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The 100 Greatest Songs of 1970 #1. Bridge Over Troubled Water (1 Viewer)

krista4 said:
Nipsey did a fantastic version of this in his karaoke thread.  One of my top two or three he ever did.  Miss that guy - don't know where he went!
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A year ago there was a group of about 10 to 15 of us that played poker tournaments on poker Stars 3 to 4 times a week for several months.  Haven't seen him since the game fizzled out. 

 
timschochet said:
33. The Carpenters “(They Long to Be) Close to You” (from Close to You) 

https://youtu.be/-XYBj0J99i8

Arguably the greatest easy listening tune ever, from the legendary writing duo of Hal David and Burt Bacharach. The arrangement (Richard Carpenter and the Wrecking Crew) is simply perfection, but as always it’s Karen’s vocals that rise above and make this an extraordinary listening experience. 
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Can’t not think of this scene whenever I hear the song.

 
31. The Five Stairsteps “O-o-h Child” (from Step by Step by Step)

https://youtu.be/dguz0IsCuKU

My kids think of this tune as “That song from Guardians of the Galaxy”. Actually it’s been in a whole lot of movies and TV shows, over several decades. And why not? It’s one of the greatest one hit wonders of all time, an incredibly smooth sounding feel good piece of brilliance. 

 
timschochet said:
31. The Five Stairsteps “O-o-h Child” (from Step by Step by Step)

https://youtu.be/dguz0IsCuKU

My kids think of this tune as “That song from Guardians of the Galaxy”. Actually it’s been in a whole lot of movies and TV shows, over several decades. And why not? It’s one of the greatest one hit wonders of all time, an incredibly smooth sounding feel good piece of brilliance. 
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Both krista and I took this for Genrepalooza we liked it so much. This is such a lovely song. I happen to have always have loved it, even before Guardians Of The Galaxy, a movie that was perfectly dialed in the moment. A very cool, expensive blockbuster that worked.

Anyway, they used to play it on 102.9 WDRC, which was the oldies station where I lived. That was actually the best station there was in our area. The rest was pre-programmed classic rock for the 1990 set. We had a modern rock station for a while, but I still preferred even harder core punk and other ephemera than they were willing to play, and the oldies station sometimes delivered, which was about as good as you could get for the right of the dial.

Oh my, I'm reading that it's now a classic rock station. As my rock critic friend said once about Hartford, CT, "Hartford gets the music it deserves." That was not a compliment. Hartford blows.

End positive little interlude turned quasi-rant.

 
I'm going to do something that would be sacrilegious (I can't believe that's how you spell sacrilegious, but that's for another time) but I'd posit that "25 or 6 to 4" is even better than a particular song I've started threads about.

 
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timschochet said:
Well let’s see what you think after you’ve reviewed the top 30 .
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Sure thing. I was typing while you responded, and I can think of a potential #1 off the top of my head that "25 or 6 to 4" is probably better than, all things considered. Perhaps I'm just a sucker for Chicago and that sort of just otherworldly interplay and sound. I love a good brass section, I love a nice guitar jam, I love great vocals.

I don't think I could ever nitpick that song too much. It's ####in' great.

 
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rockaction said:
Sure thing. I was typing while you responded, and I can think of a potential #1 off the top of my head that "25 or 6 to 4" is probably better than, all things considered. Perhaps I'm just a sucker for Chicago and that sort of just otherworldly interplay and sound. I love a good brass section, I love a nice guitar jam, I love great vocals.

I don't think I could ever nitpick that song too much. It's ####in' great.
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No argument whatsoever about how great it is. As I wrote in the OP, most difficult rankings I’ve ever done and I don’t expect much agreement in what I finally came up with. 

 
rockaction said:
I'm going to do something that would be sacrilegious (I can't believe that's how you spell sacrilegious, but that's for another time) but I'd posit that "25 or 6 to 4" is even better than a particular song I've started threads about.
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I really am not a fan of horn sections usually ...big exception here.  Love, love this song - and these guys while Terry Kath was still a part of them.  

The Peter Cetera/David Foster years should be put into a sack and beaten with socks full of nickels.  

 
Binky The Doormat said:
I really am not a fan of horn sections usually ...big exception here.  Love, love this song - and these guys while Terry Kath was still a part of them.  

