1970 – Top Albums – A New Dawn Beckons….

1970 – A New Decade

Like all years at the start of a new decade, there is a tendency to think that events and happenings in the world will be different, that we have finished with the previous bundle and tangle of attractions and trifles, and start on a new course of activities and vital interests, create mindless trends and adore the New.  Over recent years the album’s reputation has been embraced as an artifact of high art, listener devotion, inspiration and a big money-spinner.

And so 1970 seems implicitly to bookend the 60s, and the Beatles, and to expand the universe that has developed around the British beat groups, the re-emergence of US rock as a vital force, Motown, psychedelia, flower power and Woodstock.  Whilst 1970 features most of the artists that have provided entertainment and enjoyment in the 60s, and their albums are still available, several posthumous albums are released this year by major artists, including Janis and Jimi.  The dark side foreshadowed at Altamont casts a shadow on the new dawn.

Sales Dominate

This is what it is all about – sales, sales, sales.  Let us start with Gene Sculatti’s small tome 100 Best Selling Albums of the 60s.  There are only 10 albums listed, but the scale of sales generally far exceeds earlier years:

Sales	Artist	Album Title
3,000,000	James Taylor	Sweet Baby James
3,000,000	Cat Stevens	Tea for the Tillerman
4,000,000	Beatles	Let it be
4,000,000	Black Sabbath	Paranoid
4,000,000	Creedence Clearwater Revival	Cosmo’s Factory
5,000,000	Santana	Abraxas
6,000,000	Led Zeppelin	Led Zeppelin 11
6,000,000	George Harrison	All Things Must Pass
7,000,000	Crosby Stills Nash & Young	Deja Vu
8,000,000	Simon & Garfunkel	Bridge over Troubled Water

When we first started using Sculatti’s reference in 1965, sales of a single album rarely reached 1,000,000 and the Beatles were the only group to get into the multi-million sales zone.  Things have changed and the album is King and you may be assured that the Sculatti list of million selling albums is far from complete.

Book of Golden Discs – Joseph Murrell [1974; Reprint 1978]

Joseph Murrell’s – The Book of Golden Discs – “The Records that sold a million” (1974) has some interesting correlations and additions.  Included are the blockbuster releases of 1970 embracing stage, screen and performance.  The big three are Jesus Christ Superstar (Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice), Love Story (Francis Lai) and Woodstock (Various Artists) selling millions of albums, and strangely not appearing in the Sculatti volume.

Murrell also lists Blood Sweat & Tears 3, Chicago 11, Emerson Lake & Palmer – self titled, Grand Funk Railroad LIVE, ABC and Third Album – Jackson 5, Elton John – self titled and Tumbleweed Connection, and The Partridge Family Album.  Each of these albums sold in excess of 1,000,000 copies in all formats – vinyl, cassette and later as CDs.

A Diversion – “ALBUMS – The Stories behind 50 Years of Great Recordings” [Ed – Thomas Jerome 2005 Thunder Bay Press]

This delicious book brings some compelling observations and photographs of rock stars, musicians, stage play and albums to its readers.  Aside from the albums already mentioned in our previous sources, Jerome includes – John Barry’s original soundtrack On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Curtis Mayfield’s – Curtis, the Velvet Underground – Loaded, Traffic – John Barleycorn Must Die, Free – Fire & Water, Miles Davis – Bitches Brew, the Grateful Dead – Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty, Neil Young – After the Gold Rush and Harvest, and Neil Diamond’s Taproot Manuscript.

Editor Jerome has an eye and ear for the flash and slash of rock, the uncomfortable new and the brash.  He also lists other major releases of 1970 including Santana’s Abraxas, Black Sabbath’s – Paranoid, George Harrison and his seminal album All Things Must Pass and the celebratory Woodstock.

Our Guide – BestEverAlbums.com

Our fundamental guide to greatness lies with the BestEverAlbums.com listing and for 1970 there are 961 albums nominated, about 40 more than were included in the 1969 list. The album continues to be highly sought after and fans shell out their hard-earned moolah to buy about 40 minutes of passion, surrender and happiness.  Double albums further increase our happiness and Woodstock exceeds all our wishes with three albums in one package, clocking in at 111 minutes plus announcements!!!

