Original subtitles

People often ask me why history

fascinates me so. Even though I call

myself the guitar historian, my love of

history goes past just music. And I find

myself drawn to touch points and moments

and especially certain years. There's

something about looking back on

anniversaries of great events like the

upcoming 250th anniversary of America's

Declaration of Independence in 1776.

History is chiseled into stone. It's

linear. That's why as we celebrate the

50th anniversary of 1971, I thought it

would be fun to look back on this

seminal year in rock music by the albums

that were released and finally ask the

question, was 1971

the greatest year in music history?

1971,

Tricky Dick Nixon was entering his third

year in the White House as president of

the United States. Ted Heath also

entered his second year as prime

minister of the UK as Queen Elizabeth II

entered her 19th year of her reign.

Apollo 14 would become the United States

third successful moon mission after the

prior year's successful failure of

Apollo 13 to reach the moon. The NASDAQ

debuted. The Ed Sullivan Show aired its

final episode. Charles Manson is

sentenced to death in California for the

murder of Sharon Tate and others. The

Milwaukee Bucks win their first NBA

championship. Interestingly, they would

win their second exactly 50 years later

this year. Arsenal Football Club wins

the Division One Championship, later to

double the cup by defeating Liverpool

six days later for the FA Cup. Nixon

would declare the war on drugs in June.

That went well. Gene Wilder starred in

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,

scarring children's minds for decades.

Apollo 15 becomes the second successful

US moon mission in the same year. On

August 1st, George Harrison holds his

benefit concert for Bangladesh in New

York.

A late September cyclone in the Indian

state of Odisha kills 10,000 people.

Walt Disney World opens in Orlando,

Florida. DB Cooper jumps from a moving

plane into history as one of the most

mysterious true crime stories ever. The

Soviet Mars 3 lander becomes the first

piece of equipment to reach the red

planet, but only lasts about 3 seconds

before going silent forever. Kubrick's A

Clockwork Orange is released in

December, and McDonald's opens its very

first store in Australia.

1971 was a year of many interesting

tales, but it's not exactly a year

remembered by historians as particularly

noteworthy. From a historical

perspective, the following year of 1972,

with its many turning points in the

Vietnam War and the Watergate break-ins,

was more of a focal point, at least here

in the United States, that is. But the

musicians of 1971, for some reason,

decided to release some of the greatest

music ever to reach our lucky ears. And

as we go through the albums of this

titanic year in rock history, I think

you'll agree that it has a real chance

to stand alone as the greatest in rock

history.

1971 would start off right with a number

of notable releases, but we came into 71

with the number one album being November

1970s All Things Must Pass, George

Harrison's epic triple album on the

Apple Records label. That album would

stay at number one all the way through

to midFebruary when it would be replaced

by the soundtrack to Jesus Christ

Superstar. But released in January,

Chicago would release their third album.

Canned Heat would put out arguably the

greatest blues album ever made, Hooker

and Heat, as a memorial to their

departed guitarist, Alan Wilson. Booker

T and the MGs put out Melting Pot. proto

metal band Uriah Heap released their

second album Salsbury. Another notable

January release was the debut album by

Texas blues trio Zezy Top. And although

it didn't contain any of their better

known hits to come, it put the band on

the map quickly as a down and dirty

blues combo to be reckoned with. Gibbons

was hot on the heels of his being called

out by Jimmyi Hendricks on the Tonight

Show as the best young guitar player

that he'd seen. 50 years later, just a

few short weeks ago, we would mourn the

death of Top's iconic bass player Dusty

Hill. But the top release from January

was the final album from iconic blues

rock vocalist Janice Joplain with the

album Pearl. Produced by the Doors Paul

Rothschild, the album stayed at number

one for many weeks and ruled the winter

months on the Billboard 200.