The Peter Cetera/David Foster years should be put into a sack and beaten with socks full of nickels.  
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Cetera is the singer on “25 or 6 to 4”

 
Binky The Doormat said:
reaction.

you know what I'm talking about ...

THE WHOLE "AFTER KATH DEBACLE" - when those two turned them into something the Carpenters thought were #######. 
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OK. Actually I don’t know a ton about Chicago so I didn’t get what you were referring to. I DO kind of like their mid 70s soft rock stuff.

I have a close friend who absolutely worships David Foster but I don’t know a ton about that either. 

 
timschochet said:
30. Chicago “25 or 6 to 4” (from Chicago)

https://youtu.be/iUAYeN3Rp2E

Another of the great opening guitar riffs from 1970. The title of the song refers to the time of night (3:35 am or 3:34 am) and trying to write a tune at that late hour. 
This album has some other excellent songs on it  that I did not have room for on this list. 
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As an aside, this is one of the most amazing covers of this - or any song - I’ve ever seen:

https://youtu.be/9_torOTK5qc

Chicago isn’t exactly the easiest band to cover, and these guys (from Russia of all places) do it incredibly spot on. 

 
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29. The Doors “Roadhouse Blues” (from Morrison Hotel) 

https://youtu.be/n2_X4VTCoEo

Woke up this morning and I got myself a beer! 

There’s a few critics I’ve read that think Morrison Hotel is the best Doors album- I prefer LA Woman or maybe the debut, but I’m not going to argue it. Certainly if you love hard blues and kick ### rock and roll, this is album of theirs to choose and it doesn’t get any better than this song. 

 
Binky The Doormat said:
The Peter Cetera/David Foster years should be put into a sack and beaten with socks full of nickels.  
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I posited to OH a couple of weeks ago that I couldn't think of a band that, with just one change, took such a deep dive in quality as Chicago did after the addition of Peter Cetera.  He offered up the Genesis Peter Gabriel/Phil Collins change, which I thought was a worthy contender.

(Before people get all nit-picky, I realize these weren't one-to-one exchanges, but I just mean a big addition or subtraction that caused a future difference in tone.)

 
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krista4 said:
This can't be right, can it?
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Yes, I think it is. Amazing, ain't it? At least to me, but then...

History and Etymology for sacrilege

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin sacrilegium, from sacrilegus one who robs sacred property, from sacr-, sacer + legere to gather, steal

Wow. I'm not really into etymology, so I can't tell you why that seemed so unusual to me. I know I get corrected by the spell check here every so often, and I'm always tickled to learn the proper way to spell a difficult word, but this seemed like it was worth pointing out.

And there you have it. Anglo-French from Latin. I knew nothing good came of 1066, not the least of which was our first year of law school and the constant explanation of why that year and war is important to the development of English common law, something I can still forget on a bad day.

Back to the countdown?

L.A. Woman runs circles around Morrison Hotel, if you ask me, but that's a fine song tim selected there. "Roadhouse Blues" is just a rocking number. If I could tell you how many happy times I sang before it was unhappy

Well I woke up this morning and I got myself a beer.

Many happy returns, Jim. R.I.P. What a horrible way to die.

 
timschochet said:
29. The Doors “Roadhouse Blues” (from Morrison Hotel) 

https://youtu.be/n2_X4VTCoEo

Woke up this morning and I got myself a beer! 

There’s a few critics I’ve read that think Morrison Hotel is the best Doors album- I prefer LA Woman or maybe the debut, but I’m not going to argue it. Certainly if you love hard blues and kick ### rock and roll, this is album of theirs to choose and it doesn’t get any better than this song. 
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Those three and Strange Days are all great. The other two are dog poo. They had quite a trajectory. 

 
Ghost Rider said:
I have to admit that having grown up hearing that 80's hits, I was stunned to discover how good some of that early Chicago material was.  25 or 6 to 4 is a good one. This live version is too good for words (and shows how bad ### Terry Kath was on the guitar):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uAUoz7jimg
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Have seen them live here in Boise twice in the last six years.  Such a great show.  Took my youngest son to the last one and he was in the Boise ST Orchestra at the time, and he was blown away.

They played two weeks ago at the fair and we could have seen them for $10 Fair admission price. Too many anti-vaxers to even think about going.   

