Pictured above: The Beach Boys, 1970
In August of 1969, Sea of Tunes, The Beach Boys’ catalog was sold to Irving Almo Music for $700,000 (equivalent to $4.78 million in 2018) by the Wilsons’ father, Murry Wilson. Brian Wilson, according to his wife Marilyn, was devastated by the sale. Also, around this time, their contract with Capitol had expired and the record label had little to no interest in renewing the contract following the disappointing sales of their previous three albums. The band subsequently signed with Reprise Records in 1970, a deal brokered by Van Dyke Parks, who was employed as a multimedia executive at Warner Music Group at the time. Reprise’s contract stipulated Brian’s proactive involvement with the band in all albums (in response to his minimal involvement in the 1969 albums).
After recording over 30 different songs and going through several album titles, their first LP with Reprise, Sunflower, was released on August 31st, 1970. Brian was very active during this period, co-writing seven of the twelve songs on the album and performing at about half of the band’s domestic concerts in 1970. The album received critical acclaim and charted highly in the US, with a particular headline going as far to say “1970: The Year of The Beach Boys’ Revival”.
Pictured above: The Byrds, 1970
Following the dismissal of The Byrds’ bass player John York in September 1969, Skip Battin was brought in as a replacement at the suggestion of drummer Gene Parsons and guitarist Clarence White. This lineup of Roger McGuinn, Clarence White, Gene Parson, and Skip Battin turned out to be the most stable and longest-lived of any Byrds lineup.
“Now Columbia wanted to us to put out a live album, and, I think it was one of the first ones to be done on the ELP too.”
- Roger McGuinn, 1970
The live performances recorded took place on February 28 at the Colden Center Auditorium in Queens College in New York City and on March 1 at the Felt Forum in New York City. The album was released on April 30th, 1970.
Untitled
01. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere (2:56) [1]
02. Old Blue (3:30) [1]
03. It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) (2:48) [1]
04. Ballad of Easy Rider (2:21) [1]
05. My Back Pages (2:41) [1]
06. Take a Whiff On Me (2:45) [1]
07. Jesus Is Just Alright (3:09) [1]
08. This Wheel’s on Fire (6:16) [1]
09. Lover of the Bayou (3:35) [1]
10. Positively 4th Street (3:03) [1]
11. Nashville West (2:07) [1]
12. So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star (2:37) [1]
13. Mr. Tambourine Man (2:13) [1]
14. Mr. Spaceman (2:07) [1]
15. Eight Miles High (16:05) [1]
Released: April 30th, 1970
Track sources:
[1] - Untitled, 1970 - 2000 CD reissue
Also during 1970, Roger McGuinn and friend Jaques Levy planned a country rock musical titled Gene Tryp, loosely based on Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt. It was planned to be a double album consisting of 23 songs recorded by The Byrds. However, after a falling out between the two plans for the musical were abandoned. Despite this, the six songs recorded were used for the album Phoenix and the subsequent Byrds album. Recording for the album took place between May 26 and June 11, 1970, at Columbia Studios.
Phoenix
01. White’s Lightning, Pt. 1 (2:37) [1]
02. Chestnut Mare (5:10) [2]
03. Truck Stop Girl (3:23) [2]
04. All the Things (3:07) [2]
05. Yesterday’s Train (3:35) [2]
06. Lover of the Bayou (5:15) [2]
07. Hungry Planet (4:56) [2]
08. Just a Season (3:56) [2]
09. Take a Whiff on Me (3:28) [2]
10. You All Look Alike (3:06) [2]
11. Willin’ (3:27) [2]
12. Welcome Back Home (7:39) [2]
13. White’s Lightning, Pt. 2 (2:20) [2]
Released: September 14, 1970
Track sources:
[1] - The Byrds Box Set, 1990
[2] - Untitled, 1970 - 2000 CD reissue
Pictured above: Bob Dylan’s Self-Portrait, 1970
Release of Bob Dylan’s Self Portrait, the last of two albums recorded for Columbia out of contractual obligation came with near-universal criticism, particularly infamous is the opening line of a review of the album by Greil Marcus for Rolling Stone magazine, “What is this shit?”. Bob Dylan did his best to justify the album’s existence, despite the criticism and ongoing rumor that he made the album purposefully substandard as a sort of protest revenge scheme against Columbia for the contractual obligation he was under while recording said albums.
“So what if what I did was disingenuous? You gotta admit, they were off my back after they were released.”
Bob Dylan, 2018
Pictured above: The Band, 1970 (Bob Dylan not pictured)
Following the release of John Wesley Harding, The Band embarked on their first tour as a lead act. The anxiety of their newfound fame was clear, especially with Bob Dylan still refusing to go on tour which caused disappointment for some fans.
“I feel like he rarely went on stage because of his fears of overshadowing the rest of us or something. He was very much aware of the weight that he carried and he didn’t want to overshadow the rest of us. We weren’t his band anymore, after all.”
- Robbie Robertson, 1991
These sentiments of anxiety, fear, and alienation were channeled into The Band’s third album, Stage Fright (New Morning). The album was recorded at the band’s home base of Woodstock, New York. It was engineered by Todd Rundgren and was produced by the band themselves between May and August of 1970.
Stage Fright (New Morning)
01. Strawberry Wine (2:36) [1]
02. Day of the Locusts (4:00) [2]
03. Sleeping (3:16) [1]
04. Time Passes Slowly (2:35) [2]
05. Time to Kill (3:27) [1]
06. Went to See the Gypsy (2:51) [2]
07. Just Another Whistle Stop (3:54) [1]
08. Winterlude (2:23) [2]
09. All La Glory (3:34) [1]
10. If Dogs Run Free (3:40) [2]
11. The Shape I’m In (4:00) [1]
12. New Morning (3:58) [2]
13. The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show (2:59) [1]
14. Daniel and The Sacred Harp (4:13) [1]
15. Sign on the Window (3:40) [2]
16. Stage Fright (3:43) [1]
17. One More Weekend (3:10) [2]
18. The Man in Me (3:08) [2]
19. Three Angels (2:07) [2]
20. The Rumor (4:15) [1]
21. Father of Night (1:31) [1]
Released: October 19, 1970
Track sources:
[1] - Stage Fright, 1970
[2] - New Morning, 1970
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