It looks like we've got another killer Top Ten this week ... but heck, this whole survey looks good. (Amazing to remember how much great music came out back in 1969!)
For starters, The Beatles hold on to the #1 position with "Get Back." This is followed by "Love Can Make You Happy" and "These Eyes," both of which continue to climb the chart. (This week to #2 from #6 for Mercy and from #7 to #3 for The Guess Who.)
Simon and Garfunkel, Ray Stevens, The Who and The Cowsills all hold on to their top ten hits this week ... but they are joined by "Mornin' Girl" by Neon Philharmonic, which climbs from #15 to #6, The Edwin Hawkins Singers with their first big chart hit, "Oh, Happy Day," which climbs from #13 to #7 and "I've Been Hurt" by Bill Deal and the Rhondels, which scooches up a couple of places from #12 to #9.
Donovan, The Friends of Distinction, The New Colony Six, Marvin Gaye, The Flirtations and Peter, Paul and Mary all continue to make upward strides within The Top 20 while Elvis Presley jumps sixteen places (from #37 to #21) to fall just outside that bracket.
"Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater Revival looks like another sure-fire hit for this band as it climbs from #40 to #27, a move of thirteen places. And this week's chart introduces us to an act that will go on to become one of the biggest recording artists of the 1970's ... as "One," a Harry Nilsson song, debuts at #39 for Three Dog Night.
Here's another personal favorite of mine ... my brother Mark used to play this one CONSTANTLY around the house!!!
This week in 1969:
May 14th – Actress Cate Blanchett is born
Also on this date, Merilee Rush, Bill Medley (of The Righteous Brothers), John Hartford and George Lindsey ("Goober" from The Andy Griffith Show) appear on The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour.
Also on this date, Merilee Rush, Bill Medley (of The Righteous Brothers), John Hartford and George Lindsey ("Goober" from The Andy Griffith Show) appear on The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour.
May 15th – An American teenager (identified only as “Robert R”) dies in St. Louis, Missouri, of what is described at the time as a “baffling medical condition.” Fifteen years later, after years of tests and research, this will be identified as the first confirmed case of HIV / AIDS in North America.
May 16th – Big Day in the Rock And Roll Bad News Department …
First off, John Lennon applies for a visa to visit America. (His previous visa was revoked by the US Embassy in London ten days before because of his drug conviction in November of 1968.) Lennon is declared “an inadmissible immigrant to the US.”
Meanwhile, Pete Townshend spends the night in jail in New York City after being charged with assault. The Who were performing a concert at The Fillmore East when a fire broke out in the supermarket next door. A plainclothes policeman jumped up on to the stage to warn the crowd and Townshend, thinking the cop was just a member of the audience, booted him off!
Also on this date … Jack Casady, bassist for Jefferson Airplane, is arrested for possession of marijuana at The Royal Orleans Hotel in New Orleans. He receives a two and a half year suspended sentence when the case goes to trial.
May 17th - Joni Mitchell appears on the cover of this month’s Rolling Stone Magazine, which you could buy for only thirty cents. (Today a single issue will run you $9.99.)
And finally, Britain’s New Musical Express reports that, for the first time ever, album sales out sell singles in Great Britain. (We found the same to be true here in The States two years earlier!)
May 19th – The Beatles earn yet another gold single, this time for their latest release “Get Back.” (You'll find it on top of this week's WLS Hit Parade Survey!)
