Spirit of ’71, Part 2

Summary

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Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia

Episode: Spirit of ’71, Part 2

Host: Chris Molanphy
Date: September 24, 2021

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Episode Overview

This episode of Hit Parade, hosted by pop chart analyst Chris Molanphy, continues a deep-dive into the transformative music of 1971, examining why this year is considered one of the greatest in popular music history. The episode chronicles how various artists who came of age in the 1960s reached commercial and creative peaks in 1971, analyzing the interplay of talent, timing, and cultural shifts that made their songs smash hits. Through engaging storytelling and musical excerpts, Molanphy discusses the rise of singer-songwriters, the impact of albums like Carole King's Tapestry, the chart ascendancy of Rod Stewart, Isaac Hayes’s revolutionary Shaft, and the lasting influence of Sly and the Family Stone, all while contextualizing the chart zeitgeist of 1971.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Carole King's Songwriting to Stardom

• Background: Carole King started as a prolific Brill Building songwriter with Gerry Goffin, penning hits for The Shirelles ("Will You Love Me Tomorrow"), Bobby V ("Take Good Care of My Baby"), and Little Eva ("The Loco-Motion").
• Early Forays as Performer: Her initial solo attempts in the early '60s, such as "It Might as Well Rain Until September", saw limited chart success ([05:10]).
  • Molanphy: "King’s voice was an odd fit for the girl group and teen idol era of the early 60s, and attempts to promote her as a frontline act quickly fizzled." ([05:22])
• Laurel Canyon & New Influences: Moving to L.A. in the late ‘60s placed King at the heart of the singer-songwriter movement, befriending Joni Mitchell and James Taylor.
• Tapestry’s Impact:
  • The album repurposed King’s own classics ("Will You Love Me Tomorrow," "Natural Woman") and introduced assertive, emotionally mature tracks ("I Feel the Earth Move", "It’s Too Late"—the latter praised for its subtly feminist perspective by Bob Christgau ([11:34])).
  • "You've Got a Friend" became a signature hit, both for King and, via cover, James Taylor.
• Chart Domination:
  • "On June 19, 1971... Carole King’s Tapestry knocked the Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers out of number one. That same week... It's Too Late/I Feel the Earth Move also reached number one. The single stayed there for five weeks..." ([14:43])
  • Tapestry held No. 1 for 15 weeks, setting a benchmark until Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours ([16:14]).

Notable Quote:
“If there’s a truer song about breaking up than ‘It’s Too Late,’ the world, or at least AM radio, isn’t ready for it.” — Bob Christgau, cited by Molanphy ([11:34])

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2. Rod Stewart: Finding Folk in Rock

• From Aspiring Footballer to Singer: Stewart’s husky, emotive vocals made him a standout (first heard with Long John Baldry and the Hoochie Coochie Men at age 19 ([18:20])).
• Varied 1960s Journey: He joined/recorded with multiple groups, including The Jeff Beck Group and Faces, before breaking out solo.
• Early Solo Sound: First solo albums leaned into a unique blend of folk, country, and rock, notably on Gasoline Alley ([21:10]).
  • Critical Insight: Molanphy draws on AllMusic’s Stephen Thomas Erlewine: "Instead of finding the folk in rock, he found how folk rocked like hell on its own." ([22:09])
• 1971 Breakout: Mercury Records expected Tim Hardin’s "Reason to Believe" would be a hit, but DJs flipped to the B-side: the cheeky, autobiographical "Maggie May".
  • “Maggie May” and the album Every Picture Tells a Story topped both single and album charts for over a month ([23:58]).
• Legacy: Stewart’s early '70s run remains his critical high point; later stylistic changes (disco, synth-pop) never eclipsed these heights ([26:03]).

Memorable Moment:
“Maggie May established his star power and roguish Persona. He may have peaked early, but he earned decades of goodwill.” ([26:03])

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3. Isaac Hayes and the Rise of Blaxploitation Soundtracks

• Songwriter to Innovator: After success with soul duo Sam & Dave ("Soul Man"), Hayes transformed with his own psychedelic, expansive sound on Hot Buttered Soul ([29:23]), which became a hip-hop sample goldmine (e.g., “Walk On By”, "Ike's Rap II").
• Theme from Shaft:
  • Called to score the film after not landing the lead, Hayes crafted a funk masterpiece, blending orchestration with cinematic wah-wah guitar ([35:01]).
  • The single’s edited version became a #1 hit; the album itself also topped the charts ([35:45]).
• Cultural Impact:
  • Hayes delivered a legendary, shirtless, chain-draped Oscars performance and became the first Black composer to win Best Original Song ([38:47]).
  • Theme from Shaft set the tone for future Blaxploitation soundtracks, inspiring Curtis Mayfield’s Superfly and influencing generations, from hip-hop samples to Hayes's satirical turn as “Chef” on South Park ([40:50]).

Notable Quote:
“Only someone as confident as Isaac Hayes could get away with making this song more swaggery than silly.” ([35:10])

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4. Sly & The Family Stone and Long-Awaited Return

• Woodstock Triumph and Hiatus: After ‘69’s festival, Sly’s innovative blend of funk, soul, and psychedelic rock solidified, but a two-year studio silence followed due to personal and creative stalls.
• Innovation in Absence: Sly produced for Little Sister, pioneering the use of the drum machine in hits like "Somebody’s Watching You" ([48:27]).
• There’s a Riot Goin’ On: The return album and its lead single "Family Affair" (built from a drum machine and featuring dark, funk-laden production) soared to #1 ([48:53]).
• Enduring Influence:
  • Though Sly & The Family Stone saw dwindling chart success, There’s a Riot Goin’ On remains a landmark in funk and soul.

