Lyrics

All the friends I ever had are gone

Posted on by brucehhackett

Pete Townshend, who just turned 76 last week, wrote the iconic lyric “Hope I die before I get old” back in 1965 at age 20. It was the most important line in The Who’s signature song of youthful angst and rebellion, “My Generation.”

Townshend has been asked in many interviews over the years just what he meant. One response: “I hope I die while I still feel this alive, this young, this healthy, this happy, and this fulfilled.” Most recently, he said, “The line ‘I hope I die before I get old’ is more about a state of mind than actual age.”

So there you have it. The consummate rocker wasn’t hoping to literally die, as in a fiery car crash or an overdose. He meant he would rather die than to live in an “old” state of mind — cranky, stubborn, set in your ways, unwilling to embrace new ideas.

I bring this up because, this week, Bob Dylan — the Nobel Prize-winning lyricist and one of the most prolific songwriters of the past half-century — marked his 80th birthday.

If young, rebellious rock ‘n’ rollers are supposed to “live fast, die young, leave a beautiful corpse,” as the saying goes, then Dylan has turned out to be the ultimate rebel, rebelling against following that advice.

I’ve written more than once in this blog about the well-known list of rock stars who DID die young. They left us way too early, robbing themselves of many more years, more accomplishments, more expressions of the talents that made them famous in the first place. By extension, we too were robbed of the enjoyment we would surely have experienced from listening to the music they likely would have continued to create.

In June 2020, Dylan released his 39th studio album, “Rough and Rowdy Ways.” Now, let’s face facts: Dylan has released some really lame albums over the course of his six-decade career, which shouldn’t really be that surprising. Nobody, no matter how high a pedestal we’ve put them on, can be expected to maintain a consistently excellent track record for so long. But what’s important to note in Dylan’s case is that he has kept at it, and more often than not, he has gifted us with some extraordinary music and lyrics, and/or strong recorded performances.

This most recent album is a case in point. After biding his time through the 2010s by recording four albums of cover versions of Sinatra torch songs, standards and Christmas music, he surprised us all when he dropped another amazing batch of original tunes on us in the middle of the coronavirus lockdown. Critics were mightily impressed, and so was I. “Academics who can’t dance will fill unread books dissecting the library of historical reference engrained in these grooves,” wrote Pat Carty in his review for Hot Press. “The rest of us can just be thankful that the greatest song and dance man of them all is still rolling.”

True, that. Dylan himself acknowledges that fact in the new album’s song “Mother of Muses”: “I’ve already outlived my life by far.”

Truth be told, Dylan’s ability to write captivating songs went through a mostly fallow period in the ’80s and ’90s when it seemed to me he had grown stale, even irrelevant. But damned if he didn’t come roaring back around 1997 with his “Time Out of Mind” LP, followed by consecutive successes: “Love and Theft” (2001), “Modern Times” (2006), “Together Through Life” (2009) and “Tempest” (2012). These five albums, plus the newest one, offer many exceptional new lyrics and melodies from a man in his 60s and 70s. Where most of his contemporaries have either passed away or retired from the business, Dylan has found the strength and the creative muse to produce quality compositions even at age 79. God bless this man for that.

I’ve had at least a dozen different friends tell me they have seen Dylan in concert and were severely disappointed. I saw him once, in 1997, and I’d give it a C+ at best. He doesn’t seem to give a damn about what the audience might want, which can only be described as self-indulgent, especially when he radically reworks his classics to the point where they’re unrecognizable. That’s why I’ll always prefer his albums. And yet, he says he loves performing. “I like to tour. I like to sing to the people. I don’t like to sing into microphones in a studio. If you look for me when I’m 90, I’ll be on a stage somewhere.”

Dylan is a prickly guy who happens to have a marvelous way with words and musical phrasings, as the people who award the Nobel Prize for Literature recognized in 2016. I’ve remained grateful that I get to revel in his songs even if his recordings of them can be, well, rough around the edges. Again, I say, he doesn’t have to do this anymore, but he has chosen to make the effort, and he deserves our applause (particularly in this instance) for the results.

