1970s Soul

[NightTrain]

I'm in the larval stage of creating a rank-ordered list of my favorite soul records of the 1970s. Here's the tentative top ten:

1. WHAT’S GOING ON – Marvin Gaye (1971)
2. WAR – Edwin Starr (1970)
3. GET UP I FEEL LIKE BEING A SEX MACHINE – James Brown (1970)
4. THANK YOU (FALETTINME BE MICE ELF AGIN) – Sly & The Family Stone (1970)
5. SUPERSTITION – Stevie Wonder (1972)
6. ROCK STEADY – Aretha Franklin (1971)
7. THAT LADY – The Isley Brothers (1973)
8. JUST MY IMAGINATION – The Temptations (1971)
9. IF I WERE YOUR WOMAN – Gladys Knight & The Pips (170)
10. HERE I AM (COME AND TAKE ME) – Al Green (1973)

If you'd like to see my Top 300 of 1960s Soul, just go here:

http://www.soulexpressradio.com/Top300-1960s.htm

[Insider]

1. i'm stone in love with you - the stylistics (1972)

good stuff, NightTrain

[Ilsa]

2. your #8 is one of my fav's. I like them all.

I still like Superfly, and Me and Mrs. Jones, and Theme From Shaft.

On edit: I almost forgot Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes: The Love I Lost.

[freetobegay]

3. Wheres the Manhattens?

Lets just Kiss & say goodbye.

[NightTrain]

6. "Kiss and Say Goodbye" is one of my all-time favorites.

In all likelihood, it'll be somewhere in the Top 25.

[freetobegay]

7. Thanks!

:)

[henslee]

40. Rufus Thomas! Break down.

[TroubleMan]

12. Also, Shining Star, but that was 1980 (I think)

nt.

[Tom Kitten]

4. I'm almost afraid to ask...

Did you like that song "Somebody's Been Sleeping" by 100 Proof Aged In Soul...I have the 45 but have been looking for the lp for years...
Your 70s list will be most interesting, that is the transition decade!

[NightTrain]

5. I have a whole "best of" CD by 100 Proof Aged In Soul.

They were a very good group who unfortunately have been confined to one-hit wonder status because of "Somebody's Been Sleeping." Good record, but 100 Proof made a lot of other good ones, too!

[Tom Kitten]

9. Cool!

I'll have to look for that cd...off on a tangent, I liked that brief period when some soul groups embraced some aspects of psychedelia...I especially like early Funkadelic songs like "Can You Get to That" and "Hit It or Quit It" from the Maggot Brain lp, even though the title song is what attracted me to that genre in the first place...
I'm old enough to remember free-form underground FM radio, and they'd play anything that was good, I miss those days, it did a lot in shaping my tastes!

[BuelahWitch]

8. Another Al Green

"Let's Stay Together" 1972, I think

[BigMcLargehuge]

10. Again a list of 70s soul with no Tavares on it

:-(

[Mr_Spock]

13. I don't see Tavares on anything?

Where?

[BigMcLargehuge]

14. oops... should have said "no Tavares" on it

stupid stubby fingers!!!

[Mr_Spock]

15. Oh, well Tavares is not Soul in my opinion.

I always thought of them as a light disco band - did they do stuff before that was different?

[NightTrain]

24. Dude, that's only the top ten

There are 290 positions to fill yet! I can see "It Only Takes A Minute" and "Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel" getting onto my eventual list.

[TroubleMan]

11. You should include I Can't Stand The Rain by Ann Peebles (1974)

http://mp3.com/albums/38381/summary.html

IMHO it was one of the top 5 soul albums of all time, and #1 most underated soul album ever.

You won't see it on Billboard or on the Top 40 charts and hardly anybody's heard of her, but if you listen to it, it's one of the best soul albums ever.

.....

Wait a minute...

