Greetings, and welcome back to the end of 1970! This list is not an attempt to claim which albums are the “best” in terms of any number of criteria. My ranking is nothing more than an attempt to share my favorites in loosely accurate order based mostly upon the ones I’ve played and enjoyed the most over the years, and it ain’t an easy exercise. Releases by the Flying Burrito Brothers, James Taylor, The Doors, Rod Stewart, David Bowie, and Jethro Tull did not make my top 30. Also edged out were really good albums by the likes of Syd Barrett, MC5, The Stooges, Band of Gypsies, King Crimson, Free, Clapton, Paul Kantner, Todd Rundgren, and others. I did extend the list by five from the first time I did a year end ranking, but we’ve now entered the most bountiful years of music as far as my favorites go and it’s hard to narrow my list.
If interested in what I have to say about my top 30 and more, I invite you to look back through my posts from this year. The date I published them is in parentheses. I’ve covered most of them, but a few albums slipped by due to time constraints or just plain laziness. That said, thank you all for coming along for the ride with me. I hope you keep checking in as we move forward-yet-backward into 1971. Happy New Year!
-Stephen
30. Brewer & Shipley – Tarkio (12/30)
29. The Allman Brothers Band – Idlewild South (9/23)
28. Canned Heat – Future Blues (8/3)
27. Stephen Stills – Stephen Stills (11/16)
26. Leon Russell – Leon Russell (5/29)
25. Creedence Clearwater Revival – Cosmo’s Factory (7/16)
24. The Grateful Dead – Workingman’s Dead (6/14)
23. Dave Mason – Alone Together (7/11)
22. Delaney & Bonnie & Friends – On Tour with Eric Clapton (6/1)
21. Bob Dylan – New Morning
20. Joni Mitchell – Ladies of the Canyon
19. The Velvet Underground – Loaded (11/15)
18. The Moody Blues – A Question of Balance (8/7)
17. Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin III
16. The Rolling Stones – Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! (9/4)
15. Elton John – Elton John (6/6)
14. Cat Stevens – Tea for the Tillerman (11/23)
13. Paul McCartney – McCartney (6/16)
12. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Déjà Vu (6/1)
11. Santana – Abraxas (9/23)
10. Van Morrison – Moondance
9. Traffic – John Barleycorn Must Die (7/1)
8. The Grateful Dead – American Beauty (11/1)
7. Simon and Garfunkel – Bridge Over Troubled Water
6. The Beatles – Let It Be (5/25)
5. Elton John – Tumbleweed Connection (10/23)
4. Derek and the Dominos – Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (11/9)
3. John Lennon – Plastic Ono Band (12/11)
2. Neil Young – After the Gold Rush (9/19)
- George Harrison – All Things Must Pass (11/27)
50th Music Anniversaries and Other Musings 
Brilliant. What a fantastic year it was and your list is amazing, reminding me of so many great albums. I need to explore Santana. Thanks for posting and Happy New Year.
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Thanks for the comment, and happy new year!
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Holy cow, Stephen! It’s almost unreal to look at your list and realize that all of these albums appeared in the same year of 1970. Man, this was truly a golden age for music!
And what a difference to the 2020 year-end album lists Hans from Slice the Life has shared in recent days, where I didn’t even know the vast majority of artists.
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It really is amazing. And most of these albums are well known. There are also quite a few I discover for myself in the process of blogging that I feel like I should already be familiar with, some of which most likely would be Top 30 worthy if I’d listened to them for years. I thought 1970 might be the peak as far as my blog goes, but looking at my list for 1971 I’m not so sure. We’ll see.
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I would say the period from 1969 until the mid-’70s was an incredible time in music.
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Sorry for the piecemeal: Happy New Year! I suppose I got too excited to comment on your post! 🙂
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Happy New Year to you too! I thought Hans was going to do a 1970 album list, too, but I haven’t seen it yet.
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Interesting list– we agree I think on 18 of the 30 and most of the ones we have in the top half- and of course we agree at #1. I think All Things Must Pass gets better and better as time passes.
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I agree on All Things… to the point where a de-Spectorized version doesn’t sound as necessary as it once did, although it would still be interesting to hear.
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yes i agree- although I am looking forward next year for the new version. I have heard the title track and it sounds excellent. I think George’s catalog in general has improved with age.
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1970 was a good year for the Grateful Dead.
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Off the top of my head I’d say probably their best year in the studio.
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The Allman Brothers first two albums gets overlooked…The list is great Stephen. A great year for albums…the next year wasn’t a bad one either. Happy New Year Stephen.
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Happy New Year, Max.
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