.
This is when music really mattered.
Since we all got our music from basically just one source, the radio, EVERYONE knew the hits.
Now, 50+ years later, music comes from many diverse and non-overlapping sources,
so there will never, EVER be a hit as pervasive and well known as, say, American Pie.
1969 was an incredible year with, among other classic albums released:
The Who - Tommy
Crosby, Stills & Nash - CSN
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Frank Zappa - Hot Rats
King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King
Led Zeppelin - LZ I
Led Zeppelin - LZ II
MC5 - Kick Out The Jams
Sly & The Family Stone - Stand!
Neil Young - Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica
Fairport Convention - Liege & Lief
and 1971
was fantastic for singles (see way at the bottom for a list)
My Sweet Lord
Imagine
Maggie May
Brown Sugar
Ain't No Sunshine
American Pie
Black Magic Woman
Joy to the World
What's Goin On
And some albums that came out in 1971 include:
Yes - The Yes Album
Led Zeppelin - 4
Jethro Tull - Aqualung
Paul McCartney - Ram
The Who - Who's
Carole King - Tqpestry
But 1972 tops them all for albums!
If you were listening to the radio in 1972
(both Top 40 AM, and the more free-wheeling FM stations)
this is what you were hearing.
titles in bold are personal favorites
titles with * are important lesser known releases
| Alice Cooper | School’s Out |
| The Allman Brothers | Eat a Peach |
| Aphrodite’s Child | *666 |
| The Band | Rock of Ages |
| Black Sabbath | Vol. 4 | Blue Oyster Cult | Blue Oyster Cult | David Bowie | Ziggy Stardust | Can | *Ege Bamyasai | Jimmy Cliff | The Harder They Come | Jim Croce | You Don’t Mess Around With Jim | Miles Davis | On the Corner | Deep Purple | Made in Japan | Deep Purple | Machine Head | John Denver | Rocky Mountain High | Neil Diamond | Hot August Night | Doobie Brothers | Toulouse Street | Nick Drake | *Pink Moon | Eagles | Eagles | Emerson, Lake, and Palmer | Trilogy | Fleetwood Mac | Bare Trees | Foghat | Foghat | Genesis | Foxtrot | Gentle Giant | Three Friends | Gentle Giant | *Octopus | Grateful Dead | Europe ’72 | Al Green | Let’s Stay Together | Jimi Hendrix | In the West | Jimi Hendrix | War Heroes | J. Geils Band | Full House Live | Jethro Tull | Thick as a Brick | Jethro Tull | Living in the Past | Elton John | Honky Chateau | King Crimson | Earthbound | Kris Kristofferson | Jesus was a Capricorn | John Lennon | Some Time in New York City | Little Feet | Sailin’ Shoes | Mahavishnu Orchestra | *Bird of Fire | Matching Mole | *Matching Mole | Curtis Mayfield | Superfly | Joni Mitchell | For the Roses | Bette Midler | The Divine Miss M | Moody Blues | Seventh Sojourn | Mott the Hoople | All the Young Dudes | Mountain | Mountain Live: The Road Goes On Forever | Randy Newman | Sail Away | Nitty Gritty Dirt Band | Will the Circle Be Unbroken | Pink Floyd | Obscured By Clouds | Lou Reed | Transformer | Return to Forever | Return to Forever | Return to Forever | Light as a Feather | Rolling Stones | Exile On Main Street | Diana Ross | Lady Sings the Blues | Roxy Music | *Roxy Music | Todd Rundgren | *Something/Anything | Santana | Caravanserai | Klaus Schulze | *Irrlicht | Bobby Sherman | Greatest Hits | Soft Machine | Fifth | Steely Dan | Can’t Buy a Thrill | Rod Stewart | Never a Dull Moment | Stephen Stills | Manassas | T. Rex | Slider | Richard Thompson | Henry The Human Fly | Uriah Heep | Demons and Wizard | Various Artists | *Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968 |
War | The World is a Ghetto | Weather Report | I Sing the Body Electric | Edgar Winter | They Only Come Out at Night | Paul Winter Consort | *Icarus - (incredible! - Check it out.) | Wishbone Ash | Argus | Stevie Wonder | Talking Book | Yes | Close to the Edge | Neil Young | Harvest | Frank Zappa | *Waka Jawaka | Frank Zappa | The Grand Wazoo |
SOUNDTRACKS
Cabaret
Free To Be You and Me
Fritz the Cat
The Godfather
The Harder They Come
Lady Sings the Blues
Superfly
SPOKEN WORD
The only Non-Music LP on this list is a true American classic
and is at least as ’Rock n Roll’ as Alice ’s School’s Out.
