Summer in the City: The Lovin’ Spoonful
Summer in the City by The Lovin’ Spoonful is a song recorded by The Lovin’ Spoonful, written by John Sebastian, Mark Sebastian, and Steve Booone.
It appeared on their album Hums of the Lovin’ Spoonful, and reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1966, for three consecutive weeks.
The song features a series of car horns during the instrumental bridge, starting with a Volkswagen Beetle horn, and ends up with a jackhammer sound, in order to give the impression of the sounds of the summer in the city.
The song became a gold record. It is ranked number 401 on Rolling Stone‘s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Good Vibrations: Beach Boys
Goof Vibrations by the Beach Boys is a song composed by Brian Wilson with words by Mike Love for the American rock band the Beach Boys, of which both were members. Released on October 10, 1966, the single was an immediate critical and commercial hit, topping record charts in several countries including the US and UK. Characterized by its complex soundscapes, episodic structure, and subversions of pop music formula, it was the costliest single ever recorded at the time of its release. “Good Vibrations” later became widely acclaimed as one of the greatest masterpieces of rock music.
Produced by Wilson, the recording was initiated during the sessions for the 1966 album Pet Sounds, and was not originally issued as a track from an album, but rather as a stand-alone single, with the Pet Sounds instrumental “Let’s Go Away for Awhile” as the B-side. “Good Vibrations” was envisioned for the unfinished album Smile, but instead appeared on the 1967 substitute LP Smiley Smile. Most of the song was developed as it was recorded. Its title derived from Wilson’s fascination with cosmic vibrations, after his mother once told him as a child that dogs sometimes bark at people in response to their “bad vibrations”. He used the concept to suggest extrasensory perception, while Love’s lyrics were inspired by the Flower Power movement burgeoning in Southern California.
The making of “Good Vibrations” was unprecedented for any kind of recording. Over 90 hours of tape was spent on its sessions with the total cost of production estimated between $50,000 and $75,000 (equivalent to $380,000 and $570,000 in 2017). Building upon the multi-layered approach he had formulated with Pet Sounds, Wilson recorded a surplus of short, interchangeable musical fragments with his bandmates and a host of session musicians at four different Hollywood studios from February to September 1966. Only six sections were ultimately culled from the dozen-plus session dates, which were assembled through tape splicing to create a composite backing track. Band publicist Derek Taylor dubbed the unusual work a “pocket symphony”. With the nature of its recording process partly reflected in the song’s several dramatic shifts in key, texture, instrumentation, and mood, it contained previously untried mixes of instruments, including jaw harp and Electro-Theremin, and was the first pop hit to have a cello playing juddering rhythms.
“Good Vibrations” is widely regarded as one of the most important compositions and recordings of the rock era, and it is regularly hailed as one of the finest pop productions of all time. It heralded a wave of pop experimentation and the onset of psychedelic and progressive rock, and helped develop the use of the recording studio as an instrument, revolutionizing rock music from live concert performances to studio productions which could only exist on record. Although it does not technically feature a theremin, it is frequently cited for having one, which revitalized interest and sales of theremins and synthesizers. The song’s success earned the Beach Boys a Grammy nomination for Best Vocal Group performance in 1966; the record was eventually inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1994. “Good Vibrations” was voted number one in the Mojo‘s “Top 100 Records of All Time” and number six on Rolling Stone‘s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”, and it was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s “500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll”. In 1976, a cover version by Todd Rundgren was released as a single. It peaked at number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100.
I’m a Believer: The Monkees
I’m a Believer by The Monkeesa song composed by Neil Diamond and recorded by The Monkees in 1966 with the lead vocals by Micky Dolenz. The single, produced by Jeff Barry, hit the number one spot on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week ending December 31, 1966 and remained there for seven weeks, becoming the last No. 1 hit of 1966 and the biggest-selling record for all of 1967. Billboard ranked the record as the No. 5 song for 1967.
Because of 1,051,280 advance orders, it went gold within two days of release. It is one of the fewer than forty all-time singles to have sold 10 million (or more) physical copies worldwide.
