Silver Moon - Michael Nesmith and the First National Band

Silver Moon - Michael Nesmith and the First National Band

3:14

Loose Salute, 1970

Written by Michael Nesmith

Over pedal steel and piano, Nesmith croons a country-flavored soft pop tune of leave-taking that subtly evokes "Everybody's Talkin'," at least until that uptempo chorus kicks in.  "See the dust around my feet go churning / Moving with the winds down the highways of goodbye."  It's a bittersweet tearjerker in the old tradition, with Nesmith in a clear strong voice with a crack band behind him.  Not bad for a Monkee.

Lucretia MacEvil - Blood, Sweat & Tears

Lucretia MacEvil - Blood, Sweat & Tears

3:05

Blood, Sweat & Tears 3, 1970

Written by David Clayton-Thomas

David Clayton-Thomas, the second lead singer of Blood, Sweat & Tears and the voice behind their biggest hits, died yesterday. BST is a band whose hits informed my first impressions of rock as a teenager.  So while Clayton-Thomas has a solid catalog in his own right, I'm returning to his work in the band's jazz-rock material.  This song is one of his best showcases. Brass punches, a muscular rhythm section, and Clayton-Thomas' booming baritone give the song a swagger that's impossible to ignore. He relishes every line as he tears into the title character, a classic femme fatale whom he blames for just about everything: "I hear your mother was the talk of the sticks / Nothin' that your daddy wouldn't do for kicks / Never done a thing worth-while / You're just an evil woman-child."  Of course, from a modern perspective, it's hard not to notice that Lucretia bears the brunt of the condemnation while the men around her get off lightly: it's hardly the lady's fault that her parents were layabouts or that a married man is willing to pay her rent!  How about criticizing the system and not the cogs in the machine, David?!  But in the end, whether you read the lyric as misogyny, melodrama, or tongue-in-cheek character sketch, Clayton-Thomas sells it with such conviction that the performance transcends its questionable premise. It's a fitting reminder of what made him such a commanding frontman.

Gimme Shelter - Merry Clayton

Gimme Shelter - Merry Clayton

3:31

Gimme Shelter, 1970

Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, 1969

Clayton did the powerhouse background vocals on the Stones' recording to great acclaim (fun fact: she was four months pregnant at the time), so the next year she went out and did her own version.  With some thick, fuzzy guitar lines, blaring soul horns, and her own female choir behind her, Clayton shouts new life into this song.  In fact, I think I like her blazing, funky rendition better than the Stones'.  It flips the emotional center of the song completely.  She doesn't lean on her experience singing on the original, but expands it.  Where the original simmers with dread and distance, hers is immediate, embodied, and ferocious.

Good Time Living - Three Dog Night

Good Time Living - Three Dog Night

4:10

It Ain't Easy, 1970

Written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil

Chuck Negron, one of the three distinctive voices of Three Dog Night and the tenor behind classics like "Joy to the World" and "One," died a few days ago and it escaped my attention.  I'm a big fan of the hits but don't know much about their catalog.  RIP Chuck, and I hope you had a "good time living."  This song is a pure hippie artifact, extolling the wonders of nature and denouncing modern urban life: "Air pollution, revolution, you know I've had my fill / Advertisin', computerizin', don't understand it and I never will / Got to get back to some good time livin' / Got to get out where the air is sweet."  It's not exactly a heavy-hitting exposé, but it's an accurate vibe from the era, and a great showcase for the powerhouse vocals of Negron, Danny Hutton, and Cory Wells.  I like the fake-out fade-out-then-in at the end and the "Got to got got to back" overlapping chorus as the song really comes to a close.

I'm a Rocker - Chuck Berry

I'm a Rocker - Chuck Berry

4:35

Back Home, 1970

Written by Chuck Berry

A winking double-entendre of a song in the inimitable Berry style.  Indeed, this is something of a reworking of "Reelin' and Rockin'" in that it features verses about the narrator and his girl counted up by the numbers.  In this case the numbers are songs rather than the hours of a clock, but the concept is the same.  He even reuses some of his lyrics from the live version of "Reelin'": We were out the floor when they played number two / You know she claims she don't, but I know she do."  By 1970, Chuck's risqué lyrics were considered safe to include in the studio recordings: "We were out on the floor when they played number six / I was stone getting firm like a cement mix."

The Rapper - The Jaggerz

The Rapper - The Jaggerz

2:43

We Went To Different Schools Together, 1970

Written by Donnie Iris

This is an old-school rocker very much of its era, with elements of disco and funk blended in, backed by schoolyard hand percussion and cowbell.  The song is addressed to a young girl, warning her of the danger of a fast talker, a "rapper," who tries to seduce her with his corny lines ("Come up to my place / For some coffee or tea or me").  The song ends with the girl in the man's house, and it's not looking good for her: "He's got you where he wants you / Girl, you′ve gotta face reality."  Oof, problematic.  There's a scruffy charm in its blend of funk-lite groove and rock theatrics, even if the cautionary tale at its center lands with a heavier thud today than it probably did back then.

