Rock & Roll Historical Perspective

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Rolling Stone Issue 72


Dated December 10, 1970. Leon Russell on the cover. This is the 3rd Anniversary Issue

Leon Russell is quite the busy musician these days. His newest album is ready with session men, Clapton, Harrison, Starr, Watts, Wyman, Winwood, Voorman, Cocker & a whole universe of others. He has loaned his efforts to the newest album by Clapton as well as Let It Bleed by the Stones. He arranged, assembled & conducted the Mad Dogs & Englishmen portable traveling circus for Joe Cocker last spring. And that’s just in the past year.
He left home in Tulsa at 14, lying about his age so he could play clubs. He had already jammed with Ronnie Hawkins & Jerry Lee Lewis had offered him a job by the time he was 16. He left home again, this time for good at the age of 17 to move to LA. He was a classically trained pianist beginning at the age of 3.
While still a session musician in LA, he played for producers Phil Spector, Herb Alpert, & Terry Melcher. His piano can be heard on songs by such acts as Gary Lewis & the Playboys, The Righteous Brothers, The Ronettes & Paul Revere & The Raiders amongst many, many others.
Leon has known & worked with Glen Campbell for years & states that whenever one of them is doing session work & a musician is needed that they always recommend each other.
He built a home studio & such songs as Lies by the Knickerbockers, & Delta Lady by Joe Cocker as well as the Asylum Choir album were produced there.

Random Notes:

A Beatles reunion gets less likely all the time. Paul & George tried to arrange a meeting while they were both in NYC, but they never got together because they got into an argument over the phone. That was the first time in a year the two had even spoken. Paul & John haven’t spoken in over two years.

A leaked version of the as yet unfinished & now posthumous release by Janis Joplin has been heard. Rumors are that there are a couple of incredible songs including a cover of Me & Bobby McGee & another cover of the old Garnet Mimms’ hit called Cry Baby. The name of the album has been changed & will now be called Pearl.

Jerry Lee Lewis has divorced his wife Myra. She was the cause of all his problems & resulting downfall when he married her because she was only 14 at the time.

The Doors are back in the studio in LA & working on material for their next album.

Jim Messina has left Poco & will work on his own projects.

CSN&Y are beginning to drift apart. Crosby has moved to Sausalito, Stills is now in Surrey, Nash has landed in Haight Ashbury & Young has a cattle ranch in Northern California.

David Freiberg veteran member of Quicksilver & two recent additions to the band have been busted for transportation of marijuana at San Francisco International Airport.

Tim Rice & Andrew Lloyd Weber have just debuted Jesus Christ Superstar in NYC at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church. The ministers seem to love it, the critic & author of this article, not so much: He says:” The operas derivative qualities are exposed in numerous ways. But primarily the tone the music, & words create is one of forced hipness, that of an egregiously oversweet rock coated Broadway Musical..

Roman Polanski has begun his first movie after the murder of his wife Sharon Tate.

According to Ian Anderson the name Jethro Tull was suggested to them by their college educated agent. The band had never heard of it, had no idea what it meant, & expected to use it for only a couple of gigs. But, they liked the rustic sound of it, so it stuck. Their original name was Blades, taken from the club frequented by “M” of James Bond fame.

Jefferson Airplane has added a new member. 53 yr. old, skinny, black violist, Papa John Creech is now fiddling rock music.

Here’s a shocker for you, Hunter S. Thompson was not elected sheriff of Aspen Colorado. But in the closest race in California history, Ronald Reagan was elected to his second term of Governor by a 6-5 margin.

Ads for groups or albums this issue: (lot’s of new albums hitting the shelves)

Grateful Dead - American Beauty

Allman Brothers - Idelwild South

Brewer & Shipley - Tarkio Road

Miles Davis - At the Fillmore

Judy Collins - Whales & Nightengales

The Guess Who - Share The Land

Potliquor - First Taste

McKendree Spring - Second Thoughts

Soft Machine - Third

Sweetwater - Just For You

Ten Years After - Watt

The Youngbloods - Best Of

Golden Earring - Golden Earring

Love - False Start

Album Reviews:

Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother
At one time Pink Floyd was far out, freaky even. Their work in the electronic capabilities of rock was more advanced than most people recognize. Atom Heart Mother is a step into the last century & a dissipation of their collective talents. Side 1 is awfully schmaltzy & a little vapid. If Pink Floyd is looking for some new dimensions, they haven’t found them. Try freaking out again Pink Floyd…Alec Dubro