The song was No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart for four weeks in January and February 1967, as well as a Number 1 in numerous countries including Australia, Canada, and Ireland.[3]
The song appears in four consecutive episodes of The Monkees’ TV show throughout December 1966.
Respect: Aretha Franklin
Respect by Aretha Franklin is a song written and originally released by American recording artist Otis Redding in 1965. The song became a 1967 hit and signature song for R&B singer Aretha Franklin. The music in the two versions is significantly different, and through a few changes in the lyrics, the stories told by the songs have a different flavor. Redding’s version is a plea from a desperate man, who will give his woman anything she wants.
He won’t care if she does him wrong, as long as he gets his due respect when he brings money home. However, Franklin’s version is a declaration from a strong, confident woman, who knows that she has everything her man wants. She never does him wrong, and demands his “respect”.
Franklin’s version adds the “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” chorus and the backup singers’ refrain of “Sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me…”
Franklin’s cover was a landmark for the feminist movement, and is often considered as one of the best songs of the R&B era, earning her two Grammy Awards in 1968 for “Best Rhythm & Blues Recording” and “Best Rhythm & Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female”, and was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1987.
In 2002, the Library of Congress honored Franklin’s version by adding it to the National Recording Registry. It was placed number five on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was also included in the list of Songs of the Century, by the Recording Industry of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. Franklin included a live recording on the album Aretha in Paris (1968).
Windy: The Association
Windy by The Associationis a pop music song written by Ruthann Friedman and recorded by The Association. Released in 1967, the song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July of that year. Overseas, it went to #34 in Australia, and #3 in Yugoslavia.
Later in 1967 an instrumental version by jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery became his biggest Hot 100 hit when it peaked at #44. “Windy” was The Association’s second U.S. #1, following “Cherish” in 1966.
Billboard ranked the record as the No. 4 song for 1967.
The lead vocals were sung in unison by Russ Giguere and Larry Ramos. Ramos claimed that Ruthann Friedman had written the song about a man, and that The Association changed the lyrics to make it about a woman.
To Sir With Love: Lulu
To Sir With Love by Lulu is the theme from James Clavell’s 1967 film To Sir, with Love. The song was written by Don Black and Mark London (husband of Lulu’s longtime manager Marion Massey). Mickie Most produced the record, with Mike Leander arranging and conducting. In her recording, Lulu makes notable use of melisma.
“To Sir With Love” was initially recorded by Lulu (with The Mindbenders, who also acted in the film). It was released as a single in the United States in 1967 and in October reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for five weeks. The single ranked No. 1 in Billboard’s year-end chart, though the Monkees’ “I’m a Believer”, which debuted in December 1966 and spent most of its chart life in 1967, was the overall bigger hit. (“I’m a Believer” was ranked number five on the same year-end chart of the same year.) It became a gold record.
Canada’s RPM Magazine put the song at No. 2 for the year 1967.[2] “To Sir with Love” has the distinction of being the only record by a British artist to reach No. 1 on the US charts while not charting in the UK, where it appeared only as a B-side to “Let’s Pretend” (released in the UK on 23 June 1967), which reached No. 11 on the UK Singles Chart.
Incense and Peppermints: Strawberry Alarm Clock
Incense and Peppermints by Strawberry Alarm Clockis a song by the Los Angeles-based psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock.
The song is officially credited as having been written by John S. Carter and Tim Gilbert, although it was based on an instrumental idea by band members Mark Weitz and Ed King.
It was released as the A-side of a single in May 1967 by Uni Records and reached the #1 position on the Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed for one week before beginning its fall down the charts.
Although the single was released in the United Kingdom it failed to break into the UK Singles Chart.
Prior to the release of “Incense and Peppermints”, the Strawberry Alarm Clock had already issued four singles (“Long Day’s Care” b/w “Can’t Explain”, “My Flash on You” b/w “Fortune Teller”, “In the Building” b/w “Hey Joe”, and “Heart Full of Rain” b/w “First Plane Home”) on All-American Records under the name Thee Sixpence.
