James Taylor’s second solo album, Sweet Baby James, was the singer-songwriter’s most successful and beloved record and the start of a burst of activity that lasted through the 70s.
Taylor would release seven more albums in that decade, matching hit output over the following 36 years. Must have been all the heroin.
1970 saw the release of the final Beatles album, Let It Be, but also solo releases by each of the Fab Four.
Paul McCartney’s solo debut, McCartney, came out in April and went double platinum despite lukewarm critical response. John Lennon’s solo debut, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, dropped in December to considerably more acclaim. And overachiever Ringo Starr put out two albums that year, Sentimental Journey and Beaucoups of Blues.
Neil Young had a pretty good 1970. In addition to yesterday’s Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album, Deja Vu, he released the solo record After the Gold Rush, considered one of his best.
The album has the same country folk style as his work with CSN, a contrast to his previous solo effort, the harder-edged Everybody Knows This is Nowhere.
Deja Vu was the second album by Crosby, Stills & Nash, and the first after the addition of Neil Young. It received universal critical acclaim, sold more than 8 million copies and remains the top-selling album in any of the four men’s careers.
CSN&Y were an early supergroup, each of the members having found success either as solo artists or in other bands. Relationships within the band were often strained, the whole thing barely hanging together, perhaps because they really didn’t need each other.
As I continue my dive into the best albums of 1970, I’m focusing this week on unfamiliar albums by artists I otherwise know pretty well. I own, or at least know, some material by each of these artists but I don’t have these particular records.
First up is Creedence Clearwater Revival with Cosmo’s Factory, the band’s fifth album and widely considered their best.
Meet Me In Montauk 