Author: Kim Simpson

“Friends” (1971) – Buzzy Linhart * Written by Buzzy Linhart and Mark Klingman * LP: The Time to Live Is Now * Produced by Buzzy Linhart * Label: Kama Sutra

“Friends” became a show staple for Bette Midler and a highlight on her 1972 Divine Miss M debut album. It also became familiar enough as a singalong number on seventies variety shows that when you hear the original rag-tag rendition, its introverted nature will likely surprise you. Linhart, who co-wrote the song with Mark Klingman, gives it a non-singer’s delivery which is kinda the point, evoking a sense of self-pity that later versions seemed to obscure. “I had some friends but they’re gone. Something came and took them away… I’m standing at the end of the road…waiting for my new friends to come…” But will they?

“Miessemearkumat” (2016) – Ulla Pirttijärvi and Ulda * CD: Roijk * Label: Tuupa

The Sámi singer Ulla Pirttijärvi, based in Finland, began her recording career with the unison-voiced trio Angelin Tytöt (the girls from Angeli) and now performs with a group called Ulda. This track from their Roijk album combines her melodic joik singing (traditional Sámi chanting) with the organic instrumentation and grooves that make the whole thing special. She’s never had a band that complemented her so well before now. “Miessemearkumat” translates to “reindeer calf marking,” with the lyrics focusing on the July ritual of marking the ears of new calves with ancient family symbols before setting them loose to graze.

“Mekong Song” (2015) – Deltas * Written by Deltas * CD: Ligerian Blues * Label: Buda Musique

With their origins in Angers, France, the trio Deltas currently includes Vincent Erdeven (guitar), Richard Bourreau (violin/kora), and recent addition Andra Kouyate (ngoni/vocals), who’s from Mali. Their second album’s playful title Ligerian Blues, which Dylan McDonnell at RootsWorld calls a “seeming portmanteau of the Loire and Niger rivers,” also has the lion/tiger fusion thing going for it. But the river aspect is key, with the band’s own name and track titles like “Mekong Song” inviting us to hear the music as a willfully cross-cultural exercise.

“Ain’t Understanding Mellow” (1972) – Jerry Butler and Brenda Lee Eager * Written by Herscholt Polk and Homer Talbert * 45: “Ain’t Understanding Mellow” / “Windy City Soul” (Butler only) * LP: The Sagittarius Movement * Produced by Gerald Sims and Jerry Butler * Label: Mercury

Soft-soul tour de force written by Herscholt Polk and Homer Talbert in which the voices of “Iceman” Butler and Eager sail with grace over a bass-driven track, telling the story of a couple that not only resolves to stay friends after the woman confesses she loves another man but rejoices in their decision. It’s a change of pace from the early ‘70 heyday of cheatin’ soul, and it comes off redemptive enough to verge toward gospel.

“Kesse Ye Lolo De Ye” (1979) – Stevie Wonder * Written and produced by Stevie Wonder * LP: Stevie Wonder’s Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants * Label: Tamla

Stevie Wonder’s Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants sprung forth as soundtrack music for a documentary film based on a new-agey 1973 book by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird. It focused on plants as sentient beings, a premise that gives Wonder’s album whimsical appeal while attracting some serious stink-eye from hard science. “Kesse Ye Lolo De Ye,” from side two of the double LP, showcases Senegalese kora player Lamine Konte, and the title is a phoneticization of the words “a seed is a star” in Konte’s native Bambara language.

“Meridian Leeward” (1968) – Nazz * Written by Todd Rundgren * LP: Nazz Nazz * Produced by Nazz * Label: SGC 

We can assume some sort of Animal Farm or youth culture angle inspired this Nazz song about a human who used to be a pig. It stands out among other tracks on the group’s sophomore Nazz Nazz album, though, because of the bewildered discomfort in singer Stewkey Antoni’s delivery. No wonder the group’s clearly mismatched songwriter Todd Rundgren moved on after this album.

“Shut Down” (1963) – The Beach Boys *  Written by Brian Wilson and Roger Christian * 45: “Surfin’ USA” / “Shut Down” * LP: Surfin’ USA * Produced by Nick Venet * Label: Capitol
 
Side B of the Beach Boys’ #3 hit “Surfin’ USA” (and reaching #23 on its own merits) sported one of their quintessential hot rod tracks, fully equipped with terminology by gearhead DJ Roger Christian. It’s sung from the point of view of the driver of a ’63 Chevy Sting Ray, with its new, high-performance fuel-injected engine, facing off against a ’62 Dodge Dart that rumbles with a Max Wedge engine (called a “413” for its cubic-inch measurement). The implication at the end is that the Chevy “shuts down” the Dodge. Brian Wilson’s chorus hooks and harmonies tweak the 12-bar blues in a musical approximation of technical ingenuity.

“Ya Rayah” (1998) – Rachid Taha * Written by Amrani Abderrahmane * LP (France): Diwân * Produced by Steve Hillage * Label: Barclay

Although the breakthrough success of the Algerian Taha’s Diwân album (produced by Steve Hillage, the former Gong guitarist) had plenty to do with his built-in pop star charisma, it also benefited from the magnetic pull of “Ya Rayah,” its leadoff song. This was a cover version of a 1973 single by Dahmane El-harrachi, whose entire catalog of festive acoustic chaâbi music features orchestral phrases that swoop across the horizon like frolicsome kites. “Ya Rayah” taps into another powerful emotion, though, for those who understand the lyrics: the allure and parodoxical sadness of emigration.

“She’s a Lady” (1971) – Tom Jones * Written by Paul Anka * 45: “She’s a Lady” / “My Way” * LP: Tom Jones Sings She’s a Lady * Produced by Gordon Mills

Tom Jones’s biggest hit of the seventies—no. 2 on Billboard—distinguished itself by serving up the phrases “she always knows her place” and “she’s never in the way” during the glory years of women’s lib. Even so, its heavy airplay on easy listening stations indicated that the minor-key discotheque broiler likely had a wide female listenership and jibed with older generation values. Paul Anka, in his autobiography My Way, singles out the song as “chauvinistic” and his least favorite among everything he’s written. In a 2013 duet with Jones, he would alter the lyrics of the first verse. Jones’s version of “My Way” on side B of the original 45 turns the disc into something of an Anka tribute. (The She’s a Lady album cover presents Jones as fashion doll “Tom,” a friend of Barbie and rival of Ken.)