Humpy Bong - Don't You Be Too Long (1970)

Colin Petersen was born March 24, 1946 in Queensland, Australia. He attended Humpybong State School with the three future members of the Bee Gees, Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. After a successful stint as a child actor, it was his friendship with Maurice Gibb that allowed him to showcase his musical talents by becoming the Bee Gee’s first drummer. In 1969, after having appeared on multiple tracks, Petersen was fired from the group for raising “conflict of interest” questions in regard to the Bee Gee’s manager, Robert Stigwood, who also happened to own the group’s recordings and publishing, making him in effect their employer.

After his release from the band, still 1969, Petersen walked into a London restaurant and witnessed a performance being done by Jonathan Kelly, born July 8, 1947 in Drogheda, Ireland. Immediately recognizing Kelly’s talent, Petersen offered to become his record producer, while Petersen’s wife, Joanne Petersen, later became Kelly’s personal manager. Under Petersen’s producing, Kelly released three singles in the coming months, the last of which (“Don’t You Believe It”) featured Eric Clapton on slide guitar.

Then, in the summer of 1970, Petersen and Kelly decided to form a band, which is the one featured here today. Needing a vocalist, the duo enlisted the talents of Tim Staffell (born February 24, 1948 in London, England) who had previously been the bassist and frontman for a band named Smile (that would eventually evolve into Freddie Mercury’s Queen). But, unfortunately, the trio had problems while looking for another guitarist and pianist. According to an interview with Petersen from the time, “People are assuming the new group will be a carbon copy of the Bee Gees.” “We can record with the three of us by double-tracking, but we can't appear on stage.”

Although they were able to record a couple songs, including the one heard below (written by Jonathan Kelly), the band ran into problems when they went to perform on Top of the Pops. Not having enough songs, the band decided to try and perform “Don’t You Believe It” from Kelly’s solo catalog. Unfortunately, Eric Clapton wasn’t able to make the pre-recording session and so Staffell had to try and fill his shoes. It didn’t go well. Ultimately, the band could never really solidify a solid lineup of members nor a signature sound. After only a few months together, and after only recording two songs in the studio, the band split up.

Colin and Joanne Petersen resumed their managerial roles in Kelly’s solo career until Kelly retired from the music industry in 1974. Shortly after, the Petersens moved back to Australia and Colin became a painter. Staffell was in and out of various bands until 1973, eventually becoming an animator and model builder.



Humpy Bong - Don't You Be Too Long (1970)

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Lyrics:

Like the man who rode his camel down to Aqaba from Tobruk
My heart is a weary traveler and it’s looking for a friend
My thirsty eyes are aching just to find a pretty face to look upon
So come out all you ladies, who you hiding from?

But oh oh
Now don’t you be too long
Whoa, ho, ho
Woman, listen to my song
Oh
One day you’re gonna come along
But oh ho
Now don’t you be too long

Now here I sit in this old room, four walls that close me in
The bread man, he don’t call no more, and no one clears my bin
Oh, I need a soul to comfort me, somebody just for talking to
To help me pay my rent, you see, I’m four weeks overdue

But oh, oh
Now don’t you be too long
Whoa, ho, ho
Woman, listen to my song
Oh
One day you’re gonna come along
But oh ho
Now don’t you be too long

Don’t you be too long

But oh ho
Now don’t you be too long
Oh ho ho
Woman, listen to my song
Oh
One day you’re gonna come along
But oh ho
Now don’t you be too long

Don’t you be too long
Don’t you be too long
(Don’t, don’t)
Don’t you be too long
(Don’t, don’t)
Don’t you be too long
(Don’t, don’t)
Don’t you be too long
(Don’t, don’t)
Don’t you be too long
(Don’t, don’t)
Don’t you be too long
(Don’t, don’t)
Don’t you be too long
(Don’t, don’t)
Don’t you be too long
(Don’t, don’t)

Lennon/Ono with the Plastic Ono Band - Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) (1970)

This “conceptual band” was started by The Beatles’ John Lennon and Yoko Ono who had met in 1966, became romantically involved with in 1968, and married in 1969. They made their first official release using the Plastic Ono Band name with “Give Peace a Chance” in 1969, even though the couple had been making music and releasing albums together as early as 1968.

Backing them, the Plastic Ono Band had a rotating lineup which at any time could have featured numerous notable musicians, such as George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Keith Moon and many, many others. Lennon and Ono were fond of reminding their fans that “YOU are the Plastic Ono Band.”

The song below was Lennon’s attempt to create an “instant single.” He wrote the song (in an hour) on January 27, 1970, recorded it that very same day, and saw its release about a week later. Playing on the song besides Lennon and Ono (backing vocals), was George Harrison, Klaus Voormann, Alan White, Billy Preston, Mal Evans, with Allen Klein and numerous people from a pub down the street who assisted with backing vocals. It was George Harrison who suggested Lennon use famed producer Phil Spector, who happened to be visiting London at the time. Spector obliged, ending a self-imposed retirement he had begun in 1966. His collaboration with Lennon on the song led to his eventual hiring for production of The Beatles’ Let It Be album, which was released later that year in May.



