"Was 1971 the high point of popular music?"

- no

Not too shabby. BTW, I think I hear record company execs crying.

'A' high point, maybe; THE high point, 100% subjective... I don't believe in such things. But lots of great music, certainly.  

1989.

"Girl You Know It's True." Milli Vanilli.

I rest my case.

Can't be. No new NRBQ release in '71.

But I saw ELP "Tarkus" headline Yas "Fragile"

Absolutely, if you were born in the 50’s. But if you were born earlier or later then the pinicle would be earlier or later, respectively. 

@ghdprentice 

Earlier, maybe.

Later, I doubt it.

A creative peak is just that. A peak. There was a build up to it and a fairly sharp decline after it. Since then, there have been fabulous records and fabulous performances, but the overall quality, diversity, musicianship and creative juice from 1969 to 1972 was unique.

For some, no doubt. I can't pick one year between say, '67 and '77... 

Impossible to pick a peak. Lotta good years in the 60s through 80s. You got the Vietnam protest era, Good bubble gum, Disco (yes a lot of it is good - just too much at one time), especially AOR, MOR, New Wave. Good times!

Impressive list but the best year was 1976 with the release of 2112 ... sorry, close though 

through 80s

@elrod

seriously?

what about 80’s music will live forever? culturally more about silly comedy movies than any music. no lasting musical culture came from those years....compared to the 50’s, 60’s or 70’s.

’Thriller’ and ’M-TV’ were the high points......which is relatively a pretty low bar for greatness.

apologies if these were your high school years and so it’s personal. my kids were in H.S. in the 80’s and early 90’s and they preferred my 60’s and 70’s rock to their contemporary 80’s music.

they did like Grunge and Nirvana, a local Seattle band,. but that was 90’s.

Fifty years from now, they might be saying that about 2023. 

Here's a list by the way,

I'll agree that for us old folks that 1971 might be the most prolific year for the most popular albums by the groups at the time , ( you forgot my favorite of all time )          David Crosby " If I Could Only Remember My Name " .                                               Out of the 34 albums mentioned I have 17 of them and saw 4 of them in concert .

But you must admit the stuartk has a point .

@gowanus 

Fifty years from now they will still be listening to music from the 60's and 70's. Just like they will still be listening to 50's and 60's jazz.

This is because what lasts is music that contains innovation, creativity, musicianship, dynamics and emotional impact.Properties that are in scarce supply these days. Much easier to copy someone else's hits or stick with a formulaic genre like hip hop or rap.  

"Killer" by Alice Cooper"

Push it out a couple more years-"Billion Dollar Babies" 

1973 had all the usual suspects release more great work.

@vair68robert 

@stuartk is 99.7% correct that the music between 1967 and 1977 was magical, but the point of my comment was the picking of 1971 as its apex.

Of course I knew that there would be pushback because there is a tendency for people to become emotionally attached to music that they are exposed to when they are in their early teens. The flavour of the day, so to speak. There is also an element of people that just want to disagree with any statement they hear, without spending the time and energy to actually think it through.

That’s a generational thing. For me it was the music of the 80’s. Today people are getting famous with music composed on a $200 workstation while sitting on their couch. The part that burns me up is when I see my own nesses and nephews falling for that.  As each generation says, music is not what it used to be.

@mikelavigne

Come on Mike, spread you horizons. I admit I should have said more than New Wave for the 80s, but there's a lotta good stuff in the 80's - Bon Jovi, U2, Guns and Roses, Queen, REO, Metallica, Def Leppard, Scorpions, the list goes on and on.

Sorry to disappoint Mike, but my high school years were in the early 70's, you know when KOOL FM was playing tunes from the 50s and 60s. Love me some Platters and Coasters! The 60s & 70s is what I cut my teeth on. Huge amount of good stuff. Even just the 70s - REO, RUSH, Kansas, Journey, Boston, Yes, Black Sabbath, Styx, BTO, etc. etc.

I AM glad your kids have good taste in music!

Even as far as the New Wave you seem to disdain, there a lot of good tunes. Duran Duran, Talking Heads, Depeche Mode, Tears for Fears, REM, OMD and a bunch more. Gotta admit though, a lot of New Wave seems to have a bunch more of one or two hit wonders, but wonders they are.

If your going to criticize me for anything, please make it that my tastes are quite broad. From true country to crooners, Old blues, R&B, pop, rock, disco, new wave, new age, alt rock, grunge, I love it all - even a small, select amount of rap...

