Janis Joplin "Pearl" (1971)

Pearl

release date: Jan. 11, 1971

format: cd (1999 remaster) / vinyl (2020 reissue)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,02]

producer: Paul A. Rothchild

label: Columbia - nationality: USA

Track highlights: A) 1. "Move Over" - 2. "Cry Baby" (4,5 / 5) - 4. "Half Moon" - 5. "Buried Alive in the Blues"

B) 2. "Me and Bobby McGee" (4 / 5) - 3. "Mercedes Benz" (4,5 / 5) - 4. "Trust Me" - 5. "Get It While You Can"

2nd and final studio solo album by Janis Joplin - her fourth including two albums with Big Brother and the Holding Company is a master class blues rock album that follows a little less than 1½ years after the less succesful solo debut I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! (Sep. 1969). Janis lived life in the fast lane and she was the leading star on two iconic studio albums from 1967 to 1971 - the other being Cheap Thrills (Aug. 1968) by Big Brother and the Holding Company. The 1999 cd remaster contains four live tracks from the Festival Express Tour, all recorded on Jul. 4, 1970 in Calgary. The tour was arranged with various artists all travelling together by train across Canada from East to West, from Toronto, via Winnipeg, and ending in Calgary featuring acts like Buddy Guy Blues Band, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Grateful Dead, and The Band - the tour was originally planned for five events but eventually the concerts in Montreal and Vancouver were cancelled.

The album was released three months after Joplin's death (Oct. 1970) during the recording sessions for the album, which means that "Buried Alive in the Blues" involuntarily ended up being an instrumental. The album is included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" and on Rolling Stone's list "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" and it's still a mighty highly recommended listen.

[ allmusic.com 5 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

Etta James "Losers Weepers" (1971)

2011 cover
Kent Soul

Losers Weepers
release date: 1971
format: digital (2011 reissue)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]

producer: Ralph Bass

label: Kent Soul - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 2. "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good" - 5. "Losers Weepers" - 6. "Weepers" - 9. "For All We Know"

10th studio album by Etta James originally released on Cadet Records (formerly Argo Records). The original album is an 11-track release but it comes as a 2011 cd version with 11 bonus tracks released on the Kent Records sublabel Kent Soul. Despite Etta was a serious heroin addict by the early 1970s, she really performs very well here.

org. '71 cover
Cadet Records

New world "Tom Tom Turnaround" (1971) (single)

Tom Tom Turnaround, 7'' single

release date: 1971

format: vinyl (RAK 117)

[single rate: 3 / 5] [3,14]

producer: Mike Hurst

label: Columbia - nationality: Australia

Tracklist: A) "Tom Tom Turnaround" - - B) "Lay Me Down"

Single release by Australian Brisbane-located folk pop band New World taken from its second album titled New World (1971) following its debut The New World (1969) when their band name was The New World.

This single appears to have various front covers depending on national imprints. This particular Danish print most probably comes from my older brother's record collection. I do recall playing this as 7-12 years of age but never was a big fan of it.

~ ~ ~

This post is part of MyMusicJourney, which enlists key releases that have shaped my musical taste when growing up and until age 14. Most of these releases come from my parents' and / or my older brother's collection.

Neil Young "Live at Massey Hall 1971" (2007) (live)

Live at Massey Hall 1971 [Archival] (live)
release date: Mar. 13, 2007
format: digital
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: David Briggs, Neil Young
label: Reprise Records - nationality: Canada

Track highlights: 1. "On the Way Home" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "Tell Me Why" (4 / 5) - 3. "Old Man" (5 / 5) - 5. "Helpless" (4,5 / 5) - 7. "A Man Needs a Maid - Heart of Gold Suite" (4 / 5) - 8. "Cowgirl in the Sand" (4 / 5) - 9. "Don't Let It Bring You Down" (4 / 5) - 12. "The Needle and the Damage Done" (4 / 5) - 13. "Ohio" (4 / 5) - 15. "Down by the River" (4 / 5) - 16. "Dance Dance Dance" (5 / 5) - 17. "I Am a Child" (4 / 5)

