Best Selling Albums in USA in 1972

An interesting list. Some albums sell all of their copies in the year of release, others go on to sell a lot over a long period of time. Leon Russell’s ‘Carney’ is very much in the former category. I doubt many in 2021 would remember it was the 12th best selling album of the year or that Cheech & Chong were the 7th biggest seller. (Dave’s not here, man)

Led Zep’s fourth album, a veritable behemoth in the history of rock and one of the all-time most important releases managed to get to #13 in the second year of its release and was already shifting serious units.

The top seller from Neil Young was driven on by the two singles from the record, "Old Man", which peaked at No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "Heart of Gold", which reached No. 1. It was also a #1 in UK and went onto to sell around a million copies in the UK and over 4 million in USA

20. “Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway” - Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway (Atlantic)

19. “Joplin in Concert” – Janis Joplin (Columbia)

18. “Baby I’m a Want You” – Bread (Elektra)

17. “Thick as a Brick” – Jethro Tull (Reprise)

16. “Honky Chateau” – Elton John (Uni)

15. “Never a Dull Moment” – Rod Stewart (Mercury)

14. “The Concert For Bangladesh” – George Harrison & Friends (Apple)

13. “Led Zeppelin IV” - Led Zeppelin (Atlantic)

12. “Carney” – Leon Russell (Shelter)

11. “Chicago V” - Chicago (Columbia)

10. “Exile on Main Street” – Rolling Stones (Rolling Stones)

9. “Nilsson Schmilsson” – Harry Nilsson (RCA)

8. “Paul Simon” - Paul Simon (Columbia)

7. “Big Bambu” – Cheech & Chong (A&M)

6. “First Take” – Roberta Flack (Atlantic)

5. “America” - America (Warner Bros.)

4. “Carole King Music” - Carole King (Ode)

3. “Fragile” – Yes (Atlantic)

2. “American Pie” – Don McLean (United Artists)

1. “Harvest” – Neil Young (Reprise)