moonra’s highlights of 1973

lp’s
1. Goats Head Soup – Rolling Stones Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)
2. Aladdin Sane – David Bowie Lady Grinning Soul
3. The New York Dolls – The New York Dolls Personality Crisis
4. Vagabonds of the Western World – Thin Lizzy Mama Nature Said
5. Over-Nite Sensation – Frank Zappa Camarillo Brillo
6. Shotgun Willie – Willie Nelson Full Album
7. Space Ritual (Live) – Hawkwind Master Of The Universe
8. Billion Dollar Babies – Alice Cooper Generation Landslide
9. Cosmic Slop – Funkadelic Lets Make It Last
10. Quadrophenia – The Who Sea And Sand

songs
1. Jolene – Dolly Parton Listen
2. 100 Years ago – Rolling Stones Listen
3. Gimme Danger – The Stooges Listen
4. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath – Black Sabbath Listen
5. Sorrow – David Bowie (Pin-ups) Listen
6. Billy 4 – Bob Dylan Listen
7. The Rain Song – Led Zeppelin Listen
8. Tubular Bells {Part One} – Mike Oldfield Listen
9. Born TO Boogie – T-rex Listen
10. She’s Gone – Daryl Hall/John Oates Listen

Brent’s 1973

Albums

1)  Larks’ Tongues In Aspic – King Crimson – (LTIA Pt. 1 – LTIA Pt. 2)

Nothing like LTIA!

2)  Raw Power – The Stooges (Search And Destroy – Penetration)

Ageless…right?

3)  Betty Davis – Betty Davis (Come Take Me – Your Man My Man)

Understood “Come and Take Me” isn’t on the original Lp…but god…how funky it it?

4)  Black Beings – Frank Lowe – (In Trane’s Name – Bother Joseph)

Frank at his most fierce lays down a free jazz classic.

5)  Lou Reed – Berlin (Caroline Says II – The Bed)

Gorgeous and harrowing.

6)  Quadrophenia – The Who (The Punk And The Godfather – Sea And Sand)

7)  Faust IV – Faust (Krautrock – It’s A Bit Of A Pain)

8)  Indent – Cecil Taylor (Part 1 – Part 2)

Well…A Master.

9)  Conference Of The Birds – Dave Holland Quartet (See-Saw – Interception)

10)  Selling England By The Pound – Genesis (Dancing With The Moonlit Knight – Firth Of Fifth)

Genesis at they’re most commercial? Seriously!

 

Songs

1)  Aladdin Sane (1913-1938-197?) – David Bowie – Aladdin Sane

Mike Garson’s contributions here can’t be overstated.

2)  Khalid of Space, Pt. 2 Welcome – Larry Young – Lawrence Of Newark

James Blood Ulmer is so right on here and an uncredited Pharaoh Sanders blows!

3)  Jesus Is Waiting – Al Green (Call Me)

His delivery is so moving…make me a believer?

4)  Rain Dance – Herbie Hancock (Sextant)

Herbie steps into the future, or another dimension?

5)  Dolphins – Tim Buckley (Seforina)

Long in his live set…not sure how I missed this on the covers theme…

6)  La Grange – ZZ Top (Tres Hombres)

7)  The Night Comes Down – Queen (Queen)

Honestly not sure if Freddie ever laid down a better vocal track.

8)  They’re Making A Monster – Copperhead (Copperhead Feat. John Cippolina)

9)  Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory – Traffic (Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory)

What a groove!

10)  Fur Immer – NEU! (NEU 2)

Mike’s 1973

Albums

1. Stevie Wonder—Innervisions (John already listed most of my favorites, but I’ll also list the classic “Living for the City“, and “All in Love Is Fair” which some consider a low point!)

2. Genesis—Selling England by the Pound (“Dancing with the Moonlit Knight”)

3. Willie Nelson—Shotgun Willie (How many times am I going to be allowed to post this album in different contexts: “Shotgun Willie”, “A Song For You“?)

