Classic Rock Bottom

1971

1971, I remember it well... OK maybe not well, I was very young afterall. These early years are way cool to pick through, loads of cool music that I would love to connect with, alas, budget limitations will hinder this, so I have to be picky.



Lets take walk through the year that was 1971 by absorbing some wiki-facts. Facts that are ao reliable they're better than any history book...

  • February 3 - Davy Jones announces he is leaving the Monkees.
  • March 1 – The line-up for Queen is completed when bassist John Deacon joins the band.
  • March 5 – Ulster Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland, sees the first live performance of Led Zeppelin's iconic song "Stairway to Heaven".
  • March 12-13 – The Allman Brothers Band records its live album, At Fillmore East.
  • July 3 – Jim Morrison is found dead in a bath tub in Paris, France, aged 27. Alain Ronay would claim, years later, that he assisted Morrison's lover, Pamela Courson, in covering up the circumstances.
  • July 4 – The Fillmore West is closed in San Francisco with a final show featuring Santana, Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Grateful Dead.
  • August 1 - The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour premieres on CBS.
  • October 5 – Black Sabbath perform the first set of their Whisky a Go Go performance in all-white tuxedos.
  • November 8 – Led Zeppelin release officially untitled fourth studio album, which would become the biggest-selling album of the year (1972), the band's biggest-selling album, and the fourth best-selling album of all time.
  • December 4 – The Montreux Casino in Montreux, Switzerland, catches fire and burns during a performance by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention when a fan fires a flare gun into its rafters. Members of Deep Purple, who were due to begin recording at the casino the next day, watched the scene from their hotel across Lake Geneva, and later immortalized the events in their song, "Smoke on the Water".
  • Ann Wilson joins Heart, which moves to Vancouver, British Columbia.
  • Brad Whitford replaces Ray Tabano on rhythm guitar in Aerosmith
  • The Beach Boys musician Daryl Dragon and singer Toni Tennille meet and begin to perform together as Captain & Tennille.

All are significant events, and I mean all!



PLAYLIST --> http://www.podsnack.com/CA69EFD9E8C/av7n0kh1

The Doobie Brother
The Doobie Brothers

1 - Greenwood Creek

One of the most inauspicious debuts by a major rock group, this subdued slice of country boogie might be called the missing link between Moby Grape and the later, revved-up Doobies of "Listen to the Music." Only a handful of West Coast hippies bought this record originally, but it lays the blueprint for the Doobies' future radio-friendly sound: chugging rhythm guitar, stretched-out harmonies, Tom Johnston's joyful R&B vocals, and Patrick Simmons' acoustic picking. A muffled mixing job helped keep this album in the morgue, which is sad, because "Nobody" and "Greenwood Creek" rate with some of Johnston's best tunes, and they deserve issuance on a definitive Doobie Brothers compilation.

Chicago
III

2 - Lowdown

In the wake of the band's earlier powerhouse successes, Chicago III has perhaps been unrightfully overshadowed. The bulk of the release consists of three multi-movement works: Robert Lamm's (keyboards/vocals) "Travel Suite," Terry Kath's (guitar/vocals) "An Hour in the Shower," and James Pankow's (trombone) ambitious and classically influenced "Elegy." While the long-player failed to produce any Top Ten hits, both Lamm's rocker "Free" -- extracted from "Travel Suite" -- as well as the infectious "Lowdown" respectively charted within the Top 40.

Deep Purple
Fireball

3 - Anyone's Daughter

One of Deep Purple's four indispensable albums (the others being In Rock, Machine Head, and Burn), 1971's Fireball saw the band broadening out from the no-holds-barred hard rock direction of the previous year's cacophonous In Rock. Metal machine noises introduced the sizzling title track -- an unusually compact but explosively tight group effort on which Jon Lord's organ truly shined. The somewhat tiring repetitions of "No No No" actually threatened to drop the ball next, but the fantastic single "Strange Kind of Woman" nimbly caught and set it rolling again, just in time for the innuendo-encrusted hilarity of "Anyone's Daughter," featuring one of singer Ian Gillan's first (and still best) humorous storylines to go with one of guitarist Ritchie Blackmore's most uncharacteristic, bluesiest performances ever.

Paul McCartney
Ram

4 - The Back Seat Of My Car

McCartney never was quite the sap of his reputation, and even here, on possibly his most precious record, there's some ripping rock & roll in the mock-apocalyptic goof "Monkberry Moon Delight," the joyfully noisy "Smile Away," where his feet can be smelled a mile away, and "Eat at Home," a rollicking, winking sex song. All three of these are songs filled with good humor, and their foundation in old-time rock & roll makes it easy to overlook how inventive these productions are, but on the more obviously tuneful and gentle numbers -- the ones that are more quintessentially McCartney-esque -- it's plain to see how imaginative and gorgeous the arrangements are, especially on the sad, soaring finale, "Back Seat of My Car," but even on its humble opposite, the sweet "Heart of the Country." These songs may not be self-styled major statements, but they are endearing and enduring, as is Ram itself, which seems like a more unique, exquisite pleasure with each passing year.

