Hard To Find 45s On 19 - More 70's

I am using the same two opening paragraphs for volumes 17, 18 & 19. It’s too hard to say basically the same thing three different ways. The rest is all specific to each volume.It’s great to see that the Eric label is still putting out their Hard To Find 45’s series, even in 2017. In the days when there was only hard copy they were essential for serious collectors. Those were the days when collection after collection offered only the big hits of a particular year or era and the collections endlessly duplicated each other.(I must have a dozen copies of some songs. Collectors like myself often bought a collection for one song and already had all the others. If not that, you had to get a Greatest Hits collection from a one hit wonder usually full of other songs that explained why they only had one hit. People have it easy now with streaming and mp3’s but even so there are songs unavailable in those forms and every once in a while, still completely unavailable or only at an extremely inflated price on an out of print disc.Eric pretty much sets the gold standard in remastering, using original masters and also making wise choices of what songs to include. These songs sound amazingly good. Their collections show the wide diversity of the pop and rock scene from the 50’s to 70’s and lately even the 80’s. Each collection has some super-rare titles you’ve been looking for, either something from a very small label or perhaps the single version of an album original. There’s also usually a song or two you’ve never heard of, a song you had forgotten about that you now love hearing again and sometimes a song you’d rather have kept forgotten. Eric’s selections are always interesting as volumes 18 and 19 of 70’s music show.The theme here is the sheer diversity of pop radio. I loved this aspect of 60’s and 70’s Top 40 where you might go from Petula Clark to James Brown or Frank Sinatra to The Yardbirds. In ‘68 radio split into AM and FM stations with their own formats and limited crossover. Unlike some of my friends who went all-FM, I continued to listen to both. I still liked just about everything and remember most of the tracks on this disc.Joan Baez was not a singles artist but she had her first hit single with her version of The Band’s The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (From a 2-LP set, no less). The booklet notes that Levon Helms of The Band didn’t care for her version. That might be due to the fact that in the chorus she and her backup singers seem to be celebrating the fact rather than lamenting it. Dueling Banjos is very rare outside the soundtrack album and is welcome here.The New Seekers had too many scheduling problems to record the new Coca-Cola song when asked to sing it for the ad campaign by big agency McCann/Erickson; so they had noted producerAl Ham put together a nine-voice singing group (which included his wife and daughter) to do it. They were not the photogenic young people filmed singing it on the hill, but the one-shot group was dubbed The Hillside Singers when it became so popular a single was released. The New Seekers realized they should have done it, recorded it and had their biggest single (reaching #7 to the Hillside Singers #11). The song was written by songwriters Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway (You’ve Got Your Troubles, Green Grass, Long Cool Woman In a black Dress), who had their own hit as David & Jonathan with Lennon & McCartney’s Michelle.Singles by album artists usually heard on FM channels usually had to be shortened for radio formats and for this reason some people don’t respect them, but for serious collectors they are often a must. Yes’ Roundabout isn’t as different from the album as Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells was on volume 18, but it’s still welcome as one of its official incarnations.Eric has a nice way of sequencing collections of this type, putting likes with likes, something I’ve learned to do myself with my own projects. It keeps everything flowing naturally. Here we pass from a folk section to a rock section, to some smaller bits and pieces. Suavecito and Why Can’t We Live Together fit so well together in a mellow R&B groove, just as the soft rock of Randy Vanwarmer and David Gates complement each other. Bread had broken up in ‘73 and despite a brief ‘76 reunion album would not return. Gates got a hit with this song that closed a popular movie before going back to cattle ranching. Vanwarmer had only the one hit himself but went on to write hits for Alabama and The Oak Ridge Boys. England Dan and John Ford Coley usually sang folky soft rock love songs but this song has a spiritual message which likely came from their conversion to the Baha’i faith of Dan Seals’ brother, Jim Seals of Seals & Crofts.Rose Royce’s Car Wash had been a cute R&B single but lOve don’t Live Here Anymore was worlds away. Madonna may be known more for her later versions but this was the original. It’s one of the loneliest-sounding songs to make pop radio. With its spare arrangement and Gwen Dickey’s empty and defeated vocal, it really impacts you in a way a big arrangement wouldn’t. The obligatory electronic disco flourishes make it sound even more eerie.As usual, everything about the set is top of the line. When other labels have abandoned booklet notes for the most part, Eric still comes through with entertainingly written and knowledgeable notes on every performer and song and has a real feeling for the 70’s pop scene. The feeling of the disc as a whole is relatively mellow aside from Roundabout and Vehicle. The 21 song selections span the entire decade.An Extended Note About “You Are the One”:The real rarity in this collection, a true prize for lovers of the obscure, so rare that it’s making its CD debut here in 2017, originated on the back of a box of cereal. This is You Are the One by The Sugar Bears and everything about it is a bit unusual. It was #2 of five songs put out in the cereal box format, but was the most popular. It was so popular it was finally put out as a legitimate vinyl single but by then hundreds of thousands of boxes of Sugar Crisp had been sold so it never got higher than #51.Sugar Bear himself (the others were added) had been a Post mascot since the 1930’s and in ads he had a Bing Crosby voice, both talking and singing. This, of course, needed to be updated. Once a Sugar Bear group was created they needed music. This is where You Are the One is odd. You’d expect cartoon bears aimed at kids would sing something like Bang Shang a Lang. But instead they sing You Are the One, which sounds nothing like a cartoon bear would sound and seems too sophisticated for its target audience. Though sometimes called Bubblegum, it’s really a nice piece of almost-power pop with its driving rhythm and catchy melody, the only hint of Bubblegum perhaps lying in the fuzz guitars in the background. It reminds me of Love Is In the Air more than Sugar Sugar.Secondly the personnel involved were all top notch professionals. The song was written by Baker Knight who wrote Lonesome Town for Rick Nelson and The Wonder of You for Elvis. It was produced by Jimmy Bowen, a former Rockabilly singer who wrote Party Lights for his friend Buddy Knox and had his own million selling single, I’m Stickin’ With You. He produced many records for Reprise Records and was responsible for getting Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood together. Singer Mike Settle began as a folk-singer in the early sixties and besides having his own album had two of his songs (Settle Down; Sing Hallelujah) recorded by Judy Collins on her early albums (Golden Apples of the Sun; Judy Collins #3). He was a member of the New Christy Minstrels and a founder of The First Edition, which also featured Kenny Rogers. “Honey Bear” singing backup was voiced by Kim Carnes.

