1970 Recommendations

[PlasticRam]

The genre is called freak folk. I really encourage everyone to listen to this, at least the first song:

Last time we did this 70s poll, Exuma just missed the cut cos I didn't listen to it early enough.

[Listyguy]

Rodriguez's Cold Fact has seen a nice spike in popularity in the six years since the last 70's poll, but if you haven't heard it yet I strongly recommend checking it out.

[Schüttelbirne]

If you want to look at what is is being considered "the best Polish rock album ever" (according to some source Wikipedia cites), look at Czeslaw Niemen's Enigmatic. I'm actually surprised Niemen's not listed on AM.

[PlasticRam]

Rodriguez's Cold Fact has seen a nice spike in popularity in the six years since the last 70's poll, but if you haven't heard it yet I strongly recommend checking it out.

That one too is my fav and it just missed the cut last time also.

[Dan]

I'm loving the Exuma and Rodriguez recommendations. Both artists' 1970 albums will appear high on my list. And I need to check out Schüttelbirne's recommendation as I'm not familiar with Czeslaw Niemen.

Speaking of artists like Niemen who don't sing in English, here are a couple of song recommendations from artists beyond the English-speaking world:

"Mahlalela" by Letta Mbulu
I grew up in South Africa and this is probably my favourite South African song.

"Nada de Novo" by Paulinho da Viola
Gorgeous samba from Brazil.

My favourite song from 1970 didn't do too well last time, but I'm hoping the guy will ride the swan a bit higher this time.

About albums, I'll need to revisit some of the albums I discovered during the previous 1970 poll, but I remember being pleasantly surprised by the high number of albums I liked compared to most other years. And I remember how Candi Staton's soul album I'm Just a Prisoner removed all unschooled notions I had about her being a one-hit wonder. Here's a track from the album:

[Pierre]

A few left-field choices (or not so left-field for this forum? I'm not always sure) from me would be Linda Perhacs' Parallelograms, Laura Nyro's Christmas and the Beads of Sweat, Amon Düül II's Yeti (if you're into krautrock esoterica, Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream's debut albums were also released that year) and Tim Buckley's albums from the period.

Also the three Frank Zappa/Mothers of Invention albums of 1970 of course, especially the two Mothers ones.

Oh, and if you're into the free-jazz/prog rock fusion thing, then Magma's debut Kobaïa could be your stuff.

[DaveC]

A few left-field choices (or not so left-field for this forum? I'm not always sure) from me would be Linda Perhacs' Parallelograms, Laura Nyro's Christmas and the Beads of Sweat, Amon Düül II's Yeti (if you're into krautrock esoterica, Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream's debut albums were also released that year) and Tim Buckley's albums from the period.

Also the three Frank Zappa/Mothers of Invention albums of 1970 of course, especially the two Mothers ones.

Oh, and if you're into the free-jazz/prog rock fusion thing, then Magma's debut Kobaïa could be your stuff.

Four more debut albums from 1970 that are often overlooked but are high in quality:
Wishbone Ash - s/t
Gentle Giant - s/t
Focus - In and Out of Focus
Curved Air - Air Conditioning

[Andre]

Sit back and enjoy listening to this Italian gem album:

Lucio Battisti - Emozioni
https://open.spotify.com/album/6C91Sp5eJ1LPEFuSoEf5vw

[ArcadeFire]

Some great finds here. I'd like to submit this Merle Haggard country masterpiece.

https://open.spotify.com/album/6e4Z1KlPoBp7PFOkifefVy

[Andre]

Another gem I'm discovering just as we listen:

Essra Mohawk - Primordial Lovers
https://open.spotify.com/album/66vd0yD45OGq4FbJ1kec6H

RYM also lists this album as a separate 1969 release version, but it says promo there, so I assume this is still 1970 ...