The 1970s brought us quite a few genres that are listeners’ favorites up to these days - from prog and hard rock (with all the variations included) to power pop, punk, and new wave.
Yet, one broad genre, or genres if you will, seems to be one of the more productive ones - the softer side of rock, pop, soul, and what in this century was dubbed as yacht rock (Daryl Dragon of Captain and Tennille has a lot to answer for with that sailor's cap). The quality of that gentler, slower music was often of exceedingly high quality and there was quite a bit of it, something that is often forgotten or neglected.
With something of an overabundance of it, quite a few great songs (and albums) just slipped through the cracks, only to be picked up by hardcore fans and music thrill seekers. Here are 23 of such seventies songs that deserve their due revival, many of which could dream of chart success at the time.
23 soft rock classics from the 1970s
John Phillips - “Malibu People” (1970)
Who else to start the decade on the softer side than Mamas & Papas stalwart John Phillips, with this gentle true California sound song, the opener from his excellent first solo album The Wolf King of L.A. The title itself speaks volumes.
Oliver Klaus - “Here Comes The Sun” (1970)
Oliver, who, many would ask today, is one of the key reasons lying in the fact that this one was one from one of the early DIY albums of the seventies. And no, this is not The Beatles classic, but an excellently produced take on soft rock that deserves more attention today.
Emitt Rhodes - “Pardon Me” (1971)
At the time, the late Emitt Rhodes was hailed by many critics as the cross between Lennon and McCartney, but that lofty praise never got Rhodes the attention he really deserved, and to this day, he remains one of the key baroque-pop artists.
Jo Mama - “Love Is Blind” (1971)
Before Danny Kortchmar became one of the revered session guitarists of the decade, he was a member of Jo Mama who were also backing stars of the decade like James Taylor and Carole King. Here they bring in a lot of deep soul elements that simply work.
Karen Dalton - “Something on Your Mind” (1971)
Back in the sixties, Dalton was a Greenwich Village folk luminary, hailed by many, including the likes of Bob Dylan, for her detailed songwriting and incredible voice. She recorded only two studio albums, and this Americana gem is from her second one, In My Own Time.
Danny O’Keefe ~ “Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues” (1971)
O’Keefe was another ‘transfer’ from the sixties folk scene, who first recorded this song in 1967, but did not release it at the time. The song got some exposure through a version recorded by the Bards until O’Keefe took another look at it in his self-titled (late) debut album for this excellent arranged and sung one.
Aztec Two-Step - “Highway Song” (1972)
Rex Fowler and Neal Shulman formed Aztec Two-Step through a chance meeting on a live stage, becoming soft rock/singer-songwriter cult favorites and recording an extensive discography up into this century. Yet it is their early songs, like this one that stand out.
NRBQ - “Magnet” (1972)
From the get-go in the early 1970s, NRBQ became a sort of king of practically any genre imaginable - from fifties rock to all-out jazz. Here, they show that they were masters of any of those with this easygoing tune.
J.J. Cale - “Magnolia” (1972)
Considered one of the kings of cool and revered by as many rock luminaries imaginable, including Eric Clapton, Cale seems to have had no slip-ups, and this song was one of his most recognizable tunes.
Terry Callier - “You Goin’ Miss Your Candyman” (1972)
Callier was labeled as one of the progenitors of folk-jazz, and here he shows how good and timeless an original take on the blues can sound. No wonder that this one became sampler’s dream later on.
Bobby Charles - “I Must Be In A Good Place Now” (1972)
Before he recorded his solo debut, Bobby Charles wrote songs for the likes of Fats Domino and is considered by many critics as one of the originators of swamp pop. This one is still a prime example of such a sound.
Duncan Browne - “Journey” (1973)
Browne’s 1968 album Give Me Take You is considered one of the baroque pop classics, and while Journey, his follow-up five years later, didn’t fare as well among the critics, this title track became a minor hit in the U.K., and it should have fared much better.
Dan Penn - “Nobody’s Fool” (1973)
A prolific songwriter, alone or with Spooner Oldham, Penn is considered a prime example of country soul, and this title track for the album of the same name is one of the reasons he became hailed by many other artists more than he had success with a wider audience.
Prelude - “After The Gold Rush” (1973)
This British folk trio became favorites on the English folk circuit at the time with their own material, but it is this, the cover of the Neil Young classic that stands out among their recordings, as it does among other covers of this song.
Bobby Womack - “There’s One Thing That Beats Failing” (1974)
Womack was a soul favorite of many and covered by many, starting with The Rolling Stones, and his best work came in the seventies. This song seems to have served as a template for many R&B artists from then on.
Camille Yarbrough - “Take Yo’ Praise” (1975)
Does this one sound familiar? Of course, since Fatboy Slim sampled it and took it to the top with “Praise You.” At the time, though, it didn’t do that much chart-wise for this singer, dancer, actress, poet, activist, television producer, and author.
Roy Harper- “When An Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease” (1975)
Another stalwart of the British seventies folk scene, often cited by Robert Plant as one of his favorites from the scene. And while the cricket references might not mean much to those unfamiliar with the sport (or game as the British would say), the song and the melody take it to real heights.
Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds - “Fallin’ in Love” (1975)
Sure, this is pop, but then, what is wrong with good, well-crafted pop like this one? it did well in the charts now, propelling it these days as one of the "early" yacht rock faves.
The Walker Brothers - “No Regrets” (1975)
Before going avant-garde, Scott Walker made a second attempt at chart success in the mid-seventies, and this cover of a Tom Rush is a stand-out on the album of the same name, with Scott’s voice as incredible as ever.
Michael Farneti - “The River” (1976)
Like the title of the Claus song above, this might be misleading to listeners thinking that this one is a cover of the Bruce Springsteen classic. Yet, although it bears the same name, this obscure song for many shines and stands on its own.
Player - “Baby Come Back” (1977)
Ok, so this was a big hit, as it reached the top of the charts at the time, but the band itself never reached that level at any point later on, and the song itself fell into the shadows as time passed by, with yacht rock craze swiftly bringing it back.
Valerie Carter - “Crazy” (1978)
Carter’s name might not mean much to larger audiences today, but at the time, she performed with the likes of Jackson Browne and Linda Ronstadt, among others, who also appear on her album Just a Stone's Throw Away, with the same names appearing on her follow-up Wild Child from which this one is culled.
Ambrosia - “How Much I Feel” (1978)
This one was a big hit for Ambrosia at the time (No. 3), but as the prime of "soft rock" started to vane, so did that of the band, only to be revived with re-framing of their sound as part of yacht rock.