Enjoy your tunes!

I think @ellajeanelle has it right-- to me, it's got a lot to do with your point of entry, when you really engaged. I listen to a wide range of material that goes back earlier- particularly in heavy rock (apropos Alice Cooper, to me, their pinnacle is Love it to Death, but that's subjective, isn't it? And I only appreciated that album decades later- at the time of release I thought it juvenile).

The key in my estimation is exposure. I guess that's one good thing about the current streaming phenomenon-- it gives you the opportunity to hear things without the cost of buying physical media. (that said, I have a hard time finding deep catalog jazz on Qobuz, something I have mentioned elsewhere).

I'm all about the adventure of finding "new to me" music. One of my early "hooks" was UK Island- Chris Blackwell signed some amazing acts. The first Free album is very underproduced (Guy Stevens) but man, Kossoff is just so inside the songs without overplaying. 

A long time favorite is Bad Brains i against i. A fusion band that could turn on a dime, they converted themselves to Rastafarian post punk. Crazy cool. The Repo Man soundtrack has a great sampling of West Coast hardcore. 

It took me years to find my ears for jazz- I was familiar with the standards but it was the post-bop stuff in the '70s that finally struck a chord with me. 

I do think this is a very personal journey and that each of us varies in our taste. 

One of our family friends was a long time sideman for NRBQ, who I saw a bunch of times back in the day. Those guys could rock. Hell, we saw Little Richard when he was about 80-- he didn't have the voice he once did, but still had his piano chops. I could go on--from Glen Campbell to Etta James. There were so many greats.

We went to hear Black Pumas the other night- very good show. Are they the pinnacle for me? I'm not sure I'd say that, but we had a good time. Tomorrow night we go hear Marc Broussard, who I'd characterize as "swamp soul."

Get out there and hear some bands. And for those who are now gone, reach beyond your usual fare. Lots of riches out there to be tapped. 

Oh, and old school disco is back! Who doesn't love the Shuggie Otis "Strawberry Letter #23" as covered by the Bros Johnson? :)

The year 1971 was the high point in popular music for those coming of age at that time. Not for those who came earlier or later.

Depending on your age, you are going to be impressed with this list of 1971 LP releases, I know I am. Thanks for sharing tony1954, thought provoking.

"Oh, and old school disco is back! Who doesn't love the Shuggie Otis "Strawberry Letter #23" as covered by the Bros Johnson? :)"

EPIC cover of SL#23

whart- it was the fabulous outfits that made the Brothers Johnson way hip!

I pull that album out now and then when friends "in the know" are visiting.

It was in heavy rotation back in 1977 on the Soul radio station.

How about some Ohio Players for extra funky groove?

some folks sayin that 70s music best, some sayin 60s music and some sayin 80's, but i really don't understand them at all and continue to listen and finding great new stuff every day even more than once per day.

My point was that for most people, the music they heard when they were 10 -25 ish years old, holds a really soft spot in their heart. And unless they have have deeply explored other times and genera, it is easy to think that. I grew up in the late 60’s and 70’s and thought it was the best stuff ever. It had many great bands that were original as the technology / culture allowed… The Who, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, The Beatles.

But I am currently listening to Miles Davis’s Bitches Brew… no question truly great music. Before that Stan Kenton, Count Basie, Fats Waller, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky…Bach. The list goes on. It also goes forward. There are great and innovative bands since the 70’s.

After my love of core music of my age, I learned about jazz fusion, then jazz, blues, classical, world, electronic. After about thirty years of getting “into” one type after another and exploring deeply… I rediscovered Rock. I realized like all other genre and time there are incredibly talented and leading edge musicians of all eras that are simply astonishing.

@tablejockey

I can enjoy the Bros. Johnson version because I like the SONG. I still prefer Shuggie’s version!

@czarivey

some folks sayin that 70s music best, some sayin 60s music and some sayin 80’s, but i really don’t understand them at all and continue to listen and finding great new stuff every day even more than once per day.

I admire your capacity -- wish I had it, too,but the older I get, the more evident it's become that my tastes are deeply ingrained and fairly inflexible. I still find new music to enjoy but this occurs far less often than 10, 15 years ago. It’s frustrating to know I am the limiting factor but I like what I like, for better or worse.