Badfinger - No Dice
This album is literally a quantum leap over their uneven debut album, Magic Christian Music, & Badfinger is certainly on the way to fulfilling their enormous promise. Badfinger is becoming that good & they may well get better. Don’t miss them…Mike Saunders

Seals & Crofts - Down Home
This is a soft rock, softsell album with one foot in the 50’s folk program & another curling it’s toes in some Country mud. Some of it is highly skillful, but little of it is eloquent. It goes down easy, but maybe a little to easy…Jack Shadoian

Deep Purple - In Rock
There are bands like Deep Purple who lack both expertise & intuition, plodding along album after album in spite of being such quiet nonentities that they’re not even good copy. The only “roots” in evidence here are all the club footed heavy riffs laid down in the past 3 years & Deep Purple fails to carry the ball….Lester Bangs

Other albums reviewed:

Captain Beef heart - Lick My Decals Off Baby

Steppenwolf - 7

Canned Heat - Future Blues

Area Code 615 - Trip in the Country

Spooky Tooth - The Last Puff

Lee Michaels - Barrel

Singles Reviewed:

Indiana Wants Me - R. Dean Taylor

[MRD]

Does Lester Bangs ever like an album???

I LOVE Leon Russell and spent yesterday listening to him. I also found Song for You on Youtube with he, WIllie Nelson and RAy Charles that was incredible. WHy have I not heard that version before?

Wow, some great albums debuting at this time. American Beauty and Idlewild South are in my collection

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MRD, you have often mentioned being interested in the makeup & breakup & formations of bands. Me too. So I just had to look up Spooky Tooth. I have always heard of them, but never owned any of their music & can’t remember anything they ever did. Here is what I found.

One of the original members was Gary Wright. Obviously he would go on to much bigger success as a member of Steelers Wheel & be an even bigger factor as a solo act in the late 70’s early 80’s.

Greg Ridley was the original Bass player, but he left in 1970 to join Steve Marriot & Peter Frampton as charter members of Humble Pie. Greg was replaced in the band by Andy Leigh who had previously been with Fairport Convention. Andy left a bit later to form the band Matthew’s Southern Comfort.

Luther Grosvenor released a solo album in 1971, also played on the Steelers Wheel albums, & when he left the band he changed his name to Ariel Bender & replaced Mick Ralphs as the lead guitar player in Mott The Hoople. Later in the 70’s, he formed the band Widowmaker.

Mike Kellie would eventually leave the band & join up with Peter Frampton after Frampton left Humble Pie & they would become Frampton’s Camel.

After a bit of a hiatus the band reformed with guitar player Mick Jones joining in. He would last just a short time & left to form a new band called Foreigner.

Wow, what a tangled web that is. But all in all these guys had some great solo careers (Gary Wright esp.) & had parts in Spooky Tooth, Steelers Wheel, Fairport Convention, Matthew’s Southern Comfort, Humble Pie, Widowmaker, Mott The Hoople, Frampton’s Camel, & Foreigner. Now that’s a family tree.

[MRD]

MRD, you have often mentioned being interested in the makeup & breakup & formations of bands. Me too. So I just had to look up Spooky Tooth. I have always heard of them, but never owned any of their music & can’t remember anything they ever did. Here is what I found.

One of the original members was Gary Wright. Obviously he would go on to much bigger success as a member of Steelers Wheel & be an even bigger factor as a solo act in the late 70’s early 80’s.

Greg Ridley was the original Bass player, but he left in 1970 to join Steve Marriot & Peter Frampton as charter members of Humble Pie. Greg was replaced in the band by Andy Leigh who had previously been with Fairport Convention. Andy left a bit later to form the band Matthew’s Southern Comfort.

Luther Grosvenor released a solo album in 1971, also played on the Steelers Wheel albums, & when he left the band he changed his name to Ariel Bender & replaced Mick Ralphs as the lead guitar player in Mott The Hoople. Later in the 70’s, he formed the band Widowmaker.

Mike Kellie would eventually leave the band & join up with Peter Frampton after Frampton left Humble Pie & they would become Frampton’s Camel.

After a bit of a hiatus the band reformed with guitar player Mick Jones joining in. He would last just a short time & left to form a new band called Foreigner.

Wow, what a tangled web that is. But all in all these guys had some great solo careers (Gary Wright esp.) & had parts in Spooky Tooth, Steelers Wheel, Fairport Convention, Matthew’s Southern Comfort, Humble Pie, Widowmaker, Mott The Hoople, Frampton’s Camel, & Foreigner. Now that’s a family tree.

