Captain Beyond - Sufficiently Breathless (1973)

When Iron Butterfly split up in 1971, two of its members got together with ex-musicians of other popular groups of the era and formed this band. Arguably considered a supergroup, the talent found on the band’s first lineup consisted of Rod Evans from Deep Purple, Bobby Caldwell from Johnny Winter’s band, and Larry “Rhino” Reinhardt and Lee Dorman still paired up from Iron Butterfly. This initial lineup created the band’s debut album, Captain Beyond, in 1972. After its release, personnel began to shift with a particular revolving door for drummers. By the time they were ready to record their next album (Sufficiently Breathless in 1973), they were a six-piece band. The abridged version is that they lost Bobby Caldwell and ultimately gained Guille Garcia and Marty Roriguez. Unfortunately for fans, that lineup, too, disintegrated before the album they worked on together was released. A brief reunion of the four original members in the latter-half of '73 toured to support the album, but the group again ended on December 31st, 1973 when lead singer Rod Evans announced that he'd be leaving the group for good. As a last hurrah, the three remaining members of the band released an album in 1977, titled Dawn Explosion, featuring Willy Daffern to replace Evans on lead vocals. The album had a lukewarm response and the band folded permanently in 1978.

The band’s second album, Sufficiently Breathless, features the eponymous title track heard below. Written by Lee Dorman, the song is the opening track on the album and features the vocal talents of Rod Evans. The album was produced by Phil Walden (Otis Redding’s manager up until Otis’ death) and released on Capricorn Records (the home of Southern Rock bands such as The Allman Brothers Band and The Marshall Tucker Band).



Captain Beyond - Sufficiently Breathless (1973)

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Lyrics:

Sitting on the door stoop
Watching multiples of people pass me by
Look through the windows, through the houses
Oh, they're made of sky

Gargoyle watching the bouncing ball
Strangers mystified by all
All the goings on
Sufficiently breathless
Sufficiently breathless

Hey, Mr. Policeman, can you point the way
Oh, with your handgun?
The Earth above me and the space below
Don't you understand ‘em?

Gargoyle watching the bouncing ball
Strangers mystified by all
All the goings on
Sufficiently breathless
Sufficiently breathless
Sufficiently breathless
Sufficiently breathless

Hearing and watching all the city sounds
On the street where we live
No one to care about us
Seems it’s falling down around us
Nothing left to live for
(Sufficiently breathless)
Nothing left to live for
(Sufficiently breathless on the street)
(Where we live)
Nothing left to live for
(Sufficiently breathless)
Nothing left to live for
(Sufficiently breathless on the street)
(Where we live)
Nothing left to live for
(Sufficiently breathless)
Nothing left to live for
(Sufficiently breathless on the street)
(Where we live)
Nothing left to live for
(Sufficiently breathless)
Nothing left to live for
(Sufficiently breathless on the street)
(Where we live)
Nothing left to live for
(Sufficiently breathless)
Nothing left to live for
(Sufficiently breathless on the street)
(Where we live)
Nothing left to live for
(Sufficiently breathless)
Nothing left to live for…

Leo Sayer - The Show Must Go On (1973)

Born Gerald Hugh Sayer in Sussex, England, 1948, this artist wrote Roger Daltrey’s first solo hit song in 1973, appeared on The Muppet Show in 1978, and had a string of seven Top 10 hit songs in the beginning of his lengthy career. In 1967, while working at a hotel, he managed to save guests from a fire on the first floor, but then needed rescuing himself from the local fire department. Born to an Irish mother and English father, he moved to Australia in 2005 and became a legal resident in 2009.

Written by Sayer and David Courtney, this song was Sayer’s first hit single, reaching number two in the UK in 1974, the year after its release. His next six singles would also be hits in the top ten. This song also appears on his 1974 full-length album, Silverbird. At the height of the song’s popularity, Sayer dressed as a pierrot clown to reinforce the song’s circus and “difficult choices in life” imagery. The song was covered by Three Dog Night in 1974, and much to Sayer’s displeasure, they changed the last line of the song from “I won’t let the show go on,” to “I must let the show go on.”