Like all people who reach the age of 80 or even 90 or 100, Dylan has paid a price for his longevity. As this essay’s title forlornly states, “All the friends I ever had are gone.” That’s a recurring line of resignation from a 1993 song he wrote called “Delia,” in which he bemoans the passing of a woman he loved. Was she real, or a fictional character? I’m not sure…but does it matter? The sentiment is the same. (My mother and my aunt and uncle all lived well into their 90s, and their chief regret, besides deteriorating health and all the challenges it brings, was, “All of my friends are gone.” It’s a lonely business, old age…)

Dylan has lost so many of his close associates: childhood friends; former manager Jerry Weintraub; musical colleagues like Roy Orbison, George Harrison and Tom Petty from his Traveling Wilburys days; songwriting rivals like Leonard Cohen; fellow iconic travelers as varied as David Bowie and Muhammad Ali. In almost every instance, the press has insisted on getting Dylan’s reaction, asking insensitively if these deaths touched him. “Sure, they all did,” he’d say. “We were like brothers. We lived on the same street, and they all left empty spaces where they used to stand. It’s lonesome without them.”

Advanced age may be lonesome, but age also brings wisdom and perspective. There’s a bounty of each in the lyrics of nearly every track on “Rough and Rowdy Ways.” At one time, he flatly refused the moniker of “prophet for the ages” when he was held up as the de facto spokesman of the Sixties Generation. Here, in the aptly named “False Prophet,” he drives that point home with sagacity and verve:

“Well, I’m the enemy of treason, enemy of strife, I’m the enemy of the unlived meaningless life, /I ain’t no false prophet, I just know what I know, I go where only the lonely can go…” “You don’t know me darlin’, you never would guess, I’m nothing like my ghostly appearance would suggest, /I ain’t no false prophet, I just said what I said, I’m just here to bring vengeance on somebody’s head…”

I’m among those who were not fazed by the 16-minute length of “Murder Most Foul,” Dylan’s wordiest song ever and the centerpiece of the new album. It’s an astonishing piece of rhymed reportage about the Kennedy Assassination and much much more, full of cultural references about that day and that period in time, often mentioning specific rock song titles and lyrics, and the artists who sang them. Rolling Stone referred to this epic piece as “a long fever-dream ramble through cultural memory.” Playing it again this morning, I felt its relentless message wash over me gently, “with a violin floating in and out of the arrangement like a haunt in a mansion with no windows,” as Esquire‘s Charles F. Pierce put it, and I wept at its impact. As you listen to this song, I strongly urge you to have the lyrics in front of you just so you don’t miss anything. I’ve printed out the words to “Murder Most Foul” at the end of this essay. It’s well worth your time to absorb this one.

There have been many Dylans for us to consider since his arrival in 1962, when Robert Zimmerman first became Dylan: Average folkie, fiery songwriter, electric pop star, convalescing family man, project actor, Jesus convert, Dead collaborator, comeback icon, crooner, elder statesman. When asked by the press about himself and the meaning of his songs, the younger Dylan remained cryptic in public statements because, as he put it, “If you have to explain ’em, then they weren’t any good in the first place.” These days, he’s far more candid and forthcoming about himself and his different personas. Consider these lines from “I Contain Multitudes,” another new one:

“Got a tell-tale heart like Mr. Poe, got skeletons in the walls of people you know, /I’ll drink to the truth and the things we said, I’ll drink to the man that shares your bed, /I paint landscapes, and I paint nudes, /I contain multitudes…” “A red Cadillac and a black mustache, rings on my fingers that sparkle and flash, /Tell me, what’s next? What shall we do? /Half my soul, baby, belongs to you, /I rollick and I frolic with all the young dudes, /I contain multitudes…”

There are those for whom Dylan’s voice is a dealbreaker. They can’t get past his gruff, guttural delivery, particularly on tracks from more recent albums. For those folks, all I can say is “I get it,” but I can’t help but feel sorry for them if they’ve tuned out Dylan’s lyrics and music in the process. I can only offer this suggestion: Turn your attention to the many dozens of cover versions of his songs out there, performed by men and women with superb singing voices. The Byrds won their fame singing Dylan songs. The Hollies did an entire album of Dylan covers. There’s a fantastic 4-CD collection called “Chimes of Freedom,” released in 2012 to commemorate Amnesty International’s 50th anniversary. It contains 72 Dylan tunes recorded by 72 different artists, from Johnny Cash and Pete Seeger to Diana Krall and Adele, a treasure trove of fine interpretations of some of Dylan’s greatest work.

