A Lark Ascending Posted March 3, 2013 Report Posted March 3, 2013 Unashamedly nostalgic thread. I was reading an article in Mojo yesterday about John Martyn's two great albums of 1973 - 'Solid Air' and 'Inside Out' and it listed a few of the classic rock albums of that year. Quadrophenia - The Who Catch a Fire - Bob Marley Innervisions - Stevie Wonder A Wizard - ? A True Star - ? Tubular Bells - Mike Oldfield Dixie Chicken - Little Feet Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd Band on the Run - Wings Berlin - Lou Reed For Your Pleasure - Roxy Music Let's Get it On - Marvin Gaye Coundown to Ecstasy - Steely Dan Only the Floyd and Oldfield records were on my radar (though Band on the Run was everywhere in the halls of residence I joined as I started Uni in the September). The other ones that dominate my memories were Larks Tongues in Aspic - King Crimson Bananamour - Kevin Ayers Birds of Fire - Mahavishnu Nine - Fairport Convention (their return to form) Selling England By the Pound - Genesis (which I didn't much like at the time) Tales of Topographic Oceans - which I loved whilst the British music press really got its pre-punk knives out. All of this is so subjective, but looking back it's almost like the last year when there was a wave of rock music that spoke to me. Some marvellous albums did follow but by 1975 I was getting less from it and everything seemed to be stiffening and becoming more produced. Totally as seen from my perspective then - I would later hear other records from that year that would become favourites (e.g. the Steely Dan and John Martyns), including many from genres like jazz, folk (classical!) that I was only dimly aware of then. So, regardless of genre, what was 1973 like musically for you? (apologies to those not yet born!) And was it really 40 years ago? Quote
Hardbopjazz Posted March 3, 2013 Report Posted March 3, 2013 I was ten but I had these on vinyl at some point, most likely later. I only have two today on CD, Wings and Yes. Quadrophenia - The Who Catch a Fire - Bob Marley Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd Band on the Run - Wings Tales of Topographic Oceans - Yes Coundown to Ecstasy - Steely Dan Quote
mjzee Posted March 3, 2013 Report Posted March 3, 2013 The Dead's Wake of the Flood was a nice arrival. On the other hand, Zappa's Over-Nite Sensation was a crushing disappointment, pandering to the masses, as was Beefheart's Unconditionally Guaranteed. Dylan's Planet Waves was great, but "Dylan" was a stinker (I know, I know, released without consent) and "Pat Garrett" was inconsequential. Iggy's Raw Power had a lot going for it, but that odd mix sapped a lot of its strength. I liked Jackson Browne's For Everyman. Maybe the best albums of 1973 were Mahavishnu's Between Nothingness and Eternity, Saunders/Garcia's Live at Keystone, and Soft Machine 6 and 7. I also liked Toots & The Maytals' Funky Kingston and Oregon's Distant Hills. (Kudos to iTunes for providing a sort showing the year!) Quote
erwbol Posted March 3, 2013 Report Posted March 3, 2013 Paco de Lucia's Fuente y Caudal is the only record from 1973 I currently own. There's little jazz from the early seventies in my collection. I used to be into Led Zeppelin but Houses of the Holy was never a favourite. Quote
jeffcrom Posted March 3, 2013 Report Posted March 3, 2013 Your "mystery albums" are actually one double album - A Wizard/A True Star by Todd Rundgren. It was a favorite among my circle of friends. Quote
J.A.W. Posted March 3, 2013 Report Posted March 3, 2013 (edited) A Wizard - ? A True Star - ? It was one album, A Wizard, A True Star by Todd Rundgren. And the group is called "Little Feat", not "Little Feet"; a small yet not insignificant difference Edited March 3, 2013 by J.A.W. Quote
Joe Posted March 3, 2013 Report Posted March 3, 2013 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Wizard,_a_True_Star SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH was released in December of '73 Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted March 3, 2013 Author Report Posted March 3, 2013 Merci - Todd Rundgren is someone I don't really know. Quote
