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.
Elton John’s third album, Tumbleweed Connection, received some of the best reviews he’d ever get. The album isn’t chock full of hits, though ‘Burn Down the Mission’ became a concert staple through the decades.
This is a concept album about the West, leaning on the country and blues genres and schewing simple verse-chorus-verse structure for a more experimental songwriting style.
Another 1970 album that I own but haven’t paid much attention is The Kinks’ Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One. I’m familiar with only two songs on this record: today’s SOTD, ‘Lola,’ and ‘This Time Tomorrow,’ which was featured in the Wes Anderson film The Darjeeling Limited.
Based on those songs, and the fact that I love The Kinks’ overall sound, I suspect I’d enjoy the rest of the record, too.
Meet Me In Montauk 