Leo Sayer - The Show Must Go On (1973)

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Lyrics:

Baby, although I chose this lonely life
It seems it's strangling me now
All the wild men big cigars gigantic cars
They're all laughing at me now
Oh I've been used- used
I've been a fool, oh, what a fool
I broke all the rules- rules, yeah
But I won’t let the show go on

Baby, there's an enormous crowd of people
And they're all after my blood
I wish maybe they'd tear down the walls of this theater
And let me out- let me out
Oh, I've been so blind, yeah
I've wasted time, wasted, wasted oh so much time
Walking on the wire, high wire, yeah
But I must let the show go on

I've been so blind, oh, yes, I've been so blind
Wasted my time, wasted so much time
Walking on the wire, high wire, yeah
But I won’t let the show go on

Been so blind, oh, yes
Been so blind
Wastin’ my time
Wastin’ so much time
Walkin’ on the water, high wire
But I won’t let the show go on

Baby, I wish you'd help me escape
And help me get away
Leave me outside my address
Far away from this masquerade
I've been so used
I’ve been so abused
I’ve been a fool
I broke all the rules
I’ve been so used, oh
But I won’t let the show go- ah!
No, I won’t let the show- ho!
I won’t let the show go on!

Queen - My Fairy King (1973)

In London, 1970, Farrokh Bulsara joined what remained of the local band he was a fan of, known as Smile. Still in the loosely assembled group at the time were guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor. Early in the following year, Bulsara renamed the band to its now-widely recognized name, seen above. Also at this time, in February 1971, the group finally discovered a bassist that they had enough chemistry to record with, and John Deacon completed the group’s lineup. Shortly after, Bulsara found inspiration in the lyrics of the song heard below, which he wrote, and changed his stage name to Freddie Mercury.

Written by Mercury and released on the group’s 1973 debut eponymous album, this song was the first by the group to feature Freddie on piano. Lyrically, the song is about the fictional world known as Rhye, also created by Mercury. The mentioning of the land would be repeated again later in their song “Seven Seas of Rhye.” In this song, however, the line sung, “Mother Mercury, look what they’ve done to me,” was said to be about Freddie’s mother. It is also this line, as touched on above, where Freddie found the inspiration for his new stage name.



Queen - My Fairy King (1973)

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Lyrics:

In the land where horses born with eagle wings
And honey bees have lost their stings
They’re singin’ forever to you
Lions’ den with fallow deer
And rivers made from wines so clear
Flow on and on forever
Dragons fly like sparrows through the air
And baby lambs where Samson dares
To go on, on, on, on, on

My Fairy King can see things
He rules the air and can see things
That are not there for you and me to see (Ooh, yeah)
My Fairy King can do right and nothing wrong

Then came man to savage in the night
To run like thieves and to kill like knaves
To take away the power from the magic hand
To bring about the ruin to the promised land

They turn the milk into sour
Like the blue on the blood of my veins
(Why can't you see it?)
Fire burnin' in Hell with the cry of a screaming pain
(Son of Heaven, set me free and let me go)
Sea turns dry, no salt from sand
Seasons find no helping hand
Teeth don't shine like pearls for poor man's eye (No more)

Someone- someone has drained the color from my wings
Broken my fairy circle ring
And he shamed the King in all his pride
He changed the winds and wronged the tides
Mother Mercury
Look what they've done to me
I cannot run, I cannot hide

The Wailers - No Woman, No Cry [Demo] (1973)

In 1973, The Wailers were gathering increasingly larger crowds during a tour across England. The main members, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer, received no money for their “promotional” tour and were soon expected to do the same in the seedy nightclubs of the United States. Bunny refused. Hoping his friends would join him in his refusal, he was disappointed to find that Tosh and Marley were going to carry on with the group’s tutor, Joe Higgs, in his place. Shortly after the tour ended, Tosh parted ways with the group as well. He felt Chris Blackwell, the group’s producer, was ripping them off. He also felt that after twelve years of primarily being a backing vocalist, he wasn’t able to materialize the lyrics, music, and emotion that had built up inside of him. Bob Marley continued the group as Bob Marley & The Wailers with his new backing vocalists, The I-Threes.

The original version of this song was released on the 1974 album, Natty Dread. Although it was the first record to be released without Tosh and Bunny, this demo version of this particular song still features Peter Tosh on piano. The female backing vocalists are unknown. Written by Bob Marley, the writing credits were officially given to Vincent Ford, a soup kitchen owner in the Kingston ghetto known as Trenchtown. Marley gave rights to Ford so that he could collect the song’s royalties and continue to feed the starving people in Kingston, Jamaica.

