⇦ 1970

1972 ⇨

The Best Music of 1971

Here is a selection of the best albums and songs from 1971. Hall of Famers are highlighted in orange.

For a list of the top artists who made their debut recording in 1971, check out this list.

Albums (?)		Wikipedia
Al Green	Al Green Gets Next to You	☆
Alice Coltrane	Journey in Satchidananda	☆
Alice Cooper	Love it to Death	☆
Alice Cooper	Killer	☆
Badfinger	Straight Up	☆
Barbra Streisand	Stoney End	☆
Bill Withers	Just As I Am	☆
Black Sabbath	Master Of Reality	☆
Blood, Sweat & Tears	B, S & T; 4	☆
Booker T. & the M.G.'s	Melting Pot	☆
Can	Tago Mago	☆
Caravan	In the Land of Grey and Pink	☆
Carly Simon	Carly Simon	☆
Carly Simon	Anticipation	☆
Carole King	Tapestry	☆
Carole King	Music	☆
Cat Stevens	Teaser and the Firecat	☆
Chicago	Chicago III	☆
Chicago	Chicago	☆
Curtis Mayfield	Roots	☆
Curtis Mayfield	Curtis/Live!	☆
David Bowie	Hunky Dory	☆
David Crosby	If I Could Only Remember My Name	☆
Deep Purple	Fireball	☆
Delaney & Bonnie	Motel Shot	☆
Dolly Parton	Coat of Many Colors	☆
Don McLean	American Pie	☆
Donny Hathaway	Live	☆
Earth, Wind & Fire	Earth, Wind & Fire	☆
Earth, Wind & Fire	The Need of Love	☆
Electric Light Orchestra	The Electric Light Orchestra	☆
Elton John	Madman Across the Water	☆
Emerson, Lake & Palmer	Tarkus	☆
Emerson, Lake & Palmer	Pictures at an Exhibition	☆
Esther Phillips	From a Whisper to a Scream	☆
Funkadelic	Maggot Brain	☆
Gene McDaniels	Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse	☆
Genesis	Nursery Cryme	☆
George Benson	Beyond the Blue Horizon	☆
George Harrison	The Concert for Bangladesh	☆
Gil Scott-Heron	Pieces of a Man	☆
Harry Nilsson	Nilsson Schmilsson	☆
Harry Nilsson	The Point!	☆
Hawkwind	In Search of Space	☆
Isaac Hayes	Shaft	☆
Isaac Hayes	Black Moses	☆
J.J. Cale	Naturally	☆
James Taylor	Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon	☆
Janis Joplin	Pearl	☆
Jethro Tull	Aqualung	☆
Jimmy Cliff	Goodbye Yesterday	☆
John Lennon	Imagine	☆
John Prine	John Prine	☆
Joni Mitchell	Blue	☆
Judee Sill	Judee Sill	☆
King Crimson	Islands	☆
Kris Kristofferson	The Silver Tongued Devil and I	☆
Led Zeppelin	Led Zeppelin IV	☆
Leonard Cohen	Songs Of Love And Hate	☆
Link Wray	Link Wray	☆
Little Feat	Little Feat	☆
Loretta Lynn	Coal Miner's Daughter	☆
Loudon Wainwright III	Album II	☆
Mahavishnu Orchestra	The Inner Mounting Flame	☆
Marvin Gaye	What's Going On	☆
MC5	High Time	☆
Merry Clayton	Merry Clayton	☆
Miles Davis	Jack Johnson	☆
Nick Drake	Bryter Layter	☆
Paul and Linda McCartney	Ram	☆
Pharoah Sanders	Black Unity	☆
Pink Floyd	Meddle	☆
Roberta Flack	Quiet Fire	☆
Rod Stewart	Every Picture Tells a Story	☆
Rory Gallagher	Deuce	☆
Santana	Santana III	☆
Serge Gainsbourg	Histoire de Melody Nelson	☆
Sly & The Family Stone	There's A Riot Goin' On	☆
Stevie Wonder	Where I'm Coming From	☆
T. Rex	Electric Warrior	☆
The Allman Brothers Band	At Fillmore East	☆
The Beach Boys	Surf's Up	☆
The Doors	L.A. Woman	☆
The Dramatics	Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get	☆
The Exkursions	The Exkursions	☆
The Faces	A Nod is as Good as a Wink… To a Blind Horse	☆
The Flamin' Groovies	Teenage Head	☆
The Flying Burrito Brothers	The Flying Burrito Brothers	☆
The Grateful Dead	Grateful Dead	☆
The Moody Blues	Every Good Boy Deserves Favour	☆
The Move	Message From The Country	☆
The Rolling Stones	Sticky Fingers	☆
The Who	Who's Next	☆
Todd Rundgren	Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren	☆
Traffic	The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys	☆
Uriah Heep	Salisbury	☆
Uriah Heep	Look at Yourself	☆
Van der Graaf Generator	Pawn Hearts	☆
Van Morrison	Tupelo Honey	☆
War	All Day Music	☆
Weather Report	Weather Report	☆
Wishbone Ash	Pilgrimage	☆
Yes	Fragile	☆
Yes	The Yes Album	☆

