Tag Archives: 1970

Feb 14: The Who recorded “Live At Leeds” in 1970

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live at leeds the who

Rolling Stone [Magazine] hailed it as the best ever live album, and they may still be right…
~Chris Jones (BBC – 2007)

The only clips from this fantastic concert: 

  • Fortune Teller (0:00 to 0:05) –
  • Happy Jack (0:06 to 0:13) –
  • I’m a Boy (0:14 to 0:33) –
  • A Quick One While He’s Away (0:34 to 2:09) –
  • Christmas (2:10 to 3:05) –
  • Pinball Wizard (3:06 to 3:22) –
  • Go to The Mirror (3:22 to 3:26) –
  • Smash The Mirror (3:27 to 3:35)-
  • Tommy’s Holliday Camp (3:36 to 3:45) –
  • We’re Not Gonna Take It (with See Me, Feel Me) (3:46 at the end)

Continue reading Feb 14: The Who recorded “Live At Leeds” in 1970

December 11: John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970)

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… Lennon presents everything on the surface, and the song titles — “Mother,” “I Found Out,” “Working Class Hero,” “Isolation,” “God,” “My Mummy’s Dead” — illustrate what each song is about, and charts his loss of faith in his parents, country, friends, fans, and idols. It’s an unflinching document of bare-bones despair and pain, but for all its nihilism, it is ultimately life-affirming; it is unique not only in Lennon’s catalog, but in all of popular music. Few albums are ever as harrowing, difficult, and rewarding as John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine (allmusic.com)

I don’t believe in Beatles
~John Lennon (“God”)

Mother:

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Leonard Cohen: 1970 Isle of Wight Festival

leonard cohen-wight 1970

Tension had been rising at the festival for days. The promoters had expected a hundred and fifty thousand people but half a million more turned up, many with no intention of paying. Even after the promoters were forced to declare it a free festival, ill will remained. During a set by Kris Kristofferson, bottles were thrown and he was booed offstage. “They were booing everybody,” says Kristofferson. “Except Leonard Cohen.”
~Sylvie Simmons

First off some facts from wikipedia:

The 1970 Isle of Wight Festival was held between 26 and 31 August 1970 at East Afton Farm an area on the western side of the Isle of Wight. It was the last of three consecutive music festivals to take place on the island between 1968 and 1970 and widely acknowledged as the largest musical event of its time, greater than the attendance of Woodstock. Although estimates vary, the Guinness Book of Records estimated 600,000, possibly 700,000 people attended. It was organised and promoted by local brothers, Ronnie, Ray and Bill Foulk. Ron Smith was site manager and Rikki Farr acted as compere.

The preceding Isle of Wight Festivals, also promoted by the Foulks, had already gained a good reputation in 1968 and 1969 by featuring acts such as Jefferson Airplane, T. Rex, The Move, The Pretty Things, Joe Cocker, The Moody Blues (performed at the 1969 festival), The Who, and Bob Dylan in his first performance since his 1966 motorcycle accident.

The 1970 version, following Woodstock in the previous year, set out to move one step forward and enlisted Jimi Hendrix. With Hendrix confirmed, artists such as Chicago, The Doors, Lighthouse, The Moody Blues, The Who, Miles Davis, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Jethro Tull, Sly & the Family Stone, Ten Years After, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Free willingly took up the chance to play there. The event had a magnificent but impractical site, since the prevailing wind blew the sound sideways across the venue, and the sound system had to be augmented by Pink Floyd’s PA. There was a strong, but inconsistent line up, and the logistical nightmare of transporting some 600,000 people onto an island with a population of fewer than 100,000.

Political and logistical difficulties resulted in the organisers eventually realising that the festival would not make a profit and declaring it to be “a free festival”, although the majority of the audience had paid for tickets in advance, and the event was filmed contemporaneously. The commercial failings of the festival ensured it was the last event of its kind on the Isle of Wight for thirty-two years.

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Today: Déjà Vu (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album) released in 1970, 44 years ago

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 One of the most hotly awaited second albums in history — right up there with those by the Beatles and the Band — Déjà Vu lived up to its expectations and rose to number one on the charts.
~Bruce Eder (allmusic.com)

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Today: Van Morrison released His Band and the Street Choir in 1970

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“Why did you leave America
Why did you let me down,
And now that things seem better off,
Why do you come around,
You know I just can’t see you know,
In my new world crystal ball,
You know I just can’t free you now,
That’s not my job at all.”

– Van Morrison 

His Band and the Street Choir is another beautiful phase in the continuing development of one of the few originals left in rock. In his own mysterious way. Van Morrison continues to shake his head, strum his guitar and to sing his songs. He knows it’s too late to stop now and he quit trying to a long, long time ago. Meanwhile, the song he is singing keeps getting better and better.”

– John Landau, Rolling Stone Magazine (1971)

Continue reading Today: Van Morrison released His Band and the Street Choir in 1970