Lennon/Ono with the Plastic Ono Band - Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) (1970)

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Lyrics:

…three, four

Instant karma’s gonna get you
Gonna knock you right on the head
You better get yourself together
Pretty soon you’re gonna be dead
What in the world you thinking of?
Laughing in the face of love
What on earth are you tryin’ to do?
It’s up to you
Yeah, you

Instant karma’s gonna get you
Gonna look you right in the face
Better get yourself together darlin’
Join the human race
How in the world you gonna see?
Laughin’ at fools like me
Who on Earth do you think you are?
A superstar?
Well, right you are

Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Well we all shine on
Everyone
Come on

Instant karma’s gonna get you
Gonna knock you off your feet
Better recognize your brothers
Everyone you meet
Why in the world are we here?
Surely not to live in pain and fear
Why on earth are you there
When you’re everywhere?
Come and get your share

Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Yeah, we all shine on
Come on and on and on- on- on

Yeah, yeah
Alright

Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Yeah, we all shine on
On and on and on- on and on

Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Well we all shine on
Like the moons and the stars and the sun
Yeah we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun

Spirit - Life Has Just Begun (1970)

In 1966, the fifteen year old Randy California (born Randy Wolfe) was performing in Greenwich Village, New York with Jimmy James and the Blue Flames. Jimmy James was the stage name being used by Jimi Hendrix at the time; and, the band was playing Hendrix’s arrangements that would later be recorded and released when he formed The Jimi Hendrix Experience. It was around this time that Chas Chandler of The Animals heard Jimmy James and the Blue Flames and convinced Hendrix to come to England to produce The Animals’ music. Hendrix agreed and Randy California didn’t follow.

Instead, after moving out to Los Angeles, California started a band called the Red Roosters in 1967 with Mark Andes and Jay Ferguson. Soon, California’s step father joined the band (Ed “Mr. Skin” Cassidy) on drums, along with keyboardist John Locke. With the addition of the new members, the band renamed themselves The Spirits Rebellious, which was soon shortened to their final, more well-known name of Spirit.

The song heard below is the tenth track on the band’s fourth album, titled Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus. Released in November 1970, the album was then the band’s lowest charting album. However, as time went on, it also became their best-selling one, and was certified Gold in the United States in 1976.



Spirit - Life Has Just Begun (1970)

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Lyrics:

Oh, hey Kiowa
I know your name
Catch me a’glancing
With one of your eye
So much we are chancing
If we said goodbye

Oh

Softly say you'll be my bride
And our hearts a solid beat
Say you'll always be here by my side
With the hearts all constantly

Oh, we

(Walked in a dream and we knew it was)
(Married in the dream)
(Strange as it seemed that we knew because)

(Because) Life has just begun
(Life has just begun) (Life has just begun)
Because life has just begun

Hey, Kiowa
I know your name
Hey, Kiowa
I know your name

Walking in that sun, Kiowa
And even though your legs are tired
Though we’re on the run, Kiowa
Our hearts are free from all desire

Walked in the dream and we knew it was
Strange as it seemed that we knew because

(Because life has just begun)
(Life has just begun, life has just begun)
(Life has just begun, life has just begun)
(Because life has just begun)
(Because life has just begun)
(Because life has just begun)
(Because life has just begun)
(Because life has just begun)
(Because life has just begun)
(Because life has just begun)
(Because life has just begun)

Hawkwind - Hurry On Sundown (1970)

This English band was one of the first to billed as “space rock.” And although the band is remembered as one of rock’s earliest “space rock” groups, they also encompassed elements of hard rock, heavy metal, progressive rock, and psychedelic rock throughout their forty-seven years (and counting) career.

Formed in November 1969, the band was spotlighted by their lead singer, primary songwriter, and guitarist Dave Brock. Throughout the band’s history, there have been over forty members of the group, including notable names like Lemmy (who would later form Motörhead), Ginger Baker (of Cream, Blind Faith, etc.), and even Arthur Brown (of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown) for a few years in the early 2000s.

The song heard below is the very first track of the band’s very first album, eponymously titled Hawkwind and released in August of 1970. The song was written by Dave Brock and produced by a founding member of The Pretty Things, Dick Taylor.