Live album by Neil Young in his "Archives Performance Series". The tracks were recorded at Massey Hall in Toronto, Canada on Jan. 19, 1971 during his Journey Through The Past solo tour. This is such a fine and absolutely wonderful album documenting how great he performed without anyone to support him on stage. I love it.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5, Uncut 5 / 5 stars ]

Joan Manuel Serrat "Mediterráneo" (1971)

Mediterráneo
release date: 1971
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]

Tracklist: 1. "Mediterráneo" (4 / 5) - 2. "Aquellas pequeñas cosas" (3,5 / 5) - 3. "La mujer que yo quiero" (3,5 / 5) - 4. "Pueblo blanco" (3 / 5) - 5. "Tío Alberto" (3,5 / 5) - 6. "Qué va a ser de ti" (5 / 5) - 7. "Lucía" (3 / 5) - 8. "Vagabundear" (4 / 5) - 9. "Barquito de papel" (4 / 5) - 10. "Vencidos" (3 / 5)

Studio album by Spanish singer /songwriter, baroque pop, and folk artist Joan Manuel Serrat. The music is beautiful, intense, melancholic, with bonds to Scott Walker and Italian singer / songwriter Fabrizio De André.

Serge Gainsbourg "Histoire de Melody Nelson" (1971)

Histoire de Melody Nelson
release date:  Mar. 24, 1971
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5]
producer: Jean-Claude Desmarty
label: Philips Records - nationality: France

Concept album by Serge Gainsbourg. The album is by many regarded his best album and one of the very best ever of French pop /rock. It's enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die", and many contemporary artists including Neil Hannon (The Divine Comedy), Jarvis Cocker (Pulp), Barry Adamson (Magazine), Tricky, Portishead, Michael Stipe (R.E.M.), Beck, and Stereolab are heavily influenced by Gainsbourg's narrating compositions. I find it interesting but am not a fan.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

T. Rex "Electric Warrior" (1971)

Electric Warrior
release date: Sep. 24, 1971
format: cd
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,38]
producer: Tony Visconti
label: Fly Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Mambo Sun" (4 / 5) - 2. "Cosmic Dancer" (5 / 5) - 3. "Jeepster" (4 / 5) - 4. "Monolith" - 5. "Lean Woman Blues" - 6. "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" (4,5 / 5) - 7. "Planet Queen" - 8. "Girl" (4,5 / 5) - 9. "The Motivator" - 10. "Life's a Gas" (4 / 5) - 11. "Rip Off" (4 / 5)

2nd studio album as just T. Rex and his sixth including four other releases as Tyrannosaurus Rex, again with producer Tony Visconti. The album is the first predominantly glam rock album by Marc Bolan. The albums A Beard of Stars (Mar. 1970) by Tyrannosaurus Rex and T. Rex (Dec. 1970) by T. Rex are the transitional albums that lead up to the sound one will find on this release. The album topped the UK albums chart list, as the only Marc Bolan album, and it's enlisted in a number of lists compiling the all-time best of albums including "1001 Album You Must Hear Before You Die", Rolling Stone Magazine's "500 Greatest Albums" (#160), and "NME: The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" (#225).
[ allmusic.com 5 / 5, Q Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]

1971 Favourite releases: 3. Deep Purple Fireball - 2. Joni Mitchell Blue - 3. T. Rex Electric Warrior

Rodriguez "I Think of You" ('Coming From Reality', 1971)

Uriah Heep "Look at Yourself" (1971)

Look at Yourself
release date: Oct. 1971
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5]
producer: Gerry Bron
label: Bronze Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Look at Yourself" (3,5 / 5) - 3. "July Morning" (3 / 5) - 4. "Tears in My Eyes"

3rd studio album by London-based band Uriah Heep. The album didn't attract much attention at the time of release and later albums fared considerably better, however, Look at Yourself is considered one of the band's best efforts and one of the genre's most prolific albums. I find it of little interest. It's one of many albums from that time when everyone (especially) from Britain made progressive music of some sort. There's hard rock like heard (better) in Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, and there're elements of psychedelic rock as one will find in Pink Floyd and early Black Sabbath. The title track and "Tears in My Eyes" both have a fine "sonic" feel of energy to it, blending electric and acoustic guitars, but apart from that there's simply too much jam session and unstructured Hammond organ fusion rock about it to my liking.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Thin Lizzy "Thin Lizzy" (1971)

