Song of the Year 1971

Rob Stewart and Faces (Ron Wood guitar) have a classic mega hit with Maggie May

Billboard Top 40 of 1971

1. Joy To The World, Three Dog Night
2. Maggie May/(Find A) Reason To Believe, Rod Stewart
3. It's Too Late/I Feel The Earth Move, Carole King
4. One Bad Apple, Osmonds
5. How Can You Mend A Broken Heart, Bee Gees
6. Indian Reservation, Raiders
7. Go Away Little Girl, Donny Osmond
8. Take Me Home, Country Roads, John Denver
9. Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me), Temptations
10. Knock Three Times, Dawn
11. Me And Bobby Mcgee, Janis Joplin
12. Tired Of Being Alone, Al Green
13. Want Ads, Honey Cone
14. Smiling Faces Sometimes, Undisputed Truth
15. Treat Her Like A Lady, Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose
16. You've Got A Friend, James Taylor
17. Mr. Big Stuff, Jean Knight
18. Brown Sugar, Rolling Stones
19. Do You Know What I Mean, Lee Michaels
20. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, Joan Baez
21. What's Going On, Marvin Gaye
22. Uncle Albert-Admiral Halsey, Paul McCartney
23. Aint No Sunshine, Bill Withers
24. Signs, Five Man Electrical Band
25. She's A Lady, Tom Jones
26. Superstar, Murray Head and The Trinidad Singers
27. I Found Someone Of My Own, Free Movement
28. Amos Moses, Jerry Reed
29. Temptation Eyes, The Grass Roots
30. Superstar, Carpenters
31. My Sweet Lord/Isn't It A Pity, George Harrison
32. Sweet And Innocent, Donny Osmond
33. Put Your Hand In The Hand, Ocean
34. Chick-a-boom, Daddy Dewdrop
35. For All We Know, Carpenters
36. Help Me Make It Through The Night, Sammi Smith
37. Rainy Days And Mondays, Carpenters
38. If You Could Read My Mind, Gordon Lightfoot
39. Gypsy, Tramps And Thieves, Cher
40. Never Can Say Goodbye, Jackson 5

Top Albums of 1971

Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water
Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells A Story
The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
T.Rex - Electric Warrior
James Taylor - Mud Slide Slim And The Blue Horizon
The Moody Blues - Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
Paul and Linda McCartney - Ram
Carole King - Tapestry
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
Led Zeppelin - IV
The Who - Who's Next
Joni Mitchell - Blue
The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
David Bowie - Hunky Dory
John Lennon - Imagine
The Allman Brothers Band - At Fillmore East
T. Rex - Electric Warrior
The Doors - L.A. Woman
The Beach Boys - Surf's Up
Jethro Tull - Aqualung
John Prine - John Prine
Bob Marley and The Wailers - Soul Revolution
Miles Davis - A Tribute to Jack Johnson
Nilsson - Nilsson Schmilsson
Taj Mahal - Real Thing
King Crimson - Islands
New Riders Of The Purple Sage - New Riders Of The Purple Sage

The Grammy's 1971

Record of the Year: It's Too Late - Carole King

Album of the Year: Tapestry, Carole King

Song of the Year: You've Got a Friend - Carole King, songwriter

Best New Artist of the Year: Carly Simon

Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male: You've Got a Friend - James Taylor

Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female: Tapestry - Carole King

Best Pop Vocal Performance By a Group: Carpenters - Carpenters

Best Rhythm and Blues Song: Ain't No Sunshine - Bill Withers, songwriter

Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance, Male: A Natural Man - Lou Rawls

Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance, Female: Bridge Over Troubled Water - Aretha Franklin

Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance By a Group: Proud Mary - Ike and Tina Turner

Best Jazz Performance By a Group: The Bill Evans Album - Bill Evans Trio

Best Jazz Performance By a Big Band New Orleans Suite - Duke Ellington

Best Country Song: Help Me Make It Through the Night - Kris Kristofferson, songwriter

Best Country Vocal Performance, Male: When You're Hot, You're Hot - Jerry Reed

Best Country Vocal Performance, Female: Help Me Make It Through the Night - Sammi Smith

Best Country Vocal Performance By a Group: After the Fire Is Gone - Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn

Best Album Cover: Pollution - Dean O. Torrance, album design; Gene Brownell, art director

The Tony's (Musicals) 1971

Best Musical Play: Stephen Sondheim, Company

Best Actor Musical Play: Hal Linden, The Rothchilds

Best Actress Musical Play: Helen Gallagher, No No Nanette

Best Supporting Actor Musical Play: Keene Curtis, The Rothchilds

Best Supporting Actress Musical Play: Patsy Kelly, No No Nanette

Best Director Musical Play: Harold Prince, Company

Best Choreographer: Donald Saddler, No No Nanette

Jazz 1971

The Jazz king of them all Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong died of a heart attack. Bio of Louis Armstrong.

Music News 1971

War and starvation get out of hand with Bangladesh trying to pull away from East Pakistan. Beatle George Harrison invited Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Leon Russell and Ravi Shanka among others to play the first successful benefit concert. Madison Square Garden had 40,000 in attendance for the Concert for Bangladesh.

Woke up this morn in' and got myself a beer

Not long after successfully releasing their move toward the Blues in their classic album L A Woman, Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors was found dead in his bathtub in Paris, France. Whether due to drugs, alcohol or drowning is still in question, as is him hanging around with Elvis in Maui. Where is Jim Morrison

The Allman Brothers Band become a legend at the Fillmore, and Southern Rock gets its name and sound. They cranked out the jump blues better than any other White Boys before or since. The original magic you see here, those unique lead guitar fighting it out played by Greg Allman and Dicky Best lasted only a few more months. In October 1971 Greg Allman cashed and died on his Harley. Allman Brothers Band History

Rock & Roll 1971

After a year long hiatus, the Rolling Stones return with Sticky Fingers. Much like the rock and roll inside, the zipper on the front of the album is the real thing. Sticky Fingers the album.

Hard Rock & Heavy Metal 1971

Led Zeppelin IV could well be the best kickass rock & roll album every made. Not many groups have been able to put so many great songs on one album. Remembered for the classic guitar solo anthem Stairway to Heaven, the album also included the familiar Black Dog, Rock and Roll, and the slow building punch of When the Levy Breaks. As the album designers guessed, the cover needed no words to be recognized to this day. Led Zeppelin 4 the album

Though having been around a few years, Jethro Tull, led by Ian Anderson who was classical flutist and university professor. He turned into a crazyman rock and roll star on stage making hits out of songs about even crazier people than he. Aqualung, the album and the song. The Ion Anderson Story

Rhythm & Blues 1971

Ike and Tina Turner made it big with Proud Mary. Stick with this video a few minutes to see what the genre of what is often called Jump Blues is all about. Ike and Tina Soap Opera

Folk Rock 1971

John Prine has an FM radio only hit with Illegal Smile. The John Prine Story

"...I didn't kill anyone, I'm just trying to have me some fun."

The album also includes one of the best Vietnam Vet songs ever produced, Sam Stone.

"There's a hole in Daddy's arm where all the money goes... "

Country & Western 1971

New kid on the block John Denver records Take Me Home, Country Roads. It appears on his first album Poems, Prayers and Promises and later in the year as a single that sells a million copies and makes him a star. John Denver Memorial site