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The 100 greatest songs of 1971 #1 “When the Levee Breaks” Led Zeppelin (1 Viewer)

That's tim being his usually shticky self, but I think almost all of us know that these lists are subjective.  Sure, we all quibble about this song being too high, that song being too low, and how could you have this song ahead of that song, but that is part of the fun.

 
That's tim being his usually shticky self, but I think almost all of us know that these lists are subjective.  Sure, we all quibble about this song being too high, that song being too low, and how could you have this song ahead of that song, but that is part of the fun.
My Top 6 New Wave songs werent even in mr timmy's 100 and there are signs of album-crowding in this one, esp egregious because '71 was prog's greatest year and Hamilton, Richard Simmons & Burr and 47 Carole King songs are gonna squeeze em off the page. you're criticizing our jumping on a trampoline made of superballs?

 
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That's tim being his usually shticky self, but I think almost all of us know that these lists are subjective.  Sure, we all quibble about this song being too high, that song being too low, and how could you have this song ahead of that song, but that is part of the fun.
GR ...let's hold off on any discussion until timbo finishes the ENTIRE list of 100 of his selections.  

I'm pretty sure there were 2 Ray Conniff Singers albums released in '71 and I'm anxiously hoping at least a couple of those make an appearance.

Based on what we've seen so far - chances are trending up!!!  :fingerscrossed:

 
On 5/11/2020 at 3:52 PM, wikkidpissah said:

Put "my favorite" instead of "greatest" in the title and we'll leave you alone
Exactly, you weren't have heard a peep out of me if that were the title. An idiosyncratic list of personal faves should not be called a "100 greatest songs list" IMO because it leads to second guessing especially with several of those being obscure and/or out of left field choices. If it is just called somebody's favorite songs of a certain year, that criticism is eliminated.

 
The Osmonds are another band to watch out for.
 I had facetiously said when Tim first threatened to do this thread that we would be seeing these gems from 1971:

"Me and You and A Dog Name Boo" by Lobo,

"Chick-A-Boom" by Daddy Dewdrop

"Watching Scotty Grow" by Bobby Goldsboro.

Now I am afraid I may have been prescient.  😱

 
My Top 6 New Wave songs werent even in mr timmy's 100 and there are signs of album-crowding in this one, esp egregious because '71 was prog's greatest year and Hamilton, Richard Simmons & Burr and 47 Carole King songs are gonna squeeze em off the page. you're criticizing our jumping on a trampoline made of superballs?
Haha, I don't expect to see much prog in this list except for a few token classic rock hits, like Long Distance Runaround. Tim has never struck me as a big prog guy.

GR ...let's hold off on any discussion until timbo finishes the ENTIRE list of 100 of his selections.  

I'm pretty sure there were 2 Ray Conniff Singers albums released in '71 and I'm anxiously hoping at least a couple of those make an appearance.

Based on what we've seen so far - chances are trending up!!!  :fingerscrossed:
No, no, critiquing must commence right away!! :P

 
 On 5/6/2020 at 6:18 AM, timschochet said:

As with all my countdowns this is completely objective and authoritative. If you disagree with any ranking, inclusion or omission, simply keep in mind that my personal tastes are superior to yours. 
You forgot to add Neener Neener! at the end. 

 
57. Cat Stevens “Peace Train” (from Teaser and the Firecat

https://youtu.be/vjUyM_xd6IA

Mr. Yusuf Islam makes his first appearance on this list (not his last, perhaps?) with this catchy song that, like an even more famous one offered right around the same time by John Lennon, yearns for a better world. We’re still yearning for it, so climb aboard. 

 
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To give some context, Mellencamp was managed at the time by Tony DeFries who gave him the silly moniker "Cougar" and before that was best known as being Bowie's manager when he first achieved stardom.

In the interview Cougar commented on Defries' ability to make him a star: "Anyone who can get headlines for an orange-haired, no-talent limey ###### like David Bowie can do anything." (on the Mellencamp forum they delete the offensive anti-gay slur from the original interview).

http://forum.mellencamp.com/index.php?action=printpage;topic=1146.0
I find Little Johnny Cougar calling Bowie a "no-talent" more offensive than the homophobic slur.

 
56. Jethro Tull “Mother Goose” (from Aqualung)

https://youtu.be/_2S_Vly6ZyM

No classic rock band has ever sounded quite like Jethro Tull with their medieval folk influenced melodies combined with superb guitar and great songwriting, singing, and flute playing by Ian Anderson. “Mother Goose” displays all of these elements quite exquisitely. 

 
Jethro Tull is not just a classic rock band, but one of the first progressive rock bands as well.  Mother Goose is a great tune.

 
timschochet said:
56. Jethro Tull “Mother Goose” (from Aqualung)

https://youtu.be/_2S_Vly6ZyM

No classic rock band has ever sounded quite like Jethro Tull with their medieval folk influenced melodies combined with superb guitar and great songwriting, singing, and flute playing by Ian Anderson. “Mother Goose” displays all of these elements quite exquisitely. 
love this song ...how many more off this album?