Thin Lizzy [debut]
release date: Apr. 30, 1971
format: digital
[album rate: 2 / 5] [2,08]
producer: Scott English
label: Decca Records - nationality: Ireland

Track highlights: 5. "Look What the Wind Blew In" (3 / 5) - 7. "Return of the Farmer's Son"

Studio debut album by Thin Lizzy, originally a quartet but now a trio formed in Dublin, Ireland consisting of Phil Lynott [Philip Parris Lynott] on vocals, bass guitar and acoustic guitar, Eric Bell on lead guitar and twelve-string guitar, and with Brian Downey on drums and percussion. The style is hard rock and blues rock with some psychedelic rock traits, and in that way touch on the sound of The Jimi Hendrix Experience (and Cream), especially on "Return of the Farmer's Son".
I don't find it very interesting except from being the first by this great band. The music is like sketches of covers, bits from here and there. Lynott's vocal is fine but guitarist Eric Bell is far from what Gary Moore and Scott Gorham later would signify for the band.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

"Here's to You" - Ennio Morricone (live)

Ennio Morricone
"Sacco e Vanzetti" (OST) (1971)
[from the movie by Giuliano Montaldo]

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Supertramp "Indelibly Stamped" (1971)

Indelibly Stamped
release date: Jun. 1971
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5]
producer: Supertramp
label: A&M Records - nationality: England, UK

2nd studio album by Supertramp. The album is less fusion-oriented and more r&b-founded, but the result is really not much better than the debut. I think, many would find it more rockin'. I just don't like the soft rock tone. It's probably more american than the debut, but they play well, and it's more straight forward than the poor debut.
[ allmusic.com 2 / 5 stars ]

B.B. King "B.B. King in London" (1971)

B.B. King in London
release date: 1971
format: vinyl (1982 reissue)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,82]
producer: Ed Michel and Joe Zagarino
label: MCA Records - nationality: USA

19th studio album by B.B. King is an album with King and his backing band playing with a team of British all-stars originally released by ABC Records in America and its sublabel, Probe Records in the UK.
From allmusic.com - review by Bill Dahl: "The plodding rhythms laid down by a coterie of British rock stars for this set make one long for B.B. King's road-tested regular band. But it was the fashion in 1971 to dispatch American blues legends to London to record mediocre LPs with alleged rock royalty (the lineup here includes Ringo Starr, Peter Green, Alexis Korner, and Klaus Voorman)". That pretty much sums up what this is, I'm afraid.
Not recommended.
[ allmusic.com 2 / 5, Rolling Stone 3 / 5 stars ]

Emerson, Lake & Palmer "Tarkus" (1971)

Tarkus
release date: Jun. 14, 1971
format: cd (2014 reissue)
[album rate: 2 / 5] [2,05]
producer: Greg Lake
label: Victor Entertainment - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Tarkus"

2nd studio album by Emerson, Lake & Palmer, originally released on Island Records, which established the band as one of the most daring and pioneering bands into progressive rock or symphonic rock that evolved from psychedelic rock in the early 1970s. Well, it's there - it's a critically acclaimed album but I just don't really dig it. It's mostly somewhat annoying. Hammond organs can be great, and both Pink Floyd and Deep Purple showed that, just as many of the early punk rock bands did in the late 70s, or for that matter great artists of traditional soul, but here it's just notes and chords babbling out and running wild from my speakers. I don't really like it and see no heads and tails in it. I acknowledge the importance of ELP but don't like the taste. Still, and for obscure reasons the album is enlisted in "1001 Albums I Must Hear Before I Die" - so I did.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Joni Mitchell "Blue" (1971)

Blue
release date: Jun. 22, 1971
format: digital
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,55]
producer: Joni Mitchell
label: Reprise Records - nationality: Canada

