List of notable events in music that took place in the year 1971.
Specific locations 1971 in British music 1971 in Japanese music 1971 in Norwegian music 1971 in Scandinavian music
Specific genres 1971 in country music 1971 in heavy metal music 1971 in jazz 1971 in progressive rock
Events February 1 – After months of feuding in the press, Ginger Baker and Elvin Jones hold a "drum battle" at The Lyceum. February 3 – Davy Jones announces he is leaving the Monkees. February 8 – Bob Dylan's hour-long documentary film, Eat the Document, is premièred at New York's Academy of Music. The film includes footage from Dylan's 1966 UK tour. February 16 – Alan Passaro of the Hells Angels, who was acquitted on January 19 of the killing of Meredith Hunter at the Altamont Speedway in 1969, files a lawsuit against the Rolling Stones for invasion of privacy because the documentary film Gimme Shelter showed the stabbing. February 19 – Queen performs their first public concert in London. March 1 – The line-up for Queen is completed when bassist John Deacon joins the band. March 4 – The Rolling Stones open their UK tour in Newcastle upon Tyne, intended as a "farewell" to the UK prior to the band's relocation to France as "tax exiles". March 5 – Ulster Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland, sees the first live performance of Led Zeppelin's iconic song "Stairway to Heaven". March 6 – The Soul to Soul concert takes place in Accra, Ghana, headlined by Wilson Pickett. March 12–13 – The Allman Brothers Band records its live album, At Fillmore East. March 16 – The 13th Grammy Awards, honoring musical accomplishments of 1970, are presented. The ceremonies are broadcast on live television for the first time. Simon & Garfunkel win Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Song of the Year for their final album Bridge over Troubled Water and its title track. The Carpenters win Best New Artist. April 3 – The 16th Eurovision Song Contest, held in the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, is won by Monaco with the song "Un banc, un arbre, une rue" sung by Séverine. April 6 – The Rolling Stones hold a party in Cannes to officially announce their new contract with Atlantic and the launch of Rolling Stones Records. April 8 – A bomb explodes at a CBC band gig in Saigon killing 2. April 19 – Gil Scott Heron records the first rap song, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised in RCA Studioe in New York. May 1 – Bill Withers releases seminal first album Just As I Am. May 12 – Mick Jagger marries Bianca de Macías in Saint-Tropez, France, in a Roman Catholic ceremony. Among the wedding guests are the remaining Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton and Stephen Stills. June – Rafael Kubelík becomes music director of the Metropolitan Opera, New York, at the invitation of Göran Gentele, the new general manager. (May 21) Marvin Gaye releases his masterpiece album 'What's Going On' on May 21, 1971 June 1 – Elvis Presley's birthplace, a two-room shack in Tupelo, Mississippi, is opened to the public as a tourist attraction. June 6 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono join Frank Zappa on stage at the Fillmore East for an encore jam. The performance would be released the following year on the Some Time in New York City album. June 8 – Carole King gives her first live concert, at Carnegie Hall. June 20-24 – The first Glastonbury Festival to take place at the summer solstice is held in South West England. Performers include David Bowie, Traffic, Fairport Convention, Quintessence and Hawkwind. June 21 – The Celebration of Life Festival finally gets underway- three and a half days late- at Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana. Pink Floyd, The Beach Boys, Miles Davis and B. B. King are among the performers. June 24 – The Celebration of Life Festival is closed down by authorities after promoters Stephen Kapelow and Ken Lind fail to provide enough supplies of food, medical and sanitary facilities. Only nine of twenty-seven advertised performers showed up, and about 150 festival-goers were arrested. June 27 – Promoter Bill Graham closes the Fillmore East in New York City with a final concert featuring The Allman Brothers Band, The Beach Boys and Mountain. Patrons are given commemorative posters at the door and find red roses on their seats. July 3 – Jim Morrison is found dead in a bath tub in Paris, France, aged 27. Alain Ronay would claim, years later, that he assisted Morrison's lover, Pamela Courson, in covering up the circumstances. July 4 – The Fillmore West is closed in San Francisco with a final show featuring Santana, Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Grateful Dead. July 9 – Grand Funk Railroad becomes only the second band (after the Beatles) to perform a sold-out concert at Shea Stadium breaking The Beatles record of selling out the venue. August 1 The Concert for Bangladesh at Madison Square Garden, New York, starring George Harrison, Ravi Shankar, Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan and Leon Russell; also featuring Billy Preston, Eric Clapton, Jesse Ed Davis and Badfinger. The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour premieres on CBS. August 14 – The Who release their fifth studio album Who's Next, reaching Number One in both the UK and the US. August 31 – John Lennon leaves Britain for New York City and will never return. September 11 – The Jackson 5ive, a Saturday morning cartoon series based on the popular Motown group The Jackson 5, premieres on ABC. September 11-12 – The Avandaro rock festival takes place in Valle de Bravo (Mexico) with an estimated attendance of 300,000. October 5 – Black Sabbath perform the first set of their Whisky a Go Go performance in all-white tuxedos. October 29 – The Allman Brothers Band's guitarist Duane Allman dies in a motorcycle accident in Macon, Georgia after colliding with a truck. October 31 – Pink Floyd release their sixth studio album Meddle. The album is considered a turning point, moving away from their psychedelic sound to a more progressive tone. It peaked at No. 3 on the UK Albums Chart. November 6 – Cher earns her first solo number one hit in US (Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves) staying atop for two consecutive weeks. Eventually the song was certified gold. November 8 – Led Zeppelin release officially untitled fourth studio album, which would become the biggest-selling album of the year (1972), the band's biggest-selling album, and the fourth best-selling album of all time. December 1 – Belgian singing duo Nicole & Hugo are married at Wemmel. December 4 – The Montreux Casino in Montreux, Switzerland, catches fire and burns during a performance by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention when a fan fires a flare gun into its rafters. Members of Deep Purple, who were due to begin recording at the casino the next day, watched the scene from their hotel across Lake Geneva, and later immortalized the events in their song, "Smoke on the Water". December 10 – Frank Zappa breaks his leg after being pushed off the stage by a deranged fan at The Rainbow in London. December 31 – Bob Dylan makes a surprise appearance for the encore of The Band's New Year's Eve concert at the Academy of Music, joining the group for four songs including "Like a Rolling Stone". Lancelot Layne's "Blown Away" is the beginning of rapso music. Ann Wilson joins Heart, which moves to Vancouver, British Columbia. Kenny Rogers and The First Edition issued their Greatest Hits album, which will sell over 4 million copies worldwide by the end of the decade. They also star in their own TV series Rollin' on the River which runs until 1974. Brad Whitford replaces Ray Tabano on rhythm guitar in Aerosmith Elton John has first international hit with "Your Song". Donna Summer begins her recording career under her real name of Donna Gaines. Rick Springfield leaves Zoot for a highly successful solo career. Rick Wakeman joins Yes. Conrad Schnitzler leaves Kluster, which dissolves. The Beach Boys musician Daryl Dragon and singer Toni Tennille meet and begin to perform together as Captain & Tennille. The American Musical Instrument Society is founded.
