John Prine’s First Album and Others Make 1971 a Stellar Year – at least for me!!
There were many great albums released in 1971, but, only a few of the commercially successful albums made their way into my vinyl collection.However, a lot of the less commercially successful albums did! Even back then, the music that I sought out and enjoyed was from the albums and artists whose albums, if they were on the charts, weren’t at the top! So let’s take a look at some of the big albums and then some not so big ones, that have been favorites of mine over the years!!
The year 1971 saw the formation of the Eagles, Foghat,Loggins & Messina, Paul McCartney & Wings, Roxy Music and the Ne York Dolls. While Booker T and the MGs, Derek and the Dominoes, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, and The Monkees called it quits!
Here are a few interesting happenings from 1971….
August 1 – The Concert for Bangladesh at Madison Square Garden, New York, starring George Harrison, Ravi Shankar, Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan and Leon Russell; also featuring Billy Preston, Eric Clapton, Jesse Ed Davis and Badfinger.
November 8 – Led Zeppelin release officially untitled fourth studio album, which would become the biggest-selling album of the year (1972), the band’s biggest-selling album, and the fourth best-selling album of all time.
December 4 – The Montreux Casino in Montreux, Switzerland, catches fire and burns during a performance by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention when a fan fires a flare gun into its rafters. Members of Deep Purple, who were due to begin recording at the casino the next day, watched the scene from their hotel across Lake Geneva, and later immortalized the events in their song, “Smoke on the Water”.
The following is a tabulation of the top albums and artists of 1971
| 1971 No 1 Albums | |
| All Things Must Pass | George Harrison |
| Pearl * | Janis Joplin |
| 4 Way Street | Crosby, Stills Nash,Young |
| Sticky Fingers | Rolling Stones |
| Tapestry ** | Carol King |
| Every Picture Tells a Story | Rod Stewart |
| Imagine | John Lennon |
| Shaft | Issac Hayes |
| Jesus Christ Superstar | Soundtrack |
| Santana III | Santana |
| There’s a Riot Goin’ On | Sly & the Family Stone |
| * Year End Rank No 1 | |
| **Year End Rank No 2 | |
| Other Top Albums | |
| Chicago III | Chicago |
| The Yes Album | Yes |
| Mudslide Slim and the Blue Horizon | James Taylor |
| Aqualung | Jethro Tull |
| LA Woman | Doors |
| The Doobie Brothers | Doobie Brothers |
| Tarkus | Emerson Lake and Palmer |
| Blue | joni Mitchell |
| At the Filmore East | Allman Brothers |
| Every Good Boy Deserves Favor | Moody Blues |
| Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol 2 | Bob Dylan |
| Madman Across the Water | Elton John |
| Teaser and the Firecat | Cat Stevens |
| American Pie | Don McLean |
| Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy | The Who |
| Led Zeppelin IV | Led Zeppelin |
| Master of Reality | Black Sabbath |
| Rgranddad’s Favorites from 1971 | |
| Deliverin’ | Poco |
| Long Player | Faces |
| Back to the Roots | John Mayall |
| Moments | Boz Scaggs |
| Poems Prayers and Promises | John Denver |
| Cheapo-Cheapo Productions Present | |
| John Sebastian | John Sebastian |
| Leon Russell and the Shelter People | Stranger in a Strange Land |
| How Come the Sun | Tom Paxton |
| New Riders of the Purple Sage | New Riders of the Purple Sage |
| White Light | Gene Clark |
| Aero-Plain | John Hartford |
| Welcome to the Canteen | Traffic |
| Tupelo Honey | Van Morrison |
| A Nod is As Good as a Wink to a Blind Horse | Faces |
| Aerie | John Denver |
| Good & Dusty | The Youngbloods |
| Ride the Wind | The Youngbloods |
| Liv | Livingston Taylor |
| John Prine | John Prine |
| Isle of View | Jimmie Spheeris |
| The Silver Tongue Devil & I | Kris Kristofferson |
| One Fine Morning | Lighthouse |
| Jonathan Edwards | Jonathan Edwards |
| Year of Sunday | Seals & Crofts |
| Boz Scaggs & Band | Boz Scaggs |
| If Only I Could Remember My Name | David Crosby |
| Blessed Are | Joan Baez |
The first section shows the albums that occupied the No 1 position on Billboard’s Top 200 during 1971. The No 1 album on the Year-End Chart was Janis Joplin’s Pearl. At No 2 was Carole King’s Tapestry. The following section lists many other top albums of 1971. The last section tabulates some of my favorite albums from 1971.
My favorite album from the list of my favorites is John Prine’s self-titled debut album.What a masterful album that was many of the songs on the album constantly play on the jukebox in my head!! The two little known albums that are among my all-time favorites are White Light from Gene Clark, formerly of The Byrds and Jimmie Spheeris Isle of View (go ahead say the title three times fast!) But all of the albums that are listed as my favorites have stood the test of time and I can play any of them and enjoy them as much today as I did back, when they were new and I was young!!
Ok so how do the two years that I have covered so far rank.Overall, I’d have to rank 1970 ahead of 1971 for the majority of music fans, but for me the presence of John Prine’s debut album and other albums released in 1971 puts 1971 in the lead!!
To Check out which of YOUR Favorite albums that were released in 1971 that I may have left out, you can see the full list here at W
How about some music from Jimmie Spheeris – Here’s “I am the Mercury” from Isle of View