Wow, that is quite a family tree. Very interesting. And I guess a lot of a bands success depends on chemistry. As one band with the same members, they may not make it, but they break up, reform with other musicians and something then clicks and they make it. I just find it a very interesting phenomenon.

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Rolling Stone Issue 73

Dated December 24, 1970. Rod Stewart on the cover. This is the first Annie Leibovitz cover.

Despite putting out two solo albums, Rod insists that his main gig is still as lead singer for The Faces. He resents it when the band is billed as Rod Stewart & The Faces because he claims they are all on an equal footing. Rod states that he will never go on tour as a solo because he just can’t see himself having the ability to pick a band & keep them together, because he has enough trouble keeping himself together.

When he was 17 he lived on the streets of Spain playing the banjo & singing folk songs until he was kicked out of the country for being a vagrant. He went back to the UK & got jobs making picture frames & digging graves.

The band has shortened their name from The Small Faces & are trying their best to outlive their main US Single Itchycoo Park.

At the time of this article the band included:
Rod Stewart who had come over from the Jeff Beck Group, & would go on to major superstar status as a solo act.
Ronnie Wood on guitar, also from The Jeff Beck Group, but he is to go on to bigger & better things with The Stones.
Ronnie Lane on Bass. He left the band when they began to get overshadowed by Rod’s solo career. His career would be cut short when he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.
Kenny Jones on drums. Kenny would eventually replace Keith Moon as drummer for The Who.
Ian McLaglen on Keyboards, he toured for a while as a sideman for The Stones.

Random Notes

And on & on it goes. The Beatles manager Allen Klein is reporting that the band will get back together to record in early 1971.

The Stones have completed their next album, as yet there is no title. But the band is expressing some concern because Let it Bleed didn’t break a million copies sold & Git Yer Ya Ya’s Out isn’t doing any better. Meanwhile, CSNY, Santana, Credence & Led Zeppelin have all crossed the two million barrier with their latest efforts. Meanwhile they are still negotiating with companies for US distribution rights. Rumors are that they have already turned down $5 million from RCA,

Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Al Kooper, Michael J. Pollard & Art Garfunkel were all spotted in the audience for Elton Johns concert at the Fillmore East, thereby enhancing his status as a true future force to be reckoned with.

Judy Collins is expecting a baby next spring. The father is actor Stacy Keatch whom she met on the set of the movie Peer Gynt when they performed together.

Even though Art Garfunkel is going to be doing a new movie (Carnal Knowledge) & Paul Simon is recording a solo album, they are denying that the duo is breaking up.

A bomb threat emptied the Troubadour in LA, but once it was cleared & folks were allowed to reenter, James Taylor & Carole King slayed the audience.

Eddie Kendricks is not happy with being a member of The Temptations & has said that he will leave in December to go out on his own. Motown, however, has other plans. All parties agree he will stay with the group, but will be alloed to record a solo effort as well.

The new album by Creedence is to be called Pendulum & should be out mid December. The band is trying something new with longer cuts & are stating that there will be no official single released. Where all their previous albums were completed in less than 10 days, this one took an astounding 5 weeks.

Frank Zappa & The Mothers are set to star in their first movie,200 Motels.

Paul Cotton from the Illinois Speed Press has replaced Jim Messina as guitar player for Poco. He joins remaining members Richie Furay, drummer George Grantham, steel guitar player Rusty Young & Timothy B. Schmidt on bass.

Brian Wilson has only 20% hearing in his left ear. So, when he made his first on stage appearance with the Beach Boys in 4 years, it lasted only 1 &½ nights of a scheduled 4 night stand. He had to be rushed from the stage due to a loud ringing in his good ear. The group is going to try & work up an acoustic set to include him more in the future.

Ads for groups or albums this issue:

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Uncle Charlie

George Harrison - All Things Must Pass

Canned Heat - Future Blues

Jefferson Airplane - The Worst Of

Rare Bird - As Your Mind Flies By

Stephen Stills - Stephen Stills

Jefferson Starship - Blows Against the Empire

The Climax Blues Band

Keef Hartley Band - The Time Is Near

Album Reviews:

The Allman Brothers - Idlewild South
The Allman’s offer briefer, tighter, less heavy numbers this time around. Revival gets things off rousingly suggesting a strong single. This album augers well for The Allman’s future…Ed Leimbacher

Derek & The Dominos - Layla
As for Layla, forget any filler & indulgences, it’s still one hell of an album. Clapton’s not God, but him & Skydog & the Dominos together do make for an hour or so of heaven. Maybe, critics, audience & musicians can agree just this once…Ed Leimbacher