Hawkwind - Hurry On Sundown (1970)

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Lyrics:

Well, hurry on sundown
See what tomorrow brings
Hurry on sundown
See what tomorrow brings

Well, it may bring war
Any old thing
Look into your mind’s eye
See what you can see
Look into your mind’s eye
See what you can see
There’s hundreds of people
Like you and me

Oh, hurry on sundown
Hurry on sundown
Oh, hurry on sundown
Hurry on sundown

Well, hurry on sundown
See what tomorrow brings
Hurry on sundown
See what tomorrow brings

Well, it may bring war
Any old thing
Look into your mind’s eye
See what you can see
Look into your mind’s eye
See what you can see
There’s hundreds of people
Like you and me

Oh, hurry on sundown
Hurry on sundown
Oh, hurry on sundown
Hurry on sundown

Grateful Dead - Ripple (1970)

The Grateful Dead began recording their American Beauty album just a few months after the band had released Workingman’s Dead. The close proximity of the two works has led many Deadheads to consider the two albums as a pair. Some of the notable aspects of the album were its abundant folk influences, as well as its improved and more complex harmonies. The latter was in thanks to Crosby, Stills & Nash, who had been giving the Dead tips on how to harmonize and sing together. The two bands had had their social circles intersect more and more at that time, as CSN had been recording their album Déjà Vu at Wally Heider Studios, the same place the Dead were recording American Beauty.

With music written by Jerry Garcia and lyrics by Robert Hunter, the song below was released as the opening track to Side Two of American Beauty. And when the group’s famed “Truckin’” was chosen from that album to be released as a single, it was the song below which accompanied it as its B-Side. Hunter’s lyrics were said to have been written after drinking half of a bottle of retsina; and much of the lyrics seem to have been influenced by the 23rd Psalm of the Bible.



Grateful Dead - Ripple (1970)

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Lyrics:

If my words did glow with the gold of sunshine
And my tunes were played on the harp unstrung
Would you hear my voice come through the music?
Would you hold it near as it were your own?

It’s a hand-me-down; the thoughts are broken
Perhaps they’re better left unsung
I don’t know- don’t really care
Let there be songs to fill the air

Ripple in still water
When there is no pebble tossed
Nor wind to blow

Reach out your hand if your cup be empty
If your cup is full, may it be again
Let it be known there is a fountain
That was not made by the hands of men

There is a road- no simple highway
Between the dawn and the dark of night
And if you go, no one may follow
That path is for your steps alone

Ripple in still water
When there is no pebble tossed
Nor wind to blow

You who choose to lead must follow
But if you fall, you fall alone
If you should stand, then who’s to guide you?
If I knew the way, I would take you home

The Hollies - Separated (1970)

Graham Nash (b. 1942) and Allan Clarke (b. 1942) began singing together when they were schoolmates in Salford, Lancashire, England. Together- and with others- they formed The Hollies and found a great deal of success on both sides of the Atlantic. But near the end of the sixties, Nash was disappointed with the artistic direction of the band and their reluctance to use less pop-oriented and more adult-oriented themes in their music. This major artistic divide led Nash to leave the band and pursue a new musical direction with what would become Crosby, Stills & Nash.

Meanwhile, The Hollies continued without Nash, replacing him with Terry Sylvester. Without Nash, the band continued to be successful, releasing popular songs such as “Sorry Suzanne,” “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother,” “The Air That I Breathe,” and many others.

The song below was released in 1970 on the UK-titled album, Confessions of the Mind; but was not included on the US version, titled Moving Finger. The song was written by Allan Clarke.



The Hollies - Separated (1970)

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Lyrics:

Why- why ignore me?
And keep me out all the time?
Do you think I don’t love you?
It’s only in your mind

(¡Vamo! ¡Vamo!)

You don’t give me a reason
You don’t explain all your ways
It must be the change of the season
That’s all I can say

(¡Vamo!)

Was it something that I said
That made you stop loving me?
I only want for the best
Not to see you in my life
Makes me so unimportant
I can’t live with myself

Gone- gone is tomorrow
I’m only living for today
I never thought you’d ever leave me
Now you have gone away

(¡Vamanos!)

Mountain - To My Friend (1970)

Before creating this band, Leslie West had been in the Long Island R&B group known as The Vagrants. In 1969, West was approached by ex-Cream collaborator Felix Pappalardi who wanted to help West put out a solo album. With the help of N. D. Smart, West’s album, titled Mountain, came out on July 1969. Soon, West, Pappalardi, and Smart decided to create their own band and named it after the solo album they had all worked on together. One of their first gigs, before having released an album as a band, was playing at Woodstock in late 1969. Unfortunately, there was no video recorded capturing the bands performance, nor was any of their set released on the Woodstock audio albums.

Shortly after their Woodstock performance, N. D. Smart was replaced with Corky Laing, a drummer previously affiliated with the band known as Energy. Filling out their lineup was the keyboardist Steve Knight. Together with West and Pappalardi, the band put out their first album Climbing!, released on March 7, 1970. The song heard below, written by Leslie West, was released as the album’s sixth track. It was entirely overshadowed by the album’s opening track and the band’s most famous hit “Mississippi Queen.”



Mountain - To My Friend (1970)

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Lyrics:

(instrumental)

Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship - Have You Seen the Stars Tonite? (1970)

Internal problems amongst the members of Jefferson Airplane began to boil over in 1970, starting with their drummer, Spencer Dryden, being unanimously voted out of the band. Members Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen launched a side project, Hot Tuna; Paul Kantner and the married Grace Slick began a love affair; and Marty Balin felt like a bit of an outcast because of his bandmates pairing up without him.