The title is often misinterpreted as meaning “no woman equals no crying;” but, in actuality, the singer is telling a woman, “no, woman, don’t cry”. The confusion arises from the Jamaican slang for “don’t,” pronounced “nuh”. So when the title was being listed, “no, woman, nuh cry,” it was confusingly written as “No Woman, No Cry”.



The Wailers - No Woman, No Cry [Demo] (1973)

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Lyrics:

No, woman, no cry
No, woman, no cry
No, woman, no cry
No, woman, no cry

‘cause, ‘cause
‘cause I remember when we used to sit
In a government yard in Trenchtown
Oba- observing the hypocrites
Yeah
Mingle with the good people we meet
Yeah
Good friends we have, oh, good friends we have lost
Along the way
(Yeah) Yeah
In this great future, you can’t forget your past
So dry your tears, I say
Yeah

No, woman, no cry
No, woman, no cry
Hey, yeah
A’little darlin’, don’t shed no tears
No, woman, no cry

Hey, said, said
Said I remember when we used to sit
In the government yard in Trenchtown
Yeah
And then Georgie would make the fire lights
I say, a’log wood burnin' through the night
Yeah
Then we would cook corn meal porridge
I say, of which I'll share with you
Yeah
My feet is my only carriage
And so I've got to push on through
But while I'm gone

Everything's gonna be alright
Everything's gonna be alright
Everything's gonna be alright
Everything's gonna be alright
Everything's gonna be alright
Everything's gonna be alright
Everything's gonna be alright
Everything's gonna be alright

So, no, woman, no cry
No, woman, no cry
I say, oh little- oh little darlin’, don't shed no tears
No, woman, no cry
Hey

No, woman- no, woman- no, woman, no cry
No, woman, no cry
One more time, I’ve got to say
Oh, little- little darling, please don’t shed no tears
No, woman, no cry

(Hey, little sister) No, woman
It’s his voice
No, woman, no cry
(No, woman, no cry)

I promise you
(Hey, little sister)
Everything’s gonna be alright
(Don’t shed no tears)
Everything’s gonna be alright
Everything’s gonna be alright
(No, woman, no cry)
Everything’s gonna be alright
Everything’s gonna be alright
Everything’s gonna be alright
Everything’s gonna be alright, hey
(Everything’s) gonna be alright
Everything’s gonna be alright
Everything’s gonna be alright
(Everything’s…)

Led Zeppelin - The Rain Song (1973)

They were said to be as important to the 1970s as The Beatles were to the 1960s. They were born from the ashes of The Yardbirds and were originally intended by Jimmy Page to be a supergroup featuring Keith Moon, Jeff Beck, and others. Moon said the idea would “go over like a lead balloon” and the group only recorded one song (heard here). What eventually came together was one of rock’s most legendary lineups: Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham, and John Paul Jones. With a small twist of Moon’s “lead balloon” comment, Led Zeppelin had just begun.

This ballad comes from the group’s fifth album, Houses of the Holy. The idea of the song came about after former member of The Beatles, George Harrison, commented to John Bonham how the group didn’t have any ballad-type songs. What eventually transpired was music written by Jimmy Page and lyrics penned by Robert Plant. In tribute to Harrison, you can hear that the opening of the song borrows chords from the opening of “Something” by The Beatles, which was written by Harrison.



Led Zeppelin - The Rain Song (1973)

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Lyrics:

It is the springtime of my loving
The second season I am to know
You are the sunlight in my growing
So little warmth I've felt before
It isn't hard to feel me glowing
I watched the fire that grew so low

It is the summer of my smiles
Flee from me, keepers of the gloom
Speak to me only with your eyes
It is to you I give this tune
Ain't so hard to recognize, oh
These things are clear to all from
Time to time

Talk, talk, talk, talk

Hey
I've felt coldness of my winter
I never thought it would ever go
I cursed the gloom that set upon us
But I know that I love you so
Aw, but I know that I love you so

These are the seasons of emotion
And like the wind, they rise and fall
This is the wonder of devotion
I see the torch we all must hold
This is a mystery of the quotient- quotient
Upon us all- upon us all a little rain must fall

Just a little rain, oh
Ooh, yeah

Cheech & Chong - Basketball Jones (1973)

Composed of Richard “Cheech” Marin and Tommy Chong, this duo is one of the earliest comedy acts to be classified under “stoner” comedy. Throughout their numerous albums and films, they targeted the hippie population with their marijuana-centered comedy. Their routines eventually earned them a Grammy Award. Currently reuniting, the duo has a feature film scheduled for release later this year.

