“Neanderthal Man” #22 9/26/1970

Sometimes experimental tracks get released and take off. The owners of a small English studio were playing around with drum sounds on new recording equipment and felt they’d hit upon something catchy. So they put some lyrics and disembodied vocals to the song and convinced a record label on the concept. It became a Top 5 single in the UK for the studio group Hotlegs, which soon became 10cc.

“Rubber Duckie” #16 9/26/1970

One of the most enduring children’s TV shows has been “Sesame Street.” Starting in 1969, generations of kids have been taught and entertained by the show, which featured Jim Henson’s Muppet characters. This was a little ditty Ernie (voiced by Henson) sang to his rubber duckie at bath time, and must have hit home with the older record buying public as this surprisingly became a Top 20 hit.

“I (Who Have Nothing)” (Tom Jones) #14 9/26/1970

The latest from Tom Jones, a remake of a 1961 Italian song (“Uno Dei Tanti”) first done in English by Ben E. King in 1963. This was re-done by many others, including Shirley Bassey (“Goldfinger”), Terry Knight and the Pack (Knight later became Grand Funk Railroad’s manager), and a bunch of contestants on “American Idol.”

“Groovy Situation” #12 9/26/1970

The biggest hit for Gene Chandler since his #1 “Duke Of Earl” in 1962. Gene produced Mel and Tim’s “Backfield In Motion” - those guys were also the first to record this song. Gene would have over a dozen chart entries in the 60’s plus several disco hits later in the 70’s. This tune appeared on the “Anchorman” soundtrack.

“Snowbird” #8 9/26/1970

The first US gold record by a solo female artist from Canada. Anne Murray got her start on a CBC show called “Singalong Jubilee” based in her home province of Nova Scotia, and recorded this song written by fellow regular Gene MacLellan. It opened the door to a successful career, not just for Anne but for Canadian acts in the States.

“Uncle John’s Band” #69 9/19/1970

The Grateful Dead never depended on singles for success and longevity. Perhaps that was because this record, their first chart single, was heavily edited in such a way that the band felt their work had been totally butchered. We give you the unedited version here. Their legendary fan base (known as Deadheads) traveled around the country following the band and would swap bootleg live recordings. Hey, I liked the fact those guys could play anything, but the Deadheads...I never quite got that whole thing.

“Soul Shake” (Delaney and Bonnie) #43 9/19/1970

Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett were at their best in concert. Their band was an ever-changing cast of great musicians, and you never knew who would sit in with them on a given night. Leon Russell, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, the Allman Brothers - quite a few superstars would hang out with them on stage. This tune was a remake of a 1969 tune from Peggy Scott and Jo Jo Benson. Alas, D&B would have legendary shouting matches off stage and divorced in 1972.

“Peace Will Come (According To Plan)” #32 9/19/1970

The current single from Melanie. After the negativity of the Altamont festival, many large scale multi-day rock concerts scheduled for 1970 were cancelled, sometimes at the last minute. One such was the Powder Ridge festival in Connecticut, which was cancelled yet 30,000 people (plus a whole bunch of hallucinogenic drug dealers) showed up anyway. Melanie was the only name performer to go ahead and play there. Powder Ridge wound up being a total disaster.

“Don’t Play That Song” (Aretha Franklin) #11 9/19/1970

The latest from Aretha Franklin was a remake of a 1962 hit from Ben E. King. She would do a remake of Ben’s “Spanish Harlem” as well. Lady Soul was backed by the Dixie Flyers, a studio group that formed in Memphis and stayed busy. They backed Rita Coolidge and her then-husband Kris Kristofferson on the road for several years.

“Julie, Do Ya Love Me” #5 9/19/1970

The fourth Top 10 single from Bobby Sherman. After the teen idol phase of his career went away, he became a reserve officer and EMT trainer with the LAPD. Once he went on a call in Northridge to treat a woman who had passed out. Her husband kept staring and finally said, “Look, honey, it’s Bobby Sherman!” The woman came to, and said “Goodness, I must look a mess!” Bobby said, “Don’t worry, you look just fine.”

“Patches” #4 9/19/1970

The biggest hit for Clarence Carter started out as a B-side for the Chairmen of the Board. Clarence heard the song, liked it and put his own Alabama soul spin on the tune. He grew up poor (but not on a farm) and seemed genuinely surprised that so many people related so passionately to a rather heartbreaking tune. Most of the song is spoken, which was highly unusual. Written by the Chairmen’s General Johnson.