Scott Dolan Posted March 3, 2013 Report Posted March 3, 2013 The Dead's Wake of the Flood was a nice arrival. On the other hand, Zappa's Over-Nite Sensation was a crushing disappointment, pandering to the masses, as was Beefheart's Unconditionally Guaranteed. Dylan's Planet Waves was great, but "Dylan" was a stinker (I know, I know, released without consent) and "Pat Garrett" was inconsequential. Iggy's Raw Power had a lot going for it, but that odd mix sapped a lot of its strength. I liked Jackson Browne's For Everyman. Maybe the best albums of 1973 were Mahavishnu's Between Nothingness and Eternity, Saunders/Garcia's Live at Keystone, and Soft Machine 6 and 7. I also liked Toots & The Maytals' Funky Kingston and Oregon's Distant Hills. (Kudos to iTunes for providing a sort showing the year!) Zappa pandering to the masses?! That needs to be quoted for posterity! Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted March 3, 2013 Author Report Posted March 3, 2013 (edited) This classic also came out in 1973: Henry Cow - Legend I'm not sure if I heard it then - but I did see them in a small room at Reading University towards the end of the year. A friend of mine was the first to get the record so I may have heard it in his room that year or early the next. Not a classic but one I remember with affection: They broke up not long after its release. Remember hearing 'Boom Bang' as a single quite a bit and I had a radio broadcast of songs from it on tape. Got the record in the summer holidays (out of money picking strawberries in Norfolk, IIRC!) Edited March 3, 2013 by A Lark Ascending Quote
Head Man Posted March 3, 2013 Report Posted March 3, 2013 The Band - Moondog Matinee....(they'd peaked by then) David Ackles - Five & Dime Beach Boys - Holland...(one of my favourite albums by them) Tim Buckley - Sefronia...(oh dear!) Deep Purple - Who do we think we are? Sandy Denny - Like an old fashioned waltz The Eagles - Desperado Hall & Oates- Abandoned Luncheonette Herbie Hancock - Headhunters Keith Jarrett - Rita & Daitya...(just starting out) Steve Miller - The Joker Van Morrison - Hard Nose The Highway Bonnie Raitt - Takin' my time Terry Reid - River ...(whatever happened to him?) Return to Forever - Light as a feather Rolling Stones - Goat's head soup.....(not a good years for the Stones) Sly & The Family Stone - Fresh Steely Dan - Countdown to ecstasy Tapper Zukie - Man ah warrior McCoy Tyner - Enlightenment & Song of the new world...... (he seemed to be releasing an album every month in the 70s) Joe Walsh - The Smoker you drink Weather Report - Mysterious Traveller & Sweetnighter Jesse Colin Young - Song for Juli...... (remember him?) Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted March 3, 2013 Author Report Posted March 3, 2013 Sandy Denny - Like an old fashioned waltz I have a feeling that was '74. Quote
Head Man Posted March 3, 2013 Report Posted March 3, 2013 Sandy Denny - Like an old fashioned waltz I have a feeling that was '74. You could be right....at my age, what's a year? Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted March 3, 2013 Author Report Posted March 3, 2013 (edited) I have a bizarre ability to recall when I bought things (which doesn't necessarily mean they were released then!). I associate that record along with Fairport 'Live' with autumn '74. Remember going on a spree in London (after spending my holidays working in the NAAFI in Germany with very little worth buying in the NAAFI shop and the German record shops too expensive) just before returning to uni. This too came out in late '73. The first side had been played during King Crimson concerts prior to the band going on - you can hear it in some of the live recordings that have subsequently appeared. Edited March 3, 2013 by A Lark Ascending Quote
mjzee Posted March 3, 2013 Report Posted March 3, 2013 1972 was probably a better year for music than '73...but thanks to Bev for starting the thread. I started college in '73, and met a whole new bunch of people... there were The Who freaks, and that was understandable (tho I was more in the "like" category), but then there were The Kinks freaks. Really? In 1973? But there they were, a very passionate bunch. Preservation Act 1 was OK, and I probably wouldn't have paid attention to it without them. We started a "Whatever happened to Pete Quaife" campaign. Quote
Scott Dolan Posted March 3, 2013 Report Posted March 3, 2013 "Rolling Stones - Goat's head soup.....(not a good years for the Stones)" Yeah, but considering the four album hot streak they were coming off of, it can be forgiven. And really, it wasn't that bad of an album. Quote