BEA’s top 40 is as follows:

Rating	Artist	Album Title	Billboard Hot 200
1	Black Sabbath	Paranoid	12
2	Neil Young	After the Gold rush	8
3	Simon & Garfunkel	Bridge over Troubled Water	1
4	George Harrison	All Things Must Pass	2
5	John Lennon	Plastic Ono Band	6
6	Miles Davis	Bitches Brew	35
7	Led Zeppelin	Led Zeppelin 11	1
8	Van Morrison	Moon Dance	29
9	The Stooges	Fun House	DNC
10	Creedence Clearwater Revival	Cosmos’s Factory	1
11	Beatles	Let it be	1
12	Derek & the Dominoes	Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs	16
13	The Velvet Underground	Loaded	DNC
14	Black Sabbath	Black Sabbath	23
15	Crosby Stills Nash & Young	Déjà Vu	1
16	Grateful Dead	American Beauty	19
17	Deep Purple	Deep Purple in Rock	143
18	Cat Stevens	Tea for the Tillerman	8
19	Santana	Abraxas	1
20	Pink Floyd	Atom Heart Mother	55
21	The Doors	Morrison Hotel	4
22	The Kinks	Lola Versus Powerman & the Moneygoround, Part One	35
23	The Who	Live at Leeds	4
24	Soft Machine	Third	DNC
25	Curtis Mayfield	Curtis	19
26	Tim Buckley	Starsailor	DNC
27	Syd Barrett	The Madcap Laughs	DNC
28	Jimi Hendrix	Band of Gypsys	5
29	Grateful Dead	Workingman’s Dead	27
30	David Bowie	The man who sold the World	105
31	Vashti Bunyan	Just another Diamond Day	DNC
32	Elton John	Tumbleweed Connection	5
33	Nico	Desertshore	DNC
34	Rodriguez	Cold fact	DNC
35	Exuma	Exuma	DNC
36	The Beachboys	Sunflower	151
37	James Taylor	Sweet Baby James	3
38	Tim Buckley	Lorca	DNC
39	Joni Mitchell	Ladies of the Canyon	27
40	Emerson Lake & Palmer	Emerson Lake & Palmer	18

   

There are several gems  in the next 20 or so albums, including McCartney – Paul McCartney’s hastily released offering of ditties for 1970 at # 43, the Allman Brothers Band – Idlewild South (# 46), two from King Crimson – In the Wake of Poseidon (# 48) and Lizard (# 49), Chicago – Chicago 11 (# 50), the Rolling Stones live – Get yer Ya-Yas Out (# 51), and Stephen Stills self-titled album at # 57.

Kris Kristofferson’s debut album Kristofferson is at # 73.  Similarly the Wishbone Ash debut self-titled album resides at # 79 and the Carpenters, big sellers in 1970, are at #92 with Close to You.  The Beatles excellent US compilation Hey Jude can only make # 96.  Outside the Top 100 BEA Chart there are many more gems which we have loved over the years and it is worthwhile adding one more list to jog our foggy memories of past glories.

Rating	Artist	Album Title	Billboard Hot 200
102	The Mothers of Invention	Burnt Weeny Sandwich	94
106	MC5	Back in the USA	DNC
112	Frank Zappa	Chunga’s Revenge	119
116	Aretha Franklin	Spirit in the Dark	25
118	Joe Cocker	Mad Dogs & Englishmen	2
129	Leon Russell	Leon Russell	60
131	Ten Years After	Watt	21
135	Rod Stewart	Gasoline Alley	27
139	May Blitz	May Blitz	DNC
142	Mountain	Climbing!	17
144	Bob Dylan	Self Portrait	4
149	Eric Clapton	Eric Clapton	13
171	Paul Kantner & Jefferson Starship	Blows Against the Empire	35
179	Mandrill	Mandrill	27*/48
191	Jackson 5	ABC	4
201	Fleetwood Mac	Kiln House	69
216	John Mayall	Empty Rooms	33
226	Elvis Presley	Back in Memphis	DNC
236	Gordon Lightfoot	If you could read my mind	12
241	Rare Earth	Ecology	15
273	Patto	Patto	DNC
277	Duke Ellington	New Orleans Suite	–
284	The Faces	First Steps	119
312	Melanie	Candles in the rain	17
314	Roberta Flack	Chapter Two	33
328	The Partridge Family	The Partridge Family Album	4
338	Steve Miller Band	Number 5	23
349	Taste	On the Boards	DNC
366	The Flock	Dinosaur Swamps	DNC
387	Cream	Live Cream	15
405	Spooky Tooth	The Last Puff	DNC
412	Blood Sweat & Tears	Blood Sweat & Tears 3	1
419	Freda Payne	Band of Gold	17*/60
443	Linda Ronstadt	Silk Purse	103
453	Dusty Springfield	Brand new me	107
459	Ringo Starr	Beaucoup o f Blues	65
476	Ginger Baker’s Airforce	Ginger Baker’s Airforce	33
485	Delaney & Bonnie & Friends	On Tour	29
535	Charles Manson	Lie: the Love & Terror Cult	DNFC

