My favs. of this chart (in no particular order): 1 5 GIVE ME LOVE (Give Me Peace On Earth) –•– George Harrison (Apple)-7 (1 week at #1) (1) 2 1 MY LOVE –•– Paul McCartney and Wings (Apple)-12 (1) 3 4 WILL IT GO ROUND IN CIRCLES –•– Billy Preston (A&M)-14 (3) 5 7 KODACHROME –•– Paul Simon (Columbia)-7 (5) 8 9 LONG TRAIN RUNNIN’ –•– The Doobie Brothers (Warner Brothers)-11 (8) 10 11 SHAMBALA –•– Three Dog Night (Dunhill)-7 (10) 11 12 ONE OF A KIND (Love Affair) –•– The Spinners (Atlantic)-10 (11) 12 14 BAD, BAD LEROY BROWN –•– Jim Croce (ABC)-11 (12) 13 16 YESTERDAY ONCE MORE –•– The Carpenters (A&M)-5 (13) 14 15 NATURAL HIGH –•– Bloodstone (London)-11 (14) 15 8 DANIEL –•– Elton John (MCA)-13 (2) 16 13 FRANKENSTEIN –•– The Edgar Winter Group (Epic)-17 (1) 17 20 SMOKE ON THE WATER –•– Deep Purple (Warner Brothers)-6 (17) 19 17 I’M DOIN’ FINE NOW –•– New York City (Chelsea)-18 (17) 21 29 DIAMOND GIRL –•– Seals and Crofts (Warner Brothers)-8 (21) 24 27 SO VERY HARD TO GO –•– The Tower Of Power (Warner Brothers)-9 (24) 27 22 DRIFT AWAY –•– Dobie Gray (Decca)-19 (5) 33 25 WILDFLOWER –•– Skylark (Capitol)-20 (9) 35 36 LET’S PRETEND –•– The Raspberries (Capitol)-15 (35) 37 19 HOCUS POCUS –•– Focus (Sire)-18 (9) 38 34 NO MORE MR. NICE GUY –•– Alice Cooper (Warner Brothers)-12 (25) 42 32 YOU ARE THE SUNSHINE OF MY LIFE –•– Stevie Wonder (Tamla)-16 (1) 47 35 STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU –•– Stealers Wheel (A&M)-18 (6) 46 47 SWAMP WITCH –•– Jim Stafford (MGM)-8 (46) 49 44 BACK WHEN MY HAIR WAS SHORT –•– Gunhill Road (Kama Sutra)-14 (40) 50 54 WHY ME –•– Kris Kristofferson (Monument)-13 (50) 84 — UNEASY RIDER –•– Charlie Daniels (Kama Sutra)-1 (84) Least-liked: 6 6 PILLOW TALK –•– Sylvia (Vibration)-15 (3) 7 2 PLAYGROUND IN MY MIND –•– Clint Holmes (Epic)-15 (2)
First pressings of There Goes Rhymin' Simon did not have the trademark notice for "Kodachrome" on the cover, but had a different wording on the label . . . . . . than what would come later . . . I naturally have the former.
I have the first 17 spots on this chart, plus #19, 21, 24, 26 - 29, 31 (in three ways: the original 1962 Garpax, a 1970 CBS Pitman promo . . . . . . and a beat-up version of this year's re-reissue, also CP: . . . talk about coming back from the dead), 33, 34, 39 - 41, 47, 49, 50, and 78 (this last big one from Sly had two B sides: "Thankful N' Thoughtful" which was the original, and then the replacement "Babies Makin' Babies"; as usual I have the first coupling).
From here, in my collection are #1 - 13, 15, 17 - 20, 22, 23, 26, 27, 29 - 32, 34, 35, 37, 38, 44 - 46, 49, 54, 58, 60, 64, 68, 74, 89 and 91. First, about the biggest hit from Bloodstone, "Natural High," released back in February which made this another slow starter, CBS Pitman had essentially two variant layouts. First the one with three spot colors which made the blue "swirl" labels used by London which made them the way they looked: . . . and then one with CMYK printing whose label sheets appeared borrowed from what Bestway Products was using: Then this follow-up to Stealers Wheel's big one "Stuck In The Middle With You." This version was unique to the 45 and would have its title truncated when they did the song on their next album. This would be among the last singles with this label design to bear the ochre and orange colors that, in one form or another, had been in constant use since 1963 (and on CP and CTH pressings, in this particular variant since 1972). This was manifested in the Carpenters' hit "Yesterday Once More" which was moving up the charts at this time. First-pressings looked like this: . . . but by the time its chart run wound down, Columbia conformed the colors to what Monarch had been using by then - mustard and salmon red: I actually saw a copy with that later color scheme.
