By the mid-‘70s, pop music began to get more than a little bit weird, but there was still plenty of great stuff lingering on the periphery of popular trends.

Two of my all-time favorite albums turned forty this month, and they both sound as fresh to me now as they did when I first heard them. When “In the Dark” and “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now” were released in September 1974, I was a fifteen year-old kid looking for something that I loved, but I also wanted to find music that would project a musical taste that gave me a unique identity, something apart from the huge acts that dominated the playlists of most classmates.

It took me a year to discover both of them, but they completely changed my taste and altered the way that I thought about pop music. These albums affected me in a profoundly powerful way, so much so that I still feel a strong tie to Toots and the Maytals and Little Feat (as they existed in the seventies). Here are a few reasons for my lifelong passion;

Got to Be There - Toots and the Maytals (“In the Dark”)

In the Dark - Toots and the Maytals (“In the Dark”)

Time Tough - Toots and the Maytals (“In the Dark”)

54-46 Was My Number - Toots and the Maytals (“In the Dark”)

Rock and Roll Doctor – Little Feat (“Feats Don’t Fail Me Now”)

Oh Atlanta – Little Feat (“Feats Don’t Fail Me Now”)

Feats Don’t Fail Me Now – Little Feat (“Feats Don’t Fail Me Now”)

The Fan – Little Feat (“Feats Don’t Fail Me Now”)

Cold, Cold, Cold/Tripe Face Boogie – Little Feat (“Feats Don’t Fail Me Now”)