Thus, he must have had his well thought-out reasons for picking the one that he did. Giving that for Hepworth this would have included all of the 1960s and half of the 1970s, he had myriad choice years from which to select. After all, human beings are significantly prone to the effects of the music that they hear during their first, say, 25 years of being alive. I am right.”Īs raised as the aforementioned skeptical eyebrow might be, let us begin by giving Hepworth some of the more or less obvious benefits of the doubt.įirst, if he were convinced that the most significant year in rock had to have happened during his youth, he could have chosen one of several other worthy years. However, “There’s an important difference in the case of me and 1971,” Hepworth confidently asserts. After all, everyone has a fondness and deep connection to the soundtrack of his or her most impressionable and carefree years of life. While few if any will question the quality of the popular music which Hepworth and his contemporaries were present at the unveiling of, the author acknowledges that it will not take long for his readers to “raise a skeptical eyebrow” regarding his elevation of 1971’s output. In fact, I wished as a kid that I had been born in 1951, the year of my mother’s birth, so that I could have grown up on The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Beach Boys, etc. For a music fan, that’s the winning ticket in the lottery of life.”ĭespite my being more than a quarter-of-a-century younger than Hepworth, I can relate to his enthusiasm. Paraphrasing the nineteenth-century British imperialist Cecil Rhodes, who said that to be born an Englishman was to win “first prize in the lottery of life,” Hepworth (himself a Brit) writes, “I was born in 1950. The more pressing matter is whether the book is as convincing as it is impossible to look up from. Strangely, the title of Never a Dull Moment is the same as that of a Rod Stewart album that was released in 1972.īut never mind that now. In fact, he contends on the first page of said book that 1971 was “the busiest, most creative, most innovative, most interesting, and longest-resounding year” of the rock era. With the resignation of a president, a lost war, gas lines, leisure suits, and disco littering the political and cultural landscape, it just doesn’t get any respect.Īccording to a new book by veteran music journalist David Hepworth, however, these 10 years started off exceptionally well by music standards. The 1970s is the Rodney Dangerfield decade of twentieth-century American history. Never a Dull Moment: 1971 - The Year That Rock Exploded by David Hepworth. ![]() ![]() Pete Sears – piano on “Italian Girls”, “What Made Milwaukee Famous” (single), bass guitar on “I’d Rather Go Blind”.Was 1971 greatest year in the history of rock? Read this delightful book and be prepared to argue. Micky Waller – drums all songs except "True Blue" Ronnie Lane – bass guitar on "True Blue", and "Angel" Ronnie Wood – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, slide guitar, pedal steel guitar, bass guitar "I'd Rather Go Blind"ěilly Foster, Ellington Jordanē:53ĥ. "You Wear It Well" Stewart, Martin QuittentonĔ:22Ĥ. "Mama, You Been on My Mind"ěob DylanĔ:29ģ. "True Blue" Rod Stewart, Ronnie Woodē:32ģ. Hendrix and Ronnie Wood had shared a flat in the late 1960s, and were both at a Soho club on the night he died.ġ. "Angel" was written by Jimi Hendrix as a tribute to his mother. On the 8-track tape and Cassette releases of the album the song "What Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me)" was on program 2 following "Twistin' the Night Away", but it was not mentioned in the song listing. Stewart's version is one of the songs featured in Nick Hornby's book 31 Songs. "Mama You Been on My Mind" is a cover version of a Bob Dylan song. Other guest musicians included Ray Jackson of the band Lindisfarne on mandolin, Spike Heatley on upright bass, Gordon Huntley on steel guitar, Dick Powell on violin and Pete Sears on piano and bass. Like many of Stewart's albums from the era, Never a Dull Moment features significant musical contributions from the members of the band Faces. 13), as well as “Twisting the Night Away”, a song originally recorded (and written) by Sam Cooke. The track “You Wear It Well”, co-written by Stewart and classical guitarist Martin Quittenton, was a smash hit (another UK No. It was released on 21 July 1972 that year it became a UK number-one album (for two weeks) and reached number two on the US Album chart. Never a Dull Moment is the fourth studio album by rock musician Rod Stewart. For other uses, see Never a Dull Moment (disambiguation).
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