We will stop at # 535.  The Charles Manson largely folk album performed by mad Charlie Manson and his “family” is still available on Discogs on LP and CD and has been reissued several times, once on the apposite White Devil Records label in 2006, and as recently as 2018 on cassette.  Copies can be purchased from $AUD17.91.  Some albums should just be cast into the eternal fire……

And there are some familiar albums well below this threshold and a few are worth mentioning.  The Monkees – Changes at # 737, Thunderclap Newman – Hollywood Dream at # 855, Ray Stevens – Everything is Beautiful at # 877, Tom Jones – Tom at # 913, and the high flying Mixtures (from Winston Charles discotheque fame) – In the Summertime at # 937.  All good things must come to an end.  But original copies of this album are also available at Discogs and prices for a near mint copy start at $AUD15.00 – not too bad considering.

Ultimate Classic Rock – Top 15

The guys at Ultimate Classic Rock don’t muck around when it comes to selecting the best albums of 1970.  They always have an eye on the rock tradition and its edgy evolution, the guitar Gods, and the rock voices that carry the message, whatever the message is – sex, drugs, rock n roll, peace, love…whatever man.

Rating	Artist	Album Title
1	John Lennon	John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band
2	Simon & Garfunkel	Bridge over Troubled Water
3	Neil Young	After the Gold Rush
4	Van Morrison	Moondance
5	Derek & the Dominoes	Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
6	George Harrison	All Things Must Pass
7	Black Sabbath	Black Sabbath
8	Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young	Deja Vu
9	Led Zeppelin	Led Zeppelin 111
10	The Stooges	Fun House
11	Black Sabbath	Paranoid
12	Santana	Abraxas
13	Grateful Dead	American Beauty
14	Creedence Clearwater Revival	Cosmo’s Factory
15	Beatles	Let it be

It is good for the spirit to see John Lennon and Plastic Ono Band as their #1 selection and there must have been a lot of blood on the floor to see BOTW so high up the chart for Rock’s hard boys.  But for the rest of their selections they take no prisoners.

Rolling Stone Magazine – The Times are a-changing

Rolling Stone magazine has been a bastion of support for rock music since 1967 under the guidance of wunderkind editor Jann Wenner.  Historically, noting the magazine’s intrinsic interest to rock’s evolution, Rolling Stone has payed relentless homage to the leading groups and fire eating acts of the 60s and the 70s.  It was not until 2003 that the Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums was first created and the usual suspects crowded into the Toppermost – Beatles, Dylan, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and the rest followed.  The list was revised in 2012 but the changes were marginal.  In 2020 there has been significant change to the Top 500 as the popularity and respect accorded to mature acts is reassessed and modern acts revitalise the genre.  Kanye West, Prince, Michael Jackson, Talking Heads, Fiona Apple, Taylor Swift, Janet Jackson, Beyonce, Nirvana, Lucinda Williams and many others now adorn the star list.

Below is the listing of 1970 albums:

Rating 2012	Rating 2020	Artist	Album Title
23	85	John Lennon	Plastic Ono Band
95	87	Miles Davis	Bitches Brew
108	88	David Bowie	Hunky Dory
74	90	Neil Young	After the Gold Rush
191	94	The Stooges	Fun House
66	120	Van Morrison	Moondance
131	139	Black Sabbath	Paranoid
51	172	Simon & Garfunkel	Bridge over Troubled Water
104	182	James Taylor	Sweet Baby James
208	205	Cat Stevens	Tea for the Tillerman
261	215	Grateful Dead	American Beauty
147	220	Crosby Stills Nash & Young	Deja Vu
117	226	Derek & the Dominoes	Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs
110	242	Velvet Underground	Loaded
	275	Curtis Mayfield	Curtis
170	327	The Who	Live at Leeds
207	334	Santana	Abraxas
392	342	Beatles	Let it be
61	343	Sly & the Family Stone	Greatest Hits
243	355	Black Sabbath	Black Sabbath
433	368	George Harrison	All Things Must Pass
264	409	Grateful Dead	Workingman’s Dead
262	413	Creedence Clearwater Revival	Cosmo’s Factory
	439	James Brown	Sex Machine

There has been general slippage of the 1970 albums down the Rolling Stone 500.  Having said that, there are no surprises at all in the RS Top 500.  The list is a good match with the BEA.com selection (which is routinely updated to accord with popular choice), and must be considered representative of the overall assessment of albums.  Completely dropping out of the Top 500 2012 version are The Carpenters with Close to You, Nick Drake – Bryter Later, Randy Newman – 12 Songs, MC5 – Back in the USA and the Elton John self-titled album.  And Curtis Mayfield and James Brown, who conceivably should have already been included on the list, have been granted their rightful places.