 
Ghost Rider said:
I have to admit that having grown up hearing that 80's hits, I was stunned to discover how good some of that early Chicago material was.  25 or 6 to 4 is a good one. This live version is too good for words (and shows how bad ### Terry Kath was on the guitar):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uAUoz7jimg
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Knew before clicking on the link this was going to be the Tanglewood performance - incredible stuff.

 
krista4 said:
I posited to OH a couple of weeks ago that I couldn't think of a band that, with just one change, took such a deep dive in quality as Chicago did after the addition of Peter Cetera.  He offered up the Genesis Peter Gabriel/Phil Collins change, which I thought was a worthy contender.

(Before people get all nit-picky, I realize these weren't one-to-one exchanges, but I just mean a big addition or subtraction that caused a future difference in tone.)
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I think Genesis still put out a few good records after Gabriel left - although I prefer his career post-Genesis to theirs.

Journey post-Perry joining went in a totally different direction. They became way more popular so not sure it quite fits, although I’m sure their old fans did not like the change.

 
28. The Allman Brothers Band “Midnight Rider” (from Idlewild South) 

https://youtu.be/TCRS4DRmf_w

Though The Allman Brothers Band have a well-deserved reputation as one of the greatest southern rock bands of all time, this song, one of their best and most famous, is decidedly a western rock song- I listen to it and envision Clint Eastwood from one of his 60s classics, or Gary Cooper in High Noon. It might be Gregg’s gruff vocals. 

 
zamboni said:
As an aside, this is one of the most amazing covers of this - or any song - I’ve ever seen:

https://youtu.be/9_torOTK5qc

Chicago isn’t exactly the easiest band to cover, and these guys (from Russia of all places) do it incredibly spot on. 
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While we're waiting for Tim, here's another awesome Chicago cover from Leonid & Friends. Went with one from 1969 to avoid the possibility of appearing later here.

Beginnings

 
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krista4 said:
I posited to OH a couple of weeks ago that I couldn't think of a band that, with just one change, took such a deep dive in quality as Chicago did after the addition of Peter Cetera.  He offered up the Genesis Peter Gabriel/Phil Collins change, which I thought was a worthy contender.

(Before people get all nit-picky, I realize these weren't one-to-one exchanges, but I just mean a big addition or subtraction that caused a future difference in tone.)
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IMO Genesis after Gabriel left wasn't worse, just different. Phil's solo career is another story. 

To be pedantic, Cetera was in Chicago from the beginning. The line of demarcation is Terry Kath's death in January 1978. After that, they stopped being particularly creative and just flowed with the trends. And as part of that, Cetera was front and center all the time, which he wasn't pre-1978. 

 
27. The Guess Who “American Woman” (from American Woman) 

https://youtu.be/9uf6EY2BZBw

As most folks reading this may know, the “American Woman” is the Statue of Liberty, and this is a protest song by a Canadian band about the Vietnam War and America’s history of imperialism. Actually the lyrics are a little cheesy  (Mama let me be!) What makes the song great is it’s  hard rock and roll (and the slow blues infused beginning) along with some great guitar work and, of course, Cummings’ phenomenal vocals. 

 
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Just rocking out to the Tanglewood version of "25..." and it struck me that some of the best creative energy has been about the creative process itself. Meta-rock, if you will. I never would have known that if somebody upthread had not pointed out what the song was about.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor...

People also underestimate, probably because of the pyrotechnics of the band, how good of a singer Peter Cetera is. Even when he was singing those "beat me with a bag of nickels" songs, his voice soared.

Yes, I hate those songs, Binky. With a sort of passion.

But I am the man who will fight for your honor...

 
timschochet said:
27. The Guess Who “American Woman” (from American Woman) 

https://youtu.be/9uf6EY2BZBw

As most folks reading this may know, the “American Woman” is the Statue of Liberty, and this is a protest song by a Canadian band about the Vietnam War and America’s history of imperialism. Actually the lyrics are a little cheesy  (Mama let me be!) What makes the song great is it’s  hard rock and roll (and the slow blues infused beginning) along with some great guitar work and, of course, Cummings’ phenomenal vocals. 
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I always took it at the surface level. I used to enjoy it when I was younger as a bit of misogynistic claptrap for the masses. (God, were they ever stupid back then!)

I'm not kidding.

:lmao:

 
I always thought he was going for Henry James's generalized dislike of the emancipated American woman in comparison to her European counterparts.

HENRY JAMES, BIZNATCH! That's what he's going for.

