This Week's Review -- September 15, 1973

There were ten singles debuting on this week's Billboard Hot 100, with only two of those reaching into the Top 40. Both of those hits made the Top 10 as well, but many of the "misses" represent some real forgotten gems. Both of the big hits are debuts by artists who were already known by their names, but there are some really nice songs here that weren't Top 40 hits. In fact, there is a diverse mix here that isn't reflective of what many think of music in 1973; I'm sure that few radio stations would have played them all.

There is a large archive at Google Books of Billboard magazines, including the September 15, 1973 edition. The full Hot 100 can be found on page 56. A front-page article explains that the availability of Super 8 was showing a market for prerecorded material, but the high price point was an issue. Page 23 has more about the argument about using color-coded jukebox labels. The large pull-out section is of interest to those of us who are historically-minded: it celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Deutsche Grammophon company.

Garfunkel - "All I Know"

(Debuted #79, Peaked #9, 14 Weeks on chart)



On the label he's listed simply as Garfunkel, but "All I Know" was the solo debut of Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon's former duet partner. It was written by Jimmy Webb and recorded by several artists, but Garfunkel's version was the best-performing, reaching the Top 10 pop chart and hitting #1 on the adult contemporary survey. It featured the high vocal register that Garfunkel contributed to his well-known duets and showed that he was able to craft a hit without Simon by his side.

At the time of the song's release, it had been three years since the split between Art Garfunkel and his boyhood chum. That was an eternity in the music business then, but he had kept himself in the public spotlight as an actor in the films Catch-22 and Carnal Knowledge while his former partner kick-started his own solo career. While it wasn't necessary because their performing styles are different, his passions outside of the music business helped to keep the questions at bay about whether one member of the duo was competing with the other the way that certain ex-Beatles were.

The Eagles - "Outlaw Man"

(Debuted #81, Peaked #59, 8 Weeks on chart)



While the members of The Eagles are well-regarded as songwriters on their own, it's worth mentioning that "Outlaw Man" is the only song on the Desperado LP that wasn't at least co-written by one of the group's members. Instead, it was written by David Blue, who originally recorded it for his own album Nice Baby and the Angel.

It's also one of the least-known songs of the group's singles. In fact, the album's songs "Tequila Sunrise" (which charted lower) and "Desperado" (not released as a single at all) are better-known today. In a way, it's a relic of the time where they were still trying to find their sound; it's definitely rooted in the Southwest, but the synthesis that brought multiplatinum success was still an album or two away. The vocal harmonies are there, but the instrumentation is still all over the place stylistically. 

Bloodstone - "Never Let You Go"

(Debuted #84, Peaked #43, 14 Weeks on chart)



The followup single the "Natual High" was a much more standard R&B track than the hit was. As a result, it fell just short of the pop Top 40 even as it was a Top 10 hit on the R&B survey. Showcasing the high register of singer Henry Williams, he starts out in his normal voice and breaks out into a higher-pitched assertion in the chorus as he pleads his devotion. All the while, the rest of the band show their Doo-Wop influences as they lend their support to him.

Part of the Natural High LP, "Never Let You Go" was the second overall hit for the Kansas City-bred, Los Angeles-based band.   They weren't yet finished, though: they had more hits to come.

Dr. John - "Such A Night"

(Debuted #85, Peaked #42, 9 Weeks on chart)



If "Such a Night" sounds a little out of place as a 1973 single, there's a reason: Mac Rebennack (the New Orleans-based musician who created Dr. John as his alter ego) wrote it a decade earlier, which gave it an old-time quality. Some call it "timeless," but the times really didn't give Dr. John style points for his effort. The song feel barely short of the Top 40 but is worth a listen if you're not familiar with it.

"Such a Night" definitely had a timeless quality, with its rolling piano, its striding beat and its smooth female chorus. Even though it just missed the pop Top 40 during its chart run, the song appeared in the movie The Last Waltz and has gained some fame that eluded it initially.

Marie Osmond - "Paper Roses"

(Debuted #86, Peaked #5, 16 Weeks on chart)



With "Paper Roses," Marie Osmond became the newest member of the Osmond family to hit the pop charts. Her brothers had already charted at the time with their act, her brother Donny had a successful solo career apart from the act, and even her youngest brother Jimmy hit the chart with a novelty hit. So it might have been inevitable that another member of the Osmond family was standing by with a microphone in her hand.

"Paper Roses" -- a song where the roses are a metaphor for a false love -- was a #5 hit in 1960 for Anita Bryant. While Osmond matched that peak pop position, she also took it to #1 on the country chart. At the time, she became the youngest artist to top that chart and the first female artist to take her debut to #1. It was her way of adding credence to the "little bit country" when she and Donny had their TV show later in the decade.

Leon Russell - "Queen Of The Roller Derby"

(Debuted #89, Peaked #89, 2 Weeks on chart)



Leon Russell may have seemed like he was everywhere in the early 1970s. After Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen showcased him and his band, and The Concert for Bangladesh featured him as well, he came along with his own set Leon Live in 1973. The version of the song above features the song as it appeared on the 1972 LP Carny, but the single was a shortened version recorded live.

Live, the song was performed at a slightly faster pace, mimicking the performance that Little Richard might have given in in the 1950s. In fact, the song appears to be a "callback" to that era, with its pounding piano as well as the call-and-response by the female backing chorus. It failed to get any higher than #89 on the pop chart, but it was a great listen and deserved a better chance than the one it received.

Tower of Power - "This Time It's Real"

(Debuted #91, Peaked #65, 6 Weeks on chart)



The video clip is a little out of register and tinny, and looks like it was recorded directly off a mono TV set. However, it captures Tower of Power doing their thing live on Soul Train, with Lenny Williams out in front and the band's famed horn section making themselves known. It's a great period piece, so I decided to go with that, rather than a performance of the song from later and sung by a different vocalist.

"This Time it's Real" was one of three songs that charted off of the band's self-titled second LP. It missed the Top 40, but the beat was timeless, with the feel that it could have been a hit during the Big Band era. The horn section was at the peak of its form, and it's aged a lot better that many of the songs that played around it at the time...at least, the places that actually played it, given it's #65 peak.