On that note the biggest change to the Rolling Stone 500 is the new #1 – Marvin Gaye’s 1971 album What’s going on replacing the Beatles technicolour 1967 Sgt Pepper’s album, which has dropped to #24 – a bit of a shock to the system.  So there is a clear message – the times are a-changing and that over time they will change even further.  But as the Beachboys’s Brian Wilson and the Pixies’ Frank Black sang – “hang on to your ego” (and old LPs).

Billboard 200 – Who sells more wins

Nothing has changed at Billboard.  Sell more and more and more and you will reach the top of the Toppermost.  The Billboard Hot 200 # 1 albums for 1970 are listed below:

Date	Artist	Album Title	Weeks In
7 March	Simon & Garfunkel	Bridge over Troubled Water	10
16 May	Crosby Stills Nash & Young	Deja Vu	1
23 May	Paul McCartney	McCartney	3
13 June	Beatles	Let it be	4
11 July	Various Artists	Woodstock	4
8 Aug	Blood Sweat & Tears	Blood Sweat & Tears 3	2
22 Aug	Creedence Clearwater Revival	Cosmo’s Factory	9
24 Oct	Santana	Abraxas	6
31 Oct	Led Zeppelin	Led Zeppelin 111	4
28 Nov	Santana	Abraxas	4

After a smash performance at Woodstock on 31st August 1969, Santana reaped huge rewards with their third album, Abraxas, and enjoyed two stints at #1, equalling Simon & Garfunkel’s duration at the top in the earlier months of 1970.  Creedence Clearwater Revival, after a consistent three years on the charts, also stayed at #1 for a long period.  Although only nine albums graced the #1 position in the Billboard Hot 200 many contenders played in the ranks.  And there were some beauties.

As usual in the first two months of the year albums from 1969 lingered on the 1970 Billboard Hot 200.  The Beatles – on top with Abbey Road in January, followed by Led Zeppelin II until 28 February.  Then we begin the new year proper with Simon & Garfunkel’s BOTW and by the end of the year we are sick and tired of the album.  The Top 10 albums at 7 March are:

No	Release Year	Artist	Album Title
1	1970	Simon & Garfunkel	Bridge over Troubled Water
2	1969	Led Zeppelin	Led Zeppelin II
3	1969	Beatles	Abbey Road
4	1969	Creedence Clearwater Revival	Willie & the Poor Boys
5	1970	Chicago	Chicago II
6	1969	Jackson 5	I want you back (alternate title: Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5)
7	1970	Johnny Cash	Hello I’m Johnny Cash
8	1969	Three Dog Night	Captured Live at the Forum
9	1969	Engelbert Humperdinck	Engelbert
10	1969	Santana	Santana

The album to note in this week’s selection is #5 Chicago – Chicago II, which remains in the Top 10 albums until 17 October 1970 – an amazing achievement, peaking at #4 and staying in the Top 10 for 36 weeks.  And it is an album you never get tired of listening to – wild, thundering, happy and full of life.

In the mix on 14 March are the Doors with Morrison Hotel at #12, the Plastic Ono Band with Live in Toronto at #18, King Crimson – In the Court of the Crimson King at #37.  In the following week the Beatles stride into #3 first week on the charts with the Hey Jude US compilation, one position ahead of Morrison Hotel.  Hey Jude makes #2 on 4 April but cannot progress any further until Simon & Garfunkel leave the top spot which they do on 16 May, when Crosby Still Nash & Young assume the mantle with Deja Vu.

During those five weeks many albums have risen and fallen, including – Mountain – Climbing! #17, Aretha Franklin – This girl’s in love with you #17, Hollies – He ain’t heavy #32, Norman Greenbaum – Spirit in the Sky #23, Bobby Sherman – Here comes Bobby #11, Badfinger – Magic Christian #55, and Ten Years After – Cricklewood Green #22.

Paul McCartney, in his third week in the charts, takes the #1 spot on 23 May with his debut solo album McCartney, and glory is short for CSNY.  But not for Paul McCartney, the most popular of the Beatles, who remains in the top spot until 6 June, and resumes it with the Beatles on 13 June with Let it be.  The long awaited release by the Fab Four is in its second week in the charts.  Fame moves fast.