Since Jefferson Airplane had only released one single in 1970, Paul Kantner decided to work on a solo album with Grace Slick titled Blows Against the Empire. The entire album was conceptualized around a science-fiction theme and was released under the name “Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship.” It’s important to note that this was not the same Jefferson Starship band that would be created in 1974 by Kantner. This was, if anything, a coincidental name that would provide the inspiration for Kantner’s Jefferson Starship four years later. It’s said that the name “Starship,” was inspired by many things: the evolution of Jefferson Airplane to something more grandiose, the star-filled lineup that accompanied Kantner and Slick on the album, and the fact that the characters within the album were seeking a starship to leave the planet Earth.

Speaking of the talent involved in the creation of the album, Blows Against the Empire featured not only the talents of Paul Kantner and Grace Slick, but also fellow Jefferson Airplane members Jack Casady and Joey Covington; the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart; CSN’s David Crosby and Graham Nash; Quicksilver Messenger Service’s David Freiberg; The Electric Flag’s Harvey Brooks; and Jorma Kaukonen’s brother Peter Kaukonen.

The song heard below appeared as the eighth song on Blows Against the Empire. It was written by Paul Kantner and David Crosby. It features Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, Jerry Garcia (pedal steel guitar), Mickey Hart (percussion), and David Crosby (vocals, guitar). Although the song never charted, Blows Against the Empire itself was the first rock album to be nominated for the Hugo science fiction award. If you like this song, I highly recommend listening to the entire album.



Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship - Have You Seen the Stars Tonite? (1970)

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Lyrics:

Have you seen the stars tonight?
Would you like to go up on ‘A’ Deck and look at them with me?
Have you seen the stars tonight?
Would you like to go up for a stroll and keep me company?

Do you know?
We could go
We are free
Any place you could think of
We could be

Have you seen the stars tonight?
Have you look at all the family of stars?

Mungo Jerry - In the Summertime (1970)

Ray Dorset, an early rock and roll enthusiast, met Colin Earl when they had been in the band the Good Earth together. When their band failed to make any sales for their Saga label, the two got together with Mike Cole, and Paul King to form this British band. Their band name was inspired by Mungojerrie, a character in a poem featured in Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot. The original lineup of the band was responsible for their biggest hit, heard below. They followed up their big hit with an album; but, after its release, the group slowly began to splinter. Original members left one after the other, eventually leaving Ray Dorset as the sole original member. By 1972, Dorset practically was Mungo Jerry himself. Despite all of the people who parted from the band (over thirty-five of them), they have never officially broken up. Dorset and whomever he has recruited have continued to release music since their formation in 1970, with their most recent album having hit the shelves in 2012.

Written by Ray Dorset, the song heard below was easily the band’s biggest success. When it was released in the UK in the beginning of summer 1970, it only took two weeks for the song to climb to number one. It remained in the charts for the entire summer, and was also a Top Ten hit in the United States. The song was supposedly written by Dorset in less than ten minutes, during a break he was taking while working his day job. Today, the song is considered to be one of the highest selling songs of all time, with over thirty million copies sold to date.



Mungo Jerry - In the Summertime (1970)

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Lyrics:

In the summertime when the weather is hot
You can stretch right up and touch the sky
When the weather's fine
You got women- you got women on your mind

Have a drink, have a drive
Go out and see what you can find

If her daddy's rich, take her out for a meal
If her daddy's poor, just do what you feel
Speed along the lane
Do a ton or a ton and twenty-five

When the sun goes down
You can make it- make it good in a lay-by

We're no threat, people
We're not dirty, we're not mean
We love everybody, but we do as we please
When the weather's fine
We go fishing or go swimming in the sea

We're always happy
Life's for living, yeah, that's our philosophy

Sing along with us
Yeah, we're happy

Yeah
Alright, alright, alright

Alright

When the winter's here, yeah, it's party time
Bring your bottle, wear your bright clothes
It'll soon be summertime
And we'll sing again
We'll go driving or maybe we'll settle down

If she's rich, if she's nice
Bring your friends and we'll all go into town

In the summertime when the weather is hot
You can stretch right up and touch the sky
When the weather's fine
You got women- you got women on your mind

Have a drink, have a drive
Go out and see what you can find

If her daddy's rich, take her out for a meal
If her daddy's poor, just do what you feel
Speed along the lane
Do a ton or a ton and twenty-five

When the sun goes down
You can make it- make it good in a lay-by

We're no threat, people
We're not dirty, we're not mean
We love everybody, but we do as we please
When the weather's fine
We go fishing or go swimming in the sea

We're always happy
Life's for living, yeah, that's our philosophy

Sing along with us
Yeah, we're happy

Egg - Fugue in D Minor (1970)

