The Stampeders - Sweet City Woman (1971)

In 1964, Rich Dodson, Kim Berly, and three others created a band known as The Rebounds in Calgary, Alberta. The group shuffled members a bit in 1965 (notably picking up Ronnie King) and renamed themselves The Stampeders. The following year, in 1966, they finally downsized to a trio, solidifying their most famous lineup, and relocated to Toronto, Ontario. All three members of the group provided vocals, but Rich Dodson played guitar, Ronnie King played bass, and Kim Berly played the drums.

Unless you were in Canada in the early 1970s (when and where the group had multiple top-ten hits), there’s a fair chance you’re only familiar with this band from their signature song, heard below. Written by Dodson and released on their debut album, Against the Grain, in 1971, the song reached number eight on the American Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it shuffled around for sixteen weeks. The song was such a hit that the group’s American distributers renamed their album to Sweet City Woman for its stateside release. The group sustained success (in Canada, at least) through the mid-1970s.



The Stampeders - Sweet City Woman (1971)

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Lyrics:

Well, I'm on my way
To the city lights
To a pretty face that shines her light on the city nights
And I gotta catch a noon train
I gotta be there on time
Oh, it feels so good to know she waits at the end of the line

Sweet, sweet city woman
I can see your face
I can hear your voice
I can almost touch you

Sweet, sweet city woman
Oh, the banjo and me, we got a feel for singing

Yeah, yeah

Bon, c'est bon, bon, bon, c'est bon, bon
Bon, c'est bon, bon, bon, bon, bon
Bon, c'est bon, bon, bon, c'est bon, bon
Bon, c'est bon, bon, bon, bon, bon

So long, ma
So long, pa
So long, neighbors and friends

Like a country mornin’
All smothered in dew
Ah, she's got a way to make a man feel shiny and new
And she sing in the evening
Old, familiar tunes
And she feeds me love and tenderness and macarons

Sweet, sweet city woman
I can see your face
I can hear your voice
I can almost touch you

Sweet, sweet city woman
Oh, the banjo and me, we got a feel for singing

Sweet, sweet city woman
Oh, she's my sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet city woman

Sweet, sweet city woman
Oh, my sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet city woman

Everybody
Sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet city woman
Sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet city woman
Sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet city woman
Sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet city woman
Sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet city woman
Sweet, sweet, sweet…

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)

Patrick Sky - Luang Prabang (1971)

In our previous post to feature this artist, it was mentioned how Patrick Sky’s political point of view had become more radical toward the end of the 1960s as the American involvement in Vietnam escalated. Naturally, the more radical Sky’s views became, the more radical his lyrics became. When Sky finished recording tracks in March 1971 for his forthcoming album, Songs That Made America Famous, the radical lyrics within lead to rejection from several record labels who refused to pick up the album for distribution. Eventually, in 1973, Sky decided to release the album on his own record label, Rainbow Collection, and eventually got it picked up by Adelphi Records. With its radical lyrics and limited promotion, the album didn’t sell as well as it could have in a more lenient market, such as today’s.

Written by Dave Van Ronk (and eventually recorded/released by him in 1994), the first recording and release of the song was the version recorded by Patrick Sky in 1971 and heard below. Initially, Vank Ronk was intended to appear with Sky on the song, but for reasons not mentioned, it never happened. There’s a live version of the song which features both Van Ronk and Sky from a tour they did together in 1973, but the version heard below is the original featuring only Patrick Sky and released on his 1973 album, Songs That Made America Famous.