10cc - "Rubber Bullets"

(Debuted #96, Peaked #73, 8 Weeks on chart)



10cc established their twisted sense of humor even before they were a group, when they recorded "Neanderthal Man" as Hotlegs in 1971. While the song "Rubber Bullets" takes place at a "local county jail" when a dance there goes awry, the fact that the British Army was using rubber bullets against activists in Northern Ireland almost sunk the song. BBC radio programmers banned it because of the possibility that fans might think the wrong thing. However, the gatekeepers over at BBC-TV may have actually heard the catchy tune and allowed it to play. It was the group's first #1 hit in the U.K. and was their first hit in the U.S. after taking the new name.

Written by group members Kevin Godley, Lol Creme and Graham Gouldman, "Rubber Bullets" was often the song the group used to finish its concert sets.

Jean Shepard - "Slippin' Away"

(Debuted #97, Peaked #81, 6 Weeks on chart)



Jean Shepard was a long-time country singer whose insistence on staying with the honky-tonk style limited her chart success when country shifted toward the Nashville Sound in the 1950s. With "Slippn' Away," it was the fist time Shepard had been on the pop chart since 1953, when she had a pair of hits based on the "Dear John" letters that military men have come to dread.

"Slippin' Away" was written by Bill Anderson, a Nashville legend in his own right. That said, it was composed in the harder Bakersfield style and used the double meaning of the title to describe the erosion of love and hinted at the well-known suggestion of infidelity that was a staple of country music. It was Shepard's only Hot 100 hit, her last Top 10 country hit and her biggest hit in nearly a decade.

John Denver - "Farewell Andromeda (Welcome To My Morning)"

(Debuted #100, Peaked #89, 5 Weeks on chart)



When the album Farewell Andromeda hit the shelves, it was moderately successful, hitting the Top 20 on Billboard's album chart. However, its three singles all failed to reach the Top 40 pop chart. While Denver had scored two Top 10 singles by then ("Take Me Home, Country Roads" and "Rocky Mountain High") and written a #1 hit for another act ("Leaving On a Jet Plane"), the album may have seemed like an indication that his career was slowing down. However, the next year his career kicked into a higher gear, one that would define him for the rest of his life.

The song ""Farewell Andromeda (Welcome To My Morning)" ended the LP, and was a pleasant enough acoustic guitar-backed song with a sing-along chorus. In a way, it perfectly fit his early 1970s "sound" but wasn't an indication of what his appeal would be. Blame it on the silly title, or you can blame the way his simple vocal/guitar intro has more and more elements added to it as the song goes on. By the end, I think he was trying to sound atmospheric but there is a certain point where enough is enough.

This Week's Review -- July 21, 1973

There were eight new singles on this week's Billboard Hot 100.  Three of them would eventually make the Top 40 and one went Top 10. While a cursory look at the list of songs suggests a followup theme, an actual listen to the music suggests that many of them were simply overshadowed. The sole Top 10 was not War's biggest or best-known hit, but it is a tune that represents their diversity well. Curtis Mayfield and Lookig Glass appear with songs that followed much bigger hits in both style and substance, yet both are songs that could stand well on their own. Sylvia follows "Pillow Talk" with another breathy song, Coven remakes its own previous hit for a new Billy Jack movie, Mickey Newbury shows off his introverted songwriting style and The Independents follow the lead of their previous hit. Even the hit that is from a new artist has been overshadowed by the fact that the group's music has provided the backbeat for dozens of hip-hop songs.

Google Books has an archive of past Billboard magazines, but the July 21, 1973 edition is missing. In lieu of that, I'll once again mention that I regularly write a second music-related blog called 80s Music Mayhem. The format is similar to what I'm doing here, but it only covers a single song each weekday. Last week's focus was on songs from 1982 and the songs chosen were fairly wide in their styles. Check it out if you haven't done so, and feel free to bookmark or follow both of these blogs.

War - "Gypsy Man"

(Debuted #66, Peaked #8, 13 Weeks on chart)



The video above has a cover shot of War's Why Can't We Be Friends? LP, even though "Gypsy Man" is actually from Deliver the Word. On that album, it's an 11-minute cut, which was then truncated down to a more radio-friendly length (but still went really long) for the single release. It's the single version that appears above.

"Gypsy Man" is a song that shows some of the diversity of the group called War. A Latin rhythm dominates, but vocal harmonies pop up throughout and the production represents the same "everything including the kitchen sink" that Phil Spector utilized during the 1960s (note: Spector wasn't the producer here, Jerry Goldstein was). Percussion jumps out from the record, as does Lee Oskar's harmonica. More of a freeform jam than their other hits were, "Gypsy Man" still shows the group's multifaceted talent in a way that many of those hits really couldn't.

The Incredible Bongo Band - "Bongo Rock"

(Debuted #81, Peaked #57, 7 Weeks on chart)



Sometimes you can judge a song by the title on its label. This song is called "Bongo Rock," the artist's name is The Incredible Bongo Band, and the grooves contain a bunch of percussion.

The Incredible Bongo Band was never really a band. Instead, it was a project by MGM executive Michael Viner. During his studio's down time, he'd bring in musicians to perform for him. Though the musicians remained uncredited due to the covert nature of the group, it's been rumored that Viner was able to get some of the top drummers to contribute, including Jim Gordon and Ringo Starr.Eventually, the source of the band was revealed to top executives, and The Incredible Bongo Band was quietly retired.

"Bongo Rock" was the group's only Hot 100 hit, but its influence lives on thanks to the track "Apache," which has provided beats and breaks for several hip-hop productions.

Sylvia - "Didn't I"

(Debuted #84, Peaked #70, 5 Weeks on chart)

On the surface, "Didn't I" sounds like it was an outtake of the same sessions that produced Sylvia's earlier hit "Pillow Talk." While the accompanying orchestration is less intense (a saxophone takes center stage here), "Didn't I" has the same breathy comments and not-so-suggestive sighs that marked the previous hit. The song may have seemed a little racy at the time, but it isn't such a big deal today. In fact, it seems tamer than the late-night commercials played for 1-900 dating lines on TV.

