“Moody Woman” #24 7/26/1969

Jerry Butler had a number of successful collaborations with Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff and/or Thom Bell. That Philly connection worked out well for the Iceman, but this was Jerry’s last Top 20 pop hit. Fear not, though. He had quite a run on the R&B/soul music charts all throughout the 1970’s.

“My Pledge Of Love” #14 7/26/1969

Another one-hit wonder, this one by the Joe Jeffrey Group. He changed his real last name to avoid confusion with pre-rock and roll pop star Jo Stafford. Joe might have had a second hit, except his version of “My Baby Loves Lovin’“ was beaten out by the British studio group White Plains, fronted by Tony Burrows. Joe’s version only got to #115. Video looks to be from a 60’s Brazilian TV dance show, subtitled in Portuguese and complete with “Dirty Dancing” moves.

“Mother Popcorn (Pt. 1)” #11 7/26/1969

By now, James Brown was the undisputed ruler of the world of funk music. This was on ode to big booty long before Sir Mix-A-Lot. JB milked this for all he could, recording a number of singles with the word “Popcorn” in them. Aerosmith had a version on their late 90’s live “Bootleg” album. Dang, but this is funky.

“Baby I Love You” (Andy Kim) #9 7/26/1969

The first Top 10 single for Andy Kim was a remake of the Ronettes’ 1963 followup to “Be My Baby.” It reached #1 in Canada and garnered him a Juno (their version of a Grammy) for Best Male Vocalist. Andy had gotten out of the biz in the 2000’s until fellow Canuck Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies talked him into performing again. Love that solo on the Wurlitzer organ. Reminds me of the roller rink.

“My Cherie Amour” #4 7/26/1969

This started out as the flip to Stevie Wonder’s “I Don’t Know Why” but radio stations began playing this side of the 45 and it took off. Stevie originally titled the song “Oh My Marcia” but changed it when Marcia was no longer in the picture. Like so many other Motown releases, the label sat on this for over a year. In this case they said Stevie had some vocal issues. Beats me.

“Crystal Blue Persuasion” #2 7/26/1969

The seventh Top 10 record from Tommy James and the Shondells, like their previous “Sweet Cherry Wine,” was influenced by Tommy’s rediscovery of his Christian beliefs. He said it came from the Book of Revelation, though the words of the title weren’t necessarily in that order. Tommy said the band passed on Woodstock because they didn’t want to travel 6,000 miles from a working vacation in Hawaii to play at a New York pig farm. In hindsight he said that was a mistake. Duhhhh.

“I Love You More Today” #1 Country 7/19/1969

This week’s #1 country record came from Conway Twitty. It was his third #1 and the fourth of his 29 straight Top 5 country hits. Not bad for a guy who was never inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. And yes, Harold Jenkins took his stage name from a map when he spotted Conway, Arkansas and Twitty, Texas. Cosmic, man.

“Feelin’ Alright” (1969 issue - Joe Cocker) #69 7/19/1969

This did way better on re-issue on 1972, making the Top 40; here’s the first release of Joe Cocker’s take on this rock standard. Artie Butler played the piano with that distinctive intro. Trivia: Artie did the organ riff at the end of both “Society’s Child” (Janis Ian) and “Indian Reservation” (Raiders). Those two endings kinda sound alike. Carol Kaye of the Wrecking Crew was on bass, and congas were by Laudir de Oliveira, part of Chicago for a few years, notably on “Call On Me.”

“Listen To The Band” #63 7/19/1969

Apparently there were three versions of this one. The first was from an April 1969 TV special “33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee,” Peter Tork’s last appearance with the group, save for a few reunion gigs. The second, heard here and actually recorded earlier, became their first A-side with Mike Nesmith on lead vocals. The third was done by Nesmith’s 1970’s solo project, the First National Band.

“But It’s Alright” (1969 reissue) #45 7/19/1969

At times, records are re-released just to try and make a quick buck. This 1966 Top 5 R&B hit for J.J. Jackson had been recorded on the small Calla label. When Warner Brothers acquired the Calla catalog in 1969, WB reissued the single but it didn’t do nearly as well. Video is from “Where The Action Is” during the song’s first go-round. J.J. had some moves for a big guy.

“Memphis Underground” #44 7/19/1969

Here’s a real North-South collaboration featuring some of New York’s top jazz musicians of the late 60’s recording in Memphis with most of the pickers who worked on Elvis’s recent LP’s. Flautist Herbie Mann fronted the conglomeration with this instrumental. Definitely a funky Memphis vibe here.