But remember this. These pleasing performances by all these artists wouldn’t have been possible without the unparalleled songwriting of this uncommon man who just turned 80. For his continuing efforts to create astonishing new songs to add to his iconic library — All Hail Dylan!

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It’s only fair to point out that Dylan is not alone among rock and pop stars from the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s and ’80s who have made it to their 80th birthday. Many of these folks listed below continue to contribute to their legacies, while some have retired from making music. Most of these titans are worthy of more focused attention in Hack’s Back Pages, and I intend to write about them in future posts.

Willie Nelson, 88

Jerry Lee Lewis, 85

Ringo Starr, 80

Neil Diamond, 80

Mike Love, 80

Tom Jones, 80

Eric Burdon, 80

Joan Baez, 80

Dionne Warwick, 80

David Gates, 80

Ronald Isley, 80

Aaron Neville, 80

Tom Rush, 80

Dave Brigati, 80

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“Murder Most Foul”

It was a dark day in Dallas, November ’63
A day that will live on in infamy
President Kennedy was a-ridin’ high
Good day to be livin’ and a good day to die
Being led to the slaughter like a sacrificial lamb
He said, “Wait a minute, boys, you know who I am?”
“Of course we do, we know who you are!”
Then they blew off his head while he was still in the car
Shot down like a dog in broad daylight
Was a matter of timing and the timing was right
You got unpaid debts, we’ve come to collect
We’re gonna kill you with hatred, without any respect
We’ll mock you and shock you and we’ll put it in your face
We’ve already got someone here to take your place
The day they blew out the brains of the king
Thousands were watching, no one saw a thing
It happened so quickly, so quick, by surprise
Right there in front of everyone’s eyes
Greatest magic trick ever under the sun
Perfectly executed, skillfully done
Wolfman, oh Wolfman, oh Wolfman, howl
Rub-a-dub-dub, it’s a murder most foul

Hush, little children, you’ll understand
The Beatles are comin’, they’re gonna hold your hand
Slide down the banister, go get your coat
Ferry ‘cross the Mersey and go for the throat
There’s three bums comin’ all dressed in rags
Pick up the pieces and lower the flags
I’m goin’ to Woodstock, it’s the Aquarian Age
Then I’ll go over to Altamont and sit near the stage
Put your head out the window, let the good times roll
There’s a party going on behind the Grassy Knoll
Stack up the bricks, pour the cement
Don’t say Dallas don’t love you, Mr. President
Put your foot in the tank and let’s step on the gas
Try to make it to the triple underpass
Blackface singer, whiteface clown
Better not show your faces after the sun goes down
Up in the red-light district, they got cop on the beat
Living in a nightmare on Elm Street
When you’re down on Deep Ellum, put your money in your shoe
Don’t ask what your country can do for you
Cash on the barrelhead, money to burn
Dealey Plaza, make a left-hand turn
I’m going down to the crossroads, gonna flag a ride
The place where faith, hope, and charity died
Shoot him while he runs, boy, shoot him while you can
See if you can shoot the invisible man
Goodbye, Charlie! Goodbye, Uncle Sam
Frankly, Miss Scarlett, I don’t give a damn
What is the truth, and where did it go?
Ask Oswald and Ruby, they oughta know
“Shut your mouth,” said a wise old owl
Business is business, and it’s a murder most foul