At the time, Sylvia Robinson was 37, an age where a lot of women truly discover themselves sexually. While the older woman/cougar phenomenon seems recent, it really isn't. And here is sufficient proof: while Jennifer Coolidge -- the actress who played Stiffler's mom in American Pie -- was still in elementary school, Sylvia Robinson was letting the world know that you didn't have to be young to be sensual. She wasn't the first, either. There was another person with the same last name in the movie The Graduate, for instance. The concept wasn't exactly new...the "older woman" has long been around even when the moral culture tried to convince us that it wasn't.

Curtis Mayfield - "Future Shock"

(Debuted #85, Peaked #39, 10 Weeks on chart)



If it sounds like "Future Shock" is a remade and updated version of "Superfly," that might not be far off the mark. Mayfield himself drops the name of his earlier hit into the lyrics, which means that he was at least a little aware of the similarity. Both songs have the similar funk-driven sound, and both feature the world-weary warnings about the trappings of life in the ghetto. While it's a song that could have stood well on its own, the similarity to the earlier hit might have kept it from reaching higher on the charts than it did. It barely reached the pop Top 40 and just missed the R&B Top 10.

"Future Shock" was a track on the LP Back to the World, a term that ex-soldiers use to describe returning from their overseas wartime service (at the time, it was Vietnam but troops continue to use the term today). The term was apt, considering the way Mayfield's lyrics describe a world that doesn't seem right to him. His guitar licks seem to come out effortlessly among the heavy music, and his words are carefully chosen yet are still what might be considered "politically incorrect" nowadays. But, he was just telling it the way he saw it. 

The Independents - "Baby I've Been Missing You"

(Debuted #89, Peaked #41, 8 Weeks on chart)



The followup to "Leaving Me" (reviewed here in an April "Rewind" feature) barely missed becoming the second Top 40 pop hit for The Independents, peaking at #41. Unfortunately, that was as close as they ever came to getting out of the "One-Hit Wonder" status. That said, they were more of a force on the R&B charts, where "Baby I've Been Missing You" was their third Top 10 hit.

Beginning with a recitation, "Baby I've Been Missing You" is a ballad sung over a string arrangement that uses both parts of the group's male/female dynamic well. In a way, both sides of the story are getting their say, as both deal with a separation from each other. From the lyrics, it appears that it's only been a few days since they've been apart, and the male is sitting around and wallowing in his loneliness. It isn't clear what caused the separation (or if it's permanent), but the female is also chiming in that she misses him too. However, there isn't any indication as to whether she intends to return, so it's assumed that he's resigned to sitting around and contemplating whatever it was that caused her to leave.

Perhaps it's a logical followup to the sentiment of "Leaving Me" as well as a chronological one.

Mickey Newbury - "Sunshine"

(Debuted #91, Peaked #87, 3 Weeks on chart)



The name "Sunshine" brings to mind a 1973 Jonathan Edwards hit, but this is an entirely different song. Written and originally recorded by Mickey Newbury in the 1960s and re-recorded for his LP Heaven Help the Child, it is an account of a man who has decided to follow his own muse and has left his woman behind. He's still chasing that rainbow (even mentioning that the pot he found wasn't filled with gold) but he's doing it on his own, and at his own chosen speed.

A folk-influenced guitar opens the song with some bird effects that simulate the sound of the new dawn. As Newbury unfolds the story of how he tried and failed to please somebody else on the way to finding his own way, more instruments fill in. There's a mournful steel guitar, then a string section and organ that follow him on his journey, making it clear that he's determined to press on and find whatever it is that's beckoning him.

Looking Glass - "Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne"

(Debuted #93, Peaked #33, 15 Weeks on chart)



During the Summer of 1972, "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" became a surprise hit; it was actually a B-side that emerged as a hit after a DJ flipped the disc over when the A-side failed to generate any interest. That song opened a lot of doors for the New Jersey-based band Looking Glass. They were signed to a major label and Arif Mardin was brought in to produce their next LP Subway Serenade. However, as the record shows, the road to a succesful followup is often as difficult as getting a hit.

For the single "Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne," a lot of elements were borrowed from "Brandy": the disaffected vocal by Eliot Lurie, the story within the song, the brass section backing up the band, even the rest of the band coming together in unison during the chorus. The song was a minor hit, though, as it tried too hard to be like its earlier counterpart. Today, the song is a classic 1970s tune in sound and style, but it really didn't stand out in its own time.

"Jimmy Loves Maryann" (note the different spelling of the name in the title) would appear a decade later in another Hot 100 hit, done by Josie Cotton in a then-current sound that is just as a part of its time as this one is. I wrote a review of that song on my other blog earlier this year.

Coven - "One Tin Soldier (The Legend Of Billy Jack)" (Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted #95, Peaked #79, 6 Weeks on chart)




"One Tin Soldier" was originally a hit in 1971 (and reviewed here) when the first Billy Jack movie was in the theater, and Coven re-recorded it when the second movie appeared. The "new" recording appears above, even though the scenes that accompany it in the video are from the first film. It was originally an anti-war song written during the late 1960s and recorded by a Canadian group called The Original Caste, who had a minor hit with the song in 1970.

Ironically, a band whose members were interested in witchcraft and Satanism (hence the name) made a song that has often been remembered for its religious imagery. However, the message of the song seems to serve as a warning that doing sin in the name of the Lord is still sin...and practitioners will still be judged for their actions. In any case, it's a relic of the early 1970s, a time where the nation was still reeling from Vietnam and a generational shift.

This Week's Review -- March 31, 1973

There were nine new singles making their first appearance in Billboard's Hot 100, with six eventually reaching into the Top 40. Additionally, one of those songs made it to the #1 position. Nearly all of the acts here are "names" who were hitmakers either before (like Brenda Lee) or later (Kenny Loggins). That said, the two acts least likely to be recognized here -- Gunhill Road and Nolan Porter -- might be the most interesting. And then there's The Blue Ridge Rangers, which was billed as a group but was really John Fogerty's post-Creedence Clearwater Revival solo project.

Among the back issues of Billboard over at Google Books is the March 31, 1973 edition. The full Hot 100 list can be found on page 72. Page 3 has a short article that mentions that the U.S. government was moving to deport John Lennon, a process that was politically motivated and ultimately failed two and a half years later. Page 10 mentions an upcoming concert by "Sunny & Cher," a typo that really wasn't necessary in 1973. Radio geeks will be interested in an article beginning on page 3 about syndication. Finally, there is an extended section about Jerry Lee Lewis, who was enjoying a career resurgence at the time.