Grateful Dead - American Beauty
For once a truly beautiful album cover is matched by what’s inside. American Beauty is a joyous extension of their last album. If possible even more care was taken on the vocal work. The Dead are getting pretty big commercially now & if any band deserved it, it’s them…Andy Zwerling

Frank Zappa - Chunga’s Revenge
Zappa can go on putting out dull records like this & always find somebody who’ll buy them based on the name alone. These diddlings are not only insignificant, not only do they suggest that not one genius is at the present working toward anything in particular, but they also smack of a rather cynical condescending attitude towards a public that may be ready to pass Zappa by…Lester Bangs

Other albums reviewed:

Sly & The Family Stone - Greatest Hits

The Velvet Underground - Loaded

Santana - Abraxas

The Temptations - Greatest Hits

Miles Davis - At the Fillmore

John Mayall - USA Union

Singles Reviewed:

My Sweet Lord - George Harrison

Border Song - Aretha Franklin

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The 16th American Top 40 show with Casey Kasem. Aired October 17, 1970

We now have 31 stations playing the countdown, KRLA in LA has joined the list.

40) Yellow River - Christie
This song will be the only hit for this trio from England. It will peak at #23 & remain on the countdown for 8 weeks.

39) Gypsy Woman - Brian Hyland
This is the last song for Brian who’s career goes all the way back to 1960 when he had the #1 hit Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini. This one is heading to #3. It is one of two cover songs to debut this week. The song was also a hit in 1961 for the Impressions. Written by Curtis Mayfield

38) That’s Where I Went Wrong - The Poppy Family

37) Do What You Wanna Do - Five Flights Up

36) Montego Bay - Bobby Bloom

35) Unite The World - The Temptations

34) Deeper & Deeper - Freda Payne

33) Lucretia Mac Evil - Blood Sweat & Tears

32) Our House - CSN&Y

31) See Me Feel Me - The Who
*** 1 of 9 foreign acts on this weeks countdown

30) Long, Long Time - Linda Rondstadr

29) Engine Number 9 - Wilson Pickett
Wilson keeps trudging along having one minor hit after another. He hasn’t had a Top 10 in over 3 years & this one will not break the streak. It will peak at # 14, spending 9 weeks on the chart. Written by the prolific duo of Gamble & Huff

28) Cry Me A River - Joe Cocker
This was a live version of the song recorded at The Fillmore East on 3/27/70. It’s going to stop just outside the top 10 & finish up at #11. It is the second cover song to debut. It had been a hit for Julie London all the way back in 1955.

27) Stand By Your Man - Candi Staton

26) God, Love & Rock & Roll - Teegarden & Van Winkwle

25) Super Bad - James Brown

24) It’s a Shame - The Spinners
***1 of 7 Motown Hits on the countdown this week

23) It Don’t Matter To Me - Bread

22) Closer To Home - Grand Funk Railroad

21) I’m Losing You - Rare Earth

20) El Condor Pasa - Simon & Garfunkel

19) Lookin Out My Backdoor - Creedence Clearwater Revival

18) Snowbird - Anne Murray
*** 1 of 3 Canadian Acts on this weeks survey

17) It’s Only Make Believe - Glen Campbell

16) Look What They’ve Done To MY Song Ma - New Seekers

15) Out in The Country - Three Dog Night

14) Somebody’s Been Sleeping - 100 Proof Aged In Soul

13) Express Yourself - Charles Wright

12) Julie Do You Love Me - Bobby Sherman
*** His latest album has been Certified as his 3rd Gold Album

11) Still Water (Love) - Four Tops

10) Ain’t No Mountain High Enough - Diana Ross

9) Lola - The Kinks

8) Indian Wants Me - R. Dean Taylor

7) Candida - Dawn

6) Fire & Rain - James Taylor

5) All Right Now - Free

4) We’ve Only Just Begun - The Carpenters

3) Green Eyed Lady - Sugarloaf

2) Cracklin Rosie - Neil Diamond

1) I’ll Be There - Jackson Five

New Songs this week:
40) Yellow River - Christie
39) Gypsy Woman - Brian Hyland
29) Engine Number 9 - Wilson Pickett
28) Cry Me A River - Joe Cocker

Songs disappearing this week:
Joanne - Michael Nesmith
Groovy Situation - Gene Chandler
Patches - Clarence Carter
War - Edwin Starr
***Michael, Gene & Clarence will not be heard in the Top 40 again. These were their last hit singles. Edwin Starr will have 1 more foray into the Top 40, in January of next year.