Tommy, can you hear me? I’m the Acid Queen
I’m riding in a long, black Lincoln limousine
Ridin’ in the back seat next to my wife
Headed straight on in to the afterlife
I’m leaning to the left, I got my head in her lap
Hold on, I’ve been led into some kind of a trap
Where we ask no quarter, and no quarter do we give
We’re right down the street, from the street where you live
They mutilated his body and they took out his brain
What more could they do? They piled on the pain
But his soul was not there where was supposed to be at
For the last fifty years they’ve been searchin’ for that
Freedom, oh freedom, freedom over me
I hate to tell you, mister, but only dead men are free
Send me some lovin’, then tell me no lie
Throw the gun in the gutter and walk on by
Wake up, little Susie, let’s go for a drive
Cross the Trinity River, let’s keep hope alive
Turn the radio on, don’t touch the dials
Parkland Hospital, only six more miles
You got me dizzy, Miss Lizzy, you filled me with lead
That magic bullet of yours has gone on my head
I’m just a patsy like Patsy Cline
Never shot anyone from in front or behind
I’ve blood in my eye, got blood in my ear
I’m never gonna make it to the new frontier
Zapruder’s film I’ve seen night before
Seen it thirty-three times, maybe more
It’s vile and deceitful, it’s cruel and it’s mean
Ugliest thing that you ever have seen
They killed him once and they killed him twice
Killed him like a human sacrifice
The day that they killed him, someone said to me, “Son
The age of the Antichrist has just only begun”
Air Force One comin’ in through the gate
Johnson sworn in at 2:38
Let me know when you decide to throw in the towel
It is what it is, and it’s murder most foul

What’s new, pussycat? What’d I say?
I said that soul of a nation been torn away
And it’s beginning to go into a slow decay
And that it’s thirty-six hours past Judgment Day
Wolfman Jack, he’s speaking in tongues
He’s going on and on at the top of his lungs
Play me a song, Mr. Wolfman Jack
Play it for me in my long Cadillac
Play me that “Only the Good Die Young”
Take me to that place Tom Dooley was hung
Play “St. James Infirmary” and the Court of King James
If you wanna remember, you better write down the names
Play Etta James, too, play “I’d Rather Go Blind”
Play it for the man with the telepathic mind
Play John Lee Hooker, play “Scratch My Back”
Play it for that strip club owner named Jack
Guitar Slim going down slow
Play it for me and for Marilyn Monroe

Play “Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”
Play it for the First Lady, she ain’t feeling any good
Play Don Henley, play Glenn Frey
Take it to the limit and let it go by
Play it for Carl Wilson, too
Looking far, far away down Gower Avenue
Play “Tragedy”, play “Twilight Time”
Take me back to Tulsa to the scene of the crime
Play another one and “Another One Bites the Dust”
Play “The Old Rugged Cross” and “In God We Trust”
Ride the pink horse down that long, lonesome road
Stand there and wait for his head to explode
Play “Mystery Train” for Mr. Mystery
The man who fell down dead like a rootless tree
Play it for the reverend, play it for the pastor
Play it for the dog that got no master
Play Oscar Peterson, play Stan Getz
Play “Blue Sky,” play Dickey Betts
Play Art Pepper, Thelonious Monk
Charlie Parker and all that junk
All that junk and “All That Jazz”
Play something for the Birdman of Alcatraz
Play Buster Keaton, play Harold Lloyd
Play Bugsy Siegel, play Pretty Boy Floyd
Play the numbers, play the odds
Play “Cry Me a River” for the Lord of the gods
Play Number nine, play Number six
Play it for Lindsey and Stevie Nicks
Play Nat King Cole, play “Nature Boy”
Play “Down in the Boondocks” for Terry Malloy
Play “It Happened One Night” and “One Night of Sin”
There’s twelve million souls that are listening in
Play “Merchant of Venice”, play “Merchants of Death”
Play “Stella by Starlight” for Lady Macbeth

