327 US Pop Culture 1970 Part 3

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:03]Welcome back to the basement. I'm Steve Lewis. This week we carry on with a look at the second quarter of 1970, the months of April, May, and June.

[00:00:12]This week we'll look at music and news.

[00:00:14]Next time we'll tackle movies, television, and what our old friends The Beach Boys are up to.

[00:00:20]Let's get started with a look at the first album chart of the quarter on April 4th, 1970.

[00:00:25]For 15 weeks between November 22nd, 1969 and March 7th, 1970, Abbey Road and Led Zeppelin II had occupied the top two slots on the chart.

[00:00:38]On March 7th, Simon and Garfunkel's excellent Bridge Over Troubled Water album finally broke through to number one.

[00:00:46]It's currently in the sixth of an eventual 10 weeks in the top slot.

[00:00:51]The Beatles' Hey Jude collection is in the third of four weeks at its number two peak.

[00:00:56]Led Zeppelin II is currently at number three.

[00:01:00]The group is currently in the midst of a 26-date North American tour, which started in Vancouver on March 21st and is scheduled to end on April 19th in Las Vegas. Strain on Robert Plant's voice will force the cancellation of the Las Vegas gig, so it'll actually end on April 18th in Phoenix. The tour is wildly successful, breaking many attendance records, and reportedly grossing over $1.2 million. dollars.

[00:01:27]The Doors' Morrison Hotel is at its number four peak, where it'll stay for two weeks.

[00:01:33]Santana's long-running hit album is currently at number five.

[00:01:37]Chicago II is at number six. It'll go to number four for two weeks beginning May 23rd.

[00:01:45]The Beatles' Abbey Road is currently at number seven.

[00:01:48]Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5 was released in 1969.

[00:01:53]It's taken a while to climb the chart.

[00:01:55]It's currently at number eight. It'll peak at number five on April 25th.

[00:02:00]Déjà Vu by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young is at number nine. It'll go to number one the week of May 16th after Bridge Over Troubled Water.

[00:02:09]And Willie and the Poor Boys by Creedence Clearwater Revival is still in the top 10 at number 10.

[00:02:15]Turning to top 10 singles as the quarter begins, Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel, an epic pop song with an amazing vocal performance by Art Garfunkel, is in the last of six weeks at number one.

[00:02:29]At number two is Let It Be by The Beatles, which will spend two weeks at number one beginning next week, April 11th.

[00:02:37]Instant Karma, We All Shine On by John Lennon, is in the second of three weeks at its number three peak. It's his first single credited to John Lennon instead of the Plastic Ono Band, and almost certainly his best solo work to date.

[00:02:51]ABC by The Jackson 5 is at number four.

[00:02:55]It'll follow Let It Be at number one on April 25th and will stay there for two weeks. It's their second hit and their second number one.

[00:03:04]Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes by the light English pop group Edison Lighthouse is at its number five peak.

[00:03:12]Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum is at number six. It'll spend three weeks at number three beginning April 18th.

[00:03:20]Frijid Pink's version of House of the Rising Sun is in the first of two weeks at its number seven peak.

[00:03:27]The Rapper by The Jaggerz is at number eight. It had gone all the way to number two back on March 11th.

[00:03:33]Come and Get It by Badfinger is at number nine. It sounds a lot like The Beatles, which makes sense because it was written by Paul McCartney and arranged just like the demo that McCartney had given them. As you can see on the Apple label, the song is featured in the film The Magic Christian starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr. It'll spend two weeks at number seven beginning April 18th. At number 10 is Easy Come, Easy Go, a third top 10 hit for teen idol Bobby Sherman. It'll peak at number nine next week, April 11th.

[00:04:06]And in top 10 singles that will come and go in the second quarter, The Supremes show there's life after Diana Ross with their first hit single since she left the trio, Up the Ladder to the Roof, which will hit number 10 on April 18th.

[00:04:21]Love Me or Let Me Be Lonely by The Friends of Distinction will go to number six for two weeks beginning May 2nd.

[00:04:28]American Woman Back with No Sugar Tonight by The Guess Who will go to number one for three weeks beginning May 9th.

[00:04:36]Reflections of My Life by The Marmalade will go to number 10 for three weeks beginning May 9th.

[00:04:42]The Ides of March, who sound a lot like last year's big breakout act Blood, Sweat, and Tears, will go to number two with Vehicle on May 23rd.

[00:04:51]Tyrone Davis' Turn Back the Hands of Time will reach number three on May 23rd.

[00:04:57]After six top 40 novelty hits since 1961, Ray Stevens finally has a hit with a non-novelty song, Everything Is Beautiful.

[00:05:10]It'll also be his first number one, hitting the top of the chart for two weeks beginning May 30th.

[00:05:16]Cecilia by Simon and Garfunkel will hit number four on May 30th.

[00:05:21]Joe Cocker has his first top 10 hit with The Letter, a live version of The Box Tops' live Cream. With Cream having broken up in November release from the band, a collection of live tracks recorded in 1967 and '68.

[00:08:21]It'll hit number 15 on June 6th.

[00:08:24]Released on May 8th is ABC, the second album from the red-hot Jackson 5.

[00:08:31]Also released on May 8th is Let It Be, the soundtrack to the new Beatles film.