Memorable Moment:
“Their last major hit, 1973’s horn-inflected funk jam ‘If You Want Me to Stay’… Sly Stone’s only number one album cemented his legacy and inspired funk music for the next two decades.” ([50:50])

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5. Closing the Year: Chart Firsts and the Enduring DNA of the '60s

• Carole King’s Follow-Up: Her Music album kept her on top as 1971 closed ([51:46]).
• Go Away Little Girl Chart Oddity: Molanphy highlights that Donny Osmond’s “Go Away Little Girl” (written by Goffin and King) was the first song to top the Hot 100 twice (Steve Lawrence in 1963; Osmond in 1971). Molanphy notes his own “cruel fate” of having it as his birth week #1 song ([54:05]).
  • “Now Go Away Little Girl was a little creepy when the fully grown Steve Lawrence sang it in 1963. And it was positively simpering when 13 year old Donny Osmond covered it in 1971...” ([54:05])
• Personal Reflection and Birthday: Molanphy marks the show’s 50th episode, coinciding with his own 50th birthday ([55:37]), and selects Aretha Franklin’s “Spanish Harlem” as his preferred birth week song over Osmond’s.

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments (with Timestamps):

• On Carole King’s delayed recognition:
  “Somehow the world wasn’t quite ready for Carole King recording artist who was trying to come out from under the shadow of Carole King songwriter.” ([01:27])

• On singer-songwriters’ pop acumen:
  “At age 29, King was both a relatively new artist as a singer and a veteran as a songwriter, and she knew how to deliver hits.” ([13:07])

• On Isaac Hayes's Oscars legacy:
  “Hayes’s Oscar legacy had been officially passed down to the hip hop generation.” ([41:03])

• On Sly & The Family Stone’s innovation:
  “Sly built the track out of an early drum machine then called a rhythm box... making it by some estimations the first popular recording to derive its rhythm from a drum machine.” ([48:27])

• Personal touch:
  “It’s my birthday present to me and to you, my loyal listeners. Thank you for getting us this far.” ([55:37])

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:27] – Introduction to Carole King's early 70s solo career
• [06:53] – King moves to Laurel Canyon, befriends Taylor & Mitchell
• [07:50] – James Taylor inspires “You’ve Got a Friend”
• [11:34] – Reflecting on “It’s Too Late” and its feminist analysis
• [14:43] – Carole King’s simultaneous single and album chart-topping
• [18:08] – Rod Stewart’s formative years and first charting vocals
• [23:58] – “Maggie May” turns into a surprise breakout hit
• [29:23] – Isaac Hayes’s genesis as a progressive soul force
• [35:01] – The making and release of “Theme from Shaft”
• [38:47] – Isaac Hayes’s landmark Oscar win
• [44:31] – Sly & The Family Stone’s “Thank You” double-sided single
• [48:27] – Drum machine innovation in “Somebody’s Watching You”
• [48:53] – “Family Affair” and Sly’s return to the top
• [51:46] – Carole King's Music closes out the year
• [54:05] – “Go Away Little Girl” history, and personal reflection

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Summary Flow

Chris Molanphy’s “Spirit of ‘71, Part 2” is both a retrospective of a singular year in popular music and a loving, nuanced analysis of why certain songs and albums became epoch-defining. Drawing connections between the ‘60s songwriting factories and the singer-songwriter boom, Molanphy uses storytelling, cultural history, and musical analysis to highlight the work of Carole King, Rod Stewart, Isaac Hayes, and Sly & the Family Stone. He closes with reflections on chart trivia and his own life’s soundtrack, tying together the enduring resonance of 1971 with personal milestones. The episode is informative and affectionate, full of great musical moments and insight for any lover of pop history.

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Transcript

[Asha Salujin]

You're listening ad free on Amazon Music.

[Chris Melanfi]

Welcome back to Hit Parade, a podcast of pop chart history from Slate Magazine about the hits from coast to coast. I'm Chris Melanfy, chart analyst, pop critic and writer of Slate's why Is this Song Number One? Series on our last episode. It's the 50th anniversary of 1971, which has been called one of the greatest years in music history. On the Billboard charts, pop rock and soul legends were scoring both number one singles and number one albums, including, so far, George Harrison, Janis Joplin and the Rolling Stones. We're up to the summer of 71, when the year's biggest hitmaker was about to take her turn on top. As I've said so many times in this podcast, timing is everything when it comes to hit making. Consider this cover of a well known song performed by its original songwriter.

[Asha Salujin]

When this old world starts getting me down and people are just too much for me to face.

[Chris Melanfi]

That's Carole King with Up on the Roof, a song she and lyricist Gerry Goffin originally wrote in 1962, and this version appeared on writer King's largely ignored debut album as a recording artist upon its release in 1970. The writer LP didn't chart even though it uses some of the same approaches as the album that would make King a legend just one year later. Soulful singing warm piano, a 60s song reinterpreted for the 70s. Somehow the world wasn't quite ready for Carole King recording artist who was trying to come out from under the shadow of Carole King songwriter. That Carole King had been very successful. I climb way up to the top.

