Dec. 31, 1976 review: Best albums of 1976

 

Turning that last year-end page on the musical calendar. 

Dec. 31, 1976

Books Offer a Look

Inside Record Industry 

THE BIG EVENTS in this reviewer’s musical year were not records, but books. Three of them provided not only an inside peek at the record industry, but also a better critical plateau from which to oversee the music.

          They are Clive Davis’ autobiography; Geoffrey Stokes’ “Starmaking Machinery: The Odyssey of an Album” and “The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll.”

          Serious record fans would do well to look into them.

          So if rock and pop music seemed to take on a new vigor for the bicentennial, part of it could be ascribed to the industry and its artists gearing themselves for fiercer competition in a large, but relatively slow-growing market.

* * *

WITH NOT MUCH expansion going on, the best commercial bets in music’s jukebox game this year were conservative ones. Like live albums, especially after Peter Frampton sold 5 million.

          Longer shots were reggae, which broke Bob Marley and the Wailers through, but didn’t seem to catch on generally, and punk rock, which made a lot of noise, but failed to enter the mainstream.

          In making a Top 30 album list, however, the first criterion was struggling artistry, not commercial success.

          The first 10 turned out to be genre choices – best of a certain kind of record – but after playing and examining them all for a week, they’re still head and shoulders above the rest.

          Those listed 11 to 20 are strong achievers which fall slightly short conceptually, while 21 to 30 are occasionally flawed, but offer unusual personal fascination.

          All, of course, reflect this reviewer’s minimalist, English-major tastes, which run toward strong lyrical content, loud guitar and a hard, identifiable beat.

          In other words, heavy on singer-songwriters, punks and Texas rockers, light on disco, glassy productions and European art-rock.

* * *

1 – Stevie Wonder, “Songs in the Key of Life” (Tamla). The reason this one tops everybody’s lists is because there’s really no other choice. Why? Because no one, lyrically and musically, expresses more about the variety, the hopes and the frustrations of living in 200-year-old America.

2 – Phoebe Snow, “Second Childhood” and “It Looks Like Snow” (Columbia). Once she got her legal and personal hassles out of the way, this young singer from New Jersey showed what she really can do. Her tunes are jewels, her voice is the reincarnation of all the great old blues singers and her unbounded joy is enough to knock anyone for a loop.

3 – Jackson Browne, “The Pretender” (Asylum). A personal statement as bleak and powerful as an Ingmar Bergman movie. The foremost L.A. singer-songwriter looks at life, death and changes and decides to carry on. Subdued on the surface, it boils underneath with so much pain and love it’ll make you cry.

4 – Wings, “Wings Over America” (Capitol). The wish I carried out of Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens in May came true in December. The best concert of the year became the best live album of the year. Three records and 28 tunes add up to proof that Paul McCartney still wields mucho creative force.

5 – Brothers Johnson, “Look Out For No. 1” (A&M). A bigger up-from-nowhere surprise than the group Boston. Here’s two soulful writers and players discovered by Quincy Jones. They crooned one of the summer’s best ballads (“I’ll Be Good to You”) and spat out the year’s catchiest funk number (“Get the Funk Outa My Face”).

6 – Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band, “Night Moves” (Capitol). Toned down by advancing middle age, one of the surviving screamers of the ‘60s harkened back to the days of old. This demonstrates not only that rock ‘n roll never forgets, but also that heavy music can still be a viable medium, creatively as well as commercially.

7 – Guy Clark, “Texas Cookin’” (RCA). A fresh young Lone Star State singer-songwriter. He synthesizes Western swing, rockabilly and country fiddles into the tastiest, most fun-filled concoction east or west of the Armadillo World Center.

8 – Michael Dinner, “Tom Thumb the Dreamer” (Fantasy). The ultimate FM radio artist – a man who writes poetry-shelf lyrics that tease the mind and rock-club melodies that tantalize the feet. His lack of success on the charts is one of 1976’s big mysteries.

9 – Boz Scaggs, “Silk Degrees” (Columbia). The disco backdrop provided by producer Joe Wissert on “Lowdown” put this blue-eyed soulster over the top after six years of trying, oddly enough via Black radio. And don’t underestimate Scaggs here. Wissert did the same thing for Tom Jans’ “Dark Blond” and it sank like a stone.

10 – Greg Kihn, “Greg Kihn” (Beserkley). Best of the roster on the maverick label from Berkeley, Calif. It’s a minimalist rock romantic with a mean guitar and songs that gently challenge the egoist presumptions rock’s grown fat on.

* * *

HERE’S THE REST:

11 – Bob Marley & the Wailers, “Rastaman Vibration” and “Live!” (Island.)

12 – Laura Nyro, “Smile” (Columbia).

13 – Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes, “I Don’t Want to Go Home” (Epic).

14 – Joni Mitchell, “Hejira” (Asylum).

15 – Flamin’ Groovies, “Shake Some Action” (Sire-ABC).

16 – William (Bootsy) Collins, “Stretchin’ Out in Bootsy’s Rubber Band” (Warner Bros.).

17 – Rusty Wier, “Black Hat Saloon” (Columbia).

18 – Joan Armatrading, “Joan Armatrading” (A&M).

19 – Crack the Sky, “Animal Notes” (Lifesong).

20 – David Bowie, “Station to Station” (RCA).

21 – Lee Oskar, “Lee Oskar” (Arista).

22 – Jesse Winchester, “Let the Rough Side Drag” (Bearsville-Warner Bros.).

23 – Kiss, “Destroyer” (Casablanca).

24 – Johnny (Guitar) Watson, “Ain’t That a Bitch” (DJM-Amherst).

25 – Dwight Twilley Band, “Sincerely” (Shelter-ABC).

26 – Wild Tchoupitoulas, “Wild Tchoupitoulas” (Island).

27 – Delbert McClinton, “Genuine Cowhide” (ABC).

28 – Nils Lofgren, “Cry Tough” (A&M).

29 – Elvin Bishop, “Struttin’ My Stuff” (Capricorn-Warner Bros.).

30 – Eagles, “Hotel California” (Asylum).

* * * * *

IN THE PHOTOS: From left, Stevie Wonder, Phoebe Snow, Jackson Browne.

* * * * *

FOOTNOTE: The rock crit establishment was in total agreement in 1976 about Stevie Wonder. He was everybody’s pick for top album. After that, it was a scramble. Lots of writers liked that iconic Eagles album, which came out at the last minute in December, but to my mind, their earlier stuff was better. And yes, I thought Paul McCartney’s live album was far superior to Peter Frampton’s.