@ghdprentice

I realized like all other genre and time there are incredibly talented and leading edge musicians of all eras that are simply astonishing.

Yes.

Nice list , I’ve seen approximately half the bands on your list. Rory Gallagher passed way too soon. If the world doesn’t get past Taylor Swift, I’m going to go crazy. BTW I saw her with Jack Ingram before she was huge. My teenage daughter wanted to see her. Warners Theatre Fresno , Jack Ingram was good. 😆 1971 cars were fast and tubes were cheap. 

The answer is a big YES!  1971 was probably the peak in popular music.

You left out the amazing Skull & Roses by the Grateful Dead!  So many great albums.  Why?  Because it was the baby boom generation.

You also left out:

Imagine by John Lennon

Ram by Paul McCartney

The Concert for Bangladesh by George Harrison

The Yes Album

Love it to Death by Alice Cooper

The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys by Traffic

Nursery Crime by Genesis

Muswell Hillbillies by the Kinks

Mud Slide Slim by James Taylor

Madman Across the Water by Elton John

Tarkus by ELP

Electric Warrior by T. Rex

I'm sure there are several more.  AMAZING year for music!

There are 20/30 year olds covering Blind Faith* I wonder how many of todays artists will be covered in 50 years?

I’d say about ‘67-72ish.  

*Foxes and Fossils apparently recently released one.

@fred60 

Actually, I did include....

Imagine by John Lennon

Ram by Paul McCartney

The Yes Album

Madman Across the Water by Elton John

 Nonsense. Every year is  better than the last. More music is added to the continuum of music.  Certainly the record companies were much more altruistic then - and they weren't very altruistic. Saying it was "the best" means you only like that music and you are making the point that the year of any work of art you love was the high point of art. 

@jkf011 

"Saying it was "the best" means you only like that music and you are making the point that the year of any work of art you love was the high point of art. "

No. It certainly does not mean that.

What it does mean is that I have a long a varied experience of all types of music and I have the breadth of knowledge to make that statement.

I saw Tool for the third time a few weeks ago and just booked a trip to see Turandot at the Met in NYC next April. I listen to almost every type of music from almost any decade (except hip hop and rap of course).

Maybe I can explain this in a way you will understand.

Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world. But that doesn't mean that there aren't other tall mountains. It just means that Everest is the tallest.

Then why make the trolly statement in the first place? Manipulative narcissistic, AND nonsense. 

@jkf011 

Sorry, but it isn't my fault that you can't understand such a simple question.

"Every year is  better than the last."

Sure. Whatever you say.

Or , as most artists would answer the question of which is your best album? 

The next!

'71 maybe. By end of 1972, it was all over. I was 18, bought The Jimi Hendrix Experience in 8th grade, and I think the last rock record I bought was as a freshman in college, Dark Side of the Moon. That's about as far as it went I think.  5 years. A massive creative output by a hundred or so bands all tolled. Not too many people realize that in those days you could hear everything. Every release made it to the shelves and there not that many each month. And between your friends and you, if you bought records, you basically knew what was out there. By '69 FM radio was the third leg. OLh yes, I did buy Blood on the Tracks, friends bought the next stuff, Springsteen, Al Steward, later Fleetwood Mac, later Bowie, but it had run its course.

I agree with @markmoskow ...I think '72 was great too. After than yeah, a long decline.  I mean, disco hit in the mid-70s, rock music had died by the mid-1980s, now it seems "popular" music is just a vehicle to sell singer branded merch and make them rich. It isn't even about the music. They become a "brand" that people want to associate themselves with...women buying handbags and perfumes with "Taylor" on them and all that. 

I mean listen to any average radio station today. It isn't the 1960s or 1970s anymore.  Different strokes for different folks.  I'm glad to have been able to take it all in from around 1965 till now and watch it (and hear it) zig and zag and change and move.  

But I think my interest in jazz (from all eras) is a reflection that rock is dead. 

I was born in 1958.  That is an impressive list that the OP compiled.  Music was very important to me and I definitely felt a few years later as if popular music had lost itself, and I drifted into Classical

Ignore the relativists- the list is correct, if incomplete. I’m not a boomer- history will confirm 1971 as the peak year in cultural history, warts and all!

PS 1973 comes close- I buy albums from then blind and am usually amazed at their great sound and energy.

@tony1954

Yes, my bad, should have seen those, not sure how I missed them!