When they were around the age of seventeen in 1967, Dave Stewart, Mont Campbell, Clive Brooks, and Steve Hillage created a band named Uriel in their hometown of London, England. By the end of the summer in 1968, Hillage left the band to go to college and the remaining members carried on as a trio. They were convinced to change their name to the one seen above, fearing that “Uriel” sounded too much like “urinal.” By the summer of 1969, the band had signed with Deram Records, a subsidiary of Decca, and their first album, self-titled Egg, soon followed. Most of the band’s music was influenced by Bach, Stravinsky, or other classical composers; although the band always put a progressive and psychedelic touch of their own in the arrangements. After two albums, the band lost their record deal and was forced into an early retirement in July 1972, left with a full album’s worth of unrecorded songs. Stewart went on to be in a band called Hatfield and the North, where he arranged to get a deal for Egg to record their unrecorded material. Those songs were recorded for the band’s final album, The Civil Surface, released in 1974.

Credited to Johann Sebastian Bach, this song is generally paired with Bach’s other composition, "Toccata." Together, they’re known as "BMV 565," or Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (Bach Works Catalogue) 565. Although credit is given to Bach for the composition, his authorship has been disputed by musical scholars, noting that the oldest copy of the sheet music used a lot of Italian markings, which was odd for the German Bach born in 1685. This particular version of the song, heard below, was rearranged and released by Egg on their debut album, self-titled Egg, on March 13, 1970. I can’t help but be reminded of the opening title music to the video game Gauntlet II for the NES.



Egg - Fugue in D Minor (1970)

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Lyrics:

(instrumental)

Phil Ochs - No More Songs (1970)

With his clever songwriting and sardonic humor, Phil Ochs wrote a library of songs spotlighting the injustices of the world which he saw around him. He performed his most famous song, previously featured here, “I Ain’t Marching Anymore” to thousands of Vietnam War protestors at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, a performance which led to thousands of young men burning their draft cards on the spot. He was also responsible for the purchase of Pigasus, a one hundred forty-five pound hog nominated for President of the United States by the Youth International Party (the Yippies) at that same convention. Unfortunately, the 1968 Democratic National Convention ended with Chicago police rioting and savagely beating peaceful protestors. Between what took place in Chicago and what else he saw in the changing America around him, he figured that the average American must no longer be interested in the political songs and messages he was trying to get out. By 1970, with a heavy heart, Ochs was abandoning his protest formula for songs which reached back to his roots, having his new music emulate his childhood inspirations: Elvis, Buddy Holly, Merle Haggard, and more. Over time, an increasing dependency on illegal drugs and an emerging writer’s block led Ochs to turn to alcohol, which then slipped him into a depression that lasted the rest of his life. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder as his mental stability slipped away, which once saw him create an alternate persona for himself for a brief period of time. Despite constant support from his friends and family, Ochs was unable to escape his depression and he hanged himself on April 9, 1976.

Having gone through such a long period where new songs came so easily to him, the end of the ‘60s and beginning of the ‘70s saw Phil Ochs severely struggling to write new material. In February 1970, Ochs released an album titled Greatest Hits, which was not actually a greatest hits album, but a facetious title which featured him on the cover wearing a shiny gold suit akin to Elvis Presley. As mentioned above, he had abandoned topical protest songs and switched to a hybrid of highly produced rock and roll and country music. The entire album was poorly received, with the exception of its last track, the song heard below.

Featured as the last track on his Greatest Hits album, this song was one of Ochs’ most depressing tracks ever recorded. Titled “No More Songs,” his lyrics dealt with not only his loss of ability to write great music as he had in the past, but rhetorically asked how anybody could write great songs as the country spiraled downward into a dire state around him. Sadly, “No More Songs” became prophetic, as Ochs released very few songs after Greatest Hits and never released another full length album again. Ironically, it was an incredibly great song.



Phil Ochs - No More Songs (1970)

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Lyrics:

Hello, hello, hello
Is there anybody home?
I've only called to say I'm sorry
The drums are in the dawn
And all the voices gone
And it seems that there are no more songs

Once I knew a girl
She was a flower in a flame
I loved her as the sea sings sadly
Now the ashes of the dream
Can be found in the magazines
And it seems that there are no more songs

Once I knew a saint
Who sang upon the stage
He told about the world, his lover
A ghost without a name
Stands ragged in the rain
And it seems that there are no more songs

The rebels, they were here
They came beside the door
They told me that the moon was bleeding
Then all to my surprise
They took away my eyes
And it seems that there are no more songs

A scar is in the sky
It's time to say goodbye
He withers on the beat, he's dying
A white flag in my hand
And a white boat in the sand
And it seems that there are no more songs

Hello, hello, hello
Is there anybody home?
I've only called to say I'm sorry
The drums are in the dawn
And all the voices gone
And it seems that there are no more songs
It seems that there are no more songs
It seems that there are no more songs

James Gang - Ashes, the Rain, and I (1970)

Formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1966, this band became more popular after one of their guitarists quit and went on to bigger things. Joe Walsh, that guitarist, went on to find success in the Eagles and as a solo artist. People wanting to trace Walsh’s past would often wind up listening to this group. Despite the band releasing nine albums in eleven years, they didn’t really get a strong taste of success until 1971 with their album Thirds. “Walk Away,” the opening track on that album, was their highest charting single, reaching number fifty-one in the US. That same year, in late ’71, Walsh quit the band. The remaining members never attained the (small) success they had achieved with him, and they eventually dissolved the group in 1977.