[James Taylor]

Of the stair and all my chairs just drift right into space.

[Chris Melanfi]

The Drifter's original version of up on the Roof was a number five pop number two R&B hit in 1962, and it wasn't even the biggest song penned by Carole King and Gerry Goffin. The songwriting team and then married couple wrote for and from the famed brill Building at 1650 Broadway in New York City. King, born Carol Klein in Manhattan, was the melody writer and Goffin the lyricist for a string of singles from a range of artists. As I noted in our pilot episode of Hit Parade when discussing the career of songwriter performer Neil diamond, the Brill Building hosted dozens of writers, often in pairs, from Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller to Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Berry to Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Gerry Goffin and Carole King in particular ranked among the building's most successful two person hit factories able to channel youthful emotions into sophisticated pop Singles for everyone from R B girl group the Shirelles.

[Rod Stewart]

Will you still love me tomorrow?

[Chris Melanfi]

Teen idol Bobby V, Take good care of my baby to little Eva Goffin and King's babysitter, for whom they wrote the instructional dance song the Locomotion. All three of these singles were Hot 100 number ones.

[Asha Salujin]

Everybody's doing a brand new dance now.

[Rod Stewart]

Come on baby, do the locomotion.

[Chris Melanfi]

Even in these early days, Carole King would occasionally record one of her and Goffin's tracks herself. One of those compositions, it Might as well Rain Until September, originally intended as a demo for Bobby V, wound up a hit for King, peaking at number 22 on the Hot 100 in 1962.

[Asha Salujin]

As far as I'm concerned, each day's a rainy day, so it might as well rain until September.

[Chris Melanfi]

But at the time, September seemed like a fluke. King's voice was an odd fit for the girl group and teen idol era of the early 60s, and attempts to promote her as a frontline act quickly fizzled. A follow up single, he's a Bad Boy, stalled at number 94 in 1963.

[Asha Salujin]

Daddy doesn't like him cause he says he heard him swear He's a bad.

[Rod Stewart]

Boy.

[Asha Salujin]

But I don't care.

[Chris Melanfi]

However, right through the late 60s, Gerry Goffin and Carole King kept turning out hits for other artists, including the Monkees.

[Rod Stewart]

Another Pleasant Valley Sunday.

[Chris Melanfi]

And famously Aretha Franklin. The very mature, self actualizing 1967 hit you make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman began as a title. Atlantic Records president Jerry Wexler gave them just the title, around which Goffin and King wrote a song that became an Aretha standard.

[Asha Salujin]

You make me feel, you make me feel, you make me feel like a natural woman.

[Chris Melanfi]

By 1967, as Goffin and King's marriage was disintegrating, King moved out west. The move to LA introduced King to the scene in Laurel Canyon, the Hollywood Hills neighborhood that was a hotbed of the 60s rock counterculture and an instigator of the singer songwriter movement. There King befriended fellow songwriters Joni Mitchell. And James Taylor.

[James Taylor]

Whoa, I've seen fire and I've seen rain Seen sunny days that I thought would never end I seen lonely times when I could not find a friend.

[Chris Melanfi]

Both Mitchell and Taylor would wind up playing and singing backup on King's follow up to her well reviewed but poor selling writer album. And James Taylor provided specific inspiration. His 1970 single Fire and Rain was a big hit, number three on the Hot 100. Just weeks before the January 1971 sessions for King's new album. Taylor's baleful lyric in the song quote, I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend, prompted King to write a response.

[Asha Salujin]

You just call out my name and you know wherever I am I'll come running.

[Chris Melanfi]

The hopeful, reassuring you've Got a Friend was a milestone for Carole King. A song she wrote by herself post her partnership with Gerry Goffin that would become as big a standard as any Goffin King song. While King was recording her new album in la, James Taylor was simultaneously recording in another LA studio, and he decided to try recording his friend Carol's answer record himself. It would wind up appearing on both of their respective 1971 LPs.

[James Taylor]

You just call up my name.

[Chris Melanfi]

And.

[James Taylor]

You know wherever I am.

[Chris Melanfi]

You've Got A Friend would become James Taylor's biggest hit and somewhat ironically, his signature song, despite the fact that the singer songwriter didn't write it. This was the thing about the album Carole King would ultimately name Tapestry. Its songs were both distinctly Carole King's and adaptable to others. One uptempo track, smack Water Jack, was recorded later the same year by producer arranger Quincy Jones. He even named his 1971 album Smack Water Jack.

[James Taylor]

Smack Water Jack.

[Chris Melanfi]

Another King album cut Beautiful, sounded like an instant classic, later covered by everyone from Barbra Streisand to Anne Murray.

[Asha Salujin]

Then people gonna treat you better. You're gonna find yes you will that you're beautiful as you feel.

[Chris Melanfi]

Conversely, elsewhere on the album, King took back a couple of the hits she and Goffin had penned for others and covered them herself, including the Cherrelle's 1961 chart topper will youl Love Me Tomorrow.

[Asha Salujin]

But will you love me tomorrow?

[Chris Melanfi]

And Aretha Franklin's 1967 smash A Natural Woman.

[Asha Salujin]

Your love was the key to my peace of mind Cause you make me feel.