Patrick Sky - Luang Prabang (1971)

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Lyrics:

When I came back from Luang Prabang
I didn’t have a thing where my balls used to hang
But I got a wooden medal and a fine harangue
And now I’m a fucking hero

Mourn your dead, land of the free
If you want to be a hero, follow me
Mourn your dead, land of the free
If you want to be a hero, follow me

And now the boys all envy me
I fought for Christian Democracy
With nothing but air where my balls used to be
But now I’m a fucking hero

Mourn your dead, land of the free
If you want to be a hero, follow me
Mourn your dead, land of the free
If you want to be a hero, follow me

One and twenty cannon thunder
Into the bloody, wild, blue yonder
For a patriotic ball-less wonder
Now I’m a fucking hero

Mourn your dead, land of the free
If you want to be a hero, follow me
Mourn your dead, land of the free
If you want to be a hero, follow me

In Luang Prabang there is a spot
Where the corpses of your brothers rot
And every corpse is a patriot
And every corpse is a hero

Mourn your dead, land of the free
If you want to be a hero, follow me
Mourn your dead, land of the free
If you want to be a hero, follow me

Aphrodite's Child - Babylon (1972)

This Greek group first came together in 1967 and began as a backing band named “Vangelis and his Orchestra” after their lead member and multi-instrumentalist, Vangelis Papathanassiou. Although it wasn’t a smooth process, the band left their home country of Greece, which was under a newly formed dictatorship, and recorded their first album (End of the World, October 1968) in Paris, France. Their second and third albums were recorded in London, England. It was during the recording of their third album, 666, when the band members began to find new, separate interests and come apart from one another. The band’s lead vocalist, Demis Roussos, for example, had become more interested in pursuing a solo career. Vangelis, on the other hand, had begun recording scores for television documentaries. He, too, would pursue a solo career and became renowned for his electronic music. Vangelis also worked on numerous film scores, most notably winning an Oscar for his score for the film Chariots of Fire. Although you may not recognize the name, you’d probably recognize the main track. By the time of 666’s release in June 1972, the band had already broken up.

The song heard below is the second track on the band’s final album, 666. It was written by Vangelis Papathanassiou and had lyrics contributed by Costas Ferris. Although it sounds live, the crowd noise was layered behind the song. Lyrically, the song introduces the apocalyptic theme found throughout the album. Although not a chart-topper when released, the album is now considered a classic, as well as one of the first concept albums.



Aphrodite's Child - Babylon (1972)

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Lyrics:

Fallen, fallen, fallen
Is Babylon the great
Space is getting bounded
Time is getting late
Getting late

Masters fall and wonder
People rise and wait
Fallen, fallen, fallen
Is Babylon the great

You don't need a coin
I don't have to shine
We don't know the reason

But, I need you madly
And you need me too
And we need each other
Need each other
Need each other

Fallen, fallen, fallen
Is Babylon the great
Space is getting bounded
Time is getting late
Getting late

Masters fall and wonder
People rise and wait
Fallen, fallen, fallen
Is Babylon the great

You don't need a coin
I don't have to shine
We don't know the reason

But, I need you madly
And you need me too
And we need each other
Need each other
Need each other

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!)

Hot Tuna - Water Song (1972)

Jack Casady (b. April 13, 1944) and Jorma Kaukonen (b. December 23, 1940) had first met in the city which they were both born, Washington, D.C. in the United States, while growing up. Together as teenagers, the duo formed their first band together called The Triumphs. While Casady remained enrolled in high school, Kaukonen went off to Ohio for college, before abruptly following his family to live overseas. Eventually Kaukonen found his way back to the States and re-enrolled in college in California. In 1965, Kaukonen joined Jefferson Airplane and, within a matter of months, recruited Casady to join the band on bass, replacing Bob Harvey. Although Jack and Jorma wound find great success with the psychedelic sounds created in Jefferson Airplane, it was the blues to which they always remained loyal. In 1969, Jack and Jorma began a side project, this band, which allowed them to perform the blues and record original material of their own. Although Jefferson Airplane would eventually split up, and although Jack and Jorma have each had their own share of solo albums and guest appearances on other records, it is only Hot Tuna which still remains intact today. From 1969 until the present, the band has never broken up, continues to release new material, and continues to put on live shows which can last anywhere from three to six hours.