Biggest Gainer:
14) Somebody’s Been Sleeping - 100 Proof Aged In Soul up 14 spots

Biggest Loser:
19) Lookin Out My Backdoor - Creedence Clearwater Revival down 11 spots

One Hit Wonders:
40) Yellow River - Christie
37) Do What You Wanna Do - Five Flights Up
36) Montego Bay - Bobby Bloom
26) God, Love & Rock & Roll - Teegarden & Van Winkwle
14) Somebody’s Been Sleeping - 100 Proof Aged In Soul
8) Indian Wants Me - R. Dean Taylor
5) All Right Now - Free

Debut Single:
27) Stand By Your Man - Candi Staton
22) Closer To Home - Grand Funk Railroad
18) Snowbird - Anne Murray
16) Look What They’ve Done To MY Song Ma - New Seekers
6) Fire & Rain - James Taylor
3) Green Eyed Lady - Sugarloaf

Last Single:
39) Gypsy Woman - Brian Hyland
38) That’s Where I Went Wrong - The Poppy Family
32) Our House - CSN&Y
13) Express Yourself - Charles Wright

Oldies Played

The next song was a #1 hit in 1955 & also won the Oscar that year for best movie song. It is still heard everyday at the same time all across America as the theme song to a daily Soap Opera. From the movie of the same name:
Love is a Many Splendored Thing - The Four Aces

Here is the #1 song from 10 years ago, by the youngest Female to ever have a #1 hit.
I Want To Be Wanted - Brenda Lee


This song was the #1 hit 5 years ago. It was originally written as an instrumental under the title Scrambled Eggs. But, lyrics were added & the world came to know it as:
Yesterday - The Beatles

Album Cut:
Casey played the most played cut from the #1 album in the land this week. From the album Abraxas
Black Magic Woman - Santana

Commercials

Have you ever considered a career in aviation. Learn to fly with Tucson Arrow in Tucson Arizona where the flying weather is good 350 days a year.

MGM takes 5 commercial slots this week & uses all five of them to promote Burning Bridges by The Mike Curb Congregation…weird.

Station Recognition:

AT Top 40 is heard weekly on great radio stations like:

KNYT - Tucson Arizona
KINT - El Paso Texas
KRLA - Los Angeles California


Keep Your Feet on the ground & keep reaching for the stars!


Here are the #’1s on the other Billboard charts this week:

Top Jazz LP - The Isaac Hayes Movement - Isaac Hayes

Top Soul Single - I’ll Be There - Jackson Five

Top Soul LP - Third Album - Jackson Five

Top Country Single - Run Woman Run - Tammy Wynette

Top Country LP - Fightin Side of Me - Merle Haggard

Top Easy Listening Single - We’ve Only Just Begun - The Carpenters

Top Selling LP - Abraxas - Santana

Bubbling Under The Top 100 -

No Matter What - Badfinger
Stoney End - Barbra Streisand

[MRD]

I think it's great that bands I really liked as a teen in the mid to late 70's are starting to appear like Poco and the Nitty Gritty Dirt band.

I still contend that Lester Bangs cannot write a review where he actually likes the album.

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I think it's great that bands I really liked as a teen in the mid to late 70's are starting to appear like Poco and the Nitty Gritty Dirt band.

I still contend that Lester Bangs cannot write a review where he actually likes the album.

The next issue will march us into 1971 & things will rapidly begin to heat up.

The first two issues contain the first interview from John Lennon post Beatles.

Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas will bring Hunter S. Thompson & Ralph Steadman to the worlds attention.

Joe Esterhas also will contribute his first articles.

George’s concert for Bangladesh will happen.

James Taylor, Mohammed Ali & an 11 year old Michael Jackson will all get their first covers.

The Stones will release Exile on Main Street & The Who will give us Who’s Next.

Elton John is going to breakout in a big way.

Yes & Emerson, Lake & Palmer are set to become forces on the prog rock scene.

Of course we will see the typical breakups (CSN&Y) & new bands & stars on the horizon, but we will also, unfortunately, lose two of the biggest & brightest. Jim Morrison & Duane Allman will not be with us when we get to 1972.

I’m looking forward to it. I'm even looking forward to seeing who & what albums Lester Bangs rags on.

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Rolling Stone Issue 74 pg.


Dated January 21, 1971. John Lennon on the cover. Another Annie Leibovitz cover shoot.