You're talking singles...not albums...I just realized that. Well here's my top ones of the top of my head in no particular order:

Let's Stay Together - Al Green
Inner City Blues - Marvin Gaye
I'm Still In Love With You - Al Green
Come & Go With Me - Teddy Pendergrass
I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby - Barry White
For The Love - The Isley Brothers
Footsteps In The Dark - The Isley Brothers
Sweet Thing - Rufus
Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye
What's Goin' On? - Marvin Gaye
Close The Door - Teddy Pendergrass
I Can't Stand The Rain - Ann Peebles
Trouble, Heartache, & Pain - Ann Peebles
Be Thankful For What You've Got - William DeVaughan
Superstition - Stevie Wonder
I Want To Get Next To You - Rose Royce
You Are The Sunshine Of My Life - Stevie Wonder
Harvest For The World - The Isley Brothers
Sadie - The Spinners
Love & Happiness - Al Green
The Closer I Get To You - Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway
Stairway To Heaven - The O'Jays
Brandy (I Really Miss You) - The O'Jays
Love Ballad - LTD
Cause I Love You - Lenny Williams
Pusherman - Curtis Mayfield
Little Child Runnin' Wild - Curtis Mayfield
Take Me To The River - Al Green
You Oughta Be With Me - Al Green
Call Me (Come Back Home) - Al Green

____

Notice I didn't include my favorite song, Trouble Man (1972) by Marvin Gaye....it's a jazz song.

[NightTrain]

16. I'm quite familiar with Ann Peebles!

"I Can't Stand The Rain" cracked the Billboard pop top forty in December 1973. Peebles made a lot of other awesome records too, like "Walk Away," "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down," "Part-Time Love," "Come To Mama," and "(I Feel Like) Breaking Up Somebody's Home."

Ann Peebles: a sadly underrated talent. :(

[bettyellen]

17. sweet thing or tell me something good by rufus and chaka

[NightTrain]

25. Not to mention "Once You Get Started."

:headbang:

[bettyellen]

28. IT'S SOOO HARD TO STOP ..........

[blondeatlast]

55. Ooooh, yeah... nt

[Kat45]

18. These are some of my favorites:

Love Train - The O'Jays
Me and Mrs. Jones - Billy Paul
Supersition - Stevie Wonder
Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)
Superfly - Curtis Mayfield
What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
All Day Music - War
The World Is a Ghetto - War
How Can You Mend a Broken Heart - Al Green
The Look of Love - Isaac Hayes
Have You Seen Her - The Chi-Lites

[lpbk2713]

19. I would add 2 or 3 more Gladys Knight tunes, but that's just me.

Midnight Train to Georgia and Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me are a couple of my favorites. BTW, I catch your show from time to time and enjoy it very much.

[donheld]

21. I would add Gladys too

Neither one of us (wants to be the first to say goodbye)

[bettyellen]

29. HAVE YOU HEARD HER DO HELP ME MAKE IT THROUGH THE NIGHT?

OH MY GOD, SHE IS ALWAYS AWESOME.

[blondeatlast]

54. Gladys was overshadowed by others, but man, what a voice

and the things she could do with it.

[RummyTheDummy]

20. Anything by the Spinners

I've been on a 70s soul jag forever. Glad someone else appreciates it. Lot of good songs on this thread.

[NightTrain]

26. My two favorites: "It's A Shame" and "One of a Kind (Love Affair)."

The Spinners were an awesome group!

[bobthedrummer]

31. OMG, The Spinners! YES.

What a great group!

[Bluebear]

22. For the Love of You - Isley Bros.

[Bluebear]

23. Everybody is a Star - Sly

[tilsammans]

27. Scorpio

by Dennis Coffey

[AmandaRuth]

30. I'll add the staple singers

i love I'll take you there and respect yourself. Defiantly somewhere in my top 25

[blondeatlast]

48. Ditto. I searched the thread hoping someone would have beat me to it. nt

[Nicole]

32. Roberta Flack

First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

Killing Me Softly With His Song

[Nicole]

33. Percy Sledge & Ben E. King

When a Man Loves a Woman - Percy Sledge

Stand by Me - Ben E. King

[Iver Johnson]

34. The Delfonics

"Didn't I blow Your Mind This Time?"