During recording sessions for “Incense and Peppermints”, the band expressed a dislike for the song’s lyrics (written by John S. Carter), so the lead vocals were sung by a friend of the band, Greg Munford, who was attending the recording session as a visitor. The regular vocalists in the band were relegated to providing background and harmony vocals on the record. Band members Mark Weitz and Ed King were both denied songwriting credits by producer Frank Slay, despite the fact that the song was, at least partially, built on an instrumental idea of Weitz and King’s. King would go on to greater fame as a member of the 1970s Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.
“Incense and Peppermints” initially appeared on the B-side of Thee Sixpence’s fourth single, “The Birdman of Alkatrash”, released on All-American Records in April 1967. However, local radio stations began playing “Incense and Peppermints” instead of the A-side and the song began to gain in popularity in and around Los Angeles. Sensing the possibility of a national hit, Uni Records (a subsidiary of MCA) picked up the record for national distribution and the single was re-released in May 1967: this time with “Incense and Peppermints” on the A-side and “The Birdman of Alkatrash” as the B-side. By the time of this second pressing, the band had changed their name to “Strawberry Alarm Clock” due to the existence of a local group with a name somewhat similar to Thee Sixpence.
“Incense and Peppermints” spent 16 weeks on the Billboard chart, finally reaching the #1 spot for the week ending November 25, 1967. The single earned a gold disc from the RIAA on December 7, 1967 for sales of one million copies.
Mrs. Robinson: Simon and Garfunkel
Mrs. Robinson by Simon and Garfunkelis a song by American music duo Simon & Garfunkel from their fourth studio album, Bookends (1968). Produced by the duo and Roy Halee, it is famous for its inclusion in the 1967 film The Graduate.
The song was written by Paul Simon, who pitched it to director Mike Nichols alongside Art Garfunkel after Nichols rejected two other songs intended for the film. The song contains a famous reference to baseball star Joe DiMaggio.
“Mrs. Robinson” became the duo’s second chart-topper, hitting number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and peaking within the top 10 of multiple other countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Spain, among others.
In 1969, it became the first rock song to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year. The song has been covered by a number of artists, including Frank Sinatra, the Lemonheads, and Bon Jovi. In 2004, it finished at No. 6 on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.
Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In: The Fifth Dimension
Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In by The Fifth DimensionIs a medley of two songs written for the 1967 musical Hair by James Rado & Gerome Ragni (lyrics), and Galt MacDermot (music), released as a single by American R&B group The 5th Dimension. The song peaked at number one for six weeks on the US Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart in the spring of 1969. The single topped the American pop charts and was eventually certified platinum in the US by the RIAA.
Instrumental backing was written by Bill Holman and provided by session musicians commonly known as the Wrecking Crew. The actual recording is something of a “rarity”; the song was recorded in two cities, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, then mixed together in the studio, afterwards.
his song was one of the most popular songs of 1969 worldwide, and in the United States it reached the number one position on both the Billboard Hot 100 (for six weeks in April and May) and the Billboard Adult Contemporaries Chart. It also reached the top of the sales charts in Canada and elsewhere. Billboard ranked it as the No. 2 record overall for 1969.
The recording won both the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Group for the Grammy Awards of 1970, after being published on the album The Age of Aquarius by the 5th Dimension, and also being released as a seven-inch vinyl single record.
The lyrics of this song were based on the astrological belief that the world would soon be entering the “Age of Aquarius”, an age of love, light, and humanity, unlike the current “Age of Pisces”. The exact circumstances for the change are “When the moon is in the seventh house, and Jupiter aligns with Mars.”
Get Back: The Beatles
Get Back by The Beatles is a song recorded by the Beatles and written by Paul McCartney (though credited to Lennon-McCartney), originally released as a single on 11 April 1969 and credited to “The Beatles with Billy Preston.” A different mix of the song later became the closing track of Let It Be (1970), which was the Beatles’ last album released just after the group split. The single version was later issued on the compilation albums 1967–1970, 20 Greatest Hits, Past Masters, and 1.
