Time to wrap up 1967.
20 - "Brown Eyed Girl," Van Morrison
The pride of Belfast, Northern Ireland, George Ivan Morrison was exposed to R&B, jazz, gospel, and country as a child thanks to his father's vast record collection. In 1964, he formed the band Them, and during his time with, er, them, he wrote the rock standard "Gloria" ("G-L-O-R-I-A!"). The band broke up in 1966, after which Morrison kicked off his solo career with this now-classic soul-rocker about young romance. On the single version, the song famously repeats "laughin' and a-runnin', hey hey," in place of the then-risqué line "making love in the green grass behind the stadium," and it always pisses me off when I hear that version. Van and his lady should never be denied their frolic. Accept no substitutes. Then again, I guess I can forgive that bit of censorship, because at least the song made the radio, which it might not have if Van had used his original title "Brown-Skinned Girl." No, 1967 would not have been ready for that.
19 - "You Keep Running Away," The Four Tops
Levi Stubbs and co. bring their usual drama and intensity to this song about obsessing over an unattainable girl. Their usual solid effort, one they could probably have done in their sleep. But most groups couldn't have come close to this with eyes wide open.
18 - "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," Aretha Franklin
A minister's daughter from Detroit, Franklin naturally began singing gospel, but then decided to follow the footsteps of Sam Cooke into secular music, and in 1960, at the age of 18, she signed with Columbia Records. She had several R&B hits with the label, but limited pop success, and many felt that her potential wasn't being fulfilled. This seemed to be confirmed when, after switching to the Atlantic label at the beginning of 1967, she had five pop Top Tens within a year, including the #1 "Respect." Her fourth hit of '67 was this very gospel-influenced ballad about how a man's love has turned her life around. Famously, Murphy Brown sang this to her newborn baby. Slightly less famously, Selma Bouvier sang it to her newly acquired iguana, Jub-Jub. And I'm going to take the opportunity presented by this Simpsons reference to say RIP Marcia Wallace.
17 - "I Dig Rock and Roll Music," Peter, Paul and Mary
Assembled in 1961 by manager Albert Grossman, the trio of Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey, and Mary Travers were one of the best-selling and most influential folk acts of the decade. But where some of their peers embraced rock, they felt that the genre lacked substance and lyrical heft. So they recorded this deceptively positive "tribute," which takes specific aim at The Mamas and the Papas, Donovan, and even the already-sainted Beatles with lyrical sarcasm and remarkably dead-on vocal parodies. The song also contains the line 'If I really say it, the radio won't play it," which is ironic, because they really said a lot, and radio played it enough to get it to the Top Ten. In modern parlance, this might be referred to as a "dis track." In my world, I refer to it as the co-winner of this chart's Uneasy Rider.
16 - "Get On Up," The Esquires
The first and biggest hit by this Milwaukee R&B combo was this nifty little invitation to dance. Inconsequential, but it will get you moving.
15 - "Expressway (To Your Heart)," The Soul Survivors
The best-known hit by these Philadelphians was this soul jam comparing the search for love to negotiating through highway traffic. I'm not sure if these guys made it to their destination. Myself, I'm stuck on the side of the road with an overheating radiator, waiting to be towed.
14 - "Dandelion," The Rolling Stones
The Stones' fifteenth U.S. Top 40 was this wistful number about children playing games with weeds. Some would say it has a "Beatlesque" quality, and the fact that John Lennon and Paul McCartney sang backup on the song does nothing to dispel that notion. An overlooked gem.
13 - "Your Precious Love," Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
Gaye was already an established Motown hitmaker when he began a string of hit duets with onetime James Brown backup singer Terrell. Their second Top 40, and first Top Ten, was this straightforward romantic ballad that serves as a showcase for their talents and chemistry. Sadly, Terrell would die in 1970 at the age of 24, but her voice will never be forgotten.
12 - "Hey Baby, They're Playing Our Song," The Buckinghams
This Chicago group had broken through earlier in the year with the #1 "Kind of a Drag," and would go on to crack the Top 40 three more times during this year. Their final '67 hit was this lightweight pop tune about wanting to get back together with an ex. Sounds like a Neil Diamond outtake, one he3 would have had the sense not to bother releasing.
11 - "Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie," Jay and The Techniques
From Allentown, Pennsylvania, this band scored its first and biggest hit with a song that isn't about fruit and baked goods, but rather the never ending game of hide-and-seek that is romance. Silly, singalong fun.
The Top Ten means never having to say you're sorry.
10 - "Soul Man," Sam and Dave
The duo of Sam Moore and Dave Prater rose to stardom in the mid-60s when they signed with Stax Records and were backed in the studio by Booker T. and the M.G.s. Their biggest, and best, hit was this classic about being dependable and a good lover and stuff like that. Just great. In 1986, Moore recorded the song again for a movie of the same name, but this time his duet partner was none other than Lou Reed. As I'm sure you know, Lou Reed died this past weekend, and I want to take this opportunity to wish him happy trails in the great beyond. He may have only had one "hit" but he was one of rock's greatest songwriters and characters, and his influence will be felt for years to come.
