For better or worse, I’ve started on a book about 1970s popular music. I plan is to write about 10 entries a day, which means I should have the first draft done sometime in December. I’ve divided each year into pop, rock, soul, and country. Here’s my first 12 rock entries from 1970.
After the Gold Rush, Neil Young
(Neil Young)
Dolly Parton once asked Neil Young about the meaning of this song and he replied, “Hell, I don’t know. I just wrote it.” The impressionistic/poetic lyrics from the title track to Neil’s excellent 1970 album are somewhat indecipherable, most listeners focus on a few lines about environmental concerns or smoking a joint. A piano ballad with an understated flugelhorn solo, “After the Gold Rush” became a Top 40 hit for the English band Prelude in 1974.
And It Stoned Me, Van Morrison
(Van Morrison)
The lead track from Morrison’s Moondance album, is a beaut – an ode to simple times with remembrances of county fairs, fishing poles, mountain streams, and a salute to jazz musician Jelly Roll Morton. The eloquent horn arrangements give the song a dream like feel while Morrison narrates a blissful baptism in nature.
Brontosaurus, The Move
(Roy Wood)
The Move, a British rock band fronted by Roy Wood that would later splinter into Wizzard and ELO, had seven Top Ten hits in the U.K. from 1968 to 1972. Their success didn’t translate to American audiences – “California Man,” covered by Cheap Trick in 1978, was the only song that scraped into the U.S. Top 100, hitting #93. “Brontosaurus” opens with a slow, massive bass riff and has a silly, waggish lyric, seemingly about a dinosaur dance craze. When you think the song is ending, it breaks into an extended Small Faces type boogie woogie/slide guitar jam.
Casey Jones, Grateful Dead
(Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter)
On April 30, 1900, train/engineer Jonathon “Casey” Jones was working on a foggy, rainy night and realized that he was going to crash into a stalled freight train. Staying at the helm, Jones ended up dead, but he managed to save the lives of his passengers, becoming a posthumous folk hero. Billy Murray and American Quartet released “Casey Jones” in 1910 and he was also the subject of songs by bluesman Furry Lewis and The Delmore Brothers. The Grateful Dead, the California embodiment of drug/hippie culture, wrote their own twist on the folk legend, adding admonishments about cocaine and speed.
Cinnamon Girl, Neil Young
(Neil Young)
Neil has stated that he wrote “Down by the River,” “Cowgirl in the Sand,” and “Cinnamon Girl” on the same day, while he was sick with the flu – a remarkable achievement and a spectacular argument against vaccinations. The Everybody Knows This is Nowhere album was Neil’s first work with Crazy Horse and “Cinnamon Girl” was powerful, sinister, and catchy at the same time. The “drop-D” guitar tuning technique that Neil used would become a standard part of the repertoire for Soundgarden and the Melvins. The Gentrys of “Keep on Dancing” fame, with lead singer/future professional wrestling manager Jimmy Hart, released a cover version of “Cinnamon Girl” before Young’s original was released as a single and actually scored slightly higher on the pop charts.
The EMI Song (Smile for Me), Alex Chilton
(Alex Chilton/Terry Manning)
Quite possibly recorded in 1969, not released until 1996 due to contractual complexities, but on an album titled Free Again: The 1970 Sessions, “The EMI Song” is the missing link between The Box Tops and Big Star. Chilton abandons the precocious soul man voice he used on “The Letter” for this ballad of surprising sincerity. The rhythm section adds a sweet Memphis groove to the McCartney style love song.
Funk #49, James Gang
(Jim Fox, Dale Peters, Joe Walsh)
The Ohio based band the James Gang lived through many different incarnations from 1966 to 1977, but are best known for their power trio era lead by Joe Walsh. On “Funk #49,” Walsh provides a hot guitar lick, while the rhythm section works a funk groove – the chorus is basically a descending bass riff. Toss in a chaotic Latin percussion break, Walsh’s screeching vocals and the keg party is on.
The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown), Fleetwood Mac
(Peter Green)
Written at the time when Peter Green was leaving Fleetwood Mac, this #10 U.K. hit makes two irrefutable points: (1) Peter Green was one of the best guitarists in the U.K. music scene with a savvy knowledge of tone and dynamics and (2) LSD was one hell of a drug.
Hey Hey, What Can I Do, Led Zeppelin
(John Bonham/John Paul Jones/Jimmy Page/Robert Plant)
Page and Plant hid this folk rock number on the b-side of “Immigrant Song,” making it the most sought after Zeppelin records during the ‘70s and ‘80s. The often overlooked John Paul Jones played both the melodic bass line and does a nice job with the flat pick mandolin work as well.
John Barleycorn, Traffic
(Traditional)
“John Barleycorn,” a drinking song disguised as a murder ballad, is a poem/folk tune that dates back to the 1500s. Steve Winwood and Traffic give it a baroque treatment with Chris Wood’s flute providing the solo interludes. The gathering of crops has never sounded more treacherous.
Let it Rain, Eric Clapton
(Delaney Bramlett/Eric Clapton) (#48)
“Let it Rain” was the closing track on Clapton’s 1970 debut solo album, but wasn’t released as a single until September of 1972 as a potential follow up hit to “Layla.” This is an excellent band performance –from the ringing guitar lick in the intro, the interplay between Clapton and Stephen Stills, Eric Radle’s strong bassline, and even the “raining” piano notes played by either Leon Russell or John Simon. Well wrought electric folk rock.
Looking at You, MC5
(Rob Tyner, Wayne Kramer, Fred “Sonic” Smith, Michael Davis, Dennis Thompson)
The critical hype that surrounded 1969’s Kick Out the Jams didn’t translate into album sales and new producer Jon Landau had a more traditional rock ‘n’ roll vision for the band with 1970’s Back in the USA album, which was bookended with Little Richard and Chuck Berry covers. “Looking at You” sounds like a typical, though hard rocking, teen angst love song un
