1973--Rock at the Crossroads

November 1, 2019

Jackson (1965) argues that 1973 was a transitional yet cornerstone year for rock music, as the once almost monolithic world of rock and pop started to split into multiple subgenres and styles, leading to the eventual erosion of its singular influence in music. The year produced classics, including Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon and Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, key albums from all four former Beatles, debuts from Bruce Springsteen and Aerosmith, and landmark work from David Bowie and Stevie Wonder. Examining the first big stateside impact of reggae with Bob Marley and the soundtrack to The Harder They Come, the peak of glam rock, the rise of outlaw country, and the beginnings of punk and disco, the book surveys 1973's diverse musical landscape. This lively, detailed narrative provides a backdrop of historical changes that were also roiling the world as the Seventies hit their stride. VERDICT Deeply sourced and entertainingly informative, Jackson's chronology of a transformative year in music, culture, and society may prompt debate (as well as playlist creation) and will appeal to a wide swath of readers.--James Collins, Morristown-Morris Twp. P.L., NJ

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2019
An astute observer of popular culture takes a granular look at 12 months of music that reflected "the aftermath" of the preceding cultural revolution. In a natural follow-up to 1965: The Most Revolutionary Year in Music (2015), Los Angeles-based music writer Jackson examines another pivotal year in popular music, when radio programmers figured out how to commodify " 'album-oriented rock'...[which] soon segregated rock from other genres that once spurred its evolution." There's all sorts of intriguing cross-pollination going on in the author's rollicking retrospective of 1973, a year that some may consider unexceptional. However, Jackson's expansive exploration obliterates such notions. On one hand, 1973 was a remarkable year for celebrated acts to produce some of their most seminal works, including Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy, Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, The Who's Quadrophenia, and Alice Cooper's Billion Dollar Babies. On the other hand, 1973 was also an exceedingly fertile time for exciting new artists to burst on to the scene--Bruce Springsteen with Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.--and for others to break away from the confines of their home countries and garner a more global audience (Bob Marley's Catch a Fire). The title aside, Jackson demonstrates a determination to be musically inclusive. "Fifteen of the year's nineteen No. 1 albums were rock albums," writes the author. "In 2018, only eight out of the forty-one No. 1 albums were rock." Though Jackson dives deep into AOR radio, he makes it clear that 1973 was also about outlaws Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings upending the country music scene; superstars Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye revolutionizing the Motown sound; Linda Ronstadt and Joni Mitchell defying genre norms; and much more. As the year turned over, the top song in the country was Jim Croce's "Time in a Bottle." A month-by-month selected timeline helps readers situate the events discussed in the book. Consistently surprising and richly entertaining.

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November 1, 2019
Jackson has been part of a trend, biographies of particular years in music history. He follows 1965: The Most Revolutionary Year in Music (2015) with this in-depth examination of 1973, the defining year for such artists as David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, and the former Beatles. Jackson tags 1973 the zenith of classic rock, which also marks the arrivals of punk, disco, and hip hop and the rise of funk and reggae. Jackson divides the year into the four seasons, discussing the singles and albums that were released during the 12-month period in chapters each devoted to a particular artist, album, genre, or trend. The spectrum is full, from Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon to Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy, Jimmy Cliff's The Harder They Come (film and soundtrack), the outlaw country albums of Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, and Waylon Jennings, on to southern rock, progressive rock, and the Rolling Stones. This all adds up to a many-versed love song to classic rock.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)