[Chris Melanfi]

But what set the tone for King's whole album was a pair of new songs that gave voice to female assertiveness in relationships. And It's Too Late, written with lyricist Tony Stern, was a breakup lament with a subtly feminist point of view, chronicling the end of a relationship where the woman is the one moving on, Village Voice pop critic Bob Cristgau wrote, quote, if there's a truer song about breaking up, then it's too late. The world, or at least AM radio, isn't ready for it.

[Asha Salujin]

And it's too late baby, now it's too late Though we really did try to make it Something inside has died and I can't hide and I just.

[Chris Melanfi]

Can'T fake it and the other song, I Feel the Earth Move, a piano pounding barn burner that would wind up opening the album, was a rather frank ode to sexual gratification. AllMusic critic Stuart Mason called the song, quote, the ultimate in hippie chick eroticism.

[Asha Salujin]

I feel the earth move under my feet I feel the sky tumbling down I feel my heart start to tremble in the whenever you're around.

[Chris Melanfi]

It's Too Late and I Feel the earth Move were issued on both sides of the same single. King's first single to touch the Hot 100 since he's a bad boy in 1963, It's Too Late wound up the bigger hit with DJs and was designated the A side, but both songs scored airplane play and charted together. By the time the It's Too Late single hit the charts, Tapestry had been out a couple of months and was working its way up the album chart. Expectations for Carole King's second LP were modest, given that Ryder had sold poorly. But the chart breakthrough of albums from Joni Mitchell and James Taylor since 1970 had opened the market to solo singer songwriters. Now, Joni and James were no slouches when it came to writing catchy songs, but they had made their bones in the world of confessional folk. What made Carole King exceptional was her decade of experience in the world of commercial pop. At age 29, King was both a relatively new artist as a singer and a veteran as a songwriter, and she knew how to deliver hits.

[Asha Salujin]

Something inside has died and I can't hide and I just can't fake it.

[Rod Stewart]

Oh no, no no no, no.

[Chris Melanfi]

On June 19, 1971, in its 11th week on the Billboard Top LP's chart, Carole King's tapestry made knocked the Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers out of number one. That same week on the Hot 100, King's double sided single it's too late, I Feel the Earth Move also reached number one. The single stayed there for five weeks into July. Then two weeks after King's single departed the top spot, James Taylor's version of her song you've Got a Friend rose to number one.

[James Taylor]

Winter, spring, summer will fall.

[Chris Melanfi]

Now all.

[James Taylor]

You got to do is call.

[Chris Melanfi]

And.

[James Taylor]

I'll be there yeah, yeah, yeah, you've.

[Chris Melanfi]

Got a friend Carole King dominated the summer of 1971. Her Tapestry album spent a stunning film 15 consecutive weeks atop the album chart, the longest any LP had commanded the list since the Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967. When Tapestry finally succumbed in September of 71, it had already generated another hit, the heartfelt so Far Away which peaked at number 14.

[Asha Salujin]

Doesn't anybody stay in one place anymore?

[Chris Melanfi]

Like Sgt. Pepper, generations of listeners have bought and consumed Tapestry since its release, giving it a string of chart records. It was the last album to spend that many weeks at number one until Fleetwood Mac's equally California driven rumors in the 1977 Thunder only happens When It's Raining. Tapestry also once held the record for the longest run on the billboard album chart, 302 consecutive weeks from April 1971 through January 1977. It took until 1980 for for another album to beat Tapestry. Pink Floyd's the Dark side of the Moon. And for a time, Tapestry, now certified at 13 times platinum, was the best selling LP of all time. It was surpassed in 1978 by the Bee Gees fronted Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. All of these artists, the Bee Gees, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac and of course Carole King were acts that launched their careers in the 60s but came into their own commercially in the 70s. That was also true of the singer who took over the top of 1971's charts as summer turned into fall. It's easy to forget now how rootsy this man's music sounded then, but his voice remains unmistakable.

[Rod Stewart]

When the rain came I thought you'd leave Cause I knew how much you love the sun.

[Chris Melanfi]

Roderick Davis Stewart thought he might want to be a footballer when he grew up. Perhaps for his beloved Arsenal. He really wanted to was a good soccer player. But sometime in his teenage years, young Rod Stewart realized he was only any good at two things, football and singing. And the latter he thought would be easier to break into, especially given the unique sound of his voice. This single, billed to Long John Baldry and the Hoochie Coochie Men, was the first to feature a 19 year old rod Stewart on vocals. That raspy husk would be Rod's ticket to fame, his trademark. The only question was what he would do with it. Stewart spent the 60s joining or recording with around a half dollar dozen groups in a range of styles, including the Brian Auger Trinity, who in 1966 helped Rod fulfill his dream of recording a cover of his favorite singer. Sam Cooke.

[Rod Stewart]

Got the A Little out of Baby shake.

[Chris Melanfi]

Or by 1967 the Jeff Beck Group. Beck had just left the Yardbirds and he put together a band to showcase his guitar playing. It also was a showcase for Rod Stewart, probably the hardest rocking material Rod ever sang. The Jeff Beck Group's cover of the Yardbirds classic Shapes of Things, bordered on proto metal.

[Rod Stewart]

For all my.

[Chris Melanfi]

Thanks to Jeff Beck's renown, the group's album reached an impressive number 15 on the American album chart in 1968, finally propelling Rod Stewart's career. He was now in demand, and by the end of the year, Stewart had signed a solo contract with Mercury Records. Around the same time, English band the Small Faces lost their vocalist and went looking for a new one. In 1969, Rod joined the rechristened Faces as their singer, even as he planned his solo debut Got a fear of.