Before the bands third album appropriately titled Thirds, the band had released James Gang Rides Again in July 1970. This song was the closing track on the album and was written by Joe Walsh and fellow bandmate Dale Peters. Although not one of the band’s more well-known songs, it was sampled by Fatboy Slim on his hit 1999 song “Right Here, Right Now.”



James Gang - Ashes, the Rain, and I (1970)

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Lyrics:

Sometimes I sit and I stare at the rain
Isn't rain filled with sorrow?
Wonder if I'll see my home again
Will it be dry tomorrow?

Time passes softly and I'm a day older
But still I’m living days gone by
Ashes to ashes, the rain's turning colder
Finding tomorrow, the ashes, the rain and I

McGuinness Flint - When I'm Dead and Gone (1970)

Tom McGuinness, born in London in 1941, teamed up with Hughie Flint, born in Manchester the same year, came together in 1970 to form this band. McGuinness had previously played as the bassist and guitarist of Manfred Mann, formerly of group of the same name, whereas Flint had been the drummer for John Mayall, formerly of John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers. Despite having an alternating line-up with numerous talented members, the group never really caught on in the United States and found the majority of their stardom in Britain. After a couple singles in the Top 5 and some albums that were difficult to reproduce live on stage, the band called it quits in 1975.

This song, written by Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle, was the band’s first released single. It was loosely based on the life of Robert Johnson, an iconic blues singer whose contributions to the guitar in the 1930s would inspire many great guitarists, such as Eric Clapton. The song reached number two in the United Kingdom and number forty-seven in the United States.



McGuinness Flint - When I'm Dead and Gone (1970)

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Lyrics:

Oh, I love you baby
I love you night and day
When I leave ya baby
Don't cry the night away
When I die, don't you write no words upon my tomb
I don't believe I want to leave no epitaph for two

Oh, oh, oh
When I'm dead and gone
I wanna leave some happy woman livin’ on
Oh, oh, oh
When I'm dead and gone
Don't want nobody to morn beside my grave

Oh, Mama Linda, she's out to get my hide
She's got a shotgun and a daughter by her side
Hey there, ladies, Johnson´s free
Who's got the love?
Who's got a love to keep a man like me?

Oh, oh, oh
When I'm dead and gone
I wanna leave some happy woman livin’ on
Oh, oh, oh
When I'm dead and gone
Don't want nobody to morn beside my grave

Oh, oh, oh
When I'm dead and gone
Don't want nobody to mourn beside my grave
Oh, oh, oh
When I'm dead (and gone)
When I’m dead and gone
(Don't want nobody to morn beside my grave)
No, no, no, no, no

Trees - The Garden Of Jane Delawney (1970)

Formed in 1968, this British folk (and sometimes folk-rock) group put together a total of two albums around the songwriting talents of Tobias “Bias” Boshell. (Boshell would later be noted for being the keyboardist of The Kiki Dee Band and writing Kiki Dee’s hit song “I’ve Got the Music In Me.”) From a distance, this band appeared to be a knock-off of Fairport Convention at the height of Fairport’s popularity, possibly trying to cash in on the newly emerging “electric folk” scene. And although that theory may carry some weight, to the band’s credit, it has also been stated that CBS Records, who signed the group, was never really committed to allowing ample rehearsal time before the group’s recording, as well as putting a lot of pressure on the band despite not offering them much compensation.

This song comes from the group’s first album, The Garden of Jane Delawney, released in 1970. The album featured a total of nine tracks, four of which were traditional folk songs. This song, written by Boshell, was given praise for sounding as if it were a traditional folk song written hundreds of years prior. Lasting four minutes and nineteen seconds, it is the shortest track on the album. It was covered by Françoise Hardy in 1971.



