SEASON 556- 1972

[TCK]

50 Years ago the world was a very different place. We didn't have online ukulele forums or cell phones for starters. No microwave ovens...and those of us around back then have seen the rise and demise of things like the VHS and DVD, and the CD...those things were coming as Intel was developing the first single chip microprocessor behind closed doors. Richard Nixon was man of the year. That did not age well.
The top song of the the year was "The First Time Ever I saw Your Face" by Roberta Flack, and we watched "All In The Family", not knowing how absolutely crass it was. The Staples Singers took us there and Bill Withers told us we could lean on him. Micheal sang a love song to a rat, Chuck made a hit singing about his ding-a-ling, and halter skelter in a summer swelter the birds flew off to a fall out shelter...Curtis was the Superfly.
And I was born.
On October 13th, 1972 to be precise. Pretty famous plane crash happened that day.
This weeks theme is 1972, your challenge is as follows:
Your song was written in or released in 1972 (and there are some real gems in there...livin on the road my friend)
Was part of an album released in 1972 (Ziggy Stardust and the Metal Guru are coming to this party)
Are by a musician who was born in 1972 (three members of Green Day were... so was Eminem and Ginger Spice, and Liam Gallagher! )
Mention 1972 (yes, they exist)
Or are about a world event that occurred in 1972 (Sunday Bloody Sunday comes to mind, but there are others, bet the Equal Rights Amendment has a few).
Songwriters, apply your craft to any of the above topics and it will be received with a smile and a warm welcome.
Collaborations with any instrument are totally fine as long as the Uke is front and center and the Ukulele player is dressed like Ziggy Stardust (OK- half way kidding on that last part).
There’s no song limit...There will never be a song limit!
The Season will run from when Pa decides to start it to when Ralf puts it to bed (or from 12.01am Sunday 9th October to 11.59pm Sunday 16th October (Hawaiian time).
HAVE FUN!!!!
I might have a prize or two for my favs- we will see. looking for that perfect piece of 1972 ephemera. Maybe I will send you my damn bronze baby shoes. I have no idea why my parents needed metal shoes. Because 1972.
All right, put on your Leisure Suit... off we go!

Your PLAYLIST

 

[TCK]

Some inspiration While you guys are hopefully strumming out those E songs. I tried a few more and it is just not my day to sound like anything passable...anyone else have those days?

And this one- it may have been his only hit. Released in 71, but #4 January 1972. I love this song (we play it in our live set)

Anyone else have an add for a Donald Trump coin here or does the internet just hate me?

 

[Jim Yates]

Super topic Dave! I can't believe that 1972 was 50 years ago.
While First Time Ever. . . was sung by Roberta Flack, it was written about/to Peggy Seeger by Ewan MacColl in 1957. They later married. The first recording was by Bonnie Dobson in 1960. MacColl hated every cover of his song. He had a section of his record collection called The Chamber Of Horrors, that contained covers by The Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul & Mary, Bonnie Dobson, The Brothers Four, Gordon Lightfoot, Elvis Presley, Roberta Flack. . .
While All In The Family was a favourite TV show in 1972, I think most people realised that it was made, not to praise Archie's political and racist views, but to ridicule them. It also ridiculed Meathead and Gloria. The most admired (by me) character was Edith. I love the theme song Those Were The Days.
I was still a pack a day smoker and it would be 2 years before I quit and spent the money I saved on my first 5-string banjo. I was still married to my first wife and would not meet Maggie for another eight years.

 

[TCK]

Super topic Dave! I can't believe that 1972 was 50 years ago.
While First Time Ever. . . was sung by Roberta Flack, it was written about/to Peggy Seeger by Ewan MacColl in 1957. They later married. The first recording was by Bonnie Dobson in 1960. MacColl hated every cover of his song. He had a section of his record collection called The Chamber Of Horrors, that contained covers by The Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul & Mary, Bonnie Dobson, The Brothers Four, Gordon Lightfoot, Elvis Presley, Roberta Flack. . .
While All In The Family was a favourite TV show in 1972, I think most people realised that it was made, not to praise Archie's political and racist views, but to ridicule them. It also ridiculed Meathead and Gloria. The most admired (by me) character was Edith. I love the theme song Those Were The Days.
I was still a pack a day smoker and it would be 2 years before I quit and spent the money I saved on my first 5-string banjo. I was still married to my first wife and would not meet Maggie for another eight years.

Aye- yes MacColl did write it, and it is indeed an older song played in a lot of (forgotten) versions by some really famous folks...but Flack owned it, in a huge way. A really really huge way. As for all in the family, well, that may well be how it was perceived in other places, but we voted Donald Trump our President (we meaning a shitload of people who are not me). I don't think I need to explain Americas penchant for racism and mysoginy beyond that? They loved that show for what it was here, and still do. If you dug that deep on the intro...you know I expect a deep cut for your songs...play away!

