1972 : Our Fave Nuggets

Some of our fave songs from 1972 are the ones we didn't really know until we immersed ourselves in that year.

The Raspberries : Come Around and See Me



Arthur Lee : Everybody's Gotta Live
The Shocking Blue : Hot Sand (live)
Humble Pie : You're So Good ( To Me)



Gary Glitter :  I Didn't Know I Loved You
Colin Blunstone : I Don't Believe in Miracles
Stackridge: Syracuse the Elephant



Jo Jo Gunne: Run Run Run
Grin: Lost a Number
Labi Siffre : It Must Be Love



Little Richard : If You Pick Her Too Hard
Smyle :It's Gonna Be Allright
Family: My Friend The Sun



Novos Baianos : Besta e Tu
Bobby Charles : Small Town Talk
Ernie Hines: Our Generation



Pretty Things : Peter
Manfred Mann's Earth Band : Part Time Man
American Spring: Thinkin' Bout You Baby




Jorge Ben : Taj Mahal
Otis Clay : Trying to Live My Life Without You
Bonnie Raitt : You Told Me Baby




Not sure what I'll do in 2013. Let's make it a Happy New Year though!

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40 Year Itch: : 65 songs from 1972 in 15 minutes

Three musical montages from 1972.
The first one focuses on the US hits.
The second is more album oriented.
The third is made up of the #1 hits in the UK in 1972 ( and 1973)

 

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40 Year Itch : The Top 25 Albums of 1972

So the picture above, from ultimateclassicrock.com, is probably not a very good representation of my list of fave albums from 1972. My list is based on current enthusiasm and numbers of play over the past year of this "40 Year Itch" experiment.  Click each album title for a link to the original post.

    I'll do one more post featuring a zip file of some of my favorite songs posted this year so if you're new to 1001 Songs, this will be one more chance to get some great tunes. Not sure what I'll be doing in 2013. But with new pressures at work and ever present joys at home,  posting once a day here will not be an option.


1. Os Novos Baianos Acabou Chorare




2. The Rolling Stones Exile On Main Street
3. David Bowie The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
4. Jorge Ben Ben
5. Can Ege Baymasi
6. Donny Hathaway Live




7. Paul Simon (st)
8. Nick Drake Pink Moon
9. Big Star #1 Record
10. Neil Young Harvest
11. Mott the Hoople All The Young Dudes



12. Curtis Mayfield Superfly
13. Randy Newman Sail Away
14. Captain Beefheart Clear Spot
16. Steely Dan Can't Buy A Thrill
17. Dr John's Gumbo




18. Todd Rundgren Something/Anything
19. Manassas
20.Manfred Mann's Earth Band



21. Genesis : Foxtrot
22 Lou Reed Transformer
23. The Harder They Come soundtrack
24 T.Rex The Slider
25. Stealers Wheel (st)

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40 Year Itch : 1972 in Twang, Part 2

[Purchase]

Several years after parting ways with Fairport Convention, Ian Matthews teamed up with his former band mate Andy Roberts to record this somber, twangy folk rock album In Search of Amelia Earhart. This is one of those "growers". Given some time, it will reveal itself as a classic. There are two songs that are written directly about the disappearance of the ill-fated pilot Amelia Earhart, whom Matthews believed may have been taken prisoner by the Japanese.

[Purchase]

Steve Earle once said "Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that." 1972 was a phenomenal year for Van Zandt who released two albums now sold as a single CD. High , Low and Between finds Townes in a good mood. The Cowboy Junkies cover of  the love song "To Live Is To Fly" ( on Black Eyed Man ) turned me and many fans on to this Texas troubadour.

 [Purchase]

The Late Great Townes Van Zandt is the better known of his two 1972 releases thanks to covers of "Pancho and Lefty" ( recorded by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris) and "If I Needed You " ( Emmylou again) , the latter Townes claimed to have written in his sleep. Townes sings in such a sad way he tends to diminish the pretty melodies he's created.

[Purchase with The Adventures of Panama Red]


For  Gypsy Cowboy,  New Riders on the Purple Sage pound stakes in the backyard of the Flying Burrito Brothers. It's not really remarkable to these ears but the band stretches out on David Nelson's nearly nine minute brazen copy of "Down By The River " called "Death and Destruction", which sounds like Green On Red a decade early.

[Purchase with The Flying Burrito Brothers (1971)]

Chris Hillman was the last of the original Flying Burrito Brothers by the time they said goodbye with this live album performed before an enthusiastic crowd. Gram Parsons had signed with Reprise Records and was off recording GP or hanging out with Keith Richards.

[Purchase]

On his second album, J J Cale adds keyboards to his Naturally laid back Tornado alley groove to great effect on the single "Lies". This is who Mark Knopfler was trying to sing like..not Bob Dylan. And this is what the Atlanta Rhythm Section wanted to sounds like ...not the Alan Parsons Project.

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40 Year Itch : 1972 in Twang, Part 1

[Purchase]

Released originally as an eight-track called All American Music in 1972, this obscure recording really did become legendary when band mates Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock and Joe Ely found success later in their careers. The guy who played musical saw did not become famous...and my ears still can't get used to the sound. But More a Legend Than a Band deserves its cult status thanks to songs like "Dallas", "Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown" and "One Day at a Time".