This comedy song comes from the duo’s third album, Los Cochinos (translated “The Pigs”). The song features the following musicians: George Harrison on guitar; Klaus Voormann on bass; Nicky Hopkins on piano; Carole King on electric piano; Billy Preston on organ; Michelle Phillips (of The Mamas and The Papas) as a backup singing "cheerleader"; and many other notable musicians/acts of the era. The track reached number thirty-six in Canada, and would later be covered by Barry White and Chris Rock for the 1996 film Space Jam.



Cheech & Chong - Basketball Jones (1973)

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Lyrics:

Basketball jones, I got a basketball jones
Got a basketball jones, oh baby, ooh

Yes, I am the victim of a basketball jones. Ever since I was a little baby, I always be dribblin'. In fact, I was the baddest dribbler in the whole neighborhood. Then, one day, my mama bought me a basketball. And I loved that basketball. I took that basketball with me everywhere I went. That basketball was like a basketball to me.

I even put that basketball underneath my pillow. Maybe that's why I can't sleep at night. I need help, ladies and gentlemens. I need someone to stand beside me. I need- I need someone to set a pick for me at the free-throw line of life. Someone I can pass to; someone to hit the open man on the give-and-go and not end up in the popcorn machine. So cheerleaders, help me out!

(Basketball jones, I got a basketball jones)
(I got a basketball jones, oh baby, ooh)

Oh, that sounds so sweet. Sing it out. C'mon Coach Booty, Red Blazer, sing along with me. That be bad, honky, yeah. I want everybody in the whole stadium to stand up and sing with us. Oh yeah, sing it out like you're proud. All right, everybody watchin' coast-to-coast, sing along with us. Bill Russell, sing along with us. Chick Hearn, sing along with us. Chris Schenkel, don't sing nothin'.

(Basketball jones, I got a basketball jones)
(I got a basketball jones, oh baby, ooh)

Oh, it feels so good. Gimme the ball. I'll go one-on-one against the world, left-handed. I could stuff it from center court with my toes. I could jump on top of the backboard, take off a quarter, leave fifteen cents change. I could- I could dribble behind my back. I got more moves than ex-lax. I'm bad. I could dribble with my tongue. Here I go down court, try to stop me. You can't stop me 'cause I got a basketball jones. Here I come. That's my hook shot with my eyebrow. Yeah, I could dunk it with my nose. I'm- I'm bad as King Kong- gimme the ball. I'm hot- I'm hot as- I'm hot as- I'm hot as- uh, uh, uh, uh, uh…

(Basketball jones, I got a basketball jones)
(I got a basketball jones, oh baby, ooh)
(Basketball jones, I got a basketball jones)
(I got a basketball jones, oh baby, ooh)…

Zerfas - I Need It Higher (1973)

Coming out of Indianapolis, Indiana, this psychedelic group was composed of late-teenage brothers David Zerfas and Brian “Herman” Zerfas. Sometimes known as the Jubal Band, their only album, Zerfas, was released in 1973 to very limited success (much in the southeastern US) on the 700 West record label. Only five hundred copies were made, making it now sought after by collectors at a great price.

According to Herman, this song was written and originally performed at a much faster pace by the brothers in 1969 when they were still going by the Jubal Band name. After winning some local contests, they agreed to record it in 1973. David and Herman were the only members of the group at that time.



Zerfas - I Need It Higher (1973)

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Lyrics:

I need it higher; want it so bad
I need it higher; forget I’m sad
Up in the morning; stains on my brain
Help stop my crying; forget the pain

Sweeter than honey, your love’s that fine
Seems like I miss you; I need to climb

I need it higher; I want you back
Outside is inside; look, I’m so sad

Morning and evening, yeah, I should have known
They’re both so black now, I want you home

I need it higher; everything’s cold
Feels like I’m dying- losing my hold
I need it higher; I wish I was dead!
I need it higher; want it so bad!