 

[pabrizzer]

a real stinker from 1972
a louden wainwright III song
people claim it could be about lots of stinky stuff from the era but rufus usually says he doesn't know what it's about or that it is in fact about stinky road kill
he says it'll probably be referred to on his grave stone

cheers Jon - of course my mind said loudon but my fingers typed rufus

 

[UkeCan1]

1972 was a wonderful year, especially for music. So many great songs to choose from - we were stumped for about 5 seconds, and then this one chose itself.

Rita and I - my fabulous new friend and Sunshine Coast Ukulele Festival camp neighbour - had just finished our Season 555 entry in her tent during an afternoon rain squall, when we discovered, simultaneously, that 556 was posted and ☀️ the sun had come out.

 

[Flatbaroque]

From JJ Cale's 1972 album Naturally. First time I've played a JJ Cale song. Guitalele tuned G to g. Thanks for hosting Dave.

 

[wee_ginga_yin]

A song Ewan McCall wrote for is wife Peggy Seeger and is usually done fast but johnny cash did it slow and that's the way I like it. It is so world weary sung by a man reflecting on his life.

 

[joo]

It just occurred to me that this fits the 1972 theme!
A Two Little Woodpeckers original we recorded today.
One of us was born in 1972.

Thanks for hosting, Dave!

 

[xommen]

I could have written you a song, as I was born in 1972. But you mentioned Sunday Bloody Sunday in the intro, here is my take on the U2 song with that name.

 

[UkeCan1]

I saw "1972" on the chart at the BUMS (Brisbane Ukulele Music Society) after-fest jam, I so I quick grabbed my camera.

This will give you a bit of the flavor of the Sunshine Coast Ukulele Festival, now officially at an end, and of my local uke group BUMS and how they roll.

 

[joo]

Thanks for hosting again so soon after your last one, Dave!
This is a song by Michael Hurley from his 1972 album Hi Fi Snock Uptown. I just discovered Michael Hurley's music and I am in love with it!
This is the first time I tried mouth trumpet...didn't know how to do it properly, just did it anyway! I forgot to try some mouth trumpet at the end, so I added some over.

 

[jtsteam]

Happy birthday Dave and thanks for hosting! Also thanks for giving me the opportunity to do one of my favourite Lindisfarne songs, All Fall Down, the opening track from their 1972 album Dingly Dell. It's a lament about knocking stuff down to make way for motorways and other such things, and is specifically about the A167(M), a motorway running right through the centre of Newcastle. My school playing field was (and I suppose still is) right next to that motorway. A misplaced cricket shot could easily annoy the passing motorists...

Anyway, if you know the original, you'll know it ends with an almighty racket. That's my favourite part of it in fact, and so fortunately The Steamers were ready to burst in towards the end with their melodicas to help. They might have got a touch carried away.

I'm afraid my Ziggy Stardust costume is in the wash.

 

[AZChris]

We voted Donald Trump our President (we meaning a shitload of people who are not me). I don't think I need to explain Americas penchant for racism and mysoginy beyond that? They loved that show for what it was here, and still do. If you dug that deep on the intro...you know I expect a deep cut for your songs...play away!

Do we really want to go politics here? I wish we could stay on a level that does not cause division.

 

[TCK]

Wow! Y’all came on STRONG! I have to run to the center this morning to help a new handler learn an old Turkey vulture, but I will be back this afternoon to sit and watch a LOT of great music. Thanks for the enthusiastic response gang!

 

[Charley B]

great theme - was 1972 the best year ever for music? ... i'd say it was ...
here's a stomper from Slade ...

 

[LimousinLil]

Hello, Dave ... and thanks for hosting! A totally inexplicable choice here for a woman of er ... mature years; being a song by Little Jimmy Osmond, which reached No.1 in the UK charts in 1972, making him the youngest person ever to have a No.1 hit at the tender age of 9 years and 8 months. Anyway, I thought it would be cheering .... and to make it even more cheering, I added a shaker, claves and some (very) tentative kazoo. Herewith ...

 

[Jim Yates]

Here you go Dave.

Those Were the Days Charles Strouse and Lee Adams - Version from ALL IN THE FAMILY

There is actually another A part to this song, but Archie and Edith didn't sing it, so neither did I.

 

[Bystander]

Thanks for hosting Dave, a short version of the one by Bill Withers that you mentioned in the introductory post, I love this song.

 

[YorkSteve]

Ah, 1972...that was the year that I started to get really interested in music. Before then, it had just been background noise, but now I wanted to know more about it. Seeing this, my parents bought me K-Tel's 22 Dynamic Hits Volume 2 for my birthday. A mixed start...
I soon expanded my collection by saving up for Bolan Boogie & The Slider (T.Rex), and spent a lot of time with my ear glued to a small transistor radio, listening to Radio Luxembourg every night.
Slade seemed to be ever-present in the charts, and when I decided to do one of theirs, I was spoilt for choice, so heck, I'll do all three hits from that year...(Bizarrely, I never actually owned a Slade record back then. It was only last month that I saw a copy of Sladest on a market stall, and had to have it)