DBT #414 50 Year Anniversary of 1976 Music Vol I
It was in September 2024 when I first noted that some of my favorite high school music memories were turning 50 years old. My vinyl collection is truly heavily filled with albums released during 1974-76 when I was attending Lincoln High School in Manitowoc WI. If I didn't buy them back then, I've continually added them through out the years bringing the number of records well over 50 in each year. I started by creating two volumes of twenty five songs for 1974. Only one song from each record, and then in January of 2025, I released FOUR Volumes of songs from 1975, that allowed some records to have two songs and I think the total albums covered was over 75. For my senior year, 1976 I'm planning on just two volumes of 25 again. While that leaves some good songs off the list, it focused me on making sure I curated only albums that meant something to me. (Sorry I have an AC/DC album from that year, but I just never was too much of a fan so that and others won't show up.) These playlists are pretty long and combined are FOUR hours of music. There will be a YouTube Playlist at the end that will have all 50 songs, and you can come back anytime and hit shuffle to the playlist and take a walk back in time.
First up, in 1976 I was dating Donna Bowe, and a good friend of mine Steve Sauer would double date with his girlfriend Sue Cisler. As of this post, only Sue has left us too soon a few years back, and while I have lost track of Donna; I heard she had a great life and recently her long time husband passed away. Here we were at prom; now I am short but it was dumb to put the shortest guy on the slope down in the driveway. You got to love the Davey Jones hair I was sporting. Unlike today, I rarely have any pictures of us back then; no iPhones then.
So now that you are placed back into 1976, here's the first 25 song list (I'm very curious if I will find all of these in YouTube to share....) AND since there is likely no Bandcamp out there it will be all YouTube videos and I'll make sure I add a Discogs link for you to put it on you Wantlist.
1) The Pretender - Jackson Browne
Oh boy I love this album and I think it was my wife's originally as we merged our library and that would have been after 1978. Dang no wonder I love her so much. So many favorite songs on that record, but I stuck with the title track; plus where I love to draw in a live cut I'm also going to focus on the studio version for this playlist to keep it more authentic.
2) Slow Train Through Georgia - Norman Blake
Pretty sure it took me into the early 80's before I started loving and collecting Norman Blake's music and "Whiskey Before Breakfast" is one of his best.
3) Cherokee Fiddle - Michael Murphy
I added this 1976 album "Flowing Free Forever" early in 2025 to now have the first six records that Michael released. This song is one I've listened to a bunch of times since and yes it should be in my next Whiskey playlist, but I enjoyed the whole record.
4) Riding in the Country - Kate Wolf
I bought Kate's really first solo album "Back Roads" back in 2022; ha it's even was signed in 1985. Not sure what I paid for it, but I would never part with it.
5) Heart Like a Wheel - Kate & Anna McGarrigle
Another debut rookie "Self Titled" release that I picked up early in 2025, and to my amazement and joy; I found Pitchfork highlights a significant album from the past every Sunday and they reviewed it with a 9.5 rating. Yes I have subscribed to reading their posts. Linda had released this and Anna's song two years earlier on an album named appropriately, "Heart Like a Wheel"
6) Erin's Green Shore - Joe Hickerson
Both Volumes I and II of Drive Dull Care Away were released in 1976, but for curation I just picked one song and I'll consider it like a double album. I bought them early in my folk period 78-85 from Fritz at the Golden Ring in Manitowoc like many, many of other records in my library. If you are going to venture out and buy one, Volume II is better by far. 100% traditional music collected by the historian and musician. Joe doesn't have the prettiest voice, but he gets the job done on these songs. His finger picking inspired me to mimic his slow melodic melodies with my thumb. I would never be a Chet Atkins, but a Joe I was close. I'm sharing the instrument video here but not in the playlist below.
7) My Head Hurts, My Feet Stink, and I Don't Love Jesus - Jimmy Buffett
The 1974 "A1A" was a significant album in my youth, and "Havana Daydreamin'" came out two years later; I didn't own it until later in my life and has many a good song on it including this gem.
8) Faithless Love - J.D. Souther
Too funny, just this year my friend Bill Poss posted out of the blue how he was so disappointed by "Black Rose" album. While I don't get it, every one is allowed their opinion. It does have two songs that Linda made more popular than him, this song and "Simple Man, Simple Dream"
Yes early in 2025, I finally added a record from I guy I saw listed on so many other records. "Southwest" is a very nice debut rookie album. Just look at his stats, 9 albums, 40 appearances, and 681 credits; he was a very busy and talented man.
10) Race Among the Ruins - Gordon Lightfoot
I think I owned "Summertime Dream" also in an 8 track because I remember playing it while driving out to Donna's house. It either broke or I threw it away, boy I hated 8 tracks. Sure this album has the Edmund Fitzgerald on it, but after a while, that song really bores me though it's a great story song.
11) Crackerbox Palace - George Harrison
Both volume one and two of this playlist will have a former Beatle release, George's comes to my library from a CD called "Best Of Dark Horse 1976-1989" but I do have the album "Thirty Three & 1/3" on my wantlist. Here's a first for this playlist, an official video with studio music. George is so cute in the video of course official video weren't very common in 1976, the video came out in 2004.
12) Twist and Shout - Elvin Bishop
Another 1974 release "Let It Flow" meant so much to my youth that in 2024 I bought "Hometown Boy Makes Good" It's ok, but hard to top a favorite so many years later. I loved this cover of a Beatles cover of a song written by Phil Medley and Bert Russell. Enjoy it, it lives such a different life with a Raggae beat rather than the Beatles rock cover. Funny I didn't have Elvin pegged for that, but he did have some nice clean lead guitar in it too.
