Category: 1970-1974

“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?

“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.

“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.)

“Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” (1972) – The Allman Brothers Band * Written by Gregg Allman * 45: “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” / “Melissa” * LP: Eat a Peach * Produced by Tom Dowd * Label: Capricorn

This contemplative Allman Brothers anthem written by Gregg Allman is loaded with contextual poignancy in that it’s the leadoff track to Eat a Peach, the band’s first album after heroin rehab (for some of the members) and after losing guitarist Duane Allman to a motorcycle accident. In Alan Paul’s One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band (2015), Gregg declares that writing this song was, in fact, his first response to losing his brother, which explains its unique balance of resignation and resolution.

“Farther Along” (1973) – Ellen McIlwaine * Traditional * LP: We the People * Produced by Peter K. Siegel * Label: Polydor

The widely-covered “Farther Along” has the sturdy simplicity of a traditional spiritual, but its roots go back no earlier than 1911, apparently. Wikipedia tells a tidy, unsourced story about its origins and copyrighted status, but a post at David’s Hymn Blog gives a more thorough overview. Although Ellen McIlwaine’s albums all showcase her formidable slide guitar chops, this version of “Farther Along,” from her early seventies We the People album, relies on her a cappella lead vocal bolstered up by the mighty Persuasions.

“Maybe I’m Amazed” (1970) – Paul McCartney * Written and Produced by Paul McCartney * LP: McCartney * Label: Apple

On one hand, Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles debut album (McCartney), with its homemade aura and willfully frivolous song selection, lifted a middle finger to the Beatle machinery and the pop music biz it propelled. On the other hand, it snuggled appropriately into its inward-looking era. “Maybe I’m Amazed” is the album’s deepest reacher, taking the crooning-then-wailing approach of Abbey Road‘s “Oh Darling” and letting McCartney’s heart do the rest. It became his solo album’s anchor, paying tribute to his new wife Linda who, as we’ve learned from bios and interviews, helped him through a gloomy, transitional time after the Beatles breakup. Tucked away as an album track on side 2, “Maybe I’m Amazed” could have been a big single, but McCartney opted not to release it as such. No matter – a live version became a radio smash seven years later.

“(The Best Part of) Breaking Up” (1973) – The Seashells * Written by Phil Spector, Pete Andreoli, and Vince Poncia * 45: “(The Best Part of) Breakin’ Up” / “Play That Song” * Produced by Johnny Arthey and Phillip Swern * Label: Columbia

Johnny Arthey and Phillip Swern orchestrated and produced key late-sixties reggae singles by Desmond Dekker, The Pioneers, Bob and Marcia, and others. This 1973 single shares no musical similarities with any of those. It’s a version of a 1964 Ronettes hit that sounds, rather incredibly, like a lost vintage Abba track. The Seashells were a Liverpool girl group that included Vicki Brown and Mary Partington (who were sisters), along with Laura Lee. Brown, who is now deceased, was the wife of UK musican Joe Brown and the mother of vocalist Sam Brown, who had a US charting hit called “Stop” in 1989.

“Będziesz panią w moim piekle” (1970) – Romuald i Roman * Written by Andrzej Kuryło and Roman Runowicz * LP: Z Archiwum Polskiego Radia, Vol. 5 (2007)

In the late ’60s, Polish rock pioneers Romuald Piasecki and Roman Runowicza formed a band named after themselves and got some quick traction. Someone in the paisley underground ’80s ought to have covered this folk-rock brooder, the title of which translates to “You Should Be in My Hell.” Strangely, only two facts testify of this song’s very existence: 1) Its appearance in several fall 1970 issues of Billboard‘s “Hits of the World” charts as a Polish Top 5 single, and 2) A YouTube video of the song (linked below). Was it ever actually released as a single? It appears on the recent compilation of radio recordings pictured here, but shows up nowhere in any online discographies. So maybe it charted in Poland only on the basis of airplay. A few years after this, the group would reorganize itself as the legendary band Nurt, who would also record a version of this song.

“Bish Bash Bosh” (1974) – The Jook * Written by Ralf Kimmet * 45: “Bish Bash Bosh” / “Crazy Kids” * Produced by John Burgess * Label: RCA Victor

“Bish Bash Bosh” was the final A-side by the Jook, a glam-era singles band that branched off of John’s Children (who included Marc Bolan) and broke up when two members left to join Sparks. The Jook apparently inspired the Bay City Rollers, who mastered the fashion, if not their models’ manner of bedroom-eyes musical assurance. Here’s Jook drummer Chris Townson, quoted in Wired Up: Glam, Proto Punk and Bubblegum: “We were playing in Scotland and this rather scruffy long-haired bunch, who looked like we did a year previously, came in after the gig and said what a fantastic show it was and how impressed they were with the image. Not two months later, even less, we saw these same guys and they’d patched it up with lots of tartan and everything. It was essentially the Jook image…. [and] bloody irritating when you go somewhere and they say, ‘You look like the Bay City Rollers.’ I think I came close to punching many people.”