle which showcases Mick Ronson's extraordinary guitar work and also makes us realise that the 1970s are upon us and threatening to bring something frighteningly good in the world of music. The cosiness is being wrenched out. There is madness within this track and the album as a whole. To see an illustration of this just listen to the weirdness of All the Madmen. It is on this album that we first get an idea of the depth of Bowie's vocals, sometimes sung and sometimes snarled. And of course the cover changed. My early LP version has a young looking Bowie doing a high kick whilst playing his guitar. This was changed to the famous cover of Bowie in a dress. It was almost as if Bowie was battling with his demons, his sexuality and what ultimately would be his musical genius. After the early Anthony Newley style songs this came as a bit of a shock. There was plenty of rock songs - indeed this was probably Bowie's heavy rock opus. It is a thumpingly good album. When I returned to it after a number of years to write this review I was absolutely gobsmacked by its power and sense of direction and its sheer power. The title track remains one of Bowie's best songs - and was even recorded by Lulu!
Elton John - 8.5
Your Song/ I Need You to Turn To/ Take me to the Pilot/ No Shoe Strings on Louise/ First Episode at Hienton/ Sixty Years On/ Border Song/ The Greatest Discovery/ The Cage/ The King Must Die
I never get tired of listening to this album which is my favourite by Elton John, one of my favourite all time albums and contains my three favourite John/Taupin compositions. There is a wonderful lyrical feel to the album both in the words and the music with classical cello-based interludes weaving in and out of the songs. It is impossible not to love "Your Song" on of the most romantic pieces ever written in pop music. My other two favourite tracks are lesser known Elton John songs. First Episode at Hienton is a beautifully free-wheeling almost rambling song about a relationship and The Greatest Discovery is delightful. Throughout Bernie Taupin's lyrics are spot on. This is a beautiful album, full of unmissable melodies and even the rockier songs are delivered with panache and great skill as the weave into the overall affect.
Emerson, Lake and Palmer - 8
How often do we find with classic groups that their first album is arguably the best? That certainly holds true with what is a classic prog rock album before the flights of fancy overtook them and they began to produce rather bombastic over the top rock. It shows without doubt what a great band this trio could have been. Okay they stayed pretty good but at times they allowed their virtuosity to run away with them. Here it is more or less kept in check although there are signs at times of Keith Emerson running away with himself. Overall there's just enough discipline to keep this album together and that's what makes it an all time classic to be celebrated alongside the likes of Deep Purple in Rock. Many of these pieces are timeless and I'm a big fan of Greg Lake's voice which is absolutely sensational on the classic "Take a Pebble" which lasts well over 12 minutes but somehow never manages to run away with things and is beautifully brought back on track by Emerson's keyboards. "Lucky Man" isn't quite as effective but elsewhere there are certain hints of where the band is likely to go but in a more responsible less over the top style than on later albums. This will always be one of my favourite albums of all time and quite an achievement for an album released in 1970.
Bridge over Troubled Waters - Simon and Garfunkel 8
Whilst always accepting that Bridge is a classic album I have to admit I didn't own a copy until a short while ago. That was entirely due to the fact that I grew up with the album and seem to know every note of it. These songs have been with me for almost 40 years.If Paul Simon was searching for a torch song, an epic from which to remember him, he came up with it in the title track - a sublime epic that is known by virtually everyone and became the duo's only number one single in the UK. The interesting thing is that after the title track, there's a slightly subdued feel to the remainder of the album. The songs are different to anything the duo had attempted before but I have never quite been able to put my finger on how and why.Everyone knows El Condor Pasa - if not the title and The Boxer is right up there with Paul Simon's greats. Elsewhere we are introduce to architecture via "So Long Frank Lloyd Wright" and the remainder of the album is just beautifully crafted songs that entrance and delight. But it isn't the individual songs that work so well here as the feel of completeness that dominates the album - a true legacy as it represented not only their highest point but also the last of a run of five very strong albums full of great folk/pop/rock songs.
Close to You - The Carpenters 8
If Ticket to Ride was an embryo Carpenters album, this was the real McCoy thanks to a series of exceptional songs that saw Carpenter and Bettis mingling with great songwriters such as Roger Nichols and Paul Williams "We've Only Just Begun" Tim Hardin "Reason to Believe" Lennon and McCartney revisited "Help" Bacharach and David (They Long to Be) Close to You and so it goes on. This is almost a one group greatest hits of the era. The fact the album kicks off with one of the duo's most endearing and romantic songs sets a standard that is maintained pretty much throughout the entire record. This was the album that truly defined the Carpenters style and set them up as one of the greatest acts of their era and one that has stood the test of time.
Tapestry - Don McLean - 7.5
Castles in the Air/ General Store/ Magdalene Lane/ Tapestry/ Respectable/ Orphans of Wealth/ Three Flights Up/ And I Love You So/ Bad Girl/ Circus Song/ No Reason For Your Dreams
I suspect like many people I turned to Don McLean's first album after hearing the single and album American Pie. That in itself is no bad thing. Tapestry is full of home spun Americana philosophy and a fine introduction to the man's work. From the opening strummings of Castles in the Air, you just know that here is a special singer songwriter - an engaging voice allayed to some stunning lyrics. Castles in the Air is a fine opener - containing many personal statements. General Store and Magdelene Lane bring us down to earth with songs about small town America - almost story songs with the introduction of the latter reminiscent of the opening chords of a child's song. MacLean then changes direction completely with some wonderful ecology poetry on the title track.. Orphans of Wealth follows a similar pattern - overtly political and caring. Here was almost a protest singer who could write love songs like And I Love You So and powerful ballads, but also make personal statements and cover so many different genres with equal ease. This is a gem of a debut.
Let It Be (1970) - The Beatles - 7.5
Two of Us/Dig a Pony/Across the Universe/I Me Mine" (Harrison)/Dig It (Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starkey)/Let It Be/Maggie Mae" (traditional, arr. by Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starkey)/I've Got a Feeling/One After 909" (live)/The Long and Winding Road/For You Blue (Harrison)/Get Back.