The single reached number one in the United Kingdom, the United States, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Australia, France, West Germany, Mexico, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, and Belgium. It was the Beatles’ only single that credited another artist at their request. “Get Back” was the Beatles’ first single release in true stereo in the US. In the UK, the Beatles’ singles remained monaural until the following release, “The Ballad of John and Yoko”.
Suspicious Minds: Elvis Presley
Suspicious Minds by Elvis Presleyis a song written and first recorded by American songwriter Mark James. After James’ recording failed commercially, the song was handed to Elvis Presley by producer Chips Moman, becoming a number one song in 1969, and one of the most notable hits of Presley’s career.
“Suspicious Minds” was widely regarded as the single that returned Presley’s career success, following his ’68 Comeback Special. It was his eighteenth and last number-one single in the United States. Rolling Stone ranked it No. 91 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Session guitarist Reggie Young played on both the James and Presley versions.
Leaving on a Jet Plane: Peter, Paul, and Mary
Leaving on a Jet Plane by Peter, Paul, and Mary is a song written by John Denver in 1966 and most famously recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary.
The original title of the song was “Babe, I Hate to Go”, as featured on his 1966 studio album John Denver Sings, but Denver’s then producer Milt Okun convinced him to change the title. Peter, Paul and Mary recorded the song for their 1967 Album 1700 but only released it as a single in 1969.
It turned out to be Peter, Paul and Mary’s biggest (and final) hit, becoming their only No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States. The song also spent three weeks atop the easy listening chart and was used in commercials for United Airlines in the late 1970s. The song also topped the charts in Canada, and reached No. 2 in both the UK Singles Chart and Irish Singles Chart in February 1970.
In 1969, John Denver recorded a version of the song for his debut solo album, Rhymes & Reasons, and re-recorded it in 1973 for John Denver’s Greatest Hits. His version was featured in the end credits of The Guard.
1970’s
Mama Told Me (Not to Come): Three Dog Night
Mama Told Me (Not to Come): Three Dog Nightis a song by American singer-songwriter Randy Newman written for Eric Burdon’s first solo album in 1966. Three Dog Night’s 1970 cover of the song topped the US pop singles chart.
Also in 1970, Three Dog Night released a longer, rock ‘n roll and funk-inspired version (titled “Mama Told Me (Not to Come)”) on It Ain’t Easy.
Three Dog Night’s version had the same 3/4 by 2/4 time change as Eric Burdon’s version and featured Cory Wells singing lead in an almost humorous vocal style, Jimmy Greenspoon playing a Wurlitzer electric piano, and Michael Allsup playing guitar.
One Bad Apple: The Osmonds
One Bad Apple by The Osmondswas a number-one hit single released by The Osmonds on November 14, 1970. It debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on January 2, 1971. It hit the top of the chart on February 13, 1971 and stayed there for five weeks. It also reached number six on the R&B chart.
Billboard ranked it as the No. 4 song for 1971. Both “One Bad Apple” and the Donny Osmond-credited single “Sweet and Innocent” are on the 1970 album Osmonds. It was certified Gold by the RIAA on February 4, 1971.
The song was written by George Jackson, who originally had the Jackson 5 in mind when he wrote it. According to Donny Osmond, Michael Jackson later told him that the Jackson 5 almost recorded this song first, but chose to record “ABC” instead.[3]
“One Bad Apple” was also used as the theme to The Osmonds cartoon show on ABC-TV.
Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree: Tony Orlando and Dawn
Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree: Tony Orlando and Dawnis a song by Dawn featuring Tony Orlando. It was written by Irwin Levine and L. Russell Brown and produced by Hank Medress and Dave Appell, with Motown/Stax backing vocalist Telma Hopkins, Joyce Vincent Wilson and her sister Pamela Vincent on backing vocals. It was a worldwide hit for the group in 1973.
The single reached the top 10 in ten countries, in eight of which it topped the charts. It reached number one on both the US and UK charts for four weeks in April 1973, number one on the Australian charts for seven weeks from May to July 1973 and number one on the New Zealand charts for ten weeks from June to August 1973. It was the top-selling single in 1973 in both the US and UK.
In 2008, Billboard ranked the song as the 37th biggest song of all time in its issue celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Hot 100.