@moonwatcher 

But I think my interest in jazz (from all eras) is a reflection that rock is dead. 

I was led to Jazz by "jazzy" Rock and by the fact that I grew bored with Rock's melodic and harmonic limitations. The liner noted in one of the many reissues of "Kind of Blue" mentioned that the Allman Bros.were avid fans of modal Jazz. Listening to them and the Dead seemed to ease the way for me into Jazz. 

I don't tend to think of Rock as "dead" anymore than I regard Jazz as "dead". As long as there are recordings in these genres I enjoy, that's "alive" enough for me. I don't see where Rock could've gone. Punk attempted to drag it away from corporate slickness and Steely Dan probably took it as far in a Jazz direction as possible without it crossing over into Fusion. 

@stuartk good points, especially about the "melodic and harmonic limitations". From around 1956 to 1976 we had 20 years of experimentation and creativity on display within those parameters. That’s 20 years of music. Today, much is simply derivative of stuff that has already been done. (The same can be said for much of TV programs and movies). Maybe we are just old and "been there, done that" so we look upon new tunes that are more of the same old, same old, "three chords and the truth" as not being up to snuff.

I love jam bands. Been seeing them since the Grateful Dead, but even there, it is becoming formulaic. You know when a up and coming popular jam band like Goose resorts to doing a version of a Justin Timberlake song we have come full circle.

Fortunately for all of us, there’s plenty of old and new music to be discovered. A few years ago, I "discovered" electronica and ambient music, when my experience was mostly limited to Kraftwerk, ELP, and maybe John Cage. Then we have all the great jazz records that you could spend a lifetime examining and loving.

What will music become going forward? No one really knows. Hopefully it will be more than just the soundtracks to video games.

But this body of work is out there, waiting for future generations to discover and love.  I believe some of them will stand the test of time just as classical compositions have after hundreds of years. If something is "good" I think it always will be. 

@stuartk 

@mahler123 

@markmoskow 

@moonwatcher 

Seems that there are a lot of similarities in how our individual musical journeys have affected our current tastes.

We were lucky to have been there in the beginning in the late 60's and early 70's, but maybe unlucky in that we developed very high standards in what constituted good music. It also gave us a broad spectrum of musical genres to enjoy when you consider popular music included bands like the Allman Bros., ELO, The Eagles, Steely Dan, Bowie, Black Sabbath and Joni Mitchell.

Then things changed.

1. Mid 70's. Still vibrant and varied music being made, but less of everything.
2. Late 70's. Disco happens and popular music becomes more formulaic and emotionally shallow. Also, as a reaction to the disco world, punk music begins.
3. Early 80's. New Wave and Punk take over and music starts to die. Musicianship all but disappears and image is everything. Style over substance.
4. Late 80's and early 90's. New Wave declines and hip hop/rap surges into the void. Both genres devalue musicianship and music follows a stagnant formula that still exists three decades later.
5. Late 90's to today. Shallow, bland, formulaic, pop music that places 90% on image and 10% on substance.

Please keep in mind that these are gross generalizations, only meant to illustrate how I see musical history. There is still a lot of current music that remains vital and innovative, but musicianship is still in short supply.

The result of this is that my current musical taste includes a large amount of vintage jazz, as well as a love for opera. Both genres feed my need for instrumental and vocal sophistication and both require you to use your brain.

The added benefit is that jazz and classical records just sound better and allow good equipment to shine.

1971 was the year I graduated from High School. Way too many good memories, along with the great music that I still play often!

ozzy

@whart 

Actually, one of the bands that I consider very underrated was also on UK Island.

The Sutherland Bros. & Quiver had several good albums with the best being "Lifeboat" which featured one of the most underrated guitarists in Tim Renwick.

Renwick also appears on albums by Al Stewart, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Elton John, Alan Parsons and  The Pretenders.

@moonwatcher 

But this body of work is out there, waiting for future generations to discover and love.  I believe some of them will stand the test of time just as classical compositions have after hundreds of years. If something is "good" I think it always will be. 

I agree. I'm definitely not one of those who believes the only yardstick applicable for determining whether music (or any other art)  is "good" is subjective taste!

@tony1954

We were lucky to have been there in the beginning in the late 60’s and early 70’s, but maybe unlucky in that we developed very high standards in what constituted good music. It also gave us a broad spectrum of musical genres to enjoy ...

 

Yes.