The first two albums released by Hot Tuna were live albums (Hot Tuna from 1970 and First Pull Up, Then Pull Down from 1971). The album that this song appeared on was the group’s third release, but first studio-recorded album, titled Burgers, and released in February 1972. Written by Jorma Kaukonen, the song featured Kaukonen on guitar, Jack Casady on bass, and Sammy Piazza on drums.



Hot Tuna - Water Song (1972)

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Lyrics:

(instrumental)

The Allman Brothers Band - Melissa (1971)

When Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident on October 29, 1971, The Allman Brothers Band had been in the middle of recording what would be their fourth album. As a result of his death, Duane’s guitar work was only heard on tracks four through nine of the nine-track album. Earlier in his career, Duane had once been asked by the media what he was doing to help the revolution occurring in the country at the time, to which he responded, “There ain’t no revolution; it’s evolution. But every time I’m in Georgia, I eat a peach for peace.” To honor Duane, the band named their album Eat a Peach. It was released February 12, 1972, reached number four on the charts, and has sold over one million copies.

Although this song is most famously known as the third track on The Allman Brothers’ 1972 Eat a Peach album, it was actually written in 1967 by Gregg Allman, and first recorded in 1968 by a band called The 31st of February. The 31st of February was a band made up of Gregg and Duane Allman, who had joined the remnants of a band called The Bitter Ind. (which stood for Independents). One of the members of The Bitter Ind. and The 31st of February was drummer Butch Trucks, who would go on to co-create The Allman Brothers Band with Duane and Gregg Allman in 1969.

The song heard below is the version recorded by The Allman Brothers in 1971 and released on their 1972 Eat a Peach album. It was one of the three tracks on the album that didn't involve Duane, due to his death, and was thus also one of the first songs the group recorded without him. Regarding the choice of the name in the song, Gregg Allman has said that when he initially wrote the song, he wasn’t sure which female name to use. The name “Melissa” sprang on him as he stood in line at a grocery store and heard a mother calling out to her daughter, Melissa, to come back to her after wandering off too far.



The Allman Brothers Band - Melissa (1971)

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Lyrics:

Crossroads
Seem to come and go, yeah
The gypsy flies from coast to coast
Knowing many, loving none
Bearing sorrow, having fun
But back home he'll always run
To sweet Melissa

Freight train
Each car looks the same, all the same
And no one knows the gypsy's name
No one hears his lonely sigh
There are no blankets where he lies
In all his deepest dreams, the gypsy flies
With sweet Melissa

Again the morning's come
Again he's on the run
Sunbeams shining through his hair
Appearing not to have a care
Well, pick up your gear and gypsy roll on
Roll on

Crossroads
Will you ever let him go? Lord, Lord
Will you hide the dead man's ghost?
Or will he lie beneath the clay?
Or will his spirit roll away?
But I know that he won't stay
Without Melissa

Yes, I know that he won't stay
Without Melissa

No, no

Neil Young - The Needle and the Damage Done (Live) (1971)

After Buffalo Springfield broke up, Neil Young signed a record deal as a solo artist with Reprise Records on the recommendation of his friend Joni Mitchell. Although his first two albums, Neil Young (November 1968) and Everybody Knows This is Nowhere (May 1969) didn’t initially chart very well, his third album After the Gold Rush (August 1970) gained much more attention, primarily in thanks to his increased exposure from joining Crosby, Stills & Nash in August 1969.

By the end of the summer in 1970, CSN&Y completely imploded and disbanded. That very same autumn, Young decided to go on an acoustic tour of the United States, playing songs from his Buffalo Springfield, CSN&Y, and solo catalogs. As the tour went on, Young began to introduce more and more of his newer material to live audiences. The song heard below was played before a live audience on one such occasion on January 30, 1971. As the tour concluded, Young befriended a group of musicians (whom he dubbed The Stray Gators) which he would use as the session musicians on his fourth solo album, the critically-acclaimed Harvest (February 1972). The only song to appear on Harvest from Young’s acoustic tour was “The Needle and the Damage Done,” heard below.

