The Albums of 1970: George Harrison: All Things Must Pass

Release Date: November 27, 1970

Personnel: 

Drums and Percussion: Ringo Starr, Jim Gordon, Alan White
Bass Guitar: Klaus Voormann, Carl Radle
Keyboards: Gary Wright, Bobby Whitlock, Billy Preston, Gary Brooker
Pedal Steel Guitar: Pete Drake
Guitars: George Harrison, Dave Mason, Eric Clapton
Saxophone: Bobby Keyes
Trumpet: Jim Price
Rhythm Guitars and Percussion: Badfinger


Produced by Phil Spector and George Harrison

Side 1: I'd Have You Anytime; My Sweet Lord; Wah-Wah; Isn't It a Pity

Side 2: What is Life; If Not For You; Behind That Locked Door; Let it Down; Run of the Mill

Side 3: Beware of Darkness; Apple Scruffs; Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let it Roll); Awaiting on you All; All Things Must Pass

Side 4: I Dig Love; Art of Dying; Isn't it A Pity (version 2): Hear Me Lord

Side 5: Out of the Blue: It's Johnny's Birthday; Plug Me In

Side 6: I Remember Jeep; Thanks for the Pepperoni

The 2001 Reissue features extra tracks and demos with a slightly different song order.

Recorded over the summer/fall of 1970, George Harrison's post-Beatles solo album is nothing less than a powerhouse of triple vinyl. Like his former band mates (even more so), Harrison had a burst of creativity following the demise of the Fab Four. While the art pop of McCartney and the proto grunge of Plastic Ono Band were both bold artistic statements, All Things Must Pass was a far more ambitious work, spiritual, philosophical, and epic in the best possible sense.

The release of "My Sweet Lord" in November of 1970 as the first single got a strong response from the public, hitting number one on both sides of the Atlantic. It became one of the more popular songs of the 1970s, credited with being a natural extension of The Beatles philosophy with its pan-religious message, fusing elements of Hinduism, Judaism, and Christianity. Ringo's drumming that comes in halfway through and the use of slide guitars built up a wondrous tapestry of sound to fill the airwaves. 

Similar in sound to "My Sweet Lord" with its flurry of guitars and reverb, 
"What is Life" also was another top ten single released in February of 1971. Often considered a love towards a woman and God, the recurring idea is devotion:

What I feel I can't say
But my love is there for you anytime of day
But if it's not love that you need
Then I'll try my best to make everything succeed.

Bob Dylan also has a presence throughout All Things Must Pass, a co-writer of the opening track "I'd Have You Anytime" and "If Not for You." Bob was possibly the subject of "Behind That Locked Door." By most accounts Harrison and Dylan were good friends and inspired each other. A year later they would perform onstage together in the Concert for Bangladesh.

Dylan included a soulful version of "If Not For You" on his New Morning LP in 1970, while Harrison's version is more symphonic. "I'd Have You Anytime" starts the album on a pleasant note and was probably good enough to be a single. Inspired by Dylan's shyness and his hiatus from touring, "Behind That Locked Door" encourages Bob to engage with the world again, the country western twang mirroring Dylan's country influenced records of the time.

"All Things Must Pass" was rehearsed by The Beatles in 1969, but a lack of enthusiasm from his band mates prevented a proper version from being recorded (but the harmonies from the demos are outstanding). A cosmically wise song inspired by the roots music of The Band, it would become an anthem for Harrison in the years to come. Maybe a little over produced, but the power of the song' s ethos remains. 

Like the other post-Beatles releases of 1970, the fallout from the breakup casts a shadow. Although a few years before The Beatles disbanded, it became a dirge for the end of an era:

Isn't it a pity,
isn't it a shame
How we break each other's hearts, 
and cause each other pain
How we take each other's love
Without thinking anymore
Forgetting to give back
Isn't it a pity

Hypnotic, melancholy, and beautiful, "Isn't it a Pity" has proved an endearing hymn of sorts, the sound of catharsis captured on record.  A maybe unnecessary reprise on side four is more stripped down and less effective. 