George Carlin - Class Clown
SINGLES
| America | A Horse With No Name | Apollo 100 | Joy | Argent | Hold Your Head Up | Badfinger | Day After Day | Chuck Berry | Ding-A-Ling | Jackson Browne | Doctor My Eyes | Carpenters | Hurting Each Other | Carpenters | Sing | Jimmy Castor Bunch | Troglodyte | Harry Chapin | Taxi | Charlie Pride | Kiss an Angel Good Morning | Chicago | Saturday In the Park | Commander Cody | Hot Rod Lincoln | Jim Croce | You Don't Mess Around With Jim | Derek & The Dominos | Layla | Climax | Precious and Few | Mac Davis | Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me | Sammy Davis Jr. | The Candy Man | Neil Diamond | Song Sung Blue | Jonathan Edwards | Sunshine (Go Away Today) | Donna Fargo | The Happiest Girl In the Whole U.S.A. | Roberta Flack | The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face | Gary Glitter | Rock and Roll Part 2 | Godspell Soundtrack | Day By Day | Arlo Guthrie | The City Of New Orleans | Albert Hammond | It Never Rains in Southern California | Hillside Singers | I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing | Michael Jackson | Ben | Michael Jackson | Rockin' Robin | Elton John | Tiny Dancer | Elton John | Honky Cat | Elton John | Crocodile Rock | Robert John | The Lion Sleeps Tonight | Looking Glass | Brandy (You're A Fine Girl) | Don McLean | American Pie | Don Mclean | Vincent/Castles in the Air | Curtis Mayfield | Freddie's Dead | Melanie | Brand New Key | Moody Blues | Nights In White Satin | Johnny Nash | I Can See Clearly Now | Rick Nelson | Garden Party | New Seekers | I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing | Nilsson | Without You | Gilbert O'Sullivan | Alone Again (Naturally) | Donny Osmond | Puppy Love | Billy Paul | Me and Mrs. Jones | Helen Reddy | I Am Woman | Todd Rundgren | I Saw the Light | Seals and Crofts | Summer Breeze | Carly Simon | You're So Vain | Paul Simon | Mother and Child Reunion | Sly & The Family Stone | Family Affair | Ringo Starr | Back Off Bugaloo | Cat Stevens | Morning Has Broken | T. Rex | Bang a Gong (Get It On) | Temptations | Papa Was a Rolling Stone | Edgar Winter Group | Frankenstein | Bill Withers | Lean On Me | Rod Stewart & Faces | Stay With Me | Bill Withers | Lean on Me | Yes | Roundabout | Neil Young | Heart of Gold | Neil Young | Old Man |
and on TELEVISION...
Ordered alphabetically
Adam 12
Alias Smith and Jones
All in the Family
Banacek
Bewitched
The Bob Newhart Show
The Bold Ones
Bonanza
The Brady Bunch
Bridget Loves Birney
Cannon
The Carol Burnett Show
Columbo/
The Courtship of Eddie?s Father
The Flip Wilson Show
The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour
Hawaii Five-O
Ironside
Kung Fu
Love American Style
M*A*S*H
Mannix
Marcus Welby
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Maude
McCloud
McMillin and Wife
Medical Center
Mission Impossible
Mod Squad
My Three Sons
Nanny and the Professor
Night Gallery
The Odd Couple
Olympics (The Games of the XX Olympiad)
(maybe the most memorable Olympics ever - Olga Korbut, Black September.)
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
The Partridge Family
The Rookies
Room 222
Rowan and Martin?s Laugh In
The Smith Famiy
Sanford and Son
The Sonny and Cher Comdy Hour
The Streets of San Francisco
Temperatures Rising
The Waltons
The Wonderful World of Disney
.
WOW! What a year.