Best Songs of 1973
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 and 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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Piano Man
Billy Joel
Piano Man
Columbia
Notes
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Love Reign O’er Me
The Who
Quadrophenia
MCA
Notes
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Dream On
Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Columbia
Notes
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Over the Hills and Far Away
Led Zeppelin
Houses of the Holy
Atlantic
Notes
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Ooh La La
Faces
Ooh La La
Warner Bros.
Notes
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Higher Ground
Stevie Wonder
Innervisions
Motown
Notes
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Chameleon
Herbie Hancock
Head Hunters
Columbia
Notes
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The Payback
James Brown
The Payback
Polydor
Notes
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Sanford & Son Theme (The Streetbeater)
Quincy Jones
You’ve Got It Bad, Girl
A&M
Notes
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Hihache
Lafayette Afro Rock Band
Soul Makossa
Musidisc
Notes
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Mango Meat
Mandrill
Just Outside of Town
Polydor
Notes
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Country Road
Toots & the Maytals
Funky Kingston
Dragon
UK-only release
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I Shot the Sheriff
Bob Marley & The Wailers
Burnin’
Tuff Gong
Notes
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Slipping Into Darkness
Ramsey Lewis Trio
Upendo Ni Pamoja
Columbia
Notes
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Me and Baby Brother
War
Deliver the Word
United Artists
Notes
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Get It Together
The Jackson 5
Get It Together
Motown
Notes
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Mama, I Got a Brand New Thing
Undisputed Truth
Law of the Land
Gordy
Notes
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Satisfaction Guaranteed (Or Take Your Love Back)
Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
Black & Blue
Philadelphia International
Notes
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T.S.O.P. (The Sound of Philadelphia)
MFSB
MFSB
Epic
Notes
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Believe in Humanity
Carole King
Fantasy
Epic
Notes
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Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky)
Aretha Franklin
Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky)
Atlantic
Notes
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Without You in My Life
Tyrone Davis
Without You in My Life
Dakar
Notes
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Here I Am (Come and Take Me)
Al Green
Call Me
Hi
Notes
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Pillow Talk
Sylvia
Pillow Talk
Vibration
Notes
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Come and Get Your Love
Redbone
Wovoka
Epic
Notes
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That Lady (Parts 1 & 2)
The Isley Brothers
3 + 3
T-Neck
Notes
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We’re an American Band
Grand Funk
We’re an American Band
Capitol
Notes
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Shambala
Three Dog Night
Cyan
ABC/Dunhill
Notes
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Takin’ Care of Business
Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Bachman-Turner Overdrive II
Mercury
Notes
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Radar Love
Golden Earring
Moontan
MCA
Notes
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Smokin’ in the Boy’s Room
Brownsville Station
Yeah!
Big Tree
Notes
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La Grange
ZZ Top
Tres Hombres
London
Notes
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Be What You Want To
Link Wray
Be What You Want To
Polydor
Notes
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Right Place Wrong Time
Dr. John
In the Right Place
ATCO
Notes
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Dixie Chicken
Little Feat
Dixie Chicken
Warner Bros.
Notes
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Collection Box
Thomas Jefferson Kaye
Thomas Jefferson Kaye
Dunhill
Notes
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Tuesday’s Gone
Lynyrd Skynyrd
(Pronounced ’Leh-’Nérd ’Skin-’Nérd)
MCA
Notes
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Ramblin’ Man
The Allman Brothers Band
Brothers and Sisters
PCLC
Notes
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Eyes of the World
Grateful Dead
Wake of the Flood
Arista
Notes
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Can’t You See
The Marshall Tucker Band
The Marshall Tucker Band
Capricorn
Notes
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Sweet Revenge
John Prine
Sweet Revenge
Atlantic
Notes
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Up in Mississippi (Tonight)
Mudcrutch
Up in Mississippi (Tonight) 7"
Red Pepper
Notes
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Take It Easy
Jackson Browne
For Everyman
Asylum
Notes
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Shotgun Willie
Willie Nelson
Shotgun Willie
Atlantic
Notes
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Jambalaya (On the Bayou)
Blue Ridge Rangers
Blue Ridge Rangers
Fantasy
Notes
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If I Had a Hammer
Johnny Cash
Any Old Wind That Blows
Columbia
Notes
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My Tennessee Mountain Home
Dolly Parton
My Tennessee Mountain Home
RCA
Notes
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Silver Threads and Golden Needles
Linda Ronstadt
Don’t Cry Now
Asylum
Notes
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You’ve Been in Love Too Long
Bonnie Raitt
Takin’ My Time
Warner Bros.