I have bought several and will continue to do so! Great condition and can’t beat the price! Thank you!P.S. very very fast shipping!

For Volume 19 of this series Eric Records collects 21 tunes from the ‘70s all in stereo, all from the master tapes, and all sounding better than ever. This release includes some CD debuts as well as some new stereo so here are the highlights:For the first time on CD the correct stereo 45 edit of the hit instrumental “Dueling Banjos” appears here. Previously we had incorrect edits, the longer LP version (about a minute longer than the single edit) or the mono edit.The first time “Big Yellow Taxi” ever hit the top 40 it was actually a cover by the Chicago group the Neighborhood. Many have covered Joni Mitchell’s song since, however this recording has never appeared on CD until now. The original tape master was in the vault all these years. Nice find indeed.The Sugar Bears were a group of studio musicians that recorded an entire album to capitalize on the popular breakfast cereal Sugar Crisp. In early 1972 the song ”You Are The One” was popular enough to reach #51 on the singles chart. Since then the song has never appeared on CD until this release.The Climax Blues Band had a huge pop hit in 1977 with “Couldn’t Get It Right.” For some reason every CD appearance of this tune started with a double tracked lead vocal when the U.S. 45 never did. Then a few years ago that rare single version finally appeared on CD, but sadly that disc used vinyl for their source. This time the folks at Eric Records had the original master tape dug out of the vault so this marks the CD debut of the correct U.S. mix from the master tape.British vocalist Kiki Dee hit the top 40 a couple of years prior to her duet with Elton John with the song “I’ve Got The Music in Me.” The commercial 45 was almost five minutes long, but in 1974 many AM radio stations played the promotional 45 edit that was over a minute shorter. That rare DJ edit appears on CD here for the first time ever.The single edit of Gerry Rafferty’s top 10 hit “Right Down The Line” has been practically impossible to find on CD for almost four decades. This CD includes that rare 45 edit in the correct length and speed (the 45 ran faster than the LP version).The R&B group Rose Royce’s final top 40 in early 1979 was the ballad “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore.” All these years since every CD appearance of the song have been the LP mix. This CD release includes the debut of the rare 45 mix (another tape Eric Records was able to get from deep in the tape vault).The song “Why Can’t We Live Together” was a big hit in late 1972 for Timmy Thomas. Some folks may recognize the melody as it was sampled by Drake just a couple of years ago. The original recording was always mono. The version on this CD is a digitally extracted stereo (DES) recreation and it sounds amazing. So what exactly is DES? It involves a fairly new process known as “spectral editing” where the engineer uses several techniques to transform the original mono recording in to an authentic stereo sounding mix. These “technical wizards” spend on average 30-40 hours per song using an audio software program to create these new mixes. The truth is unless they identify which tracks are DES and which are not you would never be able to tell the difference upon listening.The British band Hot Chocolate had several big hits in the ‘70s including “Every 1’s A Winner.” The 45 version runs 3:35 and appears on CD here in it’s correct length for the first time (all previous CD releases were the longer LP version, an incorrect edit of the LP version, or the correct 45 version running four or more seconds longer).The song “Rainbow Connection” hit the top 40 in 1979 and was even nominated for an Oscar. This track has only appeared on CD a handful of times previously so great idea to include this one.Overall, you can’t beat the superior sound or the excellent price for this release. Over 71 minutes of music plus ten pages of informative liner notes on all the songs and artists. A must buy for collectors and fans of 70s music.