Hit Or Miss - Odetta

Hit Or Miss - Odetta

3:54

Odetta Sings, 1970

Written by Odetta Gordon

A rousing, soulful track celebrating positivity and self-acceptance.  "Oh you see / I gotta be me / Ain’t nobody / Just like this."  It's a simple lyric and repetitive, but Odetta's rich, earthy voice rides confidently over a tight, funky band laying down an irresistible groove of snapping drums, punchy horns, and deep-pocket bass. What could feel slight in another singer's repertoire becomes a declaration of independence here, a joyous shout of selfhood that's both personal and universal.

The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show - The Band

The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show - The Band

2:59

Stage Fright, 1970

Written by Robbie Robertson

Like Neil Diamond's "Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show," released a year earlier, this song is about a long gone slice of Americana, the traveling medicine show.  This one is a bit darker, more carnival than faith healer, and is based on a specific minstrel show from Levon Helm's youth in Arkansas, F. S. Wolcott's Original Rabbit's Foot Minstrels, which began around 1900 as "The Rabbit's Foot Company."  On the surface, the lyrics sketch colorful performers and carnival atmosphere ("There's a young faith healer / He's a woman stealer / He will cure by his command"), but the song can also be read as a commentary on show business itself: part celebration, part cautionary tale about spectacle and excess ("Come on out and catch this show / There'll be saints and sinners, you'll see losers and winners").  It starts with funky guitar, leading into Helm's countrified vocal with Danko's backing.  Garth Hudson's buzzy sax adds some vaudevillian swagger.

Don't Play That Song - Aretha Franklin

Don't Play That Song - Aretha Franklin

3:02

Spirit In the Dark, 1970

Written by Ahmet Ertegün and Betty Nelson

Obviously the narrator of this song is not as steely as Humphrey Bogart.  ("Play it, Sam!  If you can play it for her, you can play it for me. If she can take it, so can I.")  The song was co-written by Ben King's wife and released by him in 1962.  This version transforms it into a gospel-soaked soul anthem with fire and heartbreak. Her voice — soaring, pleading, utterly commanding — turns the song's simple premise into high drama: the pain of hearing a song that reminds her of a lover's lies: "I was only seventeen / I'd never dream he'd be so mean."  The arrangement blends classic Atlantic soul with churchy piano and call-and-response backing vocals that elevate the emotional stakes. 

Something [live] - Elvis Presley

Something [live] - Elvis Presley

3:40

Walk a Mile in My Shoes: The Essential '70s Masters, 1995 (recorded 1970)

Written by George Harrison

From a concert in August 1970 (not the 1973 version from Aloha From Hawaii), this cover showcases the King's blend of reverence and theatricality. The ballad begins with his signature croon, starting tender and sincere, but gradually leaning into his Vegas-era drama—adding swelling strings, lush backing vocals, and a grandiose arrangement. His vocal delivery moves from soulful and intimate to full-throated passion, almost gospel-like by the climax. While it loses some of the Beatles' quiet subtlety, Elvis makes it unmistakably his own, turning the song into a sweeping declaration of love and longing.

A Good Year For the Roses - George Jones

A Good Year For the Roses - George Jones

3:01

George Jones With Love, 1970

Written by Jerry Chesnut

Okay, I must admit a near-total ignorance of George Jones, a king (albeit dethroned by now) in country circles.  I first of him, in fact, from the Daniel Johnston song "Ain't No Woman Gonna Make a George Jones Out Of Me."  I had to ask someone who George Jones was.  So I knew of this song, but I don't think I'd ever heard it, even the Costello cover.  Can I just say, good Lord, it's devastating.  Just pure heartbreak set to music, with a vocal that somehow balances wounded dignity and quiet devastation. The song paints a picture of a man watching his wife walk out, and instead of shouting or begging, he just catalogs the small details: the cigarette with lipstick traces, the half-drunk cup of coffee that, he notes, she wanted, unlike how she feels about him.  "And from the bedroom those familiar sounds of our one baby's cryin' / Goes unheard."  Jones doesn’t oversing it; he just lets the sadness simmer under the surface, and that bitterness and resignation is what makes it hit so hard.  Oof.

Try a Little Kindness - Glen Campbell

Try a Little Kindness - Glen Campbell

2:26

Try a Little Kindness, 1970

Written by Curt Sapaugh and Bobby Austin

Just what the title indicates, this song is a straightforward, positive song about paying kindness forward.  "And if you try a little kindness / Then you'll overlook the blindness / Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets."  I particularly like how the song notes that you should help people even if they are the architects of their own position ("With a heavy load from the seeds he sowed").  Although Campbell is thought of as a country artist, this song is easy-listening rock, and he delivers the vocal with the enthusiasm of a soul singer.  This song is popular today with Christian ministers and advice-givers, despite true Christian feeling being looked upon as "woke" nonsense by theocrats and their sheep these days.