“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” (Diana Ross) #1 9/19/1970

Rarely does a tune become a hit all over again with an almost completely different arrangement. Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell had one of Motown’s most enduring songs with their take in 1967. The writers, Ashford and Simpson, convinced Diana Ross to try a radically rearranged version with a long spoken introduction; the familiar chorus didn’t show up until over halfway into the six minute recording. Berry Gordy didn’t like it and forced a sharply edited 45 to be released. But many radio stations played their own edits or the long version, and the song became Diana’s first solo #1.

“Last Date” #2 11/28/1960

One of Nashville’s most legendary session musicians was pianist Floyd Cramer. He appeared on so many country and pop hits for decades, including “Heartbreak Hotel” and “Jailhouse Rock.” But this huge instrumental from late 1960 cemented his place in music history. It remained at #2, kept from the top by “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” where the piano was played by...you guessed it, Floyd Cramer.

“White Silver Sands” (Bill Black Combo) #9 4/25/1960

Not many people can say they were present when rock and roll took off. Bill Black was Elvis’s upright bass player in the beginning. He and guitarist Scotty Moore played on most of the King’s early records and were on stage for all the craziness, but they departed just before Presley was drafted in ‘58. Bill returned to Memphis and assembled Bill Black’s Combo, who had this Top 10 instrumental in April 1960. It was a remake of Don Rondo’s 1957 vocal hit. Black died in 1965 from a brain tumor at 39.

“Daddy Was An Old Time Preacher Man” #7 Country 9/12/1970

One of the most successful pairings ever in country music was that of Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton. This was their seventh Top 10 country hit as a duo. Porter gave Dolly her first big break in Nashville when he hired her for his TV show several years earlier. When she finally went her own way in the business it caused a strain in their relationship, but she was at Porter’s bedside when he died in 2007. Of course, Dolly went on to far, far bigger things in music and acting. Video is from the Wilburn Brothers TV show.

“Only You Know And I Know” (Dave Mason) #42 9/12/1970

Some find their niche away from the limelight. Dave Mason certainly had a varied career, as manager of the Spencer Davis Group (where he first met Steve Winwood), guitarist with Traffic (Winwood played keyboards), and friend of Jimi Hendrix (Mason played the 12-string guitar intro on “All Along The Watchtower”). Dave also appeared on George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass” solo album and helped out Delaney and Bonnie. He wrote and first performed this, which became a bigger hit for D&B in 1971.

“Solitary Man” (1970 reissue) #21 9/12/1970

Boy, Neil Diamond must have ticked off everyone at BANG Records when he left the label in 1968. Even though Bert Berns (the label’s owner and a total jerk to all in the industry, towards Neil and Van Morrison in particular) died a year earlier, the lawsuits dragged on for a decade. They reissued Neil’s material to directly undercut sales for Uni, his new label. BANG re-released his first 45 from ‘66 which did much better this time (#21 vs. #55) but his current Uni single reached #1 in a few weeks.

“25 Or 6 To 4” #4 9/12/1970

The first Top 5 record from Chicago. Robert Lamm, the song’s composer, said the title came from the time he wrote it, 3:35 or 3:34 AM, 25 or 26 to 4. According to Songfacts.com, the band went to see their hometown Cubs at Dodger Stadium. The Cubs won, which made some Marines angry as they left the ballpark so they vented on Peter Cetera. Peter sang at this session through clenched teeth with his broken jaw wired shut. (Happy birthday, Peter!) Great wah-wah from Terry Kath.

 

 

“In The Summertime” #3 9/12/1970

One of the most infectious summer songs ever from a one-hit wonder, though Mungo Jerry had a few more hits back in the UK. They were essentially a skiffle group (known over here as jug band music), a pre-rock and roll thing in England. Their name was based on a character in a T.S. Eliot poem. Front man Ray Dorset said he wanted a motorcycle sound to use as a false ending but couldn’t find one. So they went to the parking lot and recorded the studio engineer’s Triumph sports car going though the gears, then re-used the intro. In the video, the band has bigger sideburns than Elvis.

