Bill: Welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback! I'm Bill Price…
John: and I'm Jumpin' John McDermott, and we'll be looking back at some of Rock and Roll's greatest artists, songs, and stories. Music has the mysterious power to trigger deep emotions and re-awaken memories. In the My Musical Memories series here on the Rock and Roll Flashback Podcast I will explore the various ways that music was an integral part of my life with my best friend and soul mate, Sally. In today's podcast, 1971 - Hello, My Love (My Musical Memories, Part 1 [abbreviated M-M-M-1]), I will discuss my meeting Sally Lehman in 1971, the musical highlights of that year, and how that music influenced Sally and me.
Bill: John, why don't you briefly tell the listeners about how you first happened to meet Sally.
John: Sure, Bill. My fortunes and my life positively changed on October 16th, 1971. At that time I was in my junior year* at Penn State University, located in Centre County, Pennsylvania. That fateful Saturday night I met another Penn State student named Sally Lehman at an off-campus party in nearby Patton Township. I was immediately entranced and captivated by her sweet personality. Sally would eventually become my confidant, my constant companion, my wife, and the mother of our two daughters. For the better part of 50 years I was immersed in her love – and she in mine. In the eyes of relatives, friends, and acquaintances we were the team of Sally and John. Sally truly was my once in a lifetime gift, and I am so fortunate that she accepted me into her life. So 1971 was certainly a meaningful year in my life, and October 16th, 1971 turned out to be the best day of my life!
*[Editor's Note: Jumpin' John was truly having a "Senior Moment" when he and Bill recorded this podcast. He was so excited that he misspoke: when he met Sally in 1971 he was actually in his SENIOR year at Penn State University!]
Bill: Didn’t Apple TV run a series a couple years ago about the importance of the year 1971 in the world of music?
John: Yes, it was called 1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything. That was the title of a 2021 Apple TV 8 part series: 1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything. While I don't remember the year 1971 to be THAT dramatic, it was nevertheless an eventful year of transition in rock and roll music. Paul McCartney had filed suit for the dissolution of the Beatles' contractual partnership on the last day of 1970. Then in 1971 Ex-Beatles McCartney and Ringo Starr both had Top 5 hits, and Ex-Beatle George Harrison organized the Concert for Bangladesh. Jim Morrison tragically died in France of a drug overdose in July, and sadly Duane Allman died in an October motorcycle accident. In the UK the first Glastonbury Festival was held in 1971. That year Bill Graham closed his Fillmore East and West concert venues. Singer/Songwriters were popular in 1971 with Carole King, Gordon Lightfoot, Bill Withers, and John Denver having Top 10 hits. 1971 also saw the formation of some major rock bands and performers: Steely Dan, The Eagles, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Foghat, Loggins & Messina, Sister Sledge, and so on.
Bill: Prior to the 1960's, long playing album content was primarily devoted to classical, Big Band, and jazz recordings. By 1971 the way in which people were accessing and playing rock and roll music had really evolved. The era of LP's consisting of merely one A side hit single combined with nine or so other throwaway B sides was fading away. Why buy a hit single on a 45 when you could purchase an entire album with several excellent tunes? Record buyers were certainly purchasing more 33 rpm rock albums, and mono recordings were phasing out. Reinforcing this trend, by the end of the 1960's FM stations - with better quality sound - were flourishing. The preferred radio listening format was morphing from hearing singles of 3 minutes or less on AM radio to hearing extended play album cuts on FM radio.
John: So true. As a teenager growing up in the 1960's, we mostly listened to our rock and roll on AM radio and played our mono 45 rpm vinyl rock and roll records on record players and turntables. Following the model perfected by groups like the Beatles and the Moody Blues, by the late 1960's more and more recording artists were doing fewer covers and were writing and recording their own tunes. The quality and content of long playing rock albums showed vast improvement. Even the album covers were becoming more creative, with imaginative photos and vibrant art work. More and more rock LP's consisted of multiple hits and were being recorded in stereo. Sally and I quickly discovered that one of the many things we had in common was our love of music and, in particular, rock and roll. When we met in 1971 there were no music CD's, no Napster, no iTunes, and no Spotify. At that time cassette and 8-track recordings by rock musicians were just being developed, and reel-to-reel magnetic tape players were bulky and expensive. So vinyl was still king in 1971. By 1971 Sally and I were both well into vinyl album collections, and were purchasing fewer and fewer singles. Also, back in October 1971 neither Sally nor I owned a television. In fact, we didn't purchase our first black and white TV until December 1973! So, many evenings in our dorm rooms or apartments were spent listening to FM radio or to rock and roll albums - and - maybe doing other things as well! Maybe we were studying?
