Some of the greatest albums released in 1975.
I used to think it was 1967. I know other people will argue for other years. But I have come to believe that 1975 was the best year for albums, ever.
Admittedly, this may have something to do with the fact that I started buying albums in 1973, and turned 14 years old in the summer of ’75. Not that I knew of all the albums mentioned below when they were released; some I only discovered many years later. But many of these albums — particularly Bob Dylan & the Band’s The Basement Tapes, Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run, Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks, Patti Smith’s Horses and Steely Dan’s Katy Lied — were in heavy rotation on my teenage turntable and helped form my idea of what music is all about. To this day, I consider The Basement Tapes to be my all-time favorite album.
Which may lead you to ask: Why isn’t The Basement Tapes No. 1 on this list? That’s because the list doesn’t just represent my own preferences. I tried to balance a number of factors: My personal assessment of the album’s greatness, but also its popularity, and the impact it had at the time and on future generations of musicians and music fans.
Still, I realize, many will disagree with my selections, and their order (feel free to offer your thoughts in the Comments section below). But I hope people will look at the overall strength of these albums and be amazed at what 1975 had to offer.
Here are my Top 30 1975 albums, with release dates (according to Wikipedia) and videos for one song per album, plus 30 “honorable mention” albums.
Notes:
(1) Some great 1975 singles were from albums that had come out in 1974, or wouldn’t be released until 1976. For this list, I have limited myself to albums that came out in ’75, and chosen songs from them. (2) 1975 was not a great year for the Top 40 singles charts, which were, frankly, filled with crap. Many of these albums got nowhere near them. (3) Below the videos is an embedded Spotify playlist including the 60 songs.
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1. Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen. Released Aug. 25. Song choice: “Born to Run” (released as single Aug. 25).
2. Blood on the Tracks, Bob Dylan. Released Jan. 20. Song choice: “Tangled Up in Blue” (released as single Jan. 17).
3. Horses, Patti Smith. Released Nov. 10. Song choice: “Gloria” (released as single in April).
4. A Night at the Opera, Queen. Released Nov. 28. Song choice: “Bohemian Rhapsody” (released as single Oct. 31).
5. Wish You Were Here, Pink Floyd. Released Sept. 12. Song choice: “Wish You Were Here” (not released as single).
6. Live!, Bob Marley & The Wailers. Released Dec. 5 (recorded July 17-18 at Lyceum Theatre in London). Song choice: “No Woman, No Cry” (released as single Aug. 29).
7. Still Crazy After All These Years, Paul Simon. Released Oct. 17. Song choice: “Gone at Last” (featuring Phoebe Snow and The Jessy Dixon Singers, released as single in August).
8. Mothership Connection, Parliament. Released Dec. 15. Song choice: “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)” (released as single in February 1976).
9. Physical Graffiti, Led Zeppelin. Released Feb. 24. Song choice: “Kashmir” (not released as single).
10. The Basement Tapes, Bob Dylan & The Band. Released June 26 (recorded in 1967 and 1968, with overdubs in 1975). Song choice: “Tears of Rage” (not released as single).
11. Fleetwood Mac. Released July 11. Song choice: “Landslide” (not released as single).
12. Toys in the Attic, Aerosmith. Released April 8. Song choice: “Walk This Way” (released as single Aug. 28).
13. That’s the Way of the World, Earth, Wind & Fire. Released March 3. Song choice: “Shining Star” (released as single Jan. 21).
14. Between the Lines, Janis Ian. Released in March. Song choice: “At Seventeen” (released as single in July).
15. Katy Lied, Steely Dan. Released March 1. Song choice: “Doctor Wu” (not released as single).
16. Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, Elton John. Released May 23. Song choice: “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” (released as single June 23).
17. Venus and Mars, Wings. Released May 30. Song choice: “Listen to What the Man Said” (released as single May 16).
18. Red Headed Stranger, Willie Nelson. Released in May. Song choice: “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” (released as single in 1975).
19. The Hissing of Summer Lawns, Joni Mitchell. Released in November. Song choice: “In France They Kiss on Main Street” (released as single January 1976).
20. Another Green World, Brian Eno. Released Nov. 14. Song choice: “Everything Merges With the Night” (not released as single).
21: Young Americans, David Bowie. Released March 7. Song choice: “Fame” (released as single June 2.)
22. Tonight’s the Night, Neil Young. Released June 20. Song choice: “Tired Eyes” (not released as single).
23. Pieces of the Sky, Emmylou Harris. Released Feb. 7. Song choice: “Boulder to Birmingham” (not released as single).
24. The Who by Numbers, The Who. Released Oct. 3. Song choice: “However Much I Booze” (not released as single).
25. Stampede, The Doobie Brothers. Released April 25. Song choice: “Sweet Maxine” (released as single July 8).
26. Nighthawks at the Diner, Tom Waits. Released Oct. 21. Song choice: “Better Off Without a Wife” (not released as single).
27. One of These Nights, Eagles. Released June 10. Song choice: “Lyin’ Eyes” (released as single Aug. 9).
28. Al Green Is Love. Released in August. Song choice: “L-O-V-E (Love)” (released as single Feb. 19).
29. “Tommy” (soundtrack), The Who + Various Artists. Released March 19. Song choice: “The Acid Queen,” featuring Tina Turner (not released as single).
30. Siren, Roxy Music. Released Oct. 24. Song choice: “Love is the Drug” (released as single Sept. 26).
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Honorable mention: Blow by Blow, Jeff Beck; Diamonds & Rust, Joan Baez; Coney Island Baby, Lou Reed; Blues for Allah, The Grateful Dead; A Quiet Storm, Smokey Robinson; Red Octopus, Jefferson Starship; Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan; Hearts, America; Welcome to My Nightmare, Alice Cooper; Never Can Say Goodbye, Gloria Gaynor; Prisoners in Disguise, Linda Ronstadt; John Fogerty; “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (soundtrack); Daryl Hall & John Oates; Beautiful Loser, Bob Seger; Slow Dazzle, John Cale; Pour Down Like Silver, Richard and Linda Thompson; Lou Reed Live; Nuthin’ Fancy, Lynyrd Skynyrd; Wind on the Water, Crosby & Nash; Straight Shooter, Bad Company; Face the Music, Electric Light Orchestra; ABBA; Main Course, Bee Gees; Alive!, Kiss; Fire on the Bayou, The Meters; The Last Record Album, Little Feat; Soap Opera, The Kinks; Common Sense, John Prine; Ian Hunter.
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1 comment
Great, great list and read, Jay. For me, Young Americans, Blow by Blow, Nighthawks at the Diner, and Fleetwood Mac are all a bit too low. But it’s all subjective and all good. Amazing year and list. Love your #1 and #2. Thx. 🎶