Noj Posted March 3, 2013 Report Posted March 3, 2013 Others from '73: James Brown - Black Caesar Billy Cobham - Spectrum Gary Bartz - I've Known Rivers & Other Bodies Black Heat - Too Hot To Burn The Crusaders - The 2nd Crusade Paul Desmond - Skylark The Doobie Brothers - The Captain & Me Dr. John - In The Right Place Charles Earland - Dynamite Brothers OST Henry Franklin - The Skipper Funkadelic - Cosmic Slop Donny Hathaway - Extensions Of A Man Willie Hutch - The Mack OST The JB's - Doing It To Death Clifford Jordan - Glass Bead Games Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Prepare Thyself To Deal With A Miracle Yusef Lateef - Hush N Thunder Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy O'Donel Levy - Simba Ramsey Lewis - Upendo Ni Pamoja Lightnin' Rod - Hustler's Convention Michael Longo - Funkia Mandrill - Just Outside Of Town Bob Marley & The Wailers - Catch A Fire Les McCann - Layers Jimmy McGriff & Richard Groove Holmes - Giants Of The Organ Come Together Ramon Morris - Sweet Sister Funk Joe Pass - Virtuoso Esther Phillips - Black Eyed Blues Pharaoh Sanders - Elevation Stanley Turrentine - Don't Mess With Mr. T Fred Wesley & The JB's - Damn Right I Am Somebody Jack Wilkins - Windows Larry Young - Lawrence Of Newark Quote
Quincy Posted March 3, 2013 Report Posted March 3, 2013 (edited) Like Hardbopjazz I was 10 as well. I didn't have the kind of coin to buy LPs (probably a good thing) so for 68¢ at Grant's I bought Paul McCartney's "Jet" and Blue Swede's "Hooked On A Feeling." It wasn't until the next year where I really started spending on awesome stuff like "Spiders & Snakes," "The Streak" although "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" was a bit more tasteful. Probably the first album I bought from '73 would have been Zep's Houses Of The Holy but it was another 3-4 years before I did. The most recent purchase of nonclassical album from '73 was the 40th anniversary of Larks'. I didn't know it back but it was a busy year for Glenn Gould and thanks to the jacket collection I have a bunch. I own over 50 albums released that year. Quadrophenia dominated the turntable from ages 17 to 19 - something like that. A practical application was typing term papers to Moon's drumming. I've hardly played it all in the past 27 years as I played it so much back then. Berlin is too bleak play - probably only once in the past 25 years. I still like Lennon's Mind Games far more than I reasonably should. It would certainly make a list of "albums I like a lot more than critics say I should." Conversely I don't like Headhunters as much as critics (or friends) say I should nor the New York Dolls, although no friend has ever harassed me on the latter. At this point I love Let's Get It On probably more than What's Going On (which I still love). I'm glad before the '70s were out I bought a copy of Neil Young's Time Fades Away when I could (cheaply at that). From that same store's "3 for $10 bin" I also bought Ringo's fanfuckingtastic self-titled LP from '73. Aside from the Marley releases of that year I'm a sucker for Toots Funky Kingston album. The 11 year old's love of novelty songs still likes his silly take on John Denver's "Country Roads." Much more played for the past 25 years are the pair of Waylon's albums (Lonesome, On'ry And Mean & Honky Tony Heroes) and Willie's Shotgun Willie. Nice job boys! Hawkwind's Space Ritual was a fun discovery about 36 years after its release. Part of me is still waiting to be told they really didn't exist and it was all an elaborate prank as they are well beyond being "eccentric." Since everybody else owns a copy (I'm sure there are exceptions here too on the jazz board) I have never owned my own copy of Dark Side Of The Moon. Edited March 3, 2013 by Quincy Quote
Noj Posted March 3, 2013 Report Posted March 3, 2013 Country rooooooad, take me hooooooome, to the plaaaaaaace, I belooooooong, West Jamaicaaaa! Quote