1971's second month saw debut releases

by Carly Simon and David Crosby. Prague

rockers yes debuted new guitar Steve How

on their third album, the Yes album. The

Faces released their third album as well

with Long Player. But unquestionably,

the month's biggest release would be the

second studio release by the legendary

songwriter Carol King with Tapestry.

This album would go on to sell 13

million copies and win the Grammy for

album of the year. King was one half of

the songwriting duo Goffin and King who

wrote such standard hits as Will You

Still Love Me Tomorrow, Up on the Roof,

and One Fine Day. Other notable events

in the month were a drumoff held at the

Lysium between Ginger Baker and Elvin

Jones after the pair had feuded for

months in the press. Teenage girls

everywhere were fallen when Davy Jones

left the Monkeys. And an unknown British

band called Queen would play their first

public show in London.

March was a bit of a slower month with

releases, but there are still a few

gems. Mercurial singer songwriter Nick

Drake would put out his second album,

Brighter Later. Jimmyi Hendris and the

Rolling Stones put out compilation

albums. The Cry of Love and The Stone

Age, respectively, and Humble Pie's

fourth album, Rock On, would be the last

with guitarist Peter Frampton before he

would depart for a solo career. Probably

the most notable release from March was

Jethro Tull's Aqualong, which firmly

cemented the band into the Prague rock

genre and featured the timeless FM radio

hits Locomotive Breath and the title

track. The Almond Brothers would also

record the tracks for one of the

greatest live albums, Live at the

Fillmore East. And the Stones started a

quote unquote farewell UK tour as they

prepared to relocate to France as a

protest against UK tax laws.

Here we go. The start of the good stuff.

April is chock full of amazing releases.

So many it's hard to figure out which

one is the best. The month would start

slowly enough with Elton John and CSN

and Y releasing live albums. But on

April 19th, the Doors would drop LA

Woman on us, their last studio album

before Jim Morrison's death and arguably

the best performance by our seventh

forgotten fret master, Robbie Kger. Only

four days later, the Rolling Stones

would release Sticky Fingers, which is,

in my opinion, their best album cover to

cover. Next year's Exile on Main Street

usually gets tagged as their best. But

for me, Sticky Fingers just has no bad

tracks anywhere. It's just amazing. Then

only a few days after that, we'd get two

Titanic debut albums by the Doobie

Brothers and Thin Lizzy. Another notable

release from April was the James Gang's

Thirds, which featured the Joe Walsh hit

single Walk Away.

1971's fifth month saw some more debut

albums from the likes of jazz fusion

group Weather Report, the highend of the

CSN and Y super group Graham Nash with

his songs for beginners and from the

Irish blues guitarist Rory Gallagher

recently departed from his late60s

outfit called Taste. Other notable

albums released in May were Rod

Stewart's best solo effort, Every

Picture Tells a Story, featuring the

smash hit Maggie May, Marvin Gay's

seminal masterwork, What's Going On, and

the soft rock smash hit third album from

the Carpenters. But the most important

release from May was the second solo

album from former Beatle Paul McCartney

called Ram. This album was caught up in

the post Beatles feud between John

Lennon and Paul. And due to John's

friends in high places at Rolling Stone

magazine, the album was actually largely

panned at the time. But fans have been

rediscovering the genius and beauty of

Ram, and it is now generally regarded as

one of Paul's best albums. May also saw

the high-profile wedding of Rolling

Stone Mcjagger to Bianca Damasius with

the staggering guest list, including the

rest of the Stones, Paul and Ringo, Eric

Clapton, and Steven Stills. I guess

there was no need to hire a wedding

band.

With June being another slow month in

the record release department, there

were still, as always, a few gems

released. Emerson Lake and Palmer would

release an early album that strangely

made it into my childhood collection

with Tarcus. Joanie Mitchell also

released her best album, Blue, which

features just genius level songwriting.

In 2020, Blue was voted in Rolling Stone

magazine's list as the third greatest

album of all time. And in music news,

the Fillmore East would close at the end

of the month with a final concert

featuring the Almond Brothers, the Beach

Boys, and Mountain, even though several

albums would be released later this year

featuring the iconic venue. Stay tuned.

