“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.