Spotify playlist: http://bit.ly/468F7tz

September 4, 1970

GET YER YA-YA'S OUT!
The Rolling Stones

Incredible reviews, a disappointing listen.

"Live at Leeds" came out earlier in the year and was instantly labeled the greatest live album ever...assuming you don't care about crowd noise, because there was none. You got plenty of crowd noise on "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out," but what was surprising was how rough the band was.

The Stones were mostly seen as a singles act prior to "Beggars Banquet." But even though that album contains "Sympathy for the Devil," there was such a bad taste in the public's mouth after "Their Satanic Majesties Request" that there was not instant mass adoption of what was considered a masterpiece then and now. Furthermore, it was earthy as opposed to in your face, as if the Stones had licked their wounds and were making an album for themselves, in a studio cut off from the world of stardom.

HOWEVER, "Let It Bleed" began the sales juggernaut. There were no singles, but if you purchased the album you were wowed. It was slick where "Beggars Banquet" was rough. But as big as it was... Not every ticket was sold for the fall '69 tour of America. The mania didn't really start until the spring of '71, when "Sticky Fingers" came out and "Brown Sugar" was ubiquitous. But in between those two albums we got this live LP.

Now at this point, there's an extended version with a ton more tracks available on streaming services. But if you focus on the original ten cuts...it's the two Chuck Berry covers that stick out, most especially "Carol," however "Little Queenie" is pretty good. There's a cool descending riff in the instrumental section of "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Honky Tonk Women" was okay, but this was the kind of album you bought and played, waiting for its greatness to be revealed, and when it wasn't, you didn't play it a hell of a lot more.

Now the truth is the Stones have always been rough live, sans hard drives more of a bar band that eventually locks into the groove. But having said that, they're presently playing better than they ever have. Next time through you should go, because we are getting to the point where this could truly be the last time.

September 14, 1970

UNTITLED
The Byrds

Great reviews, but Crosby was gone and was part of the CSNY juggernaut and Gene Clark and Michael Clarke and Chris Hillman were gone too. This was more of a Roger McGuinn solo album. But the band did feature Clarence White, whom insiders knew, but was only truly appreciated after his tragic death.

However, this is the album that contains "Chestnut Mare."

Yet only one person in my dorm owned this two LP set and we can say that ultimately McGuinn and the Byrds had trouble transitioning from the sixties into the seventies.

September 18, 1970

KILN HOUSE
Fleetwood Mac

The first post Peter Green album. They were a cult item in the U.S. but you did hear "Station Man" on the radio, and I always loved it.

Of course "Station Man"'s magic was enhanced by Christine McVie's vocal, even though she was not yet an official member of the group.

Fleetwood Mac built up a presence, especially with "Heroes Are Hard to Find," but no one would be talking about them today if the group didn't reconstitute itself with Stevie and Lindsey thereafter.

September 18, 1970

PARANOID
Black Sabbath

At the time the band was considered sludge rubbish by the cognoscenti and didn't get much radio play. This was a band that was ultimately built by the fans, who heard the music and spread the word. But at this point, the word had not spread too far. It wasn't like the band didn't exist, you were aware that "Paranoid" had come out, but all the critics, who still had power, especially in a world where you had limited funds and could not hear most records without buying them, said no and most abstained, at this point anyway.

September 19, 1970

PERFORMANCE

I bought this soundtrack LP for "Memo from Turner," featuring Ry Cooder's slide.

That's how it was back then, certain tracks were rare and you bought the albums to be able to hear them.

As good as "Memo from Turner" was and still is...the rest of the album didn't require more than one or two listens.

September 19, 1970

AFTER THE GOLD RUSH
Neil Young

I bought it the day it came out because that's how much I loved the highlights of "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere," most especially "Down by the River."

But "After the Gold Rush" was different. More subtle.

The country affect of "Tell Me Why"...most rock listeners had not cottoned to this sound, despite "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" and the Burritos...but they dropped the needle on the first side and came to know it.

When Neil sang "the 1970s" in the title track it was akin to an act naming your hometown from the stage. You have no idea of the weirdness of 1970. Never mind Kent State, this was a new decade. The sixties were over. What did the future portend? Turned out a licking of one's wounds and a return to the land, and this album was a perfect soundtrack for that.

No one ever talks about the brief side closers, "Till the Morning Comes" and "Cripple Creek Ferry," but they are killers.

But my favorite track was second on the second side, "Don't Let It Bring You Down," fantastic.

But really, as time went by, what I played most came two tracks later, "When You Dance I Can Really Love," which truly rocked. The antithesis of the mellowness of so much of the album.