Don’t worry, Mr. President, help’s on the way
Your brothers are comin’, there’ll be hell to pay
Brothers? What brothers? What’s this about hell?
Tell them, “We’re waiting, keep coming,” we’ll get them as well
Love Field is where his plane touched down
But it never did get back up off the ground
Was a hard act to follow, second to none
They killed him on the altar of the rising sun
Play “Misty” for me and “That Old Devil Moon”
Play “Anything Goes” and “Memphis in June”
Play “Lonely at the Top” and “Lonely Are the Brave”
Play it for Houdini spinning around in his grave
Play Jelly Roll Morton, play “Lucille”
Play “Deep in a Dream”, and play “Driving Wheel”
Play “Moonlight Sonata” in F-sharp
And “A Key to the Highway” for the king of the harp
Play “Marching Through Georgia” and “Dumbarton’s Drums”
Play darkness and death will come when it comes
Play “Love Me or Leave Me” by the great Bud Powell
Play “The Blood-Stained Banner”, play “Murder Most Foul”

Think it oh-oh-ver, think it oh-oh-ver

Posted on by brucehhackett

One of the least discussed but (for me) most satisfying moments of the recent Grammy Awards show was the performance by the new “super-duo” calling themselves Silk Sonic. Bruno Mars and rapper/singer/producer Anderson.Paak have pooled their talents to come up with a marvelous ’70s soul sound exemplified by their single “Leave the Door Open.” (I’m including it as a bonus track at the end of the Spotify playlist below.)

It reminded me how much I enjoyed soul music in that sweet decade of 1964-1974. The talented vocal groups of Detroit Motown, Memphis Stax/Atlantic and “Philly Soul” were a crucial part of that musically fertile period. Funny thing, though — the great songs of that era seemed to be far better known for the music than the lyrics, which often focused rather narrowly on the flip sides of romantic relationships (betrayal and devotion).

As a guy who loves quoting memorable rock music lyrics, I thought that for this latest edition of Hack’s Back Pages Lyrics Quiz, it might be a fun challenge for readers to test their ability to recall lyrics of classic hits by soul artists. I’ve come up with 25 lines from some of the better known soul tunes of the ’60s and ’70s for you to identify. Write down your answers on a piece of paper, then scroll down to see how you did, and read a little bit about each of these memorable songs.

Enjoy!

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1. “So take a good look at my face, you’ll see my smile looks out of place…”

2. “There’s no exception to the rule, listen baby, /It may be factual, may be cruel…”

3. “Comin’ to you on a dusty road, /Good lovin’, I got a truckload…”

4. “Folks say papa never was much on thinking, spent most of his time chasing women and drinking, /Mama, I’m depending on you to tell me the truth…”

5. “Ooh, your kisses, sweeter than honey, /And guess what? So is my money…”

6. “Don’t let the handshake and the smile fool ya, /Take my advice, I’m only tryin’ to school ya…”

7. “Like a fool I went and stayed too long, /Now I’m wondering if your love’s still strong, ooh baby, here I am…”

8. “Sometimes in our lives, we all have pain, we all have sorrow, /But if we are wise, we know that there’s always tomorrow…”

9. “But all you do is treat me bad, break my heart and leave me sad, /Tell me, what did I do wrong to make you stay away so long…”

10. “Every minute, every hour, I’m gonna shower you with love and affection, /Look out, it’s coming in your direction…”

11. “Who is the man who would risk his neck for his brother man?…”

12. “I can build a castle from a single grain of sand, I can make a ship sail, huh, on dry land…”

13. “Now if you feel that you can’t go on, because all of your hope is gone, /And your life is filled with much confusion, until happiness is just an illusion…”

14. “Father, father, we don’t need to escalate, /You see, war is not the answer, for only love can conquer hate…”

15. “When I call your name, girl, it starts to flame, burning in my heart, tearing it all apart, /No matter how I try, my love I cannot hide…”

16. “Today I saw somebody who looked just like you, /She walked like you do, I thought it was you…”

17. “Now if there’s a smile on my face, it’s only there trying to fool the public, /But when it comes down to fooling you, now honey, that’s quite a different subject…”

18. “Remember the day I set you free, I told you you could always count on me, darling…”

19. “For once I can touch what my heart used to dream of, long before I knew someone warm like you would make my dreams come true…”

20. “I don’t need no money, fortune or fame, /I’ve got all the riches, baby, one man can claim…”

21. “Why don’t you be a man about it and set me free? /Now, you don’t care a thing about me, you’re just using me…”