Recorded before Abbey Road but released as the final Beatles album, there is certainly an inevitability about Let It Be. Arguments rage over the value of Phil Spector's contribution making some of these songs have an overblown feel but it is a closer inspection of the divisions within the band that somehow become apparent. It's certainly not a bad album in any way, shape or form but it does lack the feeling of togetherness of albums such as Sergeant Pepper and Rubber Soul. Having said that I prefer it to the more clinical feel of Rubber Soul. Lennon in particular seems to be getting tired of the whole Beatles thing and his disillusionment comes over as aggressive rather than fun with his verbal asides not helping the album to gel. In spite of that or may because of that there are still four classic Beatles songs here with Lennon coming up trumps with Across the Universe and McCartney weighing in with one of their greatest songs The Long and Winding Road along with Let it Be and Get Back
Atom Heart Mother - Pink Floyd 7.5
Atom Heart Mother/If/Summer '68/Fat Old Sun/Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast
I have always bracketed Atom Heart Mother and Meddle together as Floyd's two "mid term" albums. By that I mean transitional albums between the psychedelic past and the commercial future still to come. Atom Heart Mother (the title comes from a newspaper headline about a woman who had a nuclear pacemaker installed) is a transitional album in every way. The opening track lasts just short of 24 minutes and took an entire side of the original LP. It is a glorious piece, full of beauty and prog rock sensibilities. It varies in style with choral sections, jazz guitar but the piece holds together better than anything the band had previously written.. It almost has a symphonic feel to the earlier passages and prefaces the kind of writing that would come into blistering effect with classics such as "Shine On You Crazy Diamond." If Floyd needed a point of reference here it was. Space psychedelia was all very well but it was never going to allow them to conquer the rock world. Pieces like "Atom Heart Mother" would pave the way for them to do exactly that. There is much more of a melodic structure to this piece. There then follow three more low key numbers. "If" is a Roger Waters song that sounds more mature than his earlier efforts and showed another developing side of the band, "Summer 68" comes from the pen of Richard Wright and is an enjoyable if unspectacular song and Fat Old Sun is Dave Gilmour's contribution. The album ends with another 13 minute piece "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast". Another strange Floyd piece this utilises long instrumental passages around a description of breakfasts from Floyd roadie Alan Stiles. There are actual sounds of him frying breakfast as well. A curio piece that somehow doesn't seem to be out of place at all.
Zero She Flies - Al Stewart 7.5
My Enemies Have Sweet Voices/ A Small Fruit Song/ Gethsemane Again/ Burbling/ Electric Los Angeles Sunset/ Manuscript/ Black Hill/ Anna/ Room of Roots/ Zero She Flies
This was the first Al Stewart album I can remember and it still has an impact on me over 30 years later. Stewart became an undeniable artist of the seventies and here he was on the cusp of the new decade - a decade that would have a massive impact on music. Zero She Flies sees him trying to do something a little different. The album opens with My Enemies Have Sweet Voices - a harmonica based blues number with some interesting lyrical twists "I was jumping to conclusions, when one of them jumped back." This gives way to the largely instrumental "A Small Fruit Song" that somehow has a similar feeling to much of Nick Drake's material and proves what a fine guitarist the man is. Electric Los Angeles Sunset is one of my favourite Stewart tracks and seems a long way from the introversion of the first two albums. It opens with the almost incomparable words "A shot split the night, the bullet lodged in his brain, he must have died instantly, he felt no pain" how dramatic is that? It is a mark of Stewart's ability that the catchy tune takes nothing away from the power of the lyrics. Electric Los Angeles Sunset gives way to one of Al's first historic songs - an area that would prove so important to him as he continued to mature as a songwriter and in particular as a lyricist.
Chicago II - Chicago - 7
Movin On/ The Road/ Poem for the People/ In the Country/ Wake Up Sunshine/ Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon (Make Me Smile, So Much to Say, So Much to Give, Anxiety's Moment, West Virginia Fantasies, Colour My World, To Be Free, Now More Than Ever)/ Fancy Colours/ 25 or 6 to 4/ Memories of Love (Prelude, AM Mourning, PM Mourning, Memories of Love)/ It Better End Soon (1st Movement, 2nd Movement, 3rd Movement, 4th Movement)/ Where Do We Go From Here?
Another mammoth album for the time, weighing in at well over an hour and another double album at a time when many records struggled to make the 30 minute mark. So was it quality or quantity? Originally entitled simply Chicago, the Roman Numeral was later added as the start of a series. It soon becomes obvious that the jazz/blues/funk influences are still there but perhaps there is a more stylised approach and less self indulgence than on the debut album. The album gave birth to a number of hit records and band favourites such as Wake Up Sunshine, Make Me Smile and 25 or 6 to 4. There are also a number of extensive individual pieces divided into sub sections. Perhaps more than any other song Make Me Smile nods back to the first album but points to a future when the band would turn towards the hit factory of ballads and more accessible music. It is interesting that the song is part of the Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon suite. There is no doubting that Chicago II is a rambling record but that doesn't necessarily detract from its overall feel which features some very tender moments. There are also hints of classical influences pushing through as well in a nicely rounded record that is every bit as good as the band's debut album
Benefit - Jethro Tull 6.5
Tull progressed well without any whistles or bells or announcements of a new dawn. Benefit was a solid offering of quality songs, moving into a more folkier groove with none of the blues roots of This Was. Arguably the material isn't quite as strong as on Stand Up but there are a number of interesting technological innovations such as backward loops and some typical Tull offerings like To Cry You a Song which gave definite hints of the kind of material to follow on Aqualong. Again this was a collection of songs rather than the overblown prog that was to come in the form of Thick as a Brick and A Passion Play. The band was evolving quickly, but this was no mark time effort.
