1971 in music

List of notable events in music that took place in the year 1971.

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 stabbing death 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. 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. 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. May 12 – Mick Jagger marries Bianca de Macías in Saint-Tropez, France, in a Roman Catholic ceremony. Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and their wives are among the wedding guests. June - Rafael Kubelík becomes music director of the Metropolitan Opera, New York, at the invitation of Göran Gentele, the new general manager.[1] 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 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. 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 and Cher Comedy Hour premieres on CBS.

August 14 - The Who release their fifth studio album Who's Next, reaching No. 1 in the UK and No. 1 in the US. 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. November 6 - Cher earned 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 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 Monkees See also Musical groups disestablished in 1971

Albums

 * 1) Tapestry Carole King

Published popular music
"The Age of Not Believing"    w.m. Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, from the film Bedknobs and Broomsticks "Always on My Mind"    w.m. Johnny Christopher, Mark James and Wayne Carson Thompson "American Pie"    w.m. Don McLean "And I Love You So"    w.m. Don McLean "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda    w.m. Eric Bogle (written) "Baby I'm-a Want You"     w.m. David Gates "Been on a Train"     w.m. Laura Nyro "Ben"     w. Don Black m. Walter Scharf "Brown Earth"     w.m. Laura Nyro "The Candy Man"     w.m. Leslie Bricusse & Anthony Newley, from the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory "Day By Day"     w. John Michael Tebelak m. Stephen Schwartz "Eagle Rock"     w.m. Ross Wilson "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" w.m. Barry Gibb and Robin Gibb "I Am Woman"     w. Helen Reddy m. Ray Burton "I Don't Know How to Love Him" w. Tim Rice m. Andrew Lloyd Webber. Introduced by Yvonne Elliman in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing"     w.m. B. Backer, B. Davis, R. Cook & R. Greenaway "I'm Still Here"     w.m. Stephen Sondheim "Imagine w.m. John Lennon "Kiss an Angel Good Morning"    w.m. Ben Peters "Knock Three Times"    w.m. Irwin Levine "The Last Farewell"    w.m. Roger Whittaker & Ron A. Webster "Losing My Mind"    w.m. Stephen Sondheim "Maggie May" w.m. Rod Stewart and Martin Quittenton "Pure Imagination"    w.m. Leslie Bricusse & Anthony Newley, from the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory "Riders on the Storm"    w.m. The Doors "Stairway to Heaven"    w. Robert Plant m. Jimmy Page "Substitutiary Locomotion"    w.m. Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, from the film Bedknobs and Broomsticks "The Summer Knows"     w. Alan Bergman & Marilyn Bergman m. Michel Legrand from the film Summer of '42 "Those Were the Days" w. Lee Adams, m. Charles Strouse, from the TV series All in the Family "Too Many Mornings"    w.m. Stephen Sondheim "Avec le Temps" – Dalida "Mamy Blue" – Dalida "Queen of the Hours" w.m. Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood

Awards
Grammy Awards Grammy Awards of 1971

Country Music Association Awards Entertainer of the Year: Charley Pride Top Male Vocalist: Charley Pride Top Female Vocalist: Lynn Anderson Top Vocal Group: Osborne Brothers Top Instrumental Group: Danny Davis & the Nashville Brass Top Vocal Duo: Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton Single of the Year: "Help Me Make It Through The Night" – Sammi Smith Song of the Year: "Easy Loving" – Freddie Hart Album of the Year: I Won't Mention It Again – Ray Price Musician of the Year: Jerry Reed

Eurovision Song Contest Eurovision Song Contest 1971 Séverine (of Monaco) for "Un Banc, Un Arbre, Une Rue"