Best Songs of 1970
For these year-end lists, I like to undertake the seemingly impossibly task of creating an hours-long mix. The order you see below represents that effort, which you can listen to via Spotify or Apple Music. Sadly all 100 tracks aren't available, but you get the general idea. Track notes to come eventually or maybe never.
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Carry On
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Déjà Vu
Atlantic
via my dad library:Notes
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25 or 6 to 4
Chicago
Chicago II
Columbia
via TK library:Notes
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The Letter
Joe Cocker
The Letter 7"
Polydor
via TK library:Notes
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I Can’t Leave Your Love Alone
Clarence Carter
Patches
Atlantic
via TK library:Notes
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Ride, Sally Ride
Al Green
I Can’t Get Next to You 7"
Hi
via TK library:Notes
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Get Up (I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine)
James Brown
Sex Machine
King
via TK library:Notes
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Hurricane
Shuggie Otis
Here Comes Shuggie Otis
Epic
via TK library:Notes
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That’s the Way Love Is
Marvin Gaye
That’s the Way Love Is
Tamla
via TK library:Notes
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Don’t Let Me Down
Ben E. King
Rough Edges
Maxwell
via TK library:Notes
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Let It Be
The Beatles
Let It Be
EMI
via TK library:Notes
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No Matter What
Badfinger
No Dice
Apple
via TK library:Notes
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Lola
The Kinks
Lola vs Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One
Pye
via TK library:Notes
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Joy to the World
Three Dog Night
Naturally
Geffen
via TK library:Notes
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Mama Told Me (Not to Come)
Randy Newman
12 Songs
Reprise
via the Three Dog Night cover library:Notes
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Hello, There
John Cale
Vintage Violence
Columbia
via TK library:Notes
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Amoreena
Elton John
Tumbleweed Connection
Uni
via my sister library:Notes
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Dixie Lullaby
Leon Russell
Leon Russell
Shelter
via TK library:Notes
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Wash, Mama, Wash
Dr. John
Remedies
ATCO
via TK library:Notes
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Proud Mary
Ike and Tina Turner
Workin’ Together
Liberty
via TK library:Notes
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Born to Wander
Rare Earth
Ecology
Rare Earth
via TK library:Notes
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War
Edwin Starr
War & Peace
Motown
via TK library:Notes
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Bold Soul Sister, Bold Soul Brother
Black on White Affair
Bold Soul Sister, Bold Soul Brother
Topaz / Light in the Attic
via Wheedle’s Groove library:Reissued by Light in the Attic on Wheedle’s Groove
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Ace of Spades
O.V. Wright
A Nickel and a Nail and Ace of Spades
Back Beat
via TK library:Notes
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Yes We Can
Lee Dorsey
Yes We Can… and Then Some
Polydor
via TK library:Notes
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I’ll Bet You
Funkadelic
Funkadelic
Westbound
via TK library:Notes
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Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf)
Sly and the Family Stone
Greatest Hits
Epic
via my dad library:Notes
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The Grunt (Part 1 & 2)
The J.B.s
The Grunt 7"
King
via TK library:Notes
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Express Yourself
Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
Express Yourself
Warner Bros.
via the N.W.A sample library:Notes
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Total Destruction to Your Mind
Swamp Dogg
Total Destruction to Your Mind
Canyon
via TK library:UK release
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The Shape I’m In
The Band
Stage Fright
Capitol
via TK library:Notes
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Casey Jones
Grateful Dead
Workingman’s Dead
Warner Bros.
via TK library:Notes
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Could You Call It Love
Clover
Clover
Fantasy
via TK library:Notes
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Flying
Faces
Small Faces
Warner Bros.
via TK library:Also known as The First Step
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Tell Me Why
Matthews’ Southern Comfort
Later That Same Year
Decca
via TK library:Notes
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Who’ll Stop the Rain
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Cosmo’s Factory
Fantasy
via TK library:Notes
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Midnight Rider
The Allman Brothers Band
Idlewild South
ATCO
via TK library:Notes
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Signs
Five Man Electrical Band
Good-Byes & Butterflies
MGM
via TK library:Notes
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Country Road
James Taylor
Sweet Baby James
Warner Bros.
via TK library:Notes
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After the Gold Rush
Neil Young
After the Gold Rush
Reprise
via TK library:Notes
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Song to the Siren
Tim Buckley
Starsailor
Straight
via TK library:UK release
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John the Baptist
John & Beverly Martyn
Strormbringer!
Island
via TK library:Notes
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One of These Things First
Nick Drake
Bryter Layter
Hannibal
via TK library:Notes
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Diamond Day
Vashti Bunyan
Just Another Diamond Day
Philips
via TK library:Notes
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Good Morning Blues
Beverly Copeland
Beverly Copeland
CBC
via TK library:Canadian release
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Black Uncle Remus
Loudon Wainwright III
Loudon Wainwright III
Atlantic
via TK library:Notes
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Big Yellow Taxi
Joni Mitchell
Ladies of the Canyon
Reprise
via TK library:Notes
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Domino
Van Morrison
His Band and the Street Choir
Warner Bros.
