The last 20.
20 - "Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You," Wilson Pickett
19 - "Doesn't Somebody Want to be Wanted," The Partridge Family
18 -"Groove Me," King Floyd
17 -"She's a Lady," Tom Jones
16 - "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)," The Temptations
The second half begins with soul veteran Wilson Pickett, begging the woman who's about to leave him not to go off with another man who seems more attractive. I think even though he has quite a few better known hits, this is my favorite of his.
Then it's David Cassidy and his fictional family with probably their second-best-known song. It's okay. I'll use the rest of this space to declare the following: Jeremy Gelbwaks > Brian Forster.
King Floyd returns with his fun funk workout. He still sounds like a girl, but damn if it don't work. The success of this song allowed him to quit his job at the post office. Aw sookie sookie indeed.
Tom Jones had his highest-charting U.S. hit with the swaggering-yet-chivalrous "She's a Lady." Definitely a classic. It was written by Paul Anka, and Jimmy Page played guitar on it. Tom Jones, bringing the oddest couples together.
Last in this group are the Temps with a future #1, a gorgeous ballad about a man imagining a life with a woman he can't have. This was the last single with founding member and future solo star Eddie Kendricks. He definitely went out on a high
15- "Amazing Grace," Judy Collins
14 - "Theme from Love Story," Henry Mancini, His Orchestra and Chorus
13 - "Have You Ever Seen the Rain," Creedence Clearwater Revivial
12 - "For All We Know," The Carpenters
11 - "Watching Scotty Grow," Bobby Goldsboro
This section starts with Judy Collins, backed by nothing more than a choir of friends, singing a hymn that dates back to 1797. It was written by John Newton, a former slave ship captain, and the lyrics detail his conversion to Christianity. It later became an anthem during the civil rights movement of the 60s, and Collins recorded it as a form of protest against the Vietnam War. A beautiful song no matter what you believe, and a very good rendition.
That Love Story song pops up a third time in a version by veteran film and television composer Henry Mancini and company. Why he felt the need to record a version of someone else's piece I don't know, but it's much more dressed up than Francis Lai's, and perhaps not coincidentally, was a bigger hit. I'll take Lai's every time. If I want to hear Mancini, I'll crank up the Pink Panther theme. Or maybe "Baby Elephant Walk."
Next is the eighth of CCR's nine Top 10 singles. Some people thought it was about Vietnam or the fading of 60s idealism. I always thought it was an early environmental protest song. But John Fogerty has said that it was about the growing tensions within the band. And he would know, I guess.
Then its our old friends Karen and Richard with a song that they recorded after Richard heard it in the movie Lovers and Other Strangers. It won a Best Song Oscar, but I don't think much of it. But Karen never fails to rise above mediocre material.
Finally we have Bobby Goldsboro with a Mac Davis-penned bit of schmaltz about how being around your young son as he develops is much more exciting than television, nightlife, and even "your drive-in picture show." I have no way of knowing if that's true. However, I do remember it playing in the background as Homer and Bart Simpson built a soap box derby car, and that seemed like fun.
Let's get Top Ten-ified:
10 - "Me and Bobby McGee," Janis Joplin
The second Kris Kristofferson cover on this chart, and Janis' biggest hit, although unfortunately a posthumous one. Kris and Janis apparently were lovers on-and-off, which adds some poignancy to this tale of friendship on the road, where "freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose." Good good good.
9 - "Mr. Bojangles," The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Apparently, this country standard was not written about Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, the black tap dancer best known for performing in Shirley Temple movies. Rather, composer Jerry Jeff Walker wrote it about a white street performer he met during a night in jail who used the name "Bojangles" to hide his identity from the police. And yes, that man's dog really did up and die.
8 - "Amos Moses," Jerry Reed
The country singer who would go on to co-star in both Smokey and the Bandit and an episode of Scooby-Doo had his biggest pop hit with a song about a man who lived in the Louisiana swamp and illegally hunted alligators, in spite of the best efforts of local law enforcement. I like it fine, but I'm still more of a "When You're Hot, You're Hot" kinda guy.
7 - "Sweet Mary," Wadsworth Mansion
Never heard of this band or this song before I came across this chart. It's pretty standard lite-rock for the period. Above average for its type, but still, hardly something that sticks in the mind.
6 - "I Hear You Knocking," Dave Edmunds
Brit Edmunds would have his biggest U.S. hit with this Smiley Lewis cover about being choosy about to whom you allow admittance. Years later, he would help recruit impressionable young Martin Short to Communism on SCTV with a Bruce Springsteen cover and promises of membership in "the Duke Snider Fan Club." RIP Duke.
5 - "If You Could Read My Mind," Gordon Lightfoot
This is another song I remember having to sing in a grade school music class. A solid folk number about a dying relationship that was Gord's American breakthrough. I have to say, I do get it.
4 - "Rose Garden," Lynn Anderson
Lynn's biggest pop hit reminds us all that relationships aren't always rainbows and lollipops. And she's very polite about it, begging our pardon and all. Good manners are always appreciated.
3 - "Knock Three Times," Dawn
The best of Tony Orlando and co.'s output, as far as I'm concerned. Lightweight and silly, yet an earworm with the staying power of an Everlasting Gobstopper.
2 - "Mama's Pearl." The Jackson 5
After four straight #1's out of the box, Michael, Tito and the boys had to settle for a mere #2 with this hit whose lyrics were a tad more risque than their earlier singles. There are reports that the song was even originally called "Guess Who's Making Whoopie (With Your Girlfriend)." The title change was probably for the best, although I'm sure Bob Eubanks would have loved it.
And topping the charts 40 years ago was...
1 - "One Bad Apple," The Osmonds
After years of being a clean-cut kiddie act on variety shows hosted by old-school showbizzers like Andy Williams and Jerry Lewis, these five brothers from Utah entered the contemporary pop arena and wound up preventing five brothers from Indiana from extending their streak of charttoppers with this bouncy number that sounded more than a little similar to the Jackson 5. Not surprisingly, it was originally written with the Motown siblings in mind, and Donny Osmond says Michael himself told him that the Jacksons considered doing it, but decided to do "ABC" instead. Anyway, the song itself, while not without charm, sounds like a subpar J5 ripoff, so the fact that it ended up with the Osmonds is probably about right.
Just one NotCasey Extra: "Wild World" by Cat Stevens. Casey himself played the #1s from 10 and five years earlier: Chubby Checkers "Pony Time" and Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots are Made for Walkin'," respectively. And he also played another Joplin song "Move Over," because Pearl was that week's Number One album.
If you don't know what next week's chart is, I won't spoil it, but I've seen it, and it looks goooood! To find out how good, join me here next week.
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