---

Songs (?)		Wikipedia
Al Green	Let's Stay Together	☆
Al Green	Tired of Being Alone	☆
Alice Cooper	I'm Eighteen	☆
Alice Cooper	Ballad Of Dwight Fry	☆
Alice Cooper	Under My Wheels	☆
America	A Horse With No Name	☆
America	Sandman	☆
Aretha Franklin	Rock Steady	☆
Badfinger	Baby Blue	☆
Badfinger	Day After Day	☆
Bill Withers	Ain't No Sunshine	☆
Bill Withers	Grandma's Hands	☆
Billy Joel	She's Got A Way	☆
Billy Preston	Outa-Space	☆
Black Sabbath	Children of the Grave	☆
Black Sabbath	Sweet Leaf	☆
Black Sabbath	Into the Void	☆
Bread	If	☆
Brewer & Shipley	One Toke Over the Line	☆
Can	Halleluhwah	☆
Carly Simon	Anticipation	☆
Carly Simon	That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be	☆
Carole King	It's Too Late	☆
Carole King	I Feel The Earth Move	☆
Carole King	So Far Away	☆
Carole King	You've Got a Friend	☆
Carole King	(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman	☆
Carole King	Where You Lead	☆
Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton	Those Were the Days ("All in the Family" Theme)	☆
Cat Stevens	Peace Train	☆
Cat Stevens	Moonshadow	☆
Cat Stevens	Morning Has Broken	☆
Cat Stevens	If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out	☆
Cat Stevens	The Wind	☆
Charley Pride	Kiss an Angel Good Morning	☆
Cher	Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves	☆
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen	Hot Rod Lincoln	☆
Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose	Treat Her Like a Lady	☆
Coven	One Tin Soldier (The Legend of Billy Jack)	☆
Crowbar	Oh What A Feeling	☆
David Bowie	Changes	☆
David Bowie	Life on Mars?	☆
Dolly Parton	Coat of Many Colors	☆
Don McLean	American Pie (Pts. 1 & 2)	☆
Don McLean	Vincent	☆
Electric Light Orchestra	10538 Overture	☆
Elton John	Tiny Dancer	☆
Elton John	Levon	☆
Emerson, Lake & Palmer	Tarkus	☆
Esther Phillips	From a Whisper to a Scream	☆
Esther Phillips	Home is Where the Hatred Is	☆
Flamin' Groovies	Teenage Head	☆
Focus	Hocus Pocus	☆
Freddie King	Going Down	☆
Funkadelic	Maggot Brain	☆
Gene Wilder	Pure Imagination	☆
Gil-Scott Heron	Home is Where the Hatred Is	☆
Gil-Scott Heron	Lady Day and John Coltrane	☆
Grand Funk Railroad	Footstompin' Music	☆
Honey Cone	Want Ads	☆
Ike and Tina Turner	Proud Mary	☆
Isaac Hayes	Theme From Shaft	☆
James Brown	Hot Pants (She Got to Use What She Got to Get What She Wants)	☆
James Gang	Walk Away	☆
James Taylor	You've Got a Friend	☆
Janis Joplin	Me And Bobby McGee	☆
Janis Joplin	Cry Baby	☆
Janis Joplin	Mercedes Benz	☆
Jean Knight	Mr. Big Stuff	☆
Jethro Tull	Aqualung	☆
Jethro Tull	Locomotive Breath	☆
Jethro Tull	Cross Eyed Mary	☆
Jethro Tull	Mother Goose	☆
Joan Baez	The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down	☆
John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band	Happy Xmas (War Is Over)	☆
John Denver	Take Me Home, Country Roads	☆
John Denver	Sunshine on My Shoulders	☆
John Lennon	Imagine	☆
John Lennon	Jealous Guy	☆
John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band	Power to the People	☆
John Prine	Sam Stone	☆
John Prine	Angel from Montgomery	☆
John Prine	Paradise	☆
John Prine	Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore	☆
Johnny Cash	Man In Black	☆
Jonathan Edwards	Sunshine (Go Away)	☆
Joni Mitchell	All I Want	☆
Joni Mitchell	California	☆
Joni Mitchell	A Case of You	☆
Joni Mitchell	River	☆
Kris Kristofferson	Lovin' Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)	☆