The song heard below was written by Neil Young, spotlighting the detriments of heroin on the people around him. Specifically, the song was inspired by Danny Whitten, the guitarist of Crazy Horse, a band whom Young had hired to back him on his second and third albums that were eventually signed to their own record deal. When Young’s Harvest album became a huge success, reaching number one in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada, Young quickly made plans to start a tour to support it. He called upon Whitten among others to rehearse with him for the impending tour. Upon their rehearsals, it was evident that Whitten was still using heroin, as his guitar playing was hardly a shadow of his former abilities. On November 18, 1972, Young fired Whitten from the band, giving him fifty dollars and a plane ticket back to Los Angeles. That very same night, Whitten died from a fatal combination of Valium and alcohol, the former being taken for knee arthritis and the latter taken to try and quell the heroin cravings. It took years for Neil Young to stop blaming himself for Whitten’s death.



Neil Young - The Needle and the Damage Done (Live) (1971)

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Lyrics:

I caught you knocking at my cellar door
I love you, baby, can I have some more?
Ooh, ooh, the damage done

I hit the city and I lost my band
I watched the needle take another man
Gone, gone, the damage done

I sing the song because I love the man
I know that some of you don't understand
Milk-blood to keep from running out

I've seen the needle and the damage done
A little part of it in everyone
But every junkie's like a setting sun

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)

Orpheus - I Wanna Be Your Lover (1971)

Bruce Arnold and Jack McKennes could often be found performing at a Cape Cod, Massachusetts coffee house, known as The Village, in 1964. When they became popular enough to start playing other local venues, they decided to call themselves The Villagers, honoring where they got their start. In 1967, Eric Gulliksen joined the band as their bassist, and Harry Sandler joined as the group’s drummer. They settled on their band’s name in the summer of 1967 and quickly recorded their first demo of nine songs. After receiving nine recording offers, they ultimately decided to sign with Alan Lorber and MGM Records. Their most successful song was “Can’t Find the Time,” which peaked on many local markets. The band’s early success led to them playing on the same bill as bands such as Cream, The Who, Janis Joplin, and Led Zeppelin. What’s interesting is that the band which performed live was not the same individuals who had recorded the songs. Lorber decided that he wanted to use musicians with more musical talent in the recording studio, so some of the “actual” members of the band were not recorded. This eventually led Bruce Arnold to feel that his real bandmates were the studio musicians recording with him in the studio. Because of this, McKennes and Sandler were fired from the band in December 1969. Just two months later Gulliksen quit, pursuing other endeavors.

Left alone, Arnold began playing in a band called Two Foot Lamb Door. Eventually, with the blessing of Alan Lorber, Arnold convinced Two Foot Lamb Door to be the new Orpheus. Songwriter Steve Martin, childhood friend Elliot Sherman, Howard Hersh, K.P. Burke, and Bernard “Pretty” Purdie all backed Arnold in this new lineup. Past member Eric Gulliksen had been invited, but his success in the nine-to-five world persuaded him not to rejoin. With its new members, Orpheus released one more album and one more single in 1971, this time on the Bell Records label. The song heard below comes from that album, which was titled Orpheus, and is colloquially known as Orpheus 4, since the band’s debuting LP used the same name. This track was written by Steve Martin, while Bruce Arnold sang the lead.



Orpheus - I Wanna Be Your Lover (1971)

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Lyrics:

Do you really have a place on the island
Where I can go?
May I come into your grace on the island
That I may know?
Whether one such as I could love anyone
More than any other

I wanna be your lover
If it’d please my lady
I wanna be your lover

I had ‘em rockin’ and rollin’ on the cellar door
Waitin’ at the window for an apple core
And they wouldn’t go away
‘til I was good and poor
See me as I am
Just a lonely man

Might we watch the sun rise on the island?
Just you and me
If I could look into your eyes and be silent
Then we could see
Whether two such as we
Could love each other

I wanna be your lover
If it’d please my lady
I wanna be your lover

I wanna be your lover
If it’d please my lady
I wanna be your lover

I wanna be your lover
I wanna be your lover…

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

Pink Floyd - Pigs on the Wing (8-Track Version) (1977)

