Tag: Seventies

Jud Strunk – “Daisy A Day”

Talk to me about daisies and I’m likely to respond with “I’ll Give You A Daisy A Day”… that was the title line of a song by a man called Jud Strunk in the early Seventies (1973 to be precise).

It’s a simple love song about a couple together from childhood to old age and beyond:

I’ll give you a daisy a day, dear
I’ll give you a daisy a day
I’ll love you until
The rivers run still
And the four winds we know blow away

(Didn’t even have to look that one up…)

Jud Strunk, who was mainly known for humorous songs like “She’s Got The Biggest Parakeets In Town”, died in 1981 at only 45.

His legacy is this simple song “Daisy A Day” with its simple message:

Not much to add to that.

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

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
Lynyrd Skynyrd – “Gimme Three Steps”, Free Bird” And “Sweet Alabama”

While I wasn’t really a follower of U.S. Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd at the time, I became very familiar with three of their tracks from the early Seventies, namely “Gimme Three Steps”, Free Bird” and “Sweet Alabama”.

This was largely through working with a band in Germany called Nuthin’ Fancy who were big fans of Lynyrd Skynyrd – in fact I have only just learned that they took their name from their idols’ third album…

“Gimme Three Steps” didn’t chart when it was released as a single in 1973, but the debut album it was on (“Lynyrd Skynyrd (pronounced ‘lĕh-‘nérd ‘skin-‘nérd)”) went to No. 1 – here it is:

Also from that 1973 album was what was to become Lynyrd Skynyrd’s signature song, “Free Bird”, which reached No. 19 as a single in 1974, making it their second Top 40 hit.

After the tragic plane crash in October 1977 in which several band members, including singer Ronnie Van Zantz, were killed, “Free Bird” was only played as an instrumental for many years.

This is “Free Bird”, live in July 1977, just months before that defining event (takes a little while to get going, but it’s worth it):

Previously, Lynyrd Skynyrd had their first chart hit, at No. 8, with “Sweet Home Alabama” from their second album, “Second Helping”.

The response to Neil Young’s songs “Southern Man” and “Alabama” was somewhat controversial because of lines about the state’s governor, which some took to be an endorsement of his segregationalist views, an endorsement put down to a misunderstanding and denied by band members.

“Sweet Home Alabama” is another of those songs that has meanwhile become a rock anthem:

I think “Sweet Home Alabama” is one Lynyrd Skynyrd song that I did actually hear back in the Seventies already, and it’s definitely one you remember.

When did you first hear it?

Paul

P.S. Lynyrd Skynyrd is really hard to spell right consistently!!
The Sex Pistols – “Anarchy In The UK”, “God Save The Queen”, “Pretty Vacant” And “Holidays In The Sun”

The late Seventies were the years of punk rock, and although not the first punk rock band, The Sex Pistols were the epitome of the movement, with songs like “Anarchy In The UK”, “God Save The Queen”, “Pretty Vacant” and “Holidays In The Sun”.

I didn’t actually get a (taped) copy of their only album, “Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols” (1977), until a few years later, when I lived in Germany.

Or maybe I did get it before leaving New Zealand, I just remember playing it in the car of a band I wrote some stuff with in Germany, shortly after I met them in December 1980. The bass player and singer of the ZZ Top/Lynrd Skynyrd type band didn’t like The Beatles, so I played him The Sex Pistols…

This is the studio version of “Anarchy In The UK”:

“God Save The Queen”, also the studio version:

Sex Pistols classic “Pretty Vacant”:

“Holidays In The Sun”:

Having experienced the Berlin Wall on numerous occasions while living in Germany – from both sides – the lines in this song about it took on particular significance for me at least in the 1980s.

Now the Wall is gone and so are The Sex Pistols, though the Berlin Wall actually lasted longer…

Nevertheless, the “cultural” legacy of The Sex Pistols lingered on well after the actual demise of the band.

Whatever one may think of their music, they were a catalyst for many great acts that followed.

Paul
Lynn Anderson – “(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden”

In addition to topping the U.S. country chart, in late 1970 country singer Lynn Anderson scored a Number 3 Billboard Hot 100 pop chart hit with “(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden”.

The following year the song, written by Joe South, also hit No. 3 in the United Kingdom and became one of the most successful crossover hits ever in Europe, not just in the Seventies.

On 16 March 1971 Lynn Anderson received a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for her singing of “(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden”.

I must confess I thought Lynn Anderson was Canadian and also sang “Snowbird” – turns out I was confusing her with Anne Murray…

Anyway, here’s “(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden” (by American, not Canadian, country singer Lynn Anderson):

Not a snowbird in sight…

Paul