ROCK ON 1970 and ULTIMATE SEVENTIES: 1970

Here are two different perceives on the music of 1970. Rock On 1970 includes B. B. King’s classic “The Thrill is Gone.” But B. J. Thomas’s “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid might drive some of you to annoyance. I haven’t heard Eddie Holman’s “Hey There Lonely Girl” in decades. And then there’s Brian Hyland’s iconic “Gypsy Woman.” GRADE: B

ULTIMATE SEVENTIES 1970 is the first volume of a 10-CD Time-Life set. To my ears, this CD compilation does a better job at capturing the essence of 1970 from the lava lamp on the cover to the song selection. The first two songs, CCR’s “Up Around the Bend” (now the background music to a Ford truck commercial) and Edwin Starr’s “War” remind me of 1970. Love Van Morrison’s “Domino.” I remember Three Dog Night’s “Mama Told Me (Not To Come)” being on heavy rotation in 1970 on the radio stations I listened to.

And, there are just more hits on ULTIMATE SEVENTIES 1970: Santana’s “Black Magic Woman,” James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain,” Erie Clapton’s “After Midnight,” and Smokey Robinson and The Miracle’s “Tears of a Clown.”

Do you remember these song from 53 years ago? Any favorites? GRADE: B+

TRACK LIST:

1The Shocking Blue*–Venus2:58
2Brian HylandGypsy Woman2:33
3B.B. KingThe Thrill Is Gone5:25
4SugarloafGreen-Eyed Lady3:36
5Ray StevensEverything Is Beautiful3:27
6B.J. ThomasRaindrops Keep Falling On My Head2:56
7Norman GreenbaumSpirit In The Sky4:00
8The HolliesHe Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother4:14
9Three Dog NightMama Told Me (Not To Come)3:17
10Eddie HolmanHey There Lonely Girl3:33
11The Grass RootsTemptation Eyes2:37
12SteppenwolfHey Lawdy Mama2:54

TRACK LIST:

1Creedence Clearwater RevivalUp Around The Bend
2Edwin StarrWar
3Van MorrisonDomino
4Three Dog NightMama Told Me (Not To Come)
5The JaggerzThe Rapper
6The Grateful DeadUncle John’s Band
7Norman GreenbaumSpirit In The Sky
8Joe CockerThe Letter
9SantanaBlack Magic Woman
10The MomentsLove On A Two-Way Street
11The HolliesHe Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother
12The Jackson 5ABC
13The Guess WhoAmerican Woman
14Eric ClaptonAfter Midnight
15SugarloafGreen-Eyed Lady
16James Taylor Fire And Rain
17Smokey Robinson And The Miracles*–The Tears Of A Clown
18Bee GeesLonely Days
19Blues ImageRide Captain Ride
20FreeAll Right Now
21Sly & The Family StoneThank You (Falletin Me Be Mice Elf Agin)

18 thoughts on “ROCK ON 1970 and ULTIMATE SEVENTIES: 1970

  1. Todd Mason

    Well, the BJ Thomas does have the most cutesy-inane lyrics, but for whatever reason is less intolerable than many of the hitz/misses of many of your ’70s compilations…Thomas proving he’s not the wit someone told him he was…but, generally, both of these albums are better than many of your recent examples. The second album loses points for including a Bee Gees, and the even more pathetic Guess Who, with their most annoying hit (particularly with the full-cut prelude of a man breathing heavily as if having sex with one of those much-maligned American Women)…Sugarloaf’s being the worst they share. Nearly all the rest are at least listenable…

    Reply
  2. Deb

    I know all of these songs—and really like (and still listen to) many of them. Favorites include “Fire & Rain”, “Domino” (Van at his unintelligible best, lol), “Tears of A Clown”, “Venus”, “Up Around the Bend”, and “Gypsy Women” (written by Curtis Mayfield, and originally performed by the Impressions, but I think Hyland injects a deep sense of melancholy into his version). Yes, there are a few clunkers (the execrable “Everything Is Beautiful” will surely be in heavy rotation on Hell’s jukebox), but for the most part these songs are a good representative sampling of the music I was listening to in the early 1970s.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Deb, I was surprised at the two different perspectives on these two 1970s compilation CDs. I figured you knew all these songs. “Heavy rotation on Hell’s jukebox” will be a line I may borrow…

      Reply
      1. Deb

        In an odd moment of synchronicity, yesterday I was listening to one of the oldies channels as I was driving home from work, and the DJ announced that it was Van Morrison’s 78th birthday and played “Domino”!

        Feel free to use the “Hell’s jukebox” line. I’m sure all of us could come up with songs that should be included on it, lol.

      2. george Post author

        Deb, I knew Van Morrison was going to turn 78, but I didn’t know it was yesterday! One of my Hell’s Jukebox songs would be “Wildfire.”

  3. Fred Blosser

    These span the last semester of my sophomore year at WVU and the first semester of my junior year. Pretty representative Top 40 samples for the year. As a Three Dog Night selection, I’d prefer “Out in the Country,” but “Mama Told Me Not to Come” was bigger on the charts. No Delfonics/”Didn’t I Blow Your Mind”?

    Reply
  4. Jeff Meyerson

    Do I remember them? Does the Pope sh!t in the woods (as Lily Tomlin once asked)? Hell, yeah. I do not remember the Steppenwolf song from the first CD.

    Not only do I remember “Hey There Lonely Girl,” I remember the original “Hey There Lonely BOY” by Ruby & the Romantics, from 1963, a version I prefer.

    Overall, I much prefer the second group. “War” always makes me think of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry convinces Elaine that Tolstoy’s original title of WAR AND PEACE was really WAR – WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR? “Domino” (as in Fats, of course) is a favorite Van Morrison song. And I love the live version of Joe Cocker doing “The Letter.”

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Jeff, I had forgotten that Jerry convinced Elaine that Tolstoy’s original title of WAR AND PEACE was really WAR! And, like you, I’m a fan of Joe Cocker’s version of “The Letter.”

      Reply
      1. Wolf

        Me too!
        Joe is one of those guys who can give other people’s songs a new meaning.
        Just think of
        – She came in through the bathroom window
        – Bird on the wire
        I remember buying the LP Mad dogs and Englishmen and watching the movie – one of my all time favourites!

  5. Jeff Meyerson

    Oh, and we first saw BB King, doing “The Thrill is Gone” among others, at the Fillmore East, ca. 1969-1970.

    Reply
  6. Jerry+House

    Didn’t listen to much music in the early Seventies. I had graduated college, just got married, and began to raise a family. Liked B. B. King, CCR, Van Morrison, the Dead, and James Taylor. The rest left me with minor memories, if that.

    Reply

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