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band - 6.5
Mother / Hold On / I Found Out / Working Class Hero / Isolation / Remember / Love / Well Well Well / Look At Me / God / My Mummy's Dead
It's difficult to know where to start with comments on Lennon as a solo artist. Immersing yourself in his music can be a daunting experience simply due to the myths that surround him and the obvious flaws in his character. Listening to this album is almost akin to picking up the man's diary. He chose to use music as a confessional and the question is does that add or detract from the music. The answer has to be a bit of both. On a musical level much of this doesn't work at all, but on a confessional level it's probably the rawest and most personal record of all time with Lennon spitting out his vitriol in a kind of "please listen to what I'm saying way." More than any other album in the history of rock music this one demands some knowledge of the artist's life and his past and visiting Liverpool and standing outside his boyhood home and also going to see the excellent film Nowhere Boy have all helped my understanding of a tortured soul. A genius certainly but a very flawed one. But it does take a lot of guts to spill out the inner mind as here. Lennon was in 1970 a man struggling to come to terms with his past and unsure about his future. In 2010 Lennon would have been 70 years of age, ironically on my birthday. It is impossible to imagine Lennon as a pensioner whereas imagining Paul McCartney at 70 is not so difficult. Perhaps that's just that McCartney is still alive but I think it goes much deeper than that.
So what do we make of the songs themselves. They are full of angst, full of reminiscences, almost full of hatred, full of screaming songs that torture the mind. Many herald this as a classic album. I think it falls short simply because of the unceasing anger in songs such as Mother and Isolation. It's almost as if Lennon is permanently sticking two fingers up at the world in an accusatory way. There isn't much lightness, but amongst all the aggression comes the beautifully simple song Love and the whimsy of Look at Me. Whilst being one of his lesser known songs the latter really sums up the man in 1970 "Look at Me, who am I supposed to be." rather says it all. I'm not sure that Lennon knew who he was supposed to be any more than we did at the time of the release and in subsequent years.
The lyrics are bitter on "Mother," accusatory on "Working Class Hero" and bordering on what some people have claimed to be blasphemous on "God." Nevertheless "God" proves how powerfully poignant Lennon could be as a songwriter - "God is a concept by which we measure our pain." This leads into almost a lengthy rant on all the people and things Lennon doesn't believe in. Here was a man in constant mental turmoil. "I don't believe in Beatles, I just believe in me, Yoko and me, that's reality. Sadly John it wasn't
McCartney - Paul McCartney - 6.5
It is almost as if McCartney wanted to mark the break-up of the Beatles and the issuing of his first solo album with a low key performance featuring some rather strange instrumentals, punctuated with quirky songs that were to become his trademark. I have to say I still do enjoy these early offering, but am always puzzled by them. Are the songs a re-action to the ending of the Beatles or something more? Are these the songs the Beatles would have turned to if they hadn't split? We will never know the answer. McCartney was a home produced effort with Paul playing all the instruments - which might account for some of the bad mistakes like Kreen-Akrore which is plain awful. Having said that there is charm in songs like Every Night and Junk and my favourite on the album Man We Were Lonely. Sadly there is too much dross and filler to push the album above the average. McCartney always rated Maybe I'm Amazed as one of his favourite songs. I have never been able to take to it as it stretches the man's vocals beyond the comfortable. Sadly McCartney has never had more than an adequate voice.
Black Sabbath - 6.5
Black Sabbath/ The Wizard/ Behind the Wall of Sleep/ N.I.B/ Evil Woman/ Sleeping Village/ Warning
It all depends on how you view Black Sabbath - either trendsetters, the first truly heavy metal band or charlatans restricted to the riffs and guitarwork of Tony Iommi. Black magic, Wizards, evil is all portrayed here within a pounding set of guitar riffs and musical lines (melody) re-worked throughout the same song. I can see how this could be termed a rock tour de force but also how it could be dismissed as being over the top navel gazing. Possibly the worst thing about the record is Ozzie Osbourne's vocals. Sadly Ozzie doesn't own one of rock's great voices. It was just about adequate and threatens to implode when stretched. Nevertheless it is an album that turned heads back in the 1970s as if the band were making a statement of intention from the start of their career. This was dirty swamp music, best appreciated while stoned - which was the state the band were probably in when they wrote it.
(Untitled) - The Byrds 6
Lover of the Bayou/ Positively 4th Street/ Nashville West/ So You Want to Be A Rock n Roll Star/ Mr Tambourine Man/ Mr Spaceman/ Eight Miles High/ Chestnut Mare/ Truck Stop Girl/ All the Things/ Yesterday's Train/ Hungry Planet/ Just a Season/ Take a Whiff on Me/ You All Look Alike/ Welcome Back Home
I have always had a sneaking regard for this album - a double and a mixture between the live first disc and a studio album. Sometimes it's not the individual tracks that matter on an album but the sum of the parts and the overall feeling. The overall feeing of untitled is one of togetherness and a band in control of what they are doing. Having said that the 15 minute plus rendition of Eight Miles High is slightly over indulgent. The album does contain one of my favourite band songs - Chestnut Mare - Elsewhere it is rather mixed. The Byrds are always at their best when covering Dylan songs and here we have Positively 4th Street. The rest is an eclectic mix with band originals mixed in with LeadBelly. Overall it's a decent offering that has retained its freshness almost 30 years on.
Tea for the Tillerman - Cat Stevens 6
Where Do The Children Play/ Hard Headed Woman/ Wild World/ Sad Lisa/ Miles From Nowhere/ But I Might Die Tonight/ Longer Boats/ Into White/ On the Road to Find Out/ Father and Son/ Tea for the Tillerman
Some albums just have a cosy feel about them that belies more important messages. Such is the case with Tea for the Tillerman where politically and religiously motivated songs like "Where Do the Children Play" get submerged within slightly sombre almost middle of the road melodies. What I'm trying to say is that this album seems to lack that spark that would turn it from a run of the mill album into a folk/rock classic. There are some fine songs here including the brilliant Father and Son and the atmospheric Wild World, but some of the remainder of the album seems to be filler rather than top rate material.
