Vinyl Record Architect's Best Albums of the 1970s
Greetings friends and neighbors, this is the Vinyl Record Architect,
Paul Rosenblatt – writer of the ever-popular vinyl record blog, blog.vinylrecordarchitect.com – wishing you a belated
Happy Record Store Day 2011.
In honor of Record Store Day 2011, I put together an exclusive ‘Best-of’
list for visitors to Jerry’s Records: ‘VRA’s Best Albums of the 1970s.’
I am sharing this list with you, my readers, for the very first time.
Enjoy!
1. Exile on Main Street (1972) – Rolling Stones
2. Blood on the Tracks (1975)- Bob Dylan
3. Born To Run (1975) – Bruce Springsteen
4. Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1970) – Derek & The Dominoes
5. Imagine (1971) – John Lennon
6. After The Gold Rush (1970) – Neil Young
7. Horses (1975) – Patti Smith
8. Innervisions (1973) – Stevie Wonder
9. Blue (1971) – Joni Mitchell
10. This Year’s Model (1978) – Elvis Costello
11. Pearl (1971)- Janis Joplin
12. Desire (1976) – Bob Dylan
13. Tapestry (1971) – Carole King
14. DejaVu (1970) – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
15. Led Zeppelin IV (1971) – Led Zeppelin
16. Young Americans (1975) – David Bowie
17. Moondance (1970) – Van Morrison
18. Kiln House (1970) – Fleetwood Mac
19. UnhalfBricking (1970) – Fairport Convention
20. Leon Russell (1970) – Leon Russell
21. Hotel California (1976) – The Eagles
22. Let It Be (1970) – The Beatles
23. Sticky Fingers (1971) – Rolling Stones
24. Nilsson Schmilsson (1971) – Harry Nilsson
25. L.A. Woman (1971) – The Doors
26. Hunky Dory (1971) – David Bowie
27. Paul Simon (1972) – Paul Simon
28. Honky Chateau (1972) – Elton John
29. On The Beach (1974) – Neil Young
30. The Basement Tapes (1975) – Bob Dylan & The Band
31. Paradise and Lunch (1974) – Ry Cooder
32. The Pretenders (1979) – The Pretenders
33. Heat Treatment (1976) – Graham Parker
34. The Modern Lovers (1976) – The Modern Lovers
35. Talking Heads 77 (1977) - Talking Heads
36. Parallel Lines (1977) – Blondie
37. Some Girls (1977) – Rolling Stones
38. Dire Straits (1978) – Dire Straits
39. Who’s Next (1971) – The Who
40. Rumours (1977) – Fleetwood Mac
41. Jesse Winchester (1970) – Jesse Winchester
42. Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970) – Simon & Garfunkel
43. Harvest (1972) – Neil Young
44. My Aim Is True (1977) – Elvis Costello
45. All Things Must Pass (1970) – George Harrison
46. Every Picture Tells A Story (1971) – Rod Stewart
47. Band On The Run (1973) – Paul McCartney & Wings
48. Running On Empty (1978) – Jackson Browne
49. Elton John (1970) – Elton John
50. Tumbleweed Connection (1971) – Elton John
51. Cosmo’s Factory (1970) – Creedence Clearwater Revival
52. Ladies of the Canyon (1970) – Joni Mitchell
53. New Morning (1970) – Bob Dylan
54. Tupelo Honey (1971) – Van Morrison
55. A Nod is as Good as a Wink (1971) – Faces
56. Hoboken Saturday Night (1970)- The Insect Trust
57. Talking Book (1972) – Stevie Wonder
58. The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle (1973) – Bruce Springsteen
59. Court and Spark (1974) – Joni Mitchell
60. 461 Ocean Boulevard (1974) – Eric Clapton
61. Before the Flood (1974) – Bob Dylan & The Band
62. Planet Waves (1974) – Bob Dylan
63. Heart Like a Wheel (1974) – Linda Rondstadt
64. Tonight’s the Night (1975) – Neil Young
65. Howlin’ Wind (1976) – Graham Parker
66. Black & Blue (1976) – Rolling Stones
67. Blank Generation (1977) – Richard Hell and the Voidoids
68. Eat To The Beat (1979) – Blondie
69. Armed Forces (1979) – Elvis Costello
and the Attractions
70. Idlewild South (1970) – The Allman Brothers Band
71. Madman Across the Water (1971) – Elton John
72. Little Feat (1971) – Little Feat
73. Goats Head Soup (1973) – Rollin Stones
74. Sweet Baby James (1970) – James Taylor
75. Silk Degrees (1976) – Boz Scaggs
76. Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus (1970) – Spirit
77. Teaser and the Firecat (1971) – Cat Stevens
78. Steven Stills (1970) – Steven Stills
79. Inside Out (1973) – John Martyn
80. Maria Muldaur (1973) – Maria Muldaur
81. To Bonnie From Delaney (1970) – Delaney & Bonnie
82. Toulouse Street (1972) – Doobie Brothers
83. The Long Run (1979) – The Eagles
84. Jonathan Edwards (1971) – Jonathan Edwards
85. Fire and Ice (1970) – Free
86. Together (1972) – Golden Earring
87. Robert Gordon with Link Wray (1977) – Robert Gordon
88. The Morning After (1971) – J. Geils
89. Jake and the family Jewels (1970) – Jake and the Family Jewels
90. James Gang Rides Again (1970) – James Gang
91. Jesus was a Capricorn (1973) – Kris Kristofferson
92. Sittin’ In (1972) – Loggins & Messina
93. Bare Trees (1972) – Fleetwood Mac
94. All the Young Dudes (1972) Mott the Hoople
95. Sail Away (1972) – Randy Newman
96. Wrong End of the Rainbow (1970) – Tom Rush
97. Doug Sahm and His Band (1973) – Doug Sahm
98. Raw Sienna (1970)- Savoy Brown
99. 953 West (1971) – The Siegall-Schwall Band
100. Crickelwood Green (1970 – Ten Years After
Ok. What was I thinking? My highly personal and subjective criteria
could be explained like this: 01-25: Indispensible; 26-49: Classic;
50-74: Must Have; 75-100: Personal Favorites that I could not not
include in my personal Top 100. What is in yours?