[Rod Stewart]

Death that creeps on every night no I won't die soon but then to give my mind.

[Chris Melanfi]

And after all of this rough and tumble rock, the sound of Rod Stewart's 1969 debut album was fairly surprising. He instead leaned toward a rustic acoustic plus electric sound, mixing folk and even country elements. He refined the Sound on 1970s Gasoline Alley. It was Stewart's first album to crack the top 40 on the Billboard album chart, where it peaked at number 27. As AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine aptly summarized quote, instead of finding the folk in rock, he found how folk rocked like hell on its own, Going on running.

[Rod Stewart]

On down the gasoline alley Where I.

[Chris Melanfi]

Started from as solidly as Gasoline Alley did on the charts, it offered no hint that Rod was about to break big A single from the Gasoline Alley album Rod's rollicking cover of the Bobby Womack song It's All over now, made famous by the Rolling Stones, bubbled under the Hot 100 in July 1970 at number 126. When Rod released his third solo album, Every Picture Tells a story, in May 1971, executives at his label, Mercury Records, were convinced that the hitbound track would be his cover of American folkie Tim Hardin's Reason to Believe. It is a sturdy song and Stewart does do an excellent rendition.

[Rod Stewart]

Still, I look to find a reason to Believe.

[Chris Melanfi]

However, Rod's Reason to Believe stalled at number 62 on the Hot 100 before radio DJs noticed the original folk rock tune sitting on the single's B side. A rousing, wistful story song about a teenager learning about sex from an experienced older woman.

[Rod Stewart]

Wake up Maggie, I think I got something to say to you.

[Chris Melanfi]

Co written by Rod Stewart himself, he based it on one of his own early sexual exploits with British guitarist Martin Quittenden, the song seemed to define the cheeky Rod Persona and combined combine the full range of his musical interests. It was folky and rocking and rustic and even came complete with a mandolin solo. Naming it after an old Liverpool folk song, they called it Maggie May. On the Hot 100, dated August 14, 1971, Maggie Mae appeared alongside Reason to Believe in the same chart position. One week later, the titles flipped with Maggie Mae now regarded as the A side. Six weeks later, Maggie Mae was number one on the Hot 100. That same week, Every Picture Tells A Story topped the LP chart. Both the album and the single stayed at number one more than a month. Fifty years later, this is still the most acclaimed period of Rod Stewart's career. He could for a few years seemingly do no wrong whether he was reuniting with the Faces for the boogie rocker Stay With Me, their biggest hit at number 17 in 1972.

[Rod Stewart]

Red lips, brown Fingernails, I hear you're amino jails or bells I lets go upstairs and read my title, come on stay with Me.

[Chris Melanfi]

Or recreating the Maggie Mae magic with his own follow up solo single, you Wear it Well, a number 13 hit from his follow up album, Never a Dull Moment.

[Rod Stewart]

Hell, it's been a very long time, you Wear it well A little old.

[Chris Melanfi]

Every Picture Tells A Story still routinely makes greatest albums of all Time lists, unlike all of Rod's dozens of other albums. In a backhanded compliment, critics often compare whatever Stewart is releasing currently to Every Picture Tells A Story and find the new material lacking. They are quick to remind you that the man who later went disco in 1979 with this chart topper. And went synth pop in 1981 with this mtv staple. Used to sound more like this. If nothing else, Every Picture Tells a Story flaunted Rod Stewart's versatility and Maggie May established his star power and roguish Persona. He may have peaked early, but he earned decades of goodwill. If there's one downside to the selection of 1971 chart toppers I've run down so far, it's a lack of racial diversity. From January through October on the album chart that year, no black or Latinx acts reached number one. A pity, given the killer music then ruling R and B and Latin pop. But that changed in November and December. Of 71, all three albums that led the top LPs chart in the year's closing months were by artists of color. I'm going to focus on the two of these albums that also spawned a number one single. The run was kicked off by a man who came to call himself a Black Moses. By 1971, the 28 year old Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. Was already a recording industry veteran. Like Carol King, he'd made his bones as a songwriter. First. In the mid-60s, working with producer writer David Porter, Isaac Hayes co wrote a string of hits for soul duo Sam and Dave, including hold on, I'm Coming When Something is wrong with my Baby, I thank you and the Deathless Soul Man.

[Rod Stewart]

I'm a soul man I'm a soul man.

[Chris Melanfi]

Hayes years of session work for storied Memphis label Stax Records eventually gave him the opportunity to record under his own own name. His 1969 Stax album Hot Buttered Soul is a landmark in the development of progressive soul and black rock. The LP has only four virtually jazz length tracks that fill the LP's two sides, such as Hayes's nearly 19 minute take on the Jimmy Web song made famous by Glen Campbell. By the Time I Get to Phoenix.

[Isaac Hayes]

By the time I get to Phoenix.

[James Taylor]

She'Ll be rising.

[Chris Melanfi]

Hot Buttered Soul is also a treasure trove of raw sonic material for the later hip hop era. Hayes 12 minute version of the Burt Bacharach Hal David classic Walk on by first recorded by Dionne Warwick, was turned by Hayes into a spooky aching lament with a loping strut. Isaac Hayes's Walk on by has been sampled dozens of times by everyone from both Tupac and Baby Biggie to the Wuang Clan to trip hop act Hoover Phonic to just in the last decade, Beyonce, The langer of Hayes's recordings has made them a rich text for reinterpretation. A later track from his nineteen 1971 LP Black Moses, Ike's Rap 2 I knew that I was wrong.