Bill: Or doing something else? So what was being played and purchased by the consuming public in October 1971?
John: Well looking back, I am stunned at how few of the Top 40 singles were songs I would desire to listen to, let along even recognize! Here are the Billboard Hot 100's Top 10 Singles in the US for the week ending October 16th, 1971 - the week that I met Sally:
•#10 GYPSYS, TRAMPS AND THIEVES by Cher
•#9 SWEET CITY WOMAN by The Stampeders
•#8 IF YOU REALLY LOVE ME by Stevie Wonder
•#7 UNCLE ALBERT / ADMIRAL HALSEY by Paul and Linda McCartney
•#6 DO YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN by Lee Michaels
•#5 GO AWAY LITTLE GIRL by Donny Osmond
•#4 THE NIGHT THEY DROVE OLD DIXIE DOWN by Joan Baez
•#3 YO-YO by The Osmonds
•#2 SUPERSTAR / BLESS THE BEASTS AND CHILDREN by The Carpenters
•#1 MAGGIE MAY / REASON TO BELIEVE by Rod Stewart
Bill: Did you have any of those particular Top 10 tunes in your personal record collection?
John: Well actually, on October 16th I did own a copy of Paul McCartney's Ram album and of Rod Stewart's Every Picture Tells A Story album. I don't know how you listeners feel about these Top 10 songs, but the only two of interest to me back then were "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" and "Maggie May," both of which reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Bill: I believe that the only other two in that list that would have even reached #1 were "Gypsys, Tramps, and Thieves" and "Go Away Little Girl".
John: Yes, you are correct. Not surprisingly, the Every Picture Tells A Story album and - in particular the song "Maggie May" - were being played multiple times at the October 16th party where I met Sally! In fact, when Sally's sister Linda came to visit her a month later, "Maggie May" was still a popular tune to play at off-campus parties!
Bill: You've mentioned that there were a lot of excellent music available on LP's in 1971. Can you give us some examples?
John: I sure can. Here are just a few of the many amazing albums that were released in 1971:
•4 Way Street by Crosby, Stills Nash, & Young
•Aqualung by Jethro Tull
•At Fillmore East by the Allman Brothers Band
•Chicago III by Chicago
•Every Good Boy Deserves Favour by the Moody Blues
•Every Picture Tells A Story by Rod Stewart
•Fragile by Yes
•Harmony by Three Dog Night
•Imagine by John Lennon
•L. A. Woman by the Doors
•Led Zeppelin IV by Led Zeppelin
•Love It to Death by Alice Cooper
•Madman Across the Water by Elton John
•Master of Reality by Black Sabbath
•Pearl by Janis Joplin
•Pictures at an Exhibition by Emerson, Lake, & Palmer
•Ram by Paul and Linda McCartney
•Santana III by Santana
•Shaft by Isaac Hayes
•Sticky Fingers by the Rolling Stones
•Summer Side of Life by Gordon Lightfoot
•Tapestry by Carole King
•Tarkus by Emerson, Lake, & Palmer
•The Concert for Bangladesh by George Harrison & Friends
•The Yes Album by Yes
•There's A Riot Goin' On by Sly and the Family Stone
•Thirds by James Gang
•What's Going On by Marvin Gaye
•Who's Next by the Who
Bill: What sort of rock and roll music were you and Sally listening to back then?
John: By October 1971 Sally and I were both listening to a broad range of pop and rock and roll music - groups like the Beatles, the Dave Clark Five, Chicago, Santana, Three Dog Night, Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young and countless other musical acts. Coming together in the early 1970's, we definitely influenced and broadened each other's musical horizons. I quickly absorbed Sally's interest in artists like the Guess Who, Sly & the Family Stone, the Classics IV, the Fifth Dimension, Carly Simon, and Françoise Hardy, and I influenced Sally's tastes with artists like the Gordon Lightfoot, the Moody Blues, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, and Jethro Tull.
Bill: Do you have any favorites from the 1971 released albums?
John: Of the many vinyl LP's in Sally and my personal 1971 collections, here are seven of my favorite albums that were released in 1971. I list them in alphabetical order, but not necessarily in preferential order:
•Aqualung by Jethro Tull
[that was a soundbite of the first 20 seconds of "Aqualung"]
•Every Good Boy Deserves Favour by the Moody Blues
[that was a soundbite of the first 20 seconds of ""The Story in Your Eyes"]
•L. A. Woman by the Doors
[that was a soundbite of the first 20 seconds of "The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)"]
•Led Zeppelin IV by Led Zeppelin
[that was a soundbite of the first 20 seconds of "When the Levee Breaks"]
•Sticky Fingers by the Rolling Stones
[that was a soundbite of the first 20 seconds of "Bitch"]
•Tapestry by Carole King
[that was a soundbite of the first 20 seconds of "It's Too Late"]
•The Yes Album by Yes
[that was a soundbite of the first 20 seconds of "Yours is No Disgrace"]
Bill: Can you share with the audience a bit more detail about each of those seven albums?
