Bintangs - Genuine Bull (1975)

De Bintangs zijn een van de oudste Nederlandse popgroepen.

De groep werd in 1961 in Beverwijk opgericht door Frank (bas, zang) en Arti Kraaijeveld (gitaar, zang). Men speelde indorock (Bintang betekent 'ster' in het Indonesisch en is ook een biermerk) maar ging al snel over tot een ruig soort rhythm & blues. De optredens waren enerverend en de Bintangs werden een soort Nederlandse Rolling Stones - de Mick Jagger-achtige stem van Gus Pleines droeg daar zeker toe bij.

De Bintangs kenden zeer veel bezettingen, met Frank Kraaijeveld als (bijna) constante factor. Frank was er alleen enige tijd tussenuit in de periode 1972-1974 toen hij met zijn broer Arti de groep Kraaijeveld oprichtte (later Circus Kraaijeveld). Onder anderen zanger Gus Pleines en de gitaristen Jack van Schie en Jan Wijte hebben met onderbrekingen vele jaren deel uitgemaakt van de band.

In Wales wordt onder supervisie van Link Wray-producer Steve Verocca "Genuine Bull" opgenomen. Dit uitstekende album staat inmiddels te boek als klassieker, al zijn de verkoopresultaten teleurstellend. Gitarist op deze plaat is het jeugdige talent Jaap Castricum.

Track listing

01.  Hobo Man  (Steve Verroca, Link Wray)  - 3:13

02.  Insight Inside Out  (Gus Pleines)  - 3:43

03.  Agnes Grey  (Arti Kraayeveld)  - 5:26

04.  Open and Blusted  (Steve Verroca)  - 3:34

05.  Biyou Woman  (Steve Verroca)  - 4:14

06.  New Orleans, New Orleans  (Steve Verroca)  - 3:02

07.  Handmade High-Heeled Fleshcoloured Boots  (Gus Pleines)  - 3:25

08.  Traveling Mood  (James Waynes  - 3:40

09.  Do John  (Steve Verroca)  - 5:30

10.  Cold War Generation Kids  (Rob Ten Bokum, Yme De Jong)  - 4:16

11.  Gone Dead Train  (Nitzsche, Titelman) (bonus track)  - 3:29

12.  Wait  (Justman, Wolf) (bonus track)  - 2:52

13.  I Been Hoodood  (Rebennack) (bonus track)  - 4:14

Released:  1975

Recorded at:  Rockfield, Monmouth, S.Wales

Label:  Corazong Records

Genre:  Rhythm & Blues

Length:  50:38

Producer:  Steve Verroca

Personnel

Frank Kraaijeveld - Bass, Vocals

Gus Pleines - Vocals, Percussion

Harry Schierbeek - Drums, Percussion 

Jack Van Schie - Guitar

Japie Castricum - Guitar, Piano

Earth & Fire - To The World Of The Future (1975)

Earth & Fire was een Nederlandse popgroep uit de jaren zeventig, die uit elementen van psychedelica, pop en symfo een uniek geluid creëerde, dat begin jaren '70 een hele reeks succesvolle en bovenal prachtige singlehits oplevede. De Voorschotense-Voorburgse-Leidschendamse groep had als boegbeelden Jerney Kaagman (zang) en de tweelingbroers Gerard (keyboards) en Chris Koerts (gitaar). De overige bandleden wisselden in de loop van de tijd. Het vierde album "To The World Of The Future", uitgebracht op 15 mei 1975.Dit album herbergt twee nummers die hoge ogen gooiden in de hitlijsten van weleer. Het zijn "Love Of Life" en "Only Time Will Tell".

Track listing

01.  "To The World Of The Future"  (Chris Koerts, Hans Ziech)  - 11:30

02.  "How Time Flies" (Ton van der Kleij)  - 3:17

03.  "The Last Seagull"  (Chris Koerts, Gerard Koerts, Theo Hurts)  - 7:34

04.  "Only Time Will Tell"  (Chris Koerts, Gerard Koerts, Hans Ziech)  - 3:40

05.  "Voice From Yonder"  (Theo Hurts)  - 6:58

06.  "Love Of Life"  (Chris Koerts, Gerard Koerts, Hans Ziech)  - 3:07

07.  "Circus"  (Gerard Koerts, Jerney Kaagman)  - 6:12

Personnel

Jerney Kaagman - zang

Theo Hurts - Bas, gitaar, arrangeur

Ton van der Kleij - Drums, slagwerk, xylofoon

Gerard Koerts - Toetsen, arrangeur

Chris Koerts - Gitaar, toetsen, zang, arrangeur

Neppy Noya - drums

T.Tieman van de Laars - harp

Notes

Released:  1975

Opgenomen in:  de Soundpush Studio's te Blaricum

Label:  Polydor

Genre:  Progressive Rock, Symphonic Rock

Length:  42:19

Producer:  Jaap Eggermont

Manassas - Down The Road (1973)

"Down The Road" is the second and last album by Stephen Stills' band Manassas. It was released in 1973.

