The Beatles' Abbey Road won 1969. The 60s are behind us, let's see who wins 1970. perhaps the beatles' reign of terror is behind us. Billboard chart-topping albums of 1970: The Beatles - Abbey Road (cont. from '69) Led Zeppelin - II (cont. from '69) Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Deja Vu Paul McCartney - McCartney The Beatles - Let It Be Soundtrack - Woodstock Blood, Sweat and Tears - 3 Creedence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo's Factory Santana - Abraxas Led Zeppelin - III Billboard chart-topping singles of 1970: BJ Thomas - Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head The Jackson 5 - I Want You Back Shocking Blue - Venus Sly and the Family Stone - Thank You Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water The Beatles - Let It Be The Jackson 5 - ABC The Guess Who - American Woman Ray Stevens - Everything is Beautiful The Beatles - The Long and Winding Road The Jackson 5 - The Love You Save Three Dog Night - Mama Told Me (Not to Come) The Carpenters - (They Long to Be) Close to You Bread - Make it With You Edwin Starr - War Diana Ross - Ain't No Mountain High Enough Neil Diamond - Cracklin' Rosie The Jackson 5 - I'll Be There The Partridge Family - I Think I Love You Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - The Tears of a Clown George Harrison - My Sweet Lord What are your top three albums for 1970? We will keep a running tally and eventually have some sort of bracket. For me it would be: 1. Black Sabbath - Paranoid 2. George Harrison - All Things Must Pass 3. Derek & the Dominos - Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs What are some of the forgotten gems from the year? What is overrated? What did you discover at a young age and what did you discover later? YEARS IN MUSIC • forum.chorus.fm
rest of the top 10: 4. crosby, stills, nash & young - deja vu 5. creedence clearwater revival - cosmo's factory 6. david bowie - the man who sold the world 7. the stooges - funhouse 8. neil young - after the gold rush 9. led zeppelin - iii 10. the kinks - lola vs. powerman and the moneygoround additional honorable mentions (alphabetical): allman brothers band - idlewild south beatles - let it be black sabbath - black sabbath creedence clearwater revival - pendulum the flying burrito brothers - burrito deluxe free - fire and water grateful dead - american beauty james gang - rides again jimi hendrix - band of gypsys john lennon - plastic one band additional cuts: alice cooper - easy action amon duul ii - yeti badfinger - magic christian music badfinger - no dice bob dylan - new morning bobby womack - my prescription can - soundtracks captain beefheart - lick my decals off, baby curtis mayfield - curtis deep purple - in rock delaney & bonnie - on tour with eric clapton the doors - morrison hotel elton john - tumbleweed connection faces - first step grateful dead - workingman’s dead james taylor - sweet baby james johnny cash - hello, im johnny cash joni mitchell - ladies of the canyon king crimson - in the wake of poseidon king crimson - lizard kris kristofferson - kristofferson mountain - climbing nick drake - bryter layter paul mccartney - mccartney pink floyd - atom heart mother ringo starr - beaucoups of blues santana - abraxas stephen stills - stephen stills syd barrett - barrett syd barrett - madcap laughs tim buckley - star sailor traffic - john barleycorn must die van Morrison - moondance velvet underground - loaded waylon jennings - singer of sad songs the who - live at leeds zz top - first album stuff to check out: alice coltrane - journey in satchidananda aretha franklin - spirit in the dark the byrds - untitled canned heat - future blues dusty springfield - a brand new me george campbell - try a little kindness george clinton - osmium gordon lightfoot - sit down young stranger harry nilsson - nilsson sings newman ike & tina turner - workin’ together john cale - vintage violence kenny rogers - tell it all brother marvin gaye - thats the way love is miles davis - bitches brew the mothers of invention - burnt weeny sandwich quincy jones - gula matari randy newman - 12 songs rod stewart - gasoline alley runt - runt simon and garfunkel - bridge over troubled water the supremes - right on tammy wynette - tammy’s touch
sabbath and the stooges are my favorite bands. funhouse is nice but pales in comparison to the other two. the run from the debut through to sabotage might be my favorite six album run in music. bowie (favorite musician) would always put up a random dud like pinups to throw off the streak.
