1971 was a wonderful year for many reasons. It was the year I turned 21 and the year my first daughter (Beatle Baby Wendy) was born. It was also the year my second daughter (the irrepressible KJ) was conceived … although I won’t go into details on that. 😉
On a musical note, it was the year two epic songs were released on the same date … November 8th.
I was tempted to make this a triple-play because on that same date, Elvis Presley also recorded a song … but I just couldn’t bring myself to adding ‘Merry Christmas, Baby’. So all you get today are two genuinely iconic (and very long) classics.

On November 8, 1971 (48 years ago today!), Don McLean released this classic (and long) single off his ‘American Pie’ album. The single was the #1 U.S. hit for four weeks in 1972 and also topped the charts in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. The song was listed as the #5 song on the Recording Industry Association of America project “Songs of the Century”.

On November 8, 1971 (48 years ago today!), Led Zeppelin released the ‘Led Zeppelin IV’ album. The album contained two charting singles (‘Black Dog’ and ‘Rock and Roll’) but the highlight was a song that was not released as a single. It is considered by many as the “greatest rock song ever recorded.”