Lindisfarne: “Nicely Out of Tune”

Released: December 1970
In a Line: glorious debut from Newcastle folk rock legendsTop Track: “Lady Eleanor”
Cover Art: unremarkably orangey
I’ll give it: an earthy 10

My earliest memory of Lindisfarne is the Top of the Pops performance of “Meet me on the Corner”. Even to a 7 year old the song and the engaging performance struck a chord, then there was “Fog on the Tyne”, “Lady Eleanor” and then nothing til 1978. They did release the “Dingley Dell” album which seemed to please no one in between times but it was still all very short lived.

I only found out later that “Lady Eleanor” was a re-release from 1970 and it’s the opening track on this, their debut album. It’s a perfect song from the slow build up of acoustic guitar through to the powerful chorus. The rest of the album – simply brilliant. “Road to Kingdom Come” is an uptempo singalong in Faces/Band territory, while “A Winter Song” is a hard hitting political ballad not out of place in 21^st century austerity. The band sound their best doing the big singalong tracks – “Turn a Deaf Ear”, “We Can Swing Together” would be live favourites and sound as fresh 56 years later.

Elsewhere we have a mix of almost prog-like folk along with bluegrass and a folk sensibility more approaching Americana than the English sound of Fairport Convention or Steeleye Span.

Perhaps the closest English equivalent to The Band, Lindisfarne were a breath of fresh air and one of the greatest crowd pleasers of the era – but like the Band, it didn’t end well – splits and differences, unfulfilled potential and a limited discography but like The Band created a few early albums that are musically excellent with a sound and spirit that warms the soul.

 

Info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicely_Out_of_Tune

Listen: https://open.spotify.com/album/7coSsrvHFN00hOGZ01CHX0

Jimmy Webb: “Words and Music”

Released: October 1970
In a Line: engaging theatrical album from established young songwriter
Top Track: “PF Sloan”
Cover Art: quality portrait of young Jimmy
I’ll give it: an intriguing 8

 

Jimmy Webb – 24 years old in 1970 and already a successful writer of the likes of “McArthur Park”, “Galveston”, “Up up and away” and more.  This was effectively his solo debut, after a disputed earlier release and it’s an engaging if a bit of an incomplete success.

It starts superbly – “Sleepin’  in the Daytime” is a winning uptempo opener and it’s followed by “PF Sloan”, a songwriter’s song about a songwriter and the album’s highlight, a delightful underplayed country rock track.

A big ballad “Love Song” is up next and the album starts to move into a more musical theatre vibe.  You could imagine these songs in a big West End production especially Psalm 1-5-0 and “Song Seller”.  They are structurally complex, have changing tempos and while the album loses a bit for these ears, there’s no mistaking the quality of the writing and Jimmy’s vocal performance.  He may not have had the most distinctive voice, but he’s an effective deliverer of his own material.  “Dorothy Chandler Blues” is a bit of a naff rock n roll song while “Jerusalem” and “Once Before I Die” ger back in musical mode.  Oddly there’s a medley of covers including “Let it be me” and the Monkees’ “I Wanna be free” performed in stage stylee with his sister Susan.  On paper that should have no place on a decent rock album but it works.  And that’s the album in a nutshell for me – in less competent hands and a far less assured writer, this wouldn’t have gotten a second play but it’s an enjoyable listen and the melodies and the harmonies don’t fail to raise a smile.

And “PF Sloan” is one of the best songs of the year. For me, one of 1970’s surprise packages.

Info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Words_and_Music_(Jimmy_Webb_album)

Listen: https://open.spotify.com/album/2BuiZj8F6Cslsja6UNx68f

Genesis: “Trespass”

Released: October 1970
In a Line: the beautiful first foray into prog territory from young public schoolers
Top Track: “Stagnation”
Cover Art: very early Genesis – no foxes in dresses yet.
I’ll give it: an I’ve-always-loved-this 10

Most of the albums posted here have been either first time listens for this project or revisiting some partially known works.  “Trespass” is an album I’ve known and loved most of my life and it stands up with the best of this and any other year.

It was the band’s 2nd album after their Jonathan King-produced debut and their 2nd lineup.  While Steve Hackett and Phil Collins would subsequently give a much greater dynamism and depth to the group, the Genesis sound is clearly here with Peter Gabriel and Tony Banks easily stealing the show.  Gabriel’s vocal style and ethereal lyrics come to the fore (with very understated 1970 fluting..) and Banks leads the musical structure with delightful keyboard riffs and those big Genesis chords.  The rest of the band don’t do too bad either, but the Banks, Collins, Gabriel, Hackett, Rutherford lineup just has a far greater edge (no disrespect to John Mayhew or Ant Phillips)

The tracks themselves are winners – all six melodic yet complex prog numbers from a still very young band.  “Looking for Someone” is a big Track 1 Side 1 fulfilling the grand opening, while “White Mountain” and ‘Visions of Angels” give a mix of slow and uptempo changes across a broad musical landscape.