 
55. Carpenters “Rainy Days and Mondays” (from Carpenters

https://youtu.be/PjFoQxjgbrs

Few vocalists in popular music history have ever been as good as Karen Anne Carpenter of Downey High School and Cal State Long Beach University. Here she shines thanks to the Wrecking Crew, the songwriting talents of Roger Nicholls and Paul Williams, the orchestration of her brother, and her own amazing talent. I’ve used the word “sublime” a few times for this list; I’ll use it again here because nothing else quite fits as well. 

 
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55. Carpenters “Rainy Days and Mondays” (from Carpenters

https://youtu.be/PjFoQxjgbrs

Few vocalists in popular music history have ever been as good as Karen Anne Carpenter of Downey High School and Cal State Long Beach University. Here she shines thanks to the Wrecking Crew, the songwriting talents of Roger Nicholls and Paul Williams, the orchestration of her brother, and her own amazing talent. I’ve used the word “sublime” a few times for this list; I’ll use it again here because nothing else quite fits as well. 
reaction.

 
Don’t forget Hal. 
OK, for the Arrested Development crowd, and Larry's brother helped.  I'm kidding.

Good article. Always loved that fuzz solo.
It actually is a very-good article.  To be compared with Brian Wilson is pretty high praise.

Karen would have turned seventy a couple of months ago. 

The Carpenters seem like an act that would have had a big second wind to their career. 
Two girls in my small city got diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa in less than two years.  It was rare so our little city had the highest rate in the country for awhile.  Both girls survived and one was in my class.  

 
i feel so guilty about puking back their pablum now
I had it puked on me badly as a kid. Parents had their albums always on. Older brother (3yrs) liked them a lot. Younger sister (3yrs) would play the album over and over when she was 8.  I didn't love them or hate them. Just kinda there, but I guess my love for female vocalists started with Karen.  

54. Carole King “So Far Away” (from Tapestry

https://youtu.be/UofYl3dataU

If you listen carefully to this tune after the piano kicks in, you can hear a soft guitar playing some very tasty fills- turns out that was James Taylor, who contributed to several songs on this album. 

This is one more song about moving on down the highway. 
6th grade.  First slow dance with Italian hottie, Lori DiBono.


1972-74 Live recordings

 
timschochet said:
56. Jethro Tull “Mother Goose” (from Aqualung)

https://youtu.be/_2S_Vly6ZyM

No classic rock band has ever sounded quite like Jethro Tull with their medieval folk influenced melodies combined with superb guitar and great songwriting, singing, and flute playing by Ian Anderson. “Mother Goose” displays all of these elements quite exquisitely. 


55. Carpenters “Rainy Days and Mondays” (from Carpenters

https://youtu.be/PjFoQxjgbrs

Few vocalists in popular music history have ever been as good as Karen Anne Carpenter of Downey High School and Cal State Long Beach University. Here she shines thanks to the Wrecking Crew, the songwriting talents of Roger Nicholls and Paul Williams, the orchestration of her brother, and her own amazing talent. I’ve used the word “sublime” a few times for this list; I’ll use it again here because nothing else quite fits as well. 


54. Carole King “So Far Away” (from Tapestry

https://youtu.be/UofYl3dataU

If you listen carefully to this tune after the piano kicks in, you can hear a soft guitar playing some very tasty fills- turns out that was James Taylor, who contributed to several songs on this album. 

This is one more song about moving on down the highway. 
Now we’re cooking with gas.

All three of these albums found a lot of play in different sections of our house. Mom played the eponymous Carpenters album every day on the family console; if we weren’t sick of them for the same treatment in 1970 (Close to You & We’ve Only Just Begun), we definitely were by the end of the next year. My two older sisters bedroom shared a wall with my brother & I’s small room with bunk beds; Tapestry 24/7 on the girls record player with the built in speaker.

But by then Jeff & I were making decent money mowing fairways & greens every morning (followed by 36-45 holes after we got off.) We saved up & bought a sweet system that was the loudest in the house. Perfect for quadrophonic LPs like Aqualung. We could drown out anything the girls played & complaints were met with “work it out” so we got away with it.

 
53. Yes “Roundabout” (from Fragile

https://youtu.be/11WUJVmq0IQ

Anybody remember the old USA Network show Night Flight from the early 80s? They used to show a lot of old concert material, and I still remember watching a 20 minute version of Roundabout. It was shot in some kind of shade of blue, and it must have been from the early 70s because they wore wings. But what I remember most was that the camera kept switching between the 3 master musicians: Howe on guitar, Squire on bass, and most of all Wakeman  on multiple keyboards. I had never seen anything like that in my life. Years late I saw old videos of Emerson Lake and Palmer live, and even later than that Rush, and these were the only other two bands I’ve seen, at least from a rock setting, that featured that kind of musicianship. But Yes might have been the best. 

