Great year. 1970 was smack dab in the middle of the popular music peak of 1967-1973, and while it was definitely a transition year, that didn't stop the quality from rising. A great John Lennon single, my girlfriend's favorite Velvet Underground song, the most famous (though far from the best) Kinks song, and one of the most popular Neil Young songs.

What 1970 really was was the pinnacle of "Classic Rock." Though they aren't the legendary songs they are made out to be, "Oye Como Va," "Spirit in the Sky," "Who'll Stop the Rain," and "Layla," are all great, and they have been downright worshipped by a generation of kinda sorta music fans who went on to have children and drive station wagons. Add onto those a great Dead song, and a classic Crosby, Stills, and Nash track and you've got 95% of a Classic rock radio station's rotation (side question: which stock radio station plays a smaller range of songs, oldies stations or classic rock stations?).

Okay, okay, I've gotten through two paragraphs without mentioning it, but maybe someone already noticed: The Beatles. They were this little band from Britain, I know most people don't know them, but I really like their music, and I think if I include them on these mixes, maybe they can finally get the exposure they deserve. Seriously, though, I've decided to do something a little different with the Beatles. Since everyone has their records, or at least has heard the major songs from them a thousand times, I'm putting all non-album singles (until I get down to the early records, where this is impossible). This is a great way to avoid having to make really difficult decisions, but it's also good for the mixes to have something a little more unusual. For 1970, I picked an alternate version of "Across the Universe." It's my favorite version of the song, and it's one of my favorite John songs, probably second only to "Girl," which also happens to be my favorite Beatles song.

Enjoy the mix, and next week, the 60s. I'm quivering in anticipation.

Download the mix here.

1. Sex Machine - James Brown - 5:15
2. Down On The Street - The Stooges - 3:43
3. Lola - The Kinks - 4:03
4. Moondance - Van Morrison - 4:36
5. Sweet Jane - The Velvet Underground - 3:18
6. Move On Up - Curtis Mayfield - 3:37
7. Oye Como Va - Santana - 4:17
8. Spirit In The Sky - Norman Greenbaum - 4:02
9. Who'll Stop The Rain - Creedence Clearwater Revival - 2:29
10. Big Yellow Taxi - Joni Mitchell - 2:14
11. Only Love Can Break Your Heart - Neil Young - 3:08
12. Instant Karma - John Lennon - 3:20
13. Coal Miner's Daughter - Loretta Lynn - 3:01
14. Joshua - Dolly Parton - 3:00
15. Across The Universe - The Beatles - 3:47
16. O-o-h Child - Five Stairsteps - 3:14
17. The Tears Of A Clown - Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - 3:00
18. Casey Jones - Grateful Dead - 4:24
19. Teach Your Children Well - Crosby, Stills & Nash - 2:54
20. Layla - Derek & The Dominos - 7:05
21. My Sweet Lord - George Harrison - 4:43

1971 gave birth to two of, if not the, most important protest songs ever. "What's Going On" and "Imagine" have both been extremely co-opted by people who don't seem to have the ability to listen to lyrics. Fortunately, all of this has done nothing to lessen the impact of the two songs, both of which have as much urgency in them as they did thirty-five years ago.

Elsewhere, Loretta Lynn continues her sharp commentary, Bill Withers sings one of his best songs, and Leonard Cohen makes his only appearance. The Stones' "Wild Horses" is their best ballad, and Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" is their shining moment. Isaac Hayes won an Oscar for Shaft's theme song, and The Who won some new fans with "Baba O'Riley," which really should have been called "Teenage Wasteland."

A note about Led Zeppelin. I have spent a ong time trying to like Led Zeppelin. Bottom line is that I do not like Robert Plant's voice, and no matter how much I appreciate John Bonham and Jimmy Page, Plant gets on my nerves so much that I can't stand to listen to Zeppelin for more than a(n instrumental) minute. So there's not much Zeppelin on these mixes. In fact, this is it folks, which means no "Stairway" (probably the biggest omission in all of the mixes). Sorry to all Zeppelin fans, but I hope you understand.

Enjoy the mix.

Download the mix here.