Pink Floyd’s tenth studio album, Animals, was recorded in London, 1976 at the band’s newly constructed recording studio, Britannia Row Studios. Akin to George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the album was a collection of songs named after animals satirizing different social classes in 1970s England. The categories people were lumped into included pigs, dogs, and sheep; or, those in power, those who do the bidding, and those who sit idly by, respectively. The album was also meant to steer in a slightly new direction for the band, as they had recently become the victim of many jokes in the newly thriving punk rock movement. Considered “dinosaur rock” by younger people, Pink Floyd wanted to create an album a little harsher sounding than their previous works. Having been certified four times platinum, the album was a huge success on both sides of the Atlantic.

Besides the animal-related songs which made up the majority of the album, Animals also began and ended with the front and back halves of a love song written by Roger Waters about his new wife, Carolyne Christie, the ex-wife of Grateful Dead manager Rock Scully. Christie had gained Waters affections by being one of the few, if not only, people who could win an argument with Waters. As it was arranged, royalties for the album were given to the songwriters based on the total number of songs written and not their total length. Since this “song” was split apart on the album as two completely separate tracks, it created a bigger piece of the royalty pie for their author, Roger Waters. This didn’t sit well with the band’s David Gilmour, who had contributed a seventeen minute song, “Dogs.” This, among other frictions during the recording of Animals, proved to be the starting point for the strife that would eventually split the band apart.

At one point during the recording of the album, Roger Waters and Nick Mason accidentally erased a guitar solo by David Gilmour, recorded as the link between “Pigs on the Wing (Part I)” and “Pigs on the Wing (Part II),” which was still being treated as one song. Thinking they needed to replace it, the band asked non-Pink Floyd-member Snowy White to record a replacement guitar solo. Ultimately, it was decided that the song would be split apart for the beginning and ending of the album, as it’s now known. Because of this separation, the guitar solo became superfluous, omitted, and never appeared on the final version of the vinyl release. However, for unknown reasons, the album’s 8-track release not only kept the songs together, appearing as the opening track, but also kept the guitar solo by Snowy White. Below, you will hear the alternate 8-track version of the songs, back to back as one, with the inclusion of Snowy White’s rare guitar solo.



Pink Floyd - Pigs on the Wing (8-Track Version) (1977)

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Lyrics:

If you didn't care
What happened to me
And I didn't care
For you
We would zig zag our way
Through the boredom and pain
Occasionally glancing up through the rain
Wondering which of the buggers to blame
And watching for pigs on the wing

You know that I care
What happens to you
And I know that you care
For me, too
So, I don't feel alone
Or the weight of the stone
Now that I've found somewhere safe
To bury my bone
And any fool knows a dog needs a home
A shelter from pigs on the wing

Nick Drake - Which Will (1972)

Nick Drake was born June 19, 1948 in Rangoon, Burma, but was raised and lived in Berkshire, England. His mother taught him to play piano and write songs, ultimately influencing his style and voice. As for schooling, Drake attended the same school in Wiltshire, England which his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather had all attended. While enrolled, Drake ran track and set a school record for the 100-yard dash, a record that stood for decades before being broken. He went entirely unnoticed by others, with old classmates often claiming they knew very little about him. Around 1964 or 1965, he started a band known as The Perfumed Gardeners. By 1967, Drake was continuing his education in France, traveling to Morocco with friends in his free time to indulge in marijuana and hallucinogenic drugs. Eventually, Drake enrolled at Cambridge University, but had more interest in drugs and music than in making friends or his academics. He began performing songs locally at coffee houses and clubs, but failed to impress his audience, whom he never interacted or made eye contact with. Luckily for Drake, he was discovered by Ashley Hutchings (of Fairport Convention) who thought there was a talent in Drake. This connection led to Drake landing a record deal.