[Rod Stewart]

You're the.

[Chris Melanfi]

Only one I can turn to became a foundational sample in trip hop when Portishead repurposed it for 1994's Glory Box. By the turn of the 70s, under his own name, Hayes had scored a handful of modest hit singles. In early 71 he had his biggest hit to date with his cover of the Jackson 5's then recent hit Never can say Goodbye. Hayes version reached number 22 on the Hot 105 on Hot Soul Singles.

[James Taylor]

Is it so?

[Isaac Hayes]

Never can say goodbye no no no no.

[Chris Melanfi]

Around the same time in the spring of 71, filmmaker, actor and composer Melvin Van Peebles released a movie, Sweet Sweetback's Badass Song that helped define the film movement known as Blaxploitation. From the jump Music was integral to blaxploitation. Van Peebles film came with a score he composed himself which was performed by the then unknown band Earth Wind and Fire. But the first Blaxploitation movie that was would become as famed for its soundtrack as for the film itself was Shaft, a Gordon Parks directed urban crime story that closely followed Sweetback. Isaac Hayes, who had actually auditioned for the part that ultimately went to star Richard Roundtree, pivoted to doing the movie's score instead, Given his history with expansive soul tracks. For Hayes, the irony of the Shaft score was that he was now composing much shorter episodic instrumentals. Most of the tracks were two to four minutes long, but one of the the slightly longer tracks was the four and a half minute theme from Shaft which would open the movie as Detective John Shaft emerges from the subway onto a city street. Hayes completed that song last and it summed up the whole aesthetic of the film, Steeped in wah wah guitar, a funk trademark, riding a hi hat rhythm suffused with tension and laden with strings, woodwinds and brass. Theme from Shaft is all instrumental for nearly three minutes before Isaac Hayes starts singing or really rapping in the most literal sense of badass patter as rap.

[Isaac Hayes]

Who's the black pride addict as a sex machine to all the chicks? You're damn right.

[Chris Melanfi]

The vocals, punctuated by a female backing chorus, were kitsch, but knowingly so with a coy wink. Only someone as confident as Isaac Hayes could get away with making this song more swaggery than silly. In a move that was rather advanced for 1971, Hayes edged up to the line of dropping one of George Carlin's seven dirty words.

[Isaac Hayes]

Right on they said it's that Shaft is a bad mother.

[Chris Melanfi]

I'm done my Shaft When Shaft the Movement became a blockbuster in the summer of 1971, earning many times its half million dollar budget at the box office, Theme from Shaft became more than film music. The album cut was played in clubs and Stax subsidiary Enterprise Records, which had released the soundtrack lp, was compelled to issue the track as a single. It was edited down to just over three minutes, though a nearly two minute version of its long instrumental opening was left intact and it was released in late September 1971. In just over a month it was atop the Hot 100. Two weeks before that, the Shaft soundtrack also hit number one, knocking out John Lennon Imagine album. This was already remarkable, a major commercial breakthrough for Isaac Hayes, but the truly extraordinary feat came five months later at the 44th Academy Awards, where Theme from Shaft was nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar the year before. This prize was won by the writers of this song for all we know from the film lovers and other strangers. It had been Popularized in early 71 by Brother Sister duo the Carpenters, who took it to number three.

[Asha Salujin]

I knew you well for Only John Time will tell.

[Chris Melanfi]

This was the type of poised, centrist pop song that typically took home the Oscar at the 1972 Academy Awards celebrating 1971 films. A song associated with the Carpenters was again in the best original song Race Bless the Beasts and Children from the film of the same name. But the star of that year's Oscars telecast was Isaac Hayes, who delivered one of the most memorable musical performances in Academy Awards history. Even though he was mostly mine miming and lip syncing. Hayes emerged from below the stage behind his keyboard, shrouded in smoke, wearing nothing on his upper torso but a lattice of chains, and he performed amid an army of dancers swirling around him.

[Isaac Hayes]

Who's the Black Private Dick Does a sex machine to all the cheeks?

[Chris Melanfi]

Later that night, actor Joel Gray announced that the winner of Best Original Song was Isaac Hayes, the sole credited songwriter on Theme from Shaft. Hayes became the first black composer to win an Academy Award, and the success of the Shaft soundtrack set a new bar for music in blaxploitation films. Later in 72, soul legend Curtis Mayfield upped the ante with his acclaimed soundtrack to Superfly, which followed in Shaft's footsteps by topping the LP chart. As for Isaac Hayes, he continued to release, acclaim albums and even eventually act. He was one of the stars of the 1974 blaxploitation movie Three Tough Guys. The film, a very modest grosser, is better known today for its Isaac Hayes soundtrack, Which continued to reverberate in hip hop for decades afterward, most famously in the Ghetto Boys hit Mind Playing Tricks on Me.

[Rod Stewart]

This year, Halloween fell on a weekend Me and Ghetto Boys are trick or treating.

[Chris Melanfi]

By the 90s, Hayes became best known to younger generations for his role as Jerome Chef McElroy on TV's South Park. Hayes had a good sense of humor about the role, since Chef is basically a satire of the badass lover man Persona he invented circa Shaft.