Sweet Baby James - James Taylor - 6
Sweet Baby James/Lo and Behold/Sunny Skies/Steamroller/Country Road/Oh Susannah/Fire and Rain/Blossom/Anywhere Like Heaven/Oh Baby Don't Loose Your Lip On Me/Suite for 20G
James Taylor has always been something of an enigma to me - capable of beautiful songs, but also capable of too much filler material on his albums. The fact that he was one mixed up guys, suffering from depression and drug abuse merely added to the feel of his earlier albums. So Sweet Baby James opens with an almost sing along country song before Blues hollers come along in the shape of Country Road. It all leads to the fact that the myth around Taylor is probably somewhat stronger than the material. This album contains one of his great songs, however, in Fire and Rain - a wonderful song with the unforgettable lines "I've Seen Fire and I've Seen Rain, I've seen Sunny Days that I Thought Would Never End, I've Seen Lonely Times When I Could Not Find a Friend, But I always thought that I'd see You Again." Taylor was at his best with these kind of angst ridden bedsitter songs. Sadly there were often too few of them which meant for many years he was unable to sustain a memorable career. Sweet Baby James is the kind of album I dip into and pick tracks from rather than listening to it as a whole. The album is probably summed up by the final track Suite for 20G where Taylor fused together three songs into one under the promise that once the album was delivered he would earn himself $20,000. Perhaps the whole album has something of a "must finish" feel to it.
Words and Music - Jimmy Webb - 5
Sleepin' In the Daytime/ P.F. Sloan/ Love Song/ Careless Weed/ Psalm One-Five-O/ Music for an Unmade Movie - Song Seller/ Music for an Unmade Movie - Dorothy Chandler Blues/ Music for an Unmade Movie - Jerusalem/ Three Songs - Let It Be Me, Never My Love, I Wanna Be Free/ Once Before I Die.
This album has the feel that Jimmy Webb doesn't quite know where to go with a singing career. When it comes to song writing the man is one of the great geniuses, but when it comes to singing his own material - well let's say that early on it was better left to the interpretation of others. That's not to say that at times Jimmy couldn't interpret his own material as well as others, but on Words and Music he really does struggle. His voice, which much later in his career would take on a much better timbre, is sadly lack lustre and far too guttural. It's almost as if Webb was saving his best material for others and leaving himself with some odds and ends. Love Song and Careless Weed are perfect example of good songs that would improve with better handling. On the latter Webb really struggles to reach the notes and his voice isn't idiosyncratic or original enough to survive lack of tonality. The album is also rather introverted and the material needed to be of a higher quality.
To Be Reviewed
Abraxas - Santana
All Things Must Pass - George Harrison
American Beauty - Grateful Dead
American Woman - The Guess Who
Anyway - Family
Atomic Rooster - Atomic Rooster
Band of Gypsys - Jimi Hendrix
A Beard Of Stars - Tyrannosaurus Rex
Burnt Weeny Sandwich - The Mothers of Invention
Changes - The Monkees
Chunga's Revenge - Frank Zappa
Closer to Home - Grand Funk Railroad
Cosmo's Factory - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Cucumber Castle - The Bee Gees
Déjà Vu - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Death Walks Behind You - Atomic Rooster
Easy Action - Alice Cooper
Electronic Meditation - Tangerine Dream
Eric Burdon Declares "War" - Eric Burdon & War
The End of an Ear - Robert Wyatt
Fire and Water - Free
Fun House - The Stooges
Hawkwind - Hawkwind
His Band and the Street Choir - Van Morrison
Idlewild South - The Allman Brothers Band
If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You - Caravan
(I Live) One Day at a Time - Joan Baez
In and Out of Focus - Focus
In Wake Of Poseidon - King Crimson
The Isaac Hayes Movement - Isaac Hayes
It Ain't Easy - Three Dog Night
John Barleycorn Must Die - Traffic
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band - John Lennon
Ladies of the Canyon - Joni Mitchell
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs - Derek & the Dominoes
Led Zeppelin III - Led Zeppelin
Live Album - Grand Funk
Live at Leeds - The Who
Loaded - The Velvet Underground
Looking On - The Move
Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon - Status Quo
The Madcap Laughs - Syd Barrett
Magic Christian Music - Badfinger
Master - The Tremeloes
Moondance - Van Morrison
Morrison Hotel - The Doors
Mungo Jerry - Mungo Jerry
Naturally - Three Dog Night
New Morning - Bob Dylan
No Dice - Badfinger
Paranoid - Black Sabbath
Pearl - Janis Joplin
Pendulum - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band - Yoko Ono
The Point! - Harry Nilsson
Portrait - Fifth Dimension
Rides Again - The James Gang
Self Portrait - Bob Dylan
Share the Land - The Guess Who
Shooting at the Moon - Kevin Ayers
A Song For Me - Family
Sunflower - The Beach Boys
Sweet Baby James - James Taylor
Thank Christ for the Bomb - The Groundhogs
'Til the Band Comes In - Scott Walker
Time and a Word - Yes
Trespass - Genesis
12 Songs - Randy Newman
Vintage Violence - John Cale
Weasels Ripped My Flesh - The Mothers of Invention
Wishbone Ash - Wishbone Ash
Woodstock - Various
Workingman's Dead - Grateful Dead
The album by which all heavy metal music should be judged and quite simply the most perfect record of its genre ever released. This album has virtually everything - guitar riffs to kill for from Ritchie Blackmore, exceptional vocals from Ian Gillan and wonderful keyboards from Jon Lord. The album still sounds fresh almost 40 years after it was released and in Child in Time, Purple hit heights that they were rarely to achieve again. Child in Time is one of those blistering pieces of rock music that builds and builds and is in the same league as the brilliant Emerson, Lake and Palmer track "Take a Pebble" and King Crimson's "In the Court of the Crimson King" as arguably the finest trio of prog rock tracks ever written. The great thing about this album is the way the band manages to capture the highs and lows, the quiet almost soulful sections written alongside the banshee type vocals. It's almost as if the band have stepped outside themselves to write such classics as "Speed King" et al. This is the bands incomparable legacy to its genre.