July would begin with the death of a

member of the 27 Club, Door's lead

singer and poet, Jim Morrison, who died

in his sleep on July 3rd in Paris. With

the summer in full swing, the album

releases would also start to heat up.

The Almans finally released their album

that they recorded earlier in the year

at the Fillmore East, but not soon

enough to keep it open, I guess. The

proto metal band MC5 released their

second and final album, High Time. The

Moody Blues put out their seventh album,

Every Good Boy Deserves Favor. And Deep

Purple's fifth album, Fireball, was also

released. We also saw a solo effort from

Cream basis Jack Bruce. For soundtracks,

Isaac Hayes and Staxs Records would put

out the seinal album supporting the

timeless film Shaft. But in the rock

world, the biggest release was by far

Black Sabbath's fourth album, Master of

Reality. For this album, Tony Iaomi and

the band went even heavier on some songs

by downtuning a step and a half to make

it easier on Tony's injured fingertips.

But they inadvertently taught thousands

of then unnamed metal guitarists that

deep down tuning of the guitars created

a sonic experience unlike any other.

August saw some more Titanic releases.

Alvin Lee's 10 years after would release

their sixth album, best known for their

biggest hit, I'd Love to Change the

World. The Beach Boys would put out the

little gem of an album called Surfs Up,

which featured some of the last

compositions that were holdovers from

Brian Wilson's experimentation phase

when the boys released Good Vibrations

and The Smile Sessions. But the biggest

release of August was the legendary

fifth album from The Who titled Who's

Next? Featuring songs from an aborted

rock opera follow-up to Tommy called

Life House. The Who's use of

synthesizers on tracks Baba O'Reilly and

Won't Get Fooled Again was a drastic

departure from their prior sound. One of

the few albums that doesn't really have

a bad track on it. Who's Next was

unquestionably The Who's best release.

[Music]

September saw releases by Fleetwood

Mack. The first album featuring new

guitarist Bob Welsh and Christine McVy

as full-time members. Interestingly, we

also saw the second album by British pop

rock group Curved Air. Why do you care?

Well, Curved Air and Fleetwood Mac's

paths would cross later in the decade as

some members of that band ended up

playing in the fake Fleetwood Mac

assembled by manager Clifford Davis to

fulfill tour dates left open when the

real Fleetwood Mac would temporarily

split up. You can see the whole story

right here. Three Dog Night released

their seventh album, Harmony, featuring

the hits just an old-fashioned love song

and Never Been to Spain. Uriah Heap's

third album and second of the year, Look

at Yourself, was released. We also had

albums released from the Steve Miller

band with Rock Love Santana with their

third album. Free put out a live record

appropriately titled Free Live. And we

also got a live album from James Gang

with Joe Walsh for the last time. But

the month's biggest release belonged to

another former Beatle, John Lennon, when

his second album, Imagine, dropped onto

the listening public. The album would

utilize many similar techniques that his

fellow be George had employed in his All

Things Must Pass album with John also

drafting Phil Spectre to produce and

using musicians Alan White, Klaus

Vorman, and even George himself as

supporting musicians. As we all know,

the album is forever married to the

title track, which is probably one of

the greatest musical compositions ever

written.

October was chock full of cool little

releases as well. We would see Cat

Stevens, now Yousef Islam, release his

fifth album Teaser and the Firecat. On

the first of the month, Frank Zappa put

out the soundtrack to 200 Motel. Space

rock legends Hawkwind released their

second album, In Search of Space. The

Doors tried their hand at a post Jim

Morrison release with Other Voices. Pink

Floyd would put out their sixth album,

Metal, which would become a hidden gem

in their catalog with interesting Prague

rock experimentations. And speaking of

Prague, we'd also get the sixth album by

the underrated Vanderaph Generator with

Pawn Hearts. We'd also get a pre Kevin

Cronin debut from rock band Ario

Speedwagon with their self-titled first

album. But the Big Boy from October was

the second album from singer songwriter

Don Mlan with American Pie, whose title

track would go on to define the moment

that Buddy Holly and others were killed

in a plane crash as the day the music

died. The final singalong chorus of the

song featured a gaggle of famous names

including Pete Seager, of whom Mlan was

a protege, James Taylor, and Carly

Simon.