Trees - The Garden Of Jane Delawney (1970)

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Lyrics:

The poet's voice lingers on
His words hanging in the air
“The ground you walk upon”
“Might as well not be there”
Might as well not be there

I'll take you through my dreams
Out into the darkest morning
Past the blood-filled streams
Into the garden of Jane Delawney
Into her garden, now

Though the rose is there
Don't pluck it as you pass
Or the fire will consume your hair
And your eyes will turn to glass
Your eyes will turn to glass

In the willow's shade
Don't lie to hear it weep
Or its tears of gold and jade
Will drown you as you sleep
Will drown you now

Jane Delawney had her dreams
That she never did discover
For the flow that feeds the streams
Is the lifeblood of her lover
Is the lifeblood of her lover

And the purifying beams
Of the sun will shine here never
While the spirit of her dreams
In the garden lives forever
Lives forever, now

Syd Barrett - Bob Dylan Blues (1970)

Born in 1946, this man was the original frontman for the legendary group Pink Floyd. Not only did he start the group in 1965, but he was also the group’s primary songwriter, lead vocalist, and lead guitarist for their first few years. Pink Floyd’s early sound was psychedelic primarily because of his imagination. Sadly, years of drug use aided his mental health to deteriorate and he left the group in April 1968. After a couple solo albums, he decided to leave the public eye permanently and put himself in a self-imposed seclusion. Pink Floyd, without him, would go on to enormous success and recorded several tributes to him, most notably their 1975 album Wish You Were Here. On July 7th, 2006, after more than thirty years of seclusion, he fell victim to his pancreatic cancer and died in his home in Cambridge.

In 1964, Bob Dylan released “My Back Pages,” which mocked his own early political image. (You can hear The Byrds’ cover version of the song here.) But before Dylan was able to mock himself, Barrett had beaten him to the punch with this song. Written in 1963 after Barrett had seen Dylan in concert, this song both gently lampoons Dylan’s early political persona as well as pays an honoring tribute to him. Coming out of David Gilmour’s personal collection for the album The Best of Syd Barrett: Wouldn't You Miss Me? released in 2001, it was originally recorded in 1970.



Syd Barrett - Bob Dylan Blues (1970)

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Lyrics:

Got the Bob Dylan blues
And the Bob Dylan shoes
And my clothes and my hair's in a mess
But, you know, I just couldn't care less

Gonna write me a song
'bout what's right and what's wrong
Got God and my girl and all that
Quiet while I make like a cat

‘cause I'm a poet, don’t’cha know it?
And the wind? You can blow it
‘cause I'm Mr. Dylan, the king
And I'm free as a bird on the wing

Roam from town to town
Guess I get people down
But I don't care too much about that
‘cause my gut and my wallet are fat

Make a whole lot of dough
But I deserve it, though
I got soul and a good heart of gold
So I'll sing about war in the Cold

‘cause I'm a poet, don’t’cha know it?
And the wind? You can blow it
‘cause I'm Mr. Dylan, the king
And I'm free as a bird on the wing

Well I sings about dreams
And I rhymes it with seams
‘cause it seems that my dream always means
That I can prophesy all kinds of things

Well the guy that digs me
Should try hard to see
That he buys all my discs in a hat
And when I'm in town, go see that

‘cause I'm a poet, don’t’cha know it?
And the wind? You can blow it
‘cause I'm Mr. Dylan, the king
And I'm free as a bird on the wing

Dave Mason & Cass Elliot - Something to Make You Happy (1970)

Having just recently removed himself from his psychedelic English group, Traffic, Dave Mason traveled to the United States. “Mama Cass,” Cass Elliot, of The Mamas and The Papas had already released two solo albums and was looking to get back into producing. The two were introduced to one another by a mutual friend, and they decided to work together professionally and release an album. Recorded in 1970 and released in 1971, that album, Dave Mason & Cass Elliot, reached number forty-nine on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart, a moderate success.

From their only album came this song, the first single of two to be released. Co-written by Mason and Elliot, it is the only song on the album to have been written by both artists. Although each half of the duo expressed an interest in recording another album with one another, it would be their only collaborative effort. Mama Cass would pass away in 1974, just three short years after this album’s release.



Dave Mason & Cass Elliot - Something to Make You Happy (1970)

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Lyrics:

Laying here at night, I think of the love we made
Causing our mind and souls to fly
We talked to each other and silence was just a game
Seemed that we didn’t even have to try

We started the way we both had in mind to do
After a while, we went the wrong way
I tried to show you all the things that you needed to
Keep me in love and let me stay

La la la la la-la la-la
La la la la la la
La la la la la-la la-la
La la la la la

If all of our time is spent in misusing it
Nothing will come of what we say
Try to retain all the things that are near to us
Trying to love in a natural way

La la la la la-la la-la
La la la la la la

It comes from the heart, this love that I offer you
Don’t try and cage it like a wild beast
Love is as free as the spirits of destiny
Something to make you happy

La la la la la-la la-la
Something to make you happy
La la la la la-la la-la
Something to make you happy

Tom Paxton - Whose Garden Was This (1970)

Born in 1937 and raised in a small town in Oklahoma, this folk legend never attempted to conform to the emerging “folk rock” genre that became popular in the mid-‘60s. Although our previous post on him gives the general summary of who he was, it is pointed out here that Tom Paxton admitted that he never had the “rock mentality.” The most he ever experimented with his folk music was by incorporating some string instruments and horns. Known as the “Baroque” period of his career, he quickly returned to his folk roots after two experimental albums.

