After the 60′s band The Zombies broke up, Rod Argent went on to lead a group that also had his name Argent. This Video is of a 1974 performance of their 1973 hit Hold Your Head Up.

The early ’70′s had some great instrumentals and one of the best came out in 1973 with the Edgar Winter Group and Frankenstein. Here is a nearly 9 minute live version of the song that may even be better than the album cut from They Only Come Out at Night.

Now you can hear a very short clip of it on the ATT commercial. Sit back and enjoy it in its entirety.

As you can see Edgar Winter has a strap over his neck to hold his keyboard similar to holding a guitar. He was the first to do this. His reason was that by sitting behind the keyboard he wasn’t able to interact with the audience like those on guitar.

The album version of the song was timed at 4:44. When released as a single it only had a running time of 3:28. In concert it wasn’t uncommon for them to jam for nearly 10 minutes or more.

Why the name Frankenstein? That comes from the fact that it’s actually a song that was pieced together from a number of different ‘jams’, just like Frankenstein’s monster was pieced together from parts from multiple bodies.

The song was on the charts in the spring of 1973 reaching the top spot in May. It didn’t do quite as well in the UK peaking at Number 18.

In July of 1973 Grand Funk Railroad released their 7th album We’re An American Band.  This was also the first of three Albums where the group was simply call Grand Funk.  The first single released from the album was the title song We’re An American Band.

The song was their first Number 1 single.  It was written by Don Brewer and produced by Todd Rundgren  and brought the group to the larger, pop audience.  Prior to this the group was more Heavy Rock, the term Heavy Metal was not used until the 1980s.

Many of Grand Funk Railroad songs were sung by Mark Farner, but this one was sung by Brewer, the group drummer.

In the first pressing, all the copies of the 45 RPM records were pressed on gold vinyl.

January 27 – “Superstition”; Stevie Wonder
February 3, 10, & 17 – “Crocodile Rock”; Elton John

February 24, March 3, 10, & 17 – “Killing Me Softly with His Song”; Roberta Flack

March 24 – “Love Train”; The O’Jays

March 31 – “Killing Me Softly with His Song”; Roberta Flack

April 7 & 14 – “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia”; Vicki Lawrence

April 21, 28, May 5 & 12 – “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree”; Dawn featuring Tony Orlando

May 19 – “You Are the Sunshine of My Life”; Stevie Wonder

May 26 – “Frankenstein”; The Edgar Winter Group

June 2, 9, 16 & 23 – “My Love”; Paul McCartney and Wings

June 30 – “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)”; George Harrison

July 7 & 14 – “Will It Go Round in Circles”; Billy Preston

July 21 & 28 – “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown”; Jim Croce

August 4 & 11 – “The Morning After”; Maureen McGovern

August 18 – “Touch Me in the Morning”; Diana Ross

August 25 & September 1 – “Brother Louie”; Stories

September 8 – “Let’s Get It On”; Marvin Gaye

September 15 – “Delta Dawn”; Helen Reddy

September 22 – “Let’s Get It On”; Marvin Gaye

September 29 – “We’re an American Band”; Grand Funk

October 6 & 13 – “Half-Breed”; Cher

October 20 – “Angie”; The Rolling Stones

October 27 & November 3 – “Midnight Train to Georgia”; Gladys Knight & the Pips

November 10 & 17 – “Keep on Truckin’ (Part 1)”; Eddie Kendricks

November 24 – “Photograph”; Ringo Starr

December 1 & 8 – “Top of the World”; Carpenters

December 15 & 22 – “The Most Beautiful Girl”; Charlie Rich

December 29 – “Time in a Bottle”; Jim Croce

Elton John’s holiday song.

The song was written by Bobby Russell. Russell was a popular songwriter in the late 60′s and early 70′s having written the hits Little Green Apples and Honey. He also wrote and recorded a a song about the everyday man having a normal Saturday titled Saturday Morning Confusion.

The song was offered to Cher, but her husband Sonny Bono turned the song down. Vicki Lawrence, one of the regulars on the Carol Brunett Show was married to Russell. She recorded a demo of the song and her version was finally release. The song plus the ones she recorded for an album of the same name were her only recorded songs.

The song reached Number 1 on the Pop charts, but barely charted on the country charts, although it was an obvious country song.

A movie based loosely on the song was made in 1981 and starred Mark Hamill and Kristy McNichol with the title song sung by Tanya Tucker.

10 years later Country Singer Reba McIntyre’s version reached the top of the country charts. The clip is not from the 70s but the 90s when Reba appeared on a Talk Show hosted by Vicki Lawrence.

If there was a theme song for the sexual freedom of the 1970s Let’s Get It On the 1973 hit by Marvin Gaye could easily be it. Marvin along with Ed Townsend wrote the song which was also the title of his followup to What’s Going On.

The song reach the top of the Billboard charts on September 8, 1973, staying there for two weeks. It is also one of the biggest selling singles released by Motown. It sold over two million copies in its first six weeks of release.

Even though Ed Townsend had originally wrote the song with more of a religious theme, Motown and Marvin Gaye changed it to one that as one critic called, the best overtly sensual music anyone in rock has ever made,”.

Another song by the late Jim Croce an artist who died way too early.

This clip is his performance as well as him telling how he came to write the song.

The song was on his Life and Times album.

It reach the Top Spot on Billboard charts on July 21, 1973 and was still on the charts when he died on September 20, 1973 in a plane crash.

Shambala was written by Daniel Moore and the version by Three Dog Night reached Number 3 on the Charts. As it turns out it would be their 2nd to last Top 10 song 1974′s The Show Must Go On would reach Number 4.

The song appeared on their 10th album, Cyan.

It was released by another artist and both versions would debut on the charts at about the same time, but the version done by B.W. Stevenson would peak at Number 66.

The song is about the mythical kingdom of Shambhala, which is mentioned in ancient texts of Tibetan Buddhism.

One day before the release of Jim Croce’s third Album, I Got a Name, was released he died when the charter plan that he, Maury Muehleisen, and George Stevens, the comic who was the show’s warm up act were flying to the next concert site.  All on the plane died when it failed to gain attitude upon takeoff and hit a bunch of pecan trees.  This is one of the few live recordings of the title song from that album.