Tracklist: 1. "All I Want" - 2. "My Old Man" - 3. "Little Green" - 4. "Carey" (5 / 5) (live) - 5. "Blue" - 6. "California" - 7. "This Flight Tonight" - 8. "River" - 9. "A Case of You" - 10. "The Last Time I Saw Richard"

4th studio album by Joni Mitchell is not only a step up and her so far best album, it's simply one of the most awarded and critically acclaimed genuine folk and singer / songwriter albums... ever. This is where everything came together in the right way - her slightly introvert solo compositions have been lifted and arranged with adequate accompanying musicians in great mix with either guitar, piano, vocal harmonies, or with strings as a foundation, or a mix of everything she has so far showed on her previous albums that worked. AND on top of that, this album simply contains great songs. The album was met by positive reviews, then, but time has put this very album among the absolute best of all popular albums - be it rock, pop, funk, soul... you name it. It's simply there, among the best of the best, and the best of all times. Naturally, it's enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". This particular album is one of those rare albums that will endure and always be mentioned in sentences with the word: great.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone Magazine (among others) all hand it 5 / 5 stars ]

1971 Favourite releases: 1. Deep Purple Fireball - 2. Joni Mitchell Blue - 3. T. Rex Electric Warrior

Van Morrison "Tupelo Honey" (1971)

Tupelo Honey
release date: Oct. 15, 1971
format: cd (2008 remaster)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,48]
producer: Van Morrison, Ted Templeman
label: Exile / Polydor - nationality: Northern Ireland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Wild Night" - 3. "Old Old Woodstock" - 5. "You're My Woman" - 6. "Tupelo Honey" - 9. "Moonshine Whiskey"

5th studio album by Van Morrison and originally released on Warner Bros is much of the continued journey from Street Choir with the addition of country rock. "Wild Night" and the title track are much like the presence of "Domino" on the previous album: great tracks that seem a bit on their own 'cause they are fuelled with r&b and soul whereas the rest are like Morrison trying to make a crossing of The Band meets Neil Young doing his country rock. Morrison sings so strongly that you almost see through the fact that the album hasn't many great and memorable tracks.
Although, this one is slightly better, it's easy comparing it with Street Choir, as they are both fine albums - clearly miles from mediocrity - but compared to the strengths of Astral Weeks and Moondance... they simply lack greatness.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Uncut 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 5 / 5 stars ]

BEST OF 1971:Deep Purple "Fireball" (1971)

Fireball
release date: Jul. 1971
format: vinyl (SHVL 793) / digital (2008 remaster)
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,63]
producer: Deep Purple
label: Harvest Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) 1. "Fireball" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "No No No" (4 / 5) - 3*. "Demon's Eye" (4 / 5) - 4. "Anyone's Daughter" (4 / 5) - - B) 1. "The Mule" (5 / 5) - 2. "Fools" (4 / 5) - 3. "No One Came" (3,5 / 5)
*(On the org. US and Canadian release the track is replaced by "Strange Kind of a Woman")

5th studio album by Deep Purple produced by the band. The album had its first release on Warner Bros. in the US and Canada Jul. '71, which was followed by its European release on Harvest Records (sublabel of EMI) Sep. 71 following the same recipe by releasing in the US first.
With Deep Purple in Rock (1970) the band had taken a remarkable stand and positioned itself as one of the most original and hard rockin' bands of the early '70s but with this they extent their repertoire to embrace an experimental hard rock style they unfortunately abandoned after this.
With this Deep Purple made its first number #1 charting album in the UK, which it copied in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Germany, and critics were delighted about the album.
I received a bag of vinyl albums including eight Deep Purple albums by my older brother when he moved out of our family home at some point back in the late 1970s when I was 13. The album was one of several Deep Purple albums that he gave me on that occasion but this one has always been my favourite by the band. Even in '78, I think this had a modern sound, and I really like the production side of it. To me, the title track and the instrumental "The Mule" are the album's true highlights but really, it doesn't contain fillers or mediocre tracks.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

1971 Favourite releases: 1. Deep Purple "Fireball" - 2. Joni Mitchell "Blue" - 3. T. Rex "Electric Warrior"

David Bowie "Hunky Dory" (1971)