I’ve actually never heard Sabotage listed in the “classic run” before. That’s exciting if it’s on the same tier
1. CCR - Cosmo’s Factory 2. Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water 3. Neil Young - After the Gold Rush Cosmo’s is just an incredible album. Their albums generally avoided filler, but they stepped up even beyond the ‘’69 trio with this which is imo Fogerty’s most complete statement beginning to end. Pretty tempted to throw American Beauty in my top three but haven’t listened to it enough to be sure. Both Dead albums from this year have some pretty spectacular songwriting and are an enormous asterisk on their “live material only” rep that I sense as a casual fan 50 years later. Interesting year overall for my favorites - could argue that Deja Vu, Let it Be, Bridge, Gold Rush and All Things Must Pass are all a song or 3 from perfect.
Sabotage is great. Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die have some killin moments too, like the guitar and synth break in “Back Street Kids” and “Junior’s Eyes”
There doesn't seem to be a particularly obvious stand-out popular choice for 1970, so perhaps everything will split the votes and Let It Be will sneak in and win this year too.
1. Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water 2. Van Morrison - Moondance 3. Aretha Franklin - Spirit in the Dark Bridge Over Troubled Water is without doubt one of my absolute favourite albums - a pop masterpiece, with Simon & Garfunkel composing songs blurring all sorts of different genres and styles, but keeping it incredibly hook filled. We have piano ballads, folk rock, latin infused sounds, R&B, gospel and everything in between. Just an incredible achievement, with basically every song that could be the peak of a lesser band. Moondance is one of two great Van records this year. Less folksy and ethereal than Astral Weeks, and is much more R&B or soul flavour to it. While Astral Weeks is likely to always be my favourite, on a pure song-by-song basis, this is just as good. Aretha's Spirit in the Dark is also one of two great records from her this year. This album is about 50/50 between Aretha's own compositions and covers, with the title track on this being (probably) the best song she wrote, and the band(s) backing here are in excellent form. Some honourable mentions; Aretha Franklin - This Girl's In Love With You: This contains the first released version of "Let It Be", with Aretha beating the Beatles by a few months. Not much between this and Spirit in the Dark, so listen to both. MC5 - Back in the USA: MC5 peaked with their debut live album, but this is still great proto-punk / garage rock, containing a raucous version of "Tutti Frutti". Van Morrison - His Band and the Street Choir: Contains "Domino", which is one of his biggest songs, this is another excellent gospel / R&B Van record. Van may not be much of a fan of it, but if this last year has taught me anything, is that his opinions aren't always worth listening to... The Stooges - Fun House: Another fantastic and hugely influential Stooges record. The songs are a little longer on what came before or after, but the influence here is widely felt. The Spinners - Second Time Around: Honestly my favourite Spinners record, and the only one they recorded with vocalist GC Cameron. "It's a Shame" might be my favourite Spinners track. Brilliant soul songs. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - What Love Has Joined Together: 25 minutes of just absolutely perfect soul music - 6 tracks, all of them basically perfect. A beautiful short treat.
