In 1970 I turned 11 years old. By the end of that year I was already quite the little record collector geek. I spent every dollar I received in allowance toward records. I owned pretty much everything by the Beatles and the Stones, plus a couple of Joplin records, two by Hendrix, some Zepplin, several C.C.R. records, and one Crosby, Stills & Nash. I even owned a copy of the insane “Wedding Album” about which I could not make much sense. I remember one incident in 1970 that stands out involving another Lennon record. I was very excited about the new “Plastic Ono Band,” a record that turned out to be enormously influential. I knew it was out, somehow. After school I walked to Greenbriar Mall to pick up a copy. But when I got home with the record, purchased from Pennies (the Walmart of that era), my copy was badly warped and unplayable. I was very upset. When my dad came home from work, he decided to help. Together we went back to the discount store. Despite the fact I had no doubt lost my receipt, we got a replacement copy. My dad was a passionate Republican, a rarity among southern conservatives in those very different times, and I am certain he detested John Lennon. Yet, he was a good man. I was his son, and I wanted the record. He kindly helped me get a new, playable copy of this brilliant secularist, “leftist propaganda” record, a classic that remains my favorite of 1970, and one of my favorite records of any year.


Best LPs of 1970


1. John Lennon: Plastic Ono Band (Apple)
2. The Stooges: Funhouse (Elektra)
3. Captain Beefheart: Lick My Decals Off Baby (Straight)
4. Leonard Cohen: Songs of Love and Hate (CBS)
5. David Bowie: The Man Who Sold the World (RCA)
6. The Beatles: Let It Be (Apple)
7. Miles Davis: Bitches Brew (CBS)
8. Peter Brotzmann: Balls (FMP)
9. The Velvet Underground: Loaded (Cotillion)
10. Creedence Clearwater Revival: Cosmos Factory (Fantasy)
11. The Beatles: Hey Jude (Apple)
12. Can: Soundtracks (Liberty)
13. Allman Brothers Band: Idlewind South (Capricorn)
14. Grateful Dead: Workingman’s Dead (Warner Brothers)
15. The Kinks: Lola Vs Powerman (Reprise)
16. Neil Young: After the Gold Rush (Reprise)
17. Alice Coltrane: Journey In Satchidananda (Impulse)
18. Van Morrison: Moondance (Warner Brothers)
19. Sun Ra: My Brother the Wind: Volume 1 (Saturn Research)
20. Sun Ra: The Night of the Purple Moon (Saturn Research)
21. Syd Barrett: Madcap Laughs (Harvest)
22. Syd Barrett: Syd Barrett (Harvest)
23. John Cale: Vintage Violence (CBS)
24. Yoko Ono: Plastic Ono Band (Apple)
25. Bob Segar: Mongrel (Capitol)
26. Phil Ochs: Greatest Hits (A&M)
27. Mott the Hoople: Mad Shadows (Atlantic)
28. The Rolling Stones: Get Yer Ya’ Yas Out (London)
29. James Brown: Sex Machine (King)
30. Janis Joplin: Pearl (Columbia)
31. Nick Drake: Bryter Later (Hannibal)
32. AMM: Live Electronic Music Improvised (Mainstream)
33. Amon Duul: Amon Duul (Prophesy)
34. The Move: Shazam (Regal Zonophone, UK)
35. T. Rex: T. Rex (Fly)
36. Swamp Dog: Total Destruction to Your Mind (Canyon)
37. Steve Reich: Four Organs/Phase Patterns (Shandar)
38. Tim Buckley: Lorca (Elektra)
39. Al Green: Green Is Blues (Hi)
40. Paul McCartney: McCartney (Apple)
41. Bob Dylan: Self Portrait (CBS)
42. The Faces: First Step (Warner Brothers)
43. Traffic: John Barlycorn Must Die (United Artists)
44. Led Zepplin: 3 (Atlantic)
45. Rod Stewart: Gasoline Alley (Mercury)
46. Johnny Winter: Second Winter (CBS)
47. Grateful Dead: American Beauty (Reprise)
48. Cluster: Klopfzeichen (Schwann)
49. Black Sabbath: Paranoid (Warner Brothers)
50. Isaac Hayes: The Isaac Hayes Movement (Enterprise)
51. Rod Stewart: An Old Raincoat Won’t Ever Let You Down (Vertigo, UK)
52. Randy Newman: 12 Songs (Reprise)
53. George Harrison: All Things Must Pass (Apple)
54. The Temptations: Psychedelic Shack (Motown)
55. King Crimson: Lizards (Atlantic)
56. MC5: Back in the U.S.A. (Atlantic)
57. Simon & Garfunkel: Bridge Over Troubled Waters (Columbia)
58. Creedence Clearwater Revival: Willie & the Poor Boys (Fantasy)
59. Bob Dylan: New Morning (CBS)
60. Beach Boys: Sunflower (Capitol)
61. Crosby Stills Nash & Young: Déjà vu (Atlantic)
62. The Doors: Morrison Hotel (Elektra)
63. The Jackson Five: ABC (Motown)
64. Sly & the Family Stone: Whole New Thing (Epic)