1970s SOUL: My Tentative Top 10

[NightTrain]

Having spent much of the winter compiling a rank-ordered list of my favorite 1960s soul records, I thought it was high time I gave '70s R&B its due.

As of right now, this will be the top ten on my upcoming 70s soul list. But as always, it could change at a moment's notice!

1. WHAT'S GOING ON - Marvin Gaye (71)
2. WAR - Edwin Starr (70)
3. SIR DUKE - Stevie Wonder (77)
4. THANK YOU (FALETTINME BE MICE ELF AGIN) - Sly & The Family Stone (70)
5. GET UP I FEEL LIKE BEING A SEX MACHINE - James Brown (70)
6. ROCK STEADY - Aretha Franklin (71)
7. TIRED OF BEING ALONE - Al Green (71)
8. JUST MY IMAGINATION (RUNNING AWAY WITH ME) - The Temptations (71)
9. RAINY NIGHT IN GEORGIA - Brook Benton (70)
10. I'LL TAKE YOU THERE - The Staple Singers (72)

By the way, you can check out my '60s soul list at http://home.comcast.net/~soulexpress4/Top100-1960s.htm

[villager]

1. The missing cuts:

TROUBLE MAN -- Marvin Gaye
AIN'T NO WOMAN -- Four Tops
SHOW AND TELL - Al Wilson

Posible alternate Aretha track:

UNTIL YOU COME BACK TO ME


Great list though -- could go for hearing "Rainy Night in Georgia" right now!

[Kenneth ken]

2. While I can't fault

you for anything on your list, I also can't see how any top 10 70s soul list could be complete without at least something from Tower of Power.

Good luck with your lists - I don't know how people can do that; my lists change pretty much every time I put on a different cd. :D

[guitar man]

3. Great list

Needs some Tower of Power and Earth,Wind and Fire. Hard to get all the greats into just 10 slots though.

[adamblast]

4. I'm partial to the Isley Brothers...

Fight the Powers That Be!! :D

(And I'd probably stick with Superstition instead of Sir Duke, but that's what makes it a ballgame...)

[NightTrain]

5. That reminds me!

I need to put "That Lady" somewhere in the Top 20. It's a terrific song with great lyrics, tight harmonies, and seriously tasty guitar licks!

[Richardo]

11. ...and "Harvest for the World" is one of their best also

I love that song...and you hardly ever hear it.

[Insider]

6. nice list, and more

i guess if there were 20, i could convince you to sprinkle in:
billy preston
labelle
fifth dimension
* bill withers - lean on me/grandma's hands
* main ingredient - everybody plays the fool/spinning around/ROLLING DOWN THE MOUNTAINSIDE
* stylistics - everything!, esp. children of the night

[Insider]

9. my homeboys from jc, nj

kool & the gang get an honorable mention for achievement across the decade. but "summer madness"(live) is the very best they did. i guess that is a fine line between jazz and soul. oh well, i just like it.

[tigerbeat]

7. oh, cool, i'll play...

1. TALKING BOOK - Stevie Wonder
2. WHAT'S GOING ON - Marvin Gaye
3. SHAFT - Isaac Hayes
4. STILL BILL - Bill Withers
5. RAGS TO RUFUS - Rufus
6. SUPERFLY - Curtis Mayfield
7. EUPHRATES RIVER - The Main Ingredient
8. INNERVISIONS - Stevie Wonder
9. NIGHTBIRDS - Labelle
10. ABC - The Jackson Five

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

8. I'd take Everybody is a Star or Family Affair

or even IF YA WANT ME TO STAY or DANCE TO THE MUSIC over Thankyou in the Sly department just for the quality of song, and I think I'd do Papa Was a Rolling Stone in the Temps dept.

[Insider]

10. kickenstein

:kick:

[johnnie]

12. The Righteous Brothers..

I really thought they had some great soul records. Not the hits, but some of the cuts from the Verve days. Played the hell out of the "Sayin' Somthin'" album when I was a lad. Nothing wrong with blue-eyed soul.

[NightTrain]

13. They made their best records in the '60s, though.

n/t

[johnnie]

15. Yeah

Thats the ones I am talking about. Great stuff. I think they used Sam and Daves band on most of those cuts also. I think it was Booker T and gang.

[ProfessorGAC]

14. Papa Was A Rollin' Stone

I think that needs to be there. I'd even put Superstitious before Sir Duke, since that album (Talking Book) was the one that cemented Stevie as a "serious" artist. That song is his sine qua non.

Another Sly song from the early 70's that i really liked was "If You Want Me To Stay", off the Fresh album

The only one i don't care for on your list is the Brook Benton tune. A little treacly for my taste. Other than that, we're differing by small degrees.
The Professor

[Insider]

16. honorable mention to curtis mayfield

good music, but also sound of the times. "freddie's dead" would go in a time capsule, at least for the urban experience. like a soundtrack for real life.

[NightTrain]

17. Remember, folks, that's only the top ten...

...and a tentative one at that! My eventual '70s soul list will be 200-300 titles long. As such, there'll be plenty of room for the artists y'all mentioned in this thread! :yourock:

[Insider]

18. you know how we do

we can't have anything nice around here... LOL

start another one NT!

[DancingBear]

19. Honorable Mention?

For "Somebody's Been Sleeping" by 100 Proof, Aged In Soul - if nothing else than for the great "what a shame, what a shame" chorus. :)

[Kat45]

20. The O'Jays "Love Train" is one of my favorites

And Billy Paul's "Me and Mrs. Jones." Someone else also mentioned Curtis Mayfield, "Freddie's Dead," "Superfly," as well as the Tops' "Ain't No Woman." And I'd also go with "Superstition" for Stevie Wonder. Then there's War, "The World Is a Ghetto" for one....the seventies was a time when I was really into soul--my car radio only got AM, and I set it for the black station that went off the air at sundown.

[Bossy Monkey]

21. Ya know, on some Law & Order show, they were trying to set a 60s mood

for a flashback to a year they mentioned specifically, I think 1969, and they had "What's Goin' On?" playing in the background to provide atmosphere along with the Peter Max posters, lavalamps, and Sonny & Cher wardrobe. I figured it must have been one of those Special DJ Two-Years-in-Advance Copies of the record, and was terribly amused by the anachronism. (I in fact bought the album when it came out, peaking tragically in coolness at the early age of 9.)

On the other hand, it does mean that your #1 is seen by the forces of Dick Wolf as the best representative tune for that era, which could be thought of as confirmation of your choice.