My 40 Fave Albums of 1974

                                                   

1. Big Star Radio City
2. The Meters Rejuvenation
3. Brian Eno Taking Tiger Mountain ( By Strategy)




4. Bob Marley and the Wailers Natty Dread
5. Randy Newman Good Old Boys
6. Average White Band AWB

7.  Gene Clark No Other
8. Electric Light Orchestra Eldorado
9. Al Green Explores Your Mind




10. Sparks Kimono My House
11. Genesis The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

12. Roxy Music Country Life
13. Joni Mitchell Court and Spark
14. 10cc Sheet Music



15. Jackson Browne For Everyman
16. James Brown The Payback

17. Queen Sheer Heart Attack
18. Neil Young On the Beach
19. The Who Odds and Sods





20. Robert Wyatt Rock Bottom
22. The Sharks Jab It In Eye

22. John Cale Fear
23. Andy Fairweather Low Spider Jiving
24. Blue Oyster Cult Secret Treaties



25. Ry Cooder Paradise and Lunch
26. Steely Dan Pretzel Logic
27. Brinsley Schwarz New Favourites

28. Badfinger Wish You Were Here
29. King Crimson Red
30. Roxy Music Stranded




31.  Bob Dylan and the Band Before the Flood
32.  Van Morrison Its Too Late to Stop Now
33. Stevie Wonder Fulfillingess' First Finale
34. The New York Dolls Too Much Too Soon

35. Eric Clapton 461 Ocean Boulevard
36. I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight
37. Raspberries Starting Over




38. Gil Scott Heron and Brian Jackson Winter in America
39. Minnie Riperton Perfect Angel

40. Shuggie Otis Inspiration Information

40 Year Itch: Christmas Time is Here Again!

  To celebrate Christmas, here's a gift of ten of my favorite songs from 1974.

                           Happy Holidays!

                                     (zipped folder) download

40 Year Itch : Far Above the Troubled Sky

[purchase]

In the Fall of 1974, Gene Clark, released No Other, a confounding album that cost $100,000 to make, contained no singles, and needed decades to pass before it would be declared one of the great masterpieces of 1970's rock.

   A founding member of The Byrds, Clark had written "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better", "Eight Miles High " and one of my all-time favorites "Here Without You".  He left the band in 1966, at their height,  because of his fear of flying. His country-rock solo recordings with The Gosdin Brothers and Doug Dillard are all worth checking out. In 1973, Clark played on The Byrds, a reunion album, which charted Top 20. His contributions caught the attention of Asylum head David Geffen whose label had become home to some of the best singer-songwriters of the age, including Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan ( for one year at least)  and Tom Waits. 

   Produced by Thomas Jefferson Kaye, who liked to spend money, No Other sounds like no other album of its time. With session musicians like Butch Trucks, Chris Hillman, Danny Kortchmar and Timothy B Schmidt, Clark ventures into country rock, choral music, psychedelia and blues...often in the same song.  His lyrics are mystical, written as he sat at a window overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  These songs soar and make No Other the ultimate "grower". 

   That the album never sold broke Clark's heart but if you listen closely you will hear the blueprint for future albums by everyone from Fleetwood Mac to the Fleet Foxes.

More 1973 Albums We Missed

[Out of Print]

Harper (the subject of Led Zep's "Hats off to (Roy) Harper" and the vocalist on Pink Floyd's "Have a Cigar")   follows the now legendary Stormcock with an album of songs recorded when he was ill and facing the possibility of dying. Jimmy Page plays on several of the tunes including "Bank of the Dead". Side Two is one ambitious 23-minute track, "The Lord's Prayer", which begins with a long monologue and is made up of at least 5 movements. Harper would recover from what ailed him and follow this with another masterpiece in 1974, Valentine.

[Purchase]

John Martyn's follow-up to his masterpiece Solid Air. Recorded with members of Traffic, Inside Out is jazzier than Solid Air and highlighted by tunes "Fine Line" and "Make No Mistake". Some of the singing is too over-the-top for these ears.

[Purchase]

  1973's best live album? ( Bill Withers, Yes and Focus fans might disagree.) That's right, kids, people once had time to play four sides of a live album for their friends. Especially one recorded this well. Alvin Lee and his band raise the game from their legendary Woodstock appearance. Plenty of boogie. Plenty of blues. Most CDs don't contain the epic drum solo in "The Hobbit". 

[Purchase]

Cobbled together from a variety of session, Roadmaster still offers great tunes. Gene Clark recorded "Full Circle Song" again for the Byrds 1973 reunion album. Clark would top this effort in 1973 with the more complex No Other.

[Purchase]

With Uriah Heep near the peak of its success, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Ken Hensley took Heep bassist Gary Thain and Heep drummer Kerslake into the studio to record this solo album. Mellower than what the Heep was putting out but great stuff.

[Purchase]

Milton Nascimento's backing band has made the transition from psychedelic rock to jazz fusion

[Out of Print]

Mexican garage rock. Ole!