Jim R Posted March 3, 2013 Report Posted March 3, 2013 (edited) I was 17. What I can remember at the moment... Tower Of Power - Tower Of Power Innervisions - Stevie Wonder Allman Brothers - Brothers And Sisters The Crusaders - The 2nd Crusade The Doobie Brothers - The Captain & Me Donny Hathaway - Extensions Of A Man Loggins & Messina - Full Sail Marshall Tucker Band - Marshall Tucker Band WAR - Deliver The Word Sons Of Champlin - Welcome To The Dance Edited March 3, 2013 by Jim R Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted March 3, 2013 Author Report Posted March 3, 2013 (edited) 1972 was probably a better year for music than '73... In my odd memory 1970 to maybe 1974 were the golden years. 1970 is pretty arbitrary being the year I first started buying records. But when I listened to late 60s albums, although I came to love a lot of them, there was something a bit brittle about the recorded sound. Something happened to recording around 69/70 - 8, 16 track recording perhaps - that made things sound richer, more varied, less baroque (maybe it was also the passing of psychedelia). Though there was plenty of plodding from musicians with limited abilities (or experience), the records I treasure from that period had a light and shade, a sense of colour, a willingness to shift from full on electric to jangly acoustic that sounded just right. A band like Free who could produce fairly lumpy blues-rock could also switch to something lithe and airy (the way their albums started to become overblown as early as 73 suggests the direction things were heading). I didn't abandon rock until 76/77 but as early as 75 I can recall becoming discontented - this was probably because most of my early favourites had run out of ideas/were blowing their advances on indulgences rather than improving their music. But there was also a sense that around that time the 'suits' had finally got around to understanding how to control things; and that recording techniques were starting to allow that sort of sound where every space gets filled. And the colours of the early period got blended as synths replaced the range of sounds you could get out of steam driven instruments. That's probably not how it was at all; but from someone who came of age in Britain in 1970 that's how it appeared; 1973 was well inside the good times. [Health warning - beyond CSN&Y and Chicago my listening was almost exclusively domestic until mid-73. That summer was when I 'discovered' Dylan; and in a quite different direction, Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick. On the same day!] This was another nice one from '73: Doesn't have that fairytale magic that their three classics had but there were some good songs. Edited March 3, 2013 by A Lark Ascending Quote
JSngry Posted March 3, 2013 Report Posted March 3, 2013 Jazz albums released in 1973, per:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_in_jazz Sam Rivers: Streams Roland Kirk: Prepare Thyself To Deal With A Miracle Dollar Brand: Sangoma Art Ensemble of Chicago: Fanfare For The Warriors Don Cherry: Relativity Suite Cecil Taylor: Spring of Two Blue J's Keith Jarrett: Solo Concerts McCoy Tyner: Enlightnment Carla Bley: Tropic Appetites Dollar Brand: African Space Program Marion Brown: Geechee Recollections Herbie Hancock: Sextant Frank Wright: Church Number Nine Gato Barbieri: Latin America Frank Lowe: Black Beings Ralph Towner: Diary Dewey Redman: The Ear of the Behearer Eberhard Weber: The Colours of Chloë Roswell Rudd: Numatik Swing Band Oregon: Distant Hills Dollar Brand: African Portraits Weather Report: Sweetnighter David Liebman: Lookout Farm Oscar Peterson: Trio Cecil Taylor: Solo John Surman: Morning Glory Betty Carter: Album Mal Waldron: Up Popped the Devil Michael Mantler: No Answer Billy Cobham: Spectrum Herbie Hancock: Headhunters Spontaneous Music Ensemble: Mouthpiece Charles Earland: Leaving This Planet Flora Purim: Butterfly Dreams Herbie Hancock: Thrust Billy Cobham: Crosswinds Michael_Franks: Michael Franks The ones in red are ones that I would get exposed to in some form or fashion through through some combination of them being available in record stares, being played on the radio, getting pimped in DB through feature artist interviews, exciting reviews, and/or effective advertising somebody (often enough myself), buying them. And I don't think this list is complete by any means..no CTI, no Crusaders, no Gene Ammons *how is this possible?) no big bands. But a picture begins to develop of Impulse!, Fantasy/Prestige/Milestone, Atlantic, & Columbia getting their "message" out to a high school kid in semi-rural East Texas who had little more to a subscription to Down Beat, access to record stores that were serviced by these labels, and I realization that in less than a year I was gonna be outta there and into someplace new. Other than Steely Dan, "rock" was pretty much dead to my by 1973 as new music, but R&B was beginning to come alive all over again... Quote
