Once a year I try to put together yet another list.
Today’s list celebrates the 50th anniversary release of some of the greatest albums ever produced. In 1973, The Vietnam War ended. Spiro T Agnew gets tossed. The country is dealing with The Watergate Scandal and Pink Floyd releases Dark Side of The Moon.
Dark Side of the Moon. May be the best album albums ever released and it had such staying power that it was on the Billboard Album charts for 736 consecutive weeks and was on the charts for over a 1,000 weeks total. Top that Taylor Swift! Not much to add about this one.
Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd by Lynyrd Skynyrd is another great album and one of my all time favorites. This little ole band from Jacksonville Florida changed rock and roll music the day this album was released. Sure, there were bands from the South that could play some great rock and roll. Bands like The Allman Brothers and The Charlie Daniels Band were popular but I think that the release of this album opened up the doors for so many other Southern rock bands that that alone should make it worthy of being included. However, if you listen to the album, there isn’t one weak song in it. No filler here. Forget “Free Bird”, ”Tuesday’s Gone” and “Simple Man” are the true gems on this album.
Quadrophenia by The Who is, in my humble opinion, a masterpiece. It is way better than Tommy and still holds up after the thousands of times I have listened to it. It is a real Rock Opera and not some silly story about a deaf dumb and blind kid. It is broken up into for parts and each part is interconnected with the other three parts. The album is a gritty picture of England in the late 60’s early 70’s and it is one of the few albums ever released that should only be listened to in order, the way Townsend put it on vinyl. The production, arrangements, Daltrey’s voice, everything is perfect.
Tres Hombres by ZZ Top is included here because it is a fantastic album. A perfect example of what ZZ Top was all about. Blues, rock, Texas Twang, you name it, this album has it. I used to love ZZ Top until I saw them at the Beacon Theater years ago. They could have been animatronic Disney machines up there. They played the hits, did nothing to separate the performance from the album versions and just looked like they dialed it in. The review in the NYTimes was gushing and I am like, was this guy not at the show? Anyway, this album only has one weak tract, “Sheik” and that could be because I just don’t like the song.
Dixie Chicken by Little Feat. This album is the exception on this list. No one could consider this a great album but it was solid. I wouldn’t put this album in the top 100 or even the top 300 albums but it is one of my all time favorite records. It introduced me to Little Feat and since I was in love with Linda Ronstadt at the time and she was tight with the band it all worked. The title track is still one of my favorite songs ever and “Fat Man in the Bathtub” is a classic. There are filler songs here and if you were going to go out and buy a Little Feat album, I would recommend Waiting For Columbus, their great live album.
The Smoker you Drink, The Player you Get by Joe Walsh is another great album that is overshadowed by an FM Staple. Yes, this album has “Rocky Mountain Way” but it also has “Meadows” and “Dreams”. While the title only makes sense to Walsh, the artwork on the cover pretty much explains it all. Walsh is truly an icon. He is a guitar players guitar player and he has a sense of humor. Rarely do you see such talent attached to someone who can laugh at himself as much as laugh at the World around him.
Brothers and Sisters by The Allman Brothers Band had to be one of the hardest records the band ever recorded. Duane Allman died in 1971 and Berry Oakley died as the band was beginning to record this record. Yes, Eat a Peach was released after Duane’s death but it was a mixed bag. Live tracks with some stuff they had doe prior to Duanes untimely death. Brothers and Sisters was the first album released of new material and it was tremendous. Honestly, I can not listen to “Jessica” or “Rambling Man” again. I have heard those two songs more than any two songs in history but put on “Wasted Words” and I am all in. Let me hear Dicky Betts on “Southbound” with a side of Chuck Leavell on Piano.
This might be a weaker entry here but I think Marshall Tucker’s self titled debut album should be included. With the release of Skynryd’s debut album, The Marshall Tucker Band really solidified Southern Rock as a viable, sellable genre. Besides that impact, this album is excellent and it shows the talent that this band had. Every track is good and what group of redneck hippies would ever include a flute on many of their songs. Tucker did.
Bruce Springsteen in 1973 was a rising rock and roll star and many in the industry knew his potential but his first release, Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ, had underwhelming sales, at first. Critics welcomed this new voice and sound and I include it here as well as The Wild, The Innocent and The E Street Shuffle because it showed the brilliance of Bruce Springsteen. Here is a guy that has unreal expectations as far as where he is headed and he doesn’t sit back and soak up the accolades, he goes out tour incessantly and he is in the studio non stop and produces one of his best albums. Greetings is very good but The Wild, Innocent and the E Street Shuffle is classic. To release two great albums in one year is not unprecedented (CCR did it, twice) but to release two groundbreaking albums in one year is. Greetings is worth buying just to listen to “Spirit in the Night” and every song on The Wild The Innocent And The E Street Shuffle is classic. Imagine, all of this and he hasn’t released Born to Run yet
You did a Great job traveling though the south. And I agree with the Taylor shot;)
I have to admit, Springsteen, in my eyes sucks, BUT, as I said I have to admit, those were two Excellent albums that I've forgot about. Again, Great job for the weekend listening pleasure.