Category: 1970

April 1970

April 10, 1970 will be remembered as the day The Beatles ended. It was on that day that Paul McCartney in a “self-interview” for his upcoming solo album McCartney announced the break-up. It really wasn’t a surprise since it was obvious that the members of the Beatles were doing their own thing.

On April 14 The Monkees’ become a duo when Michael Nesmith announces he’s leaving the group to go solo.

The Top 10 in April was full of The Beatles. Let It Be, the last single released before McCartney’s announce, was Number 1 for two weeks. John Lennon’s Instant Karma and Badfinger’s Come and Get It, written by Paul McCartney were in the Top 10.

Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Trouble Water was Number 1 at the beginning of the month and the month ended with the Jackson 5’s ABC closed the month at the top spot.

Along with Paul McCartney’s self-title album McCartney, Elton John released his self-titled Album. Elton John had the songs Your Song, Border Song and Take Me to The Pilot.

April 28 had the most album releases. Some of the Albums released that day were Melanie’s Candles in the Rain, Creamm’s Live Cream and Booker T. & the M.G.s’, instrumental covers LP of Abbey Road, McLemore Avenue.

Eric Burdon & War’s first of two albums Eric Burdon Declares “War” featuring the song Spill the Wine was also released on April 20, 1970. After the second their album Eric Burdon would leave the group, but War would continue as one of the funk bands of the 70’s.

John Lennon’s “Instant Karma”

How long does it take to write a song, record it and have it mixed and ready for release? In the case of John Lennon’s “Instant Karma” a day.

That day was January 27, 1970 and as John Lennon was quoted as saying, “I wrote it for breakfast, recorded it for lunch, and we’re putting it out for dinner.”

And who was in Abbey Roads Studio that day and played on the record. George Harrison on guitar, Klaus Voorman on bass, Alan White on drums, and keyboard player Billy Preston.

Ten days later the song was in the stores. It reached #3 on the US Charts and No. 5 in the UK.

Where did the title come from? Yoko Ono had heard her former husband Tony Cox wife, Melinde Kendall, use the phrase.

Top 40 – 1970

1 – “Bridge Over Troubled Water”; Simon & Garfunkel
2 – “(They Long to Be) Close to You”; The Carpenters
3 – “American Woman”; The Guess Who
4 – “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head”; B.J. Thomas
5 – “War”; Edwin Starr
6 – “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”; Diana Ross
7 – “I’ll Be There”; The Jackson 5
8 – “Get Ready”; Rare Earth
9 – “Let It Be”; The Beatles
10 – “Band of Gold”; Freda Payne
11 – “Mama Told Me (Not to Come)”; Three Dog Night
12 – “Everything Is Beautiful”; Ray Stevens
13 – “Make It with You”; Bread
14 – “Hitchin’ a Ride”; Vanity Fare
15 – “ABC”; The Jackson 5
16 – “The Love You Save”; The Jackson 5
17 – “Cracklin’ Rosie”; Neil Diamond
18 – “Candida”; Dawn
19 – “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”; Sly & the Family Stone
20 – “Spill the Wine”; Eric Burdon & War
21 – “O-o-h Child”; Five Stairsteps
22 – “Spirit in the Sky”; Norman Greenbaum
23 – “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)”; Melanie
24 – “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today)”; The Temptations
25 – “Love on a Two-Way Street”; The Moments
26 – “Which Way You Goin’ Billy?”; The Poppy Family
27 – “All Right Now”; Free
28 – “I Want You Back”; The Jackson 5
29 – “Julie, Do Ya Love Me”; Bobby Sherman
30 – “Green-Eyed Lady”; Sugarloaf
31 – “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours”; Stevie Wonder
32 – “Ride Captain Ride”; Blues Image
33 – “Venus”; Shocking Blue
34 – “Instant Karma!”; John Lennon
35 – “Patches”; Clarence Carter
36 – “Lookin’ out My Back Door” Creedence Clearwater Revival
37 – “Rainy Night in Georgia”; Brook Benton
38 – “Something’s Burning”; Kenny Rogers & The First Edition
39 – “Give Me Just a Little More Time”; Chairmen of the Board
40 – “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)”; Edison Lighthouse