"Wah-Wah" was written after Harrison stepped out on the Let it Be sessions, signaling his frustration at being in the shadow of Lennon/McCartney for all those years. If I had to pick an underrated track it would be "Run of the Mill," an angry lament on the end of a friendship. The wall of sound and dramatic use of horns works perfectly and adds to the heightened sentiments. 

The 2001 release included an acoustic version of "Let it Down." A passionate love song that's almost Wagnerian in the hands of Spector, more tender and resigned as a quiet acoustic number.

The tone takes a more serious tone on the second disc. "Beware of Darkness" and "Art of Dying" both deal with mortality and having a focused mindset.

In the midst of the record are some outliers and curiosities. "The Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let it Roll)" was about the former owner of George's Friar Park estate who had captured his imagination. Ghostly and hypnotic, the song links Victorian mysticism with counterculture's interest in the supernatural. "Awaiting on You All" playfully satirizes the materialistic nature of modern Christianity. The acoustic track "Apple Scruffs" was a shout out to all the fans gathered outside Apple Studios.

"I Dig Love" recalls "Love You To" from Revolver, but much funkier. "I Live for You" made it on to the 2001 release, another country rock tune featuring the slide guitar. "Hear Me Lord" is a plea for forgiveness. Perhaps the most gospel influenced of all the selections, Billy Preston worked closely with Harrison on seeing it to completion as an appropriate closer to the second disc.

The third disc known as "Apple Jam" consists of almost all instrumentals. They all sound great when turned up loud on the stereo. Apple Jam allows the audience to join in on the fun, a freewheeling ambush of electric music.

One of the great rock albums of the era, All Things Must Pass improves and and deepens in meaning with each listening.

Anna St. Louis: If Only There Was a River (2018)

Release Date: October 12, 2018

Produced by Kyle Thomas and Kevin Morby

Side One: Water; Understand; The Bells; Paradise; Daisy

Side Two: Desert; Hello; Freedom; Mean Love; Wind; If Only There Was a River

Hailing from Kansas City, singer-songwriter Anna St. Louis released one of the most impressive albums of 2018. A collection of melodic, somber, and minimal folk tunes, her vocal style has been compared Loretta Lynn and Joni Mitchell and at same time expresses a varied emotional range.

"Water" features strings and a muted acoustic guitar, setting a mood of uncertainty and suspicion towards the figure in the song. "Understand" is a standout track, atmospheric and melancholy, using spare lyrics to perfection. Anne repeatedly asks in the refrain, "understand me, do you understand" takes on a hypnotic tone.

"The Bells" may be a sly take on Dylan's sardonic farewell song "Don't Think Twice (It's All Right), even Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Bells." "Paradise" is a folk song about finding possibilities in malaise: 

Paradise, Paradise
Has a nice ring
But it's hard to find

Side one concludes with an instrumental, "Daisy."

"Desert" has more of a Western vibe, a sense of wonder at the vast landscapes and their spiritual undertones. Musically, it's more sonic and epic. On "Hello" Anne sings "the dark is never dark enough" to what could be a mirror image of herself. "Freedom" is about a solitary wanderer searching, but keeps returning to a mysterious town connected with her past. 

"Mean Love" continues with the searching motif, asking if what appears to be good for you is actually that good. The soft Western tone of 'Wind" seeks a communion with nature. "If Only There Was a River" end the record on an uncertain beat, with the refrain "if only."

A quiet album with a lot brimming beneath the surface, St. Louis's introspective collection of songs leave a lasting impression.

The Albums of 1970: The Temptations: Psychedelic Shack

Release Date: March 6, 1970

Personnel: Dennis Edwards, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin, Otis Williams

Lyrics and Composition: Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong

Instrumentation: The Funk Brothers

Produced by Norman Whitfield

Side 1: Psychedelic Shack; You Make Your Heaven or Hell Right Here on Earth; Hum Along and Dance; Take a Stroll Thru Your Mind

Side 2: It's Summer; War; You Need Love like I do (don't you); Friendship Train

The 12th album by The Temptations continued their cycle of psychedelic soul records which began with their 1969 album Cloud Nine. Full of good vibes with an eye towards a better future, there's an optimism propelling the album along.