I vacillate between saying the debut or "After the Gold Rush" is better. "After the Gold Rush" is more consistent, but the intro of "Emperor of Wyoming" sets the debut in its own environment, far from the city. And then comes "The Loner" and "I've Been Waiting for You"...FOR SUCH A LONG TIME! And you have no idea what it was like to hear "The Last Trip to Tulsa" on underground FM radio for the very first time.

P.S. As big as "Southern Man" was, it truly became legendary when Lynyrd Skynyrd referenced it in "Sweet Home Alabama."

September 23, 1970

ABRAXAS
Santana

Eagerly anticipated after the Woodstock movie, this album was a huge seller and is still the best thing Santana has ever done. Most people did not know that the single "Black Magic Woman" was originally a Fleetwood Mac song, and the cover of "Oye Cómo Va" is definitive, but really it's the quieter numbers that create such a unique listening experience, like the opener "Singing Winds, Crying Beasts" and "Incident at Neshabur." Having said that, my favorite tracks are those of Gregg Rolie on the second side, most especially "Mother's Daughter" and "Hope You're Feeling Better." "Abraxas" truly stands the test of time.

September 23, 1970

IDLEWILD SOUTH
The Allman Brothers

Almost no one knew who the Allman Brothers were unless they'd seen them live. The original album is great, but it suffered from Adrian Barber's production, it lacked a certain zing. However, the debut did contain "Trouble No More" and "Dreams" and the original five minute version of "Whipping Post."

If you heard "Idlewild South" on the radio at all, they played the cheery opening track, "Revival," which truly wasn't representative of the rest of the album, never mind the band. "Idlewild South" started to gain traction at the end of 1970 into the beginning of 1971, once you heard "Midnight Rider" and "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" you were a fan. As for everybody else...

Bill Graham made the Allmans the closing act at the Fillmore East, which is like...I can't think of an adequate comparison. A band that plays theatres at best getting the best slot. And then came "Fillmore East" in the summer. But really, most people, the average citizen, didn't get into the Allman Brothers until "Brothers and Sisters" and "Ramblin' Man."

As for the title... The airport had been called Kennedy for years by this point, the use of "Idlewild" was retro and notable.

P.S. In 1973, after the Allmans had left their mark, Atlantic released "Beginnings," comprised of the two initial albums, that's how much they were ignored/unknown. But I didn't realize until this very moment that Tom Dowd remixed the debut for this package.

September 25, 1970

BEAUCOUPS OF BLUES
Ringo Starr

A ton of press, you'd see it in the bins, but I don't know a single person who bought it. To this day I'm not sure I've heard it.

September 25, 1970

MAD SHADOWS
Mott the Hoople

All the hype was about the first album and its instrumental cover of "You Really Got Me." When that failed commercially, the following three albums, which are viewed positively today might as well not have come out...did you know anybody who purchased them when they were released?

September 30, 1970

JOHNNY WINTER AND
Johnny Winter

Johnny Winter had tons of hype and the public didn't buy it. There was not a specific track that drew people in and... It's hard to perceive the era if you weren't there. Music dominated the culture, press was important, you could hype something but that did not mean it sold. But after two Columbia albums, Johnny Winter formed a band with Rick Derringer, who brought along "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo," which the public could understand with one listen, which they got, because radio played it consistently. Johnny didn't return to his blues roots fully until later, after a few hit rock albums.

September 30, 1970

RUNT
Todd Rundgren

A veritable unknown, Todd was the mastermind behind Nazz, but although he wrote the songs, it was Stewkey who sang the slowed down original version of "Hello It's Me."

After the failure of that band Todd began a career behind the console and ultimately showed up as the engineer of the Band's third album, "Stage Fright," which was astounding if you were a fan.

Managed by Albert Grossman, Todd got the right to record a solo album. However, Grossman's label Bearsville was distributed by Ampex, which felt it could diversify into the record business. Ultimately it couldn't. In time Bearsville made a deal with Warner Bros., but before that Todd put out two LPs with Ampex and they were almost universally unavailable. In fact, you couldn't truly buy them until they were dumped as cut-outs when Ampex failed. Which is how I bought this album and the second, "The Ballad of Todd Rundgren," which to this day most people have never heard, even though it is Todd's best work.

As for Todd's solo debut...

There were two versions and the whole thing was an abortion. However, "Runt" did contain "We Gotta Get You a Woman." Despite the rewriting of history, the truth was "We Gotta Get You a Woman," despite being a fantastic track, was not anywhere close to a hit, you were lucky if you even heard it on the radio once.

As for the rest of the album? More than listenable, some quasi-memorable tracks, but the sound was thin and the stuff that came out thereafter was far superior. But if you're interested in the history, where Todd came from...

Meanwhile, we couldn't believe that Soupy Sales's kids were the rhythm section, we thought they were a joke, this legitimized them.


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