#the guess who

[meadow-dusk]

Neil Young & Randy Bachman • Winnipeg Rock Reunion 1987 "Shakin' All Over" ©️ Dan Neil & Carey Lauder

[hibiscusbabyboy]

God, I'm OBSESSED with 1970s Babydoll dresses!!

(Dividers by @johnkayano )

[jt1674]

[oldshowbiz]

When I was a boy I would study the cover of this 8-track intensely

[mudwerks]

(via The Guess Who - American Woman (1970)

[billboard-hotties-tourney]

Propaganda for "Beggin'": none Defeated Opponents: "Kiss You All Over"

Propaganda for "C'mon Little Mama": none Defeated Opponents: "You're So Tasty"

*REMINDER: Vote for the song you think is hotter, not the song you prefer or the artist you think is hotter.

[buisnessman-bunny]

I find it hilarious that there was both a band named The who and the guess who. They had to of had the craziest beef. If I was one of the whos I would have been shaking in fury

[mrsaito58]

If I Could Only Have Ten Songs on My Desert Island (1/2)

[fancycolours]

THE GUESS WHO records in the studio. (1966.)

[meadow-dusk]

Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings, and Neil Young | Winnipeg Rock Reunion 1987

[hit-song-showdown]

Year-End Poll #21: 1970

[Image description: a collage of photos of the 10 musicians and musical groups featured in this poll. In order from left to right, top to bottom: Simon and Garfunkel, The Carpenters, The Guess Who, B.J. Thomas, Edwin Starr, Diana Ross, The Jackson 5, Rare Earth, The Beatles, Frede Payne. End description]

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A major theme in doing these polls is that decades are rarely defined by the exact stretch of time. It's all arbitrary, and any kind of cultural change tends to take a while to kick into gear without waiting for the exact calendar date. The seventies, however, feels like the exception. Keep in mind that this is all coming from the benefit of hindsight, but many accounts I've read and heard describe the shift from the 60's to the 70's as being jarring. First, we need to address the losses. The transition to the 70's came with musical trauma. Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and many others would pass away between 1969 and 1970. The Beatles would permanently break up this year. Whatever 1970 was going to look like, it was going to be a decade without many of the artists that helped to define the previous era.

There is something from the sixties that was brought over into the seventies, however: The Vietnam War. By this point, it was becoming clearer to the general public that the war effort was less about any sense of patriotic duty, and more about President Nixon not wanting to be the first American president to lose a war. The anti-war movement wouldn't just be populated by the anarchists or the hippies. However, the movement won't get as much traction in the top of the mainstream music charts as it did before. War by Edwin Starr, occupies a strange space in the early seventies as well as a strange space in Motown Records. Originally recorded for The Temptations, the track was covered by Edwin Starr out of fear that the original version would damage the group's crossover appeal.

Motown and its divisions will continue to reign supreme (or The Supremes...I'll stop) this decade as the label introduces the nation to a new flock of superstars. In addition to Diana Ross' solo debut, we're also seeing the introduction of The Jackson 5.

It's really hard not to apply a narrative to the songs listed above. As I keep saying, trends are rarely that neatly-defined and we're just looking at the very tip of the most popular/mainstream in doing these polls. But I can't help but notice that most of these songs are about learning to cope with some kind of hardship. Again, that's probably just a coincidence, but I think it's neat.

Also feel free to check out the twenty minute album version of Rare Earth's Get Ready, if you're like me and you're disappointed that Iron Butterfly's 17 minute In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida didn't make any of the sixties lists.

[jt1674]

[oldshowbiz]

The dirtiest version of their monster 1970 hit.