The year 1972 was quite a special one for music, particularly folk rock. So many excellent and long-enduring records dropped that year. And if you were around to experience them when they were first released, with one spin you’ll likely get transported back to how you felt, what you were doing, and all of your memories from the year 1972. They just define that particular period of time. Let’s get nostalgic and revisit some wonderful year-defining albums from 1972, shall we?
‘Harvest’ by Neil Young
This legendary folk rock record (and arguably Neil Young’s magnum opus) was the best-selling album of the year in 1972. I can certainly see why. Young paints incredibly stunning pictures with his songwriting on this album. And, in a way, one could see Harvest as a sign of the times. The optimism of the counterculture movement in California that dominated the 1960s had begun to fade away, and Young’s cynicism on this album really resonated with American listeners at the time.
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‘America’ by America
Speaking of Neil Young, quite a few people back in the day thought that “A Horse With No Name” by America was actually a Neil Young original. The band even got a hefty dose of criticism for “ripping off” Young, but I don’t think that’s fair. The inspiration is certainly there. But the whole of America’s debut album is uniquely their own and a fine contribution to early 1970s folk rock. Songs like “I Need You”, “Sandman”, and “Three Roses” were each popular on the radio at the time. So, I doubt you can hear this record without being sent straight back to the very year it was released.
‘Exile On Main St.’ by The Rolling Stones
I couldn’t leave this rock and roll classic off our list of magical albums from the year 1972. The Rolling Stones’ 10th studio album is seen today as a culmination of sorts of the band’s most successful albums. It boasts elements found from Beggars Banquet through Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers. Exile On Main St. is bluesy with a touch of gospel and country rock, and by the end of the 70s, it became one of the most revered rock albums of its era. If you were young back in 1972, this one will take you back to your adolescence within just a few seconds of the opener “Rocks Off”.
Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images
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English guitarist Pete Townshend appears in Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert at the Rainbow Theatre, London, 13th January 1973. He is playing a Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins. (Photo by P. Floyd/Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) -
Close-up of American musician and actor Neil Diamond prior to his one?man show at the Winter Garden, New York, New York, October 1972. (Photo by Jack Mitchell/Getty Images) -
English rock group the Beatles hold a press conference at the Capitol Records Tower in Los Angeles before their live performance at the Dodger Stadium, California, 28th August 1966. From left to right, George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images) -
Singer Graham Russell with AIR SUPPLY performs in concert, October 8, 1983 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Bob Riha, Jr./Getty Images) -
Jimmy Buffett at the Auditorium Theater In Chicago, Ilinois, July 22, 1977 (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images) -
British rock group Electric Light Orchestra, 5th February 1975. Left to right: cellist Melvyn Gale, cellist Hugh McDowell, singer and drummer Bev Bevan, singer and guitarist Jeff Lynne, keyboard player Richard Tandy, bassist and singer Kelly Groucutt (1945 – 2009) and violinist Mik Kaminski. (Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images)