The there’s side 2.  “Stagnation” is a beautiful slow burner that builds up to a great instrumental climax.  “Dusk” is a much quieter affair with a delightful backing vocal and the twin acoustic guitar sound that would be common in future Genesis albums.

The big climax to the album is “The Knife”  A ten minute political prog rocker that doesn’t outstay its welcome.  Here’s an example where the guitar and drums are a wee bit stodgy – compared to the subsequent live version with Hackett and Collins but nonetheless it’s a great finish to a near-perfect album.

So the first real Genesis album in what we know the band would become and one of my all-time favourites.

Listen: https://open.spotify.com/album/0mKr6PDMuhTEWatlw5a4hl

Info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trespass_(album)

Neil Young: ” After the Gold Rush”

Released: September 1970
In a Line: sort of classic Neil Young but no Deja Vu
Top Track: “Southern Man”
Cover Art: cropped grab shot.  Really.
I’ll give it: a not-really-as-good-as-its-reputation 8

CSN&Y’s Deja Vu earlier in 1970 was a pretty impressive affair showcasing the diverse talents in one coherent performance.  This is a quieter Neil Young affair – his voice being a bit of an acquired taste – with a sparse production of few instruments.

It’s a fine album that doesn’t really reach the heights, it had mixed contemporary reviews but has developed an increased classic status over the years.  It starts modestly with “Tell me Why”, the title track and “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”and only kicks into gear with “Southern Man” where we hear the Neil Young we had come to expect.   It doesn’t last though  – the McCartney-esque “Til the Morning Comes” is a jaunty affair that doesn’t leave much of an impression.   “Oh Lonesome Me”, a cover, is a nice bit of country blues leading into “Don’t Let it Bring You Down” which like “Southern Man” is what you really had been wanted from this album.  It’s a great track and another album highlight.

“Birds” is best forgotten, but the rest of the album picks up and is a decent listen through to the folkish “Cripple Creek Ferry”.

And that was “After the Gold Rush”.  I expected a lot more – an album full of melodic rockers  – and it’s by no means a bad album, but just lacking a winning consistency and a bit thin in parts.

Info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/After_the_Gold_Rush

Listen: https://open.spotify.com/user/119450084/playlist/5NOqMw8VtNX9mw9NpoVt81

 

The Allman Brothers Band: “Idlewild South”

Released: September 1970
In a Line: a brief 30 minute twin-guitarred southern rockfest
Top Track: “Midnight Rider”
Cover Art: a decent photo
I’ll give it: a short and sweet 8 1/2 

If ever an album kicked off with a trademark sound, it’s the twin lead guitar spectacularly opening “Revival” which carries the song for a few minutes before morphing into an upbeat gospelesque 2nd half.  It’s a hell of a way to start an album.

“Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’ ” is bit more swampy but still more tuneful than the average blues before we have the top track “Midnight Rider”.  This is a delightful soulful rocker that hasn’t aged a day.

“In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” is a long instrumental with plenty of that signature twin lead and going a bit Santana in places.  An uptempo cover of Muddy Waters’ “Hoochie Coochie Man” follows – it’s ok, a bit generic for a blues cover.  “Please Call Home” slows thing down with a rootsy blues song that wouldn’t be out of place on a Band album.  “Leave my Blues at Home” finishes up by raising the tempo and ending with a running time of just 30 mins.

This is a fine album, albeit short, with some outstanding moments while managing to establish a trademark sound and feel which would appear on subsequent albums and on the forthcoming Eric Clapton collaboration.  Yet it falls slightly short with a wee bit of filler and a rather average cover.  Still the first three songs are near-perfect and this will give this album the lasting appeal it might otherwise have failed to do.

Info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idlewild_South

Listen: https://open.spotify.com/album/5mBMviB4ftgktdqYMJPwGS

Mott the Hoople: “Mad Shadows”

Released: September 1970
In a Line: decent 2nd album from pre-glam-Bowie-related-success era
Top Track: “No Wheels to Ride”
Cover Art: shadowly maddish
I’ll give it: a not-yet-glamtastic solid 7

Mott the Hoople were still a few years away from their glam associated success built on the strength of the Bowie written “All the Young Dudes”.  This, their 2nd album was an unsucessful and unloved effort, but it has aged well and is a surprisingly good listen.