The Who
Who's Next

5 - Getting In Tune

Townshend developed an infatuation with synthesizers during the recording of the album, and they're all over this album, adding texture where needed and amplifying the force, which is already at a fever pitch. Apart from Live at Leeds, the Who have never sounded as LOUD and unhinged as they do here, yet that's balanced by ballads, both lovely ("The Song Is Over") and scathing ("Behind Blue Eyes"). That's the key to Who's Next -- there's anger and sorrow, humor and regret, passion and tumult, all wrapped up in a blistering package where the rage is as affecting as the heartbreak. This is a retreat from the '60s, as Townshend declares the "Song Is Over," scorns the teenage wasteland, and bitterly declares that we "Won't Get Fooled Again." For all the sorrow and heartbreak that runs beneath the surface, this is an invigorating record, not just because Keith Moon runs rampant or because Roger Daltrey has never sung better or because John Entwistle spins out manic basslines that are as captivating as his "My Wife" is funny. This is invigorating because it has all of that, plus Townshend laying his soul bare in ways that are funny, painful, and utterly life-affirming. That is what the Who was about, not the rock operas, and that's why Who's Next is truer than Tommy or the abandoned Lifehouse. Those were art -- this, even with its pretensions, is rock & roll.

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Third one from the left is a man, baby. It's a man!

OMG!!! You may be right!

Doobie Bros - Never heard this before.  But I like it.  Very laid back and peaceful, as the title implies.  A great song to hear while sitting on a creek bank.  And I dig the rhythm guitar throughout the song.

Chicago - Another song I've never heard.  Listen to Cetera on the bass.  Sweet.  And I guess that's Kath on lead.  What a terrific player.  The horns and vocals tell you it's Chicago.  Not bad, but not quite as good as the Doobies.  But the bass is killer.

Timeout:  I'm watching what I guess is a family business going on across the street.  I have never seen a guy go so far out on a limb to cut it down before.  If that limb breaks, he's gonna be in a world of hurt

Purple - Haven't heard this one either.  I have wanted this album for a while, still haven't picked it up.  The piano is cool.  I guess that's Jon Lord.  The lyrics aren't particularly impressive, so this one is third on the list before.

Timeout:  He got the limb down and he's still hanging in the tree.  He appears to know what he is doing.

McCartney - Four for four, haven't heard this either.  I like the tempo change, but other than that there's nothing in this song that appeals to me.

Timeout:  Still alive.  He's kicking this tree's butt.  He has a couple of dudes working the ground.  He looks like a quarterback up in the tree.  He's barking signals and pointing directions.  And he's just jumping and flying around in this tree like a circus trapeze performer.

The Who - Finally, a song I've heard.  It's an okay song, but the bass work is the best part of it.  Well that and the good vocals.

Overall, Id rank 'em: Doobies>Chicago>Deep Purple>The Who>McCartney.

Enjoyed the listen bro. 

 

Thanks Boss...  I think Im really digging these early 70's playlists, loads of cool music we missed out on..

Too bad about that tree guy, some drama in your post would've been nice!  :-)

everyone of these bands where epic by my standards, it difficult to choose any one in particular

They're all #1!! 

But to your point...  There is no choosing unless you wish to rank the tunes, otherwise listen and enjoy is the only requirements, but commenting and interaction is most welcome as well...

well my favorite albums from these guys were different from the ones above..but i still distinctly remember a few killer tunes from each one of those albums though...wish i held on to those old vinyl records..they sure got pretty beat up over time.. were mainly hand downs from my older brother 

Except for the Doobie Brothers Album .... I have them all and of course they were a big part of my life ..... Along with 

Attachments:

Fine choices!  Dot feel bad about missing out on the Doobies debut, from the sounds of it everyone did...

Let's see.....1971? I believe I was learning how to ride my hog and crashing into a fire hydrant. Whacked the top of it with my head, and had to be brought to the hospital because it punctured my skull and there was blood squirting everywhere and now matter how many leaves and how much dirt my poppa jammed into the hole, blood still squirted everywhere. I was tossed into the back of the Pinto and off we went to the local vet since it was closer than the local hospital and the vet plugged up the hole the best he could with yak hair and rubber cement. When I went home, I immediately jumped back on the hog and lost control while coasting down the driveway and did a header into the metal basketball hoop pole thing. After that, I don't remember much. 

I have albums 2, 3 & 5, have songs 2, 3, 4 & 5, don't remember the song from album 3 but the song from album 1 is familiar for some reason. Song 1 doesn't sound too muffled to me, must be one of them there wikipedia facts, seriously that 3rd one from the left is a man. 

Decent listen, I must say so myself. And I do.  

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