Nuevo Laredo - Sir Douglas Quintet

Nuevo Laredo - Sir Douglas Quintet

2:41

Together After Five, 1970

Written by Doug Sahm

Another fun slice of Tex-Mex, slightly cajun, folk-rock from the Quintet.  Here, the narrator is smitten with a raven-haired senorita he espies "in a dimly lit cafe."  (This is an unusually common situation in popular song, from "El Paso" to "Down In Mexico.")  Anyhoo, it seems like a match made in a border town: "Sittin' on an old bar stool / Lookin′ like nobody's fool / Her heart was meant that she was going to go home with only me."  Just then, though, like in "Gimme Three Steps," a hulking fellow about an inch shorter than Bad, Bad Leroy Brown comes in and the narrator's hopes are shattered.  Así es la vida.

Joe Hill - The Dubliners

Joe Hill - the Dubliners

2:48

Revolution, 1970

Written by Alfred Hayes and Earl Robinson, 1936

As a lifelong worshipper at the Church of the Slightly Blemished Bob, the first thing that I notice about this song is that it gave Dylan his first lines of "I Dream I Saw St. Augustine," with the fourth-century saint replacing the IWW labor activist.  This is a song to rally workers, encouraging them to organize, and reminds us that police are, and always have been, weapons of the rich to keep working classes down.  "The copper bosses they shot you, Joe / They filled you full of lead / 'Takes more than guns to kill a man' / Says Joe, 'And I ain't dead.'"  It's a nice idea, but propaganda seems to have weighed down the masses.

I've Got a Need For You - David Ruffin

I've Got a Need For You - David Ruffin

3:19

David: The Unreleased Album, 2004 (recorded c. 1970)

Written by Cardi Peters and Johnny Bristol

David Ruffin was one of the lead singers of the Temptations from 1964 to 1968.  Here, on this posthumous release, he delivers an impassioned soul love song in his raspy but emotion-drenched tenor over smooth horns and a background chorus of female singers. "I melt from every kiss you give me / Oh, they warm me on each chilly night / Respect your sweetness brought to me / Has changed my outlook on life."  The raw power of Ruffin's voice is evident in every syllable; this could easily have been a soul classic.

Thanks For the Pepperoni - George Harrison

Thanks For the Pepperoni - George Harrison

5:32

All Things Must Pass, 1970

Written by George Harrison

Even though I don't generally go in for rock instrumentals, and this one is five and a half minutes long, I just had to add it.  Since yesterday and the night before (get it?) showcased solo Beatles songs of gratitude, it seemed obligatory to include the quiet one today.  Anyway, I have long heard that this album is one of the best albums of the era, and never gotten into it beyond a few songs, so that's another reason.  George is trading guitar licks with Eric Clapton here, and the whole thing is based on "Roll Over Beethoven."  He released it as Apple Jam, an extra record of instrumentals, to help justify the high price of the triple album (fourteen dollars!).  The title supposedly comes from a Lenny Bruce comedy bit (but if that's true, why idn't the quote found anywhere on the Internet?). 

Pretty Saro - Bob Dylan

Pretty Saro - Bob Dylan

2:16

The Bootleg Series Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait (1969–1971), 2013 (recorded 1970)

traditional

The narrator pines for his love, Saro, but since he has no land or money, he can't very well ask for her to stick around.  He's not even a dab hand with words: "If I was a poet / And could write a fine hand / I'd write my love a letter / That she'd understand."  But since he can't, he must bid her adieu and see her only in his dreams.  Dylan's using his crooner voice here, a subdued, haunting vocal that emphasizes the narrator's helplessness in the face of harsh reality.

Ball Of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today) - the Temptations

Ball Of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today) - the Temptations

4:06

single, 1970

Written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong

An example of perfect funk and an excellent protest song.  That incredible bass delivery by Melvin Franklin!  "And the band played on."  A sort of proto-rap break out in the first verse: "Segregation, determination, demonstration, integration / Aggravation, humiliation, obligation to our nation."  This proves that you don't have to sacrifice musicality to deliver the news of the world.  I'm looking at you, Phil Ochs.

Sugar, Sugar - Wilson Pickett

Sugar, Sugar - Wilson Pickett
2:58
Right On, 1970
Written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim

Silly song, but Pickett brings serious musical talent to it and infuses it with soul gravitas.  I think this is the first time I've ever heard the words of the verses, having tuned them out completely when listening to the Archies' version.  Pickett's voice is just an amazing instrument, and the horns and organ provide extra muscle.  A candy-coated pig's ear turned into a velvet purse.

Railroad Bill - Bob Dylan

Railroad Bill - Bob Dylan

2:44

The Bootleg Series Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait (1969–1971), 2013 (recorded 1970)

traditional

Dylan's ability to inhabit an old tune and make it his own is on display here, with a spare acoustic backing and a world-weary voice.  A younger Dylan might have taken this tale of an outlaw rambler and made it uptempo and sung it brightly like he did on "Rambling, Gambling Willie," but here he sounds like he really has been put upon by Bill, and wishes Bill would leave him and his wife alone.