 [Purchase]

The man who wrote "Mr Bojangles" has by now shed his folksinger persona for that of a Texas dope smoking chilled out  party animal...who wakes up some mornings with short lived regrets. Recorded in both NYC and Austin, Walker is backed by a superb band that makes "laid back" actually rock.

[Purchase]

This song may be the biggest gem of the post. Unfairly, Willis Alan Ramsey is best known for writing "Muskrat Candlight" which became "Muskrat Love" for both America and Captain and Tennille. He recorded one perfect album at the age of 21 and has yet to make a follow-up. ( Willis asks "What's wrong with the first one?")

[Purchase]

 Country singer Steve Young is best known for writing the title track of the 1972 album Seven Bridges Road, which was covered by The Eagles on their 1980 live album. When looking for the origins of "outlaw country" you might just want to start here.

[Purchase]

 Linda Ronstadt, the singer's third solo album, is a mixed bag. Some sweet country covers ("I Fall To Pieces", "I Still Miss Someone") and a number of singer songwriting gems ( Jackson Browne's "Rock Me On The Water", Neil Young's "Birds"). Most notable, because the backing band --made up of Glenn Fry, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner --became The Eagles.

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40 Year Itch: Soul-Full Stew, Part 2

Some more chunks of funk from 1972. I'll have to admit at this point I'm not going to be able to get to every great album from this magnificent year.

[Purchase]

For their second album, the Dayton Ohio funksters knocked out a tight classic that went gold in part because of another eye-catching album ( they would get more eye-catching ) and the presence of a #1 R and B  novelty hit called "Funky Worm". Dig for the deeper cuts ( like "Laid It", "Pride and Vanity") and you won't be disappointed.

[Purchase]

The Isley Brothers recordings of the 1970's are almost always a rewarding listen and Brother Brother Brother is no exception. Hanging out just behind the beat, the Brothers stretch out ( "It's Too Late" runs ten groovin' minutes) with the help of some young Isley cousins: guitarist Ernie Isley, bassist Marvin Isley and keyboardist Chris Jasper. The addition of new blood would pay off to an even greater degree on 1973's  3 + 3 . Features both the Top 40 hit "Pop That Thang" and "Work To Do" which would be covered by the Average White Band on AWB.

[Purchase]

Producer and songwriter extraordinaire ( "Working In a Coalmine", "A Certain Girl", "Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky", "Fortune Teller") Allen Toussaint follows up his 1971 solo album with Life, Love and Faith. Toussaint IS New Orleans music...though his songs are best served by other singers. Still when you've got The Meters backing  him up, you've got something special. Remarkably diverse.

[Purchase]

Released in April of 1972, this album of duets is one of the year's great soul gems. Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway both attended Howard University ( tho' at different times) and Roberta Flack covered Hathaway songs on her first two albums. And that was before the two met and discovered their tremendous chemistry. "Where is the Love" topped the Easy Listening and R and B charts and peaked  in the pop charts at #5. The two would duet again in 1978 with the gorgeous "The Closer I Get To You" (#2 Pop, #1 R and B). On a sad note, it seems half the time I stay in New York City I'm booked at the Essex House. From that hotel's balcony, Hathaway apparently jumped to his death in 1979. A lovely man who also recorded 1972's best live album.

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40 Year Itch: A Soul-Full Stew - Part 1

As the year comes to a close, we at 1001Songs realize there are some gaps to fill before we can declare that we have successfully scratched that 40 year itch. Today we scratch that soul itch with notable releases we didn't get to in 2012.

[Purchase]

Funkadelic follows up their classic 1971 album Maggot Brain with a freak funk double album. The star of Maggot Brain, scorching guitarist Eddie Hazel,  has all but disappeared by now but the expanded Funkadelic line-up now includes former JB's member Bootsy Collins. America Eats Its Own is surprisingly political ( the title cut claims America is a bitch that sucks the brains of her great grandsons and daughters")
but also includes George Clinton's usual sexual puns ( "Wild and warm is my pussy", Clinton sings on "I Call My Baby Pussycat", "My pussy is where it's at" ) .

  

[Purchase]

The JB's are James Brown's backing band so it's little wonder that some of these cuts sounds like backing cuts. You're leaning into the speaker expecting to hear the Godfather of the Soul. Some of these cuts --apparently collected from  a variety of years--can be heard on other albums. "Escapism" is on the 1971 James Brown album Hot Pants. It's good, maybe even great...but I'm spending my money on The Meters.

[Purchase]

"Whatcha See is Whatcha Get" is one of 1971's great singles and it, along with "In The Rain" helped the Detroit R and B group The Dramatics hit the Top 20 with their 1972 debut album. Yes, the songs were great but so were the super fly dance steps and prom suits.

For his second solo album, the former Temptations singer delves into Afro-centric grooves like the title cut, some funky grooves ( "Let Me Run Into Your Lonely Heart") and most notably an eight minute precursor to the whole Disco scene called "Girl You Need A Change of Mind". Check out the Thin Man from Birmingham's tune below and you'll hear why it filled the dance floor. Damn, I wish I owned this album. Especially because a rare CD copy runs no less than $104 on Amazon.com

We'll have four more great chunks of funk in a later post!

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