“Love Me Tonight” #13 7/19/1969

One that revitalized Tom Jones’ American chart career; his last few singles hadn’t done that well over here. Tom would have a #1 country hit in 1977 with “Say You’ll Stay Until Tomorrow” and re-did Prince’s “Kiss” in the late 80’s. He also was an original coach on the British version of “The Voice.” Nice career recovery there.

“Color Him Father” #7 7/19/1969

The Winstons were an interracial one-hit wonder from Washington, DC with a cool take on being a step-dad. At one time they were the Impressions’ backing group. This became far more notable for the B-side, “Amen, Brother” which contains a six-second drum solo said to be the most sampled loop in rap music. The drummer, G.C. Coleman, never saw a penny in royalties, though, and died broke in 2006.

“Me And Bobby McGee” (Roger Miller) #122 7/12/1969

Everybody associates this (and rightly so) with Janis Joplin, but Roger Miller actually did it first. Written by Kris Kristofferson and Monument Records head Fred Foster, Roger took it to #12 on the country charts and “bubbled under” on the pop side. Janis recorded the song just a few days prior to her untimely death in October 1970, becoming a posthumous #1 in March 1971.

“The Days Of Sand And Shovels” #34 7/12/1969

One recorded first by Waylon Jennings in early 1969, reaching the Billboard country Top 20 and #1 on the Canadian country charts. Here’s the Bobby Vinton version, recorded in Nashville and produced by Billy Sherrill, who was behind the glass for what seemed like half the major country music hits of the 60’s and 70’s.

“I Turned You On” #23 7/12/1969

The followup to “It’s Your Thing” didn’t have quite the same impact for the Isley Brothers, but still did fairly well. 2019 marks the 60th anniversary of “Shout,” which became iconic thanks to “Animal House.” Several of the brothers have passed away; Vernon in 1955, O’Kelly in 1986, and Marvin had to quit the act in 1997 due to diabetes complications before he died in 2010. Ronald and Ernie are still going.

“Old Brown Shoe” B-side

If there’s such a thing as a Beatles obscurity, this might be one. The group began work on this near the end of the “Get Back” sessions then put it aside, bringing the song back months later when a B-side was needed for “The Ballad Of John And Yoko.” There is a question as to who played what. The consensus is that George sang lead, played bass and all the guitars on his own tune, Paul played piano and did backing vocals and John only did backing vocals, as he barely contributed to any Harrison tracks. It didn’t appear on a US album for almost a year, nor on a UK album for three years after that. Regardless, George ROCKS OUT on the guitar solo.

“The Ballad Of John And Yoko” #8 7/12/1969

Even though Lennon and McCartney were barely on speaking terms, they pulled it together to record this ditty about John and Yoko’s whirlwind European honeymoon. George was on vacation and Ringo was filming a movie, so it was just the two of them, who had a finished product ready for release literally within hours. John handled lead vocals and guitars; Paul did all the other parts. Many radio stations either banned the single or bleeped the Lord’s name but it still made the Top 10.

“Good Morning Starshine” (Oliver) #3 7/12/1969

Another “Hair” song from William Oliver Swofford, known professionally as the one-named Oliver. He graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill and signed with producer Bob Crewe, known for his work with the Four Seasons. Oliver’s brother was John Swofford, former commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Of course, this had some of the most hard-hitting lyrics of the 60’s. “Gliddy gloop gloopy/nibby nobby nooby/la la la lo lo/sabba sibby sabba/nooby abba dabba/le le lo lo/dooby ooby walla/dooby abba dabba/early morning singing song!!”

“In The Year 2525” #1 7/12/1969

The rarest of one-hit wonders, a debut single that hit #1 and became the only chart record EVER for the act. That happened for the Nebraska-based duo of Zager and Evans with their take on what technology was doing to the world. This topped the charts for six weeks, from the week of the Apollo 11 lunar launch up through Woodstock. Recorded in Odessa, TX (!) with the local symphony providing strings.

“Statue Of A Fool” #1 Country 7/5/1969

This week’s #1 country record by Jack Greene was supposedly written by Motown star David Ruffin in 1958 when he was 17. Due to his age, the authorship became the subject of some controversy. Country songwriter Jan Crutchfield claimed rights to the song. No matter – it still became Greene’s fifth country chart-topper.