Part 1 of the interview…John Lennon The Working Class Hero

He says the new album is his best & most personal stuff he has ever written, it contains some of his best songs since Strawberry Fields, Help & I’m a Loser.
Looking back at this from a historical standpoint, you can see John was just a bit delusional. He is so wrapped up in Yoko. At one point in the interview he calls her song Don’t Worry Kyoko one of the greatest Rock songs ever recorded, better that anything by the Stones or Pete Townshend.
He states that he & Yoko snorted Heroin only a couple of times & didn’t really like it, but that they did it only to escape the pain of what others were doing to them. Mostly, he references people that he has known for years coming up to shake his had & say hello & never even acknowledging Yoko & that hurt them the most.
He claims that the first time he & George took acid that it was slipped into their coffee by their dentist in London & that he went on to more than 1,000 separate trips.
He says his singing is better now because it’s just him. During the Beatles he & Paul & George were to hypercritical of each other so he was more inhibited in his vocals.
When asked about Georges All Things Must Pass, he says it’s alright. Not the type of music he would play at home, but that it is definitely better than Paul’s album.
When asked about Paul’s he calls it rubbish & says Paul will make a better one when he is scared into it.
He likes Ringo’s Beaucoup of Blues, but says he would never buy it.
He says George certainly comes over better on the radio that Paul does.
He says he can’t speak for the others, but he feels the Beatles broke up because they all got tired of being side men for Paul. He also states that he feels as though the Let It Be film was set up by Paul to highlight Paul.
He flat out calls Blood Sweat & Tears music sh** & doesn’t like it at all.
The song Sexy Sadie was all about the Maharishi, but he says he copped out because he couldn’t bring himself to write Maharishi what have you done, you made a fool of everyone so he changed the words to Sexy Sadie.
There are many references to The Stones & Mick Jagger. It seems John just doesn’t much care for Mick. Calling the Stones a bunch of hype & Jagger a joke with all the fag dancing around.

To Be Continued…

Random Notes

Peter Fonda has formed a production company called Pando. CMA, his management agency claims it is for diverting profits from Easy Rider. They are suing for 10% of all his profits. Meanwhile Dennis Hopper tried to get his whole entourage into a Leonard Cohen concert for free, by telling the ticket taker “I’m Dennis Hopper, let us in.” The ticket taker declined for which Hopper slammed him against a wall injuring his back. Lawsuits are being filed.

Joe Cocker is back in London & writing for his next album. Meanwhile, the Mad Dogs & Englishmen Tour film has been edited & will premiere in Hollywood in a few short weeks.

Ex papa Denny Doherty has a new solo album ready with session help from Barry McGuire & Russ Kunkel & production from Bill Smyzyk.

Jackie DeShannon has just signed with Capitol records. She is in the studios in Memphis.

The Staple Singers have signed with Robert Stigwood (RSO) in a long term deal.

In a editorial RS is stepping in to take on the FCC in an attempt to get John Lennon’s Working Class Hero on the radio.

Paul Simon is in the studios recording his first solo effort, while Artie is off fulfilling a film commitment.

John Lennon & Paul McCartney claim to have been underpaid to the tune of 12 million pounds for royalties to their songs.

Klaus Voorman & Alan White of the Plastic Ono Band are joining with former Spooky Tooth leader Gary Wright & Hugh McCracken as a new foursome. No name has been chosen for the band yet.

Jeffrey Hammond Hammond will be rejoining Jethro Tull as their bass player replacing Glen Cornick who replaced him when he left the band the first time. The circle goes round.

This issue there is a long article on all the different types of rolling papers. I didn’t realize there were so many & I had forgotten most of them. Anyone else remember how harsh those Zig Zag yellow papers were?

Ads for groups or albums this issue:

Badfinger - No Dice

Ginger Baker’s Air Force - 2

Andwella - Worlds End

Elton John - Elton John

The Elvin Bishop Group - Feel It

Buddy Miles - We Got To Live Together

The Doors - The Doors/13

The Byrds - United

Juicy Lucy - Lie Back & Enjoy it

Ten Years After - Watt

Album Reviews:

George Harrison - All Thing Must Pass
Up Until now, George has been perhaps the premiere studio musician amidst rock band guitarists. He has always exhibited an avant garde imagination & a technical flawlessness as well as the ability to stay within the bounds of the song. Not surprisingly his ambitions have remained unfulfilled in this role & what presumably has been welling up in him since at least Let It Be comes pouring out on All Things Must Pass. It is both intensely personal & a grandiose statement, a triumph over artistic modesty even frustration. In this extravaganza of sacrifice & piety whose sheer magnitude & ambition may dub it the War & Peace of rock & roll…Ben Gerson