:lmao:

 
rockaction said:
People also underestimate, probably because of the pyrotechnics of the band, how good of a singer Peter Cetera is.
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Yep, and the band knew how to deploy his voice. In the early days, Cetera barely wrote anything but was designated to sing stuff he didn't write because of how strong his voice was. Unlike other bands where "you sing it if you write it" was the policy, with Chicago, the songs were written by Robert Lamm, Terry Kath or James Pankow, and the author of the song would determine along with producer/manager James William Guercio which of Lamm, Kath or Cetera would sing it. Sometimes multiple singers would do takes and they'd choose which came out best. In the mid-70s, Pankow ended up singing one of his songs himself because no one liked how it came out with Lamm, Kath or Cetera. 

ETA: Case in point, 25 or 6 to 4 was written by Lamm. 

 
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26. Elton John “The Border Song” (from Elton John) 

https://youtu.be/Lm7b-32Mpbs

Holy Moses, I wish I could write a song as good as this one. 
As we head into the top tier of songs for the year of 1970, there is an influence that runs through several of them: gospel music. This is a good example, and several more are coming up. I also want to add that for me personally, “The Border Song” is Elton John’s singing voice at its best ever. 

 
timschochet said:
26. Elton John “The Border Song” (from Elton John) 

https://youtu.be/Lm7b-32Mpbs

Holy Moses, I wish I could write a song as good as this one. 
As we head into the top tier of songs for the year of 1970, there is an influence that runs through several of them: gospel music. This is a good example, and several more are coming up. I also want to add that for me personally, “The Border Song” is Elton John’s singing voice at its best ever. 
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3:22 of gospel-influenced music never seemed so plodding. God, that's boring.

No Thumper Rule™ for this thread. It's tim.

Sorry. Never as big an Elton fan as others were. As wikkid put it, I remember him and came of age to his Nancyisms rather than his more experimental and less sentimental (that's the nice word for it) singer/songwriter phase.

 
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rockaction said:
3:22 of gospel-influenced music never seemed so plodding. God, that's boring.

No Thumper Rule™ for this thread. It's tim.

Sorry. Never as big an Elton fan as others were. As wikkid put it, I remember him and came of age to his Nancyisms rather than his more experimental and less sentimental (that's the nice word for it) singer/songwriter phase.
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wow ...we are in synch on a lot of things - but I couldn't possibly feel more different about this stage of Elton's career.  Though I would have picked a different song off of this album - all of his earlier stuff just brings a sense of calm and happiness over me. 

I'd have to have at least 1-2 of his earlier albums on a deserted island.  

 
25. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young “Ohio” (released as a single) 

https://youtu.be/l1PrUU2S_iw

One of the greatest political protest songs of all time, written (by Neil Young) in reaction to the Kent State shootings. Such great guitar work and also featuring some of this group’s finest vocals, particularly David Crosby who wears his emotions on his sleeve here. 

 
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Binky The Doormat said:
wow ...we are in synch on a lot of things - but I couldn't possibly feel more different about this stage of Elton's career.  Though I would have picked a different song off of this album - all of his earlier stuff just brings a sense of calm and happiness over me. 

I'd have to have at least 1-2 of his earlier albums on a deserted island.  
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Fair enough. Never been a huge Elton fan, though the hits are fine. I just can't relate to a piano-playin' man, really. Me and singer-songwriters have a long history of not getting along. People find much more in them than I do.

There are exceptions, but it's my general rule.

 
timschochet said:
24. The Grateful Dead “Box of Rain” (from American Beauty) 

https://youtu.be/9r8aycpHmY0

Phil Lesh wrote the music to this song and sung it; it was dedicated to his father who was dying of cancer. The lyrics by Robert Hunter are sublime in their simplicity and sheer poetry. The Dead’s best song from American Beauty and, IMO, one of their top 5 songs of all time. 
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I was always partial to Blues for Allah, but American Beauty is so great. 

 
timschochet said:
24. The Grateful Dead “Box of Rain” (from American Beauty) 

https://youtu.be/9r8aycpHmY0

Phil Lesh wrote the music to this song and sung it; it was dedicated to his father who was dying of cancer. The lyrics by Robert Hunter are sublime in their simplicity and sheer poetry. The Dead’s best song from American Beauty and, IMO, one of their top 5 songs of all time. 
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The "rain" song I was referring to.

 
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