The Beatles remain at #1 and Paul McCartney at #2 for four successive weeks and the Top 10 on 4 July is blooming with big names:

No	Artist	Album Title
1	Beatles	Let it be
2	Paul McCartney	McCartney
3	Various	Woodstock
4	Crosby Stills Nash & Young	Deja Vu
5	Fifth Dimension	Greatest Hits
6	The Who	Live at Leeds
7	Chicago	Chicago ll
8	Jackson 5	ABC
9	Jimi Hendrix	Band of Gypsies
10	Isaac Hayes	Movement

On 11 July, the massive triple album that is Woodstock in all its splendor attains the #1 position.  And 50 years later in 2020 there is much to celebrate.  Another two volumes are released making a total of four volumes on 10 discs released on Atlantic Records.  Separately Rhino Records also releases a Woodstock: Back to the Garden – The Anniversary Edition in a limited edition 38 Uber CD and Blu-Ray boxset, a 10 CD Super deluxe boxset, a 5 LP boxset and a 3 CD pack.  The 38 CD set has 432 songs of which 267 have never before been released and is priced at about $AUD1200.  Buy up.

Just outside the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 200, Grand Funk Railroad is at #11 with Close to home, Melanie is at #17 with Candles in the Rain, Rod Stewart is at #32 with his second album Gasoline Alley, and Grateful Dead at #28 with Workingman’s Dead.  Bob Dylan, in his second week in the charts, lobs into #7 with the much maligned double album Self Portrait.  The fans are expecting something special.

Woodstock tarries at the top for four weeks giving up the crown to Blood Sweat & Tears 3 on 8 August.  BS&T are closely followed by the Creedence Clearwater Revival with their latest contribution – Cosmo’s Factory – sitting at #2.  The Jackson 5 sit at #6 with ABC.  On 22 August CCR take over the top spot and stay there for nine weeks until 17 October.

In the intervening period The Who enjoy two albums in the Top 10 – Live at Leeds and Tommy (noting that Tommy was originally released in May 1969 and is promoted by an extended live tour of the rock opera).  Joe Cocker makes a mad run for the big prize with Mad Dogs & Englishmen to claim the #11 spot first week in, but can only make it to #2 eventually, before the all conquering Santana claims his first #1 on 24 October.  Traffic makes it #9 with John Barleycorn must die and the Band to #10 with Stage Fright.

By late September other contenders include James Taylor, who has slowly been making his way up the charts, with Sweet Baby James at #11, Neil Young – After the gold rush at #13, Free with Fire & Water at #29, and second week in – the Carpenters at #30 with Close to you.  On 24 October the Top 10 hosts some big players:

No	Artist	Album Title
1	Santana	Abraxas
2	Credence Clearwater Revival	Cosmo’s Factory
3	Led Zeppelin	Led Zeppelin lll
4	Jackson 5	ABC
5	James Taylor	Sweet Baby James
6	Rolling Stones	Get yer ya yas out
7	Various	Woodstock
8	Neil Young	After the gold rush
9	Joe Cocker	Mad dogs & Englishmen
10	Carpenters	Close to you

Now that is a great Top 10.  And down below there seems to be a Black surge with the Temptations at #17 with their compilation Greatest Hits ll, the Four Tops at #22 with Still waters run deep, Aretha Franklin at #32 with Spirit in the Dark, Roberta Flack at #33 with Chapter Two, the great Curtis Mayfield at #34 with Curtis, the Last Poets with their self-titled album at #35, and hard-working James Brown, ever present, at #39 with Sex Machine.

Led Zeppelin with LZ lll, on their second week in, takes over from Santana at the top staying there until 28 November, when Carlos rescales the heights and ends the year in the premiere position.  By 5 December the Carpenters have moved to #2 with Close to you, Stephen Stills with his fantastic debut self-titled album reaches #8 and the rock musical Jesus Christ Superstar resides at #10.

In the ranks the Partridge family make #12 with the Partridge Family Album, Derek & the Dominoes and the outstanding Layla is at #18, Black Sabbath at #36, Badfinger – No Dice at #37, the Allman Brothers and Idlewild South at #40 and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s great album Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy at #90.

The Top 10 for 26 December is as follows:

No	Artist	Album Title
1	Santana	Abraxas
2	George Harrison	All things must pass
3	Sly & the Family Stone	Greatest Hits
4	Stephen Stills	Stephen Stills
5	Grand Funk Railroad	Live Album
6	Carpenters	Close to you
7	Various	Jesus Christ Superstar
8	Led Zeppelin	Led Zeppelin 111
9	Partridge Family	Partridge Family Album
10	James Taylor	Sweet Baby James

George Harrison, in his second week in, makes #2 with his magnificent debut triple album – All Things Must Pass.  The Beatles have had another bumper year and the individual parts of the Beatles have achieved similar success.  The Billboard Hot 200 is littered with big double and triple albums – Tommy by the Who, Woodstock, Chicago 11, and Jesus Christ Superstar, not forgetting George Harrison’s opus.

