7th Day of Christmas Past
1972
There was much unrest in the world in 1972. Palestenian terrorists held 11 Israeli athletes hostage at the Olympics in Munich. All of the hostages and all but three of the terrorists were killed during a rescue attempt. Tensions between Britain and Northern Ireland were marked by almost continuous violence in both countries. President Nixon announced that no new draftees would be sent to Vietnam.
Beginnings
In November, Carly Simon and James Taylor got married in Manhattan. Ten years and two children later, they were divorced.In December, Billy Joel was struggling to get his career off the ground. In desperation, he took a job as a lounge pianist, using the pseudonym Bill Martin. The song he wrote that was based on that experience, “Piano Man” was what finally triggered his breakthrough.
Endings
There was tragic irony involved in the November death of Allman Brothers Band bassist Berry Oakley. He was killed in a motorcycle accident just three blocks away from where band founder Duane Allman had died in a motorcycle accident a year earlier.New York Dolls embarked on their first tour of England during the 1972 holidays. During that tour, drummer Billy Murcia died as a result of a mixture of drugs and alcohol.
Helping Hand From Ziggy Stardust
On Christmas Eve 1972, David Bowie was playing a holiday concert at London’s Rainbow Theater and celebrating the success of his Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust. He had also co-produced Lou Reed’s breakthrough solo album, and had almost single-handedly revived the career of Mott the Hoople by contributing the title song for their All the Young Dudes album.In Trouble With the Law
The previous year, Grand Funk Railroad had fired manager Terry Knight. Nasty litigation followed over royalties and rights to use the band’s name. In late December 1972, Knight stormed a GFR concert with a court order to seize $1-million of the band’s assets. Eventually, the band would keep its name, but had to pay Knight a big monetary settlement.It wasn’t drugs but it was speed that got Bill Wyman (Rolling Stones) in legal trouble. In November, he paid a fine and gave up his driver’s license after getting caught driving his Mercedes too fast.
At the Movies
In December of ’72 Bob Dylan started filming his role in “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.” A few days earlier, “Born To Boogie” starring T. Rex and directed by Ringo Starr premiered.On the Charts
- Moody Blues hit #1 on the U.S. album chart with Seventh Sojourn and held that position for five weeks
- Cat Stevens spent three weeks with a #1 album, Catch Bull At Four
- Grateful Dead’s highest charting album so far, Europe '72 is released, eventually reaching #23
- Deep Purple is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as “Loudest Band,” receives a gold album for Machine Head, and releases Made in Japan (Live)
On the Radio
Moody Blues, Jethro Tull, Cat Stevens and Grateful Dead have Top 10 albums on both the Big D Sound Survey at WDRC in Hartford and the Top 15 Long Players at WMEX Boston.
More 1972 Holiday Season Album Releases
Genesis – FoxtrotSteely Dan – Can’t Buy a Thrill
Lou Reed – Transformer
- 1st Day Of Christmas Past - 1966
- 2nd Day Of Christmas Past - 1967
- 3rd Day Of Christmas Past - 1968
- 4th Day Of Christmas Past - 1969
- 5th Day Of Christmas Past - 1970
- 6th Day Of Christmas Past - 1971
- 7th Day of Christmas Past - 1972
- 8th Day Of Christmas Past - 1973
- 9th Day Of Christmas Past - 1974
- 10th Day Of Christmas Past - 1975
- 11th Day Of Christmas Past - 1976
- 12th Day Of Christmas Past - 1977