It kicks off powerfully with “Thunderbuck Ram” complete with a quiet piano/guitar intro before launching into a heavy group performance.  Ian Hunter’s voice is actually the weak link in the mix, I find it a bit characterless in tone – but, hey he’s the main song writer and on “No Wheels to Ride” he gives a full-on rock ballad which the albums’ strongest.  “Your One of Us” continues in this vein and three tracks in your starting to feel this is a bit of an epic album.

Then they go a bit Quo (without the charm) on “Walkin with a Mountain” and you’re reaching for the skip button.

“I Can Feel” slows things down again but it’s less impressive than the opening tracks.  “Threads of Iron” takes things uptempo again but in a good singalong way and we finish with another big ballad “When My Mind’s Gone”.

And that’s the album over – very listenable, well performed, clearly led by Ian Hunter in writing and style – but it’s not the most memorable nor does it have feelgood factor or some element where you want to play it over and over.  It’s certainly a professional job and the big league was only a few years away but as competent as this is, it’s not really for me.

Info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Shadows_(album)

Listen: https://open.spotify.com/album/4xO87am0h6AWw8hI8fPOK0

Black Sabbath: “Paranoid”

Released: September 1970
In a Line: not-in-the-slightest-bit-difficult 2nd album from Sabbath
Top Track: “Paranoid”
Cover Art: sort of war pig
I’ll give it: a best-sabbath-album-in-8-months 10

Sabbath released their first album in Feb 1970 and it was a super effort.  Eight months later, this slightly tops it and is one of the best examples of riff driven heavy metal you could hear.

There are probably 4 classic standout tracks – the remaining four just merely very good.  Things kick off with “War Pigs”  – a super anti-war song with great performances from the whole band.  Tracks like “Iron Man” and “Hand of Doom” are large scale heavy metal epics while “Planet Caravan” is a psychedelic acoustic song that fits in nicely to the otherwise riff heavy feel.

The title track as well as being a heavy metal classic is also a great pop song having charted in 1970 and several re-releases.  It’s one of the shorter tracks on the album but it’s a near prefect example of what a basic guitar,drums, bass, vocal lineup can create.

Sabbath would continue this run of classic albums for the rest of the decade.  They were still in their early 20s when this came out but it has a maturity with the dark theatrical mood of the songs.  Ozzy sounded great, Geezer Butler wrote all the lyrics, some now iconic in the lexicon of rock and the  rhythm and riffs are sublime throughout.  Often accused by moral majority types in the 70s and 80s of satanic influences and usually declared perennially unfashionable and written off outside of heavy metal circles, this was a band ahead of its time who created a masterpiece with their 2nd album of the year.

Info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoid_(album)

Listen: https://open.spotify.com/album/7DBES3oV6jjAmWob7kJg6P

 

The Rolling Stones: “Get yer Ya-Ya’s Out: The Rolling Stones in Concert”

Released: September 1970
In a Line: Stones’ equal response to Live at Leeds
Top Track: “Midnight Rambler”
Cover Art: Charlie and a donkey.  Art.
I’ll give it: a their best live album 10

Recorded live in New York and Baltimore in 1969 (with minimal overdubs) this is an epic live performance by The Stones that bridges the end of the 60s, the Decca albums and Altamont with the new self-named logo’d albums starting with Sticky Fingers.

Like The Who’s Live at Leeds, this is a no-frills high energy live recording of a band at it’s best.  The recording is clean, the band sounding as tight as a unit could be and the selection of songs covers the best of the recent Let it Bleed and Beggars Banquet albums, the hit single “Jumpin Jack Flash” and a nod to their roots with a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Carol” originally on their debut album.

From start to finifh, there’s not a wasted note with some versions better than the originals.  “Stray Cat Blues” is a leaner blues rock song live as is “Sympathy for the Devil” when shorn of the studio percussion and excessive woo-hooos.

Star of the show is Mick Taylor – the ‘quiet Stone’ and Brian Jones’ replacement.  This is his first fully fledged album, have a lesser role on “Let it Bleed” but nonetheless adding a new dimension to the guitar sound and providing an integral part of the lineup producing the band’s best run of albums from 1969 to 1972.

They were about to enter their new phase of tax exile’d jetsetters on their own label but this serves as a reminder of the status they had acquired as the world’s greatest rock n’ roll band and sounds as fresh today as in 1970.

