It was 50 years ago today ...

[Frayed Knot]

Suddenly falling a little behind here.



IDLEWILD SOUTH — ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND, Released September 23, 1970

The second album by ABB was, like the first one, well received by critics but sales-wise was more of a regional success only. But touring both ahead of the record and behind it (300 dates in 1970) contributed
greatly to their growing reputation as a live band which set the stage for 1971's live album release 'AT FILLMORE EAST' [recorded in March of '71, released in July]. That record finally gave the band more of a
national following at which point the record company went back and took both ‘Idlewild’ and the band's eponymous debut album and stitched them together into a two-record set called ‘Beginnings’ as a way to
capture sales from those who missed them the first time around only to discover them through 'Fillmore'.
Idlewild would also be the last studio album with the full cast as Duane died partway through the making of their follow-up, ’Eat A Peach’


REVIVAL — Dickey Betts
DON’T KEEP ME WONDERING — G. Allman
MIDNIGHT RIDER — G. Allman, Robert Kim Payne
IN MEMORY OF ELIZABETH REED — D. Betts
HOOCHIE COOCHIE MAN — Willie Dixon (Berry Oakley on vocals)
PLEASE CALL HOME — G. Allman
LEAVE MY BLUES AT HOME — G. Allman

[Edgy MD]

God bless the seventies. It's almost unthinkable today to think of an act having their breakthrough with a live album after having initially indifferent sales on their early studio catalog, but in the seventies, it happened at least three times — maybe more if you count KISS.

[Frayed Knot]

btw, I've long known that the origin of 'Elizabeth Reed' was from a grave stone that Betts saw in a local cemetery where the band would sometimes go to write and relax.
He also hinted in an interview that I heard that there was more to the story than that but he wasn't going to tell that part.
So it turns out that the instrumental tune was written for a woman he was seeing at the time and the taken name was used to disguise her real one. And the reason he
wanted to shield her name was that she was the girlfriend of Boz Scaggs at the time.

That same Macon, GA cemetery is now the resting place not only of Elizabeth Reed but of both Gregg & Duane and of bassist Berry Oakley

[Frayed Knot]

September 30, 1970 -- JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

Not your traditional offering as compared to the rest of this list, but I wore this album out back in the day, not in 1970 but a couple of years later.
There wound up being two copies of the original London cast recording in my house. My older sister had one and some work colleague of my father's gave
him one as well. I have no idea how this guy thought it might be something he'd listen to, but the good thing was that that copy essentially became mine.

There's some terrific stuff on that recording, songs covering several types of styles with some serious kick-ass voices.
I haven't listened to it start to finish in many years, although I did see at least part of the 2018 live on TV version (John Legend as Jesus, Sara Bareilles as Mary Magdalene)
and things held up well IMO and I remembered virtually every word of it.

[Frayed Knot]

October 5, 1970 -- LED ZEPPELIN; LED ZEPPELIN III

The third (Duh!!) album by the group showed a more acoustic/folk angle.

Immigrant Song -- written by Plant & Page
Friends -- Plant & Page
Celebration Day -- Jones, Plant, Page
Since I've Been Loving You -- Jones, Plant, Page
Out on the Tiles -- Bonham, Plant, Page

Gallows Pole -- Traditional
Tangerine -- Page
That's the Way -- Plant, Page
Bron-Y-Aur-Stomp -- Jones, Plant, Page
Hats Off to (Roy) Harper -- Traditional

[kcmets]

Ain't no companion like a blue eyed Merle

[batmagadanleadoff]

October 4, 1970...



The 2020 and 1970 calendars are the same. Every date in 1970 falls on the same day of the week this year.

[batmagadanleadoff]

God bless the seventies. It's almost unthinkable today to think of an act having their breakthrough with a live album after having initially indifferent sales on their early studio catalog, but in the seventies, it happened at least three times — maybe more if you count KISS.

I'd say that it's unthinkable to think of any kind of album today, live or studio, the way you would've thought of an album in the 70s. Personally, I'd say that today, the album is trending towards obsolete, if it isn't already. I think that an album today, is as relevant as a 45 record was by the 80s or 90s.

Anyways, those three big breaktrough 70s live albums you reference -- I've got The Allman Brothers, Peter Frampton and Cheap Trick. Are those your three?