Carly Simon - "The Right Thing To Do"

(Debuted #70, Peaked #17, 13 Weeks on chart)



The lead track from Carly Simon's No Secrets LP isn't as much of a secret as the song it followed as a single. While "You're So Vain" was allegedly about a past relationship, "The Right Thing to Do" was definitely about her new husband James Taylor. Featuring Simon's signature lyric style and a gospel-influenced female choir backing her up, she expounds upon the feelings that led her to walk down the aisle with Taylor soon after the album's release.

Loggins and Messina - "Thinking Of You"

(Debuted #79, Peaked #18, 13 Weeks on chart)



"Thinking of You" is the second song in a row about the feeling that results when love washes over you. In this case, Jim Messina wrote the song about his then-current girlfriend. It appeared on the self-titled second LP for the duo, an act that began by accident after Messina's attempts at simply producing Kenny Loggins as a solo artist took a different path than expected. While the duo's success forced Messina to stay out on the road after he decided to cut back, it may have helped Loggins take a big step towards a successful career on his own.

The YouTube video above features the album version, which was a different mix than what was on the single. That version was "sweetened" to better appeal to the listeners of AM radio, the "hit" stations of the day.

The Blue Ridge Rangers - "Hearts of Stone" (Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted #84, Peaked #37, 12 Weeks on chart)



After leaving Creedence Clearwater Revival for a solo career, John Fogerty decided to use a tactic that seems tame today, but was definitely a risky proposition in the early 1970s. Rather than release a record under his own name that would get immediately judged on his former band's merits, he gave the album a bogus group name and even recorded in a totally different format. Though five people were shown on the album cover in silhouette, The Blue Ridge Rangers was a one-man band that featured Fogerty.

Despite being done as a country song, "Hearts of Stone" was written as an R&B tune with a gospel influence. Written by Rudy Jackson of The Jewels in 1954, it was covered by The Charms, who took it #1 on the R&B chart the same year. It was also covered by Red Foley, who gave it a country treatment, as well as The Fontaine Sisters, who topped the pop chart with it. Later versions were done by Elvis Presley and The Bill Black Combo, which certainly lend it a Rockabilly quality that Fogerty features in his own rendition.

Don McLean - "If We Try"

(Debuted #87, Peaked #58, 7 Weeks on chart)



As a song that fell short of the Top 40, "If We Try" might be considered to be a disappointment after "American Pie" and "Vincent," but really deserves to be listened to without any regard for Don McLean's other hits. Starting off as a hopeful ballad that expresses the narrator's desire to take a relationship to the next level, he becomes more forceful in the "middle eight" as he wishes that fate would intervene before falling back into the ballad to finish the song.

In a more perfect world, "If We Try" would have been a bigger hit than it was, as the era of the singer/songwriter was in full swing. However, McLean's biggest hits were about others (at least on the surface); for some odd reason, the inward-looking lyrics that were hallmarks of other singers who performed their own material didn't need apply with McLean's material except among his most rabid fans. If you're not familiar with "If We Try," click on the video above and thank me later.

I had a misheard lyric here...at one point, McLean sings, "well, you've got me standing deaf and blind." That makes perfect sense in the context of the song, but I can't help hearing the words as "well, you've got me standing effin' blind." That twists the mood of the song a bit.

Brenda Lee - "Nobody Wins"

(Debuted #94, Peaked #70, 5 Weeks on chart)



After a successful career in the early 1960s which included two #1 singles and a dozen Top 10 hits, Brenda Lee was one of the many artists who got pushed aside by the British Invasion. She never went away, but the hits dried up as public tastes changed. By the early 1970s, she re-channeled her energies to the more mature country audience in the same manner as many other artists from the era. Not yet 30, Lee still had the ability to be a hitmaker and the country audience was more than happy to accept her.

Her first Top 10 country tune -- and the last Hot 100 listing -- was "Nobody Wins," a song written by Kris Kristofferson. Like many of Kristofferson's songs, ithe lyrics mention the aftermath of a failed relationship; both sides are ready to walk away, and it isn't clear yet whether there will be better days ahead for either. Opening with a chorus's singing, the Owen Bradley-produced song tended toward the Ray Price sound of country music than the "Outlaw" sound that would soon kick in the saloon doors of the format. That change would throttle her momentum again, but not nearly as badly as The Beatles' arrival did. Lee managed to continue hitting the country charts for another decade, before settling into a "living legend" status.

Gunhill Road - "Back When My Hair Was Short" (Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted #97, Peaked #40, 15 Weeks on chart)



"Back When My Hair Was Short" is a series of reflections of life while growing up. The lines are wistful and often humorous, but were originally rawer when first recorded. That was in 1972, and when the song was given such a good review, the band was coerced to go back into the studio and do it again without the drug refences. It ended up being a surprise Top 40 hit, and was a hit in more places than expected due to its strength in both the FM listeners and the AM "hit" radio crowd.

I still haven't figured out if the final verse (which begins with "Soon when my hair is short, I'll make a full report of how I came back alive") is a reference to getting drafted into the military and sent overseas -- a real choice that was still vaild in 1972 -- or if it's just a reference to getting older and fitting into society. Really, it could be either choice.

The song was produced by Kenny Rogers (yes, the guy who later sang "The Gambler"), and its success was such a surprise to the band that they never bothered recording a follow-up LP. In fact, the album was re-released last year (see the Amazon link below for details, as no MP3 is available) which included both versions of "Back When My Hair Was Short" for the amusement of fans.

The J. Geils Band - "Give It To Me"

(Debuted #98, Peaked #30, 16 Weeks on chart)



For a band that was renowned for reworking existing songs in their own style, "Give it to Me" was an original. Written by lead singer and keyboardist Seth Justman, the song closed out their Bloodshot LP.  Opening with a reggae-influenced beat, the song on the album devolved into an extended jam session that featured plenty of extended instrumental solos during its final four minutes. The solo version, however, cut out a lot of what made the song charming to better fit within the radio format clocks.

