I was just reading a review of a new book about 1971 as “the year that rock exploded” which says:
“In his new book, Never a Dull Moment,Hepworth makes the case that the music from 1971 was the result of “a huge explosion of creativity in a very short period of time” and lives on in the present like most old music does not.
Some of the best albums of all time were recorded and released in 1971, including:
- “Sticky Fingers” by the Rolling Stone,
- “The Yes Album” by Yes,
- “Cry of Love” by Jimi Hendrix,
- “Aqualung” by Jethro Tull,
- “Imagine” by John Lennon,
- “Inner Mounting Flame” by the Mahavishnu Orchestra,
- “Pearl” by Janis Joplin,
- “The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys” by Traffic,
- “Led Zeppelin IV” by Led Zeppelin,
- “Blue” by Joni Mitchell,
- “Mud Slide Slim” by James Taylor,
- “Tapestry” by Carole King.
You can read the whole list on the blog of David Hepworth who write the book. As Hepworth points out, not only was an enormous amount of fantastic albums produced, the artists themselves kept pumping out brilliance into the world.
When there’s a big shift like this there is always a change in the astrological climate. In December of 1970, Neptune entered the sign of Sagittarius. Neptune is a tranformational planet: it inspires creativity and divine wisdom; it urges us to explore the realms beyond the ordinary and takes us to great heights. By blurring our material vision it demands that we look within and outside of the material world. It can also cloud our vision, facilitate our addictions and generally create confusion, delusion and illusion.
Neptune is also associated with creativity and the arts as well as popular culture. With Neptune in Sagittarius, the sign of expansion and exploration, any boundaries or limits disappear and creativity abounds. Those born with Neptune in Sagittarius, between 1971 and 1984, have this archetype in their charts and have access to a bit of this magic.
When a transformational (outer) planet first enters a sign our experience of that shift is most powerful. For example, when Pluto (destruction and regeneration) first entered Capricorn in 2008, the Capricornian principle of contraction and responsibility almost immediately created a global recession and financial contraction that while still in effect today is not quite as intense. Neptune’s first entry into Sagittarius in 1971 galvanized this flood of creativity and inspiration that resulted in some of the finest music that we still listen to today.
Not everyone agrees that 1971 was the best year in music. An entire website is devoted to this question, and its members voted 1969 and 1967 as being the top two music years and I have to say I agree that this period of time marked the greatest innovation in music. But in terms of sheer volume of great albums being pumped out, there certainly is a strong case to be made for 1971, and Neptune in Sagittarius!
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