My Seventies Music

Tag: Fame

  • Cher – “Gypsys, Tramps And Thieves”, “Half Breed”, “Dark Lady”, “If I Could Turn Back Time” And “Just Like Jesse James”

    Cover of Cher single "Gypsys, Tramps And Thieves" (1971)

    The first solo Number One hit by Cher of Sonny and Cher fame was “Gypsys, Tramps And Thieves” in 1971. “Half Breed” and “Dark Lady” also reached the top spot in 1973 and 1974 respectively.

    Cher has had any more hits over the years, but two of my favourites after the Seventies were “If I Could Turn Back Time” and “Just Like Jesse James”, both in 1989.

    Ultimately though, if there is any one song that epitomises Cher for me, it is her first No. 1 hit “Gypsys, Tramps And Thieves”:

    Here’s “Half Breed”, a No. 1 in 1973:

    “Dark Lady” was big for Cher Bono, as she was still known then through her marriage to Sonny Bono, in 1974:

    Beyond the Seventies, “If I Could Turn Back Time” reached No. 3 in 1989:

    “Just Like Jesse James” made it into the Top Ten – No. 8 – in the same year:

    Cher has definitely been a major factor in popular music, in the Seventies when she achieved her first successes, and through the decades that have followed.

    If I were to sum it up with just one word, that word would have to be: iconic.

    Paul

  • Mike Oldfield – “Tubular Bells”

    Cover of "Tubular Bells" by Mike Oldfield (1973)

    Englishman Mike Oldfield released “Tubular Bells” in 1973 – the album was the first venture of Richard Branson’s new record label Virgin Records.

    The instrumental achieved particular fame when it was used as the theme of the movie “The Exorcist”.

    The album “Tubular Bells”, on which Mike Oldfield played over twenty different instruments, quickly entered the Top Ten of the UK album chart.

    It’s follow-up, “Hergest Ridge” (of which I have a copy), went to No. 1 for three weeks, before it was displaced by “Tubular Bells”.

    “Tubular Bells” was re-recorded by Oldfield, in 1992, 1998 and again in 2003.

    Here is the shorter version of “Tubular Bells” used in “The Exorcist”:

    And this is one of a number of live recordings of the longer version, here divided into three parts (you’ll need a bit of patience if you want to listen to these…):

    “Tubular Bells” live, Part 1:

    “Tubular Bells” live, Part 2:

    “Tubular Bells” live, Part 3:

    If you’ve listened to all of these you’ll now likely be very relaxed….. or asleep…

    Paul

  • “Rocky Mountain Way” by Joe Walsh

    “Rocky Mountain Way” by Joe Walsh of The James Gang fame has always been one of my favourites from the Seventies.

    Definitely a touch harder than the “America” tune we had yesterday….

    If you’re into blues/slide guitar and all kinds of effects, then this piece from the album “The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get” is for you.

    In fact I like it so much that I decided to do videos of more than one version today. 🙂

    So first here he is after moving on from The James Gang, with his band Barnstorm, still looking quite young:

    In 1977 Joe played “Rocky Mountain Way” with the Eagles, to whom he brought a somewhat harder touch… (this was the year of their giant hit album “Hotel California”). Unfortunately the video of that one has been removed “due to a copyright claim by Eaglesrecordingcompany”…

    So instead, much more recently, here Joe still shows how it’s done:

    I first heard this song and the album “The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get” with its iconic cover at a student party in Palmerston North, New Zealand. Actually I don’t remember the rest of the album, but these guitar riffs and the image of the old biplane have stayed with me ever since…

    Hope you like it too!

    Paul

    P.S. While updating the videos I just came accross a collection of over 75 Joe Walsh tracks you might like to check out, including “Life’s Been Good” (warning though, there are ads for things like Heinz ketchup in between some of the tracks!):

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