We finally had a weekend at home after all that travel. The weather is hot and sunny. Back to yardwork, backyard barbecues and making fires in the fire pit. Running the sprinkler most every day. Last Sunday Jeannie and I did a long bike ride on the South County Trailway, from Yonkers up to Ardsley and back. Very nice, wooded, flat and smooth.
Around this time last year I created a playlist of 80 Favorite Songs from the 80’s to enjoy while hanging out in the yard. Last weekend two of my neighbors were playing competing classic rock playlists, which inspired me to create a playlist of 77 Favorite Songs from the 70’s. It turned out the be pretty interesting. It’s organized more or less chronologically, which helps to see how trends come and go, and some juxtapositions of different things around the same time. I limited it to one song per artist, and since it was the era of long songs, I excluded full-album-side multi-song suites, or parts thereof.
The early part is dominated by album rock, including early prog, with lots to 7- or even 10-minutes songs. The middle part is thinner, and a bit of a transitional period, with a pretty deep foray into jazz fusion. Toward the end there’s a lot going on again, as funk and disco emerge, as well as new wave and a variety of other styles. Even though this playlist has fewer songs than my 80’s one, its about an hour and a half longer. Anyway, here it is. Enjoy!
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1StgmZvDHuG35B2FeOAepZ?si=f56fa40375f04cff
1. Woodstock – Crosby Stills Nash and Young (1970)
2. Wah-Wah – George Harrison
3. American Pie – Don McClean
4. War Pigs – Black Sabbath
5. Child In Time – Deep Purple
6. Take a Pebble – Emerson Lake and Palmer
7. Miles Runs the Voodoo Down – Mile Davis
8. Fire and Rain – Blood Sweat and Tears
9. Box of Rain – The Grateful Dead
10. I’m Your Captain / Closer to Home – Grand Funk Railroad
11. Layla – Derek and the Dominos
12. Superstar – The Carpenters (1971)
13. L.A. Woman – The Doors
14. The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys – Traffic
15. Can’t You Hear Me Knocking? – The Rolling Stones
16. When the Levee Breaks – Led Zeppelin
17. Heart of the Sunrise – Yes
18. Wind-Up – Jethro Tull
19. Watcher of the Skies – Genesis (1972)
20. A Hit by Varèse – Chicago
21. School’s Out – Alice Cooper
22. Summer Breeze – Seals and Croft
23. Ziggy Stardust – David Bowie
24. Undun – The Guess Who (1973)
25. Jessica – The Allman Brothers Band
26. Rosalita – Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
27. The Great Gig in the Sky – Pink Floyd
28. The Real Me – The Who
29. What is Hip? – Tower of Power
30. Watermelon Man – The Head Hunters
31. Spain – Return to Forever
32. Birds of Fire – Mahavishnu Orchestra
33. Frankenstein – Edgar Winter
34. Right Place Wrong Time – Dr. John
35. Back Home Again – John Denver (1974)
36. Crime of the Century – Supertramp
37. Apostrophe (‘) – Frank Zappa
38. Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Pt 1. – King Crimson
39. Whatever Gets You Through the Night – John Lennon
40. Band on the Run – Paul McCartney (1975)
41. I’m In Love With My Car – Queen
42. Never Been Any Reason – Head East
43. By-Tor and the Snow Dog – Rush
44. Some Skunk Funk – The Brecker Bros.
45. Give Up the Funk – Parliament (1976)
46. The Boys are Back in Town – Thin Lizzy
47. (Don’t Fear) The Reaper – Blue Öyster Cult
48. Peace of Mind – Boston
49. Carry On Wayward Son – Kansas
50. Song Within a Song – Camel
51. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald – Gordon Lightfoot
52. Miami 2017 – Billy Joel
53. Magic Man – Heart
54. Dancing Queen – ABBA
55. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap – AC/DC (1977)
56. Threshold / Jet Airliner – Steve Miller Band
57. Aja – Steely Dan
58. Contusion – Stevie Wonder
59. Solsbury Hill – Peter Gabriel
60. Slip Slidin’ Away – Paul Simon
61. Watching the Detectives – Elvis Costello
62. Three Little Birds – Bob Marley
63. Paradise by the Dashboard Light – Meat Loaf
64. You Make Loving Fun – Fleetwood Mac
65. Feels So Good – Chuck Mangione
66. Boogie Oogie Oogie – A Taste of Honey (1978)
67. Shadow Dancing – Andy Gibb
68. Da Ya Think I’m Sexy? – Rod Stewart
69. Mister Blue Sky – Electric Light Orchestra
70. Life’s Been Good – Joe Walsh
71. In the Dead of Night – U.K.
72. Runnin’ with the Devil – Van Halen
73. Walking on the Moon – The Police
74. Can You Picture That? – Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem (1979)
75. The Devil Went Down to Georgia – Charlie Daniels Band
76. Funkytown – Lipps, Inc.
77. Rapper’s Delight – Sugar Hill Gang