Unfortunately this was the last gasp for Manassas as Stephen Stills was again moving on. In retrospect he should have realized that this band was a keeper.

All the musicians from the classic first release were back. Drummer Dallas Taylor, guitarist Chris Hillman, percussionist Joe Lala, pianist Al Perkins, bassist Fuzzy Samuels, and steel guitarist Al Perkins formed a tight and talented unit. They were also a notable live band. Stills, Hillman, and Taylor shared production chores for the second album in a row.

Members of the group wrote or co-wrote five of the ten tracks with Stills. That means Stills took a solo writing credit for the other five, which was a much smaller percentage than the first album and may say something about his overall commitment. There is a lot of listenable material here. “Isn’t It About Time” is a hard edged rocker with Joe Walsh bringing his guitar virtuosity to the mix. “Down The Road” is another competent rock tune. Even Chris Hillman gets into the rock ‘n’ roll act on “Lies” with his lyrics about superficial love. “Rollin’ The Stone” is the final track and it sends Manassas rocking into the night. To truly appreciate this track you need to turn your stereo system up to near sonic levels, sit back, and hang on to something.

One of the favorite track may be “Pensamiento” which is a nice Latin influenced rock fusion piece with Stills providing some stellar piano work.

"Down The Road" remains very representative of early seventies rock. It was also a farewell to one of the better bands of its time.

Track listing

01.  Isn't It About Time (Stills)  - 3:02

02.  Lies (Hillman)  - 2:55

03.  Pensamiento (Escoto, Stills)  - 2:36

04.  So Many Times (Hillman, Stills)  - 3:30

05.  Business on the Street (Stills)  - 2:55

06.  Do You Remember the Americans (Stills)  - 2:05

07.  Down the Road (Stills)  - 3:16

08.  City Junkies (Stills)  - 2:50

09.  Guaguancó de Veró (Lala, Stills)  - 2:51

10.  Rollin' My Stone (Samuel, Stills)  - 4:50

Personnel

Stephen Stills - guitar, piano, bass, vocals

Dallas Taylor - drums

Chris Hillman - guitar, bass, mandolin, vocals

Joe Lala - percussion, vocals

Al Perkins - guitar, pedal steel guitar, banjo

Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuel - bass, vocals

Paul Harris - piano

Joe Walsh - slide guitar

Bobby Whitlock - keyboards

Sydney George - flute

Jerry Aiello - organ

Charlie Grimes - guitar

Guille Garcia - percussion

Lachy Espinol - percussion

Pat Arnold - vocals

Notes
Released:  April 23, 1973

Genre:   Country Rock

Length:  30:50

Label:  Atlantic

Producer:  Stephen Stills, Chris Hillman, Dallas Taylor

Leonard Cohen - Live Songs (1973)

"Live Songs" is Leonard Cohen's first live album, released during the three-year silence between "Songs of Love and Hate" and "New Skin for the Old Ceremony". It consists of recordings from concerts performed mostly in Europe in 1970 and 1972. Cohen is backed by a medium-sized, country-influenced group, which includes guitarist/fiddler Charlie Daniels and vocalist "Jennifer Warren", who would soon become famous as Jennifer Warnes, among other things a popular interpreter of Cohen's songs.

The album consists mostly of reinterpretations (often with additional or significantly altered lyrics) of songs from Cohen's second album, Songs From a Room ("Nancy" is a version of "Seems So Long Ago, Nancy", and "Improvisation" is an extended instrumental guitar trio version of the vamp from "You Know Who I Am", which is also featured). Neither Songs of Leonard Cohen nor the then-recent Songs of Love and Hate (which featured a live track, "Let's Sing Another Song, Boys", culled from the same tour as the 1970 recordings here) are represented. The other tracks are a cover of the folk standard "Passing Through", and two new compositions: "Please Don't Pass Me By (A Disgrace)" (a thirteen-minute singalong recorded in 1970) and "Minute Prologue". A "bonus" track, "Queen Victoria", was recorded by Cohen alone in his Tennessee hotel room in 1972.

At the beginning of a Paris, France performance of "Bird on the Wire", Cohen recites the first verse of a French translation of the song's lyric.