After the Goldrush - Neil Young 9
Boy did Neil Young find the style with one of the greatest albums of all time. Gone is the waffle. Everything on Goldrush is stripped down to its bare essentials This album regularly appears in top 100 lists and it is easy to see why. I defy anybody to listen to Goldrush and not end up singing along. Every single song is a gem in its own right. Here Young had created a style and feeling all of his own. This was near genius at work as the list of songs shows: Tell Me Why, After the Gold Rush, Only Love Can Break Your Heart, Southern Man, Till teh Morning Comes, Oh Lonesome Me, Don't Let It Bring You Down, Birds, When You Dance I Can Really Love, I Believe in You and Cripple Creek Ferry - virtually unsurpassed songs. The brilliance is that so many people have heard these songs but probably don't realise that every one of them was penned by young apart from Don Gibson's Oh Lonesome Me which Young still manages to twist into his own. Young's voice was never better, his songwriting superlative and arguably the height of his career.
The Man Who Sold The World - David Bowie - 8.5
I view this as a stepping stone album towards the greatness that was to follow. Bowie was defining his style. He was almost there, almost achieving his aim of taking on the rock world. Some of the songs are mini epics in their own right. The album gives the feel that Bowie was evolving his songwriting style. It is a stark album that would eventually lead to collaborations with Eno and his German experimentation period. The album starts with another epic in the form of the Width of the Circle which showcases Mick Ronson's extraordinary guitar work and also makes us realise that the 1970s are upon us and threatening to bring something frighteningly good in the world of music. The cosiness is being wrenched out. There is madness within this track and the album as a whole. To see an illustration of this just listen to the weirdness of All the Madmen. It is on this album that we first get an idea of the depth of Bowie's vocals, sometimes sung and sometimes snarled. And of course the cover changed. My early LP version has a young looking Bowie doing a high kick whilst playing his guitar. This was changed to the famous cover of Bowie in a dress. It was almost as if Bowie was battling with his demons, his sexuality and what ultimately would be his musical genius. After the early Anthony Newley style songs this came as a bit of a shock. There was plenty of rock songs - indeed this was probably Bowie's heavy rock opus. It is a thumpingly good album. When I returned to it after a number of years to write this review I was absolutely gobsmacked by its power and sense of direction and its sheer power. The title track remains one of Bowie's best songs - and was even recorded by Lulu!
Elton John - 8.5
Your Song/ I Need You to Turn To/ Take me to the Pilot/ No Shoe Strings on Louise/ First Episode at Hienton/ Sixty Years On/ Border Song/ The Greatest Discovery/ The Cage/ The King Must Die
I never get tired of listening to this album which is my favourite by Elton John, one of my favourite all time albums and contains my three favourite John/Taupin compositions. There is a wonderful lyrical feel to the album both in the words and the music with classical cello-based interludes weaving in and out of the songs. It is impossible not to love "Your Song" on of the most romantic pieces ever written in pop music. My other two favourite tracks are lesser known Elton John songs. First Episode at Hienton is a beautifully free-wheeling almost rambling song about a relationship and The Greatest Discovery is delightful. Throughout Bernie Taupin's lyrics are spot on. This is a beautiful album, full of unmissable melodies and even the rockier songs are delivered with panache and great skill as the weave into the overall affect.
Emerson, Lake and Palmer - 8
How often do we find with classic groups that their first album is arguably the best? That certainly holds true with what is a classic prog rock album before the flights of fancy overtook them and they began to produce rather bombastic over the top rock. It shows without doubt what a great band this trio could have been. Okay they stayed pretty good but at times they allowed their virtuosity to run away with them. Here it is more or less kept in check although there are signs at times of Keith Emerson running away with himself. Overall there's just enough discipline to keep this album together and that's what makes it an all time classic to be celebrated alongside the likes of Deep Purple in Rock. Many of these pieces are timeless and I'm a big fan of Greg Lake's voice which is absolutely sensational on the classic "Take a Pebble" which lasts well over 12 minutes but somehow never manages to run away with things and is beautifully brought back on track by Emerson's keyboards. "Lucky Man" isn't quite as effective but elsewhere there are certain hints of where the band is likely to go but in a more responsible less over the top style than on later albums. This will always be one of my favourite albums of all time and quite an achievement for an album released in 1970.
Bridge over Troubled Waters - Simon and Garfunkel 8
Whilst always accepting that Bridge is a classic album I have to admit I didn't own a copy until a short while ago. That was entirely due to the fact that I grew up with the album and seem to know every note of it. These songs have been with me for almost 40 years.If Paul Simon was searching for a torch song, an epic from which to remember him, he came up with it in the title track - a sublime epic that is known by virtually everyone and became the duo's only number one single in the UK. The interesting thing is that after the title track, there's a slightly subdued feel to the remainder of the album. The songs are different to anything the duo had attempted before but I have never quite been able to put my finger on how and why.Everyone knows El Condor Pasa - if not the title and The Boxer is right up there with Paul Simon's greats. Elsewhere we are introduce to architecture via "So Long Frank Lloyd Wright" and the remainder of the album is just beautifully crafted songs that entrance and delight. But it isn't the individual songs that work so well here as the feel of completeness that dominates the album - a true legacy as it represented not only their highest point but also the last of a run of five very strong albums full of great folk/pop/rock songs.
Close to You - The Carpenters 8
If Ticket to Ride was an embryo Carpenters album, this was the real McCoy thanks to a series of exceptional songs that saw Carpenter and Bettis mingling with great songwriters such as Roger Nichols and Paul Williams "We've Only Just Begun" Tim Hardin "Reason to Believe" Lennon and McCartney revisited "Help" Bacharach and David (They Long to Be) Close to You and so it goes on. This is almost a one group greatest hits of the era. The fact the album kicks off with one of the duo's most endearing and romantic songs sets a standard that is maintained pretty much throughout the entire record. This was the album that truly defined the Carpenters style and set them up as one of the greatest acts of their era and one that has stood the test of time.
