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Post by raliverpool on Mar 7, 2022 23:02:08 GMT 1
22 Led Zeppelin - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You LP
A folk song written by Anne Bredon in the late 1950s. Joan Baez recorded a solo version for her 1962 album Joan Baez in Concert www.youtube.com/watch?v=TScCqHlBag0 and a variety of musicians subsequently adapted it to a variety of styles, including most famously the biggest British rock band of the 1970s.
Led Zeppelin's version from their first album is arguably one of the first example of the Quiet-Loud-Quiet-Loud template they used very frequently throughout their career; which was adopted by many Grunge bands in the early 1990s.
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Post by raliverpool on Mar 7, 2022 23:09:33 GMT 1
21 The Small Faces - The Autumn Stone LP
As goodbye records go, this is up their with the very best. In their final recording this Steve Marriott written & sung pastoral rock effort (a surefire predecessor to Paul Weller's "You Do Something To Me"; & influence on the sound of The Who's Next album) was scheduled for a single release, but pulled by the Immediate record label. It turned up as the title track of the band's retrospective 1969 Best of double album.
Steve Marriott would form Humble Pie; the remainder of the group added Ronnie Wood & singer Rod Stewart to form The Faces.
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Post by raliverpool on Mar 14, 2022 21:29:42 GMT 1
I forgot I had not finished this... let's see if I can do #20 - #1 within the next 2 hours...
20 Sly & The Family Stone - Stand! USA #22
The much covered Sly Stone penned & produced USA #22 (R&B #14) title track of the San Francisco psychedelic soul funk rockers 4th studio album. The song's title and lyrics are a call for its listeners to "stand" up for themselves, their communities, and what they believe in. The funk breakdown at 2:21 is one of the greatest moments in pop music history IMHO.
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Post by raliverpool on Mar 14, 2022 21:34:38 GMT 1
19 Neil Young - Down By The River LP/DNC
This 9 minutes+ epic Acid Rocker was first released on the Canadian singer/songwriter's 1969 album with Crazy Horse, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere. The lyrics tell the story of someone who killed his lover by shooting her after feeling unable to continue from the emotional highs of their relationship.
It was edited down to 3:35 for a single release.
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Post by raliverpool on Mar 14, 2022 21:41:46 GMT 1
18 The Beatles - Hey Bulldog LP
Written primarily by John Lennon, it was eventually released on their 1969 soundtrack album Yellow Submarine. However, it was in the running to be the Fab Four's early 1968 single. However, it lost it to (what I regard as their weakest 1967-1970 A-side) McCartney's "Lady Madonna". Hence, Lennon pulled it from being the B-side (with Harrison's "The Inner Light" becoming the B-side). Personally, I think this was a huge error by EMI & the group.
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Post by raliverpool on Mar 14, 2022 21:49:53 GMT 1
17 The Kinks - Shangri-La DNC
Taken from the London group's 7th studio album Arthur Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire. This was released as a single in September 1969 and incredibly it failed to reach the UK top 50 chart.
The song's inspiration can be traced back to when the band visited the Davies brothers' sister, Rose, and her family in Australia, the "designed community" that the family lived in serving as the initial lyrical inspiration. The song's highly ironic lyrics comment on British class society while portraying Arthur, the album's ill-fated protagonist, and his empty life in the suburbs.
In 2017 in a BBC Radio 6 Music interview Ray Davies said: I was really surprised at the response we got to (single) 'Shangri-La,' because I thought it was going to be a massive, massive hit." "As a creative person you may think you've failed at something, then find out later that you've really learned from it. I wish I'd realised that when I was feeling really sh*tty about 'Shangri-La' not being number one." (It did reach number 27 in the Netherlands).
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Post by raliverpool on Mar 14, 2022 21:57:09 GMT 1
16 Mama Cass Elliot - Make Your Own Kind Of Music USA #36
Written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, this became Mama Cass Elliot's third & final USA top 40 hit. It peaked at USA #36, Canada #20, & Australia #72. The UK had to wait until 2018 for Paloma Faith to take it into the top 30.
Cass Elliott died in London in 1974 at Harry Nilsson's flat (the same flat 4 years later Keith Moon would die in). Though just a modest hit, Elliot's ode to striking out on your own was a crucial evolution in self-referential pop, and it was played at her funeral where many of her music friends attended from both sides of the Atlantic.
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Post by raliverpool on Mar 14, 2022 22:02:17 GMT 1
15 Marlena Shaw - California Soul LP
This funk-soul tune written by Ashford & Simpson, issued originally as the B-side of the Messengers' single "Window Shopping" in 1967 under the Motown group of labels. Nick Ashford then released his own version in June 1968 on Verve 10599. It was then issued as a single by American pop quintet the 5th Dimension in late 1968, and also covered by Motown vocal duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell as a late 1969/early 1970 USA #50 single.
But the definitive version by the New York jazz singer was only released as a track on her 1969 album The Spice of Life, but later became a staple of the UK rare groove scene. This song has appeared in television commercials for Dockers, KFC and Dodge Ram trucks.
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Post by raliverpool on Mar 14, 2022 22:13:52 GMT 1
14 The Cowsills - Hair USA #2
This unlikely yet genius cover of the 1967 counter-culture musical Hair! by the Rhode Island Family bubblegum group reached USA #2, but #1 in Australia; Canada; South Africa; & New Zealand ... making its total failure to reach he UK top 50 a complete mystery.
Whilst this was the biggest hit of their career, it also killed their career due to hipsters resenting them covering this song and having such a big hit with it; and wholesome radio stations taking the opposite view point. Their next two single failed to trouble the USA top 70. Then things turned ugly with their controlling & abusive father...