Shawn Posted March 3, 2013 Report Posted March 3, 2013 (edited) I was only 3 in 1973, but since I've spent most of my adult life mining the treasures of the early 70s (always was and will be my favorite era of music) there are MANY albums from 1973 that I love. Free - Heartbreaker Deep Purple - Who Do Think We Are Blue Oyster Cult - Tyranny And Mutation Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies Camel - Camel Electric Light Orchestra - ELO2 Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon The Doobie Brothers - The Captain And Me King Crimson - Larks Tongues In Aspic Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy Beck, Bogart & Appice - Beck, Bogart & Appice Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds Of Fire David Bowie - Aladdin Sane Seals & Crofts - Diamond Girl Uriah Heep - Live Hawkwind - Space Ritual Wishbone Ash - Wishbone Four Yes - Yessongs Joe Walsh - The Smoker You Drink The Player You Get Budgie - Never Turn Your Back On A Friend Jethro Tull - A Passion Play Queen - Queen Carlos Santana & John McLaughlin - Love, Devotion, Surrender Mott The Hoople - Mott ZZ Top - Tres Hombres Genesis - Genesis Live Steely Dan - Countdown To Ecstasy 10cc - 10cc Stevie Wonder - Innervisions Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On The Rolling Stones - Goats Head Soup War - Deliver The Word Flash - Out Of Our Hands Buffalo - Volcanic Rock Thin Lizzy - Vagabonds Of The Western World Gentle Giant - In A Glass House Atomic Rooster - Nice 'N' Greasy Genesis - Selling England By The Pound Herbie Hancock - Headhunters The Who - Quadrophenia Billy Cobham - Spectrum John Prine - Sweet Revenge Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery Alice Cooper - Muscle Of Love Montrose - Montrose Mahavishnu Orchestra - Between Nothingness and Eternity Electric Light Orchestra - On The Third Day Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath Yes - Tales From Topographic Oceans Wishbone Ash - Live Dates Edited March 3, 2013 by Shawn Quote
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted March 3, 2013 Report Posted March 3, 2013 Nice thread 1973 was a pretty good year if you like soul jazz. But from the early lists, I have Stevie Wonder - Innervisions Bob Marley - Catch a fire James Brown - Black Caesar Charles Earland - Dynamite Brothers OST Funkadelic - Cosmic Slop O'Donel Levy - Simba Les McCann - Layers Jimmy McGriff & Richard Groove Holmes - Giants Of The Organ Come Together Ramon Morris - Sweet Sister Funk Pharaoh Sanders - Elevation Stanley Turrentine - Don't Mess With Mr. T Charles Earland - Leaving this planet Other wonderful stuff from '73 Maceo Parker - Us - People Harold Vick - The power of feeling - Muse Shirley Scott - Superstition - Cadet Blue Mitchell - Last tango = blues - Mainstream Jimmy POnder - While my guitar gently weeps- Cadet Mel Sparks - Texas twuster - Eastbound Gene Russell - Talk to my lady - Black Jazz George Freeman - New improved funk - Groove Merchant Illinois Jacquet & WIld Bill Davis - Illinois Jacquet with WIld Bill Davis - Black & Blue Dakota Staton - I want a country man - Groove Merchant Houston Person - The real thing - Eastbound Tiny Grimes - Profoundly blue - Muse Rusty Bryant - For the good times - Prestige Al Grey - Grey's mood - Black & Blue Bu Pleasant - Ms Bu - Muse Hank Crawford - Wildflower - Kudu BUddy Tate - and his buddies (inc ROy Eldridge, Mary Lou & Illinois) - Chiaroscuro Boogaloo Joe Jones - Black whip - Prestige Candy Johnson - Candy's mood - Black & Blue Gene Ammons - & friends at Montreux - Prestige Gene Ammons - In Sweden - Enja Arnett Cobb & Milt Buckner - Again with Milt - Black & Blue Don Patterson - These are soulful days - Muse Johnny Hammond Smith - Higher ground - Kudu Willis Jackson - West Africa - Muse Cornell DUpree - Teasin' - Atlantic Gene Ammons & Sonny Stiff - Together again for the last time - Prestige (I'm dating these by recording dates, not issue dates, which I don't know.) MG Quote
robertoart Posted March 3, 2013 Report Posted March 3, 2013 I was just learning to form coherent sentences and play air guitar. Quote
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