MUSIC

Music in the ’70s

In 1970, the country was deeply divided by the Vietnam War, race and the Generation Gap. Communication was difficult and the major media – “The Establishment” supported the war and the Nixon Administration.

The counterculture, however, was flourishing as the underground form of communication was established through music. It was how the generation shared thoughts and feelings as they passed around albums and attended the first of the festival concerts – Woodstock in August 1969. It was the summer of love which by the spring of 1970 saw more than 450 schools nationwide on strike after four unarmed students were killed and nine wounded at Kent State by National Guard troops. Ten days later two students were killed and twelve wounded at Jackson State. More than fifty campuses were occupied by National Guard troops as demonstrations mounted around the country.

For many of you the playlist of songs are well known, but you must listen to them in the context that they were the social media of the day.  Music was the underground communication enabled by some progressive DJ’s like the group at WNEW FM in New York and Rolling Stone Magazine plus the upstart underground newspapers who brought new voices to the generation. These songwriters and performers were carrying a message to a generation that expressed the feeling of hope, desire, protest, anger and disapproval of the existing “Establishment.”

While time has passed, most of this music still has enormous relevance today and should be understood for the profound importance it played in moving the country to a better place.

Wild World captures the conflicting dynamics of the era while offering a human experience that is as real today as it was then.  Enjoy.

Song List

  • Wild World- Yusuf / Cat Stevens
  • Ohio- Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
  • What You Gonna Do About Me- Buddy Guy, Beth Hart
  • Teach Your Children- Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
  • Street Fighting Man- The Rolling Stones
  • Morning Has Broken- Yusuf / Cat Stevens
  • People Are Strange- The Doors
  • One Toke Over the Line- Brewer & Shipley
  • What’s Going On- Marvin Gaye
  • All Along the Watchtower- Jimi Hendrix
  • Reason to Believe- Rod Stewart
  • Suite: Judy Blue Eyes- Crosby, Stills & Nash
  • Doctor My Eyes- Jackson Browne
  • Touch of Grey- Grateful Dead
  • Both Sides Now- Joni Mitchell
  • My Girl- The Temptations
  • Where Do the Children Play?- Yusuf / Cat Stevens
  • Throw Down the Sword- Wishbone Ash
  • Woodstock- Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
  • Let It Be- The Beatles
  • If You Could Read My Mind- Gordon Lightfoot
  • Pusher Man- Curtis Mayfield
  • The Boxer- Simon & Garfunkel
  • Love Her Madly- The Doors
  • Bridge Over Troubled Water- Simon & Garfunkel
  • Who’ll Stop the Rain- Creedence Clearwater Revival
  • Nights In White Satin- The Moody Blues
  • Warrior- Wishbone Ash
  • American Pie- Don McLean
  • Money- Pink Floyd
  • A Whiter Shade of Pale- Procol Harum
  • Heart of Gold- Neil Young
  • Me and Bobby McGee- Janis Joplin
  • Lola- The Kinks
  • Woodstock- Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
  • I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ to Die- Country Joe McDonald
  • My Girl – The Temptations