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Post by raliverpool on Mar 14, 2022 22:18:01 GMT 1
13 Led Zeppelin - Good Times Bad Times USA #80
The opening track on the English hard rock band's debut album Led Zeppelin (I). Released as a single in limited copies it peaked at USA #80, & Canada #64.
In 2022 this was voted from polling over 3500 musicians & record industry figures by Rolling Stone magazine the 7th greatest debut single of all time.
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Post by raliverpool on Mar 14, 2022 22:22:07 GMT 1
12 Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now DNC/LP
First recorded by Judy Collins, it appeared on the US singles chart during the fall of 1968. The next year it was "recovered" on the Canadian singer/songwriter's album Clouds.
It has been covered by too many artists to list since. In 2021 it ranked at 170 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs.
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Post by raliverpool on Mar 14, 2022 22:26:07 GMT 1
11 Creedence Clearwater Revival - Fortunate Son USA #3
The John Forgerty penned song was released on the US Swamp rockers fourth studio album, Willy and the Poor Boys in November 1969. It was previously released as a single, together with "Down on the Corner", in September 1969. It soon became an anti-war movement anthem and an expressive symbol of the counterculture's opposition to U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War and solidarity with the soldiers fighting it. The song has been featured extensively in pop culture depictions of the Vietnam War and the anti-war movement.
Rolling Stone placed it at number 99 on its "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list. It peaked at USA #3, Canada #13, & Australia #2.
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Post by raliverpool on Mar 14, 2022 22:31:44 GMT 1
10 Nick Drake - River Man LP (UK #48 2004)
The second song from the English folk singer/songwriter's 1969 debut album Five Leaves Left. According to Drake's manager, Joe Boyd, Drake thought of the song as the centrepiece of the album. In 2004 the song was remastered and released as a 7" vinyl and as enhanced CD single including a video to the song by Tim Pope.
By the time of his death in 1974 aged 26 (Drake died from an overdose of amitriptyline, a prescribed antidepressant) he had sold less than 15,000 albums in total. Yet his music was truly ahead of its time.
By the 1980s Drake was being credited as an influence by such artists as Robert Smith of The Cure and Peter Buck of R.E.M. In 1985, The Dream Academy reached the UK and US charts with "Life in a Northern Town", a song written for and dedicated to Drake. By the early 1990s, he had come to represent a certain type of "doomed romantic" musician in the UK music press and was frequently cited as an influence by artists including Kate Bush, Paul Weller, Aimee Mann, Beck, Robyn Hitchcock and The Black Crowes; and that list has grown significantly since.
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Post by raliverpool on Mar 14, 2022 22:37:01 GMT 1
09 Blind Faith - Can't Find My Way Home LP
This beautiful folk rock number was written by Steve Winwood for the shortlived supergroup additionally featuring Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Ric Grech from their Jimy Miller produced self titled album.
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Post by raliverpool on Mar 14, 2022 22:40:26 GMT 1
08 Fairport Convention - Who Knows Where the Time Goes LP
This Sandy Dennis songwriting & vocal showcase (covered by too many artists to mention) taken from the British folk rock group's 1969 Unhalfbricking album.
In 2007 it was voted "Favourite Folk Track Of All Time" by listeners of BBC Radio 2.
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Post by raliverpool on Mar 14, 2022 22:45:21 GMT 1
07 Tommy James & The Shondells - Crimson And Clover USA #1
This psychedelic pop rock song (since covered by Joan Jett; & Prince) was written by the Michigan group's duo of Tommy James and drummer Peter Lucia Jr. The result was a monster worldwide hit USA #1, Canada #1, Australia #3, New Zealand #1, South Africa #1, and top ten throughout Europe ... yet the UK ignored it.
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Post by raliverpool on Mar 14, 2022 22:49:22 GMT 1
06 Sly & The Family Stone - Hot Fun In The Summertime USA #2
Sly Stone's soulful summer classic was released just prior to the band's high-profile performance at Woodstock, which greatly expanded their fanbase. It peaked at USA #2 (R&B #3), Canada #6. Rolling Stone ranked the song #247 on their list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
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Post by raliverpool on Mar 14, 2022 22:56:40 GMT 1
05 The Rolling Stones - You Can't Always Get What You Want Bs/LP (1973 USA #42)
Produced by Jimmy Miller its edited version was released as the B-side to their worldwide #1 hit "Honky Tonk Women". It later appeared on their 1969 album Let It Bleed in its full 450 seconds glory.
At the time John Lennon accused their friendly rivals of trying to do their own "Hey Jude". He had a point.
In a late 1968 interview Jagger said, "I liked the way the Beatles did that with 'Hey Jude'. The orchestra was not just to cover everything up—it was something extra. We may do something like that on the next album."
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Post by raliverpool on Mar 14, 2022 23:02:43 GMT 1
04 The Zombies - Time Of The Season USA #3
Written by keyboard player Rod Argent and recorded at Abbey Road Studios in August 1967. It featured on their 1968 album Odessey and Oracle and flopped at the time as a single release on both sides of the Atlantic. In early 1969 the band split ... But with psychedelic pop becoming more popular in the US top 40, the single was re-promoted by Columbia records and became a huge hit single. It reached #1 in Canada, #2 in South Africa; #43 in Australia; but failed to chart in their home country.
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Post by raliverpool on Mar 14, 2022 23:07:10 GMT 1
03 The Doors - Touch Me USA #3
Written by the Los Angeles band's guitarist Robby Krieger, this sees the Los Angeles going for a jazzy Sinatra easy listening croon-rock sound. It was a huge hit reaching USA #3, Canada #1, & Australia #10, whilst the UK ignored it. It came from their 1969 album The Soft Parade.
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