I considered giving this only 4 stars but CDs like these need to be encouraged. To people who missed Rhino's "Have a Nice Day: Super Hits of the '70's" series, the Hard To Find 45s CDs are vital. Having not missed any of those 25 Rhino volumes, I am a bit frustrated by a lot of duplication and not enough never-on-CD selections.On this disc, Neighborhood's "Big Yellow Taxi" is the big find; their version of Joni Mitchell's classic has never been on CD before. Neither has the Sugar Bears "You Are the One". While I doubt many people were looking for this #51 hit from 1972, it's actually quite good. David Cassidy-like vocals with a pounding beat. Also new is a 3:43 edit of Kiki Dee's "I've Got the Music in Me", which is over five minutes on "Have a Nice Day".Interesting sequencing; the first six tracks are all folk-rock, then after the Sugar Bears some harder rock (T.Rex/Yes/Climax Blues Band/Ides of March) before basically going off in all directions, which is fine with me.There are still quite a few Top 40 hits from the 70s and 80s that have yet to be presented on CD. I hope there are future volumes, and that I see more totally new-to-CD songs on them as opposed to singles that have been reissued before.

The Hard to Find series has often thrown up some interesting obscurities but it rarely offers a completely satisfying listening experience - there's always the odd clunker, given the diversity on offer.Volume 19 is no different. Some may think Joan Baez waving the Confederate flag while singing about Driving Dixie Down, or the Sugar Bears warbling You Are The One, are lost gems; I beg to differ. The liner notes even sheepishly admit this! There's also a clutch of maudlin love songs in the last third of the tracklist that threaten to drown the whole experience in AOR misery.The saving grace is always the long-unheard (or even new discovery) that triggers dormant memories. I mean, play this to anyone under 40 and the best you could hope for is a blank stare.On the whole this is a good series, though. The sound quality is the best you'll find for this vintage (and most of it really does sound vintage now) and Eric Records (through Rhino) seem to go the extra mile in research and annotation. If you see something in the tracklist that intrigues, chances are there'll be plenty of happy discoveries waiting.

This album is based on the original US 45 single releases and not the UK ones. Disappointed that the US single of the Hustle is not the same as brilliant UK single that was out on Avco Records over here. On the British release, the into was slightly shorter but the fade out was longer than the US version and in my opinion we had the better single version here in Britain in 1975.Also Timmy Thomas UK single version was longer running at nearly 4 minutes - US Version run at 3.30 minutes.Rose Royce - love dont live here any more - our Brtitish single version runs to 3.56 minutes but the US version here is only 3.48 ! . Also wishing on a star - UK Single version is 4.50 minutes but the US version is nearly a minute shorter at 3.56Sound quality not bad though, however couldn't get it right by the Climax Blue band has better sound quality on the album version rather than the US single version they have included here

Just awesome! I love to have CD's, well, I love all I've gotten throughout my life! Anyways, this one has got some greats! I was only in my yonger years, well, lets say I was only four years old when 1970 started! But I bought my first 45 when I was in grade one, that gives you an idea! The music on this CD, for anyone that likes the different songs of the 70's, that were obvious excellent hits, a whole whack are on this Cd! I remember hearing the ''I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing (in perfect harmony)" reminded me so much of those TV commercials back in the 70's for Coke! I can still remember that! Randy Vanwarmer, well, the song that is on here, "Just When I Needed You Most" was an excellent song to, and if you saw the very first Muppet Show, well they actually have Kermit the frog's first song on here and with the memory, well, it takes you back! I could say a lot about this CD, being an old DJ, well, the music here brings back a ton of things that I did and had a total blast too! Get it; you won't regret it! See ya!

Now THIS is a mess of hard to find gems on CD.In fact this sets the bar for any other CD releases by any company.You know the ones I am talking about(Warners,Sony,Universal,et al),they throw in the usual stuff you have heard a million times,then ones that you scratch your head at and wonder"where did that come from?....I have never heard that before".This CD,for the most part,is the meat and potatoes,an excellent sample of what was really playing on the charts in the 70s,featuring musical genres of all types.For the money you spend vs the quality,it is a no brainer.The sound is excellent with tunes that are guaranteed to keep your feet tapping all the way through.

I got this for songs that I do not have in my collection and found some songs I didn’t know the name of so that’s an added bonus.