1. Baba O'Riley - The Who - 5:08
2. Ain't No Sunshine - Bill Withers - 2:06
3. What's Going On - Marvin Gaye - 3:52
4. Imagine - John Lennon - 3:04
5. Have You Ever Seen The Rain? - Creedence Clearwater Revival - 2:39
6. Me And Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin - 4:33
7. Family Affair - Sly & The Family Stone - 3:04
8. Clean Up Woman - Betty Wright - 2:48
9. One's On The Way - Loretta Lynn - 2:39
10. Just My Imagination - The Temptations - 3:51
11. Way Back home - Jr. Walker and the All Stars - 3:14
12. Changes - David Bowie - 3:33
13. Paranoid - Black Sabbath - 2:52
14. Bang A Gong (Get It On) - T.Rex - 4:24
15. Theme from Shaft - Isaac Hayes - 4:36
16. Wild Horses - The Rolling Stones - 5:44
17. Famous Blue Raincoat - Leonard Cohen - 5:09
18. Coat Of Many Colors - Dolly Parton - 3:05
19. Take Me Home Country Roads - John Denver - 3:12
20. I Feel The Earth Move - Carole King - 3:00
21. When The Levee Breaks - Led Zeppelin - 7:07

One of the more wide ranging mixes in this project, 1972 includes Al Green, The Rolling Stones, Randy Newman, Can, Melanie, Jimmy Cliff, and Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris. Lots of huge huge songs, plus the only Can song, the only Steely Dan song, and (I think) the only Roxy Music song. This may be the only Elton John song, too, I'm not a big fan of his at all.

There are two songs on this I want to point out. Babe Ruth's "The Mexican" is a monster song, a major dance crossover success that was played in the discos downtown and, even five years later, the hip hop clubs uptown. It's a great song that deserves bigger exposure. Second, Denise LaSalle's "Trapped By a Thing Called Love" is an early 70s soul gem, one of the few songs in history I consider truly perfect. Everything is right where you want it.

I also included "Papa Was a Rolling Stone," a seven minute latter-day masterpiece by the Temptaions. If you've never heard this full version, you're in for a treat.

Enjoy.

Download the mix here.

1. Let's Stay Together - Al Green - 3:18
2. Walk On The Wild Side - Lou Reed - 4:16
3. Tumbling Dice - The Rolling Stones - 3:42
4. Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie - 3:13
5. Rocket Man - Elton John - 4:42
6. Sail Away - Randy Newman - 2:51
7. Use Me - Bill Withers - 3:50
8. The Mexican - Babe Ruth - 5:46
9. Spoon - CAN - 3:04
10. Virginia Plain - Roxy Music - 2:58
11. Reelin' In The Years - Steely Dan - 4:37
12. Love Train - The O'Jays - 3:01
13. Trapped By A Thing Called Love - Denise LaSalle - 2:40
14. Everybody Plays The Fool - Main Ingredients - 3:24
15. Papa Was a Rolling Stone - The Temptations - 7:00
16. Superstition - Stevie Wonder - 4:26
17. Brand New Key - Melanie - 2:22
18. Freddie's Dead (Theme From "Superfly") - Curtis Mayfield - 3:20
19. The Harder They Come - Jimmy Cliff - 3:41
20. Pink Moon - Nick Drake - 2:06
21. We'll Sweep The Ashes Out In The Morning - Emmylou Harris & Gram Parsons - 3:12

I been really tryin' baby...

A lot of emotions are too powerful to get just right in art without making people feel uncomfortable, and wanting to fuck the shit out of someone just happens to be one of them. If "Let's Get It On" has a flaw, it's that it's too good at what it does, and making the perfect song about sexual desire immediately renders it useless when related to sexual desire. So it's near impossible to put on "Let's Get It On" and then proceed to do just that (unless, of course, you and your partner have a healthy sense of humor). But the song is so damn good, so damn sexy, that it becomes what it is talking about. Maybe people like crying to songs about crying and dancing to songs about dancing, but in this case, the two have to be separated. "Let's Get It On" is getting it on.

Marvin's work has also been ruined by cheesy joke uses in advertising, which seems to be the running theme in this mix. "Who's That Lady," "The Big Payback," and "20th Century Boy" have all been reappropriated and overused in a number of commercials. Plus, "Stuck In The Middle With You" is forever associated with ear cutting, and "I Can't Stand the Rain" was lifted in its near entirety by Missy Elliot. It's a shame, because all of these songs stand on their own as great tracks, and some of them have probably been almost ruined. Only with a real open ear out of the contexts they've been unfairly placed in can these songs stop being the novelties they were never meant to be and start being great songs again.

