7 of the 70s: 7/24/14 (1970)

It's throwback Thursday 70s-style time, and this week i'mback to 1970, the year Casey Kasem's American Top 40 syndicated radio show starts in July. (I've included highlights links to buy anything on MP3 or CD)...

Three Dog Night - "Mama Told Me (Not To Come)"
from the album It Ain't Easy (1970)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1
Songwriter: Randy Newman

The very first #1 song on Kasem's show was this cover of a Randy Newman song by the biggest hitmaking band of the early 70s.

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Eric Burdon & War - "Spill The Wine"
from the album Eric Burdon Declares "War" (1970)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #3
Songwriters: Thomas Allen, Harold Brown, Morris Dickerson, Leroy Jordon, Charles Miller, Lee Oskar, Howard Scott

Eric was the first to release a version of "Mama Told Me", on his solo album, but he had a hit with this equally stoned out song with the fusion rock group he'd front for a spell.

The Temptations - "Psychedelic Shack"
from the album Psychedelic Shack (1970)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #7
Songwriters: Barrett Strong, Norman Whitfield

A groundbreaking recording that "sampled" a bit of their previous hit "I Can't Get Next To You", this Motown foray into druggie culture was an apt sonic display of a group falling apart, with both Eddie Kendricks leaving shortly after and Paul Williams too drunk and sick to record.

Gene Chandler - "Groovy Situation"
from the album The Gene Chandler Situation (1970)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #12
Songwriters: Herman Davis, Russ Lewis

The "Duke Of Earl" has his big comeback with this smooth pickup jam that was perfect for summer AM radio.

George Baker Selection - "Little Green Bag"
from the album Little Green Bag (1970)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #21
Songwriters: George Baker, Jan Visser

The Netherlands' answer to Three Dog Night's funky rock concoction, The 'Selection' had their first hit with a song originally about a dollar ("greenback") but morphed into a reference to a sack of weed.

Sly & The Family Stone - "I Want To Take You Higher"
from the album Stand! (1969)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #38
Songwriter: Sly Stone

I'll end with the master of trippy funk and rock hybrids, Sly Stone, with this jam that hit the Billboard chart twice, with it finally making the top-40 in the week before Casey's show.

I'll be back with 8 more from 1980...