Led Zeppelin	Black Dog	☆
Led Zeppelin	Stairway To Heaven	☆
Led Zeppelin	Rock And Roll	☆
Led Zeppelin	When the Levee Breaks	☆
Led Zeppelin	Going to California	☆
Led Zeppelin	Misty Mountain Hop	☆
Led Zeppelin	Battle of Evermore	☆
Leonard Cohen	Famous Blue Raincoat	☆
Little Feat	Willin'	☆
Loggins & Messina	House at Pooh Corner	☆
Marvin Gaye	What's Going On	☆
Marvin Gaye	Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)	☆
Marvin Gaye	Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)	☆
MC5	Sister Anne	☆
MC5	Baby Won't Ya	☆
Melanie	Brand New Key	☆
Neil Diamond	I Am...I Said	☆
Nilsson	Without You	☆
Nilsson	Jump Into The Fire	☆
Nilsson	Coconut	☆
Olivia Newton-John	If Not for You	☆
Paul & Linda McCartney	Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey	☆
Paul McCartney	Another Day	☆
Paul Revere & the Raiders	Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)	☆
Peter Hammill	Imperial Zeppelin	☆
Pink Floyd	Echoes	☆
Pink Floyd	One of These Days	☆
Rare Earth	I Just Want To Celebrate	☆
Ravi Shankar	Bangla Dhun	☆
Redbone	The Witch Queen of New Orleans	☆
Ringo Starr	It Don't Come Easy	☆
Rod Stewart	Maggie May	☆
Rod Stewart	Reason to Believe	☆
Rod Stewart	Every Picture Tells a Story	☆
Sammi Smith	Then You Walk In	☆
Shirley Bassey	Diamonds Are Forever	☆
Sly & The Family Stone	Family Affair	☆
Steve Goodman	City of New Orleans	☆
Stevie Wonder	If You Really Love Me	☆
T. Rex	Bang A Gong (Get It On)	☆
T. Rex	Jeepster	☆
T. Rex	Hot Love	☆
T. Rex	Cosmic Dancer	☆
T. Rex	Life's a Gas	☆
Tammy Wynette	Good Lovin' (Makes It Right)	☆
Ten Years After	I'd Love to Change the World	☆
The Allman Brothers Band	Statesboro Blues	☆
The Band	Life Is a Carnival	☆
The Beach Boys	Surf's Up	☆
The Bee Gees	How Can You Mend a Broken Heart	☆
The Carpenters	Superstar	☆
The Carpenters	Rainy Days and Mondays	☆
The Chi-Lites	Have You Seen Her	☆
The Doors	Riders On The Storm	☆
The Doors	L.A. Woman	☆
The Doors	Love Her Madly	☆
The Dramatics	Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get	☆
The Faces	Stay With Me	☆
The Glass Bottle	I Ain't Got Time Anymore	☆
The Grass Roots	Sooner or Later	☆
The Hillside Singers	I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)	☆
The Hollies	Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)	☆
The J. Geils Band	Whammer Jammer	☆
The Jackson 5	Never Can Say Goodbye	☆
The Moody Blues	The Story In Your Eyes	☆
The Rolling Stones	Brown Sugar	☆
The Rolling Stones	Wild Horses	☆
The Rolling Stones	Can't You Hear Me Knocking	☆
The Rolling Stones	Bitch	☆
The Stampeders	Sweet City Woman	☆
The Staple Singers	Respect Yourself	☆
The Stylistics	Betcha By Golly, Wow	☆
The Stylistics	You Are Everything	☆
The Temptations	Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)	☆
The Undisputed Truth	Smiling Faces Sometimes	☆
The Who	Baba O'Riley	☆
The Who	Won't Get Fooled Again	☆
The Who	Behind Blue Eyes	☆
The Who	Bargain	☆
Three Dog Night	Never Been to Spain	☆
Three Dog Night	An Old Fashioned Love Song	☆
Tom Jones	She's a Lady	☆
Tommy James	Draggin' the Line	☆
Traffic	The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys	☆
Uriah Heep	Lady in Black	☆
Van Morrison	Tupelo Honey	☆
Van Morrison	Wild Night	☆
War	Slippin' Into Darkness	☆
Yes	Roundabout	☆
Yes	I've Seen All Good People	☆
Yes	Long Distance Runaround	☆
Yes	Starship Trooper	☆
Yes	Yours is No Disgrace	☆
Yvonne Elliman	I Don't Know How to Love Him	☆

⇦ 1970

1972 ⇨