Elton John released Goodbye Yellow Brick Road in October of 1973, but just nine months earlier he dropped his first album of the year, Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player.
This album is best known for its opening track, ‘Daniel,’ and the rollicking ‘Crocodile Rock.’ During my recent Elton John deep dive, I wrote about two other highlights: the Rolling Stones-esque ‘Midnight Creeper‘ and closing track ‘High Flying Bird.’
I haven’t given Led Zeppelin much thought since I left high school. They are a rite of passage for high school kids (boys, in particular) and I was no exception.
Even back then, most of my focus was on Led Zeppelin IV, the classic 1971 album featuring ‘Stairway to Heaven,’ ‘Rock and Roll,’ ‘Black Dog,’ ‘Going to California’ and ‘When the Levee Breaks.’ What a motherlode of classic rock staples.
A few years back, following David Bowie’s death, I did a deep dive into his catalog. It was my first real exposure to a lot of his work, which I mostly knew through the hits.
1973’s Aladdin Sane emerged as a favorite, alongside Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust, the two albums that preceded it. It’s funny how so many of the albums I’m writing about were part of successful streaks. The early 70s were a gold mine for new music from some of the greatest pop artists of all time.
In 1973, Al Green released Call Me, the album widely considered his finest. Featuring soul classics such as the title track, ‘Here I Am (Come and Take Me), and ‘You Ought To Be With Me,’ as well as covers of country hits ‘Funny How Time Slips Away’ and ‘I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,’ this is am excellent introduction to the range and silky smooth sound of the Reverend.
Soul isn’t my genre, so I haven’t given Call Me as many listens as it deserves, but every time I do it’s a transporting experience.
This week I’m looking at five more albums from 1973 that I know and like, but not as much as I know and like the five I covered last week. Next week I’ll get to albums I don’t know well at all.
Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions was his 19th album, released when he was just 23 years old. It came right in the middle of a five-year streak among the greatest of all time: Music of My Mind, Talking Book, Innervisions, Fulfillingness’ First Finale, and Songs in the Key of Life. I’m not a Stevie Wonder fanatic — I appreciate more than love his music — but the genius of that run of albums is undeniable.
Meet Me In Montauk 