Tracklist

Side 1 (Recorded in 1972)

01.  Minute Prologue  (Cohen)  - 1:12 (London)

02.  Passing Through  (Blakeslee, Cohen)  - 4:05 (London)

03.  You Know Who I Am  (Cohen)  - 5:22 (Brussels)

04.  Bird on the Wire  (Cohen)  - 4:27 (Paris)

05.  Nancy  (Cohen)  - 3:48 (London)

06.  Improvisation  (Cohen)  - 3:17 (Paris)

Side 2 (Recorded in 1970 and 1972)

01.  Story of Isaac  (Cohen)  - 3:56 (Berlin)

02.  Please Don't Pass Me By (A Disgrace)  (Cohen)  - 13:00 (London)

03.  Tonight Will Be Fine  (Cohen)  - 6:06 (Isle of Wight)

04.  Queen Victoria  (Cohen)  - 3:28 (Tennessee)

Personnel

Leonard Cohen - vocals, acoustic guitar

Jennifer Warren - vocals

Corlynn Hanney - vocals

Donna Washburn - vocals

Ron Cornelius - acoustic guitar, electric guitar

David O'Connor - acoustic guitar

Charlie Daniels - fiddle, electric bass

Bob Johnston - harmonica, organ

Notes

Released:  May 1973

Recorded:  1970, 1972 in London, Brussels, Paris, Berlin, Isle Of Wight, Tennessee

Genre:  Folk, Live

Length:  49:10

Label:  Columbia

Producer:  Bob Johnston

Paul McCartgney & Wings - Red Rose Speedway (1973)

"Red Rose Speedway" is the second album by Paul McCartney & Wings and was released in 1973 after the relatively weak commercial performance of the band's debut "Wild Life", which had been credited only to the then-unknown Wings.

Paul McCartney made a record with his wife and a record with his pickup band where democracy is allegedly the conceit even if it never sounds that way, so he returns to a solo effort, making the most disjointed album he ever cut. There's a certain fascination to its fragmented nature, not just because it's decidedly on the softer side of things, but because his desire for homegrown eccentricity has been fused with his inclination for bombastic art rock à la Abbey Road. Consequently, "Red Rose Speedway" winds up being a really strange record, one that veers toward the schmaltzy AOR MOR (especially on the hit single "My Love"), yet is thoroughly twisted in its own desire toward domestic art. Yes, the greatest songs here are slight "Big Barn Bed," "One More Kiss," and "When the Night"  but this is a deliberately slight record. Work your way into the inner circle, and McCartney's little flourishes are intoxicating  not just the melodies, but the facile production and offhand invention.

Tracklist

01.  Big Barn Bed   - 3:48

02.  My Love   - 4:07

03.  Get on the Right Thing  - 4:17

04.  One More Kiss  - 2:28

05.  Little Lamb Dragonfly  - 6:20

06.  Single Pigeon  - 1:52

07.  When the Night  - 3:38

08.  Loup (1st Indian on the Moon)  - 4:23

09.  Medley: Hold Me Tight/Lazy Dynamite/Hands of Love/Power Cut  - 11:14

Personnel

Paul McCartney - vocals, piano, bass, guitar, mellotron, electric piano, celeste, Moog synthesizer

Linda McCartney - vocals, electric piano, organ, harpsichord, percussion

Denny Laine - vocals, guitar, bass, harmonica

Henry McCullough - guitar, backing vocals, percussion

Denny Seiwell - drums, backing vocals, percussion, bass on "Single Pigeon"

Hugh McCracken - electric guitar

David Spinozza - electric guitar

Alan Parsons - recording engineer

Notes
Released:  30 April 1973

Recorded:  in Los Angeles and at Olympic Studios, London

Genre:  Pop, Rock

Length:  42:13

Label:  Apple

Producer:  Paul McCartney

All songs written and composed by:  Paul and Linda McCartney

Kayak - See See The Sun (1973)

Kayak II is the second album by the Dutch progressive rock band Kayak.

At first, the title was to be "His Master's Noise". But the band expected problems with the record label "His Master's Voice" (HMV) , and so they chose simply for "Kayak". The album is also known as "Kayak II" and "Alibi" (after its first track).

"Kayak II" is the perfect marriage of the band’s hard rock tendencies, their dazzling symphonic edges and the adventurous middle ground between the two. The songs are top-notch slices of upbeat, exciting progressive.

The album opens with an addictive dose of high energy, but it’s the second song, “Wintertime”, that really sets the tone. Somewhat melancholic in the verses, the chorus becomes almost Supertramp-ish in its brightness. Side 1 is rounded out by two very different songs: “Mountain Too Rough”, a mostly-mellow trip into folky atmospheres with some deliberately disruptive sound effects occurring. “They Get To Know Me” offers a killer momentum, symphonic and Genesis-like in spots, with a healthy bit of aggression, especially when guitarist Johan Slager takes over. It’s always so enjoyable to witness this song unfolding.

