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Post by impulse on May 13, 2021 11:35:44 GMT -5
I'm listening to Aerosmith's albums backwards, going from most recent to oldest. Man, what a trip. While I still think they are among the best of the classic rock (genre, not era) bands, they had some weird-ass periods.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 14, 2021 11:24:15 GMT -5
Favorite Country, Folk & Roots albums of 1971
3. Kris Kristofferson – Silver-Tongued Devil and I
Kristofferson's self-titled debut was phenomenal and you would probably expect a "sophomore slump." That didn't happen with Silver-Tongued Devil. The songs aren't quite as strong (how could they be?) but with the title track, "
Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again),"
"When I Loved Her," "The Taker," and "Jody and the Kid" it wasn't far behind.
If you look at albums across the years of 1970-1973 they are littered with covers of Kristofferson's songs from these two albums. And not just country covers. Rock, soul, pop...everyone was singing these songs.
Let me add that these top three could swap places on any given day. So it's not unreasonable to call them 1A, 1B and 1C.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 17, 2021 10:11:38 GMT -5
Favorite Country, Folk & Roots albums of 1971
2. Waylon Jennings - The Taker/Tulsa
There's probably a bit of "this is an important album" in the placement of this pick. This was Waylon's first album out from under the yoke of Chet Atkins and company and it is 100% a vision of things to come and one of the primordial "outlaw" albums.
Still, it's a damn fine album in its own right. And if it's very light on Waylon's own writing (only one song), it's a showcase for Kris Kristofferson who had been brought to Waylon's attention a couple years before.
A very good album that gives a glimpse of what we would see in a couple years when Waylon was finally able to produce his own records. The title track written by Kristofferson and Shel Silverstein is a dandy.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 18, 2021 9:44:34 GMT -5
Favorite Country, Folk & Roots albums of 1971
1. John Prine - John Prine
John Prine burst on the scene with one of the great albums of the 70s. I'm not sure anyone but Kristofferson debuted with an album that contained this many tracks that have been covered as many times as those here. And while a number of the tracks might have seemed to have been "of their time" those times tend to come around again (Sam Stone, Your Flag Decal Won't Get You into Heaven Anymore). And some (Angel From Montgomery, Donald and Lydia) are always going to be timeless.
I actually discovered Prine pretty late in life, largely thanks to friends who had a small local band. So thanks to them. And thanks to John Prine for fifty years of amazing music.
Oh...and here's my favorite Prine song.
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Post by tartanphantom on May 18, 2021 21:25:58 GMT -5
Favorite Country, Folk & Roots albums of 1971 1. John Prine - John Prine John Prine burst on the scene with one of the great albums of the 70s. I'm not sure anyone but Kristofferson debuted with an album that contained this many tracks that have been covered as many times as those here. And while a number of the tracks might have seemed to have been "of their time" those times tend to come around again (Sam Stone, Your Flag Decal Won't Get You into Heaven Anymore). And some (Angel From Montgomery, Donald and Lydia) are always going to be timeless. I actually discovered Prine pretty late in life, largely thanks to friends who had a small local band. So thanks to them. And thanks to John Prine for fifty years of amazing music. Oh...and here's my favorite Prine song. Probably my all-time favorite Prine tune. I played it for years in one of my former bands, "The Don Clark Trio"-- we had six members at one time... I played mandolin, harmonica and sang harmony/backing vocals. In fact, we played more than our share of Prine covers-- Angel From Montgomery, Spanish Pipe Dream, Sam Stone, The Great Compromise, etc.
In a quirky twist of fate, John was actually a fan of one of my other bands (still in existence-- The Secret Commonwealth-- haven't posted any clips from this band yet, but we've been together since 1993). For years we had a residency at The Sherlock Holmes Pub in the Elliston Place district in Nashville. John and his wife Fiona were regulars there, and came to see us play frequently. I got to know them fairly well (this was before his multiple cancer operations) and they would always sit at the same table at the pub and we'd chat between sets. I'm guessing that they liked us because we were about the only Celtic-flavored band in Nashville at the time (mid-1990's) and we did a lot of Irish and Scottish traditional tunes.
I particularly love Prine's early material, and I really miss that guy.
On a further note, Nanci Griffith used to come to our shows at the same pub from time to time, sometimes with John & Fiona as they were friends offstage as well.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 19, 2021 9:47:22 GMT -5
Favorite Country, Folk & Roots albums of 1971
Honorable Mentions
There are three albums that likely should have appeared on the list and likely would if I were to do this in the future. All three are objectively better albums than some that made the list, though this is a completely subjective exercise. The reason they didn't is because they're all albums I discovered quite recently and therefore haven't entirely set in my mind. They are, however, albums I've listened to a lot recently. So, without further ado...
Steve Goodman - Steve Goodman: Goodman's self-titled debut is one of those great early 70s singer/songwriter folk albums. There are two stand-out tracks by Goodman that have since become standards; "City of New Orleans" and "You Never Even Call Me by My Name." Goodman also pays tribute to an eclectic group of influences with covers of songs by Hank Williams, Johnny Otis, some guy by the name of John Prine. This is a fun poppy folk/singer-songwriter album and is definitely one of the best albums of the year.