John: Certainly!
•Aqualung was released in quadraphonic sound and peaked at #7 on the US Billboard 200 album chart. With songs like "Aqualung", "Hymn 43", and "Locomotive Breath", the album would go on to sell over seven million copies and would be Jethro Tull's best-selling album.
•When I was a 6 year-old piano student, my teacher taught me the mnemonic for the lines of the treble clef (E-G-B-D-F) as Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge. The Brits apparently didn't have the same sweet tooth.
Bill: Well, I learned a slightly different mnemonic: Every Good Boy Does Fine.
John: Yes, I've heard that one also. At any rate, those five notes are heard on piano during the opening song "Procession" in the Moody Blues album, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour. This album is another example of the Moodies mixture of thoughtful, introspective lyrics and lush, pleasant harmonies. The LP was #2 on the US Billboard 200 album chart for three weeks and reached #1 on the British album chart. It produced the single, "The Story in Your Eyes", which reached #23 on the Billboard singles chart.
•L. A. Woman is the sixth studio album by the Doors and it peaked at #9 on the US Billboard 200 album chart. It is the last Doors LP to feature lead singer Jim Morrison during his lifetime, as Morrison died exactly two months and two weeks following the album's release. The band returned to their blues-rock roots, with songs like "Love Her Madly", "L. A. Woman", and "Riders on the Storm".
•Led Zeppelin IV is considered by many to be one of the greatest classic rock albums ever produced. It was officially untitled upon release, and it contains popular songs like "Black Dog", "Rock and Roll", and "Stairway to Heaven". The album would become Led Zeppelin's best-selling album, selling over 37 million copies worldwide, and it reached #1 in the UK and #2 in the US album chart.
•In late 1971 I snuck an underage Sally Lehman into State College's The Brewery bar. I can't recall how she got in, but I think Sally's roommate Barb may have known the bar's bouncer. Anyway, The Brewery had a small dance floor, and I remember dancing with Sally while a cover band played the Stone's song "Brown Sugar." The Sticky Fingers LP reached #1 in both the UK and US. It was the first album released on the Rolling Stones' new label, Rolling Stones Records, with its now famous tongue and lips logo. Sticky Fingers was their first studio album without Brian Jones, and - with songs like "Brown Sugar", "Wild Horses", and "Bitch" - is considered one of the Stones' best albums.
•Tapestry is the second studio album by singer-songwriter Carole King. It won four Grammy Awards: Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female. The lead singles from the album—"It's Too Late" and "I Feel the Earth Move"—spent five weeks at #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Easy Listening charts. The Tapestry LP has sold an estimated 30 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.
•The Yes Album is the third studio album by English progressive rock band Yes. All of the band members contributed ideas, and the tracks "Yours is No Disgrace", "Starship Trooper", and "I've Seen All Good People" were extended in length, allowing their musical ideas to develop. The album was a critical success and a major commercial breakthrough for Yes, who had been at risk of being dropped by Atlantic Records due to the commercial failures of their first two albums. It reached #40 in the US and #4 in the UK.
Bill: I have reminded you that the song, "Long Tall Sally", is unique - in that it is a rare song that mentions both a Sally and a John in the lyrics! Think about these lyrics:
Well long, tall Sally, she's built for speed
She got everything that Uncle John need
Oh baby, yeah, baby, whoo-ooh, hoo-ohh, baby
Havin' me some fun tonight, yeah
Perhaps Richard Penniman anticipated that you would one day connect with Sally Lehman!
John: So sure. Sure, I would agree that Little Richard was very prophetic!
The French have an expression called raison d'être, which roughly translates to reason or justification for existence or purpose or reason for living. Sally Lehman McDermott was my raison d'être. The story of my life revolves around the wonderful 50 year relationship that I had with the true love of my life, Sally Lehman McDermott. All of the podcasts in the My Musical Memories series are dedicated to her memory.
John: This has been Rock and Roll Flashback….where in today's podcast - 1971 - Hello, My Love (My Musical Memories, Part 1) - I discussed meeting Sally Lehman, the musical highlights of the year 1971, and how that music influenced Sally and me. Be sure to watch for future episodes of My Musical Memories, only on Rock and Roll Flashback podcasts. So, for now, I'm Jumpin' John McDermott…
Bill: and I'm Bill Price, and until next time….Rock On!