Category b) Seventies [1970 – 1979]
1971 COUNTDOWN: #60 — #56
60 ALICE COOPER — Killer The band really pulled their act together in 1971, releasing Love It To Death in March and Killer in November. Although the former had the bigger single, the enduring love letter to teenage angst “I’m Eighteen”, the latter edges it out for me. Amongst the schlock horror—check out the inner […]
RELICS
Pink Floyd’s Relics, which came out in May 1971, was the perfect example of a record company stop-gap release. The band toured extensively in that era (the time of Atom Heart Mother) and when they did eventually make it into the studio, there were worries their rate of creating new music was far from brisk. […]
1971 COUNTDOWN: #65 — #61
65 LEAF HOUND — Growers Of Mushroom Inside half a minute you know exactly where you stand with Leaf Hound’s only LP, Growers Of Mushroom. “Freelance Fiend” opens with a guitar squall, powerful vocals and a blues-rock fusillade that would have made Hendrix grin. If the sound evokes Atomic Rooster, that’s not surprising as Peter […]
SOME 1971 FOLK
Sifting through over two hundred albums released in 1971 has been enjoyable, at times surprising, and occasionally daunting. It would have been impossible without the Vinyl Connection database. An early approach involved allocating each entry into a band: 10, 20s, 30s, etc. then sorting each cohort into order. That helped me map out a rough […]
1971 COUNTDOWN: #71 — #66
After some time becalmed in lockdown waters, word has come from the poop deck of the good ship Vinyl Connection that it is well and truly time venture once more into the ocean that is “1971”. Although voyages on this varied and exciting sea have been a tad irregular, a few nautical miles have accumulated. […]
POPTOPIA!
All record collectors have their ‘grails’, those rare and desirable albums that rarely pop up or, when they do, require a second mortgage to obtain. Some people keep a list of those items they long to call ‘my precious’, others simply hope for a chance encounter in the wild at a reasonable (or not totally […]
A YEAR OF GOOD VIBES — PART 2
JULY Gary Burton — Lofty Fake Anagram (1967) Gary Burton is an absolute giant of the instrument, having taken the four-mallet technique to the next level. This LP and Duster (also 1967) are super examples of his skill as a jazz composer, improviser and arranger. Larry Coryell’s guitar plays an excellent supporting role as part […]
HEADED THAT-A-WAY
As the hours spent in my profession wane, I’ve noticed it is harder to keep track of what day it is. Especially during yet another lockdown. That must be the reason, COVID-19. It’s the reason for everything, the excuse for every avoidance, the aetiology of all ailments. I’m not sleeping well; certainly a lockdown symptom. […]
SOME PROGRESSIVE TREATS (1975 EDITION)
Although variety is a hallmark of Vinyl Connection, the heart of the matter is a love of all things progressive. Inspired by a posting of the fourth Greenslade album on a fb group, I found myself diving down a 1975 rabbit hole. It was great fun, with progressive jazz-rock being a wobbly kind of through-line. […]
MASTERS OF UNREALITY
Black Sabbath’s third LP, released in July 1971, is not exactly a long-player. Clocking in at thirty-four minutes, the follow-up to 1970’s breakthrough Paranoid does not wear out its welcome. Overlooking the two brief instrumental pieces you are left with a six song record that opens with a love song to grass and closes with […]
RAINBOW VINYL — PURPLE
“There’s gold at the end of them there vinyls” * Hope you’ve enjoyed this rainbow vinyl trip. * I recall being quite excited when I heard the first Tame Impala album back in 2010. Kevin Parker seemed to have reinvented—or at least re-invigorated—psychedelic rock for the 21st century and it was good. The follow-up album […]
RAINBOW VINYL — ORANGE
Town successfully painted red? Well it must be orange time. The Claypool Lennon Delirium is a psychedelic dosette box created by bass player extraordinaire Les Claypool and Sean Lennon. Owing much to 1960s psychedelia in general and early Pink Floyd in particular, Monolith of Phobos is a quirky delight. Arguably the magnum opus of German […]
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