22. “I know a man ain’t supposed to cry, but these tears I can’t hold inside, /Losin’ you would end my life, you see, ’cause you mean that much to me…”

23. “When my soul was in the lost and found, you came along to claim it…”

24. “You been running all over the town now, /Oh, I guess I’ll have to put your flat feet on the ground…”

25. “Somebody’s out to get your lady, /A few of your buddies, they sure look shady…”

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ANSWERS:

1. “The Tracks of My Tears,” The Miracles, 1965

Robinson has said he was looking in his bathroom mirror one morning and thought, “What if someone cried so much that you could see the tracks left from the tears on their face?” That became the lyrical concept, partnered with Miracles guitarist Marv Tarplin’s melody, for this classic slice of Motown gold, which peaked at #16 for them in 1965. Ten years later, Linda Ronstadt recorded her own take on the iconic tune, reaching #25.

2. “Everybody Plays the Fool,” The Main Ingredient, 1972

This Harlem-based vocal group lost its lead singer to leukemia in 1970 and was replaced by Cuba Gooding, whose son would later become an Oscar-winning actor. The Main Ingredient had their biggest success with this song by seasoned songwriter Rudy Clark (who also wrote The Rascals’ “Good Lovin’,” among others), who had written it with Charley Pride in mind. But Pride thought it was more pop than country, so these guys took a stab at it and found themselves with a #3 hit in the autumn of 1972. Aaron Neville’s 1990 rendition was a #8 hit as well.

3. “Soul Man,” Sam and Dave, 1967

Singer-songwriter Isaac Hayes came up with this song after watching a news broadcast about riots in Detroit where buildings owned by Blacks were marked with the spray-painted word “soul” to spare them from vandalism. “The song became kind of like boasting, ‘I’m a soul man,'” said Hayes. “It was a pride thing.” Sam Moore and Dave Prater turned it into a #2 hit on pop charts, and The Blues Brothers revived it as their signature song in 1978 on “Saturday Night Live” and subsequent LP, “A Briefcase Full of Blues.”

4. “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” The Temptations, 1972

Many people don’t know that this hugely popular #1 single, which pushed pop radio boundaries at more than seven minutes in length, actually clocked in at 11:44 in the original album version (included in the Spotify playlist below). Producer Norman Whitfield gave it textures and instrumental passages that set a somewhat forbidding atmosphere for the downcast story of a young man’s memories of life in a broken home. Dennis Edwards sang lead but the others took turns singing bass and falsetto to give voice to the narrators’ siblings. A truly remarkable recording top to bottom.

5. “Respect,” Aretha Franklin, 1967

This may be the most famous song on this list, as iconic as they come. After wallowing for years at Columbia Records, she switched to Atlantic and knocked us all off our feet with her fabulous takes on riveting R&B material. Otis Redding had already put this song on the map, but when Franklin sang it, it transformed into an anthem for the burgeoning women’s movement and became her signature song for decades to come.

6. “Smiling Faces Sometimes,” The Undisputed Truth, 1971

Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong wrote this one and gave it to The Temptations, who were undergoing a lineup change as Eddie Kendricks was going solo. They dragged their feet on releasing it, so the up-and-coming group The Undisputed Truth made their own recording and stole the spotlight on the charts, reaching #3 in the summer of 1971, but they never reached the pop charts again. You might check out The Tempts’ version, which (again) goes on for 12 minutes.

7. “Signed, Sealed, Delivered,” Stevie Wonder, 1970

Wonder wrote this one with a little help from his mother Lula Hardaway, who, upon hearing him toying with the melody, exclaimed, “I love that! Ooh, signed, sealed and delivered, I’m yours!” This single marked Stevie’s first time as producer, a role he would retain for the rest of his exemplary career. The song reached #3 in 1970, and since then, many dozens of covers have been recorded, including ones Peter Frampton, Jermaine Jackson, Chaka Khan and Michael McDonald.