"Psychedelic Shack" opens the album, imagining a place where creativity and peace flourish in the midst of the mayhem of the outside world, getting the record off to a rousing start. "You Make Your Heaven or Hell Right Here on Earth" offers a simple message, we get to choose how we live. Everyone has a choice:

You and your beliefs
Are the weights
The things you do each day
Determine the balance

"Hum Along and Dance" is an instrumental inviting everyone to join in. "Take a Stroll Thru Your Mind" is a standout track. A sonic journey of doo wop, soul, and psychedelia - their 1965 hit "My Girl" is even referenced.

The album's single "It's Summer" recalls an early Temptations song, smoothly produced with some wonderful harmonies. "War" would become an anthem of the era, becoming a number one hit for Motown artist Edwin Starr in June of 1970. 

"You Need Love Like I Do" never quite takes off like the other tracks, but "Friendship Train" continues the theme of unity and friendship - the only forces that can save the world. Your heart just has to be in the right place.

Psychedelic Shack offers up Utopian visions but never shies away from the realities of 1970, the sound and style have aged well.

The Albums of 1970: Simon & Garfunkel: Bridge over Troubled Water

Release Date: January 26, 1970

Produced by Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, and Roy Halee

Side 1: Bridge over Troubled Water; El Condor Pasa (If I Could); Cecilia; Keep the Customer Satisfied; So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright

Side 2: The Boxer; Baby Driver; The Only Living Boy in New York; Why Don't You Write Me; Bye Bye Love (Live); Song for the Asking

The fifth and final album of the duo from Queens stands as their most complete and satisfying collection of songs. With the duo about to go their separate ways, Garfunkel into movies, and Simon embarking on a solo career, their swan song proved an affectionate, but uneasy, farewell. Backed by a roster of superior session musicians with a production style mimicking The Beatles, Bridge over Troubled Water offers a variety of styles. 

Opening with the majestic title track, with Garfunkel's close to divine vocal, it's one for the ages. Painstakingly composed and performed, the song stands right alongside the best pop songs of all time. Transcending the division of 1970, the song will never become dated.

"El Condor Pasa (If I Could) is an Andean folk song Simon erroneously thought was in the public domain but was actually written by Daniel Alomia Robles. Another wonderful production, "El Condor Pasa" extended the stylistic range of the album. The frenetic folk rock of "Cecilia" about a promiscuous girlfriend also became a radio hit. "Keep the Customer Satisfied" recalls "Got to Get You Into My Life" from Revolver with the prominent trumpets, creating a unique tone for a whimsical tune. "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright" is attributed to Simon saying farewell to his singing partner who had studied architecture at Columbia:

I'll remember Frank Lloyd Wright
All of the nights we'd harmonize till dawn
I never laughed so long

Side two opens with another popular single "The Boxer," the tale of a young man struggling to survive in New York City. "Baby Driver" would inspire a film of the same title by Edgar Wright in 2017, the tale of a country boy celebrating a wild life on the road seems to recall Dylan's surreal epics he wrote in the mid-60s. The B-side to "Cecilia", "The Only Living Boy in New York" is a hymn to loneliness and ennui in the city (also inspired a 2017 film).

"Why Don't You Write Me" also speaks to longing as adulthood beckons. A live version of The Everly Brothers song "Bye Bye Love" was included because of Paul and Art liked the clapping accompanying the performance. And the subdued acoustic number"Song for the Asking" is Paul speaking to Art about the end of their partnership and the possibility of reunion.

Bridge over Troubled Water is a wintry record. There's a sense of exhaustion and poignant hope with occasional humor. Simon is reflective and looking backward, taking stock at the start of a new decade, one without Garfunkel. Despite their differing trajectories in life, together Simon & Garfunkel created a fulfilling culmination of their years together. 