4. King Crimson–Larks’ Tongue in Aspic (Just, well: “Part 2”)

5. Wayon Jennings—Honky Tonk Heroes (Good call, John. In addition to John’s selections, please “Ride Me Down Easy”.)

6. ZZ Top—Tres Hombres. (Just edges out “(pronounced ‘lĕh-‘nérd ‘skin-‘nérd)” (“Simple Man”) and the Marshall Tucker Band’s first record (“Can’t You See”) in this year of the birth of southern rock. Give this entire album a try and listen without all the baggage of classic rock radio overplay. This is truly the shit, top to bottom, raw and grooving. Especially these two leadoff songs that were accidentally mixed together: “Waitin for the Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago” and of course “La Grange“. You know to crank it loud.)

7. Alan Price—O Lucky Man! (Tim mentioned Roy Wood, who I also love, as a guy who no one in America has heard of. Here’s another. Every song is great and the whole album is only 25 minutes long so I encourage listening to the whole thing.)

8. Roxy Music—Stranded (Impossibly tough choice between this and For YourPleasure, but I’ve always been slightly more partial to the highs, and the volume of them, on this one, including several of the most achingly beautiful songs I’ve ever heard. Try “Just Like You”. Reportedly, and funnily, Eno’s favorite Roxy album!)

9. Lou Reed—Berlin (Not for the faint of heart of course. Easy to forget sometimes just what a gorgeous melodicist he was, in evidence on the originals certainly, but also here on Letterman in 2008: “Caroline Says II”.)

10. Sam Rivers—Streams (Surprised I only wound up with one jazz record from this year. Tough cuts include Hancock’s Sextant, Joe Farrell’s Moon Germs, Cecil Taylor’s Indent and Noah Howard’s Patterns. On the latter, Howard is accompanied by several greats from Europe. I can’t get enough electric guitar in my free jazz and Jaap Schoonhoven lends great noise weight to start the proceedings. Then there’s Bennink’s clever and persistent percussion, Mengelberg’s color and Howard’s Ayler-influenced power and vibrato. On Streams, Rivers demonstrates that he is among the top sax improvisers in jazz history. Another example from this year alone is his work on Conference of the Birds, which is sure to make an appearance on someone’s list. Check out Cecil McBee’s minimalist, rock solid, but incredibly expressive bass work here as well.)

Songs

1. Loudon Wainwright III—The Swimming Song

2. The Kinks—Where Are They Now? (I love Preservation Acts 1 and 2 and listen to Act 1, side 1 more than any other Kinks record.)

3. Gladys Knight and the Pips—Midnight Train to Georgia (Almost forgot that this song was released in 1973; thanks for the reminder John. An all-time favorite that just never wears out its welcome.)

4. Man—Never Say Nups to Nepalese (Unavailable online.)

5. Judee Sill–The Donor (Thanks, Mr. Peacock.)

6. Neil Young—Don’t Be Denied (May be my favorite Neil song.)

7. Bruce Cockburn—You Don’t Have to Play the Horses

8. Van Morrison—Snow in San Anselmo. (I’m quite amazed that, in over a year’s time, I’m the only person to ever mention Van on this blog. If I ran this on endless repeat for the rest of my days, I’d be a happier and better man. One of several dozen Van Morrison songs that may apply to.)

9. Soft Machine—The Soft Weed Factor

10. Mary McCaslin—Down the Road (Original not available on youtube, but this lovely live version demonstrates her influence on Joanna Newsom. Check out “Circle of Friends“, or any other song from the original album too. People point, wrongly I think, to Joni as a primary influence. Listen to McCaslin for that, her phrasing, the open tunings and finger picking that almost sound like a harp. This record—Way Out West—was played a lot in the Newsom household, I guarantee.)

John’s 1973

Songs:

Joao Gilberto – “Waters Of March:” Relentless vocal that is also utterly beautiful.  I love the way he plays with the rhythm to make it sound fresh and exciting the farther into the song one gets.

Inel Young – “What Do You See In Her:” Funky New Orleans soul at its best.  So good you’d swear it was the 60’s.

