Pictured above: Colin Blunstone, 1971
Following the breakup of The Zombies, Colin Blunstone briefly worked as a clerk in the insurance business before returning to music in 1970. His debut album was produced by former Zombies Rod Argent and Chris White and even contained a new song written by the duo, Her Song. It was recorded between 1970 and 1971 and released in November 1971, to positive critical reception.
One Year
01. I Hope I Didn’t Say Too Much Last Night (3:29) [1]
02. Misty Roses (5:04) [1]
03. Caroline Goodbye (2:54) [1]
04. Though You Are Far Away (3:24) [1]
05. Mary Won’t You Warm My Bed (3:11) [1]
06. Her Song (3:31) [1]
07. I Can’t Live Without You (3:28) [1]
08. Let Me Come Closer to You (2:24) [1]
09. Say You Don’t Mind (3:22) [1]
Released: November 1971
Track sources:
[1] - One Year, 1971 - 2006/2010 reissue
Pictured above: The Devil’s Triangle, 1971 (Peter Giles not pictured)
Much like what happened many times before, Robert Fripp found himself once more without a full band in 1971. Much like what happened with King Crimson only two years prior, his drummer and woodwinds player left, leaving him with Peter Sinfield and Peter Giles as the only two other members of The Devil’s Triangle. After a brief period of auditioning, Boz Burrell and Ian Wallace were brought along as vocalist and drummer respectively, with Mel Collins returning to work with Fripp for the first time since his leave from King Crimson.
“It was history repeating itself in a strange way. It was the third time I was bandless, but ‘third time’s the charm’, I said to myself at the time.”
- Robert Fripp, 2013
The band spent most of their time together touring, only taking time off to record The Devil’s Triangle’s third album, Islands, in October. Recordings for the album were generally unproblematic, with some mild tension between Fripp and Sinfield being the only problem in the sessions. Sinfield desired to take the band in a more jazz-folk approach, while Fripp wanted a more harsh sound. Following a brief period touring Islands, Sinfield was asked to leave the band by Fripp, citing musical differences and loss in faith in his ideas. The remaining band broke up in rehearsals shortly after due to Fripp’s refusal in incorporating other members’ compositions into the band’s repertoire, which Fripp described as "quality control".
Islands
01. Formentera Lady (10:18) [1]
02. Sailor’s Tale (7:29) [1]
03. The Letters (4:25) [1]
04. Ladies of the Road (5:29) [1]
05. Prelude: Song of the Gulls (4:14) [1]
06. Islands (11:51) [1]
Released: December 3rd, 1971
Track sources:
[1] - Islands, 1971
Pictured above: Wings, 1971
After the release of Ram, Paul McCartney decided to form a new proper band, asking Ram studio musicians Denny Seiwell and David Spinozza to join the band. When Spinozza became unavailable due to other session commitments, Hugh McCracken was invited to take his place, yet he declined. The band finally found a guitarist in Denny Laine, with McCartney taking up bass duties and lead vocals.
The last member to join the band was none other than Paul McCartney’s brother, Mike McGear. McCartney told McGear of his new project over lunch. McGear then told of his own band, The Scaffold, and how it was on hiatus. There are conflicting stories on what happened next, yet it is known that either McGear asked to join McCartney’s band or McCartney invited McGear to join.
“Honestly it was nice of him to even join really, I feel like he brought a sense of humor to the group.”
- Paul McCartney, 2001
Wings’ first album, Wild Life, was recorded between July and August of 1971 and included compositions by Paul and Linda McCartney, and Mike McGear. During the sessions, Paul recorded a song for the album titled Dear Friend after listening to the B-side of John Lennon’s Imagine, titled How Do You Sleep?, but the band, and later Paul agreed it was too personal for the album, and the song was shelved.
Wild Life was released to a cold reception by the critics, a response that only fortified the anti-McCartney sentiments among the music press after The Beatles’ break-up. The band itself also struggled to gain artistic credibility in particular due to the inclusion of McCartney’s family members Linda and Mike in the band.
“Ah, the press were being pretty rough to us at the time, which is kind of understandable, y’know. I mean we didn’t really prove ourselves yet and in all honesty, Wild Life isn’t that great of an album looking back.”
- Paul McCartney, 2016
Wild Life
01. Mumbo (3:55) [1]
02. Love is Strange (4:50) [1]
03. Woman (3:04) [2]
04. Wild Life (6:40) [1]
05. Some People Never Know (6:37) [1]
06. Bored as Butterscotch (2:50) [2]
07. I Am Your Singer (2:15) [1]
08. Tomorrow (3:24) [1]
09. Tiger/Strawberry Jam (7:23) [2]
10. Mumbo Link (0:45) [1]
Released: December 7th, 1971
Track sources:
[1] - Wild Life, 1971
[2] - Woman, 1972
Pictured above: Badfinger, 1971
Sessions for Badfinger’s fourth album started in January 1971 at Abbey Road Studios, with Geoff Emerick at the production helm. Twelve songs were completed by March, with the band rushing to finish the album before embarking on a two-month US tour booked by manager Stan Polley. The Pete Ham-written Name of the Game was scheduled for a single release, yet it was held back by Allan Steckler, whose primary position at Apple was as a coordinator between Apple and Red Maple.