Will It Go Round in Circles? January 1969. The Beatles were stuck in the worst month of their professional careers. The Get Back sessions were going miserably, no one wanted to be there, and George quit the group for several days, looking like he would never return. Below: Paul tells everyone what to do. George is not happy. Ringo is bored, and John is with Yoko. Typical day during the Get Back sessions. George decided if he was going to go back, he needed something to change the mood of the sessions. He happened upon an old friend, Billy Preston, who was playing in the UK at the time. The Fabs had known Preston since the Hamburg days. He brought the jovial American back to Apple Studios, and almost immediately, the mood improved 100%. With Billy's help, they were able to complete the project with no more Beatles leaving, playing their final concert as a group with Preston as the only additional outside musician privy to the historic moment. And the only outsider who would ever be given a credit on any Beatles single: Get Back was released as 'the Beatles with Billy Preston'. They would later sign him to Apple and help kick start his solo career, which a few years later exploded into multiple hits. Harrison always said that the reason things worked when Preston arrived was that dragging a relative outsider into the group forced everyone to be on their best behavior, so Billy wouldn't see how "bitchy" they could be. Maybe, but I think in part the reason Preston was so valuable an addition had at least something to do with the positive energy just radiating from the guy. Those good vibes worked wonders in cheering everyone up. Four years later, three of the people on that rooftop had back-to-back-to-back number one hits. Preston's hit song was aptly called 'Will It Go Round in Circles?' Indeed, the three had coincidentally come full circle, once again enjoying simultaneous success. Circles is a joyful noise. Preston still knew how to bring the happiness, and in the intervening years had honed his skill until he was ready to be a star. His positive energy suffuses the song from start to finish. I always imagine Billy singing this one with a big gap-toothed smile on his face, and the biggest, coolest 'fro of the era. My Love is a beautiful track, Give Me Love is stately and intense, but it somehow seems fitting that Billy then came along to give everyone a kick in the pants and get them dancing again. I'm not sure what the song really means. The lyrics are the kind of gleeful nonsense John Lennon might have written. But it doesn't really matter. Circles is a great, fun, rousing song that never fails to put a smile on my face as I happily sing right along. Below: Even George Harrison, who could be as grumpy as anyone, loved touring with Billy Preston Fun fact: John Lennon even suggested that Billy be made a permanent member of the Beatles, so happy was he with Preston's contributions to Get Back. Paul vetoed it, suggesting that they had enough problems with four Beatles.
Notice Billy appears to have been one person not to have worked as sideman on any of Paul's subsequent post-Beatles projects, whether solo or Wings.
I agree, I hear a lot of gospel influence in "Will it go round circles" It's a really fun, upbeat, infectious song - possible the most fun #1 this year.
Pretty good week for music. I've bolded the ones I own in one form or another. Best of the week: 1 1 WILL IT GO ROUND IN CIRCLES –•– Billy Preston (A&M)-16 (2 weeks at #1) (1) 2 2 KODACHROME –•– Paul Simon (Columbia)-9 (2) 3 5 BAD, BAD LEROY BROWN –•– Jim Croce (ABC)-13 (3) 4 7 SHAMBALA –•– Three Dog Night (Dunhill)-9 (4) 5 4 GIVE ME LOVE (Give Me Peace On Earth) –•– George Harrison (Apple)-9 (1) 6 8 YESTERDAY ONCE MORE –•– The Carpenters (A&M)-7 (6) 8 11 SMOKE ON THE WATER –•– Deep Purple (Warner Brothers)-8 (8) 9 3 MY LOVE –•– Paul McCartney and Wings (Apple)-14 (1) 10 9 RIGHT PLACE WRONG TIME –•– Dr. John (Atco)-14 (9) 11 12 LONG TRAIN RUNNIN’ –•– The Doobie Brothers (Warner Brothers)-13 (8) 12 13 NATURAL HIGH –•– Bloodstone (London)-13 (12) 13 17 DIAMOND GIRL –•– Seals and Crofts (Warner Brothers)-10 (13) 15 10 I’M GONNA LOVE YOU JUST A LITTLE MORE BABY –•– Barry White (20th Century)-14 (3) 16 18 BEHIND CLOSED DOORS –•– Charlie Rich (Epic)-12 (16) 17 20 MONEY –•– Pink Floyd (Harvest)-9 (17) 19 22 SO VERY HARD TO GO –•– The Tower Of Power (Warner Brothers)-11 (19) 20 26 MONSTER MASH –•– Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers (Parrot)-28 (1) 21 29 TOUCH ME IN THE MORNING –•– Diana Ross (Motown)-7 (21) 23 15 ONE OF A KIND (Love Affair) –•– The Spinners (Atlantic)-12 (11) 24 19 DADDY COULD SWEAR, I DECLARE –•– Gladys Knight and the Pips (Soul)-12 (19) 26 32 FEELIN’ STRONGER EVERY DAY –•– Chicago (Columbia)-4 (26) 27 21 FRANKENSTEIN –•– The Edgar Winter Group (Epic)-19 (1) 30 23 I’M DOIN’ FINE NOW –•– New York City (Chelsea)-20 (17) 37 61 BROTHER LOUIE –•– The Stories (Kama Sutra)-4 (37) Worst of the week: 7 6 PLAYGROUND IN MY MIND –•– Clint Holmes (Epic)-17 (2) 14 14 BOOGIE