If you are celebrating your 40th birthday this year, congratulations. Some people may rib you about being over the hill, but I’m officially declaring you the product of one of the finest 365 days of music of all time.
This being early enough in the year to get away with another list-form column topic, I decided to take a look back at the songs and albums that would be celebrating a significant anniversary in 2011, and wow, did I ever hit a gold mine.
People tend to naturally write anniversary pieces in years that lend themselves automatically to nostalgia (either mathematical or sentimental).
After all, who in 2010 wouldn’t be interested in being reminded about what was happening a half century earlier at the dawn of the ’60s? And who in 2009 wouldn’t want to think back to 1969, the year that gave us Woodstock?
That being said, the first year after the start of the decade is a bit like a Tuesday: a new work week has already started, and you just have to grit your teeth and bear it for four more days.
I decided it was time to alleviate this neglect by giving the 19-1’s a little bit of love. Turns out, I didn’t need to; 1971 speaks for itself.
Starting off, I breezed through the songs of 1961, which turn 50 this year. That year yielded some keepers – Chubby Checker’s “Let’s Twist Again,” Del Shannon’s “Runaway” and Patsy Cline’s “Crazy,” among others – but when I hit 1971, the wealth of incredible music left me dumbfounded.
Listeners in 1971 were lucky enough to hear “American Pie” and “Stairway to Heaven” when they were still fresh, long before they became the bane of barroom jukebox junkies.
In 1971, John Lennon’s “Imagine” fell on virgin years, as did my favorite songs by The Who (“Behind Blue Eyes”), Marvin Gaye (“What’s Goin’ On”) and Elton John (“Tiny Dancer”).
In March 1971, The Jackson 5 were at their height with “Never Can Say Goodbye.” Michael followed seven months later with “Got To Be There,” the first solo single of his spin-off career, which would result in him bidding farewell to The Jackson 5 by decade’s end.
And those are just the charting singles. Some truly outstanding albums were pressed that year, too, including Carole King’s “Tapestry,” The Allman Brothers Band’s “At Fillmore East,” Joni Mitchell’s “Blue” and Van Morrison’s “Tupelo Honey.”
That Rod Stewart’s “Maggie May,” Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” and Janis Joplin’s “Me and Bobby McGee” were actually among the less-noteworthy releases of 1971 speaks volumes.
It’s hard to say, in the moment, what music is going to have a lasting impact, but it’s hard to imagine anybody listening to the radio or filling their milk crates with vinyl in 1971 didn’t realize something special was going on.
Of course, there will be plenty of people who argue that other years were just as good, but let those years wait their turn until it’s their anniversary.
In the meantime, 40 years may be over the hill to some people, but in 2011, it’s never sounded so good.