[Isaac Hayes]

I'm gonna make love to you woman gonna lay you down by the fire.

[Chris Melanfi]

A couple of years before he died in 2010, 8 Isaac Hayes lived to see Memphis rap troupe 36 Mafia take home the best Original Song Academy Award for their track It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp from the film Hustle and Flow. Hayes's Oscars legacy had been officially passed down to the hip hop generation.

[Rod Stewart]

I'm praying that I'm hoping to God I don't still get up.

[Chris Melanfi]

Back in 1971, Isaac Hayes was atop the album chart for just one week before being replaced by Mexican American guitarist Carlos Santana and his eponymous band. Their self titled third lp, the first to feature eventual Journey Founder Neil Schone is commonly known as Santana. 3.

[Rod Stewart]

Seem like everybody's waiting for a new chase come around.

[Chris Melanfi]

As we discussed in our Hit Parade episode about the hitmakers spawned by the Woodstock Festival, the 1969 mega concert was instrumental in launching the career of Carlos Santana and introducing his fusion of Latin rhythms and furious guitar rock. As I also noted in that episode, another legendary act whose reputation as live performers was made at Woodstock were Sly and the Family Stone. The big difference between Carlos Santana and Sylvester Stewart, AKA Sly Stone, was that Santana had kept up a steady recording schedule after Woodstock. By 1971, Sly and his band hadn't put out any new studio albums since 69. That would finally change near the end of the year when Sly and the Family Stone dropped the final double chart topper of 71. But it had been a long journey to get there. Right after Woodstock, Sly and the Family Stone issued the seasonally appropriate single Hot Fun in the Summertime. It quickly shot to number two on the Hot 100. Reinforcing that Sly's band was now a potent commercial force. In addition to their reputation as a fierce live act, he was on his own schedule, enjoying the spoil of his fame. Picking up a massive drug habit and unbothered by the demands of the major label, he and the Family Stone were signed to Epic Records. In the next two years, literally, the only material produced under the Sly and the Family Stone name was a two sided single, the hard funk classic thank you For Letting Me Be Myself Again.

[Rod Stewart]

Thank you.

[Chris Melanfi]

Backed with the stately hippie soul anthem Everybody Is a Star.

[Asha Salujin]

Everybody Is a Star.

[Chris Melanfi]

The double sided hit shot got to number one in early 1970. While Sly Stone sunk deep into his addictions, Epic Records stalled for time. First, they took advantage of the mid-1970 release of the Woodstock movie and its soundtrack by issuing the 1969 Family Stone Track I Want to Take youe Higher as a single. It made the top 40. They reissued The Family Stone's 1967 debut album A Whole New Thing with a new album cover. Then, just before the holidays of 1970, the label put together a Sly and the Family Stone greatest hits album. It was the first time fans could buy the group's loose singles like thank you on an lp, Promoted like a new frontline album. A then novel marketing strategy, Greatest Hits rose to number two on the Billboard album chart, much higher than such compilations typically did back then. To be fair to Sly Stone, he wasn't totally idle during all this time. He founded a vanity label, Stone Flower, affiliated with Atlantic Records. The label wasn't very productive, issuing only four singles total, but two of them cracked the top 40, both by the vocal group Little Sister, so named because member vet Stewart was Sly Stewart's little sister. Their number 22 pop number 4 R&B hit you're the one sounded like a would be funk sequel to the Family Stones. Thank you for letting me be myself again. For their follow up single, Sly guided Little Sister toward a deep cut from the Family Stones stand album called Somebody's Watching youg. Somebody's Watching you. Little Sister's version of the song, produced by Sly Stone, showed the direction his music was heading even in the absence of new Family Stone material. Sly built the track out of an early drum machine then called a rhythm box. The Little Sister single peaked at number 32 on the Hot 108 on the R&B chart in early 71, making it by some estimations the first popular recording to derive its rhythm from a drum machine.

[Rod Stewart]

Somebody's watching you. Somebody's watching you.

[Chris Melanfi]

When Sly and the Family Stone finally announced a new studio album in late 71 and dropped its first single, it probably felt familiar to listeners who remembered the Little Sister single One child Grows.

[Rod Stewart]

Up to bed, Somebody they just love.

[Chris Melanfi]

This single was also built out of a rhythm box beat along with deep funk guitar that sounded like it was recorded underwater. Because Sly had overdubbed the track so many times, punctuated by an irresistible vocal from Rose Stone, Sly Call called this track Family Affair. Family Affair became Sly and the Family Stone's biggest hit since their early 68 chart topper everyday People. And it couldn't have sounded more different from that prior optimistic anthem. Family Affair rose to number one on the Hot 100 in just five weeks. Two weeks after that, there's a riot going on. Sly's visionary album of disillusionment and dark soul, featuring a red, white and black American flag on its cover, also rose to number one on the album chart. It benefited from two years of pent up demand for new Sly Stone material. It soon produced a follow up hit, the number 23 pop, number 15 R&B single Runnin Away. Selected by Epic as a single because it was one of the few tracks on the LP that sounded remotely upbeat. Sly and the Family Stone never returned to the pop top ten. Their last major hit, 1973's Horn Inflected Funk jam if youf Want Me to stay, reached number three on the R B chart and number 12 pop.

[Rod Stewart]

If you want me to stay, I'll.