8. “Lean On Me,” Bill Withers, 1972

After first hitting the charts with the angst-ridden “Ain’t No Sunshine” in 1971, Withers could afford to move to Los Angeles to continue his career, but he missed the tight-knit community of his hometown of Slab Fork, West Virginia. “I started thinking about how we all leaned on each other for love and support, and the song came out as I played some basic scales on piano,” Withers recalled. The result was a #1 song for three weeks in July 1972.

9. “Baby Love,” The Supremes, 1964

Unbelievably catchy, this classic by Holland/Dozier/Holland was the one that truly established The Supremes as a singles powerhouse on pop radio, particularly as their songs faced off against The Beatles’ initial run of chart-toppers in 1964. “Where Did Our Love Go” came before it, but “Baby Love” proved they weren’t a flash in the pan, and indeed, they went on to have five consecutive #1s, which had never been achieved before.

10. “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me,” The Supremes & The Temptations, 1969

Written by Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff and Jerry Ross, this song was first recorded by Dee Dee Warwick in 1966 and then by Madeline Bell in 1968, both with only minimal impact. But when The Temptations and The Supremes chose to team up for an album and TV special in late 1968, this was the song from the album that radio stations chose to play, even though it hadn’t been performed on the show and wasn’t the intended single. Once officially released as a single, it vaulted all the way to #2 on pop charts in early 1969, featuring Diana Ross and Eddie Kendricks trading off on lead vocals.

11. “Theme From Shaft,” Isaac Hayes, 1971

Hayes had been a pivotal producer/songwriter/arranger at Stax Records since its inception. In his first attempt at film scoring, he scored a hit with the quasi-funk/soul soundtrack for the Richard Rountree detective flick “Shaft” in 1971. The theme song was more instrumental than vocal, but it was nonetheless a huge hit, reaching #1 and scoring an Oscar for Best Song.

12. “I Can’t Get Next to You,” The Temptations, 1969

Immediately identified by opening applause cut short by Dennis Edwards saying,”Hold it, hold it, listen,” followed by the piano intro and horn section, “I Can’t Get Next to You” was a gigantic hit for The Temptations in the fall of ’69. Another Norman Whitfield/Barrett Strong composition, it featured each of the group’s different voices taking turns on lead. I’m also fond of the excellent cover version Annie Lennox recorded in 1995.

13. “Reach Out I’ll Be There,” The Four Tops, 1966

There’s an undeniable feeling of dread to the way this track begins — minor chords, echo and innovative percussion — followed by a shift to major chords to release the tension. The anguished pleading of lead singer Levi Stubbs, achieved by making him sing in a key that was right at the top of his vocal range, really makes the record. For me, this is The Four Tops at their very best.

14. “What’s Going On,” Marvin Gaye, 1971

Widely considered his masterpiece, “What’s Going On” is a sonic breakthrough and a lyrical cry for our future on the planet. “With the world exploding all around me, how am I supposed to keep singing love songs?” he said. “I wanted to write songs that would reach the souls of people.” Gaye’s singing and songwriting were at their best for the title track (which ranked #4 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time), while “Mercy Mercy Me” and “Inner City Blues” weren’t far behind.

15. “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch),” The Four Tops, 1965

Another marquis song in the Motown canon is this spirited tune by the Holland/Dozier/Holland songwriting and producing team. Using a similar chord progression to “Where Did Our Love Go,” which they’d written for The Supremes the previous year, the H/D/H trio struck gold again for The Four Tops, who put this song at #1 on the pop charts for two weeks, and #1 on the R&B charts for nine weeks, in the summer of ’65.

16. “You Are Everything,” The Stylistics, 1971

Thom Bell, co-creator of the Philly sound, came up with this passionate ballad for The Stylistics, one of the bands on his Philly Int’l label. The falsetto voice of Russell Thompkins Jr. was the defining characteristic of the group’s sound on this and other hits they charted in the early ’70s. “You Are Everything” reached #4 on pop charts, and a cover of the song by Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross on 1973’s “Diana & Marvin” LP reached #5 in England.

