6 of the 60s: 7/11/12....

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Hey folks! Time to roll out another weekly feature here on my little corner of the internets! Since I'm doing a lot of 80s and current music posts, I wanted to do a thing about oldies I cherish, the ones that may have been hits at the time, maybe not, maybe forgotten, maybe not, but little nuggets I'm diggin' on at any particular time. So I figured I'd do it per decade, and do six songs of the sixties, and then seven songs of the seventies, and the like. I'm wingin' it. But hey, you may come across something you forgot, or even never heard but can get into. And that's the fun of it.. This time out - six songs of 1968...


Aretha Franklin - "The House That Jack Built"
from the album Aretha's Gold (1969)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #6 


 Sure, everybody jams to "Respect" or "Think", but give me "The House That Jack Built" any day of the week. It's got the fire, but slowed down for extra sass.

(Click below to see the rest of the post)


Gary Puckett & The Union Gap - "Lady Willpower"
from the album Incredible (1968)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2


Gary Puckett had an emotional voice that reminds me of an edgier Johnny Mathis, and with the Union Gap, was one of the consistent hitmakers that haven't been as revered as many of their peers. "Lady Willpower" was one of their dramatic best.


The Turtles - "Elenore"
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #6


 What I deem "the original hipster band", the Turtles and their pudginess and sugary melodies rebelled in a way against the craving to be dark and edgy by a lot of the bands of that era. "Elenore" may only be the second most known song to that name, but it makes me smile a lot more.


The Fifth Dimension - "Sweet Blindness"
from the album Stoned Soul Picnic (1968)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #13


 A gorgeous Laura Nyro song by one of the best vocal harmony groups that ever were. Here with added (and surprisingly adorable) Frank Sinatra.


The Four Tops - "If I Were A Carpenter"
from the album Reach Out (1967)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #20


When I was a teenager, I worshipped the Four Tops. I would play my copy of their double-cassette Anthology over and over. "If I Were A Carpenter" was one of six top-20 hits from their Reach Out album, IMHO one of the best Motown albums of the 60s.They took the Tim Hardin folk song to a deeper, more soulful place.


Dionne Warwick - "Who Is Gonna Love Me"
from the album Promises Promises (1968)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #33


1960's Dionne is a million miles away from the psychic-calling, weed-smokin', rider-busting Dionne of now, and "Who's Gonna Love Me?" is a sweet , vulnerable song from her peak Bacharach/David years.

Well that's it for this edition. I'll try to keep this up every week (hopefully on Wednesdays), and on Thursday I'll try a "7 of the 70s" post. Thanks for coming by, and let me know what you think!

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