Paul it was great to see you again at Jerry's on Record Store Day.
Selecting a top 100 of anything is always subjective and extremely difficult. There's always a few that slip through the cracks.
You had a few pleasant surprises:
Bare Trees...some much deserved love for Bob Welsh era Mac (They seem to act like that period never existed)
Robert Gordon...great rockabilly
J Geils...blues rock before they went corporate
James Gang...way more than Funk 49
Graham Parker...many albums just as good as Elvis Costello
Some stuff I might substitute:
On The Border for the overplayed Long Run
Feats Don't Fail Me Now instead of Little Feat
Here's some that fell through the cracks in no particular order:
Loaded(1970)- Velvet Underground
Bitches Brew(1970)- Miles Davis
More Songs About Buildings And Food (1978)- Talking Heads
Starless And Bible Black(1974)- King Crimson
The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars(1972)- David Bowie
Trans Europe Express(1977)- Kraftwerk
Aja(1977)- Steely Dan
Boston(1976)- Boston
Catch A Fire(1973)- Bob Marley & The Wailers
Damn The Torpedoes(1979)- Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Dark Side Of The Moon(1973) - Pink Floyd
Dreamboat Annie(1976)- Heart
Eat A Peach(1972)- Allman Brothers Band
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road(1973)- Elton John
Live at Leeds(1970)- The Who
Live at the Fillmore East(1971) - The Allman Brothers Band
Quadrophenia(1973)- The Who
Rust Never Sleeps(1979) - Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Something/Anything(1972) - Todd Rundgren
The Cars(1978) - The Cars
The Stranger(1977) - Billy Joel
There's A Riot Goin' On (1971) - Sly And The Family Stone
Wish You Were Here(1975) - Pink Floyd
Blow By Blow (1975) - Jeff Beck
Machine Head (1972) - Deep Purple
Secret Treaties (1972) - Blue Oyster Cult
Selling England By The Pound (1973) - Genesis
Squeezing Out Sparks (1979) - Graham Parker
The Captain & Me (1973) - Doobie Brothers
The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys (1972) - Traffic
Here are some of my all-time favorite:
London Calling (1979) - The Clash...What else needs to be said
Alone Together (1970) - Dave Mason...Great album with great backup band
Marquee Moon (1977) - Television...Why this band never made I don't understand
Red (1974) - King Crimson...The grittyness of Red, the beauty of Starless
Exodus (1977) - Bob Marley & The Wailers...Wait In Vain, one of the best songs ever
Darkness On The Edge Of Town (1978) - Bruce Springsteen...His best IMHO
John Barleycorn Must Die (1970) - Traffic...Glad, everything else is gravy
Katy Lied (1975) - Steely Dan...Love love love Bad Sneakers
Look Sharp! (1979) - Joe Jackson...Every bit as good as My Aim Is True
Van Halen (1978) - Van Halen...Launched thousand of shredders
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Dear Michael,
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As a guy who graduated from high school and college in the 70's ... it's the music that means the most to me.
I agree with many of your choices in your top 100 ... but would add a couple that were overlooked.
- At the risk of disco haters ... how about the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. Surely a guilty pleasure.
- I like the old school Fleetwood Mac as well ... and my favorite is "Hero's are hard to Find" from 1974.
- Billion Dollar Babies ... Alice Cooper
- Captain and Me ... the Doobie Brothers
- You Don't Mess Around with Jim ... Jim Croce
I love the blog ... keep up the good work
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Thanks so much for the kind words.
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