[Frayed Knot]

Maybe i need to review the chronology, but I was thinking that Cheap Trick was more established prior to 'Budakon' as compared to the others. Once 'Comes Alive' hit it big, every band and record company was tripping over each other to get a Live album out and CT was one of them. It was a huge record for them but I'm not sure that it was introducing them to new audiences in the way that the others did.

[Edgy MD]

The Trick was mostly big only in Japan before Budokon. I'm sure they had a following, but judging by the FM radio I was glued to, they were a secret to radio programmers. And frankly, reflecting the quality of their pre-Budokon recordings, I get why. Early KISS studio records also never sounded as full as the did in Alive.

OE: Trick's first two alba peaked at 207 and 73, respectively. Heaven Tonight made it to 48, but peaked after Budokon's exposure helped them pick up a following.

Anyways, those three big breaktrough 70s live albums you reference -- I've got The Allman Brothers, Peter Frampton and Cheap Trick. Are those your three?

Yup. KISS gets an honorable mention. There probably should be more. Yes might have been a secret before Yessongs, and Little Feat before Waiting for Columbus, but neither one of them was ever really my bag, so I don't know.

[Frayed Knot]

The 2020 and 1970 calendars are the same. Every date in 1970 falls on the same day of the week this year.

Not completely true. 2020 is a leap year while 1970 was not.
So the two years only synched up after 'Leap Day'. January and February were one day off.


Calendars identical to 2020: 1908, 1936, 1964, 1992, 2048, 2076, 2116

[Edgy MD]

Fifty years ago today, Janis Joplin died of a drug overdose at 27. She was just three albums into her legendary career, with a fourth, Pearl, released posthumously, and going to #1.

[Frayed Knot]

NEW MORNING — Bob Dylan, Released October 19. 1970

Released just four months after the critic-dismissed SELF PORTRAIT, there was speculation that this album was quickly thrown together in
response to that criticism but most of the songs included were not just written but also recorded before ‘Portrait’ was even released.
Al Kooper, David Bromberg, Charlie Daniels, and drummer Russ Kunkel were among the musicians contributing.

IF NOT FOR YOU
DAY OF THE LOCUSTS
TIME PASSES SLOWLY
WENT TO SEE THE GYPSY
WINTERLUDE
IF DOGS RUN FREE

NEW MORNING
SIGN ON THE WINDOW
ONE MORE WEEKEND
THE MAN IN ME
THREE ANGELS
FATHER OF NIGHT

[Fman99]

That's a good'un, I am partial particularly to "If Not for You" (co-written by George Harrison, who also released his own version on All Things Must Pass), as well as "The Man in Me," probably best known in contemporary circles as the music that opens the film "The Big Lebowski."

[Edgy MD]

On both All Things and New Morning, Dylan gets sole credit. It sure feels like George is in the composing though, if only because of how naturally that slide guitar counter-melody fits in there. But hey, George was used to getting screwed on composition credits.

This was the only charting version of the song.

[cal sharpie]

The title song and Day of the Locusts are also really good. It was the first Dylan album I owned so it has a special place in my heart. He was living in Woodstock then and the album is preoccupied with parenting and is probably his most joyful album.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Cheap Trick was not unlike acts like Sammy Hagar solo, REO Shitwagon and other rockers that came along (I mentioned Van Halen, even) in the late 70s whose "popularity" was still very dependent on local radio support and "local herosity" which back then was different market to market.

Hagar for example was like big in St. Louis and the Pacific Northwest, for some reason, but a virtual stranger in NYC; REO, Cheap Trick and the Micheal Stanley Band were Midwest heros, with only certain of them breaking through nationally, whether with a thunderous live recording (like the Trick) or a multifront assault on the pop and rock charts (like REO). Others couldn't find a way. MTV and increasingly narrowcasted and smoothed-over "chain-store" bland radio erased most of that phenom by the early 80s.

Until those things happened, learning about these guys required you read CIRCUS or CREEM. I'm sure there were NYC-popular artists who didn't export quite as well nationally, or perhaps, bland, safe radio was a NYC thing that eventually triumphed over the Clevelands and St. Louises.

[Edgy MD]

Long Island had the Good Rats killing it on local radio but being strangers nationally.

