1973 Briefly Revisited: AotY
1973 is yet another year the Grammys nominated 5 mediocre albums and ignored almost twice as many very good ones.
If you only listen to one song: "Superwoman", Stevie Wonder
Albums, Revisited
Here are 9 albums I like that could have been nominated for the 1973 Album of the Year award. Each of these albums is individually better than all of the albums actually nominated for the award.
Carney, Leon Russell
I wish I knew more about Leon Russell: his music, his career. I do know that I love him, though... that much is undeniable. When I get a chance I should dig in more.
Exile on Main Street, The Rolling Stones
I feel like I don't know many Rolling Stones albums, but anytime I hear one I love it. At the very least, this one is quite good.
Honky Chateau, Elton John
With a name like "Honky Chateau" I was 100% going to skip this album, too. (See also: Tumbleweed Connection from 1972)
Turns out this album is also good. My bad, Elton.
Led Zeppelin IV, Led Zeppelin
Zeppelin is rad, which you probably already know. I-IV are certainly my favorite albums, but perhaps only because they're so easy to remember.
Music Of My Mind, Stevie Wonder
For a while my life's ambition was learning how to play Superwoman on the piano. At some point I downgraded that ambition to just playing the second half of the song -- that part is so lovely! I've since further downgraded that ambition to listening to the song; I've been much more successful.
Quiet Fire, Roberta Flack
Quiet Fire is a legit album.
Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway
This album is full of amazing songs like "Where Is the Love", "Baby I Love You", "You've Got A Friend", "Be Real Black For Me". Roberta and Donny's voices are lowkey magical together and the vibe is second-to-none.
Something/Anything?, Todd Rundgren
This was already one of my favorite albums, well before this project. I ventured a little bit into Todd Rundgren's other work and none of it was particularly sticky for me... perhaps I should give it another chance.
This album, though, is a gem. You should give it a chance right now.
Superfly, Curtis Mayfield
It's a crime that this album didn't pick up a nomination, not to mention an actual victory for Album of the Year. If you don't already know this album you should go listen to it, right now.
The current One Man Academy (OMA) project is listening to the Grammy's Album of the Year nominees and re-choosing winners, absent of historical context.
Featured songs from this post: Spotify