Déjà Vu, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Déjà Vu, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, 1970, :36

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Well-known as one of the seminal albums of the classic rock era that you must hear before you die, yet I never got around to it.  However, I think nearly every one of these songs is regularly played on classic rock radio.  The ones I didn't care for as much were, oddly enough (since he's probably the most creative one of the four), the Neil Young ones, like the draggy "Almost Cut My Hair."  Funny how four guys who sound do beautiful together and sing of peace and love could hate each other for so many decades, though.  Favorite tracks: "Carry On," "Helpless," "Teach Your Children," "Our House."

Ton-Ton Macoute!, Johnny Jenkins

Ton-Ton Macoute!, Johnny Jenkins, 1970, :48

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

The debut of a blues musician who recorded only four albums, and the second one came 26 years after this one.  The title comes from the name of a Haitian boogeyman, also taken by Papa Doc's brutal police squad.  Duane Allman and Butch Trucks play on a few tracks because, fun fact, this was originally intended as a Duane Allman solo album!  Johnny just came by and recoded vocals over those tracks.   Favorite tracks: "I Walk on Guilded Splinters" is a rollicking, thumping toe-tapper; "Down Along the Cove," completely remade into a straight blues; "Blind Bats and Swamp Rats;" "I Don't Want No Woman."

Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon, Status Quo

Continuing the alphabet of albums, M is for moanin' the blues. 

Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon, Status Quo, 1970, :42

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

I knew absolutely nothing about this album or, indeed, the band when I put this on. It's bluesy rock. I'm not really a fan of this type bluesy rock with its sluggish guitar and wah-wah sound. But they do it well. Still, I only need to hear the nine-and-a-half minute jam "Is It Really Me/Gotta Go Home" once.  "Daughter" sounds like early Black Sabbath. But then "Everything" kind of sounds like the Rutles. So it's a mixed bag!  Favorite tracks: the straightforward "Spinning Wheel Blues," the kind of Blue Oyster Cult-ish "Need Your Love."

Ladies of the Canyon, Joni Mitchell

Continuing the alphabet of albums, L is for lush vocals. 

Ladies of the Canyon, Joni Mitchell, 1970, :44

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Beautiful soaring jazzy pop-folk, with Mitchell's vocals the star of the show.  Her voice soars and trills, gets raspy and back to luscious again.  Her songwriting is no slouch, either.  Dylanesque lines like "He stood looking through the lace / At the face on the conquered moon" kept popping up to delight and bemuse me.  Clarinet and horns complement her piano to create that ephemeral, jazzy sound that was thought then to be "experimental."  Favorite tracks: "Circle Game," "Big Yellow Taxi," "Morning Morgantown."

After the Gold Rush, Neil Young

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1970.

After the Gold Rush, Neil Young, 1970, :34

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

I generally like Neil Young well enough, but came to his music mostly through his later material like Freedom and Harvest Moon (aside from the classic rock radio standards, of course). On this album we hear a young Young, his voice higher, his spirit a little less ragged.  His fierce streak of independence and his refusal to censor his voice are already proudly on display, however.  This is a career-making album, the kind that can keep an artist's reputation solid for decades. There's very few the heavy-handed maudlin lyrics of his later period (like on the leaden "Natural Beauty").  What we do get are thoughtful, earnest messages like "Southern Man" and "After the Gold Rush."  But also love songs and (yes, at times) some dreamy, maybe-druggy-not-very-sensical lyrics. But there's a revelatory remake of "Oh, Lonesome Me" that shows that Young has power as an interpreter as well.   Favorite tracks: "After the Gold Rush," "Southern Man."  Favorites that are new to me: "Tell me Why," "Cripple Creek Ferry."

Morrison Hotel, The Doors

Morrison Hotel, The Doors, 1970, :37

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

I've heard and owned a few Doors albums, but not this one.  This... is definitely a Doors album, perhaps the Doors album.  If you like the Doors, this is everything you like about them.  If you dislike the Doors, this is everything you dislike about them.  Basic blues riffs and structures punctuated by psychedelic keyboard lines.  Jim Morrison's stentorian voice and cryptic, moody, hyper-masculine, want-to-be-deep lyrics.  There's nothing here as experimental or as accessible as on L.A. Woman, but it's not really bad, either.  It's angry blues rock, man.  Favorite tracks: "Peace Frog" stands out musically, and "Land Ho!" is Morrison's take on a rough sea shanty.

The Madcap Laughs, Syd Barrett

The Madcap Laughs, Syd Barrett, 1970, :37

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

I know all about Barrett's craziness and his reluctant expulsion from Pink Floyd, but have only heard his second album, Barrett.  This debut album is a bit thinner, less sure of what it wants to say.  The first half of the album is quirky, ragged fun; it seems like the thrill is gone during the last six songs.  I know I should assess the album on its own merits and not compare it to its younger brother, but I knew Barrett first. That's love, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.  Favorite tracks: "Love You," "Here I Go," "Octopus."