I think of Hootie and Blowfish as the last rock band that became regional legends before breaking nationally. Rap certainly still has local heroes.

Local charts were a cool and mysterious thing.

[Frayed Knot]

Back in the day when individual DJs actually had the freedom to choose their own music, even if only within the bounds of their station's core sound, the regional success of certain bands/artists could
sometimes be traced to the influence of a particular DJ who had a big enough platform and audience.
Springsteen's early days saw mostly just regional airplay. Not surprisingly much of that came from the two ends of his home turf in NYC & Philly, but he also had an early following in Cleveland due
largely to heavy rotation from 'Kid Leo' (Lawrence James Travagliante), the afternoon DJ on Cleveland's WMMS from 1974 - 1988

[Edgy MD]

I didn't know the Kid had the claim to fame of breaking Springsteen in Cleveland. I remember WMMS regularly being a contender for Station of the Year in Rolling Stone's awards thingie, however.

Leo still brings it as the afternoon drive time guy at Little Steven's Underground Garage.

[Frayed Knot]

TUMBLEWEED CONNECTION - Elton John, Released October 30, 1970

The third studio album from the Elton John/Bernie Taupin collaboration veers towards a country-western/Americana from the titles of the songs and
the album itself right down to the album cover’s sepia-tinged artwork even though the wrap-around photo is actually that of an English RR station.



BALLAD OF A WELL-KNOWN GUN
COME DOWN IN TIME
COUNTRY COMFORT
SON OF YOUR FATHER
MY FATHER’S GUN

WHERE TO NOW ST PETER?
LOVE SONG (written by Lesley Duncan)
AMOREENA
TALKING OLD SOLDIERS
BURN DOWN THE MISSION

[Fman99]

It's probably my favorite Elton John album, end to end. Like a lot of musicians around this time frame (most notably the Dead), he picked up much of what the Band was doing and built it into his own English take on Americana.

[Frayed Knot]

It's probably my favorite Elton John album, end to end. Like a lot of musicians around this time frame (most notably the Dead), he picked up much of what the Band was doing and built it into his own English take on Americana.

And on that note comes more country/bluegrass/Americana from the above-mentioned Dead

GRATEFUL DEAD — AMERICAN BEAUTY, Released November 1st, 1970
The fifth studio album for the band overall, and the second one released in 1970, saw their shift towards an ‘Americana’ sound continuing.

BOX OF RAIN (written by Phil Lesh, Robert Hunter — Lead vocals Phil Lesh)
FRIEND OF THE DEVIL (Garcia, Hunter, John Dawson — Garcia)
SUGAR MAGNOLIA (Weir, Hunter — Weir)
OPERATOR (w & v Ron McKernan, his only writing & vocals on a GD studio album)
CANDYMAN (Garcia/Hunter - Garcia)

RIPPLE (Garcia/Hunter — Garcia)
BROKEDOWN PLACE (Garcia/Hunter — Garcia)
TILL THE MORNING COMES (Garcia/Hunter — Vocals: Garcia, Weir, Lesh)
ATTICS OF MY LIFE (Garcia/Hunter — Garcia)
TRUCKIN’ (Garcia, Lesh, Weir, Hunter — Weir)

A 50th anniversary edition of this has been released just in the past week, supposedly remastered under the supervision of Bob Weir.
Included in this new version is a live show from February '71.



Meanwhile, from the other side of the ocean ...

DAVID BOWIE — MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD, Released November 4, 1970

The third album from Bowie. Harder and darker than his previous releases, the album was initially a commercial failure in both the US & UK although sold better in later years and has been
re-released in various forms since as it started to be recognized as the beginning of Bowie’s “classic period” and as the first with guitarist Mick Ronson and drummer Mick Woodmansey.

WIDTH OF A CIRCLE
ALL THE MADMEN
BLACK COURTY ROCK
AFTER ALL

RUNNING GUN BLUES
SAVIOuR MACHINE
SHE SHOOK ME COLD
THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD
THE SUPERMEN

[Fman99]

Going to have to go back and listen to that Bowie album again, it's been many moons and most of those songs do not read familiar to me by title.

[Frayed Knot]

Me either. Even the title track is one I know more via the Nirvana cover than from the Bowie original.