1970 Albums

King Crimson imploded after their US tour in late 1969. Ian McDonald and Michael Giles had too much, too soon and would depart to record an eponymous record. Similarly, Greg Lake had met up with Keith Emerson while on tour, and agreed to form a band upon their return to the UK. Thus, Robert Fripp and Pete Sinfield were left with the reins of the band, and faced the task of recording the follow-up-though both Lake and Giles did make contributions to the album, with the latter's brother Peter Giles adding bass. With all the upheaval, little new material was written.

United Artists released Last Exit following Steve Winwood's departure to Blind Faith. A collection of live tracks and singles, it rose to No. 19 in the US. However Blind Faith barely got started before it ended; and Winwood's next move, tentatively titled Mad Shadows, was originally conceived as a solo record. With the addition of Jim Capaldi and Chris Wood, the album quickly became a Traffic release, and stands as one of the band's finest recordings.

Following the breakup of The Nice in March 1970, bassist and vocalist Lee Jackson turned to Tony Stratton-Smith and Charisma for his next project, Jackson Heights. A debut album was recorded with a few friends, but a band never materialised and despite touring with Charisma labelmates, he was eventually dropped by the label. It’s a shame because Kings Progress is a good album, full of gentle acoustic songs sung by Jackson. The lively “Mr. Screw” kicks off, but the longer “Since I Last Saw You” evokes a darker mood, more representative of the album.