In the long term, cutting out the boogie was effective in getting their song into the Top 40.

Billy Preston - "Will It Go Round In Circles"

(Debuted #99, Peaked #1, 22 Weeks on chart)



"Will it Go Round in Circles" was the first of two #1 solo singles for Billy Preston (and he was also given credit for The Beatles' "Get Back"). The Houston native made a long career as a sideman for others, between his billing on that Beatles song, touring along with The Rolling Stones, and even appearing uncredited on Sly & the Family Stone's material. After his solo career tailed off in the late 1970s, he largely returned to session work and generally backed other for the rest of his life. There were exceptions, like his 1979/'80 #2 duet "With You I'm Born Again," but his solo work took a back seat most of the time.

"Will it Go Round in Circles" is a song that plays with phrases. Going beyond the concept of the "full circle," Preston ditches the philosophical stuff and gets down to a jam that is influenced by both soul and funk. That showmanship helped propel the single to #1.

Nolan Porter - "If I Could Only Be Sure"

(Debuted #100, Peaked #89, 4 Weeks on chart)



Nolan Porter charted three songs, and each was billed differently. While "If I Could Only Be Sure" was credited to him by his full name, he also charted on the Hot 100 as Nolan and N.F. Porter. Each song was interesting, but a few listens to this one has convinced me that it is truly a "lost" hit that deserved better than the #89 peak it eventually reached.

"If I Could Only Be Sure" was co-written by Nolan with Gabriel Mekler, who helped get Steppenwolf started and once owned the record company that included Nolan on its roster. It featured a soul influence, but was also progressive enough for the times. As I said, it really deserved to get more airplay than it did.

This Week's Review -- February 24, 1973

This week, the numbers show up as "halves." There were 12 new singles in the Billboard Hot 100, with six making the Top 40 and three reaching into the Top 10. Though none of them went to the #1 spot on the pop chart, the other formats were covered: two would be #1 country hits, another pair topped the #1 R&B survey and one went to the top on the adult contemporary chart. One song looked back to a rock opera, while another would be a hit when it was remade 30 years later. The Temptations appeared with a new song, and so did one of its former members. The Beach Boys chart with a song that was far removed from its 1960s hits. The Ohio Players had their first Top 40 hit, The Association showed up for the last time and a Cleveland band called Circus shows up for the only time.

There is a large archive of past Billboard magazines at Google Books, and the February 24, 1973 edition is among them. The full Hot 100 list can be found on page 52.An article beginning on page 13 has Burt Sugarman discussing the ideas behind his TV shows The Midnight Special and In Concert, even claiming that there would eventually be 24-hour music programming on television. At the time, that seemed like a grandiose statement. on page 39, jukebox operators explain the recent peace-themed songs and their reaction wasn't really based on concerns that they might lead to disagreement among patrons; instead, they were concerned that such records were short-lived, and therefore less profitable.

The Carpenters - "Sing"

(Debuted #61, Peaked #3, 14 Weeks on chart)



It's pretty well-known that "Sing" is a song from Sesame Street and is still frequently performed on that show, but The Carpenters weren't introduced to it through a TV set or an appearance with Jim Henson's creations. Instead, they heard Barbra Streisand's rendition of it in a medley of "Make Your Own Kind of Music" in 1972. Hearing a sure hit, Richard Carpenter was determined to make a version of the song despite the objections of many of his associates. It was definitely successful, reaching #3 on the pop charts and #1 on the adult contemporary survey.

Laid down for the duo's Now & Then LP, the song includes the notes of a recorder during its opening. They were played by Tom Scott, who is better known as a saxophonist. The song was written by Sesame Street staffer Joe Raposo, who also wrote the songs "Bein' Green" and "C is For Cookie" for the show, as well as the theme song for the show Three's Company. It's been rumored -- but never verified -- that Raposo's fondness for sweets was the inspiration for the Cookie Monster.

The Temptations - "Masterpiece"

(Debuted #63, Peaked #7, 14 Weeks on chart)



The word "masterpiece" doesn't appear anywhere in the lyrics of the song "Masterpiece," which is another song where The Temptations sing about the realities of life in the ghetto. The song's name comes from the fact that the song's writer, producer Norman Whitfield, felt that the instrumental arrangement was perfect. However, the way he had the band wait an entire minute before letting the intro build up before singing was seen by some as too similar to their previous hit "Papa Was a Rolling Stone," and contributed to their increasing friction with Whitfield.

Using all five members' voices in the montage, it would be a #1 R&B hit and the group's final Top 10 pop hit until 1991, when a Temptations with four different voices guested on Rod Stewart's hit "The Motown Song."

Donna Fargo - "Superman"

(Debuted #73, Peaked #41, 9 Weeks on chart)



 On the pop chart, Donna Fargo is largely remembered for her success with two hits ("The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A" and "Funny Face"), but never again made the Top 40 with any subsequent singles. However, on the country chart, she would continue to score Top 40 hits on a regular basis until well into the 1980s even after a multiple sclerosis diagnosis that eventually forced her to retire from recording.

"Superman" was the follow-up to "Funny Face," and continued a string of #1 country singles she began with the two songs mentioned earlier. An upbeat tune that showed a little swagger to go along with Fargo's North Carolina accent, it narrowly missed becoming her third Top 40 hit. Unfortunately, that's as close as she would get after that.

Dobie Gray - "Drift Away"

(Debuted #85, Peaked #5, 21 Weeks on chart)



Here's a song that always puzzled me during my days as a country radio DJ in the mid 1990s. From time to time, "Drift Away" was played as a recurrent despite the fact that it wasn't even a country hit during its chart life. In fact, it was Narvel Felts who charted with the song on the country chart (with the lyric changed to reflect that format)...but by the 1990s, there weren't many country stations that had anything by Felts in their rotation, including the one where I worked the overnight shift. The fact that Dobie Gray was played there, despite the fact that he only charted four minor country hits well after his pop hits dried up, was part of an evolution in country that embraced artists like The Eagles and Lynyrd Skynyrd much more tightly than they were in their day. In short, it marked a shift in the audience, where many people who were listening to country at that point had grown up on Southern Rock and the country/rock hybrid that really wasn't accepted seriously by the Nashville establishment then. By that time, the easy beat of "Drift Away" was familiar to listeners and fit in well with the format.

