The year 1971 was a groundbreaking for music. The hits just kept coming that year--Led Zeppelin's Rock and Roll, Black Dog, and Stairway to Heaven, John Lennon's Imagine, The Door's LA Woman, Creedence's Have you ever Seen the Rain, Chicago's Colour My World, Santana's Black Magic Woman, Isaac Hayes' Theme From Shaft...the list continues on and on. Fifty years later, I am looking back at a few of the albums that formed my musical palate. Here are a few of my half century favorites for your consideration. Give them a listen on your favorite streaming platform, or better yet, on vinyl.

Aero-Plane--John Hartford I think of John Hartford as the Frank Zappa of the bluegrass/country world. He wrote a number of fun and satirical songs, but also was one of the most serious players of his time. His tune Gentle on My Mind has been recorded by so many over the years, remember the opening of Glen Campbell's Good Time Hour? That was John Hartford silhouetted behind Campbell. His bluegrass tunes are important to the creation of the newgrass genre, and the title tune of this album is played with joy by many bands today, including when I get on stage with friends. This now cult album features some of the best pickers of the time--Vassar Clemens and Norman Blake.

Barefoot Boy--Larry Coryell This jazz outing represents the other side of the emergence of Jazz Rock Fusion from the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Coryell, a highly gifted guitarist who pioneered electric guitar jazz with a series of late 60's albums. Barefoot Boy is probably the best of that series, recorded at Electric Ladyland studios. You can hear Coryell's playing where Hendrix might have gone had he lived, although I would not doubt it if Hendrix was listening to Coryell just as Coryell was wowed by Hendrix. The improv is solid Jazz, but the guitar is hard rock, all driven by the great Roy Haynes on drums.

Fragile--Yes How many of you dropped the needle on the tune Heart of the Sunrise to hear Chris Squire's bass erupt as the sun appeared after an all-nighter--I'm guilty. This amazing set from the progressive rock giants Yes opened the minds of many a fan, and the music is still fresh today. Roundabout, Long Distance Runaround, I've Seen All Good People, Mood For A Day, The Fish--solid prog gold. Practically every tune got radio play back then, and the more obscure tunes were still played late at night on the album rock stations of the time. I knew every note and every word from the entire album, that happens when you listen to it a dozen times a day. Go back to those days, snag a vinyl copy and turn it up.

Every Good Boy Deserves Favour--The Moody Blues I listened to this album a lot back in the day. To me it was a mix of the early Canterbury Rock Scene and British musicians wishing they lived in Laurel Valley with Zappa and the Byrds. You can hear how much other musicians at the time listened to these guys and their careful and meaningful lyrics. While The Story in Their Eyes is the big hit on this outing, the balance of the tunes give us a solid listen without sounding like a parody of themselves. And did I mention it's one of the great Mellotron albums, although early Moog Synthesizers were also used to augment their dreamy sounds.

Inner Mounting Flame--Mahavishnu Orchestra Minds were blown with the first few notes of this fiery release from the brand new Mahavishnu Orchestra. Led by John McLaughlin, fresh of gigs with Miles Davis and Tony Williams, the band featured Jan Hammer, Rick Laird and the superhuman Billy Cobham on Drums. The electric nature of the jazz, fused with its subtle Indian influence and wild improvisation around a practiced structure was a milestone in the new genre of jazz rock fusion. It changed the way many of us viewed music. Meant to be played loud.

Madman Across the Water--Elton John This masterpiece was the first album I ever bought. It showed the world the genius of Elton John and his lyricist Bernie Taupin as they prepared to seize the pop music world by storm. This is progressive pop before anyone knew what that meant, and the set has withstood the years very, very well. The title track remains a jam band anthem, played by many over the years, and who has not sung along with Levon or Tiny Dancer?

Maggot Brain--Funkadelic--For those unfamiliar with Funkadelic, it was a band led by George Clinton that served as a blueprint for entire genres of future music-- funk, soul, and rock. Funkadelic and Parliament (originally a 50's do-wop band), both Clinton projects, was really a creative collective, with dozens of musicians contributing over the years. The escapades on stage by these bands are legendary. If you thought Elton John had wild costumes, he was nothing compared to the three-foot-tall elevator shoes, crazy bellbottoms, giant sunglasses, feathered headdresses, and flowing silk robes of Parliament/Funkadelic. And the music was consistently superb. On this album, guitarist Eddy Hazel's opening solo in the title track Maggot Brain is spectacular--Hendrix with more technique and refinement. The brilliance continues throughout the album, let it play till the end for best effect. Definitely the best album from 1971 that most people have never heard of.

Who's Next--The Who This album opens with the classic Baba O'Reilly, and as I write it Spotify shows nearly 370 million listens. The whole album is like this. It is at the paramount of The Who's catalog, and has songs that still sound really good today. Every song is familiar, so what else can I say other than it is maybe the most significant release of 1971 and well worth being part of anyone's listening rotation.