Search - Various Artists :: Only Rock'N Roll: 1970-1974 (Series)

Strong album of what really made the airwaves sizzle !!!

Matthew G. Sherwin | last seen screaming at Amazon customer service | 06/30/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Only Rock'N Roll: 1970-1974 has twenty wonderful songs from the earlier part of the 1970s; and if you like that early `70s sound this CD was made for you! The sound quality is excellent and the artwork is pretty cool. This is anything but elevator music!



James Taylor, one of the greatest American songwriters ever, starts the CD with his hit "Fire And Rain." "Fire And Rain" is a masterful tune that features James squarely front and center--right where he belongs! I really like "Fire And Rain" and it makes a great starter song for this album. "Mr. Bojangles" is a bittersweet tune from The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band; these guys turn out a tune that you just won't forget anytime soon if you haven't heard this tune before. The guitar work is excellent and the percussion helps to mark the beat as they perform this song to perfection--and beyond! "Mr. Bojangles" is easily a major highlight of this album. There's also Dionne Warwick and The Spinners doing their smash hit entitled "Then Came You." Then Came You" has some great harmonizing and the special musical effects really work to add a lot to this number. "Then Came You" is classic early `70s pop and soft rock; and it fits in well with the other songs on this CD.



Mungo Jerry (whose name I didn't remember) sings "In The Summertime" (which is a song I DID remember!). "In The Summertime" is a very fun song with a playful, catchy and upbeat melody about guys looking for girlfriends during those summer months and I could always like "In The Summertime;" I can't picture myself getting bored of this number. There's also an excellent hit from Three Dog Night as they perform "Joy To The World;" "Joy To The World" makes one of the best songs on this CD. The percussion, the guitars, and the singing are all superb. Three Dog Night may not have stayed together all that long but they sure did some incredible work together while they were a group!



Alice Cooper scores big with his hit "School's Out;" "School's Out" is one hard rockin' tune that I always liked; and "Proud Mary" by Ike & Tina Turner is yet another masterpiece. Wow, they do this one up right! America sings their soft rock ballad entitled "A Horse With No Name;" this has a very pretty melody with some mighty fine harmonizing at that. Carly Simon also contributes one of her best hits ever, "You're So Vain." "You're So Vain" easily brings back memories for me of my junior high school years when this song came out--and we were all wondering how on Earth Carly was singing about. SMILE



The Guess Who do their "American Woman" with lots of great energy; and the CD ends well with "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" by Bachman Turner Overdrive. "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" is very electric and it makes a fine ending for this album.



Overall, this is one fine album of early `70s hits. Unfortunately, my copy of this album also has the truncated version of Don McLean's "American Pie;" and that's a definite minus. Five stars for everything else minus one star for a chopped up version of "American Pie" makes four stars for this CD.

"

Great, except for "American Pie"

Matthew G. Sherwin | 02/07/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This CD is great, except that it only includes half of "American Pie". Right before "Helter Skelter in a summer swelter...", the song fades out. I found that to be disappointing."

A Great Ride Down Memory Lane

Matthew G. Sherwin | 07/28/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This collection of early to mid-70's Hits brings back fun times and high school days. All of these series of hits (#1 Radio Hits,Only Love,Only Rock 'n Roll,etc.)are a great way of putting together some serious oldies collections."