WOOGIE BUGLE BOY –•– Bette Midler (Atlantic)-10 (14) 28 35 SATIN SHEETS –•– Jeanne Pruett (MCA)-10 (28) 29 42 THE MORNING AFTER –•– Maureen McGovern (20th Century)-4 (29) 31 48 GET DOWN –•– Gilbert O’Sullivan (MAM)-4 (31) Don't remember: 18 16 PILLOW TALK –•– Sylvia (Vibration)-17 (3) 22 24 DOING IT TO DEATH –•– Fred Wesley and the JB’s (People)-7 (22) 25 30 MISDEMEANOR –•– Foster Sylvers (Pride / MGM)-7 (25) 32 41 I BELIEVE IN YOU (You Believe In Me) –•– Johnnie Taylor (Stax)-4 (32) 33 34 WHERE PEACEFUL WATERS FLOW –•– Gladys Knight and the Pips (Buddah)-5 (33) 34 45 IF YOU WANT ME TO STAY –•– Sly and the Family Stone (Epic)-3 (34) 35 37 WHY ME –•– Kris Kristofferson (Monument)-15 (35) 36 39 GOIN’ HOME –•– The Osmonds (MGM)-5 (36) 38 38 I’LL ALWAYS LOVE MY MAMA (Part 1) –•– The Intruders (Gamble)-7 (38) 39 44 SWAMP WITCH –•– Jim Stafford (MGM)-10 (39) 40 40 THE PLASTIC MAN –•– The Temptations (Gordy)-6 (40)
Of the non-bolded in that list, "Behind Closed Doors" and "One Of A Kind Love Affair" are my favorites. Both are just sublime.
Behind Closed Doors is yet another song from this era that I first learned from my beginner's piano book (Me and Mrs. Jones and I Know a Place were two others). I'm not sure I've ever heard the actual song to this day!
This is the era where suddenly the fidelity of Nashville releases vaulted past that of much of the product coming out of Los Angeles and New York (although not so much London).
That's not exactly true. An earlier Beatles single shared the credit with another outsider. Get Back was the biggest-charting single a non-Beatle was credited on (My Bonnie peaked @ 26). Good post otherwise. Billy did help improve their moods. I wonder what things would've been like if they'd let Billy join the group. Perhaps they wouldn't have broken up so soon.
But this was Tony Sheridan with The Beat Brothers aka The Beatles. Some releases were named without The Beat Brothers but with a song written bei George Harrison and John Lennon: http://www.rocknroll-schallplatten-forum.de/viewtopic.php?t=654 I think that's a difference to The Beatles with Billy Presten.
I heard "Will It Go Around In Circles" while food shopping last week. Great song. I remember hearing every one or the top 10 this week many times with the exception of "Playground in My Mind". I have no memory of that one. "Kodachrome" was one of the last singles bought by my siblings that stayed at our house. By this time. one of them (seven total) was going off to college almost every single year. I didn't buy many singles at this time (and never really did, to be honest).
I think we can simply go with a matter of what's canonical and what isn't. "My Bonnie" was a cash-in release that the Beatles didn't approve of and had nothing to do with. "Get Back" was their decision. Billy Preston reportedly didn't even know his name was going to be on the label until he saw a copy of the record himself. What a thrill that must have been! I'm not sure I'd ever heard the song in its entirety before I listened to it for this thread, and I agree. Fantastic performance. My parents had (and probably still have) a UK copy of that album, with the orange CBS label. It's been decades since I've looked, but I don't think that one had the trademark disclaimer.
Hi John! I just checked out the link and a popup says that Quboz will launch here in the U.S. this year. But, I wonder if they will sell downloads or just stream.
Went to see Vicki Lawrence last night - she touring a little show where she does about an hour as herself, sort of a combo of memoir and standup, and about an hour as Mama. She also sang "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia" and recounted the story of how it came to be. It was funny because she heard the hit potential in the song before pretty much anybody else did, especially her ex-husband. Even after she cut it, it took about 8 months to take off as a hit. Her voice is a bit shot - she's lost pitch control, like a lot of us do when we age - but the audience didn't seem to mind too much. I wish she'd done a few more Carol Burnett impersonations, because the couple she hauled out over the course of two hours were hilarious. Some trivia here: 10 things you might not know about Vicki Lawrence
When you have a keyboardist of the caliber of Linda McCartney in your band, there really isn't gonna be much for Billy Preston to do... But seriously, I don't think McCartney deliberately or consciously avoided working with Preston. In the 70s he used Wings on all his albums, and Preston obviously was not going to join Wings. And in the 80s, he rarely even used outside keyboard players. The vast majority of keyboards on all his albums are either played by himself or Linda.
Yes, surprisingly so, considering the year (1973). I may revise my opinions of the "best years" of music. Sure, I like 1963 much better than 1973, in terms of Top 40 music, but that doesn't mean the former year didn't have its "weaker" & "dated" songs. Many songs from 1972-75 seem very dated too.
