Little Green Bag – George Baker Selection-Oddly enough this was a moderate hit, but I don’t remember it. Kind of a calypso thing with call and response vocals.
Living In The Past – Jethro Tull-We were all major Tull fans back in the day, and when they scored their first top 40 hit here, it was glorious affirmation. This sucker still holds up, too.
Lodi – Creedence Clearwater Revival-This recording has a nice feel with those two distinct guitar sounds. We spoke about these guys earlier in the poll. They definitely had the midas touch in’69.
Love (Can Make You Happy) – Mercy- Big hit that summer, reaching #2. I never bothered to listen closely to the verses before, that chorus is so overpowering. Yeah, it’s really good.
Love Buzz – Shocking Blue-Nirvana does a version of this but I haven’t heard it. This one has pretty good use of sitar. By the time the guitar riff comes back in, I’m hooked.
Love In The City – The Turtles-It’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that any 45 by the Turtles will have an amazing vocal harmony blend. Here, Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan deliver precisely that and much more. The track shifts around between three specific sections joined together seamlessly. Arguably, their most ambitious work and certainly their greatest non-hit. Produced by Raymond Douglas Davies. The story goes that The Turtles loved the “Village Green Preservation Society” album and wanted their new record to sound like that. Ray initially tried to rebuff them, saying that VGPS “wasn’t that good”.
Love Me Tonight – Tom Jones-Isn’t it amazing how many different types of music are represented here, and how many different genres of music hit it big on the “pop” charts. I truly miss the diversity of AM rock and roll radio. Here, Jones is just giving us that big Vegas thing, complete with Mariachi horns and strings.
Love’s Been Good To Me – Frank Sinatra-The chairman more than holds his own here, with a gorgeous ballad. The charts had passed him by, but Frank sticks to his guns. Gotta love him for that.
MacArthur Park – Four Tops-These guys had a very distinct vocal sound. Particularly when they sing together there’s a sadness, almost lamenting kind of feel. Levi Stubbs handles the lead chores as usual, and the emotional power on display here is a winner.
Make Me Stay A Bit Longer – Status Quo-This is the second song I’ve heard by these guys during this, and while it’s not offensive enough to actively dislike it, there isn’t enough going on here to make me wanna seek out more.
Make Your Own Kind Of Music – Cass Elliot-Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil-songwriters. Cass Elliott had one of the great singing voices in the history of pop. It’s a combination of power and vulnerability I think that really gets to me.
Man Of The World – Fleetwood Mac-Peter Green’s time as the songwriting force behind the band is quite the stark contrast to what they would become. This song is very sad and beautiful.
Marrakesh Express – Crosby Stills & Nash-Originally intended for The Hollies, Nash took this with him over to CSN and the rest is history.
Maybe – Janis Joplin-There’s a vocal raspiness here combined with incredible range that we may never see or hear the likes of again.
Melody Fair – Bee Gees-This is more like it. I got a mid to late period XTC vibe from this, as it has some nice orchestral flourishes and those beautifully ambitious melody runs. After hearing this, “Odessa” is now on my short list of records to get, and soon.