via TK library:Notes
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Groove Me
King Floyd
Groove Me 7"
Chimneyville
via TK library:Notes
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ABC
The Jackson 5
ABC
Motown
via the ether library:Notes
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Move On Up
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis
Curtom
via TK library:Notes
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Signed, Sealed Delivered (I’m Yours)
Stevie Wonder
Signed, Sealed and Delivered
Tamla
via TK library:Notes
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Turn Back the Hands of Time
Tryone Davis
Turn Back the Hands of Time 7"
Dakar
via TK library:Notes
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It’s a Shame
The Spinners
2nd Time Around
VIP
via TK library:Notes
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(I Can Feel Those Vibrations) This Love Is Real
Jackie Wilson
This Love Is Real
Brunswick
via TK library:Notes
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Spirit in the Dark
Aretha Franklin
Spirit in the Dark
Atlantic
via TK library:Notes
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Band of Gold
Freda Payne
Band of Gold
Invictus
via TK library:Notes
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Precious, Precious
Jackie Moore
Precious, Precious 7"
Atlantic
via TK library:Notes
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Cryin’ in the Streets (Part 1 & 2)
George Perkins and The Silver Stars
Cryin’ in the Streets 7"
Silver Fox
via Emerald City Soul Club library:Notes
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Oh! Sweet Nuthin’
The Velvet Underground
Loaded
Cotillion
via TK library:Notes
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I Just Met You
Louie & The Lovers
Rise
Epic
via TK library:Notes
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The Man in Me
Bob Dylan
New Morning
Columbia
via The Big Lebowski (1998) library:Notes
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Take Me to Tomorrow
John Denver
Take Me to Tomorrow
RCA
via TK library:Notes
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If I Were a Carpenter
Johnny Cash & June Carter
Hello, I’m Johnny Cash
Columbia
via TK library:Notes
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Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down
Kris Kristofferson
Kristofferson
Monument
via the Shawn Mullins cover library:Notes
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Octopus
Syd Barrett
The Madcap Laughs
Harvest
via TK library:Notes
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Sugar Man
Rodriguez
Cold Fact
Sussex
via TK library:Notes
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Gasoline Alley
Rod Stewart
Gasoline Alley
Mercury
via TK library:Notes
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Truck Stop Girl
The Byrds
(Untitled)
Columbia
via TK library:Notes
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What Does It Take
Tony Joe White
Tony Joe
Monument
via TK library:Notes
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Funky Business
Cherokee
Cherokee
ABC
via TK library:Notes
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Hello L.A., Bye-Bye Birmingham
John Randolph Marr
John Randolph Marr
Warner-Seven
via TK library:Notes
-
Country Road
Merry Clayton
Gimme Shelter
Ode
via TK library:Notes
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Brand New Me
Dusty Springfield
A Brand New Me
Atlantic
via TK library:Notes
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He Made a Woman Out of Me
Bobbie Gentry
Fancy
Capitol
via TK library:Notes
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Georgia Morning Dew
Johnny Adams
Heart & Soul
SSS International
via TK library:Notes
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Lucretia Mac Evil
Blood, Sweat & Tears
Blood, Sweat & Tears 3
Columbia
via TK library:Notes
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Stranger to Himself
Traffic
John Barleycorn Must Die
Island
via TK library:Notes
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After Midnight
Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
ATCO
via TK library:Notes
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Layla
Derek and the Dominos
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
Polydor
via Eric Clapton Unplugged (1992) library:Notes
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American Woman
The Guess Who
American Woman
RCA
via TK library:Notes
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All Right Now
Free
Fire and Water
A&M
via TK library:Notes
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Spirit in the Sky
Norman Greenbaum
Spirit in the Sky
Reprise
via Apollo 13 (1995) library:Notes
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The Man Who Sold the World
David Bowie
The Man Who Sold the World
Mercury
via the Nirvana cover library:Notes
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Paranoid
Black Sabbath
Paranoid
Warner Bros.
via TK library:Notes
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Loose
The Stooges
Funhouse
Elektra
via TK library:Notes
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Immigrant Song
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin III
Atlantic
via my dad library:Notes
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Funk #49
James Gang
Rides Again
ABC
via TK library:Notes
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Peace Frog
The Doors
Morrison Hotel
Elektra
via TK library:Notes
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Spill the Wine
War
Eric Burdon Declares War
MGM
via my dad library:Notes
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Oye Como Va
Santana
Abraxas
Columbia
via the ether library:Notes
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Love the One You’re With
Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Atlantic
via TK library:Notes
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The Boxer
Simon & Garfunkel
Bridge Over Troubled Water
Columbia
via TK library:Notes
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Tears in the Morning
The Beach Boys
Sunflower
Reprise
via TK library:Notes
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Circles
Ten Years After
Cricklewood Green
Deram
via TK library:Notes
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My Sweet Lord
George Harrison
All Things Must Pass
Capitol
via TK library:Notes
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Maybe I’m Amazed
Paul McCartney
McCartney
Capitol
via TK library:Notes
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Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)
John Lennon
Instant Karma! 7"
Apple
via a Nike commerical library:Notes
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Wild World
Cat Stevens
Tea for the Tillerman
A&M
via TK library:Notes
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O-o-h Child
The Five Stairsteps
Stairsteps
Buddah
via Boyz N The Hood (1991) library:Notes
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Les Fleur
Minnie Ripperton
Come to My Garden
GRT
via TK library:Notes