"Drift Away" might be Dobie Gray's most familiar song to the casual listener nowadays. Written by Mentor Williams (brother of songwriter Paul Williams), it features a guitar riff by Reggie Young that has made it suitable for a concert's final song or to set up an encore. Its familiarity was obviously helped by a 2003 remake by Uncle Kracker that featured Gray himself on the last verse. That version returned Gray to the pop Top 10 for the first time in 30 years.

The New Seekers - "Pinball Wizard/See Me, Feel Me (Medley)"

(Debuted #87, Peaked #29, 13 Weeks on chart)



The New Seekers had enjoyed a small amount of success in the U.S. during the early 1970s. They scored nine chart singles in the period, with three getting into the Top 40. They were much more successful in their native U.K. (as well as in Australia, where founder Keith Potger hailed from), but "Pinball Wizard/See Me, Feel Me" would be their last single to reach the U.S. Hot 100 chart.

Most fans of the era's music will know "Pinball Wizard/See Me, Feel Me" as a medley from the Who's rock opera Tommy. It was actually given a slightly harder arrangement than The Who put on their record, but eventually obscured the guitar with horns as "See Me, Feel Me" took over. The song may have been targeted to appeal both to younger listeners and to the adult contemporary crowd, the song highlights the group's vocal harmonies well. According to group member Lyn Paul's Website, songwriter Pete Townsend was pleased enough with the result to send them a congratulatory telegram.

The Beach Boys - "Sail On Sailor"

(Debuted #92, Peaked #79, 7 Weeks on chart)



"Sail On Sailor" was a song from The Beach Boys' concept LP Holland but wasn't among the songs they recorded while in that country. When they submitted their version of the album to Capitol Records, the label rejected it because it didn't see any hit material. As a result, songwriter Van Dyke Parks suggested a demo he and Brian Wilson had recorded. The label dropped a song from the proposed LP and ordered the group to record that song instead. However, the lead vocal wasn't determined because Wilson had no intention of going into the studio. Dennis Wilson was asked first but wanted to go out and surf. After Carl Wilson attempted the lines, he asked associate member Blondie Chaplin to give it a try. Chaplin's voice eventually appeared on the album.

This was actually the first time on the Hot 100 for "Sail On Sailor." After reaching a high point of #79, it dropped quietly from the chart. However, the band was soon given another look as their back catalog (helped by the LP Endless Summer and an appearance on the American Graffiti soundtrack) placed the spotlight back on them. "Sail On Sailor" would get a second chance in 1975 and eventually surpassed its original high point.

The Association - "Names, Tags, Numbers & Labels" (Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted #93, Peaked #91, 5 Weeks on chart)



The Association rattled off a series of hits during the 1960s including five Top 10 singles and two #1s ("Cherish" and "Windy"), but their only listing on the Hot 100 during the 1970s came with "Names, Tags, Numbers and Labels" in 1973. It wasn't exactly a comeback, as they had four other singles that had "bubbled under" the chart since their last hit in 1969 and five other singles that failed to chart at all. That was a big drop-off from the heady chart action they enjoyed from 1966-'69, and coincided with a period that saw not only a fluctuating lineup and record label switches, but also the drug-related death of founding member Brian Cole.

"Names, Tags, Numbers and Labels" was a light ballad written by Albert Hammond. In addition to reaching the Hot 100, it was also a #27 hit on the adult contemporary chart. Despite being their biggest hit in four years, it was seen as a disappointment and failed to stop the band's cycle of fluctuating lineups, sporadic tours and occasional recording sessions. They eventually split up in 1978, but reformed the next year with the surviving core of its original lineup and have been together on the revival circuit ever since.

The Ohio Players - "Funky Worm"

(Debuted #94, Peaked #15, 19 Weeks on chart)



"Funky Worm" was the first Top 40 pop hit for The Ohio Players and the first of their five R&B #1 singles. It was a breakthrough for a band that was paying its dues for well over a decade. It was also the biggest hit the group would enjoy outside of its "classic" era on Mercury Records.

A funky tune featuring the band's "Granny" character, "Funky Worm" features a bass line that has been sampled frequently by Hip-Hop groups and a jazz-influenced synthesiser line that gives the song its characteristic hook. Before living on in samples, a snippet of the song appeared on Dickie Goodman's "Watergrate" later in 1973, which shows how big a hit it was at the time.

Eddie Kendricks - "Girl You Need A Change Of Mind (Part 1)"

(Debuted #95, Peaked #87, 3 Weeks on chart)



Eddie Kendricks was debuting with a song the same week as his old group The Temptations. Unfortunately, his solo career wasn't exactly a success right out of the gate. Two years in, he still hadn't charted a Top 40 pop hit, nor had he scored a Top 10 R&B hit (strings that remained unbroken with "Girl You Need a Change of Mind"). At the same time, he was being targeted by his former bandmates in their own hit single "Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)." By the time 1973 was over, the situations would reverse for the acts.

An eight-minute workout on Kendricks' second solo LP People...Hold On, "Girl You Need a Change of Mind" was an early disco groove from before the genre was really given a name. In a way, it was a precursor to a style that brought bigger hits down the road for him. In essence, it was pointing the road for him to keep on truckin'.

Circus - "Stop, Wait & Listen" (Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted #96, Peaked #91, 4 Weeks on chart)



Once again, Music Mike gives plenty of information about the band Circus in his intro during the video above. They were a local bar band in the Cleveland area who remained local even when their song charted nationally; in fact, it is said they only left Ohio when they went to Chicago to record their LP. The #91 peak they achieved with their only hit single is the result of massive sales in their home area, since they never really tried to break through anywhere else.

"Stop, Wait and Listen" is a surprisingly good burst of power pop that should have been allowed to be a bigger hit if it were to break out in other cities. It has a guitar and organ riff that gives it a big sound, and enough reverb to make you realize this was from some of the musicians who later contributed to records by Eric Carmen and Michael Stanley.

Barbara Fairchild - "Teddy Bear Song"

(Debuted #99, Peaked #32, 19 Weeks on chart)



Country music is well-known for its very adult take on many subjects. In the case of "Teddy Bear Song," the protagonist has broken off a serious relationship and used the things from her youth to describe how she wishes she could go back to that happy time...before the heartache kicked in.