All in all it has been an exciting year on the Billboard Hot 200 – always a tough assignment.

1001 Albums you just gotta hear….

Robert Dimery’s 2006 doorstop lists 30 albums which are mostly mentioned in previous lists.  In fact there are few surprises except for Ananda Shankar’s self titled offering, an album of “sitar rock fusion” released after Jimi Hendrix asked Ananda to make a record for him.  Also included is Spirit’s Twelve Dreams of Dr Sardonicus, Nick Drake’s Bryter Later and Soft Machine – Third.  Welcome inclusions are the Carpenters’ Close to You, Stephen Stills’ self-titled debut solo album, Traffic’s John Barleycorn Must Die, and Rod Stewart’s warm sophomore album Gasoline Alley.

Dr ‘Pop’ Paul Gambaccini Presents…

Old Skool impresario Dr Gambaccini has maintained a list of Top 100 albums since 1977.  His useful album sized book “Paul Gambaccini Presents the Top 100 Albums” is a little gem.  Only four albums from 1970 are listed:

Rating	Artist	Album Title
42	Simon & Garfunkel	Bridge over Troubled Water
49	Tim Buckley	Starsailor
52	Van Morrison	Moondance
92	Derek & the Dominoes	Layla & Other Assorted Love songs

An interesting list – no Beatles, no Black Sabbath or Santana – the gaps are endless!

101 Essential Rock Records [Jeff Gold, 2012]

Jeff Gold, as usual, is very careful with his selections listing only seven albums from the excitement that was 1970.  His selections are also unrated leaving you to ponder the inclusions and obvious exclusions.  This could be your desert island disc selection.

Artist	Title
Vashti Bunyan	Just another Diamond Day
The Move	Shazam
James Taylor	Sweet Baby James
Black Sabbath	Black Sabbath
Emerson Lake & Palmer	Emerson Lake & Palmer
David Bowie	The man who sold the world
Cat Stevens	Tea for the Tillerman

It is interesting to note Vashti Bunyan’s lost masterpiece is included in his selective list.  Whilst selling a few hundred copies in 1970 and failing to impact any of the charts, the album has become an instructive influence on modern artists.  The Move, however, is a selection that can only be linked to fandom.

The Virgin All-Time Top 1000 Albums [1998]

Colin Larkin’s Virgin All-time Top 1000 Albums lists 35 albums, and many of those albums already appear in the Best Ever Albums list and the Rolling Stone Top 500.  Larkin’s book, published in 1998, is a product of the times and includes many releases from the 90s – for example Oasis, Nirvana, Blur, Cast & Pulp – which have pushed into relatively high positions due to their popularity in the mid to late 1990s.  So it appears that albums released in earlier decades 60s, 70s and 80s are rated lower in the general scheme of things.  Simon & Garfunkel’s BOTW is rated highest at # 52.

The following table lists Larkin’s bottom 20 albums from 1970, beginning at # 346, and shows many respectable albums in the lower echelons.

Rank	Rank in Top 1000	Artist	Album Title
19	346	Led Zeppelin	Led Zeppelin III
20	375	Black Sabbath	Paranoid
21	390	George Harrison	All Things Must Pass
22	416	James Taylor	Sweet Baby James
23	422	Deep Purple	In Rock
24	455	Elton John	Tumbleweed Connection
25	484	Joni Mitchell	Ladies of the Canyon
26	512	Traffic	John Barleycorn Must Die
27	529	Various Artists	Woodstock
28	532	The Band	Stage Fright
29	556	Jimi Hendrix	Bad of Gypsies
30	561	Beatles	Let it be
31	594	The Beachboys	Sunflower
32	633	Black Sabbath	Black Sabbath
33	657	Soft Machine	Third
34	668	Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band	Lick my decals off baby
35	669	Creedence Clearwater Revival	Cosmo’s Factory
36	811	Jefferson Starship / Paul Kantner	Blows Against Empire
37	882	Free	Fire & Water
38	902	The Move	Shazam
39	925	Jimi Hendrix / Otis Redding	Monterey International Pop Festival

New editions of Colin Larkin’s book may update ratings in due course.

The Parallel Universe that is The Grammy’s – at the Hollywood Palladium

The 13^th Grammy Awards are broadcast live, for the first time, from the Hollywood Palladium Los Angeles on 16 March 1971.  Andy Williams smooches over proceedings.

