Half century old and still great

One could argue the two year period of 1971 and 1972 saw some of the greatest music ever written, at least as far as rock and roll is considered. Some might point to the mid-fifties, or the British Invasion years, but the complexity, variety, and long-term popularity of some of the music of this era dictates otherwise. Oh, for sure there was some awful stuff too. A quick perusal of the top 100 songs from 1971 will give you a sampling of the very worst in 1970’s pop.*  But the albums released fifty years ago remain the foundation of classic rock.**

Why is that? It could be that the newly popular format of FM radio allowed artists to get away from the classic three minute single that dominated the airwaves for the previous fifty years. It could be that technology allowed for not only better sound, but better recording. It could be that the  artists and bands that had been making music for a decade or more at that point had matured past the standard four chord blues into other more interesting stuff. Perhaps it was culture that drove music into a new direction. 

In any case the year of 1971 gave us both the awful “Go away little girl” and the magnificent “Low spark of high heeled boys”. ‘71 grove us some of the all-time great country songs too: from “Man in Black” to “Coalminers daughter”.

I readily confess I was just a boy in the year 1971. Nine year old me was far more interested in hearing selections from Disney soundtracks than “Riders on the Storm”. Yet somehow the music from that year has come to dominate my musical playlists. I have owned a significant number of the albums released that year in vinyl, cd, and digital formats. 

For the next however long I want to do it, I’m going to feature songs from 1971. Like ‘em or not. Listen or not. It is a free will blog here. But in the end I think you will agree that I am right. 1971 was one of the greatest musical years ever. 

We will start with what may be the most famous rock song from the era:

And one of my favorite songs of all time:

*see what I mean?

**see what I mean?