Sunday, March 2, 2014

Music review: The Greatest Hits, 1971, Entertainment Weekly

This is a compendium of twelve hits from 1971.  This was about the time my parent bought me a radio for Christmas when I was growing up.  I would listen to music as I went to bed, and these were some of the songs that would be playing.  “Knock Three Times” Dawn, “Indian Reservation” The Raiders, “Put Your Hand in the Hand” Ocean and “Brand New Key” Melanie all brought back pleasant memories. 
This set of songs his highlighted by “Maggie May” Rod Stewart. Rod Stewart's grainy voice and the guitar playing in this song are wonderful.  The parts with just music are as enjoyable as the singing.  At one point they effectively add a ukulele which is very nice, especially when the vocal comes back in over the top of it. 
Another song worthy of mention is “Mr Bojangles” The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.  I had not realized they played this song, thinking it was a Sammy Davis Jr. song.  I guess this song has been sung by many artists.  It actually predates this version by several years.  Although the author denies that is was about Bill Bojangles Robinson, the similarity with his story is striking. 
The Temptations sing “Just my Imagination” which is a very beautiful and peaceful song.  I enjoy its tone.
There are a couple of songs from this group that just I just don’t care for.  I never understood “Spanish Harlem” and still don’t.  Similarly I don’t care for Marvin Gaye “What’s going On.”

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