[Iver Johnson]

35. Bobby Womack

"Across 110th Street"

[blondeatlast]

49. Excellent! An overlooked masterpiece. nt

[Nicole]

36. Brook Benton

Rainy Night in Georgia

[Iver Johnson]

37. Two more

Both by The Commodores: "Just To Be close To You" and "Three Times A Lady"

[ZenLefty]

38. How is it Carole King is not on this list?

Is she not soul enough for you guys?

Tapestry came out in 1971, and it's still on my top 10 albums of all time.

So faaaar awaaaayyyyyy,
Doesn't anybody stay in one place anymore?
It would be so fiiiine to see
your face at my door...

[henslee]

39. Wattstax is a cool film. Aretha live at the Phillmore is a rocking album.

Soul live is extra special. Brothers Johnson and Johnnie Guitar Watson where my first two soul experiences but I guess they are sort of funk. My lamest soul experience was when I saw Al Green about five years ago and he looked at his watch while singing lets stay together during his encore. The whole crowd gasped.

[Iver Johnson]

41. A few more favorites

"Sing a Song" Earth", Wind & Fire
"Love Train" The O'Jays
"When Will I See You Again?" The Three Degrees
"Brick House" The Commodores
"If You Don't Know Me By Now" Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
"We Are Family" Sister Sledge

Who else grew up with this music? Not that it's not great today, but the 70's were a real happening, and these tunes and others were really a big part of that.

[blondeatlast]

50. Me; my teen years.

Lived in a rural town with a lot of ex-migrant workers, and soul was HUGE. I heard little else and cared for it less.

I'm a lily-white, middle class princess, but I LOVE soul and listen to almost nothing else.

Have you heard NighTrain's show?

It's incredible. Saturday nights; I can't seem to find my link.

[Iver Johnson]

59. Have not heard the show, it sounds good, though.

I grew up in Cincinnati, Withrow High, Class of '77. Motown soul was all I ever heard, too. Some of the all time best music was the old soul. This thread got me looking for some old LP's.

[kitchen girl]

42. Um...where's Mavis?

Your list just isn't complete without at least ONE song by The Staples Singers. I totally agree on your #1 and #2 picks. Anything by Al Green belongs in the Top 10. Oh, and what about "Groove Me" by King Floyd? A true classic, and the only record my mother made me get rid of. :(

And what about...Teddy Pendergrass, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, and Millie Jackson?

[dbt]

43. One time for the mighty mighty WAR!

"All Day Music"
"The World Is A Ghetto"
"Me And Baby Brother"

etc!

:smoke:
dbt

[Dukakis88]

44. "Fight the Power, Pts. 1 & 2" - Isley Bros.

[tilsammans]

45. Undisputed Truth's . . .

. . . "Smiling Faces Sometimes."

[mitchum]

46. Beat me to it!

Another great song from the poets of paranoia Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong

[blondeatlast]

53. I loved what I call that "Goth-Soul" of the era!

It reflected a real mood of the day.

[blondeatlast]

51. How completely appropriate...

It still gives me the chills.

[tilsammans]

56. Just like Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On?"

Every bit as appropriate now as when it was recorded.

[blondeatlast]

47. "Be Thankful for What You've Got" William DeVaughn, I think?

Smooth, cool, inspiring.

I heard it yesterday and it just felt so damn good...

[blondeatlast]

52. "You Haven't done Nothin'" Stevie Wonder and the Jackson Five.

How many of these songs sound timely as hell again?

I remember that whole sort of Goth-soul of the early '70s, stuff like "Backstabbers"...

[tilsammans]

57. "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now"

by McFadden and Whitehead

[tilsammans]

58. "Love Machine"

by the Miracles