 
53. Yes “Roundabout” (from Fragile

https://youtu.be/11WUJVmq0IQ

Anybody remember the old USA Network show Night Flight from the early 80s? They used to show a lot of old concert material, and I still remember watching a 20 minute version of Roundabout. It was shot in some kind of shade of blue, and it must have been from the early 70s because they wore wings. But what I remember most was that the camera kept switching between the 3 master musicians: Howe on guitar, Squire on bass, and most of all Wakeman  on multiple keyboards. I had never seen anything like that in my life. Years late I saw old videos of Emerson Lake and Palmer live, and even later than that Rush, and these were the only other two bands I’ve seen, at least from a rock setting, that featured that kind of musicianship. But Yes might have been the best. 
Just when I thought I was out of this thread they pull me back in

This is many people's all-time favorite song.  Arguably is the best of 71.  Wakeman''s solo is a classic that would trade-floors with the best jazz improvisations and places this song in the top-ten of the decade.  This isn't some obscure second-rate artist or bubble gum weak sauce pop-rock.  It deserves a much higher rating.

 
FOUR master musicians in Yes on that song. Don't forget Bill Bruford on drums.

Awesome song, and I am not sure there are 52 songs better than it in general, much less from 1971.

 
52. “Bob Dylan “I Shall Be Released” (from Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol II

Like the earlier Dylan song on this list, this was written and recorded in 1967 with the Band as part of the “Basement Tapes” but first released in 1971 as part of the second Greatest Hits album. 

“I Shall Be Released” is one of Dylan’s greatest anthems. It’s been covered by multiple artists through the years and remains a regular part of his live set. Probably the most famous version comes at the end of the film The Last Waltz in which Dylan leads the entire group of star performers in a fine rendition. 

 
52. “Bob Dylan “I Shall Be Released” (from Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol II

Like the earlier Dylan song on this list, this was written and recorded in 1967 with the Band as part of the “Basement Tapes” but first released in 1971 as part of the second Greatest Hits album. 

“I Shall Be Released” is one of Dylan’s greatest anthems. It’s been covered by multiple artists through the years and remains a regular part of his live set. Probably the most famous version comes at the end of the film The Last Waltz in which Dylan leads the entire group of star performers in a fine rendition. 
The Band’s 1968 Music from Big Pink version

Dylan’s 1971 version from Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol. II (altered lyrics & different arrangement)

1976 The Last Waltz

 
52. “Bob Dylan “I Shall Be Released” (from Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol II

Like the earlier Dylan song on this list, this was written and recorded in 1967 with the Band as part of the “Basement Tapes” but first released in 1971 as part of the second Greatest Hits album. 

“I Shall Be Released” is one of Dylan’s greatest anthems. It’s been covered by multiple artists through the years and remains a regular part of his live set. Probably the most famous version comes at the end of the film The Last Waltz in which Dylan leads the entire group of star performers in a fine rendition. 
Down here next to me in this lonely crowd
Is a man who swears he's not to blame
All day long I hear him cry so loud
Calling out that he's been framed
I see my light come shining
From the west unto the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released

 
51. Carole King “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” (from Tapestry
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KQXY8zwQgm

Aretha’s version of this song that Carole King wrote with her former husband is better known, but this version from Tapestry, featuring Carole alone on her piano, is every bit as much a pop music masterpiece, perhaps more so, because her emotion is so raw and genuine. 

 
timschochet said:
51. Carole King “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” (from Tapestry
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KQXY8zwQgm

Aretha’s version of this song that Carole King wrote with her former husband is better known, but this version from Tapestry, featuring Carole alone on her piano, is every bit as much a pop music masterpiece, perhaps more so, because her emotion is so raw and genuine. 
only 10 more to go..........

 
That was all said with a bemused tone, by the way. We know the Ghost Rider's take on punk rock and its forefathers and mothers. 

 
timschochet said:
51. Carole King “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” (from Tapestry
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KQXY8zwQgm

Aretha’s version of this song that Carole King wrote with her former husband is better known, but this version from Tapestry, featuring Carole alone on her piano, is every bit as much a pop music masterpiece, perhaps more so, because her emotion is so raw and genuine. 
I must be misunderstanding the format. Is it 100 great random songs from 1971?

It can't be a countdown in order of greatness. There's no way that this one beats Roundabout, LA Woman, Day After Day and I'd Love To Change The World.

 
I must be misunderstanding the format. Is it 100 great random songs from 1971?

It can't be a countdown in order of greatness. There's no way that this one beats Roundabout, LA Woman, Day After Day and I'd Love To Change The World.
Well there’s one way.

 

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