"Teddy Bear Song" was a #1 country hit and Barbara Fairchild's first pop hit. She had been scoring with modest country singles since 1969, but the success of this song caught her in the gears of the "typecast" machine. Her next songs stayed on the "kid" topic, and her next two singles ("Kid Stuff" and Baby Doll") would also chart in the country Top 10. However, the one-dimensional nature of that stance was seen as a novelty on the pop side, so only "Kid Stuff" charted in the lower reaches of the Hot 100 before she disappeared from that chart altogether.

Fairchild eventually tired of the image, though. She began charting again with the tried-and-true country cheatin' song by 1976 but had given up the genre in favor of gospel by the time the 1980s rolled around.

Syl Johnson - "We Did It"

(Debuted #100, Peaked #95, 3 Weeks on chart)



Like many of the great and soul players, Syl Johnson was originally from the Deep South. The Mississippi native went to both Chicago and Memphis to stake his claim. In Chicago during the 1950s, he was part of Howlin' Wolf's band as well as those of Magic Sam and Junior Wells; in the 1970s, he was part of Memphis-based Hi Records, backed by the same band that laid down the groove on Al Green's albums.

"We Did It" definitely sounds like it could have been a Green session instrumentally, but Johnson makes it his own vocally. It's an overlooked tune, one that might get the toes subconsciously tapping. It definitely deserved better than the #95 peak it eventually got.

This Week's Review -- November 17, 1973

There were twelve new songs debuting this week in Billboard's Hot 100, with three making their way into the Top 40. However, two of them reached the Top 10 and one rose all the way to the #1 position. That chart-topper was unfortunately boosted by a tragedy, despite the fact that it was an excellent song regardless. The other Top 40 tunes included a Chicano classic and a country tune sung by a foreign artist. The other songs included early hits by artists who became superstars (like Earth, Wind & Fire), songs by established R&B artists (Ray Charles, Joe Simon, Smokey Robinson, The Chi-Lites) that got lost in the shuffle, a blues artist who was enjoying a career renaissance,  and a duet by a couple who had recently married.

Google Books has an archive of past issues of Billboard to read Online, including the November 17, 1973 edition. The full Hot 100 can be found on page 64. Fans of The Carpenters might enjoy the extended section about the group celebrating their success.

Jim Croce - "Time In A Bottle"

(Debuted #79, Peaked #1, 14 Weeks on chart)



There were two posthumous #1 singles in the 1970s. The first was Janis Joplin's "Me and Bobby McGee," which was a reminder of the talent that was wasted by drugs. The second, "Time in a Bottle," was a reminder of the cruel hand of Fate that caused a plane to crash with Jim Croce aboard. 

Ironically, "Time in a Bottle" wasn't intended to be a single at all. Written shortly after Croce's wife Ingrid told him she was pregnant, it was included on his You Don't Mess Around With Jim LP in 1972 and was passed over as a single release in favor of the title cut and "Operator (That's Not the Way it Feels)." However, it would get a reprieve thanks to its inclusion at the end of a TV movie called She Lives! that aired eight days before the crash. That helped sell more albums, but the song wasn't slated as a single until Croce's death gave the lyrics an entirely different message than the one he originally intended.

On its face, it was a great song that wasn't considered commercial enough for hit radio. With its new poignancy due to the tragic way Croce's story turned out, it became magnificent.

Earth, Wind & Fire - "Keep Your Head To The Sky"

(Debuted #82, Peaked #52, 11 Weeks on chart)



When Earth, Wind & Fire released their Head To the Sky LP in 1973, they were still making a name for themselves. The LP ended up being their first Top 40 pop album and its two singles, "Evil" and "Keep Your Head to the Sky" were the group's best-performing singles up to that point. Although neither made it past #50 on the pop chart, they helped set the sound that would propel them to much larger hits in the future.

If anything, the song "Keep Your Head To the Sky" was another example of a positive message in the group's lyrics matched with exemplary rhythm and vocal harmonies. The vocal features a tremendous effort by Philip Bailey, and features an atmospheric guitar-based riff in the absence of any of the horn section that would later become a hallmark of the group's sound. If you're a fan of Earth, Wind & Fire's bigger hits, give this song a spin and see if you're not wondering how this song missed the Top 40.

El Chicano - "Tell Her She's Lovely"

(Debuted #83, Peaked #40, 10 Weeks on chart)



"Tell Her She's Lovely" was the third and final Hot 100 chart hit for El Chicano. As the name implies, the band was made up of ethnically Mexican musicians who were from Los Angeles. Although the group was often confused with Santana (and were clearly influenced by them), they were a band with their own identity and sound.

The light-funk, Latin-flavored "Tell Her She's Lovely" only reached #40 on the national charts, but was as big in Chicano neighborhoods as anything from War in its day. It has an easy beat and a lovely melody that is easy to follow.

Olivia Newton-John - "Let Me Be There" (Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted #87, Peaked #6, 19 Weeks on chart)



Australia has had a long history of country music, which seems appropriate when you consider how much of that nation is made up of bush country and the image of Australian men as rough-and-rugged types. However, when Olivia Newton-John began recording songs in the style during the mid 1970s, her critics questioned the authenticity that a foreign singer might have. That is seen as silly today (especially when one of its biggest stars is Keith Urban, who is also Australian) and exposed a similar view that Southern country fans had against atrists from the Northeast.

Olivia's first country crossover hit was "Let Me Be There," which was recorded as a straight country tune complete with the steel guitar. It featured the distinctive deep voice of Mike Sammes, who would also accompany her on the future hit "If You Love Me, Let Me Know." Despite the fact that teh presence of a steel guitar was often the kiss of death with pop songs, the song went Top 10 in both formats, as well as on the adult contemporary chart.

First Choice - "Smarty Pants"

(Debuted #89, Peaked #56, 8 Weeks on chart)



First Choice was a female R&B trio from what was perhaps the best location for that genre in 1973: Philadelphia. They were under the aegis of producer Norman Harris, which also meant that the bulk of the MFSB instrumental ensemble was able to back them up on their records. They were part of the Salsoul label and remained there until that company folded in 1983.

