And my dad's music. Wherever that fits. But two of the main albums I remember listening to with my dad all the time growing up seem to be from 1971. The first is Kris Kristofferson's The Silver Tongued Devil and I. We listened to that one a lot in the car, but I don't think my mom is a fan. I just remember the chorus from the title track as well as "Christian Soldier" and "The Taker" playing very loudly in the car. I less remember those sadder ballad songs from riding in the car (they probably played but were less memorable at the time) but those have since hit home really strongly. I was listening to this album not too long after my friend passed away and two of the songs just said everything I was feeling so perfectly. There's "Billy Dee" with lines like "The world he saw was sadder than the one he hoped to find but it wasn't half as lonesome as the one he left behind" which so exemplified how full of life this man was, how he enriched the lives of everyone that was lucky enough to know him and how it feels to have that ripped away. And the other one "Epitaph (Black and Blue)" which hurts even more because it speaks of the harsh reality that we didn't return the favor and take care of him the way he took care of us. "But when she was dying, Lord, we let her down...there's no use in crying, you can't help her now." And the way he sings it, it's different from every other Kristofferson song. It's more of a "country" style drawl. Just heartbreaking. So listening to this album personally takes me to two wildly different places...the happy and the sad.
The other 1971 record that my dad listens to all the time is Harry Nilsson's Nilsson Schmilsson. The best memory of this album is something that he used to do that would make us so mad...when we were sleeping and he wanted us to get up in the morning he'd put on the opening track "Gotta Get Up" REALLY LOUD. There was no escaping the clunking piano sound it starts with, you just had to get up. Since then, I think my brother has done the same thing in the morning to me, and someday I may torture my own offspring with the same song. And they will love it someday even further down the line. The whole album is such a wonderful thing, showcasing all these different styles but thematically somehow staying consistent. I think it's his voice too. Such an amazing, versatile singing voice. Of course there's "Without You" which will make anyone a believer, and there's the super goofy "Coconut" which is completely different (and actually follows "Without You," in the sequence) but I kind of prefer the bluesy songs like "Early In The Morning" and the rock numbers ("Jump Into The Fire" could go even longer than the 7 minute running time and I'd keep on dancing). Altogether, it is one of my favorite albums of all time and I have my dad to thank for introducing me.
There were actually three 1971 albums from Nilsson. Another one was Aerial Pandemonium Ballet, a strange "remix" album that combines material from Aerial Ballet and Pandemonium Shadow Show. I think I prefer the originals though, because this collection shortens a bunch of the songs and is over too quickly. It's like when I saw Kris Kristofferson live and he must've played about 30-40 songs but for the most part he'd do about one verse and call it good. I want to hear the next verse! And finally, Nilsson also put out The Point! in 1971, kind of a children's story about how everybody and everything has a point and if it doesn't, well, that's the point. Or something like that. It's a cute story but of course I'm in it for the music. Just to show a special part of Nilsson's skill with singing here's a song of vocal acrobatics (just the way he bends harmony is something else!), that I think has to have been a huge influence on of Montreal:
Harry Nilsson "Poli High"
Here's a quick roundup of grandpa bands so I don't spend too much time writing about them since I already have: The Who's Who's Next is a very enjoyable selection of songs that was actually not telling a story for once. It's kind of quintessential 70s classic rock but I still enjoy it, although it seems that half of the songs are used by cop shows. Maybe just a couple but the whole sound seems like it could soundtrack opening credits to cop shows. The Rolling Stones had Sticky Fingers, which has a few different styles but I really go for the ballads in this case. "Dead Flowers" is one of my all time top Stones songs. And once when I saw The Flaming Lips at Red Rocks they ended their set with a cover of "Moonlight Mile" and it was so perfect for that night that I am always reminded of the view whenever I hear that song. We had some Beatles solo material which I'll throw here as well...John Lennon's Imagine and Paul McCartney's Ram. Neither stuck with me particularly. Of course, the song "Imagine" is a classic and always makes people think of dead Vietnam soldiers. The Beach Boys put out an album called Surf's Up, which is way less gleeful than the title would suggest (of course it ends with that Smile song). It's a very pretty album and kind of a downer as far as Beach Boys go. In the best way I could mean that.