9 - "Gimme Little Sign," Brenton Wood
Born Alfred Smith, Wood was a high school track star in Compton, California before changing his name and turning to music. His biggest hit was this R&B tune about wanting a clear indication of his lover's devotion. I especially like the organ solo.
8 - "How Can I Be Sure," The Young Rascals
Since their national debut just two years earlier, this New Jersey band had already hit #1 twice with "Good Lovin'" and "Groovin'," This one didn't top the charts, but this is probably their most interesting song. It's kind of an odd mashup of American soul and French accordion-based music, and it's lyrics about the uncertainties of life and love were apparently inspired by the group's experiences with Transcendental Meditation. I like it more than I'd ever expected to like one of their songs.
7 - "Come Back When You Grow Up," Bobby Vee and the Strangers
The former teen idol hadn't had a major hit in four years when he made a surprise return to the upper reaches of the charts with this bland number about a girl who isn't as mature as she looks or she thinks she is. Another of those songs whose popularity mystifies me. And I have know idea who The Strangers are. But I guess that makes sense.
6 - "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher," Jackie Wilson
The final Top Ten for the man known as "Mr. Excitement" was this energetic raveup about the elevating power of love. Seriously, every time I hear Jackie's version, I feel that Rita Coolidge needs to make a public apology for what she did to it.
5 - "Ode to Billy Joe," Bobbie Gentry
This Mississippi-born country singer (nee Roberta Streeter) had her greatest success with this pop #1, a story song that tells the story of Billie Joe MacAllister, a young man who commits suicide by jumping off the Tallahatchie Bridge. The tale is told through the point of view of Gentry's unnamed narrator, who learns of Billie Joe's death from her mother. We learn from dinner table conversation that the narrator's father never thought much of the boy, but her brother was a friend of his. Then we learn that the narrator's mother has invited the local preacher to dinner on Sunday, and while he was accepting the invitation, he told the mother that he had recently seen a girl who strongly resembled her daughter with Billie Joe, and they were "throwing something" off of the very bridge from which the boy fell to his death. Was it our narrator? What were they throwing? What exactly does she know about why Billie Joe ended his life? Over the years people have speculated that the item in question was a ring, or maybe Billie Joe's draft card, or perhaps even the aborted fetus of Billie Joe and the narrator's love child. Whatever it was, the last verse gives no clues, simply telling us the status of the narrator's family one year later and sharing that she herself often picks flowers and drops them into the water off the bridge. One of pop's most enduring mysteries, and a great song to boot.
4 - "Little Ole Man (Uptight - Everything's Alright)," Bill Cosby
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Cosby originally followed in his father's footsteps by joining the United States navy, but in the early 60s, he began doing standup comedy, and quickly became hugely successful. By this time, he was one of the most successful comics on the live circuit, had recorded many successful albums of his material, and was the Emmy-winning star of the popular TV drama I Spy. And here, he added a Top ten song to his list of achievements. Borrowing the tune and the chorus from a Stevie Wonder hit from the previous year, Cosby talk-sings the tale of his encounter with an elderly gentleman whom he finds crying. He asks the man what the matter is, and the man tells him that he was just run over by a train. Not only that, but the same train hits him at the same time every day. Later, Cosby encounters the man, who is again upset. This time, he says he was trampled by elephants, the same elephants that trample him every day "a half hour after the train runs over me." Then Cosby comes across the man a third time, and he's still upset. Cosby asks him how he's doing after his run-ins with the train and the elephants. The man then asks him "What train? What elephants?" Cosby is confused. Then the man says that Cosby is young and has a lot to learn, and then makes him the same offer Bill had made to him on the first two occasions "Reach out, take my hand. You'll understand." Strangely entertaining, and in its own way as trippy as anything the psychedelic-rock scene ever produced. Which is why The Cos is the other winner of this chart's Uneasy Rider.
3 - "To Sir With Love," Lulu
The Scottish starlet had her only American #1 with the theme song from the hit film in which she sang it to teacher Sidney Poitier, who had taken her and her unruly classmates and turned them into respectable young ladies and gentlemen. Never seen it, but I have seen the SCTV parody "Teacher's Pet." Bob Geldof gave Ricardo Montalban such a hard time. Anyway, good song, well sung.
2 - "Never My Love," The Association
These human sleeping pills again, back and boring. Will they win my love? Never.
And topping the charts 46 years ago was...
1 - "The Letter," The Box Tops
These Memphis soul-rockers went straight to the top with their first single, a song about a guy who gets a letter from his ex saying that she wants him back, and so he needs to get to her by plane, because he "ain't got time to take a fast train." Goodness from the airplane takeoff sound at the beginning to the circus organ at the end. The band would score six more Top 40s, and then Alex Chilton would leave to form the cultishly adored Big Star.
Next time, it's 1968.
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