Tapestry - Don McLean - 7.5
Castles in the Air/ General Store/ Magdalene Lane/ Tapestry/ Respectable/ Orphans of Wealth/ Three Flights Up/ And I Love You So/ Bad Girl/ Circus Song/ No Reason For Your Dreams
I suspect like many people I turned to Don McLean's first album after hearing the single and album American Pie. That in itself is no bad thing. Tapestry is full of home spun Americana philosophy and a fine introduction to the man's work. From the opening strummings of Castles in the Air, you just know that here is a special singer songwriter - an engaging voice allayed to some stunning lyrics. Castles in the Air is a fine opener - containing many personal statements. General Store and Magdelene Lane bring us down to earth with songs about small town America - almost story songs with the introduction of the latter reminiscent of the opening chords of a child's song. MacLean then changes direction completely with some wonderful ecology poetry on the title track.. Orphans of Wealth follows a similar pattern - overtly political and caring. Here was almost a protest singer who could write love songs like And I Love You So and powerful ballads, but also make personal statements and cover so many different genres with equal ease. This is a gem of a debut.
Let It Be (1970) - The Beatles - 7.5
Two of Us/Dig a Pony/Across the Universe/I Me Mine" (Harrison)/Dig It (Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starkey)/Let It Be/Maggie Mae" (traditional, arr. by Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starkey)/I've Got a Feeling/One After 909" (live)/The Long and Winding Road/For You Blue (Harrison)/Get Back.
Recorded before Abbey Road but released as the final Beatles album, there is certainly an inevitability about Let It Be. Arguments rage over the value of Phil Spector's contribution making some of these songs have an overblown feel but it is a closer inspection of the divisions within the band that somehow become apparent. It's certainly not a bad album in any way, shape or form but it does lack the feeling of togetherness of albums such as Sergeant Pepper and Rubber Soul. Having said that I prefer it to the more clinical feel of Rubber Soul. Lennon in particular seems to be getting tired of the whole Beatles thing and his disillusionment comes over as aggressive rather than fun with his verbal asides not helping the album to gel. In spite of that or may because of that there are still four classic Beatles songs here with Lennon coming up trumps with Across the Universe and McCartney weighing in with one of their greatest songs The Long and Winding Road along with Let it Be and Get Back
Atom Heart Mother - Pink Floyd 7.5
Atom Heart Mother/If/Summer '68/Fat Old Sun/Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast
I have always bracketed Atom Heart Mother and Meddle together as Floyd's two "mid term" albums. By that I mean transitional albums between the psychedelic past and the commercial future still to come. Atom Heart Mother (the title comes from a newspaper headline about a woman who had a nuclear pacemaker installed) is a transitional album in every way. The opening track lasts just short of 24 minutes and took an entire side of the original LP. It is a glorious piece, full of beauty and prog rock sensibilities. It varies in style with choral sections, jazz guitar but the piece holds together better than anything the band had previously written.. It almost has a symphonic feel to the earlier passages and prefaces the kind of writing that would come into blistering effect with classics such as "Shine On You Crazy Diamond." If Floyd needed a point of reference here it was. Space psychedelia was all very well but it was never going to allow them to conquer the rock world. Pieces like "Atom Heart Mother" would pave the way for them to do exactly that. There is much more of a melodic structure to this piece. There then follow three more low key numbers. "If" is a Roger Waters song that sounds more mature than his earlier efforts and showed another developing side of the band, "Summer 68" comes from the pen of Richard Wright and is an enjoyable if unspectacular song and Fat Old Sun is Dave Gilmour's contribution. The album ends with another 13 minute piece "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast". Another strange Floyd piece this utilises long instrumental passages around a description of breakfasts from Floyd roadie Alan Stiles. There are actual sounds of him frying breakfast as well. A curio piece that somehow doesn't seem to be out of place at all.
Zero She Flies - Al Stewart 7.5
My Enemies Have Sweet Voices/ A Small Fruit Song/ Gethsemane Again/ Burbling/ Electric Los Angeles Sunset/ Manuscript/ Black Hill/ Anna/ Room of Roots/ Zero She Flies
This was the first Al Stewart album I can remember and it still has an impact on me over 30 years later. Stewart became an undeniable artist of the seventies and here he was on the cusp of the new decade - a decade that would have a massive impact on music. Zero She Flies sees him trying to do something a little different. The album opens with My Enemies Have Sweet Voices - a harmonica based blues number with some interesting lyrical twists "I was jumping to conclusions, when one of them jumped back." This gives way to the largely instrumental "A Small Fruit Song" that somehow has a similar feeling to much of Nick Drake's material and proves what a fine guitarist the man is. Electric Los Angeles Sunset is one of my favourite Stewart tracks and seems a long way from the introversion of the first two albums. It opens with the almost incomparable words "A shot split the night, the bullet lodged in his brain, he must have died instantly, he felt no pain" how dramatic is that? It is a mark of Stewart's ability that the catchy tune takes nothing away from the power of the lyrics. Electric Los Angeles Sunset gives way to one of Al's first historic songs - an area that would prove so important to him as he continued to mature as a songwriter and in particular as a lyricist.
Chicago II - Chicago - 7
Movin On/ The Road/ Poem for the People/ In the Country/ Wake Up Sunshine/ Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon (Make Me Smile, So Much to Say, So Much to Give, Anxiety's Moment, West Virginia Fantasies, Colour My World, To Be Free, Now More Than Ever)/ Fancy Colours/ 25 or 6 to 4/ Memories of Love (Prelude, AM Mourning, PM Mourning, Memories of Love)/ It Better End Soon (1st Movement, 2nd Movement, 3rd Movement, 4th Movement)/ Where Do We Go From Here?