Side two is even more diverse in scope than side one. “Serenades” is a bouncy number, hinting at the sound they’d perfect on the ‘Starlight Dancer’ album. “Woe And Alas” offers slightly tricky timing and an impassioned Max Werner vocal. Some gorgeous layers are built up as the song moves along. We get the more gentle side of Kayak with the caress of “Mireille”, a short, to-the-point instrumental that provides a good balance to the more involved stuff here. The album’s final moments couldn’t be better: “Trust In The Machine” has a demented bit of vocal from Werner and swirling keyboard sounds that envelop the rest of the music, that music being kinetic stuff that’s wild but never out of control.

Tracklist

01.  Alibi  (Scherpenzeel)  - 3:39

02.  Wintertime  (Van Leeuwen, Koopman)  - 2:51

03.  Mountain Too Rough  (Scherpenzeel) -  3:57

04.  They Get To Know Me  (Van Leeuwen, Koopman)  - 9:18

05.  Serenades  (Koopman, Scherpenzeel)  - 3:33

06.  Woe And Alas  (Scherpenzeel)  - 3:01

07.  Mireille (Instr.)  (Koopman)  - 2:13

08.  Trust In The Machine  (Van Leeuwen, Koopman)  - 6:06

09.  His Master's Noise  (Koopman, Scherpenzeel, Van Leeuwen)  - 1:45

Personnel

Ton Scherpenzeel - keyboards, vocals, accordion

Pim Koopman - drums, percussion, marimba, vocals

Max Werner - lead vocals, percussion, mellotron

Cees van Leeuwen - bass, harmonica

Johan Slager - guitars, vocals

Notes

Released:  1974

Recorded at:  Intertone Studio, Heemstede, The Netherlands

Genre:  Progressive Rock

Label:  EMI

Producer:  Gerrit-Jan Leenders and Kayak

The Eagles - Desperado (1973)

Desperado" is the second studio album by the American rock band Eagles. "Desperado" is a concept album, based on the Dalton gang and the Old West.

If Don Henley was the sole member of the Eagles underrepresented on their debut album, "Eagles", with only two lead vocals and one co-songwriting credit, he made up for it on their follow-up, the "concept" album "Desperado". The concept had to do with Old West outlaws, but it had no specific narrative. On "Eagles", the group had already begun to marry itself to a Southwest sound and lyrical references, from the Indian-style introduction of "Witchy Woman" to the Winslow, AZ, address in "Take It Easy." All of this became more overt on "Desperado", and it may be that Henley, who hailed from Northeast Texas, had the greatest affinity for the subject matter. In any case, he had co-writing credits on eight of the 11 selections and sang such key tracks as "Doolin-Dalton" and the title song. What would become recognizable as Henley's lyrical touch was apparent on those songs, which bore a serious, world-weary tone. Henley had begun co-writing with Glenn Frey, and they contributed the album's strongest material, which included the first single, "Tequila Sunrise," and "Desperado" (strangely never released as a single). But where Eagles seemed deliberately to balance the band's many musical styles and the talents of the band's members, "Desperado", despite its overarching theme, often seemed a collection of disparate tracks  "Out of Control" was a raucous rocker, while "Desperado" was a painfully slow ballad backed by strings  with other bandmembers' contributions tacked on rather than integrated. Randy Meisner was down to two co-writing credits and one lead vocal ("Certain Kind of Fool"), while Bernie Leadon's two songs, "Twenty-One" and "Bitter Creek," seemed to come from a different record entirely. The result was an album that was simultaneously more ambitious and serious-minded than its predecessor and also slighter and less consistent.

Tracklist

01.  "Doolin-Dalton"  (Glenn Frey, J. D. Souther, Don Henley, Jackson Browne)  - 3:26

02.  "Twenty-One"  (Bernie Leadon)  - 2:11

03.  "Out of Control"  (Henley, Frey, Tom Nexon)  - 3:04

04.  "Tequila Sunrise"  (Henley, Frey)  - 2:52

05.  "Desperado"  (Henley, Frey)  - 3:36

06.  "Certain Kind of Fool"  (Randy Meisner, Henley, Frey)  - 3:02

07.  "Doolin-Dalton (Instrumental)"  (Frey, Souther, Henley, Browne)  - 0:48

08.  "Outlaw Man"  (David Blue)  - 3:34

09.  "Saturday Night"  (Meisner, Henley, Frey, Leadon)  - 3:20

10.  "Bitter Creek"  (Leadon)  - 5:00

11.  "Doolin-Dalton / Desperado (Reprise)"  (Frey, Souther, Henley, Browne)  - 4:50

Personnel

Glenn Frey - guitars, keyboards, piano, harmonica, vocals

Don Henley - drums, percussion, vocals

Randy Meisner - bass guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals

Bernie Leadon - guitars, mandolin, banjo, vocals

Notes

Released:  April 17, 1973

Recorded at:  Island Studios, London, England

Genre:  Country Rock

Length:  35:40

Label:  Asylum

Producer:  Glyn Johns

David Bowie - Aladdin Sane (1973)

"Aladdin Sane" is the sixth album by David Bowie, released by RCA Records in 173. It was the first album Bowie wrote and released as a bona fide rock star.