Nominations for the Best Album are almost an all-American affair (although Elton John did sneak in there):

Simon & Garfunkel – Bridge over Troubled Water, Chicago – Chicago 11, Crosby Stills Nash & Young – Deja Vu, Elton John – self-titled, James Taylor – Sweet Baby James and the Carpenters – Close to you.  There is no prize for guessing the result – Simon & Garfunkel.

BOTW wins the Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Album of the Year.  The Beatles are also nominated for the category Record of the Year with Let it be, along with Ray Stevens and Everything is Beautiful, but Simon & Garfunkel are triumphant.  Although on the night Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, who had recently broken up, leave the podium to opposite sides of the auditorium stage.  Simon simply gives a nod in appreciation to the audience.

Towards the latter part of the evening John Wayne appears on stage to present the award to the winner of the Best Original Score written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special.  The nominees are:

The Beatles – Let it be, Alfred Newman – Airport, Fred Karlin – The Sterile Cuckoo, Johnny Mandel – M*A*S*H, and Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer – Darling Lili.

The surprise of the evening is the selection of the Beatles to win this award and John Wayne gives the Grammy to Paul McCartney, who is accompanied by his wife Linda, impressing the cheering and clapping Hollywood crowd by this well kept secret appearance.  Paul McCartney’s comments are brief – “Thank you. Goodnight”, but the audience enjoys the visual of a Real Beatle standing right next to their Real Western Star – True Grit.  Dream on Hollywood.  In retrospect, and noting this is the first live televised broadcast of the event, the Grammy brains trust must have exercised their extensive resources to ensure that the Beatles or at least one Beatle somehow or other got into the Grammy action on the night.

The Carpenters are awarded the Best New Artists of the Year. And all ends well.

What happened in Australia?

In 1970 there is not much evidence of many albums being released by local artists.  But there were a few.  In the 2017 edition of The 110 Best Australian Albums compiled by John O’Donnell, Toby Creswell and Craig Mathieson, a single album is nominated from 1970.  The album is Fool’s Gold by Axiom, one of Australia’s first influential super groups featuring legendary Brian Cadd and Glenn Sharrock in the line up.  Other albums released in 1970 are shown in the following table with their peak position (where known) on the Go-Set Top 20 Album Chart:

Rank Go-Set Top 20	Artist	Album Title
5	Max Merritt & the Meteors	Max Merritt & the Meteors
6	Tully	Tully
7	Bee Gees	Cucumber Castle
8	Zoot	Just Zoot
9	Johnny Farnham	Looking through a tear
15	Chain	Chain Live
18	Axiom	Fool’s Gold
18	Kamahl	Sounds of Kamahl
20	Flying Circus	Prepared in Peace
	The Mixtures	In the Summertime
	John Williams	John Williams
	Masters Apprentices	Masterpiece
	Ronnie Burns	Ronnie
	Levi Smith’s Clefs	Empty Monkey
	Dave Miller / Leith Corbett & Friends	Reflections of a Pioneer
	Jeff St John’s Copperwine	Joint Effort
	Taman Shud	Goolutionites & the Real People

This list may not be complete and we will make every effort to update it in due course.  Most of these albums have not been reissued, although Taman Shud has had a resurgence of interest and the Goolutionites is now available on red-hot vinyl.  Copies of these albums are also few and far between and fetch hefty prices on Discogs.  The exceptions are of course Kamahl and Johnny Farnham, the latter, whose early albums are pretty light weight in this period.  Not included in the list is Johnny Farnham’s Christmas album and limited copies are available from $6.00 on Discogs, so get in early or be disappointed.

Summary – What’s the verdict for 1970?

Did 1970 prove to be a new page for popular music?  The albums of 1970 are a long way from the beat and pop of 1963, when four lads from Liverpool hit the world of pop.  On that note the Beatles have dissolved their relationship as a functioning band and are presenting their own versions of songs and music to the world, and successfully too.  That in itself is the end of an era beginning around 1962 and ending in 1970.  We will not see the like of that again.  It has been a period rich in colour and sound and vitality.

The sounds of the new bands are also enhanced with horn and reed with the arrival of Chicago, Mandrill, the Flock and Blood Sweat & Tears – full on song in ballads and wild rock anthems.  Yet the drive of the music also still remains the same.  CCR complete three or four years of popularity with their bayou romps, whilst the Kinks start to move into new ground – from the rock opera Victoria in 1969 to Lola and the Moneygoround in 1970.