“The Minotaur” #38 7/5/1969

Pianist Dick Hyman began his career with Benny Goodman and made his name working with numerous jazz musicians. He was a regular on “Sing Along With Mitch,” a very un-hip TV show in the early 60’s. That makes this early foray into electronic music quite unusual. Hyman was one of the first to experiment with Moog synthesizer sounds, at the time a very unwieldy instrument. Lots of cables and plugs. You can tell Keith Emerson drew his inspiration for “Lucky Man” from this.

“See” #27 7/5/1969

The Rascals followed the same career trajectory as many 60’s bands. They started out as rockin’ teen idols, and their music morphed into addressing social and political issues. This was another of their efforts in that direction. Soon, vocalist Eddie Brigati would leave the group. Others would follow.

“Medicine Man (Pt. 1) #22 7/5/1969

The Buchanan Brothers weren’t brothers, nor were they named Buchanan. They were Terry Cashman, Tommy West and Gene Pistilli. Terry and Gene wrote “Sunday Will Never Be The Same,” a Top 10 hit for Spanky and Our Gang. Cashman and West later scored with “American City Suite” and would produce all of Jim Croce’s hits in the 70’s. West and Croce were college roommates at Villanova. Cashman did the cult classic “Talkin’ Baseball” in 1981.

“Let Me” #20 7/5/1969

From an LP titled “Alias Pink Puzz,” which was the name used by Paul Revere and the Raiders as an attempt to get their songs played on FM radio. The ruse didn’t work but this still made the Top 20, their tenth single to do so. Not bad for a band from Boise that started out in 1959 when Revere, a restaurant owner, was picking up hamburger buns from a bakery where Mark Lindsay worked. Ah, serendipity.

“Black Pearl” #13 7/5/1969

A quintessential Phil Spector back-to-mono Wall Of Sound production, done by Sonny Charles and Checkmates, Ltd. Phil co-wrote the song with Irwin Levine and Toni Wine. Toni co-wrote “A Groovy Kind Of Love” and “Candida” and sang with Tony Orlando on the first Dawn album before the act was even assembled. That’s Ms. Wine on “Candida” and “Knock Three Times,” plus the female voice on Gene Pitney’s “It Hurts To Be In Love,” the Archies’ “Sugar, Sugar” and Willie Nelson’s “Always On My Mind.” She was married to Memphis record producer Chips Moman. Toni was the cat voice in the Meow Mix ads, too (“meow, meow, meow, meow...”).

“Spinning Wheel” #2 7/5/1969

One from Blood, Sweat & Tears that, like their previous single, peaked at #2. The album version is now the preferred take. BS&T played Woodstock, but since they didn’t agree to be recorded or filmed nor were they paid, their appearance was thought to be lost. A 2019 very limited $799 50th anniversary box set of virtually all the Woodstock performances will change all that. Money talks. At the end of the LP version drummer Bobby Colomby said, “That wasn’t too good.” I beg to differ.

“No Matter What Sign You Are” #31 6/28/1969

The breakup of Diana Ross and the Supremes was careening toward its inevitable conclusion. This single was planned to be the last with Ross before she went solo; since it barely reached the Top 40, that idea was shelved. Once again, neither Mary Wilson or Cindy Birdsong appeared on the record. With Berry Gordy’s OK, they were already rehearsing with Jean Terrell for the post-Diana version of the group. Drama!

“Don’t Let The Joneses Get You Down” #20 6/28/1969

No doubt the Temptations were moving farther away from the ballads that were the mainstay of their early career. The album “Puzzle People” was loaded with plenty of psychedelic soul tracks, of which this is an example. Once again all five Temps took a turn on lead vocals with a song bemoaning the pressures of keeping up with the neighbors and their social status. A long way from “My Girl” for sure.

“Israelites” #9 6/28/1969

Probably the most well-known pure reggae song to be a hit in America as done by Desmond Dekker with his backing group, the Aces. It was also the first reggae track to top the British charts. The lyrics are kind of indecipherable, but it recognizes Rastafarians and how they identify with the persecution of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Desmond was a welder by trade, and recommended fellow welder Bob Marley to the head of his record label. Yah, mon.

“One” #5 6/28/1969

The third single proved to be the charm for Three Dog Night with the first of 11 Top 10 entries. Chuck Negron took his turn on lead vocals here. Harry Nilsson wrote the song based on a droning telephone busy signal. Amazing how the simplest things can provide inspiration. Nilsson went on to become a respected songwriter/singer.