This is my Tribute to the Rock Artistes and Bands who had the brass balls to release Triple Albums.
Please check out my previous Blog on “My Favourite Double Albums”.
Of the thirteen triple albums I listed below all were released in the good old 70’s. Only one – The Clash’s “Sandinista!”- was released in 1980. Most were released within the first half of the 1970’s.
I regard the mid 60’s to late 70’s as The Golden Years of Vinyl Collecting. The public were buying up releases by the bands and the record labels were reaping huge obscene profits and were only happy to indulge prolific bands with their egotistic triple albums urgings. I fondly remember admiring the huge street billboards advertising the latest band album releases along Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California.
As for me in my academic teens, I could only afford to acquire certain selective single vinyl albums and vinyl singles (one song per side).
It was only decades later that I finally bought those double and triple albums that I could not afford in my teenage years. Admittedly, some triple albums are mostly live albums and have much album fillers. Quantity, not quality.
Nevertheless, the triple albums provide nostalgic nourishment for me.
My Favourite Triple Album Collection (above image).
The following are some of my Favourite Triple Albums. As with my previous Blog on Double Albums, I will not go into the details of each album. Please wikipedia them individually to appreciate the full detailed brilliance of each triple album.
“All Things Must Pass” (1970) by George Harrison
Two awesome records with grade-A mystical songs. The third record is a spontaneous Apple Jam. I play Record One the most because of the hit song, “My Sweet Lord” and “Isn’t It A Pity”. For every 20 times I play Record One, I listen to Record Three (Apple Jam) once.
My buddy Barry Feinstein shot the album cover. He spent many days at the home of George Harrison trying to photograph a potential album cover but not one had any potential. The official album cover was only shot on the last day when Feinstein was to catch his flight home to the U.S.A.
“The Concert For Bangladesh” (1971) by George Harrison
When I first caught sight of the elaborate massive album box, I was awestruck. I told myself, I’ll acquire it later down the road.
Considered the forefather of major charity concerts, it features the great legends of rock and roll at that time – George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Leon Russell, Billy Preston, Badfinger, etc.
My buddy Barry Feinstein was the official photographer for the concert held at Madison Square Garden on 1 August, 1971.
“Decade” (1977) by Neil Young
A compilation album comprising 35 songs from 1966 to 1976. I love Neil Young’s painstaking hand written liner songs for each of the songs.
For many years, it was the only Neil Young compilation album, till Lucky Thirteen which was released in 1993.
For the curious, the shirtless person leaning on the guitar case in the middle of a Californian desert on the cover is not Neil Young but the topless girlfriend of the album designer Tom Wilkes.
“Woodstock” (1970) by Various Artistes
The extensive album which includes the highlights of a three-day legendary concert featuring diverse rock acts like Jimi Hendrix, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Who, Santana, Janis Joplin, Country Joe and the Fish, Richie Havens, John Sebastian, Arlo Guthrie, Jefferson Airplane, Sly and the Family Stone, Sha Na Na, and many others.
My buddies Jim Marshall and Baron Wolman were the official concert photographers at Woodstock, I asked them in detail the backstories about their time spent at the mythical festival.
“Europe ’72” (1972) by Grateful Dead
Recorded during the Grateful Dead’s spring of 1972 shows. This classic live album features Ron “Pigpen” McKerman on guitars. Sadly he passed on in 1973.
“Lotus” (1974) by Santana
A live recording from the band’s concert in Osaka, Japan. This concert/album highlights Carlos Santana’s fascination with jazz-fusion music. Initially, the triple album was only released exclusively in Japan. A song from Santana’s “Abraxas” album, “Incident At Neshabur” takes up a whole album side at over 17 minutes. One word to describe the music and album artwork – Cosmic.
“Yessongs” (1973) by Yes
Recorded from the 1972 tours for the band’s chart-topping “Fragile” and “Close To The Edge” albums.
I had the honour of hanging out with Roger Dean who designed the album cover and most of Yes’ iconic albums.
“Welcome Back, My Friends, To The Show That Never Ends – Ladies and Gentlemen” (1974) by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Recorded live during their concert at the Anaheim Convention Centre, on the Wally Heider 24-track mobile unit, critics often blast this album as overblown and exhausting.
“Leon Live” (1973) by Leon Russell
Leon Russell is an underrated musician. He was the the music director for George Harrison’s the Concert For Bangladesh as well as Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen” concert tours.
With a great album cover, Leon’s deserving live album was a sprawling triple album, recording on 28 August 1972 at Long Beach Arena, California.
“Sandinista” (1980) by The Clash
The Clash is my favourite UK punk band in the 1970s. They bravely followed a chart-topping double album “London Calling” with a triple album, “Sandinista!”
“Sandinista!” had 36 songs ranging from punk, rockabilly, rap and gospel. Their record label cringed at the album title glorifying Nicaraguan revolutionaries and insisting the triple album sell at the price of a single album..
“Metal Box” (1979) by “Public Image Limited“
Fresh from the breakup of Johnny Rotten’s band Sex Pistol, he is subsequently formed a new band with a different artistic direction, Public Image Ltd. He is now known as by his given name, John Lydon.
The album takes the round metal canister containing the initial pressing of the album. I have “Second Edition” CD which is the reissue of Metal Box as a standard album package.
For the eagle-eye readers, I put “Plastic Box”, a compilation four-disc CD on the blog image. “Plastic Box” is a reference to “Metal Box”, featuring unreleased remixes as well as single, extended and live versions of Clash songs.
“Will The Circle Be Unbroken” (1972) by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
A country rock homage to the pioneers of country ad bluegrass music by Southern Californian folk-country-rock band. Great elaborate album cover and package and great songs. Containing spontaneous studio chatter, this mythical album swings.
Note: fabulous album graphics and lettering by Dean O. Torrence of Kittyhawk Graphics. The multi-talented Dean O. Torrence is the Dean of Jan & Dean surf songs duo.
My humble connection with the legendary Dean O. Torrence is he was the designer of the iconic Beach Boys logo which adorns Beach Boys albums including the “Live 50th Anniversary Tour” album (above image) where my image of the band is featured on the cover.
“Wings Over America” (1976) by Paul McCartney & Wings
At a time, only six years after the breakup of the Beatles, when Paul McCartney avoided playing Beatles songs in concert. This album which offered five Beatles songs was a major treat for his concert audience – “Yesterday”, “The Long And Winding Road”. “Lady Madonna”, “Blackbird” and “I’ve Just Seen A Face”. I still have the accompanying “Wings Over America” book by Hipgnosis.