And then there were the younger rock heroes, Led Zeppelin. Led Zeppelin IV is such a huge album, full of so many huge songs...I don't know what to say about it but it has to be acknowledged. "Stairway to Heaven." "Black Dog." "Rock and Roll." "When The Levee Breaks." It's just full of classic Zeppelin tunes. There's a lot of energy here. If there's something to be said for 70s rock, it's Led Zeppelin.
Carole King's Tapestry is another one of those albums that is so stuffed full of hits that it's a bit overwhelming. What to say about it? Should I just list songs and you'll say "ohhh ok. wow." and call it good? "I Feel The Earth Move." You know that one? How about "It's Too Late" and "You've Got a Friend?" and "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman." Like Kristofferson, she was a tour de force songwriter and when she finally put out her debut album, it played like a greatest hits collection because other people had already sung them. So putting them together on one album just shows off all the great stuff she's written.
Now the super hip cool singer-songwriter folks round-up. Serge Gainsbourg put out his essential L'Historie de Melody Nelson. Melody! No idea what the words are about on this album but it's so beautifully put together, such lovely melodies complement the cool mood established by his French whispers. Listening to Serge Gainsbourg just makes you feel sexy, doesn't it? And then there's David Bowie's next album Hunky Dory. I quite liked this one. It was his return to mellower stuff after 1970's The Man Who Sold The World, but this contrast was ruined by a filing error: Apparently I had The Man Who Sold The World listed as 1972 so I didn't hear it at the right time. Whoops. But yes, Hunky Dory is quite the album. As a follow-up to his self titled album (since that's the order I got them in) it just shows incredible growth in arrangements and an increased confidence in trying out new ideas and not being afraid to get weird. It makes sense, as we're only one year away from Ziggy Stardust at this point. Leonard Cohen's Songs of Love and Hate might be my favorite of his, mostly for the "hate" aspect. The first couple albums are great. Very great. but there wasn't a whole lot to differentiate the two. This one shows him getting some sneer, growing old and bitter. This is exemplified I think by this song:
Leonard Cohen "Diamonds in the Mine"
Soul was trying to be socially conscious and had varying levels of success. For example, I don't particularly enjoy Jr Walker's 1971 output because it's a bit overly cheesy...however, Curtis Mayfield's album Roots is very strong. I think it's the way he uses orchestrations. It just sounds urgent with all the flourishes and dark moments, and yet as a whole it's quite uplifting. Marvin Gaye's What's Going On sounds just the opposite to me. Also highly orchestrated but its mood is more sad (but less dark, less pressing) and at the same time sounding like it should be uplifting. But instead it's all about asking if anybody cares, if anybody's going to do anything about all this suffering. Gorgeous album. And it has "Save The Children" which now makes me think of Frank Ocean's "Sierra Leone" (which is an obvious homage to this song). Full circle!
It wasn't all political though. I quite enjoy Jean Knight's album Mr. Big Stuff for its funky sass (or sassy funk?) although when you listen to the full album through some songs certainly sound a lot like some other songs. One song at a time though? Perfect for a soul dance party!
Al Green Gets Next to You is one of my favorite Green albums, I think mostly because it's still kind of grounded in a bed of funk. His later work would be a little less rhythmic and the way his voice floats it seems more like it could just float away and get lost. So I prefer that one.
Isaac Hayes was pretty unstoppable in these days. The 10 minute "Never Gonna Give You Up" is yet another great sweeping epic that only he could do, and of course the soundtrack to Shaft was so perfectly composed, so "gritty" if I want to use that damn word, just a masterpiece. And it's got another epic (19 minute!) song, one of the few with vocals, "Do Your Thing."