This song comes from Paxton’s “Baroque folk” period. Specifically, it was on his album titled 6 released in 1970. It was composed as an environmentalist anthem, both written and originally performed by Paxton in honor of the first-ever Earth Day. Paxton’s use of imagery poignantly warns what may come if we don’t protect our planet. As much of a foreboding warning as it is a beautiful song, this is my favorite Tom Paxton track. If it’s your first time hearing the song, turn up the volume and lose yourself in the haunting lyrics.



Tom Paxton - Whose Garden Was This (1970)

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Lyrics:

Whose garden was this?
It must have been lovely
Did it have flowers?
I've seen pictures of flowers
And I'd love to have smelled one

Whose river was this?
You say it ran freely?
Blue was its color?
I've seen blue in some pictures
And I'd love to have been there

Ah, tell me again I need to know
The forest had trees, the meadows were green
The oceans were blue, and birds really flew
Can ya swear that was true?

Whose grey sky was this?
Or was it a blue one?
Nights there were breezes?
I've heard records of breezes
And you tell me you've felt one?

Ah, tell me again I need to know
The forest had trees, the meadows were green
The oceans were blue, and birds really flew
Can ya swear that was true?

Whose garden was this?
It must have been lovely
Did it have flowers?
I've seen pictures of flowers
And I'd love to have smelled one

Mason Williams - Classical Gas (1970)

Born in 1938, this man has been a comedy writer for both The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and Saturday Night Live (briefly in 1980). He is also a noted poet, a lyricist, and most popularly remembered for his hit instrumental track heard below. He wrote songs for The Kingston Trio, released an album with Mannheim Steamroller, and “discovered” comedian Steve Martin by hiring him (and paying him out of his own pocket) as a writer for the Smothers Brothers’ show.

Originally released in 1968 on The Mason Williams Phonograph Record, this song won three Grammy Awards in 1969. It was often played by Williams on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, which contributed to its popularity. Since, it has been re-recorded and re-released many times over the years. This particular version of the song was re-constructed by Williams to be a solo acoustic guitar piece and appeared on his 1970 album Handmade. Personally, I prefer this acoustic guitar version over the original.



Mason Williams - Classical Gas (1970)

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Lyrics:

(instrumental)

Derek and the Dominos - Keep on Growing (1970)

Upset with the fighting between Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett, the members of Delaney & Bonnie & Friends had had enough and said their goodbyes. Soon after, Eric Clapton and his former bandmates put together this group in the spring of 1970. Their name came about in a brainstorming session where “Derek” came from a nickname bestowed on Clapton by a star-struck rock pianist, Tony Ashton, meaning to say “Eric,” and “the Dominos” from their admiration for rock and roll legend Fats Domino.

This song was originally an instrumental known as “Airport Shuffle” that the band used to open up concerts with for loosening up. When they attempted to include it on their upcoming album, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, it was vetoed by the powers that be. Bobby Whitlock, the group’s keyboardist, walked out to the studio’s lobby, wrote the lyrics at that very moment (in about 20 minutes), and walked back in the recording room to add the new vocals with Clapton.



Derek and the Dominos - Keep on Growing (1970)

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Lyrics:

I was laughin’
Playin’ in the streets
I was unknowin’
I didn't know my fate
Playin’
The game of love
But never really showin’
I thought that love could wait

I was a young man and a’sure to go astray
You walked right into my life and told me love would find a way

To keep on growin’
Keep on growin’
Keep on growin’

I was standin’
Lookin’ in the face of one who loved me
Feelin’ so ashamed

Hopin’
And prayin’, Lord, that she could understand me
But I didn't know her name
She took my hand in hers and told me I was wrong
She said, “You're gonna be all right, boy, oh just as long”

“As you keep on growin’
Ah, keep on growin’
Ah, keep on growin’”
Yeah, yeah, yeah

Maybe
Maybe
Someday baby, who knows where or when, Lord
Just you wait and see
We'll be walkin’
Together hand in hand; alone forever
Woman, just you and me

'Cause time is gonna change us, Lord, and I know it's true
Our love is gonna keep on glowin’ and growin’ and it's all we gotta do

Keep on growin’ keep on growin’
A’keep on growin’, yeah, yeah, yeah
Keep on growin’, keep on growin’
A’keep on growin’

Santana - Samba Pa Ti (1970)

Based around the Mexican guitar legend Carlos Santana, this group found popularity at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, playing to a crowd of thousands. Their first album resulted in the hit, “Evil Ways,” while their second album featured “Black Magic Woman,” “Oyo Como Va,” and the song heard below. The group’s third album was the original Woodstock lineups’ last before the band members began to switch. There is still an incarnation of the group that continues today.

This instrumental hit comes from the group’s second album, Abraxas, released in 1970 off of the popularity-wave created at Woodstock. Translated into English, “Samba For You” was written by the group’s percussionist, Mike Carabello.



Santana - Samba Pa Ti (1970)

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Lyrics:

(instrumental)