Another mammoth album for the time, weighing in at well over an hour and another double album at a time when many records struggled to make the 30 minute mark. So was it quality or quantity? Originally entitled simply Chicago, the Roman Numeral was later added as the start of a series. It soon becomes obvious that the jazz/blues/funk influences are still there but perhaps there is a more stylised approach and less self indulgence than on the debut album. The album gave birth to a number of hit records and band favourites such as Wake Up Sunshine, Make Me Smile and 25 or 6 to 4. There are also a number of extensive individual pieces divided into sub sections. Perhaps more than any other song Make Me Smile nods back to the first album but points to a future when the band would turn towards the hit factory of ballads and more accessible music. It is interesting that the song is part of the Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon suite. There is no doubting that Chicago II is a rambling record but that doesn't necessarily detract from its overall feel which features some very tender moments. There are also hints of classical influences pushing through as well in a nicely rounded record that is every bit as good as the band's debut album
Benefit - Jethro Tull 6.5
Tull progressed well without any whistles or bells or announcements of a new dawn. Benefit was a solid offering of quality songs, moving into a more folkier groove with none of the blues roots of This Was. Arguably the material isn't quite as strong as on Stand Up but there are a number of interesting technological innovations such as backward loops and some typical Tull offerings like To Cry You a Song which gave definite hints of the kind of material to follow on Aqualong. Again this was a collection of songs rather than the overblown prog that was to come in the form of Thick as a Brick and A Passion Play. The band was evolving quickly, but this was no mark time effort.
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band - 6.5
Mother / Hold On / I Found Out / Working Class Hero / Isolation / Remember / Love / Well Well Well / Look At Me / God / My Mummy's Dead
It's difficult to know where to start with comments on Lennon as a solo artist. Immersing yourself in his music can be a daunting experience simply due to the myths that surround him and the obvious flaws in his character. Listening to this album is almost akin to picking up the man's diary. He chose to use music as a confessional and the question is does that add or detract from the music. The answer has to be a bit of both. On a musical level much of this doesn't work at all, but on a confessional level it's probably the rawest and most personal record of all time with Lennon spitting out his vitriol in a kind of "please listen to what I'm saying way." More than any other album in the history of rock music this one demands some knowledge of the artist's life and his past and visiting Liverpool and standing outside his boyhood home and also going to see the excellent film Nowhere Boy have all helped my understanding of a tortured soul. A genius certainly but a very flawed one. But it does take a lot of guts to spill out the inner mind as here. Lennon was in 1970 a man struggling to come to terms with his past and unsure about his future. In 2010 Lennon would have been 70 years of age, ironically on my birthday. It is impossible to imagine Lennon as a pensioner whereas imagining Paul McCartney at 70 is not so difficult. Perhaps that's just that McCartney is still alive but I think it goes much deeper than that.
So what do we make of the songs themselves. They are full of angst, full of reminiscences, almost full of hatred, full of screaming songs that torture the mind. Many herald this as a classic album. I think it falls short simply because of the unceasing anger in songs such as Mother and Isolation. It's almost as if Lennon is permanently sticking two fingers up at the world in an accusatory way. There isn't much lightness, but amongst all the aggression comes the beautifully simple song Love and the whimsy of Look at Me. Whilst being one of his lesser known songs the latter really sums up the man in 1970 "Look at Me, who am I supposed to be." rather says it all. I'm not sure that Lennon knew who he was supposed to be any more than we did at the time of the release and in subsequent years.
The lyrics are bitter on "Mother," accusatory on "Working Class Hero" and bordering on what some people have claimed to be blasphemous on "God." Nevertheless "God" proves how powerfully poignant Lennon could be as a songwriter - "God is a concept by which we measure our pain." This leads into almost a lengthy rant on all the people and things Lennon doesn't believe in. Here was a man in constant mental turmoil. "I don't believe in Beatles, I just believe in me, Yoko and me, that's reality. Sadly John it wasn't
McCartney - Paul McCartney - 6.5
It is almost as if McCartney wanted to mark the break-up of the Beatles and the issuing of his first solo album with a low key performance featuring some rather strange instrumentals, punctuated with quirky songs that were to become his trademark. I have to say I still do enjoy these early offering, but am always puzzled by them. Are the songs a re-action to the ending of the Beatles or something more? Are these the songs the Beatles would have turned to if they hadn't split? We will never know the answer. McCartney was a home produced effort with Paul playing all the instruments - which might account for some of the bad mistakes like Kreen-Akrore which is plain awful. Having said that there is charm in songs like Every Night and Junk and my favourite on the album Man We Were Lonely. Sadly there is too much dross and filler to push the album above the average. McCartney always rated Maybe I'm Amazed as one of his favourite songs. I have never been able to take to it as it stretches the man's vocals beyond the comfortable. Sadly McCartney has never had more than an adequate voice.
Black Sabbath - 6.5
Black Sabbath/ The Wizard/ Behind the Wall of Sleep/ N.I.B/ Evil Woman/ Sleeping Village/ Warning
It all depends on how you view Black Sabbath - either trendsetters, the first truly heavy metal band or charlatans restricted to the riffs and guitarwork of Tony Iommi. Black magic, Wizards, evil is all portrayed here within a pounding set of guitar riffs and musical lines (melody) re-worked throughout the same song. I can see how this could be termed a rock tour de force but also how it could be dismissed as being over the top navel gazing. Possibly the worst thing about the record is Ozzie Osbourne's vocals. Sadly Ozzie doesn't own one of rock's great voices. It was just about adequate and threatens to implode when stretched. Nevertheless it is an album that turned heads back in the 1970s as if the band were making a statement of intention from the start of their career. This was dirty swamp music, best appreciated while stoned - which was the state the band were probably in when they wrote it.
(Untitled) - The Byrds 6
Lover of the Bayou/ Positively 4th Street/ Nashville West/ So You Want to Be A Rock n Roll Star/ Mr Tambourine Man/ Mr Spaceman/ Eight Miles High/ Chestnut Mare/ Truck Stop Girl/ All the Things/ Yesterday's Train/ Hungry Planet/ Just a Season/ Take a Whiff on Me/ You All Look Alike/ Welcome Back Home
I have always had a sneaking regard for this album - a double and a mixture between the live first disc and a studio album. Sometimes it's not the individual tracks that matter on an album but the sum of the parts and the overall feeling. The overall feeing of untitled is one of togetherness and a band in control of what they are doing. Having said that the 15 minute plus rendition of Eight Miles High is slightly over indulgent. The album does contain one of my favourite band songs - Chestnut Mare - Elsewhere it is rather mixed. The Byrds are always at their best when covering Dylan songs and here we have Positively 4th Street. The rest is an eclectic mix with band originals mixed in with LeadBelly. Overall it's a decent offering that has retained its freshness almost 30 years on.