Oh boy, what a month. Buckle your seat

belts. The month began with the debut by

future meastar Billy Joel with Cold

Spring Harbor. On the 5th, Elton John

released Mad Man Across the Water,

featuring smash hits Tiny Dancer and

Levon. Genesis would release their third

album, Nursery Crime, the first to

feature new guitarist Steve Hackett and

new drummer Phil Collins. Genesis's

biggest rivals at the time, yes, would

release their arguably best album,

Fragile, their first with keyboardist

Rick Wakeakeman. Rory Gallagher put out

his second album, A Favorite of Deuce.

Traffic would also release their fifth

and best release, The Low Spark of High

Heede Boys. That album featured former

Domino Jim Gordon on drums and former

Blind Faith basist Rick Wretch.

Humble Pie put out one of the greatest

live records ever with Rocking the

Fillmore. We even got Hard Rocker's

Nazareth's self-titled debut. Carly

Simon's second album featuring the smash

hit Anticipation. But there can only be

one king of the month. Even with all

these other amazing albums, this one

stands far and away the best of the

bunch. Led Zeppelin 4, recorded on the

Rolling Stones mobile studio at Headley

Graange. Unquestionably one of the

greatest, if not the greatest hard rock

albums ever released, Stairway to

Heaven, Black Dog, When the Levy Breaks.

There is no filler on this album at all,

and it may have the claim for the best

album of the whole year, but I'll let

you be the judge. Before you decide,

let's look at the last month of the

year.

Month 12 opened with the debut of one of

my favorite bands ever, Electric Light

Orchestra, with their self-titled first

album. A few days later, we got another

minor debut, Wildlife, from a little

band called Wings. Paul McCartney's new

project, Post Beatles. English Prague

Rockers King Crimson would release their

fourth album, Islands. We would also get

the best album from Beetleclones Bad

Finger with their fourth album Straight

Up featuring Day After Day and Baby Blue

on that one. Carol King tried mostly

unsuccessfully to follow up her earlier

1971 release Tapestry with her third

effort music. We'd also get the debut

from the acoustic band America with

their self-titled release. David Bowie

would release his fourth album, Hunky

Dory, which was a bridge to his future

releases that would feature a more

hard-edged glam sound. Hunky Dory,

however, is often overlooked as a little

bit more of a softer album and is one of

Bow's top few albums. Sadly, it didn't

really get noticed for the gem it is

until after Bow's next album, Ziggy

Stardust, would go nuts the next year.

Just making it into 1971, at least in

the United States, as it wouldn't be

released until early January in the UK,

would be George Harrison's massive

triple LP live compilation from his

concert for Bangladesh. Featuring the

amazing star power of players like Bob

Dylan, Ravi Shankar, Ringo Star, Billy

Preston, Leon Russell, Eric Clapton, the

members of Badfinger, Jim Horn, Klaus

Vorman, and Jim Kelner. The album was a

bellweather for live recordings and for

rock fundraisers to come. But anyway,

what a year, man. This was a blast to

put together. I got to tell you, even

little gems that were released in

between some of the more well-known

albums hold up to this day. Make sure

you comment below on what your favorite

album of 1971 was. Make sure you like

the video to let YouTube know that other

music fans would like to see it. And be

sure to subscribe to the Guitar

Historian channel for so much more

content just like this. But I guess

there's just one more question you need

to answer in the comments. Was 1971

actually the greatest year in music?

Thanks for watching and we will see you

next time.