"Ziggy Stardust" wrote the blueprint for David Bowie's hard-rocking glam, and "Aladdin Sane" essentially follows the pattern, for both better and worse. A lighter affair than "Ziggy Stardust", "Aladdin Sane" is actually a stranger album than its predecessor, buoyed by bizarre lounge-jazz flourishes from pianist Mick Garson and a handful of winding, vaguely experimental songs. Bowie abandons his futuristic obsessions to concentrate on the detached cool of New York and London hipsters, as on the compressed rockers "Watch That Man," "Cracked Actor," and "The Jean Genie." Bowie follows the hard stuff with the jazzy, dissonant sprawls of "Lady Grinning Soul," "Aladdin Sane," and "Time," all of which manage to be both campy and avant-garde simultaneously, while the sweepingly cinematic "Drive-In Saturday" is a soaring fusion of sci-fi doo wop and melodramatic teenage glam. He lets his paranoia slip through in the clenched rhythms of "Panic in Detroit," as well as on his oddly clueless cover of "Let's Spend the Night Together."

Tracklist

01.  "Watch That Man"  (Bowie)  - 4:30

02.  "Aladdin Sane" (1913-1938-197?)  (Bowie)  - 5:07

03.  "Drive-In Saturday"  (Bowie)  - 4:36

04.  "Panic in Detroit"  (Bowie)  - 4:27

05.  "Cracked Actor"  (Bowie)  - 3:01

06.  "Time"  (Bowie)  - 5:14

07.  "The Prettiest Star"  (Bowie)  - 3:31

08.  "Let's Spend the Night Together"  (Jagger, Richards)  - 3:10

09.  "The Jean Genie"  (Bowie)  - 4:06

10.  "Lady Grinning Soul"  (Bowie)  - 3:52

 

Personnel

David Bowie - guitar, harmonica, keyboards, saxophone, vocals

Mick Ronson - guitar, piano, vocals

Trevor Bolder - bass

Mick "Woody" Woodmansey - drums

Mike Garson - piano

Ken Fordham - saxophone

Brian "Bux" Wilshaw - saxophone, flute

Linda Lewis - backing vocals

Juanita "Honey" Franklin - backing vocals

G.A. MacCormack - backing vocals

Notes

Released:  13 April 1973

Recorded at:  Trident Studios, London; and RCA Studios, New York and Nashville

Genre:  Glam Rock

Length:  40:47

Label:  RCA

Producer:  Ken Scott, David Bowie

Johnny Cash - A Thing Called Love (1972)

"A Thing Called Love" is the 38th overal album by country singer Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records in 1972.

Having released two incredible live albums from prisons in the late 60s, hosted his own network tv show for three seasons, won every award known to mankind up to that point, Cash was still touring and making great records. "A Thing Called Love," was released during this time. Nearly every song is a stand out in its' own way. Three singles were pulled from it. "Kate" and the title cut both going top three, and "Papa was a Good Man" finishing in the teens. Other great songs include Cash's wedding present to June Carter, "I Promise You," and the eerie sounding great song "Melva's Wine." Larry Butler produced this album, and occasionally will over do the bass, such is the case on Melva's Wine but overall this is a fine example of Johnny Cash seventies music.

The album also never seems to come together.  The approach to many of the songs is disjointed, with guitar parts draped with vocal choruses and strings that just don't quite fit.  Cash also struggles to find a good vocal cadence for many of the songs.  Cash himself has claimed some of this work around this time was marginal because his focus was instead on his movie and album project The Gospel Road.  In the end this one is not bad, and marginally more interesting than Any Old Wind That Blows, but otherwise it is one of Cash's lesser albums of the early 1970s.

Tracklist

01.  "Kate"  (Marty Robbins)  - 2:22

02.  "Melva's Wine"  (Vincent Matthews)  - 2:55

03.  "A Thing Called Love"  (Jerry Reed Hubbard)  - 2:36

04.  "I Promise You"  (Cash)  - 2:58

05.  "Papa Was a Good Man"  (Hal Bynum) - 2:38

06.  "Tear Stained Letter"  (Cash)  - 2:45

07.  "Mississippi Sand"  (June Carter Cash)  - 3:08

08.  "Daddy"  (Don Reid, Harold Reid)  - 2:54

09.  "Arkansas Lovin' Man"  (Red Lane)  - 2:51

10.  "The Miracle Man"  (Cash, Larry Lee)  - 3:30

Personnel

Johnny Cash – Vocals, Guitar

The Evangel Temple Choir – Background Vocals

The Carter Family – Background vocals

Marshall Grant – bass

W.S. Holland- drums

Bob Wootton - guitar

Carl Perkins - guitar

Ray Edenton - guitar

Jerry Reed – guitar

Tommy Allsup – acoustic guitar

Charlie McCoy – harmonica

Bill Pursell – piano

Larry Butler – piano

Notes
Released:  April 1972

Genre:  Country

Length:  28:37

Label:  Columbia

Producer:  Larry Butler

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 4 Way Street (1971)