13) Seeing the Elephant - Debbie McClatchy
I had a single album from Debbie during the 80's, but now I have FIVE of them. She is so good and I love the 1976 one that she did with the Red Clay Ramblers called nothing more than "Debbie McClatchy With The Red Clay Ramblers" I probably bought it because it had the song "You were only fucking, while I was making love" but I also love the ramblers and they will appear in volume two. I picked this great story song, and yikes it's my first one I need to add to YouTube for you to listen to it. (sorry for the low resolution but uploading from home, the audio is all you need.) Now I'll have to do an African Safari playlist to use it again.
14) Cowboy Peyton Place - Sir Doug & the Texas Tornadoes
This May I bought "Texas Rock for Country Rollers" my second Doug Sahm record in two years. I didn't know much about him until I saw he had Dylan on the first record I got "Doug Sahm and Band" At this point, I would not hesitate to buy more from him, and it's sad he died early at 58 years old.
15) Hobo Bill's Last Ride - Corky Siegel
Yep I got this "Self Titled" solo debut gem in 2025 on a trip to Dr. Frued's in my hometown of Manitowoc; and then I ended up seeing Corky for the first time ever in Bayfield during Mary Mack's North Star Comedy Show. This looks like audio from a best of release, but it's the same and yes that's Vassar Clements on the fiddle. Same guy that's on my favorite Richard Betts record "Highway Call" which was in my 1974 collection.
16) East Texas Wind - Comfort Station
I traded a rare album import for this digital album "Comfort Station" When it comes to collecting in the secondary market, I don't think of this as robbing anyone, but more feeding the desire to buy more old stuff that keeps many record stores going today. The band only put out one album and they were from Minnesota if Discogs is complete and accurate. They do a pretty good song about Texas if they were from Minnesota.
17) Black Bean Soup - David Soul
I separated the two actors in my 1976 playlist, one per volume; so David Soul who I would have known best for his part of Starsky & Hutch gets volume one. You'll have to guess who is in volume two for now.
I thought I had shared this song from his "Self Titled" album before but it must be on a playlist I haven't shared yet... and you are thinking to yourself, "Dave already over shares, and he has more?"
Too funny, this fan video took some clips from the show to put behind the song.
18) The Year Of The Cat - Al Stewart
The "Year of the Cat" followed his 1975 release that would easily be in my top favorites of all time, "Modern Times" While Cat had some nice songs, the hit was probably the best. I always loved how this song becomes 6 minute 40 seconds of smooth with lead melody showing up from a piano, to a cello, then an acoustic lead guitar, to a raucous electric backed with an orchestra to finally a sax. Well done over produced excellence, and it worked.
19) The Troublemaker - Willie Nelson
Willie had two releases in 1976 because his old label RCA snuck one in too. "The Troublemaker" was his Gospel release on Columbia. This is such a great song, written by two people that I have no idea who they are, Bruce Bellan and David Sommerville. I didn't see where they or The Four Freshmen had recorded it anywhere. Some day I'll find the answer and post about it here.
20) Mohammed's Radio - Warren Zevon
I blame the show "Roadies" for my zeal to get this song into my library, but now I'd love to get the song that Jackson Browne sang in episode 10, they picked the "Willin" for the Jackson Browne song on the CD. For now I have the digital song I bought, but Warren's 1976 "Self Titled" album is on my wantlist.
Not sure what inspired me to buy just this song for Tom's "Small Change" back in 2015, it might have been my son when we shared an iTunes account because he had some great avant garde tastes at times. So today I put it on my wantlist for the next vinyl shopping day; I'll just step right up.
22) Beer Drinker's Waltz - Tom T Hall
Picked up this "Faster Horses" country gem cheap in 2022, and don't think Tom doesn't belong in this curated list; I have great memories of his music and this has a great story to it.
23) American Girl - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
So when this song came on the car, my wife said really Tom Petty was releasing music in 1976? Well because this song came off of greatest hit collection cd, I had to check if it was accurate. "Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers" debuted in 1976 and this was the last cut on the album. I'm putting it on the wantlist, but sorry I'll be looking for a copy in the $10 range and not $50 and above.
24) On and On - Stephen Bishop
Oh my I love this song, and the "Careless" record is perfect to have in the library, so smooth.
25) Rock Salt & Nails - The Piper Road Spring Band
Wow, bought this debut "Self titled" album back in my youth because it was one of the first jam bluegrass bands in Wisconsin, who would have known later in my folk period I would learn who Bruce Phillips was that they were covering. (Even in 2022 Ira Wolf had Bruce to be an 1800's writer, and I DIDN't have a clue I owned this song already, yep video'd at the Storyhill fest..) Plus, this makes the second song in the first 25 that I needed to upload to YouTube to share the song.
Ok this is the end of Volume I and there is a YouTube playlist that will play all these in order... CLICK Here. I'm planning to release this January 1st, and boy it took time to put together so I'm sure in the first part of January Volume II will be released. I'm thinking if you are hooked into the journey back to the 70's you might enjoy the 50th anniversary post for 1975 and 1974. Here are all the links.
- Stop over to the Review page to my other most spinned and loved albums.
- Browse the rest of the blogs by stopping at this "Theme Page."
- Enjoy Tune Tuesday which brings you one song from a past blog post.
- See what other post have been most popular recently with our Stats Page.
- Find out who in the world thinks he has the authority to write this blog in the About.
- Let me answer why you won't find the playlists on Spotify here.
- Finally, the Mission page explains why there is no advertising cluttering the page.
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