17. “The Tears of a Clown,” Smokey and The Miracles, 1970

Stevie Wonder and producer Henry Cosby had written and recorded the instrumental track for this tune in 1967, but Wonder couldn’t come up with a lyric for it. He asked for help from Smokey Robinson, who heard the calliope-like section and thought of a clown in the circus, hiding his sadness behind a smile. The Miracles recorded it as an album track, and then three years later, after Motown’s British subsidiary released it to great success, it was released as a single in the US, where it became their final #1 hit.

18. “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, 1967

This unforgettable song served as the entree into Motown for the songwriting team of Nikolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, and was also the initial pairing of Gaye with singer Tammi Terrell. Gaye was a seasoned recording artist by then, which intimidated Terrell so much that her part and Gaye’s were actually recorded separately and grafted together by producer Harvey Fuqua. It peaked at #19 in 1967 but has since reached iconic status, used in film soundtracks like “Remember the Titans” and “Guardians of the Galaxy.” A slower, melodramatic, partly spoken version by Diana Ross made it to #1 in 1970.

19. “For Once in My Life,” Stevie Wonder, 1968

Originally written as a slow ballad and recorded that way by the Four Tops and The Temptations, it was recorded in 1967 in an uptempo arrangement by Stevie Wonder, but Motown head Berry Gordy didn’t like it and withheld it from release for more than a year. It reached #2 on the pop and R&B charts in late 1968 and became a standard, covered by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and other crooners. The record is mentioned by bass players everywhere as the perfect example of James Jamerson’s unparalleled bass-playing style.

20. “My Girl,” The Temptations, 1964

Written by Smokey Robinson and fellow Miracle Ronald White, “My Girl” was written about Robinson’s wife Claudette and was set to be the next Miracles single, but instead, he produced it with The Temptations. Although Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams typically sang lead vocals, Robinson insisted he wanted David Ruffin to sing it, “featuring his gruff voice on a sweet melody.” It became not only the group’s first #1 hit but their signature song ever since.

21. “You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” The Supremes, 1966

Lamont Dozier, in collaboration with Brian and Eddie Holland, incorporated a Morse code-like guitar riff into the arrangement for this magnificent R&B #1 hit they wrote for The Supremes. It became one of the most often covered songs in the Motown catalog — Vanilla Fudge did a slow-tempo, hard rock version in 1967 that made the Top Ten; British singer Kim Wilde returned the song to #1 with a supercharged electronic dance music rendition; and country artist Reba McEntire offered up a Supremes replication in 1995.

22. “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” Marvin Gaye, 1968

This awesome tune by Motown songwriting duo Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong was recorded first by The Miracles, but only as an album track. Gladys Knight & The Pips had a big #2 hit with their funky arrangement in 1967, but Gaye’s haunting version eclipsed them both, holding down the #1 spot for seven weeks in 1968-69, making it the most successful song in Motown history. It was later turned into a 10-minute rock interpretation by Creedence in 1970.

23. “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” Aretha Franklin, 1967

Atlantic Records chief Jerry Wexler had been reading about the philosophical concept of “the natural man” when he ran into Carole King in New York one day. On the spot, he asked her to write a song about “the natural woman” for Franklin’s next album, so she and husband/songwriter partner Gerry Goffin went home and wrote this iconic tune that night. It became a #8 pop hit (#2 on R&B charts) for Aretha. King later recorded her own version for her 1971 epic LP “Tapestry.”

24. “Mustang Sally,” Wilson Pickett, 1966

R&B singer-songwriter Mack Rice wrote and recorded this song in 1965 not long after a friend told him he wanted to get a sporty Ford Mustang, which had just been introduced the previous year. Originally titled “Mustang Mama” about a woman who wanted only to ride around in her new car, he chose to change Mama to Sally because of the use of the line “Ride, Sally, ride” in the middle verses. Pickett reached #23 on the pop charts with his version.

25. “Back Stabbers,” The O’Jays, 1972

Inspired by the theme of betrayal used effectively in “Smiling Faces Sometimes,” Leon Huff came up with “Back Stabbers” for The O’Jays’ first single on Huff’s and Kenny Gamble’s new label, Philadelphia International. It was the beginning of a long and successful relationship between the vocal group and the label, followed by “Love Train, “For the Love of Money” and many more.

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