"4 Way Street" is the third album by Crosby, Stills & Nash, their second as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and their first live album.

A document of their tour from the previous year, the live recordings presented were taken from shows at The Fillmore East, New York, June 2–June 7, 1970 The Chicago Auditorium, Chicago, July 5, 1970 and The Forum, Los Angeles, June 26–June 28, 1970.

The album contained material previously available in studio versions, from both the various affiliations and individual work of the four principals. Two songs each by Nash and Crosby had not been officially released by its writer at the time of the arrival of this album in the shops: "Chicago," soon to appear one month later on Nash's Songs for Beginners album, and "Right Between the Eyes"; "The Lee Shore" by Crosby, as well as his controversial ménage à trois "Triad" composition, recorded by Jefferson Airplane on their Crown of Creation album of 1968, and by The Byrds, but not released until 1987 on the compilation "Never Before" and later as a bonus track on The Notorious Byrd Brothers reissue.

Tracklist

Disc 1

01.  Suite: Judy Blue Eyes  (Stephen Stills)  - 0:33

02.  On the Way Home  (Neil Young)  - 3:19

03.  Teach Your Children  (Graham Nash)  - 2:46

04.  Triad  (David Crosby)  - 5:07

05.  The Lee Shore  (Crosby)  - 4:14

06.  Chicago  (Nash)  - 3:03

07.  Right Between the Eyes  (Nash)  - 2:19

08.  Cowgirl in the Sand  (Young)  - 3:50

09.  Don't Let It Bring You Down  (Young)  - 2:35

10.  49 Bye-Byes/For What It's Worth/America's Children  (Stills)  - 5:30

11.  Love the One You're With  (Stills)  - 2:57

Disc 2

01.  Pre-Road Downs  (Nash)  - 2:48

02.  Long Time Gone  (Crosby)  - 5:33

03.  Southern Man  (Young)  - 13:15

04.  Ohio  (Young)  - 3:24

05.  Carry On  (Stills)  - 13:06

06.  Find the Cost of Freedom  (Stills)  - 2:16

Personnel

David Crosby – vocals, guitar

Stephen Stills – vocals, guitar, keyboards

Graham Nash – vocals, guitar, keyboards

Neil Young – vocals, guitar, harmonica, keyboards

Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuels – bass

Johnny Barbata – drums

 

Notes

Released:  April 7, 1971

Recorded:  June 2–July 5, 1970, New York, Chicago & Los Angeles

Genre:  Soft Rock

Length:  76:35

Label:  Atlantic

Producer:  David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, Neil Young

Leonard Cohen - Songs of Love And Hate (1971)

"Songs Of Love And Hate" is Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen's third album. It was mainly recorded in Columbia Studio A in Nashville. "Sing Another Song, Boys" was recorded at the Isle of Wight Festival on August 30, 1970. Further recording took place at Trident Studios in London.

It is one of Leonard Cohen's most emotionally intense albums which, given the nature of Cohen's body of work, is no small statement. While the title Songs of "Love and Hate" sums up the album's themes accurately enough, it's hardly as simple as that description might lead you to expect in these eight songs, "love" encompasses the physical ("Last Year's Man"), the emotional ("Famous Blue Raincoat"), and the spiritual ("Joan of Arc"), and the contempt in songs like "Dress Rehearsal Rag" and "Avalanche" is the sort of venom that can only come from someone who once cared very deeply. The sound of the album is clean and uncluttered, and for the most part the music stays out of the way of the lyrics, which dominate the songs. Thankfully, Cohen had grown noticeably as a singer since his first two albums, and if he hardly boasts a range to rival Roy Orbison here, he is able to bring out the subtleties of "Joan of Arc" and "Famous Blue Raincoat" in a way his previous work would not have led you to expect. And while Bob Johnston's production is spare, it's spare with a purpose, letting Cohen's voice and guitar tell their stories and using other musicians for intelligent, emotionally resonant punctuation (Paul Buckmaster's unobtrusive string arrangements and the use of a children's chorus are especially inspired).