Hunky Dory
release date: Dec. 17, 1971
format: cd (2007 remaster)
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,28]
producer: Ken Scott
label: EMI Japan - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Changes" (5 / 5) - 2. "Oh! You Pretty Things" (4 / 5) - 3. "Eight Line Poem" - 4. "Life on Mars?" (5 / 5) - 5. "Kooks" (3,5 / 5) - 6. "Quicksand" (4 / 5) - 7. "Fill Your Heart" - 8. "Andy Warhol" - 9. "Song for Bob Dylan" - 10. "Queen Bitch" (4 / 5) - 11. "The Bewlay Brothers" (4 / 5)

4th studio album by David Bowie, who is also credited as assistant producer, is Bowie's first album on RCA Victor. The album signals a new beginning - and is by many considered his first major album, as it's his first actual art rock and glam rock album, which in a way combines his strengths as pop singer and artsy psychedelic pop performer in a new shape of art and glam. Here, one will hear inspiration from Dylan, The Velvet Underground as well as the old British baroque pop and the new extravagant glam rock as embodied by Marc Bolan. The album has been lauded, not only as one of Bowie's best, but also one of the best pop / rock albums of modern ages. Time (magazine) includes the album in its "All-Time 100 Albums" list, and it appears on many such best of lists. The album is naturally included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die", and it was Bowie's first commercial success as it went as high as to number #3 on the national albums chart list.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 5 / 5 stars ]

Pink Floyd "Meddle" (1971)

Meddle
release date: Nov. 13, 1971
format: cd (reissue)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
producer: Pink Floyd
label: Harvest Records (org. release) / EMI (reissue) - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "One of These Days" (4 / 5) - 3. "Fearless" (4 / 5) - 6. "Echoes" (4 / 5)

6th studio album by Pink Floyd sees the band continue its experimental style with progressive rock. The album is less psychedelic and much tighter putting it more on level with the Deep Purple album Fireball (1971). The track "Echoes", which was the only composition on the B side of the original vinyl album with its near 24 min. playing time, is one of the band's great iconic tracks, and one pointing much to the music found on Dark Side of the Moon (1973) as well as to the album Wish You Were Here (1975). "Fearless" is another great track on the album, and perhaps also made famous due to the incorporation of the Liverpool FC anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone". I recall my older brother playing this track particular loud as he was a Liverpool fan. The cover art is designed by Hipgnosis.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Blender 4 / 5, Rolling Stone Album Guide 3,5 / 5 stars ]

The Band "Cahoots" (1971)

Cahoots
release date: Sep. 15, 1971
format: cd (2009)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: The Band
label: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab  - nationality: Canada

Track highlights: 1. "Life Is a Carnival" - 2. "When I Paint My Masterpiece" - 5. "4% Pantomime" - 7. "The Moon Struck One"

4th studio album by The Band recorded in a newly built studio in Bearsville, New York, originally released on Capitol Records, is the group's last album of original material in the following four years. The songs here are credited Robbie Robertson (eight alone), Rick Danko and Levon Helm (one song as co-writers with Robertson), one original by Bob Dylan (track #2) and one song by Van Morrison (track #5 together with Robertson). None of the songs are credited Richard Manuel or Garth Hudson and according to Helm, Manuel only appeared to play his parts before going his own ways.

Success hasn't made things easier for The Band. Internal conflicts about writing credits split the members and on top of that alcohol and drugs stood in the way of artistic outcome.

The album was met by luke-warm reviews and didn't sell as their two previous albums had done, although, it went as high as #15 and #21 on the Canadian and US album charts lists, respectively.

It's, however, no bad album at all. The band members themselves may have bad memories about the process, but they still play better than most despite the fact that a few of the tracks sound more like blue-prints or demo-takes of songs that were simply left as they came to be, e.g. "Last of the Blacksmiths", "Thinkin' Out Loud" and "Smoke Signal", but the remaining tracks only serve to document how well these guys played as a unit.

[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Q Magazine, Rolling Stone 3 / 5 stars ]