Knowing that George Harrison was a big supporter of the band, he was assigned to replace Emerick at the engineering-helm, with most of the Emerick-produced songs completely shelved. Harrison was keen to see the band create a more mature work in a similar vein to his own Something, a vision shared by Ham. During Harrison’s sessions, the band would get twelve more songs on tape, including re-recorded versions of some of the Emerick sessions songs.
The band took a break from recording in June due to Harrison working in Los Angeles with Indian musician Ravi Shankar to produce the soundtrack for the film Raga. After starting to organize The Concert for Bangladesh, Harrison informed Badfinger that he would be unable to work further on the album, yet he invited them to participate in the concert.
In September 1971, Apple hired Todd Rundgren to finish Badfinger’s album. In addition to working with Rundgren on recent compositions, the band re-recorded two songs from the Emerick sessions. Rundgren worked quickly on the project, completing the sessions in two weeks, and mixing the whole album. Although admiring his technical skills in the studio, Badfinger were vocal in their opposition to his working methods, which were totally domineering and disrespectful to their ideas, simplifying the production and making the band lose much of their natural energy.
By the end of the sessions, Badfinger had over an hour’s worth of finished songs, which they intended to cut into a single album. Despite this, there was a push from Rundgren to include every song on the album to make the most out of the ELP format. The band hesitantly agreed, and the album was released to mixed reception upon release, yet later being praised as their best album.
Straight Up
01. Take It All (4:25) [1]
02. Baby Blue (3:37) [1]
03. Money (3:29) [1]
04. Flying (2:38) [1]
05. Name of the Game (5:19) [1]
06. Suitcase (2:53) [1]
07. Sweet Tuesday Morning (2:31) [1]
08. Day After Day (3:09) [1]
09. Perfection (5:07) [1]
10. It’s Over (3:34) [1]
11. I’d Die Babe (2:33) [1]
12. Sometimes (2:56) [1]
13. Loving You (2:53) [1]
14. No Good at All (2:08) [1]
15. I’ll Be The One (2:54) [1]
16. Baby Please (3:03) [1]
17. Photograph (2:32) [1]
18. Mean, Mean Jemima (3:43) [1]
19. Get Down (3:46) [1]
20. Sing For The Song (3:17) [1]
Released: December 13th, 1971
Track sources:
[1] - Straight Up, 1971 - 2010 remaster
Pictured above: David Bowie, 1971
By 1971, David Bowie had already put out three albums, none of which were a particularly large commercial success. At that point, he had already entered the public consciousness thanks to his hit single Space Oddity in 1969, and his album The Man Who Sold the World gained a positive critical reception at that point, however, he was yet to make his huge commercial breakthrough which would propel him into a true public icon.
His fourth album, Hunky Dory, was recorded between June and August of 1971. It was the first with Ken Scott and himself at the producer helm following Tony Visconti’s replacement by Trevor Bolder on the bass. It was also first to feature the full band lineup that later became known as The Spiders from Mars, consisting of Mick Ronson on guitar, vocals, and Mellotron, Bolder on bass guitar and trumpet, and Mick Woodmansey on drums. The band also featured keyboardist Rick Wakeman, a member of The Strawbs at the time and a noted studio musician.
By the time he finished the album, he was without a recording contract, and as such was unable to release the album. The tapes were soon heard by Licked Records and he was signed to a three-album deal on September 9th, 1971. The album was released later that year in December, to generally favorable reviews and selling reasonably well, however without being a major success.
Hunky Dory
01. Changes (3:37) [1]
02. Oh! You Pretty Things (3:12) [1]
03. Eight Line Poem (2:55) [1]
04. Life on Mars? (3:54) [1]
05. Kooks (2:53) [1]
06. Bombers (2:39) [1]
07. Quicksand (5:07) [1]
08. It Ain’t Easy (2:56) [2]
09. Fill Your Heart (3:07) [1]
10. Andy Warhol (3:56) [1]
11. Song for Bob Dylan (4:12) [1]
12. Queen Bitch (3:18) [1]
13. The Bewlay Brothers (5:22) [1]
Released: December 17th, 1971
Track sources:
[1] - Hunky Dory, 1971
[2] - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars, 1972
Pictured above: Timebox, 1971
Timebox’s fourth album was recorded in December 1971, produced by Muff Winwood much like the previous one. Despite poor album sales, the band went all out on the album’s packaging, which was based on a game known as Consequences. The front cover, which featured three cartoon characters, was cut into three sections, allowing flaps to be individually lifted revealing parts of the three cartoon characters on the inside of the gatefold, with the possibility of up to 8 unique sets of characters.
The album would go on to sell slightly better than Patto. It helped further extend their cult following, with some considering it their best album. The album contained more overdubs and experimentation than their previous, and would further cement their musical prowess, which had been polished since Patto. Around the time, they also became well known as an exciting live act due to their energetic performances.
Hold Your Fire
01. Hold Your Fire (8:06) [1]
02. You, You Point Your Finger (4:35) [1]
03. How’s Your Father (4:46) [1]
04. See You at the Dance Tonight (4:56) [1]
05. Give It All Away (4:11) [1]
06. Air Raid Shelter (7:06) [1]
07. Tell Me Where You’ve Been (3:49) [1]
08. Magic Door (4:25) [1]
Released: December 30th, 1971
Track sources:
[1] - Hold Your Fire, 1971