In 1968, as a professional twenty year old singer-songwriter, Drake thought he had found his big break and dropped out of Cambridge nine months before graduation. From 1969 until 1972, he put out three albums. The first album, Five Leaves Left, was a collection of baroque folk that failed to sell well; so, in an effort to “go mainstream,” Drake’s second album, Bryter Layter, featured more instrumentation and pop production. Unfortunately, this album, too, sold less than a few thousand copies and Drake became even more withdrawn from those around him. Drake decided to record his third album entirely by himself with just his acoustic guitar, sans one piano overdub. Drake's record company didn't even know about the album, titled Pink Moon, until it had already been recorded. Unfortunately, the album sold worse than his first two and Drake, further depressed with his lack of success, quit the music business.

In the years to come, Drake was described by family and friends as extremely distant. He had been visiting a psychiatrist, would disappear for days at a time, had difficulty sleeping, and suffered a mental breakdown, hospitalizing him for five weeks. Finally, in November 1974, Nick Drake’s mother found her son in his bed, next to a bottle of antidepressants, dead. As cruel fate would have it, Drake's work eventually reached the popularity he sought in the 1980s, posthumously. He was cited as a major influence to members of R.E.M. and The Cure, with the latter having chosen their band name from one of Drake’s song’s lyrics. All three of Drake’s albums are now on Rolling Stone magazine’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” list.

Written and composed by Nick Drake, this song was included on Drake’s last album, Pink Moon. With the exception of the title song which featured some piano work by Drake, the entire album was composed entirely of Nick Drake’s voice and acoustic guitar playing. The album was recorded in two separate two-hour sessions, each at midnight, in October 1971. The album itself was released in February 1972 and has been described as Nick Drake’s purest work.



Nick Drake - Which Will (1972)

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Lyrics:

Which will you go for?
Which will you love?
Which will you choose from-
From the stars above?
Which will you answer?
Which will you call?
Which will you take for-
For your one and all?
And tell me now
Which will you love the best?

Which do you dance for?
Which makes you shine?
Which will you choose now
If you won't choose mine?
Which will you hope for?
Which can it be?
Which will you take now
If you won't take me?
And tell me now
Which will you love the best?

The Move - Do Ya (1971)

Formed in December 1965, this band from Birmingham, England had nine Top 20 singles in the UK in a five year period. In their earliest years, they were managed by Tony Secunda, a man who frequently used publicity stunts to generate conversation about the group, often getting the band in hot water. After multiple hits in the ‘60s and some personnel shifts, 1970 saw band member and primary songwriter Roy Wood dabbling with the idea of mixing classical instruments into the band’s primarily “rock” sound. As he put it, he wanted to take rock music in the direction “that The Beatles had left off” at. In January 1970, the band picked up Jeff Lynne, who promised to join only if they worked on the direction Wood had proposed as a side project in their free time. In order to complete the side project that Wood and Lynne were quickly enthralled with (as well as fellow Move member Bev Bevan by now), they had to continue recording and selling as The Move in order to generate funds. Lynne and Wood shared most of the writing and composing responsibilities for The Move in this time frame, as well as taking the band on a tour of the UK being backed by Black Sabbath. Finally, by December 1971, Lynne and Wood’s first LP from their side project was released and the Electric Light Orchestra was born. The Move was no more.

Although generally regarded as an ELO (Electric Light Orchestra) song because of their 1976 release, it was actually first recorded and released by this band in October 1971 on their last album, Message from the Country. As previously mentioned in our first feature of the group, this band never had much of a presence in the US; nearly all of their success was in the UK. This particular song, written by Jeff Lynne, was the only taste of success by the band in the US when it was released as the B-Side of a single. It reached a mild ninety-three on the Hot 100 chart, making it the only song to chart by the band in the US throughout their existence. The version heard below is the single version, missing two short verses near the end of the song. As you might expect, The Move's recording of this song is rock, whereas ELO's cover was rock incorporated with classical instruments.