I also want to mention Pink Floyd's "Money," from the still-charting Dark Side of the Moon and The Stooges' "Search and Destroy," from the still-dangerous Raw Power. Both records are still definitive today, and even if they aren't the greatest work from the two groups, these songs really merged the defining sounds of the times with the kind of lasting power that really embodies what these mixes are all about.

Here is the mix and the tracklisting. Enjoy.

The mix.

1. Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye - 4:51
2. Call Me - Al Green - 3:04
3. Who's That Lady - The Isley Brothers - 5:36
4. Apache - Incredible Bongo Band - 4:54
5. Cosmic Stop - Parliament - 5:17
6. The Big Payback - James Brown - 7:41
7. Stuck In The Middle With You - Stealers Wheel - 3:23
8. Ramblin Man - Alman Brothers Band, The - 4:42
9. Baby's On Fire - Brian Eno - 5:19
10. 20th Century Boy - T Rex - 3:35
11. Search And Destroy - The Stooges - 3:29
12. Money - Pink Floyd - 6:22
13. Knockin' On Heaven's Door - Bob Dylan - 2:29
14. You're So Vain - Carly Simon - 4:18
15. Get Up Stand Up - Bob Marley - 3:16
16. Higher Ground - Stevie Wonder - 3:42
17. I Can't Stand The Rain - Ann Peebles - 2:31
18. Midnight Train To Georgia - Gladys Knight and the Pips - 4:35

1974

Okay, not totally back to normal here, but ready to put up a mix nonetheless.

This is a great mix, in my opinion, one of my favorites of the decade, and one that I've listened to a great deal. First of all, George McRae's "Rock Me Baby" is one of my all-time favorite songs. It puts me in a good mood no matter what. Then I managed to include "Can't Get Enough of Your Love" - twice. How did I manage to do it? Well, they are two different songs, record by two very different artists, but in the same year, and both were fairly sizable hits. A pretty unique occurence, especially considering the fact that it's not just a one word title.

A lot of people don't like "Rebel, Rebel," but I think those people are wrong, and while it isn't Bowie's strongest single, it fits in with The Raspberries' "Overnight Sensation" and Neil Young's "Walk On." Similarly, the pairing of "Help Me" and "Jolene" is a nice combo, both beautiful songs by strong female artists.

The mix begins and ends with live tracks, and they both slightly break my rules. "Distant Lover" was originally on 1973's Let's Get it On, which will obviously be represented on next year's mix by the title track. However, since this is a live performance, the one per album rule still works, and this was a major, major live track, one that hit the charts and stayed there. Similarly, the live performance of "No Woman, No Cry" has had a much bigger life than the studio version, going so far as to be included on Legend. I broke a rule pretty blatantly by including it here, as this performance wasn't released until 1975, even though the studio performance was 1974 (the studio version, by the way, is awful, and most of you probably haven't even heard it). I included it here for time and quality reasons, and I would hope you look the other way and don't think too much less of me.

Enjoy the mix.

Download the mix here.

1. Distant Lover (Live) - Marvin Gaye - 6:22
2. Rock Your Baby - George McRae - 5:36
3. Never Can Say Goodbye - Gloria Gaynor - 6:16
4. Whatever Gets You Thru The Night - John Lennon - 3:20
5. September Girls - Big Star - 2:49
6. Tell Me Something Good - Rufus/Chaka Khan - 3:28
7. Jungle Boogie - Kool & The Gang - 3:06
8. Lady Marmalade - Patti Labelle - 3:56
9. People Say - Meters - 5:16
10. Take Me To The River - Al Green - 3:47
11. Can't Get Enough of Your Love - Barry White - 4:34
12. Can't Get Enough of Your Love - Bad Company - 4:15
13. Overnight Sensation - The Raspberries - 5:22
14. Rebel, Rebel - David Bowie - 4:30
15. Walk On - Neil Young - 2:42
16. Help Me - Joni Mitchell - 3:22
17. Jolene - Dolly Parton - 2:37
18. No Woman No Cry - Bob Marley - 7:07