After the Gold Rush (Neil Young)

After the Gold Rush
Neil Young (1970)

Top Tracks: “When You Dance I Can Really Love”, “Don’t Let It Bring You Down”, “Southern Man”

Neil’s an interesting guy. Some think of him as not being willing or able to make commitments, but to me, he’s a guy that wanted to try everything. I mean, who does this? He puts out a great solo album, then gets together with a band and does a remarkable album with them, and then immediately after mostly abandons them for the third album, which doesn’t sound much like the first two albums at all. And it’s all great. I felt like ATGR is an illustration of a man in transition, but that was kind of always the case with Neil, so it’s was just another step on a path (May 2020).

American Beauty (The Grateful Dead)

American Beauty
The Grateful Dead (1970)

Top Tracks: “Box of Rain”, “Sugar Magnolia”, “Ripple”

Nothing against previous Dead albums — Workman’s Dead is exquisite, for example — but American Beauty is really where the Dead began to allow themselves a higher quality of musicality in their recorded work, putting more effort into vocal harmonies and arrangements. The classic "country and bluegrass Americana combined with rock and roll psychedelia vibe” that became their hallmark is in full force here. Good stuff (May 2020).

Cosmo’s Factory (Creedence Clearwater Revival)

Cosmo’s Factory
Creedence Clearwater Revival (1970)

Top Tracks: “Run Through the Jungle”, “Who’ll Stop the Rain”, “Up Around the Bend”

I have a weird musical relationship with CCR. They were part of my youth… not at my house, where they were a little too rough for my parents’ tastes, but through friends and in culture. People have commented about this album that they can’t hear it without picturing it being set to the cinematic visual of helicopters arriving in Vietnam, and I suppose that’s understandable. I guess the weird thing for me about CCR in general is that they had this swampy Bayou sound but were just another late-60s rock band from the Bay Area, albeit a good one (June 2020).