Stephen Stills
Well, we all know who Stephen Still is & we all know of his accomplishments with Buffalo Springfield & CSN&Y. Suffice it to say that this record is no where near as good as the former & considerably better than the latter. I’m not saying I don’t like this album, I put it on, my mind wanders & I find myself tapping my toe, but when it’s over I put on something meatier…Ed Ward

The J. Geils Band
This is the best album I have heard in some time. It is a good time piece of rock & roll & is also devoid of the self consciousness & pretentiousness that usually mar this sort of thing. John Lee Hooker is fond of saying “Nothing but the best & later for the garbage.” He could have been talking about the J. Geils Band…Jon Landau

The Doors - 13
The Doors have taken both over praise & a surfeit of abuse during their time. There is more than a little uncertainty on The Doors horizon & the necessity of this album is arguable, but anyone who doesn’t have the time or devotion for other groups will find this a collection to be enjoyed now, & kept long to remind people that people did make some mighty nice music in the 60’s didn’t they…Lester Bangs

The Archies - Greatest Hits
Contained within the grooves of this album are 12 good arguments against the cause of capitalism…Paul Gambaccini

The Bob Seger System - Mongrel
When viewed in the context of his two previous albums this is easily his best. Seger’s best asset is his soul searing vocals. He has been tearing out his tonsils like this for years now. If the System would focus their energies on Segers 1965 sense of dynamics & forget their 70’s pretentions then perhaps they would begin to fulfill their promise….Ben Edmonds

Other albums reviewed:

Grand Funk Railroad - Live Album

Soft Machine - Third

Big Brother & the Holding Company - Be a Brother

Stevie Wonder - Signed, Sealed, & Delivered

Brinsley Schwarz

Joan Baez - The First Ten Years

Jessie Davis

Johnny Cash - The Johnny Cash Show

Isacc Hayes - To Be Continued

Sweetwater - Just For You

Elvin Bishop Band - Feel It

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The 17th American Top 40 show with Casey Kasem. Aired October 24, 1970

Holding steady at 31 stations playing the countdown, no new stations added the show this week.

40) Heaven Help Us - Stevie Wonder
Yet another Top 10 hit for Stevie. This one will go all the way to #9 before it stops.

39) Make it Easy On Yourself - Dionne Warwick
This is the third time this song has hit the Top 40. This version is going to be the least successful of the 3 & will be one of Dionne’s least successful singles ever, spending only 2 weeks on the chart & peaking at #37. The other 2 versions went to #20 in 1962 for Jerry Butler & #16 in 1965 for The Walker Brothers…written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David

38) Do What You Wanna Do - Five Flights Up

37) Yellow River - Christie

36) Lookin Out My Backdoor - Creedence Clearwater Revival
***CCR has been honored as the top juke box act of the year.

35) Gypsy Woman - Brian Hyland

34) Snowbird - Anne Murray

33) Unite The World - The Temptations

32) I’m Losing You - Rare Earth

31) Lucretia MacEvil - Blood Sweat & Tears

30) Our House - Crosby Stills Nash & Young

29) Montego Bay - Bobby Bloom

28) See Me, Feel Me - The Who

27) Tears Of A Clown - Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
These guys have been making chart hits for 10 years together & this is their 26th Top 40 hit, but it is going to be their first #1. It will spend 2 weeks at the top & a total of 14 weeks on the countdown. It is a Grammy Hall of Fame song. Co Written by Smokey & Stevie Wonder along with Henry Cosby.

26) Stand By Your Man - Candi Staton

25) Engine Number 9 - Wilson Pickett

24) Deeper & Deeper - Freda Payne

23) Julie Do You Love Me - Bobby Sherman

22) God, Love & Rock & Roll - Teegarden & Van Winkle

21) Out in the Country - Three Dog Night

20) Super Bad - James Brown

19) Cry Me A River - Joe Cocker

18) El Condor Pasa - Simon & Garfunklel

17) I Think I Love You - The Partridge Family
The first & by far the biggest hit for the Partridges. This one is headed all the way to the top for a 3 week stay. It became the 6th biggest song of the year & will spend 16 weeks in the Top 40.
***According to the issue of Billboard Magazine that co-insides with this Chart week, this song has already sold 600,000 copies in it’s first 3 weeks, making it the biggest song in the history of Bell Records.

16) Ain’t No Mountain High Enough - Diana Ross
***1 of 8 Motown songs on the charts. According to Casey 2 of 3 Motown releases become Chart Hits.

15) It Don’t Matter To Me - Bread

14) Look What They’ve Done To My Song Ma - New Seekers

13) Somebody’s Been Sleeping - 100 Proof Aged in Soul

12) Express Yourself - Charles Wright

11) Still Waters (Love) - Four Tops
***1 of 4 songs that didn’t move on the charts at all.

