Tag: 1970s
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David Bowie, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, 1972 on RCA Victor
I came to this album indirectly and backwards – from the Bauhaus cover (“Ziggy played guitar, jamming good with Weird and Gilley, and the Spiders from Mars”). But what a magnificent album it is. I think Bowie was at his greatest creative height in the early 70s (as much as I do love his later…
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Pink Floyd, Animals, 1977 on Columbia
What a fantastic album – from the opening note to the closing. I came to Pink Floyd later – not discovering their albums in the sequence they came out, but starting with The Wall and then branching out, eventually getting back to the Syd Barrett days. This record was their 10th studio LP and came…
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David Bowie, Aladdin Sane, 1973 on RCA Victor
Bowie’s sixth studio album, this was the followup to Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. It features Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder, and Woody Woodmansey (aka the Spiders From Mars). It was recorded during breaks in the Ziggy Stardust tour. Includes a cover of “Let’s Spend the Night Together” as well as “The Jean Genie”…
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Bob Dylan / The Band, Before the Flood, 1974 on Asylum
This was the first released live album by Dylan, though of course since then many earlier live recordings have been released. After this came out Dylan went back to Columbia records, having recorded only Planet Waves and this LP for Asylum – later reissues starting in the 80s are actually on Columbia or imprints of…
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Bob Dylan, Self Portrait, 1970 on Columbia
Another of the “difficult” Dylan albums, which he later himself said was something of a joke, designed to relieve some of the pressure he felt from the sixties and his enormous popularity – to do something his fans could not relate to. It is a sprawling double album, including live versions of “Like a Rolling…
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Van Halen, Van Halen, 1978 on Warner Bros
The debut, self-titled album. Certainly one of the most recognizable band logos, and one millions sketched on notebooks, jackets, and the like when I was growing up. Hard to overstate the importance of Eddie Van Halen’s playing on Eruption here and the impact it had on guitar players from then on: Also included on their…
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Dylan, Dylan, 1973 on Columbia
This was the album Columbia famously released without Dylan’s authorization after he signed with Asylum Records. (He would release Planet Waves and Before the Flood on Asylum before returning to Columbia, who later reissued both). In short these are outtakes from the Self Portrait and New Morning sessions widely considered part of Dylan’s inconsistent early…
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Oscar Peterson, Return Engagement, 1974 on Verve
Double LP compilation from the mid-seventies, collecting tracks from: The Trio: Live From Chicago, Very Tall, West Side Story, Affinity, Night Train, We Get Requests, Something Warm, Night Train Vol. 2 and The Oscar Peterson Collection. There was a whole series of “Return Engagement” releases, including Wes Montgomery, Charlie Parker, Bill Evans, Cal Tjader, and…
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Parliament, The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein, 1976 on Casablanca
One of my rules of thumb is that any 70s Parliament or Funkadelic vinyl I find that is in reasonable shape and not too expense I just buy. This was the fifth album under the Parliament name and produced hits for “Dr. Funkenstein” and “Do That Stuff.” Love the afrofuturism / science funk of the…
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Bruce Cockburn, Circles in the Stream, 1977 on True North
I came to Cockburn through the activist tours of the 80s and his hit “If I Had a Rocket Launcher” from Stealing Fire. But he had a decades long career before that, especially with success in his native Canada. Cockburn is joined by Robert Boucher, Pat Godfrey, and Bill Usher. This album was recorded live…
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Gary Numan, The Pleasure Principle, 1979 on ATCO/Beggars Banquet
The cover and title echo back to Magritte’s 1937 painting Le Principe du Plaisir. Most people know this album for the track “Cars” but it’s really a more important album than that would suggest. It’s Numan moving away from Tubeway Army, recording as their single “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” was released. Early synth, new wave, electronic…
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David Bowie, Diamond Dogs, 1974 on RCA Victor
Bowie’s eighth studio album, recorded following the disbanding of the Spiders from Mars, working (again) with producer Tony Visconti. The recording band includes Tony Newman and Aynsley Dunbar on Drums, Herbie Flowers on Bass, Mike Garson on Keyboards, and Bowie (credited only by last name) playing guitar, saxes, moog, and mellotron. The cover painting is…
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Leon Russell, Leon Russell and the Shelter People, 1971 on Shelter Records
There’s been a resurgence of interest in Leon Russell lately, with a tribute album (A Song For Leon) and a biography (Leon Russell: The Master of Space and Time’s Journey Through Rock & Roll History) both out this spring. I’ve been a fan for a long time – “A Song for You” (especially the Donny…
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Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, So Far, 1974 on Atlantic
I didn’t realize until many years later this was a compilation album – basically [Greatest Hits] So Far because I was coming to their music so many years later. Wikipedia tells me (and i believe them) that the 11 tracks here represent 50% of what the band had put out at that point, as studio…
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Ry Cooder, Boomer’s Story, 1972 on Reprise
I love Ry Cooder’s career – so many different threads, all of which are wonderful. This was his third studio album in a roots/Americana/blues tradition. Randy Newman guests on piano on “Rally ‘Round The Flag” and Sleepy John Estes on “President Kennedy.” The title track gets credited to “Traditional” here but is actually “The Railroad…
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Bonnie Raitt, Takin My Time, 1973 on Warner Bros
Raitt’s third full length album, produced by John Hall. Great versions of Mose Allison’s “Everybody’s Cryin’ Mercy” and Jackson Browne’s “I Thought I was a Child.” Guests include Taj Mahal, Bill Payne, Jim Keltner, and Lowell George. My copy via a record fair at Mill No 5 in Lowell MA
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Waylon Jennings,Honky Tonk Heroes, 1973 on RCA Victor
I grew up with Waylon & Willie commonly playing around our household and in the last decade have come back to appreciate and collect their albums after a long time away from them. On Honky Tonk Heroes most of the songs are Billy Joe Shaver songs and the record was Jennings’ first after renegotiating his…
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Talking Heads, Live on Tour, 1979 on Warner Bros
The Warner Bros. Music Show was a series of releases sent to radio stations for broadcast between 1979 and 1988 – they weren’t ever really intended to be released to consumers, but because they were distributed on vinyl they show up in vintage stores from time to time. I was not hip enough (as a…