The Move - Do Ya (1971)

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Lyrics:

In this life, I've seen
Everything I can see, woman
I've seen lovers flying
Through the air, hand in hand
I've seen babies
Dancing in the midnight sun
And I've seen dreams that came
From the heavenly skies above
I've seen old men crying
At their own gravesides
I've seen pigs all sitting
Watching picture slides
But I never seen nothing like you

(Do ya, do ya want my love?)
Woman
(Do ya, do ya want my love?)
I don’t see it
(Do ya, do ya want my face?)
I need it
(Do ya, do ya want my mind?)

Well, I heard the crowd
Singing out of tune
As they sat and sang “Auld Lang Syne”
By the light of the moon
I heard the preachers banging on the drums
But I never heard nothing like you

(Do ya, do ya want my love?)
Woman
(Do ya, do ya want my love?)
I don’t see ya
(Do ya, do ya want my face?)
I need it
(Do ya, do ya want my mind?)

Well, I think you understand
What I'm trying to say, woman
That is, I'd like to
Save you for a rainy day
I've seen enough of the world to know, baby
That I've got to get it all
To get it all to grow

(Do ya, do ya want my love?)
Woman
(Do ya, do ya want my love?)
I don’t see it
(Do ya, do ya want my face?)
I need it
(Do ya, do ya want my mind?)

Ah, you better me

(Do ya, do ya want my love?)
(Do ya, do ya want my love?)
(Do ya, do ya want my face?)
(Do ya, do ya want my mind?)

Look out, baby! There’s a plane a’comin’!

Bread - Truckin' (1971)

One of the original “soft rock” bands, this Los Angeles, California group was first created when guitarist and vocalist James "Jimmy" Griffin hired David Gates to produce his next solo album. What developed instead was a band, dubbed “Bread,” in 1968. Adding guitarist and vocalist Robb Royer to the mix, the trio signed with Elektra Records and saw the release of their first album in September 1969. Although the album produced no hits, it gathered the group a following. Their highest charting single was “Make It With You,” released June 13, 1970, reaching number one in the United States and number five in the United Kingdom. None of their other hits would ever chart as highly, but other Top 10 singles released were “It Don’t Matter to Me,” “If,” “Baby I’m-a Want You,” “Everything I Own,” and “Lost Without Your Love.” Since Gates had written and sang lead on all eleven of the band’s charting singles, Elektra Records wanted to continue featuring Gates’ songs as A-Sides. Griffin felt that the favoritism was unfair and strife within the band began to grow. By 1973, the band had split up, but “best of” compilation albums released by their label put the band back in high demand. The demand was so high, in fact, that the band was coerced into getting back together to record one more album. Released in 1977, their final album, Lost Without Your Love, was backed with a nationwide tour. For the second leg of the tour, Gates didn’t invite Griffin, whom he still couldn’t get along with. At the end of the tour, the band broke up once more, not to be seen again until a “25th Anniversary” tour of the United States took place in 1996-’97.

Released on the band’s second album, 1971’s Manna, this song was written by band members James Griffin and Robb Royer. The album featured twelve tracks, six of which were penned by Gates and the other six by Griffin/Royer. The song “If” was the only successful single from the album, but the particular track below shows that the band didn’t always have to rock softly.



Bread - Truckin' (1971)

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Lyrics:

Truckin’ down the highway
Get out of my way
Always in a hurry
Always in between

That’s where you can find me
Truckin’ down the highway
Sittin’ in the cab of
A ten-ton machine

I’m gettin’ pretty tired of stoppin’
In old, run-down cafés
Someday I’m gonna find me a woman
Rich enough to pay my way

Gonna make some in-roads
Drivin’ home a payload
Truckin’ down the highway
The likes you’ve never seen

I’m gettin’ pretty tired of lookin’
In them truck-stop cabarets
Someday I’m gonna find me a woman
Rich enough to pay my way

Then you’re gonna find me
Truckin’ down the highway
Sittin’ in the back seat
Of a long limousine

Truckin’ down the highway
Get out of my way
Truckin’ down the highway…