[00:08:36]More about it to come.

[00:08:38]Released on May 11th is Woodstock.

[00:08:41]It's a triple album drawn from last summer's already legendary rock festival. In addition to the music, many of the tracks include stage announcements, crowd noise, and conversations by the musicians, preserving the feeling of the event.

[00:08:56]Creedence Clearwater Revival denied permission to have any of their material from the festival included on the set.

[00:09:03]John Fogerty felt that the crowd was exhausted during their early morning performance, and there were technical problems. For CCR and other acts who played the festival but aren't on the album, the result will be that the fact they were there will be forgotten by all but a few.

[00:09:19]On May 16th comes another big live album from another of the stars of Woodstock, Live at Leeds by The Who.

[00:09:27]Its simple bootleg style cover hides the fact that inside there's a folder with some great ephemera, sort of one of the early examples of the kind of great album packaging we'll get in the early '70s. I'll show you some of the things that are included. You get an early photo of the group, legal notices, receipts, lists of gigs going all the way back to their days as The High Numbers and showing how their pay has improved, the lyrics to My Generation, a non-committal letter from EMI about their demos as the high numbers, a letter from a booking agency saying they won't book The Who because of trouble at their concerts.

[00:10:11]This is more of list of gigs. You get a copy of the famous Maximum R&B poster at the Marquee Club. You don't often find this in used copies cuz it's such a nice poster that most people hung it up.

[00:10:26]A copy of their contract for Woodstock and a photo of Townshend on stage at the festival.

[00:10:33]Also released on May 16th is The Fifth Dimension's Greatest Hits and released in May 10 Years Together, The Best of Peter, Paul and Mary, which will go to number 15 on July 11th for 3 weeks.

[00:10:46]And on June 8th comes Bob Dylan's Self-Portrait.

[00:10:50]Critical and fan frustration has been growing with Bob Dylan since the release of his lightweight country effort Nashville Skyline in April 1969.

[00:11:00]After a 14-month wait, he's followed up with his first double album since Blonde on Blonde in 1966.

[00:11:07]Any hope fans might have had for a return to form is quickly dashed. The set is a collection of uninspired originals, dreary covers and out-of-place live tracks.

[00:11:19]It appears to be some kind of deliberate attempt to destroy his own fan base.

[00:11:24]Reviews are understandably scathing.

[00:11:27]Incredibly, especially for an expensive double album with no hits, it'll do well going to number four for 2 weeks beginning July 25th.

[00:11:37]Released on June 15th is Grand Funk Railroad's Closer to Home.

[00:11:43]Also released in June, Blood, Sweat and Tears 3 on Stage February 1970 by Elvis Presley, which will go to number 13 on July 25th, and Ecology by Rare Earth, which will go to number 15 for 5 weeks beginning August 15th.

[00:12:00]Rare Earth's earlier album Get Ready, released back on September 30th, 1969, has been bouncing around just below the top 15 for most of the spring and will finally spend 3 weeks at number 12 beginning June 27th.

[00:12:16]And in notable second quarter news, on April 11th, Apollo 13 is launched for man's third trip to the moon. Aboard are astronauts James Lovell, James Swigert and Fred Haise. On the evening of April 13th, during a routine stir of one of the oxygen tanks, the crew hears a pretty loud bang accompanied by a fluctuation in power and a firing of the attitude control thrusters. The crew soon realize they've had a major problem. The spacecraft has lost large portions of its oxygen and power. The mission is aborted. The crew power up the lunar module using it as a lifeboat for power and oxygen. It's calculated that the best course is to loop around the moon in order to return to Earth.

[00:13:05]Over the next 4 days, the crew and mission control work against nearly impossible odds in an ever more precarious situation with the world watching and hoping. On the approach to Earth, the service module is jettisoned allowing a visual of just how extensive the damage had been.

[00:13:24]Incredibly, on April 17th, Apollo 13 splashes down in the South Pacific returning all three astronauts safely to Earth.

[00:13:34]On April 22nd, Earth Day is celebrated across the country by millions of conservationists in an effort to highlight ecological problems.

[00:13:42]Organizers hope to make it into an annual event. On April 30th, President Nixon announces that he has ordered US troops into Cambodia to seek out and destroy North Vietnamese fighters who have taken refuge there. This expansion of the Vietnam War into a neighboring country sparks outrage and renews protests across the nation. On May 4th at one of those protest at Kent State University in Ohio, National Guardsmen called in by the university to preserve order end up firing on the crowd killing four college students and wounding eight others.

[00:14:19]Of course, the news shocks the nation.

[00:14:22]As Beanie related in comments on episode 234, some colleges and universities cancel classes and exams for the remainder of the semester in deference to Kent State and also because they're quietly fearful of another violent incident. Beanie also said that when students return to campus in the fall, things will never feel the same.

[00:14:43]5 days after the shootings at Kent State on May 9th, an estimated 90,000 march against the war in Washington, D.C.

[00:14:52]That'll do it for this time. I hope you'll join me next time when we wind up the spring of 1970 with movies, television and The Beach Boys.

[00:15:00]Thanks for watching. I hope you enjoyed it. As always, I look forward to your comments. Please hit like if you don't mind, subscribe if you haven't. Have a fantastic week. Bye.