The Marshall Tucker Band - Can't You See (1973)

Performing for nearly forty years, this group was responsible for helping to push “southern rock” into a mainstream genre in the ‘70s. There have been over twenty-five members in all, but the most notable were brothers Toy and Tommy Caldwell. The group named themselves after an inscription they found engraved into a key to a warehouse they had rented to rehearse in. They didn’t realize that the name was of a man still living: a blind piano tuner who had rented the warehouse just before the band.

This song was first released on the group’s self-titled first album in 1973. It has been covered by Hank Williams, Jr., Waylon Jennings, and others.



The Marshall Tucker Band - Can't You See (1973)

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Lyrics:

I'm gonna take a freight train down at the station, Lord
I don't care where it goes
Gonna climb a mountain- the highest mountain
And jump off; nobody gonna know

Can't you see- oh, can't you see
What that woman, Lord
She been doin' to me?
Can't you see- can't you see
What that woman- she been doin' to me?

I'm gonna find me a hole in the wall
I’m gonna crawl inside and die
’Cause my lady, now, a mean old woman, Lord
Never told me goodbye

Can't you see- oh, can't you see
What that woman she been doin' to me?
Can't you see- can't you see
What that woman, Lord, she been doin' to me?

I’m gonna buy a ticket, now, as far as I can
Ain't a’never comin' back
Ride me a southbound
All the way to Georgia, now
‘til the train- it run out of track

Can't you see- oh, can't you see
What that woman, Lord, she been doin' to me?
Can't you see- can't you see
What that woman she been doin' to me?
(Oh, Lord)

Can't you see- oh, can't you see
What that woman, Lord, she been doin' to me?
Can't you see- oh, can't you see
What that woman, she been doin' to me?

(Can't you see- can't you see)
Oh, she’s such a crazy lady
(What that woman, she been doin' to me?)
Oh, that woman

(Can't you see- can't you see)
Lord, I can’t stand it
(What that woman, she been doin' to me?)
Oh, she been doin’ to me?

(Can't you see- can't you see)
I'm gonna take a freight train down at the station, Lord
(What that woman, she been doin' to me?)
Ain’t never comin’ back, oh no

(Can't you see- can't you see)
Gonna ride me a southbound
All the way to Georgia, Lord
(What that woman, she been doin' to me?)
‘til the train- it run out of track

Paul McCartney & Wings - Band on the Run (1973)

Formed by Paul and Linda McCartney in the aftermath of The Beatles break-up, this band remained together for ten years until finally dissolving in 1981. The group primarily consisted of Paul McCartney, previously of The Beatles; Linda McCartney, Paul’s wife; and Denny Laine, previously of The Moody Blues. Although many other people came and went as members of the band, it was the three above that wrote all of the band’s songs, and Paul who sang the majority of them.

This song is one of my all-time favorites. It comes from the group’s third album, Band on the Run, which was released in 1973. It was the second of five singles to be released by the group which reached number one in the US. The line “If we ever get out of here” was unknowingly contributed by George Harrison, years prior, when speaking about one of The Beatles meetings they were stuck in.



Paul McCartney & Wings - Band on the Run (1973)

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Lyrics:

Stuck inside these four walls
Sent inside forever
Never seein’ no one nice again
Like you
Mama you, mama you

If I ever get out of here
Thought of giving it all away
To a registered charity
All I need is a pint a day
If I ever get outta here
(If we ever get outta here)

Well the rain exploded with a mighty crash as we fell into the sun
And the first one said to the second one there, “I hope you're having fun”
Band on the run
Band on the run
And the jailor man and sailor Sam were searchin’ everyone
For the band on the run
Band on the run
For the band on the run
The band on the run

Well the undertaker drew a heavy sigh seein’ no one else had come
And a bell was ringing in the village square for the rabbits on the run
Band on the run
Band on the run
And the jailor man and sailor Sam were searchin’ everyone
For the band on the run
Band on the run

Yea, the band on the run
The band on the run
The band on the run
Band on the run

Well the night was falling as the desert world began to settle down
In the town, they're searching for us everywhere, but we never will be found
Band on the run
Band on the run
And the county judge who held a grudge
Will search for evermore
For the band on the run
For the band on the run
The band on the run
(Yea!)
The band on the run
(Yea!)