Donny Hathaway – “Love Love Love:” I wouldn’t say there was anything special about his song, if it wasn’t so good.  1973 delivered some great soul.

Hall & Oates – “She’s Gone:” Easily the best thing they did in the 70’s.  And Oates shares the lead vocal!

Elton John – “Harmony:” I’ve publicly derided the album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road on this forum numerous times.  However, if I am being perfectly honest, it suffers more from being over-rated than actually bad.  When comparing it to the 4 previous album, it pales in comparison, especially in terms of production.  But maybe it should be on my album list for this year, with songs like the title track, Benny and the Jets and Grey Seal (Not to mention popular favorites like Candle in the Wind and Saturday Night’s Alight for Fighting), yet it isn’t.  Though if it had been pared down to a single album, it could have been among his best work.  All that aside, this song is great.

Ann Sexton – “You’re Losing Me“: More soulful funk.

Mahavishnu Orchestra – “Miles Beyond:” In my youth I thought this was pretty special.  It might still be.

Jonny K – “Afraid of the Dark:” Hilarious.  And funky.  But really hilarious.  The flip-side, Bills to Pay, is nearly as great.

Genesis – “I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe):” I probably would have picked Fifth of Firth over this one had that song clocked in under 5 minutes, which means I ultimately skip to the next track before its completion.  So instead we get this.  A solid indication of my favorite era of Genesis yet to come in the later half of the decade.

Iggy & The Stooges – “Search & Destroy:” This rocks.

Marvin Gaye – “Let’s Get It On:” I think the album sharing its name is a bit over rated and one-dimensional, especially as a follow-up to What’s Going On, but this track is worth its hype.

Albums:

Faces – Ooh La La “If I’m On The Late Side,” “Glad & Sorry,” “Ooh La La:” Truly a band album, mostly because Rod didn’t really want to participate.  There are some great rockers too, but these 3 ballads are as good as music can ever hope to get.

Stevie Wonder – Innervisions “Jesus Children of America,” “Don’t You Worry About A Thing,” “Golden Lady,” “Too High:” For some reason in my mind, this album isn’t as good as some of his others.  In truth, it’s actually better.  Maybe his best.

Waylon Jennings – Honky Tonk Heroes “Honky Tonk Heroes,” “Black Rose:” Great honky-tonkin’ outlaw country.

Paul McCartney – Band On The Run “Let Me Roll It,” “Band On The Run” “Jet:” Paul’s second best solo record.  No duds on this record.

Gladys Knight & The Pips: Imagination “Midnight Train To Georgia” “Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me” “Once In A Lifetime Thing:” Their best album.  Even better if you are a fan of ballads like myself.

All Green – Call Me “Call Me” “Jesus Is Waiting” “Here I Am:” Solid soul from Rev. Green.

Paul Simon – There Goes Rhymin Simon “American Song” “Kodachrome:” I think Paul’s live recording of American tune is a actually superior to this studio version, but it is still my favorite tune of his.  And there are plenty of others on this LP to enjoy.

Judee Sill – Heart Food “Soldier of the Heart” “The Phoenix” “Down Where the Valley’s Are Low:” Soldier of the heart makes me want to dance.  Which is good, because the others bring me to tears.  A unique voice. both in regard to vocals and writing.

We All Together – We All Together “Young People” “Walking In The Rain” “Some People Never Know:” Pop from Peru.

Steely Dan – Count Down To Ecstacy “My Old School” “Bodhisattva:” The only other Steely Dan record that I can tolerate outside of their debut.  Truly a band record with great playing.

Barry White – I’ve Got So Much Love to Give “Standing in the Shadows of Love” “I’m Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby” “I’m Gonna… Live:” With the 3 minute and 45 second build to the main groove of the opening track, you know this is going to be no ordinary ride.  Barry takes his time. Soulful, sexy, melodic and funky.  Props to Tim for his inclusion of Stone Gon’ on his list, which made me realize this omission on my first post of this list, which I blame on the incorrect year displayed on my reissue of this album in iTunes.