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