The Albums of 1970: The Moody Blues: A Question of Balance

Release Date: August 7, 1970

Personnel: Justin Hayward (vocals, guitar, mandolin), John Lodge (vocals, bass), Ray Thomas (vocals, flute, tambourine), Graeme Edge (percussion), Mike Pinder (vocals, keyboards)

Produced by Tony Clarke

Side 1: Question; How is it (we are here); And the Tide Rushes Down; Do you feel Small; Tortoise and the Hare.

Side 2: It's Up to You; Minstrel's Song; Dawning is the Day; Melancholy Man; The Balance

Known for pioneering the concept album with their 1967 LP Days of Future Past, The Moody Blues began the 1970s with a more stripped down record which included a killer single with "Question." A Question of Balance would reveal a folk influence fused with the cosmic awareness with which the band had become known for. The album would reach #1 in the United Kingdom and peak at #3 in America. 

As evident in the collage of the album cover, The Moody Blues were apprehensive at the state of the world. Justin Hayward mentioned how the song "Question" spoke to this in an interview, "After a decade of peace and love, it still seemed we hadn't made a difference in 1970." The song asks the same questions we're asking ourselves in 2020:

Why do we never get an answer
When we're knocking at the door
With a thousand million questions
About hate and death and war?

The acoustic driven rock of the first section gives way to a more introspective balladry and then picks up for a reprise of the first section for a blistering finish. 

"How is it (we are here)" continues along a similar theme with a more psychedelic edge. The song asks how can we keep taking from the earth and giving nothing back. "And the Tide Rushes In" reflects on how everything disappears with time, all of our worries, ambitions, and triumphs will all vanish as nature looks on with indifference. 

"Don't You Feel Small" moves into a folk rock direction with a prominent flute. It's also about nature, which makes a mockery of the human ego. One look no further than a mirror."The Tortoise and the Hare" uses the famous fable as a metaphor of doing things at your own pace and not worrying about how fast others are moving. 

Side two opens "It's Up To You" a love song about finding peace through love and everyone has the choice to either turn away or embrace the world. "Minstrel's Song" is a catchy tune, defiant against the tides of the time. Love is everywhere if you look, it can come from anywhere. The Minstrel could be anybody, any holy figure with the knowledge. "Dawning of the Day" is even more spiritual, a lovely acoustic number, the simplicity that comes from the sounds of the morning. 

"Melancholy Man" is haunting, filled with monk like chanting, but it's really about redemption, out of a despair will come a cyclical understanding:

A beam of light will fill your head
And you'll remember what's been said
By all the good men this world's ever known

A Question of Balance ends on a hopeful note of compassion with "The Balance." Rock critics tend to turn their nose up to spoken word poetry, but I never minded it, it brings the record to a suitable ending, followed by some wonderful harmonies.

Musically, A Question of Balance improves with multiple listens. It opens on a note of frustration and anxiety and ends with a sense of peace - a spiritual journey with an ecological focus.

Randy Newman: Sail Away (1972)

Release Date: May 1972
Produced by Lenny Waronker and Russ Titelman (Reprise)

Side One: Sail Away; Lonely At the Top; He Gives Us All His Love; Last Night I Had A Dream; Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear; Old Man

Side Two: Political Science; Burn On; Memo To My Son; Dayton, Ohio -1903; You Can Leave Your Hat On; God's Song (that's why I love mankind)

Randy Newman's at times comical, at times heartbreaking, 1972 album Sail Away updates the American songbook with a post-1960s sensibility. Majestic and satiric, the record ricochets between romanticism and cynicism.

"Sail Away" encapsulates the promise of America as a bountiful land of promise, only it's from the perspective of a slave trader beckoning Africans to cross the ocean into bondage. The striking arrangement itself is deceptive, wrapped inside inside the melodies are suffering and shame. 

"Political Science" serves a companion song to "Sail Away," a prophetic song imagining MAGA movement. 

"Lonely At the Top" is a Sinatra parody, the narrator has everything an entertainer could ever want and yet feels unhappy. While "Simon Smith" looks at the bottom side of fame in a playful manner. Both songs aspire to a God like perspective, a recurring theme throughout Sail Away. 

