Creedence Clearwater Revival / Lovin' Spoonful

A batch of 45s from a couple of '60s bands who knew a thing or two about how to make singles.

Creedence Clearwater Revival

I Put A Spell On You / Walk On The Water - Fantasy, 1968

Green River / Commotion - Fantasy, 1969

Lookin' Out My Back Door / Long As I Can See The Light - Fantasy, 1970

Sweet Hitch-Hiker - Fantasy, 1971

Interesting thing about CCR's catalog: their albums were released only in stereo, but all their singles were mixed as mono - a characteristic more of the times (top 40 was still AM radio-only) than for any artistic considerations.

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The Lovin' Spoonful

Rain On The Roof / Pow (Theme From "What's Up, Tiger Lily?") - Kama Sutra, 1966

Six O'Clock / You're A Big Boy Now - Kama Sutra, 1967

A band not particularly known for making consistent LPs, the Lovin' Spoonful cranked out a lot of strong 45 sides. Both of the singles linked here have great B-sides not found on their regular albums.

some Bowie

digging through some Bowie 45s:



"The Jean Genie" - RCA - 1972
A huge UK hit single (charted #2) released shortly after Ziggy Stardust, it went nowhere in the US market despite massive promotion from RCA (I remember having to special order it at my local record store at the time). This single features the original mix, which was later cleaned up by Tony Visconti for inclusion on Aladdin Sane the following year.

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"John, I'm Only Dancing" - second single version - 1973 (UK only)
Also known as the "sax" version, recorded during the Aladdin Sane sessions - this is not to be confused with the 1972 single (recorded shortly after Hunky Dory) - despite the fact that both singles have the same catalog number and copyright date. Both singles are extremely rare (it was banned and withdrawn from the US market shortly after its release), but this one's my favorite.

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"Rebel Rebel" - US single version - 1974
This is a radically re-worked version of the Diamond Dogs track (which has more of a "Young Americans" vibe about it), released during his "Philly Dogs" tour. Funky!

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"Heroes" - chanté en Français - 1977 (RCA France)
You've heard it in English, you heard it in German - gee, what's left?

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"Space Oddity" - B-side of "Alabama Song"; RCA (UK) - 1980
The prequel to "Ashes To Ashes" (which would be released later the same year), this is Bowie's 1980 update of his 1969 classic. I love the bleak minimalism of this version, which seems to suggest the infinite void of deep space (or the protagonist's tortured psyche, if you like).

Supremes

Here's a few underrated classics from the post-Diana Ross lineup.

Stoned Love - Motown, 1970

Everybody's Got The Right To Love - Motown, 1970

"Everybody" didn't quite make it to the top 20, but "Stoned Love" reached #7, making it their last top ten hit. My copy has a mono mix of the long version, despite the 2:49 running time printed on the label. Not sure how many of these got out.

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a few Van Morrison B-sides

a birthday post for Mr. Van Morrison:



"Mechanical Bliss" - B-side of "Joyous Sound"; Warner Bros. - 1977

A pretty rare track, from an album of the same name - recorded in '75 or thereabouts - that never was released. Too bad, I liked it way better than the A-side.

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"It's All In The Game" - B-side of "Cleaning Windows"; Mercury (U.K.) - 1979

Essentially the first half of the medley with "You Know What They're Writing About" (from Into The Music), this is Van's cover of the '50s Tommy Edwards hit. It's one of Van's finest moments on record (my opinion), and I prefer to listen to it the way it is on this single. I actually heard this single played on a jukebox in some bar once, which was a very cool thing - I felt like I was in a movie or something.