What month in the 70's was the greatest for album releases?

I went through wikipedia's "year in music" pages for each year and was curious to see which months had the greatest embarrassment of riches in terms of record releases.

Somewhat to my surprise, few months stood out. In other words, the decade had a plethora of great releases, but they seemed to be spread out fairly evenly.

Having said that, these three months jumped out at me personally. November of 1971 stood out as the clear winner in my eyes. Just look at the titles that were released during that month!

1971
November 5 Madman Across The Water - Elton John
November 8 Led Zeppelin IV - Led Zeppelin
November 17 A Nod Is As Good As A Wink...To A Blind Horse - Faces
November 20 There's A Riot Goin On - Sly & The Family Stone
November 27 Killer - Alice Cooper
November 28 Performance Rockin The Fillmore - Humble Pie

1974
February 18 Kiss - Kiss
February 20 Pretzel Logic - Steely Dan
February 27 Radio City - Big Star

1976
March 15 Destroyer - Kiss
March 22 The Sun Sessions - Elvis Presley (Recorded 1954-55)
March 31 Presence - Led Zeppelin
March 31 Silk Degrees - Boz Scaggs

The above are confirmed US release dates which may have differed in other countries. It also doesn't include some potential albums of which a precise release date is unknown.

 

Kiss is supposed to be a plus?

Kidding. As I've said before, I'm a big "Calling Dr. Love" fan.

I guess I'll go with November '71. Nilsson Schmilsson was also released that month.

 

I worked in a record store and November was always a pretty big month because in those days, people were still giving albums as Christmas gifts. Ahh the good old days.

 

Yeah, that Nilsson album is a good one as well. That month had the greatest number of standout albums that I could find. At least in terms of ones that stand out for me.

No, Kiss is probably a negative for these lists. As was Alice Cooper's albums. But I like to consider both artists positive negatives...

 

I can believe it. I've noticed as a general rule that the months of October-November tend to have a surplus of titles over the years. Even going back to the likes of the Beatles White Album (Nov 22, 1968) or the US Rubber Soul, which was rushed into stores for Christmas of '65.

 

The Concert For Bangladesh box set was also rush released in December of 71 (or was it 72?).

Lots of Greatest Hits albums in November/December

 

Here's a pretty good one: February '77

Feb. 4 - Fleetwood Mac: Rumours
No day given - Television: Marquee Moon

Sure, it's only two -- but those may have been the year's two best albums!

 

Great idea for a thread!
Reading those Wiki lists would make me wistful...

It'd be fun just to see a photo of the "New Releases" rack of any record retailer, at the time....

Of the 3 months, I'd lean towards the below:

I recall thinking of Steely Dan as that weird band that sang the "Ricky" and "Reeling" songs.

Of course, the ultimate irony is that most likely none of us ever heard Big Star over the airwaves then, and since their record distribution was horrible, most store employees probably would give you a blank look if you asked for Radio City, or for that matter, #1 Record.

 

November 1971 seems to be as good a month as any.

 

Yeah, I guess we have the beauty of retrospect when looking at those releases now. All three of those February 1974 albums would have been pretty unheralded or seemingly "quiet" releases at the time.

 

Yeah, there are several months that seemed to have two legendary albums. It was always harder for me to find that third or fourth one though.

I'm reminded of May of 1966. I believe "Pet Sounds" and "Blonde On Blonde" were released the same day! That's probably the greatest duo I've ever come across in terms of albums that shared the same exact day of release. Can you imagine going into a store today and seeing something the equivalent of "Pet Sounds" and "Blonde On Blonde" on display together on the "just in" shelf?

 

Here's what I would consider a very strong month: August '73

Aug. 3 - Stevie Wonder: Innervisions
Aug. 13 - Lynyrd Skynyrd: Pronounced...
Aug. 28 - Marvin Gaye: Let's Get It On
? - Allman Brothers: Brothers and Sisters

 

Yeah, that's a pretty good one.

 

April, 1971
LA Woman, Doors
Sticky Fingers, Rolling Stones

 

January 1973:

1/1 -- The Stooges "Raw Power"
Elvis Presley "Aloha from Hawaii"
1/5-- Aerosmith "Aerosmith"
Bruce Springsteen "Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ
1/8- Beach Boys "Holland"
1/13- Deep Purple "Who Do You Think We Are"
1/23- Rick Wakeman "Six Wives of Henry VIII"
1/26 -Elton John "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player"

March 1973:
3/1 -- Pink Floyd "Dark Side of The Moon"
Todd Rundgren "A Wizard, A True Star"
3/2 - The Doobie Brothers "The Captain & Me"
3/23- Roxy Music "For Your Pleasure
King Crimson "Larks Tongue In Aspic"
3/26 - Beck, Bogart & Appice
3/28 - Led Zeppelin "Houses of the Holy"
3/29- Mahavishnu Orchestra "Birds of Fire"

 

That January of 1973 entry was one I almost included myself. It's definitely a good one, especially with the likes of Aerosmith and Springsteen's debut coming a few days apart, and both on Columbia no less.

 

June 1979 (month I graduated HS)

Wings "Back to the Egg"
The Who "The Kids are Alright"
Earth, Wind & Fire "I Am"
The Knack "Get The Knack"
The Cars "Candy-O"
Joni Mitchell "Mingus"
Dire Straits "Communique"
Joy Division "Unknown Pleasures"
Blue Oyster Cult "Mirrors"
Queen "Live Killers"

 

Looks likes both on the same day!

 

August 1979

Talking Heads "Fear of Music"
Michael Jackson "Off The Wall"
Led Zeppelin "In Through The Out Door"
XTC "Drums and Wires"
Bob Dylan "Slow Train Coming"
Alan Parsons Project "Eve"
Pat Benatar "In The Heat of the Night"
Van Morrison "Into The Music"

 

October 1979

The Police "Regatta de Blanc"
Joe Jackson "I'm The Man"
The Who "Quadrophenia"
Fleetwood Mac "Tusk"
Styx "Cornerstone"
Tom Petty "Damn The Torpedoes"
Blondie "Eat To The Beat"
Kenny Loggins "Keep the Fire"
Prince "Prince"

 

Let me say it before rjp does: How soon before every 1970s month is mentioned?

 

Oh yeah, you're right! I thought they were separate weeks but I guess not.

 

The month Let It Be was released

 

I did ponder that month.

There were so many great albums in the first few years of the decade (and even the later years of the decade as well). Yet I was actually a bit surprised that the most famous ones in a given year were fairly spread out between months. It's almost as if record companies were clairvoyant and didn't want to release all these eventual classics in one month...

 

"Concert for Bangladesh" was released Dec. 1971