Jazz jazz jazz jazz jazz I type about jazz. I have a few songs by Anthony Braxton and it's just out there as far as it can be. The freest jazz I've heard yet. At least the fast songs are. Then there's some slow moody stuff to make sure you know he has a soul. I checked Braxton out because I saw that Tyondai Braxton (from Battles) had an avant garde jazz musician father, so I looked into it. It makes perfect sense that this is what Tyondai's father does. And the other jazz jazz jazz album of this year that I have? Joe Farrell's Outback. In contrast, this one is (oddly enough, this was refreshing) "normal" jazz. Not envelope-pushing particularly, just the jazz drumming with soloing over it. There's a flute which is pretty nice, and the mood definitely fits the title (it's like taking a journey through a desert).
And last but certainly wildest...Can. The album Tago Mago is where I hop on the Can train. I always considered them one of those super influential late 70s bands that kind of pushed post-punk forward but it turns out they were quite different from that. And way earlier. What I like is how the long grooves that get settled into while mind blowing stuff sneaks in there and screams at you but when it backs off again you get even more into said grooves because you can trust them, they will take you on this journey and they will be consistent, but you will hear some crazy things. At least that's the middle section for me. When we get to the latter part of the record it's more like being abandoned in a dark cave. The groove has disappeared and every step you take you don't know if you are about to fall into an abyss. Or you fall into something else. Maybe a pool of water. You'll take a swim and you'll be free. And at the very end you find the groove again and it takes you home.
Where I Stand: 4294 of 36980 (11.6%)
Other Highlights Worth Mentioning:
- Chase "Get It On." This was a song we played in jazz band in junior high. Groovy horn lines!
- T. Rex "Bang A Gong." So apparently this was happening in 1971. There'll be more T. Rex coming right up.
- Joni Mitchell Blue. "River" is one of those songs. This is what I meant when I was saying folk was getting personal.
- Elton John Madman Across the Water. I can't believe the very first Elton John song in the whole project was "Tiny Dancer." Where do we go from there? That's the best song! Still liked hearing "Levon" and "All The Nasties." It should be good.
- Some more Rodriguez came on because his second album Coming From Reality was from this time. Still great, obviously, but maybe even greater was the experience listening to these songs on my way to work. The guy in the SUV in front of me must have been listening to metal or something super hardcore and was banging his head, and I was hearing Rodriguez and it seemed to just about fit the same beat.
- I only have one Jethro Tull song and it's probably their most famous ("Aqualung") and I guess it's kind of weird that their biggest hit doesn't really feature the flute.
- Johnny Cash's song "Man in Black" is such a great, noble thing and it's awesome that he stuck with it to the end. Even as the 70s went and he went out of style he stuck to his guns.
- Janis Joplin will be missed. The posthumous album Pearl is quite great!
- The Stylistics' "You're A Big Girl Now" is another favorite.
On The Next Installment...
1972 seems important. Not sure why. It will include more funk than 1971 it seems. Including a song called "Can We Rap." Could this be the start of hip hop??? And then there's the other big deal Can album (see if I can do another awesome description of the music!), Exile on Main St, another favorite Neil Young album (Harvest), another Kris Kristofferson album (Jesus Was A Capricorn), Pink Moon!, Ziggy Stardust, T Rex's The Slider, Alice Cooper's "School's Out," Son Of Schmilsson, Superfly, Stevie Wonder gets started with his crazy amazing 70s output, Lou Reed goes solo, some more Aretha, Big Star, and Chuck Berry has a comeback!
Things are going to start speeding up. 1971 had 360 songs (and going back to 1965 it seems all these have been in the 300s) and most of the years from 1972-1988 have fewer than that. So it might start going a bit faster before it slows down to a crawl in the 90s and (something slower than a crawl) in the mid 20-aughts.
I'm going to take a break though so it could still be awhile until the next installment. I have a lot of new stuff I need to hear! Did you know Man or Astro-Man put out a new one this year?? And someone called Kanye West?
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