Tracklist

01.  Avalanche  - 5:07

02.  Last Year's Man  - 6:02

03.  Dress Rehearsal Rag  - 6:12

04.  Diamonds in the Mine  - 3:52

05.  Love Calls You by Your Name  - 5:44

06.  Famous Blue Raincoat  - 5:15

07.  Sing Another Song, Boys (Live at the Isle of Wight Festival, August 31, 1970)  - 6:17

08.  Joan of Arc  - 6:29

Personnel

Leonard Cohen - acoustic guitar, vocals

Ron Cornelius - acoustic and electric guitars

Charlie Daniels - acoustic guitar, bass guitar, fiddle

Elkin "Bubba" Fowler - acoustic guitar, banjo, bass guitar

Bob Johnston - piano

Corlynn Hanney - vocals

Susan Mussmano - vocals

The Corona Academy, London - children's voices

Michael Sahl - strings on third verse of "Last Year's Man"

Paul Buckmaster - string and horn arrangements, conductor

Notes
Released:  March 1971

Recorded at:  Columbia Studio A, Nashville

Genre:  Folk, Rock

Length:  44:21

Label:  Columbia

Produced:  Bob Johnston

All songs written by:  Leonard Cohen

Jethro Tull - Aqualung (1971)

"Aqualung" is the fourth studio album by the rock band Jethro Tull. Released in 1971, "Aqualung", despite the band's disapproval, is regarded as a concept album featuring a central theme of "the distinction between religion and God". The album's "dour musings on faith and religion" have marked it as "one of the most cerebral albums ever to reach millions of rock listeners". Aqualung's success marked a turning point in the band's career, with them going on to become a major radio and touring act.

After veering sharply from the blues inluences of their debut, This Was, Jethro Tull's sound quickly coalesced around jazz-tinged English folk influences and the antics of frontman/flautist Ian Anderson. But it was guitarist Martin Barre's swaggering riff off the title track of the band's fourth album that would become Tull's indelibly clichéd trademark and the band's entrée into a long reign as arena-rock perennials. But there's a lot more to Aqualung than the riffage of that cut and its cousins, "Cross-Eyed Mary" and "Locomotive Breath." In an era when pseudo-Christian spirituality was a de rigueur, if cheap, musical commodity (from the overblown operatics of Jesus Christ Superstar to one-hit pop wonders such as "Spirit in the Sky" and "Put Your Hand in the Hand"), Anderson and company openly challenged the value of organized religion with a thematic album savvy enough to layer its thought-provoking lyrics between heavy strata of FM-friendly guitar bedrock.

Tracklist

01.  Aqualung  (Ian Anderson, Jennie Anderson)  - 6:34

02.  Cross-Eyed Mary  (Ian Anderson)  - 4:06

03.  Cheap Day Return  (Ian Anderson)  - 1:21

04.  Mother Goose  (Ian Anderson)  - 3:51

05.  Wond'ring Aloud  (Ian Anderson)  - 1:53

06.  Up to Me  (Ian Anderson)  - 3:15

07.  My God  (Ian Anderson)  - 7:08

08.  Hymn 43  (Ian Anderson)  - 3:14

09.  Slipstream  (Ian Anderson)  - 1:13

10.  Locomotive Breath  (Ian Anderson)  - 4:23

11.  Wind Up  (Ian Anderson)  - 6:01

Personnel

Ian Anderson - vocals, acoustic guitar, flute

Martin Barre - electric guitar, descant recorder

John Evan - piano, organ, mellotron

Jeffrey Hammond - bass guitar, alto recorder and odd voices

Clive Bunker - drums and percussion

Glenn Cornick - bass guitar

David Palmer - orchestral arrangements and conduction

Notes
Released:  19 March 1971

Recorded at:  Island Studios, Basing Street, London

Genre:  Progressive Rock

Length:  42:55

Label:  Chrysalis

Producer:  Ian Anderson, Terry Ellis

The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers (1971)