Info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_Yer_Ya-Ya%27s_Out!_The_Rolling_Stones_in_Concert

Listen: https://open.spotify.com/album/3Qv9CpK8c1bHQDLGY3q5DX

 

Status Quo: “Ma Kelly’s Greasy Spoon”

Released: August 1970
In a Line: Proto Quo boogie evolution
Top Track: “Daughter”
Cover Art: Ma Kelly havin’ a feg.
I’ll give it: still an album or two to go 7

By 1972/73 Quo were a bit of institution with a sound and style that would do for the next 4 decades. This third album marked the departure from the previous psychedelic poppy sound (that Matchstick Men aside was going nowhere) and the start of the harder rock 12 bar approach they would eventually refine to a trademark sound.

The album starts off strongly with “Spinning Wheel Blues” – a sign of things to come with a catchy 12 bar blue rocker. “Daughter” is a harder rock song with great keyboards and a poppy chorus. After a few repeated plays it’s impact grows and it’s probably the strongest track on the album. “Everything” is an attempt at a slow acoustic-with-strings number, the equivalent of a “Yesterday” or “As Tears Go By” – except that it’s not very good. And decidedly not very Quo.

Thank Goodness for “Shy Fly” to get things going again with a harder rock riff driven song, albeit with shite lyrics. It has however an epic chorus.

“(April) Spring, Summer and Wednesdays” is an ok-ish slower blues rock song while “Junior’s Wailing” gives Rick Parfitt a lead vocal on a typical 12-bar blues. “Lakky Lady” is a surprisingly good acoustic rocker with a funkier edge before “Need Your Love” returns to a harder sound.

“Lazy Poker Blues’ is a bit of blues filler before the album ends with the 9 minute long “Is It really me” where Quo meets The Doors. Probably 6 minutes too long.

And that’s the embryonic Quo of things to come. It’s not a bad album with a few excellent tracks coupled with some filler and one out and out weak track. But overall it’s not bad for a band still finding their sound and the reissue has the single “Down the Dustpipe” and the unusual “Gerdundula”, a favourite from my childhood. It misses greatness by quite a distance but it’s a fine work-in-progress effort. And it’s the Quo.

Info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma_Kelly%27s_Greasy_Spoon

Listen: https://open.spotify.com/album/3NPoqpUNfO6NVspWb4lM7O

Stevie Wonder: “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours”

Released: August 1970
In a Line: Stevie Wonder’s contribution to Motown’s evolution
Top Track: “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours”
Cover Art: overly literal
I’ll give it: a Motowntastic 9

Motown albums were often a collection of a few singles and a pile of filler. However as the likes of Marvin Gaye and Smokie Robinson were developing into more creative album artists, Stevie Wonder established himself as a progressive force on the label with increasing creative freedom and moving from his Little Stevie 60s persona to a major musical presence in the 70s.

This is a super sounding album, loaded with familiar tunes. “Never Had a Dream Come True” is the big Side1 Track 1, a delightful swinging pop number. It’s followed by that staple of solo albums – a McCartney song from the Beatles catalogue and “We Can Work it out” is particularly suited to the Motown sound.

The title track is an absolute classic, a perfect blend of pop and a harder funk sound. I’m not one to judge a song for danceability, but this is off the scale and a contender for track of the year. Then in total contrast, “Heaven Help us all” – written by Motown writer Ron Miller, is a beautiful gospel sounding song with lyrics reflecting the turbulent years of the preceding decade. After that it’s uptempo funk again – “You Can’t judge a book by its cover” more a taste of the Stevie Wonder to come in a few years time.

After this blistering start, things go a bit generic – or maybe it’s just the incredible standard of the first 15 minutes of the album. “Sugar” is a listenable pop song, “Don’t Wonder Why” a big ballad and “Anything You Want Me To Do” is a typical Motown song. Nothing wrong with these, but just a noticable notch down from the first 5 songs.

“I Can’t Let My Heaven Walk Away” takes things uptempo again and breathes a bit of life into things and stops the album from flagging. It also has a trademark harmonica break – and it’s followed by “Joy” giving more 70s funk than 60s pop. The album finishes on an even keel with the Marvin Gaye-esque “I Gotta Have a Song” and the big Motown sounding “Something to Say”.

It’s a fine album, only dipping in the middle due to the amazing standard elsewhere but has no duff tracks or filler. And it established Stevie Wonder as an artist with so much more to offer than the Motown hit factory. And – just to recap – the title track is one of the greatest things ever.

Info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signed,_Sealed_%26_Delivered

Listen: https://open.spotify.com/album/4QxPK644Vy4FQrtMF90CMe