“Sunday Mornin’ “ (Oliver) #35 12/27/1969

We end 1969 with the last Top 40 effort from Oliver, a remake of the 1968 tune from Spanky and Our Gang. The hits soon dried up, though, and he parted ways with producer Bob Crewe, who achieved fame in the same capacity with the Four Seasons. Oliver and his family were the subject of a People magazine “where are they now” story in 1983. He got divorced the following year.

“Friendship Train” #17 12/27/1969

A socially conscious track from Gladys Knight and the Pips. They were working frequently with Norman Whitfield, who was also producing the Temptations and their social commentaries on record. Gladys said in her autobiography that the Temps, the Supremes and Marvin Gaye were getting all the A-list songs while the other Motown acts got the scraps. She would leave the label in a few years.

“These Eyes” (Jr. Walker) #16 12/27/1969

Junior Walker was known for some seriously raucous tunes like “Shotgun” and “(I’m A) Road Runner.” So when his producer, Johnny Bristol, suggested he do some romantic ballads, it came as a bit of a shock. “What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)” proved Junior could pull it off. He did it again here with a very soulful remake of the Guess Who hit from earlier in the year.

“Holly Holy” #6 12/27/1969

In a BBC interview, Neil Diamond said he was trying to create a song here about a religious experience between a man and a woman, as opposed to between a man and a deity. I think he succeeded. Definitely gospel tinged, and recorded in Memphis. Music from that city has a way of coming off as gospel sounding.

“Someday We’ll Be Together” #1 12/27/1969

Billboard’s final #1 of the 1960’s came from Diana Ross and the Supremes. Well, actually it was just Ms. Ross, as Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong had already checked out and were rehearsing with Jean Terrell. The original idea was for Junior Walker to record the song, but Berry Gordy made the executive decision to give the track to Diana as a way of launching her solo career. Then he changed his mind and billed the single as the last Diana Ross and the Supremes 45. Co-writer Johnny Bristol produced the session, harmonizing in Diana’s headphones while giving her instructions. The engineer accidentally left in his ad-libs; Gordy and Bristol liked it. Dennis Coffey played guitar and Merry Clayton assisted on backing vocals.

“Two Little Boys” #1 UK

As the 60’s drew to a close, a highly unusual song was this week’s UK #1 record. It was from 1902, written by two Yanks about two boys who grew up to become soldiers, ostensibly during the Civil War. It was popularized by an Aussie, Rolf Harris, who had a surprise 1963 US hit with “Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport” produced by George Martin. Harris was convicted in 2014 of taking indecent sexual liberties with teenage girls.

Merry Christmas!