Bands formed See Musical groups established in 1971
Bands reformed The Crystals
Bands disbanded Booker T. & the M.G.'s Derek and the Dominos The Haunted The Monkees
Albums released January DayAlbumArtistNotes4 Coal Miner's Daughter Loretta Lynn -7 Elvis Country (I'm 10,000 Years Old) Elvis Presley 11 Chicago III Chicago – Pearl Janis Joplin –13 Deliverin' Poco Live15 Hooker 'n Heat John Lee Hooker and Canned Heat –– Dust Dust Debut Good Taste Is Timeless The Holy Modal Rounders - Greatest Hits Kenny Rogers and The First Edition Compilation Jerry Butler Sings Assorted Sounds Jerry Butler – Little Feat Little Feat Debut Live in Cook County Jail B. B. King Live Lucifer's Friend Lucifer's Friend Debut Melting Pot Booker T & the MG's – Nantucket Sleighride Mountain – Sister Kate Kate Taylor Debut Straight Life Freddie Hubbard – There Must Be More to Love Than This Jerry Lee Lewis – You're Not Alone Dion – ZZ Top's First Album ZZ Top Debut
February DayAlbumArtistNotes1 Love's Lines, Angles and Rhymes The 5th Dimension – if 2 If –2 The Point! Harry Nilsson – The Song of Singing Chick Corea –3 Love Story Andy Williams –5 Once Again Barclay James Harvest –8 Two of a Kind Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton –9 Carly Simon Carly Simon Debut10 Church of Anthrax John Cale and Terry Riley – Tapestry Carole King – Love Story Johnny Mathis –12SalisburyUriah Heep15 The Golden Streets of Glory Dolly Parton -19 The Yes Album Yes –22 If I Could Only Remember My Name David Crosby Solo Debut24 One Way... or Another Cactus – Jack Johnson Miles Davis –26 Straight, Clean and Simple Anne Murray –– Album II Loudon Wainwright III – The Baby Huey Story: The Living Legend Baby Huey Debut Crazy Horse Crazy Horse – Fourth Soft Machine – The Hawk Ronnie Hawkins – Jack-Knife Gypsy Paul Siebel – James Taylor and the Original Flying Machine James Taylor – Journey in Satchidananda Alice Coltrane - Live at the Sex Machine Kool & the Gang Live Long Player Faces – Mary Mary Travers Solo Debut The Polite Force Egg – Ring of Hands Argent – Rita Coolidge Rita Coolidge Debut Stoney End Barbra Streisand – The Taker/Tulsa Waylon Jennings – Up to Date The Partridge Family -
March DayAlbumArtistNotes1 Search and Nearness The Rascals –5 The Cry of Love Jimi Hendrix Compilation Friends Elton John Soundtrack Bryter Layter Nick Drake Drake, Gabrielle, Nick Drake: Remembered for a While, Little, Brown and Company, 2014. Stone Age The Rolling Stones Compilation9 Love It to Death Alice Cooper Straight Records; re-issued on Warner Bros. June '7115 La Biblia Vox Dei –16 Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon James Taylor –19 Aqualung Jethro Tull – Songs of Love and Hate Leonard Cohen – Wildlife Mott the Hoople –22 You'll Never Walk Alone Elvis Presley Compilation24 Histoire de Melody Nelson Serge Gainsbourg –26 Percy The Kinks Soundtrack– Al Green Gets Next to You Al Green –Indian SummerIndian SummerBritish Prog Band Alpha Centauri Tangerine Dream - Back to the Roots John Mayall – Black Oak Arkansas Black Oak Arkansas Debut Dave Mason & Cass Elliot Dave Mason & Cass Elliot – Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire Debut Electronically Tested Mungo Jerry – Manna Bread - A Message to the People Buddy Miles – Moments Boz Scaggs – Motel Shot Delaney & Bonnie – Mwandishi Herbie Hancock - Please to See the King Steeleye Span – Present Company Janis Ian – Rat On! Swamp Dogg – Rock On Humble Pie – She Used to Wanna Be a Ballerina Buffy St. Marie – Split The Groundhogs - Tanz der Lemminge Amon Düül II – Teenage Head Flamin' Groovies – This Is Madness The Last Poets - With Friends and Neighbors Alex Taylor Debut Woodstock Two Various Artists -
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