AM GOLD MUSIC OF THE 60s & 70s
-
The Instructor
- SEOPS Hippo
- Posts: 32534
- Joined: Mon May 08, 2006 1:37 am
How Can You Mend a Broken Heart-The Bee Gees-1971-#1
M&L--Barry Gibb and Robin Gibb
This was originally written for,and rejected by ,Andy Williams-resolved a career crisis for the Bee Gees.In 1969,the nonbrother member of the Australian harmony group had quit on Barry,Robin and Maurice Gibb,and after flailing directionless for a while,the Bee Gees broke up.Barry and Robin wrote this No.1 hit as part of the reconciliation process.
M&L--Barry Gibb and Robin Gibb
This was originally written for,and rejected by ,Andy Williams-resolved a career crisis for the Bee Gees.In 1969,the nonbrother member of the Australian harmony group had quit on Barry,Robin and Maurice Gibb,and after flailing directionless for a while,the Bee Gees broke up.Barry and Robin wrote this No.1 hit as part of the reconciliation process.
-
The Instructor
- SEOPS Hippo
- Posts: 32534
- Joined: Mon May 08, 2006 1:37 am
One Toke Over The Line--Brewer and Shipley-1971-#10
M&L--Michael Brewer and Thomas Shipley
Brewer and Shipley ,who were part of the singer-songwriter movement thanks to their acoustic music and chipper vocal harmonies,had trouble getting air play for "One Toke Over The Line because of the lyric's drug slang.--The duo insisted that it was a road song about excess in general rather than a specific reference to marijuana.
M&L--Michael Brewer and Thomas Shipley
Brewer and Shipley ,who were part of the singer-songwriter movement thanks to their acoustic music and chipper vocal harmonies,had trouble getting air play for "One Toke Over The Line because of the lyric's drug slang.--The duo insisted that it was a road song about excess in general rather than a specific reference to marijuana.
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down-Joan Baez-1971-#3
M&L--Jaime Robbie Robinson
Joan Baez represented a new kind of pop female singer.The folkie madonna and queen of the student Left,Baez had been a national presence for more than a decade when she enjoyed her first million seller in 1971.Her whole career had been built around adaptation of traditional and folkish material,and her reading of Robbie Robertson's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"continued that practice(even if Joan did misread the lyrics).
M&L--Jaime Robbie Robinson
Joan Baez represented a new kind of pop female singer.The folkie madonna and queen of the student Left,Baez had been a national presence for more than a decade when she enjoyed her first million seller in 1971.Her whole career had been built around adaptation of traditional and folkish material,and her reading of Robbie Robertson's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"continued that practice(even if Joan did misread the lyrics).
Temptation Eyes-The Grass Roots-1971-#15
M&L--Harvey Price and Dan Walsh
The Grass Roots--The name was first used in 1966 when writers P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri used studio musicians as a band on their "Where were you when I needed you."When that song hit the charts,Sloan and Barri recruited a local club band called the 13th Floor to tour as the Grass Roots and this group recorded the subsequent collection of songs that included hits such as Temptation Eyes.
M&L--Harvey Price and Dan Walsh
The Grass Roots--The name was first used in 1966 when writers P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri used studio musicians as a band on their "Where were you when I needed you."When that song hit the charts,Sloan and Barri recruited a local club band called the 13th Floor to tour as the Grass Roots and this group recorded the subsequent collection of songs that included hits such as Temptation Eyes.
One results of nostalgia was the increased viability of black vocal groups steeped in the smooth harmony style of the 50s.The Dells,who had been around since 1953,were already experiencing a resurgence of pop sales.Another Chicago group,the Chi-Lites (formed as the Hi-Lites in 1963),set the tone of this group-harmony revival late in 1971 with "Have You Seen Her",then topped themselves with " Oh Girl."
In New York,Atlantic Records turned Detroit's Spinners into superstars after eight relatively unproductive years at Motown.A local group,Harlem's Main Ingredient (formerly the Poets),withstood the death of their lead singer,Donald McPherson,and reached the top 5 with Cuba Gooding doing the honors on "Everybody Plays The Fool."
1972 In Philadelphia,where the vocal-group tradition was just as entrenched as in the Big Apple,producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff were forging a dynasty with veteran groups Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes ( with roots going back to 1953),the O'Jays (1958),and the Three Degrees (1964),often backing them with a disco beat.Gamble and Huffs first release to go to No. 1 pop was "ME AND MRS. JONES,featuring the testifying of Billy Paul,an unknown who had cut his first record 20 years earlier.
Ricky Nelson was purged from the musical pantheon by rock critics in the late 60s because he was a teen idol and appeared in his family's sitcom.But his recordings had been successful primarily because they were substantial. His knowledge of rockabilly was exhaustive,and his patronage of songwriters Johnny and Dorsey Burnette and guitarist James Burton displayed keen musical perception.
Rick's resentment over his lack of acceptance as a rock artist boiled to the surface in the bittersweet "Garden Party",which put him back in the top 10 for the first time since the British Invasion.
Rick's resentment over his lack of acceptance as a rock artist boiled to the surface in the bittersweet "Garden Party",which put him back in the top 10 for the first time since the British Invasion.