Notes
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Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky
Claudia Lennear
Phew
Warner Bros.
Notes
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If I’m in Luck I Might Get Picked Up
Betty Davis
Betty Davis
Just Sunshine
Notes
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For the Love of Money
The O’Jays
Ship Ahoy
Epic
Notes
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Jungle Boogie
Kool & the Gang
Wild and Peaceful
De-Lite
Notes
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Hair
Graham Central Station
Graham Central Station
Warner Bros. 19744444444?
Notes
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If You’re Ready (Come Go With Me)
The Staple Singers
Be What You Are
Stax
Notes
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To You
Cymande
Second Time Round
Janus
Notes
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The Look of Love
Bobby Womack
Facts of Life
United Artists
Notes
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Midnight Train to Georgia
Gladys Knight & The Pips
Imagination
Buddah
Notes
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I Believe in You (You Believe in Me)
Johnnie Taylor
Taylored in Silk
Stax
Notes
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Warm Love
Van Morrison
Hard Nose the Highway
Warner Bros.
Notes
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May You Never
John Martyn
Solid Air
Island
Notes
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You Goin’ Miss Your Candyman
Terry Callier
What Color Is Love
Cadet
Notes
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I Can’t Write Left-Handed
Bill Withers
Live at Carnegie Hall
Columbia
Notes
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Que Sera, Sera
Sly and the Family Stone
Fresh
Epic
Notes
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Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)
George Harrison
Living in the Material World
Capitol
Notes
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Photograph
Ringo Starr
Ringo
Parlophone
Notes
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Bring on the Lucie (Freda People)
John Lennon
Mind Games
Apple
Notes
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Band on the Run
Wings
Band on the Run
Capitol
Notes
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Showdown
Electric Light Orchestra
On the Third Day
Warner Bros.
Notes
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Rock On
David Essex
Rock On
CBS
Notes
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The Rocker
Thin Lizzy
Vagabonds of the Western World
Decca
Notes
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No More Mr. Nice Guy
Alice Cooper
Billion Dollar Babies
Warner Bros.
Notes
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20th Century Boy
T. Rex
20th Century Boy 7"
EMI
Notes
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Search and Destroy
Iggy and The Stooges
Raw Power
Columbia
Notes
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The Jean Genie
David Bowie
Aladdin Sane
RCA
Notes
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Needles in the Camel’s Eye
Brian Eno
Here Come the Warm Jets
Island
Notes
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Money
Pink Floyd
Dark Side of the Moon
Capitol
Notes
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Editions of You
Roxy Music
For Your Pleasure
Warner Bros.
Notes
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Crocodile Rock
Elton John
Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player
MCA
Notes
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Kodachrome
Paul Simon
There Goes Rhymin’ Simon
Columbia
Notes
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Blinded by the Light
Bruce Springsteen
Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ
Columbia
Notes
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My Old School
Steely Dan
Countdown to Ecstasy
MCA
Notes
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China Grove
The Doobie Brothers
The Captain and Me
Warner Bros.
Notes
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I’ll Be Around
Spinners
Spinners
Atlantic
Notes
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Never, Never Gonna Give You Up
Barry White
Stone Gon’
20th Century
Notes
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Let’s Get It On
Marvin Gaye
Let’s Get It On
Tamla
Notes
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Killing Me Softly With His Song
Roberta Flack
Killing Me Softly
Atlantic
Notes
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I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song
Jim Croce
I Got a Name
ABC
Notes
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When the Morning Comes
Daryl Hall & John Oates
Abandoned Luncheonette
Atlantic
Notes
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Crying in the Night
Buckingham Nicks
Buckingham Nicks
Polydor
Notes
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Full Circle
Byrds
Byrds
Asylum
Notes
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Ballad of Cody
Bill Wilson
Ever Changing Minstrel
Windfall
Notes
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Turn the Page
Bob Seger
Back in ’72
Reprise
Notes
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Angie
The Rolling Stones
Goats Head Soup
Rolling Stones
Notes
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Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
Bob Dylan
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
Columbia
Notes
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A Song for You
Gram Parsons
GP
Reprise
Notes
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I Hope That I Don’t Fall in Love With You
Tom Waits
Closing Time
Asylum
Notes
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I Am the Way (New York Town)
Loudon Wainwright III
Attempted Mustache
Columbia
Notes
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The Free Electric Band
Albert Hammond
The Free Electric Band
Mums
Notes
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Dolphins
Tim Buckley
Sefronia
Discreet
Notes