Tea for the Tillerman - Cat Stevens 6
Where Do The Children Play/ Hard Headed Woman/ Wild World/ Sad Lisa/ Miles From Nowhere/ But I Might Die Tonight/ Longer Boats/ Into White/ On the Road to Find Out/ Father and Son/ Tea for the Tillerman
Some albums just have a cosy feel about them that belies more important messages. Such is the case with Tea for the Tillerman where politically and religiously motivated songs like "Where Do the Children Play" get submerged within slightly sombre almost middle of the road melodies. What I'm trying to say is that this album seems to lack that spark that would turn it from a run of the mill album into a folk/rock classic. There are some fine songs here including the brilliant Father and Son and the atmospheric Wild World, but some of the remainder of the album seems to be filler rather than top rate material.
Sweet Baby James - James Taylor - 6
Sweet Baby James/Lo and Behold/Sunny Skies/Steamroller/Country Road/Oh Susannah/Fire and Rain/Blossom/Anywhere Like Heaven/Oh Baby Don't Loose Your Lip On Me/Suite for 20G
James Taylor has always been something of an enigma to me - capable of beautiful songs, but also capable of too much filler material on his albums. The fact that he was one mixed up guys, suffering from depression and drug abuse merely added to the feel of his earlier albums. So Sweet Baby James opens with an almost sing along country song before Blues hollers come along in the shape of Country Road. It all leads to the fact that the myth around Taylor is probably somewhat stronger than the material. This album contains one of his great songs, however, in Fire and Rain - a wonderful song with the unforgettable lines "I've Seen Fire and I've Seen Rain, I've seen Sunny Days that I Thought Would Never End, I've Seen Lonely Times When I Could Not Find a Friend, But I always thought that I'd see You Again." Taylor was at his best with these kind of angst ridden bedsitter songs. Sadly there were often too few of them which meant for many years he was unable to sustain a memorable career. Sweet Baby James is the kind of album I dip into and pick tracks from rather than listening to it as a whole. The album is probably summed up by the final track Suite for 20G where Taylor fused together three songs into one under the promise that once the album was delivered he would earn himself $20,000. Perhaps the whole album has something of a "must finish" feel to it.
Words and Music - Jimmy Webb - 5
Sleepin' In the Daytime/ P.F. Sloan/ Love Song/ Careless Weed/ Psalm One-Five-O/ Music for an Unmade Movie - Song Seller/ Music for an Unmade Movie - Dorothy Chandler Blues/ Music for an Unmade Movie - Jerusalem/ Three Songs - Let It Be Me, Never My Love, I Wanna Be Free/ Once Before I Die.
This album has the feel that Jimmy Webb doesn't quite know where to go with a singing career. When it comes to song writing the man is one of the great geniuses, but when it comes to singing his own material - well let's say that early on it was better left to the interpretation of others. That's not to say that at times Jimmy couldn't interpret his own material as well as others, but on Words and Music he really does struggle. His voice, which much later in his career would take on a much better timbre, is sadly lack lustre and far too guttural. It's almost as if Webb was saving his best material for others and leaving himself with some odds and ends. Love Song and Careless Weed are perfect example of good songs that would improve with better handling. On the latter Webb really struggles to reach the notes and his voice isn't idiosyncratic or original enough to survive lack of tonality. The album is also rather introverted and the material needed to be of a higher quality.
To Be Reviewed
Abraxas - Santana
All Things Must Pass - George Harrison
American Beauty - Grateful Dead
American Woman - The Guess Who
Anyway - Family
Atomic Rooster - Atomic Rooster
Band of Gypsys - Jimi Hendrix
A Beard Of Stars - Tyrannosaurus Rex
Burnt Weeny Sandwich - The Mothers of Invention
Changes - The Monkees
Chunga's Revenge - Frank Zappa
Closer to Home - Grand Funk Railroad
Cosmo's Factory - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Cucumber Castle - The Bee Gees
Déjà Vu - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Death Walks Behind You - Atomic Rooster
Easy Action - Alice Cooper
Electronic Meditation - Tangerine Dream
Eric Burdon Declares "War" - Eric Burdon & War
The End of an Ear - Robert Wyatt
Fire and Water - Free
Fun House - The Stooges
Hawkwind - Hawkwind
His Band and the Street Choir - Van Morrison
Idlewild South - The Allman Brothers Band
If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You - Caravan
(I Live) One Day at a Time - Joan Baez
In and Out of Focus - Focus
In Wake Of Poseidon - King Crimson
The Isaac Hayes Movement - Isaac Hayes
It Ain't Easy - Three Dog Night
John Barleycorn Must Die - Traffic
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band - John Lennon
Ladies of the Canyon - Joni Mitchell
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs - Derek & the Dominoes
Led Zeppelin III - Led Zeppelin
Live Album - Grand Funk
Live at Leeds - The Who
Loaded - The Velvet Underground
Looking On - The Move
Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon - Status Quo
The Madcap Laughs - Syd Barrett
Magic Christian Music - Badfinger
Master - The Tremeloes
Moondance - Van Morrison
Morrison Hotel - The Doors
Mungo Jerry - Mungo Jerry
Naturally - Three Dog Night
New Morning - Bob Dylan
No Dice - Badfinger
Paranoid - Black Sabbath
Pearl - Janis Joplin
Pendulum - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band - Yoko Ono
The Point! - Harry Nilsson
Portrait - Fifth Dimension
Rides Again - The James Gang
Self Portrait - Bob Dylan
Share the Land - The Guess Who
Shooting at the Moon - Kevin Ayers
A Song For Me - Family
Sunflower - The Beach Boys
Sweet Baby James - James Taylor
Thank Christ for the Bomb - The Groundhogs
'Til the Band Comes In - Scott Walker
Time and a Word - Yes
Trespass - Genesis
12 Songs - Randy Newman
Vintage Violence - John Cale
Weasels Ripped My Flesh - The Mothers of Invention
Wishbone Ash - Wishbone Ash
Woodstock - Various
Workingman's Dead - Grateful Dead