 

“Sleep Walk” #1 9/21/1959

The last #1 instrumental hit of the 1950’s came from Santo and Johnny Farina. Growing up in Brooklyn, Santo took steel guitar lessons and little brother Johnny accompanied him on guitar. They wrote this one night when they couldn’t sleep after a gig and had to unwind. The next #1 on the Billboard charts was “Mack The Knife.”

“Red River Rock” #5 9/7/1959

Back in the day many acts would develop rocked-up versions of the old standards. Here’s a very different take on “Red River Valley” from September ’59 by Toledo’s own Johnny and the Hurricanes. They had several hits in that manner, enough to travel to Hamburg, Germany in 1962 where the Beatles were their opening act. Let that sink in.

“Bongo Rock” #14 6/29/1959

Back to some classic 50’s instrumentals. Preston Epps was a percussionist who appeared on “Earth Angel,” considered one of the first rock hits. This one-hit wonder came out of a lengthy bongo solo he developed at a L.A. gig. You can tell “Wipe Out” is a direct descendant of this June 1959 tune. Epps eventually owned his own club where he reportedly discovered Lou Rawls. Preston died in 2019 at age 88.

“All For The Love Of Sunshine” #1 Country 9/5/1970

Since birth, Hank Williams Jr. lived in the immense shadow of his legendary father. Everyone pushed Hank to be exactly like his dad, most of all his mother, Audrey, which caused an irreversible strain. It took a 1975 500-foot fall down a Montana mountain, several reconstructive surgeries and years of physical rehab before Bocephus (a nickname his dad gave him) had an epiphany and finally went his own way. This was the first of Hank Jr.’s 11 #1 country hits, backed by the Mike Curb Congregation.

“Ball And Chain” #57 9/5/1970

The first solo record from Tommy James after leaving the Shondells. He departed the band after collapsing on stage several months earlier in Birmingham, Alabama; drug use was suspected. In his autobiography “Me, The Mob, And The Music,” Tommy said he was “encouraged” to get out of NYC at that time by his label’s owner, Morris Levy, amid a Mafia mob war and concerns Tommy could become collateral damage. Levy was, uhhhh, connected, you know.

“Everybody’s Got The Right To Love” #21 9/5/1970

Lou Stallman had co-written “Round And Round” for Perry Como in 1957 (umm, not the Ratt song), Perry’s last #1 record on the pop charts. This post-Diana Ross Supremes tune, also a Stallman composition, is about as far away from that as you could imagine. The Supremes of the 70’s still had a few more hits in them.

“Hand Me Down World” #17 9/5/1970

The first single by the Guess Who after the departure of Randy Bachman was brought to the group by new member Kurt Winter. He and fellow new hire Greg Leskiw gave the band two lead guitarists. Bachman had recorded a solo album before leaving; he then had gall bladder issues. Differences between Randy and Burton Cummings also led to the exit, and the eventual formation of Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

“Into The Mystic”

Sometimes you can’t explain what the record company was thinking. Maybe the finest tune Van Morrison ever did (to me, anyway) was somewhat hidden away on his “Moondance” LP. It should’ve been a single but “Come Running” was the only track Warner Brothers issued as a 45. “Mystic” is played a lot in operating rooms as a calming influence for surgeons, and also at funerals and memorial services. I can see why. A mellow song that’s as good as it gets.

“I’ve Lost You” #32 8/29/1970

In his later career, Elvis had a knack for taking someone else’s song and putting his own spin on it. So it was with this one, done first as a somewhat obscure album track by Matthews’ Southern Comfort. It was said the song was reflective of the current state of his marriage to Priscilla. They would separate in 1972.

“Tell It All Brother” #17 8/29/1970

The last Top 20 single for Kenny Rogers and the First Edition. Even though this was the group’s sixth Top 40 hit, there were cracks in the façade. Ever since Kenny started getting top billing, some of the other members felt as though they were becoming Gladys Knight’s Pips - kind of faceless. They soon broke up. Such is stardom. Check out the surprise intro and bonus song at the end of the video.

“Overture From ‘Tommy’ “ (Assembled Multitude) #16 8/29/1970

A group of Philly studio musicians recording as the Assembled Multitude did their version of the opening song from the Who’s rock opera “Tommy” and made the Top 20. These guys were a one-hit wonder, but they didn’t disappear, though. Many of them became part of MFSB, the house band at Philadelphia International Records who provided the backing for SO many hits of the 70’s.