My Seventies Music

Category: Seventies Male Soloists

  • Don McLean – “American Pie”, “Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)”, “Crying”, “Since I Don’t Have You” and “Castles In The Air”

    Cover of Don McLean album "American Pie"

    I can’t remember a time without Don Mclean singing “American Pie” and Vincent”, and yet it was only 1971 when the former was released and 1972 when it topped the charts for weeks on end.

    Like the phrase it coined, “The day the music died”, it has been a part of our culture ever since.

    Ladies and gentlemen – “American Pie”, the studio version:

    And “American Pie” live in 1972:

    Much quieter and more reflective, yet equally memorable, is Don McLean’s tribute to 19th century Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, “Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)”:

    Towards the end of the decade, in 1978, Don McLean released a cover of the Roy Orbison song “Crying”, which reached Number 1 in the UK two years later and No. 5 in the US:

    Shortly after, McLean, who is also known for his covers of great artists, presented his version of Fifties classic “Since I Don’t Have You”:

    Finally, here’s “Castles In The Air”, with pictures of the Brighton Pavilion, which remind me of pleasant days spent with family last summer in my parents’ home town on the south coast of England:

    Back to the roots, so to speak.

    Paul

  • Johnny Nash – “I Can See Clearly Now” and “Tears On My Pillow”

    Cover of Johnny Nash single "I Can See Clearly Now"
    Johnny Nash had been singing quite a while when his single “I Can See Clearly Now”, which had been moving slowly up the charts for about a month, shot to the top in two weeks in 1972.

    Around this time he was producing future reggae icons Bob Marley and Peter Tosh.

    The Wailers were the backing band on the original recording in London, although it appears the single may have been made with members of The Average White Band.

    “I Can See Clearly Now” has been used in a number of films, including a Jimmy Cliff remake in 1993 for “Cool Runnings”.

    Johnny Nash, who wrote it himself, reached No. 1 in the U.S. and No. 5 in the UK with “I Can See Clearly Now”:

    In 1975 Johnny Nash had his only No. 1 hit in the UK with “Tears On My Pillow, which has definite reggae undertones:

    This one’s OK, but “I Can See Clearly” remains a classic.

    Paul

  • John Paul Young – “Love Is In The Air”

    I’ll be quite honest – “Love Is In The Air” by John Paul Young used to really get on my nerves!

    But as I suppose it can be considered part of the legacy of the Seventies – it was a disco hit in 1977-1978 – I thought I’d include it here.

    John Paul Young was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and emigrated to Australia with his family, arriving on Australia Day (26 January) in 1962.

    “Love Is In The Air” was written by former The Easybeats members Vanda & Young, who also provided him with a number of other songs, and who played a role in the development of Australian hard rock band AC/DC (more on that another time).

    So without further ado, here’s “Love Is In The Air” from John Paul Young:

    Nuff said, i.e. I can’t think of anything else to say about this one…

    Paul

  • Gary Moore – “Wishing Well”, “Parisienne Walkways”, “Don’t Believe A Word” And “Still Got The Blues (For You)”

    Cover of 1979 Gary Moore album "Back On The Streets"
    As I mentioned previously, British (actually Northern Irish) rocker and guitar legend Gary Moore has made the Free track “Wishing Well” very much his own, and in fact, until the other day, I always thought he wrote it!

    Here is his studio version of “Wishing Well”

    This is Gary Moore playing “Wishing Well” live in Belfast, Northern Ireland (his home town) in 1984:

    And live in Sheffield, England, in 2007, as far as I can work out (in any case it’s Monsters Of Rock):

    In this 1979 clip Gary Moore plays a song by (and with) Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy, “Parisienne Walkways”, which was included on his 1979 album “Back On The Streets”:

    As a contrast, here he plays another Phil Lynott track from 1976, “Don’t Believe A Word”, also on the “Back On The Streets” album from 1979:

    Anf finally, though written well after the Seventies, “Still Got The Blues (For You)”:

    I think this is probably my favourite Gary Moore song.

    What’s yours?

    Paul

    Update: Gary Moore died in February 2011. R.I.P. Gary, your sound will be remembered for a long time.

  • Gordon Lightfoot – “If You Could Read My Mind”, “Sundown” and “The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald”

    Cover of Gordon Lightfoot single "The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald"

    Three Seventies songs from Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot stick in my mind – “If You Could Read My Mind”, “Sundown” and “The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald”.

    “If You Could Read My Mind”, written after his divorce, reached No. 1 in Canada and the 5th spot in the USA. Here is the original:

    And here is “If You Could Read My Mind” sung live in Chicago in 1979:

    “Sundown”, sung here live in 1974, went to Number 1 on both the Canadian and U.S. singles charts in that year:

    Finally, “The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald”, written after an incident on the Great Lakes on November 10, 1975, reached the top spot in Canada and peaked at No. 2 in America in 1976. This video commemorates every single one of the 29 crew members lost on the ship:

    Here Gordon Lightfoot sings the ballad live in 1979:

    There is something timeless about the music of Gordon Lightfoot.

    Take your time to enjoy it…

    Paul

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