10) It’s Only Make Believe - Glen Campbell

9) Lola - The Kinks
***1 of 8 foreign acts on the countdown this week.

8) Candida - Dawn
*** For the second time in just a few short weeks Casey has misidentified the members of this group. This time he says they are made of 4 guys named Frank, Ricky, Jim & Dave.

7) Indiana Wants Me - R. Dean Taylor

6) All Right Now - Free

5) Green Eyed Lady - Sugarloaf

4) Cracklin Rosie - Neil Diamond

3) Fire & Rain - James Taylor

2) We’ve Only Just Begun - The Carpenters

1) I’ll Be There - Jackson Five

New Songs this week:
40) Heaven Help Us - Stevie Wonder
39) Make it Easy On Yourself - Dionne Warwick
27) Tears Of A Clown - Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
17) I Think I Love You - The Partridge Family

Songs disappearing this week:
That’s Where I Went Wrong - The Poppy Family
Long, Long Time - Linda Rondstadt
It’s A Shame - The Spinners
Closer To Home - Grand Funk Railroad
***We will not see The Poppy Family on the charts again, however, singer Terry Jacks will have a hit 4 years from now with Seasons in the Sun.
It’s going to be 18 months until the next hit for Grand Funk, 2 years for The Spinners & a long 5 years before Linda makes her next appearance in the Top 40.

Biggest Gainer:
24) Deeper & Deeper - Freda Payne up 10 spots

Biggest Loser:
36) Lookin Out My Backdoor - Creedence Clearwater Revival down 17 spots

One Hit Wonders:
38) Do What You Wanna Do - Five Flights Up
37) Yellow River - Christie
29) Montego Bay - Bobby Bloom
22) God, Love & Rock & Roll - Teegarden & Van Winkle
13) Somebody’s Been Sleeping - 100 Proof Aged in Soul
7) Indiana Wants Me - R. Dean Taylor
6) All Right Now - Free

Debut Single:
34) Snowbird - Anne Murray
26) Stand By Your Man - Candi Staton
17) I Think I Love You - The Partridge Family
14) Look What They’ve Done To My Song Ma - New Seekers
5) Green Eyed Lady - Sugarloaf
3) Fire & Rain - James Taylor

Last Single:
35) Gypsy Woman - Brian Hyland
30) Our House - Crosby Stills Nash & Young
12) Express Yourself - Charles Wright

Oldies Played

There were 4 versions of this song released within an 18 month span, all of them had chart success. The Vibrations took the song to #26 in 1964. The Ramsey Lewis Trio had an instrumental version that went to #11 in 1965. Little Caesar & The Consuls changed the title a bit ( My Girl Sloopy) & hit #50 in 1965. And this version went all the way to the top in Oct. 1965.
Hang on Sloopy - The McCoys
***The McCoys will be remembered as having a guitar player by the name of Rick Zehringer. However, a few years later he would change his last name to Derringer & go on to success as both a solo act & as a lead guitar player for Edgar Winter.

This is the first ever anti drug song to hit the charts. With their biggest single ever…
Kicks - Paul Revere & The Raiders

The next song was a #1 single for 13 consecutive weeks from 8/19/1950 to 11/11/1950, holding the record for the longest reign at the top.
Goodnight Irene - The Weavers
***The Weavers included guitar player & folk singer Pete Seeger.

Album Cut:

Led Zeppelin just replaced The Beatles as the most popular group in the UK. They also have the biggest selling album in the US this week with Led Zeppelin III. This song is getting the most airplay from that album
Immigrant Song

Commercials

Lot’s of spots still pimping Burning Bridges

Station Recognition:

AT Top 40 is heard weekly on great radio stations like:

KJOY Stockton, California
KPOI Honolulu Hawaii
KQUE Albuquerque New Mexico


Keep Your Feet on the ground & keep reaching for the stars!


Here are the #’1s on the other Billboard charts this week:

Top Jazz LP - The Isaac Hayes Movement - Isaac Hayes

Top Soul Single - I’ll Be There - Jackson Five

Top Soul LP - Third Album - Jackson Five

Top Country Single - Run Woman Run - Tammy Wynette

Top Country LP - Fightin Side of Me - Merle Haggard

Top Easy Listening Single - We’ve Only Just Begun - The Carpenters

Top Selling LP - Led Zeppelin III

Bubbling Under The Top 100 -
We Gotta Get You A Woman - Todd Rundgren
I Believe In Music - Mac Davis