"Smarty Pants" was the followup single to First Choice's breakthrough hit "Armed and Extremely Dangerous." Compared to that hit, "Smarty Pants" may seem like a different vibe. This time around, the narrator has fallen under the spell of a smooth-talking man and is now carrying his child. The arrangement is less slick than what the previous hit featured, even venturing into more of a bubblegum sound.

The Independents - "It's All Over"

(Debuted #93, Peaked #65, 4 Weeks on chart)



One of the more common misnomers about 1970s R&B concerns singer Chuck Jackson of The Independents. He's not the same Chuck Jackson who sang solo in 1960s, despite the fact that both Wikipedia and Allmusic both link to his biography from their pages about the group. Instead, this Chuck Jackson was the younger brother of the activist Jesse Jackson and would later go on with fellow group member Marvin Yancey to help get Natalie Cole's career started as The Independents fell apart.

"It's All Over" was a ballad that had its narrator pleading to keep a relationship going even if it means he has to change his ways. A piano accompanies Jackson, with an organ, brass section and chorus mixed in as well. Though it covers a different topic, it sounds like it has been largely influenced by gospel.

The Chi-Lites - "I Found Sunshine"

(Debuted #94, Peaked #47, 10 Weeks on chart)



The Chi-Lites were originally called The Hi-Lites, but added the extra letter to their name in 1964 to pay homage to their home city of Chicago. In the early 1970s, they stood out among the big R&B groups coming out of Detroit and Philadelphia by largely writing and producing their material, rather than attaching themselves to a star producer. Their biggest contributor was singer Eugene Record, who wrote "I Found Sunshine."

"I Found Sunshine" is an upbeat tune with a funky clavinet riff coursing through it. Since it missed the pop Top 40 and peaked at a relatively modest #17 on the R&B chart, it's become a forgotten hit from the group. That's unfortunate, and is worth a few minutes of listening time.

Bobby "Blue" Bland - "This Time I'm Gone For Good"

(Debuted #96, Peaked #42, 13 Weeks on chart )



"This Time I'm Gone for Good" was the biggest hit of 70s for Bobby "Blue" Bland on the pop chart and his best showing on the survey since 1964. That said, Bland's influence as a blues singer won't really be reflected well by looking at the pop charts because it wasn't his arena. In that decade since he's reached the Top 50 of the Hot 100, he had been a constant presence of the R&B chart and had scored a number of Top 10 hits there.

By the early 1970s, Bland was redirecting his life and career. He gave up drinking in 1971 and in 1973 changed record companies, moving over to MCA under Steve Barri, who was able to get L.A.'s top session players to play at the studio for him. "This Time I'm Gone For Good" led off the first LP he recorded there, and shows the benefit of his new arrangement. While the music is top-notch, it's Bland's emotive voice that got him where he was, and he uses it to its full effect.

Smokey Robinson - "Baby Come Close"

(Debuted #97, Peaked #27, 16 Weeks on chart)



The term "Quiet Storm" hadn't been applied yet, but Smokey Robinson was preparing it. The funny thing about it is that he stepped away as the lead singer of The Miracles the previous year to focus on his position as a VP at Motown, but was soon back in the studio to record his own LP after writing a few more songs. His first solo album was simply called Smokey, and it signaled a direction he may not have pursued with the group. "Baby Come Close" was the last track on that record, a slowed-down tune to bring the album to a close.

As the title indicates, "Baby Come Close" is a come-on accompanied by a lush orchestra and Willie Hutch's sharp production. It was something that never would have appeared on a Miracles record, but yet pointed to many of the best-remembered songs Smokey Robinson would record later.

Joe Simon - "River"

(Debuted #98, Peaked #62, 7 Weeks on chart)

A year after the hit single "Drowning in the Sea of Love,"Joe Simon returns to the water metaphor on "River," a song that may not have been far from the gospel music he grew up singing. In the lyrics, this "river" flows everywhere and eventually reaches everybody. If that isn't religious imagery, I don't know what it is.

As Simon goes through the verses about a river, a light, meadows and a song, he is accompanied by a great guitar lick, a backing chorus and eventually a saxophone solo. In its purest form, "River" had the same spirit as The O'Jays' "Peace Train" did earlier in the year, a song that reminded us that we're all in this big world together.

Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge - "A Song I'd Like to Sing"

(Debuted #99, Peaked #49, 10 Weeks on chart)


Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge were married in 1973, and it was likely no surprise that the two would soon release their own duet album together. That LP, Full Moon, showed up in September of that same year and "A Song I'd Like to Sing" was the last cut on the record. One thing that was unusual about the collection was that most songs were from other writers, but "A Song I'd Like to Sing" was a Kristofferson original.

The calypso-inspired rhythm that kicks off the song soon sways into a Mexican-derived chant and what sounds like a Cajun infusion during the bridge helps remind listeners of Coolidge's versatility and also overpowers Kristofferson's vocal (which, to be fair, was never his strongest suit anyway). However, the question arises: If this is a song you'd like to sing, what is it now that you've sung it?

Ray Charles - "Come Live With Me"

(Debuted #100, Peaked #82, 6 Weeks on chart)

I've mentioned in this blog that R&B and country have a lot in common when it comes to topics. Over the years, a number of country hits have been remade into an R&B format and vice versa. What is less common is the R&B artist who has taken a series of country songs and reinvented them for his own fans the way Ray Charles did in the 1960s. With two volumes of LPs he called Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music in 1962, "Brother Ray" came out as a big fan of country music even if he didn't mimic its style. The albums were successful, and he continued to look to country songs for material as his career continued.

In 1973, he cut a song that had been a hit by Roy Clark earlier in the year (reviewed here in May 2010) and made it his own. Although Clark's version was a #1 country hit, it's possible that more people know it as a Ray Charles song. That's not to say that Clark's version was inferior; it's just that Charles was that much more famous than him worldwide.

"Come Live With Me" was written by the husband-and-wife team of Boudleaux and Felice Bryant specifically for Clark to sing, but it seemed to be well-suited for Ray Charles's style as well. His version would make Billboard's pop, R&B and adult contemporary charts, not busting records on any of them but still showing Charles's cross-cultural influence.