[Chris Melanfi]

Be around today you'll Be a But Sly Stone's only number one album cemented his legacy and inspired funk music for the next two decades. There's a Riot Going on continues to place highly on lists of the greatest albums of all time. During the holidays of 1971. The only album more dominant than Sly Stones was Carole King's immediate follow up to Tapestry, her LP Music, which we talked about in our ACDC Rule episode of Hit Parade.

[Asha Salujin]

Talking about sweet seasons on my mind.

[Chris Melanfi]

Though less perhaps well remembered Today, King's other 1971 album was rumored to have sold a positively gargantuan Taylor Swift like 1.3 million copies in its first day. Given the data lag on the Billboard charts, Music didn't reach number one until just after Christmas on a chart dated January 1, 1972. And and with that, the epic musical year of 1971 was over, appropriately with Carole King at number one. Which reminds me, before I sign off, I never explained what was so significant about that song Carole King and Gerry Goffin wrote that Donny Osmond took to number one in September 1971.

[Asha Salujin]

Go away little girl, Go away little.

[Isaac Hayes]

Girl.

[Asha Salujin]

I'm not supposed to be alone with you.

[Chris Melanfi]

Like so many of her future smash hits, Go Away Little Girl was recorded by Carol herself back in 1962. She and Goffin pitched it to Bobby V, the artist who took their song Take Good Care of My Baby to number one. V's version wasn't a hit, but as was typical of many brill building songs, it got around, eventually finding its way to Steve Lawrence, the easy listening singer, stage actor and singing folks partner of wife Edie Gourmet. By the way, Steve, of Steve and edie fame is 86 and still with us in January 1963, Go Away Little Girl became Steve Lawrence's only number one hit.

[James Taylor]

I know that your lips are sweet but our lips must never meet I belong to someone else and I must be true.

[Chris Melanfi]

Now Go Away Little Girl was a little creepy when the fully grown Steve Lawrence sang it in 1963. And it was positively simpering when 13 year old Donny Osmond covered it in 1971. Okay, Asha, that's enough. We don't need more of that, thank you. Here's the big chart feat. When Donny Osmond took Go Away Little Girl Back to number one, it became the first song to top the Hot 100 twice. First by Lawrence in 63, then by Osmond in 71. It was a remarkable chart benchmark, one that would later be duplicated by such two time number ones as The Locomotion, Please, Mr. Postman Venus, Lean on Me and Lady Marmalade. So that's something, but okay. That still doesn't make Go Away Little Girl good. It's one of Goffin and King's lesser songs. You won't find too many defenders of Go Away Little Girl. My fellow chart columnist Tom Bryan, who writes the Number Ones series for Stereo Gum, gave both the Steve Lawrence and Donny osmond versions a 1 on his 110 scale. The only song he gave that grade to twice. So why do I keep bringing this song up? Well, if you will indulge me, you happen to be listening to the 50th episode of Hit Parade. That's 50 full length episodes, one a month, over the last four and a half years. It's a proud milestone for us. And speaking of milestones, if you are listening to this podcast about the semi centennial of 1971 on the day we released it, Friday, Sept. 10, 2021, you are listening to it on my own. Well, semi centennial, that's right. We're releasing our 50th hit parade episode on my big 5o. It's my birthday present to me and to you, my loyal listeners. Thank you for getting us this far. In case you haven't figured it out yet, this means Donny Osmond's egregiously cheesy Go Away Little Girl is my personal birth week number one song. Now I've been saying for years that it's a cruel fate that a guy as obsessed with the Billboard charts as I am, who loves to entertain friends looking up their birth week number one songs was born under such a lousy chart topper. And I suppose the move right now would be to close our show playing that Donnie song again. But let's try something else. Our theme in this episode of Hit Parade has been that so many of the great hits of the year I was Born originated in the 60s and were refined in 1971. Among those 60s hits was this one written by Brill Building legends Jerry Lieber and Mike Stolen.

[Rod Stewart]

Spanish Harlem.

[Chris Melanfi]

That's Spanish Harlem, first recorded by Ben E. King, who took it to number 10 in early 1961. This acclaimed recording routinely makes lists of the greatest singles of all time. And it just so happens that this week in 1970 71, this version by another great vocalist was number two on the Hot 100. That, of course, is Ms. Aretha Franklin. Her Spanish Harlem is yet another classic released in 1971, a year that was, well, formative in my life. So humor me on my birthday, would you? Let's pretend that the week I was born, America wasn't obsessed with a squeaky voiced teen idol from Ogden, Utah and that instead the Hit Parade was commanded by the Queen of Soul. If you don't mind, this is how I'd prefer to remember this day. I hope you enjoyed this episode of Hitbox Parade. Our show was written, edited and narrated by Chris Melanfi. That's me. My producer is Asha Salujin. Asha is also my producer for our monthly Hip Parade the Bridge shows, available exclusively to Slate plus members. In our latest Bridge episode, critic Ann Powers and I go deeper into the hit makers of 1971, from Janice to Joan, Carol to Keith. To sign up for Slate plus and hear that show and all our shows the day they drop, visit slate.com hitparadeplus June Thomas is the Senior Managing Producer and Gabriel Roth the Editorial Director of Slate Podcasts. Check out their roster of [e-mail] podcasts. You can subscribe to Hit Parade wherever you get. Show your podcasts in addition to finding it in the Slate Culture feed. Thanks for listening and I look forward to leading the Hit Parade back your way. Until then, keep on marching on the one I'm Chris Melancholy.