Tony Joe White - Tony Joe White: White's self-titled fourth album (first for a major label) is probably his best album (though there are a few other contenders). White was an extremely talented songwriter and a good performer who, probably to his detriment, defied genre categorization. Was he rock? Was he country? Was he folk? Yes...yes he was. Really what he was was primordial Americana and that blend of country, rock, folk and blues is what we now see coming from bands like the Drive-By Truckers. This is just a great album by an underappreciated performer.
Doc & Merle Watson - Ballads From Deep Gap: Doc was so prolific that any given album can get lost in the shuffle. I think that tends to happen with Ballads From Deep Gap. This is just a super fun, rollicking album chock full of traditional songs and standards that highlight Doc & Merle's excellent playing.
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Post by impulse on May 19, 2021 10:53:50 GMT -5
I thought I hated Pearl Jam all these years, but it turns out I just hate the 5- 10 songs of theirs have have been played to death on the radio for 30 years.
For various reasons I ended up hearing some of their late 90s stuff and was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed some of it, mostly because it sounded nothing whatsoever like early 90s grunge Pearl Jam.
I think I just don't like grunge that much.
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Post by tartanphantom on May 19, 2021 12:17:49 GMT -5
I thought I hated Pearl Jam all these years, but it turns out I just hate the 5- 10 songs of theirs have have been played to death on the radio for 30 years. For various reasons I ended up hearing some of their late 90s stuff and was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed some of it, mostly because it sounded nothing whatsoever like early 90s grunge Pearl Jam. I think I just don't like grunge that much.
Never been a Pearl Jam fan myself... mainly because I never cared for Eddie's vocal style.
Soundgarden, on the other hand, I can definitely roll with.
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Post by impulse on May 19, 2021 12:30:23 GMT -5
I thought I hated Pearl Jam all these years, but it turns out I just hate the 5- 10 songs of theirs have have been played to death on the radio for 30 years. For various reasons I ended up hearing some of their late 90s stuff and was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed some of it, mostly because it sounded nothing whatsoever like early 90s grunge Pearl Jam. I think I just don't like grunge that much. Never been a Pearl Jam fan myself... mainly because I never cared for Eddie's vocal style.
Soundgarden, on the other hand, I can definitely roll with.
I agree, I never liked his voice on those songs, but he even sings differently on the newer material. Maybe a fan who was more familiar with him could have picked it out, but it sounded like a totally different band from the one doing Evenflow or Jeremy.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 20, 2021 10:08:47 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1971 - The other genres.
Upon further review I easily could have just slotted these in with the others. So...live and learn. There are three other albums from 1971 that I listen to with great frequency and that certainly would have made the top ten (one would be high on my list of greatest albums of all time. So here we go.
3. B. B. King - Live in Cook County Jail
I don't think it's unreasonable to say that B. B. King was at his best live. He was a phenomenal guitarist and a great singer...but he also had that "something" that just made him amazing as a live performer. I'm so happy I got to see him live.
I would make the argument that his two best albums were live albums, this one and "Live at the Regal." You could also argue that this was B.B.'s last great album (I wouldn't, but you could). The crossover success of "The Thrill is Gone" kind of made him lazy and he spent the better part of three decades coasting along making the same record over and over (until 2008's One Kind Favor, which is an amazing album).
But this album captures the King magic on vinyl and it's a stellar performance and a great album.
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Post by impulse on May 20, 2021 10:20:02 GMT -5
I was also lucky enough to see him live. He was well past his prime, but he was still a total master showman.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 20, 2021 10:34:47 GMT -5
I was also lucky enough to see him live. He was well past his prime, but he was still a total master showman. Yep. I'm guessing I saw him right around 2000. Shemekia Copeland opened for him and was outstanding. He was way past his prime but, as you say, was still an incredible showman.
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Post by impulse on May 20, 2021 11:48:10 GMT -5
I think I saw him in the mid 2000s. He was in a chair the whole time and had to have OJ for his sugar, and he even managed to make that entertaining. Jokes and all. What a show. I would have loved to have seen him in his prime.
I also got to see Buddy Guy on the topic of blues legends, and MAN. That guy is INCREDIBLE.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 20, 2021 11:52:42 GMT -5
I think I saw him in the mid 2000s. He was in a chair the whole and had to have OJ for his sugar, and he managed to even make that entertaining. Jokes and all. What a show. I would have loved to have seen him in his prime. I also got to Buddy Guy on the topic of blues legends, and MAN. That guy is INCREDIBLE. As I recall he was in a chair most of the concert I saw as well. I've never managed to see Buddy Guy. One of the down sides of living in BFE. He is a monster though.
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2021 12:08:05 GMT -5
I think I saw him in the mid 2000s. He was in a chair the whole and had to have OJ for his sugar, and he managed to even make that entertaining. Jokes and all. What a show. I would have loved to have seen him in his prime. I also got to Buddy Guy on the topic of blues legends, and MAN. That guy is INCREDIBLE. As I recall he was in a chair most of the concert I saw as well. I've never managed to see Buddy Guy. One of the down sides of living in BFE. He is a monster though. I don't think I've made a playlist in the last 6-8 years that hasn't been loaded with Buddy Guy songs. -M
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