imo this year has a clear cut 1 more than any of the last decade haha paranoid is about as good as music gets *shrug emoji*
1. Cat Stevens - Tea for the Tillerman 2. The Velvet Underground - Loaded 3. The Beatles - Let It Be Excruciating cuts: George Harrison - All Things Must Pass Smokey Robinson and The Miracles - What Love Has...Joined Together The Moody Blues - A Question of Balance Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water Others I love: Van Morrison - Moondance Elton John - Elton John Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young - Deja Vu John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band Elton John - Tumbleweed Connection Aretha Franklin - This Girl's in Love with You Creedence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo's Factory Stephen Stills - Stephen Stills Led Zeppelin - III Curtis Mayfield - Curtis Santana - Abraxas Jorge Ben - Forca Bruta Aretha Franklin - Spirit in the Dark Stevie Wonder - Signed, Sealed, Delivered Black Sabbath - Paranoid James Taylor - Sweet Baby James Grateful Dead - American Beauty Donny Hathaway - Everything Is Everything George Benson - The Other Side of Abbey Road Willie Colon - Cosa Nuestra Van Morrison - His Band and Street Choir Duke Ellington - New Orleans Suite Traffic - John Barleycorn Must Die Neil Young - After the Gold Rush Sammy Davis, Jr. - Something for Everyone Harry Nilsson - The Point! Leon Russell - Leon Russell Miles Davis - Bitches Brew Little Richard - The Rill Thing Chicago - II Good ones: Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath Deep Purple - In Rock Original Cast Recording - Jesus Christ Superstar Spirit - Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus The Band - Stage Fright The Beach Boys - Sunflower Rod Stewart - Gasoline Alley Grateful Dead - Workingman's Dead Bob Dylan - New Morning Spinners - 2nd Time Around Joni Mitchell - Ladies of the Canyon Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - Express Yourself The J. Geils Band - The J. Geils Band Creedence Clearwater Revival - Pendulum The Who - Live at Leeds Booker T. and the MGs - Mclemore Avenue Michael Nesmith and the First National Band - Magnetic South The Bob Seger System - Mongrel Paul McCartney - McCartney Kenny Rogers and the First Edition - Tell It All, Brother The Doors - Morrison Hotel The Meters - Struttin' Ringo Star - Beaucoups of Blues Carpenters - Close to You Jimi Hendrix - Band of Gypsys Willie Dixon - I Am the Blues The Stooges - Funhouse The Delfonics - The Delfonics Badfinger- No Dice The Partridge Family - The Partridge Family Album Cactus - Cactus Roy Ayers - Ubiquity The Jackson 5 - ABC Smokey Robinson and The Miracles - Pocketful of Miracles Cat Stevens - Mona Bone Jakon Harry Belafonte - By Request Not a fan: Neil Diamond - Tap Root Manuscript Targets for listening: Michel Chapman - Fully Qualified Survivor Charlie Daniels - Charlie Daniels Bob Dylan - Self-Portrait Martha Reeves and the Vandellas - Natural Resources Syd Barrett - The Madcap Laughs Ananda Shankar - Ananda Shankar Soft Machine - Third Randy Newman - 12 Songs MC5 - Back in the U.S.A. James Brown - Sex Machine Joe Cocker - Mad Dogs and Englishmen Eric Burdon and War - Eric Burdon Declares "War" Eric Clapton - Eric Clapton Free - Fire and Water Grand Funk - Closer to Home The Guess Who - American Woman The Guess Who - Share the Land The Kinks - Lola vs. the Power Man and the Money-Go-'Round Pt. 1 Mountain - Climbing! Sugarloaf - Sugarloaf Thunderclap Newman - Hollywood Dream Isaac Hayes - The Isaac Hayes Movement Diana Ross - Diana Ross Lee Dorsey - Yes We Can John Phillips - John Phillips Rodriguez - Cold Fact Kris Kristofferson - Kristofferson Ten Years After - Cricklewood Green Mavis Staples - Only for the Lonely The Chairmen of the Board - The Chairmen of the Board Fanny - Fanny The Friends of Distinction - Real Friends Alive 'N' Kickin' - Alive 'N' Kickin' Billy Preston - Encouraging Words
1. The Kinks - Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One 2. James Taylor - Sweet Baby James 3. Black Sabbath - Paranoid Shooting from the hip here. Might be a completely different top 3 if I did this a week from now.
Also Curtis by Curtis Mayfield. Both are favourites of mine from any year. There's no better opening song on an album from this year than (Don't Worry) If There's A Hell Below, We're All Going To Go.