"Sticky Fingers" is the ninth British and 11th American studio album by English rock band The Rolling Stones, released in April 1971. It is the band's first album of the 1970s and its first release on the band's newly formed label, Rolling Stones Records, after having been contracted since 1963 with Decca Records in the UK and London Records in the US. It is also Mick Taylor's first full-length appearance on a Rolling Stones album, the first Rolling Stones album not to feature any contributions from founding guitarist Brian Jones and the first one on which Mick Jagger is credited with playing guitar. In 2003, Sticky Fingers was listed as #63 on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Pieced together from outtakes and much-labored-over songs, "Sticky Fingers" manages to have a loose, ramshackle ambience that belies both its origins and the dark undercurrents of the songs. It's a weary, drug-laden album well over half the songs explicitly mention drug use, while the others merely allude to it that never fades away, but it barely keeps afloat. Apart from the classic opener, "Brown Sugar" (a gleeful tune about slavery, interracial sex, and lost virginity, not necessarily in that order), the long workout "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" and the mean-spirited "Bitch," "Sticky Fingers" is a slow, bluesy affair, with a few country touches thrown in for good measure. The laid-back tone of the album gives ample room for new lead guitarist Mick Taylor to stretch out, particularly on the extended coda of "Can't You Hear Me Knocking." But the key to the album isn't the instrumental interplay although that is terrific it's the utter weariness of the songs. "Wild Horses" is their first non-ironic stab at a country song, and it is a beautiful, heart-tugging masterpiece. Similarly, "I Got the Blues" is a ravished, late-night classic that ranks among their very best blues. "Sister Morphine" is a horrifying overdose tale, and "Moonlight Mile," with Paul Buckmaster's grandiose strings, is a perfect closure: sad, yearning, drug-addled, and beautiful. With its offhand mixture of decadence, roots music, and outright malevolence, "Sticky Fingers set the tone for the rest of the decade for the Stones.

Tracklist

01.  Brown Sugar  (Jagger, Richards)  - 3:48

02.  Sway  (Jagger, Richards)  - 3:50

03.  Wild Horses  (Jagger, Richards)  - 5:42

04.  Can't You Hear Me Knocking  (Jagger, Richards)  - 7:14

05.  You Gotta Move  (Fred McDowell/Gary Davis)  - 2:32

06.  Bitch  (Jagger, Richards)  - 3:38

07.  I Got the Blues  (Jagger, Richards)  - 3:54

08.  Sister Morphine  (Jagger, Richards, Marianne Faithfull)  - 5:31

09.  Dead Flowers  (Jagger, Richards)  - 4:03

10.  Moonlight Mile  (Jagger, Richards)  - 5:56

Personnel

Mick Jagger – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, percussion

Keith Richards – electric guitar, six and twelve string acoustic guitar, backing vocals

Mick Taylor – electric, acoustic, slide guitar

Charlie Watts – drums

Bill Wyman – bass guitar, electric piano

Bobby Keys – saxophone

Ian Stewart – piano

Nicky Hopkins – piano

Jim Dickinson – piano

Billy Preston – organ

Rocky Dijon – congas

Ry Cooder – slide guitar

Jack Nitzsche – piano

Jim Price – trumpet, piano

Paul Buckmaster – string arrangement

Jimmy Miller – percussion

Notes

Released:  23 April 1971

Recorded at:  Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, Sheffield, Alabama, Olympic Studios, London, UK

Genre:  Rock

Length:  46:25

Label:  Rolling Stones Records

Producer:  Jimmy Miller

Elton John - Friends (Soundtrack) (1971)

"Friends" is a project Elton John and Bernie Taupin took on before their breakout success in the United States. Recorded as the soundtrack to the film Friends.

Two songs are above standard Elton fare: the two full-band numbers. "Honey Roll" and "Can I Put You On" are the only two times that it sounds like Elton bothered to try. I mean, it is a film soundtrack, it's not like he wasn't saving his best stuff for his own albums, so with that in mind it's kind of nice we even got anything good at all. As far as the other selections go, they're all piano + orchestral backing and not terribly interesting. "Seasons" is like if "Burn Down the Mission" lost all its energy and had no rocking ending, and "Michelle's Song" is a drab ballad that would feel right at home on the album "Elton John". The title track was a minor hit but it's as boring and tossed-off as anything Elton wrote in this period, and having the string "Variations" on "Friends" two songs later is totally pointless (but not uncommon when dealing with a film soundtrack). There are a few nice bits happening in "Four Moods".

Tracklist

01.  Friends  (John, Taupin)  - 2:20

02.  Honey Roll  (John, Taupin)  - 3:00

03.  Variations on 'Friends'  - 1:44

04.  Seasons  (John, Taupin)  - 3:57

05.  Variation on Michelle's Song(A Day in the Country)  (John, Taupin)  - 2:44

06.  Can I Put You On  (John, Taupin)  - 5:52

07.  Michelle's Song  (John, Taupin)  - 4:16

08.  I Meant to Do My Work Today (A Day in the Country)  (John, Taupin)  - 1:33

09.  Four Moods  (Buckmaster)  - 10:56

10.  Seasons Reprise  (John, Taupin)  - 1:33

Personnel

Elton John - piano, vocals

Caleb Quaye - guitars

Dee Murray - bass guitar, vocals

Nigel Olsson - drums, vocals

Paul Buckmaster - orchestral arrangement

Rex Morris - saxophone

Madeline Bell, Lesley Duncan, Kay Garner - backing vocals

Notes

Released:  April 1971

Genre:  Pop, Soundtrack

Label:  Paramount

Length:  38:35

Producer:  Gus Dudgeon