And we can feel safe in the harmonies of CSNY and the Carpenters – new but not brash, and also the gentle flow of James Taylor and Cat Stevens.  From the Black scene the number of albums released seems to be relatively few with Aretha, James Brown, the Jackson 5, Isaac Hayes, Diana Ross achieving success.  But this will change.

On the wild side The Stooges and MC5 produced some tortuous and early punk tendencies, which would start to take root much later in the 70s, and also provide a backdrop for Thatcherism in the UK.  Watch this space.

All in all, 1970 does appear to create a new scene creaking at the edges with a challenge to renew, to improve, to self-destruct, and continue the movement.

White Elephant Favourite Albums for 1970

There are many favourites from 1970 and they are cemented into the hierarchy at White Elephant Records.  The albums below are listed in no particular ranking.

BEA Rank	Artist	Title
5	John Lennon	Plastic Ono Band
22	Kinks	Lola Versus Powerman & the Moneygoround Part One
149	Eric Clapton	Eric Clapton
179	Mandrill	Mandrill
50	Chicago	Chicago ll
96	Beatles	Hey Jude
51	Rolling Stones	Get yer ya-yas out
4	George Harrison	All Things Must Pass
366	The Flock	Dinosaur Swamps
19	Santana	Abraxas
85	Various	Woodstock
15	CSNY	Deja Vu
8	Van Morrison	Moondance
18	Cat Stevens	Tea for the Tillerman
14	Black Sabbath	Black Sabbath
135	Rod Stewart	Gasoline Alley
142	Mountain	Climbing!
116	Aretha Franklin	Spirit in the Dark
28	Jimi Hendrix	Band of Gypsies
277	Duke Ellington	New Orleans Suite
92	Carpenters	Close to You
12	Derek & the Dominoes	Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs
46	Allman Brothers Band	Idlewild South
57	Stephen Stills	Stephen Stills
246	Humble Pie	Humble Pie
405	Spooky Tooth	The Last Puff
412	Blood Sweat & Tears	Blood Sweat & Tears 3
592	5th Dimension	Portrait

The albums which have spent most time on the White Elephant turntable since 1970 are few despite the big list.  The Flock’s Dinosaur Swamps, although not as good as the 1969 self-titled debut has been worn out and replaced twice.  The same goes for Chicago ll and Abraxas.  Gasoline Alley was a huge favourite in Rod’s big years in the 70s.  Surprisingly Duke Ellington’s New Orleans Suite has also been replaced once during the last 50 years.

The Rolling Stones Get yer ya-yas out – The Rolling Stones in Concert – has also had a good run on the home turntable, although not so much in recent years as the later live albums are at another level altogether.  But by 1970 not many live albums had been released and the album was highly attractive to fans.  The cover is brilliant with the normally taciturn Charlie Watts in high spirits leaping like a circus performer and brandishing two guitars, whilst a fully laden donkey watches Charlie’s wild dance with calm wonder.  The album is a ripper. Returning to the American concert scene after a three year absence, the Stones recorded the album during a two-date stand at Madison Square Gardens in late November 1969.  And this year you can buy the 50^th anniversary clear vinyl version with a framed reproduction of the cover for only $500.  Or maybe get out your old copy and flog it once more!

Following a live concert at Leeds University in Hull on 14 February 1970, the Who released a fantastic live album titled Live at Leeds, which has been described as “stunning, incendiary hard rock.”  Although the album is not in the White Elephant List a copy is on order.

Eric Clapton’s two contributions for 1970 were flogged mercilessly and Mandrill, only acquired after hearing Mandrill Is (from 1971), is a dark wonder along with Mandrill’s later albums.  Stephen Stills’ album is a quiet winner and he has some great support on the album including Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Rita Coolidge.  Spooky Tooth’s Last Puff is always worth a listen and the pumping blues guitar of Leslie West on Mountain’s Climbing! is cataclysmic.   Humble Pie’s first effort also seems to be an attempt to redefine pop music for the 70’s with a mix of blues, rock, psychedelia and folk, whilst Black Sabbath set the darkness alight.  At the other end of  the spectrum Cat Stevens brings song to the fore with his ground breaking Tea for the Tillerman, whilst the Carpenters defy the heavy beat and guitar driven rock with the love songs of Close to You.  Life can be very different.

The selection above provides an “album” soundtrack for 1970, and although it is a “boys” list at best, it is great representation of a year that followed one of the best decades in modern music.  The Sixties have long gone but the echo of the vibrant sounds resonates as the Seventies tries its luck.   Our last image is a reprise of our opening image – an enlarged view of the front cover of Badfinger’s debut 1970 album – No Dice – says it all!