"He Gives All His Love" imagines a compassionate God kindly looking down on everyone from above, an erstwhile hymn on the surface. On the closing track, "God's Song", Newman imagines a sadistic deity amazed at humans still worship him after all the loss and destruction he's wrought.

The melancholy "Old Man" imagines a life lived, "Memo to My Son" a playful song about fatherhood. 

"Last Night I Had A Dream" and "You Can Leave Your Hat On" are fanciful love songs that lighten up the mood of the record. 

Two songs are about Ohio. "Burn On" makes light of the Cuyahoga river catching on fire set to a pastoral melody. "Dayton, Ohio 1903" imagines an idyllic America, full of industry, kindness, and confidence in direct contrast to the Rustbelt of the 1970s. 

In 30 minutes of music, Randy Newman takes an ironic and emphatic view of the American experience, each track could be a novel.

The Albums of 1996: Wilco: Being There

Release Date: October 29, 1996
Produced by Wilco
Active Members: Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Jay Bennett, Ken Coomer, Max Johnston, Bob Egan

Side One: Misunderstood; Far, Far Away; Monday; Outtasight (outtmind); Forget the Flowers
Side Two: Red Eyed and Blue; I Got You (at the end of the century); What's the World Got in Store; Hotel Arizona: Say You Miss Me
Side Three: Sunken Treasure; Someday Soon; Outta Mind (outtasight); Someone Else's Song; Kingpin
Side Four: (Was I) In Your Dreams; Why Would You Wanna Live; The Lonely 1; Dreamer in My Dreams

The sophomore Wilco LP Being There was a double album recorded in an era when the concept was borderline obsolete. Featuring 19 tracks that recalled the power pop simplicity of A.M. and the Midwest punch of Uncle Tupelo, yet at the same engaged on a deeper level with the past and present of rock.

"Misunderstood" unabashedly goes for the big time, an epic rocker that quotes Ohio cult hero Peter Laughner, as if Tweedy is putting the entire experience of a disaffected young men in the Midwest into one song. "Far, Far Away" is smooth country western rock song about longing. "Monday" channels Exile on Main Street Era Rolling Stones. "Outtasite (outta mind) and then "Forget the Flowers," very much in the twangy Uncle Tupelo style.

"Red-Eyed and Blue" opens side two, a melancholy state of mind song about writer's block and trying to hold a fledgling band together. "I Got You (at the end of the century)" defines slacker rock, feelings of dwindling expectations in the Rustbelt but the records are still on the shelf. "What's the World Got in Store" mediates on uncertainty and malaise, "Hotel Arizona" deals with the life of a band at a crossroads. "Say You Miss Me" Tweedy goes a soulful lyric on another song about the road.

Disc 2 opens with "Sunken Treasure", a continuation of the themes of introduced on "Misunderstood" albeit a more mature approach. "Someday Soon" is another alt-country rocker, "Outta Mind (outta sight)" is a reprise at a slightly slower tempo and a wearier vocal. On the acoustic ballad "Someone Else's Song" Tweedy confesses, "I keep on singing, your eyes, they just roll" speaks to how his music might be derivative of many others, but he'll keep singing anyway. "Kingpin" is a swamp rocker worthy of CCR. 

Side four begins with "(Was I) In Your Dreams" another country western ballad with a Gen X edge. "Why Would You Wanna Live" returns to the world weariness motif, backed by excellent strings and banjos. "The Lonely 1" may be one of the tenderest ballads ever written by Tweedy, while "Dreamer In My Dreams" serves as a coda to the entire record.

Critic Robert Christgau called Being There a triumph, but an insular one. While it's bigger and more ambitious than A.M., it also lacks some of the sly sense of humor. The incarnation of Wilco on Being There would transition to modern folk rock by collaborating with Billy Bragg. Tweedy would write more abstract lyrics more informed by his reading of modernist literature. Jay Bennett would also change the sound of the band and add a sonic dimension to the sound. Being There got the attention of critics (and fans) and cemented Wilco as a distinct voice in the rock landscape.