All Day Music/American Pie
This week’s ‘On The Turntable’ program will feature two more albums from the year that is getting a lot of press these days … Apple TV+ is featuring the docuseries ‘1971 The Music That Changed The World’ … 1971 is also featured in the book ‘Never A Dull Moment – 1971 The Year That Rock Exploded’ from David Hepworth, I highly recommend this read. The program will start with “All Day Music” from War and conclude with what became one of the biggest records of the year, Don McLean’s “American Pie”.
All Day Music
‘All Day Music’ is the fourth album from the funk group War. The title song was released this very month in 1971 with the LP following later in November. I did not know much about this album at the time of its release other than the hits; I have always enjoyed the slow groove of their bass and congas.
The album delivered the first hit single for the band since the break-up of Eric Burden & War’s “Spill The Wine” (Sidebar – It is one of my all-time songs). ‘Slippin’ Into Darkness’ sold over a million copies and spent 22 weeks on the charts, tied for the most by any single that year. The album cracked the Top Ten and spent a massive 39 weeks on the charts. Best Ever Albums Dot Com Considers ‘All Day Music’ to be the 235th best album of 1971 … Digital Dream Door Dot Com delivers a little more love ranking the LP 60th for the year on their year end chart.
Notable Tracks – ‘All Day Music’ ‘Slippin’ Into Darkness’ ‘Baby Brother’
American Pie
American Pie is the second studio album from Don McLean, released in October 1971. The folk/rock album reached number one on the Billboard 200, containing the chart-topping singles “American Pie” and “Vincent.” What else is there to say about this record? If you were around in 1971, you spent time with the title cut; lots of time. The song has been played over three million times. The album was dedicated to Buddy Holly. Although the individual backup singers on the title cut have never been publicly named, the album’s producer, Ed Freeman, has claimed that the choir included Pete Seeger, James Taylor, Livingston Taylor and Carly Simon.
The album reached number one within two weeks of release and spent almost a year on the Billboard 200. The LP is listed in the book “1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die” … Best Ever Albums Dot Com considers American Pie to be the 47th best album of 1971 and the 399th best of the decade … Digital Dream Door Dot Com ranks the album 54th on its top 100 of the year list.
Notable Tracks – ‘American Pie’ ‘Vincent’ ‘Sister Fatima’
‘On The The Turntable’ can be heard each and every Saturday evening at 6pm on 97.7 The Rewind. Listen over-the-air, on line @ www.977therewind.com and on The Rewind App. The program is rewound Sunday mornings @ 7AM. Catch archived editions on The Rewind website.