Cartoons Monday, Plus: The Best Albums of the Year (1975)?

Dylan and Joni and the question: Did J.D. Vance kill the Pope??

Greg Mitchell is the author of more than a dozen books and now writer/director of three award-winning films aired via PBS, including “Atomic Cover-up” and “Memorial Day Massacre.” Now watch trailer for acclaimed 2025 film “The Atomic Bowl.” Before all that, he was a longtime editor of the legendary Crawdaddy. You can still subscribe to this newsletter for FREE. Yes, we said FREE.

More on this later, but:

A few days ago, for the 50th anniversary, or something, Rolling Stone picked its “75 Best Albums of 1975.” Of course, this was during my Crawdaddy heyday so I am, or was, familiar with almost all on the list, and would certainly agree with “Blood on the Tracks” as #1. Of course, I would disagree with many of the others as being too high or low, and tax my brain to think of what’s missing (not as good a year as, say, 1973). There are far too many disappointing albums by established hitmakers or legends on the list—and recognized as such at the time. Here’s how they summarize the year:

On your radio, the year’s biggest hit was the Captain and Tennille’s “Love Will Keep Us Together.” We got timeless rock classics by legends like Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, Joni Mitchell, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, and Neil Young. We got cosmic funk from Parliament-Funkadelic. Freddie Mercury set a new record for the most Galileos in one song. Disco, punk, reggae, and metal were rising. Willie Nelson transformed outlaw country with Red Headed Stranger. Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined Fleetwood Mac.

Now, here’s an outtake from “Blood on the Tracks” that you may have never heard and might have been swapped out for “Meet Me in the Morning.” It’s “Call Letter Blues.”

Some may be surprised to learn that “The Hissing of Summer Lawns” from Joni Mitchell, high on the new list, was not well received by most reviewers and many fans at the time: Lyrics strong, music too “jazzy.” But “Don’t Interrupt the Sorrow” was always recognized as a great track. Here is her alternate version with some different lyrics and percussion.

Last week I recommended the new PBS “American Masters” bio on Art “Maus” Spiegelman. R. Crumb makes a number of appearances as he settles in for dinner conversation with Art. Today, Dwight Garner of The New York Times hails a new bio of the former “underground artist,” by Dan Nadel, which is titled “Crumb: A Cartoonist’s Life.” I was never a big fan of the stoned “comix” back in the late-60s and 1970s, though appreciated the posters with famous Crumb characters. Later I loved his popular drawings of Blues and Country legends from way back.

Anyway, this new attention made me wonder if Crumb had ever tackled Trump. Yes, he employed his Mr. Natural back in 2020.

And he even did a comic tale, withe his wife, first published, I believe, in The New York Review of Books, which opened this way:

Speaking of comics, if you missed this last night:

Vance Killed the Pope

Steve Brodner: