Sunday, November 7, 2021

1971 SUPER CHARTS: Week Ending Novermber 13th

As I think we all knew he would, Isaac Hayes takes over the #1 spot this week with his "Theme from 'Shaft'."  Cher's "Gypsys, Tramps And Thieves" slips to #2 and John Lennon moves up another notch to #3.  The Osmonds drop to #4 with "Yo Yo" and Rod Stewart's "Maggie May," a former #1 itself, settles into the #5 spot.

Meanwhile, four of the remaining five Top 10 records earned bullets this week (and the fifth one actually moved up a notch but, in its 19th week on the chart, isn't really considered a "chart riser" anymore.)

The biggest mover in that bunch is "Baby I'm-A Want You" by Bread, which climbs another nine places to land at #10.

Other Top 20 Hits with significant movement up the chart are "Everybody's Everything" by Santana (up eight spots from #21 to #13), "Two Divided By Love" by The Grass Roots (also moving up eight places, from #24 to #16), "Got To Be There" by Michael Jackson (jumping 26 spots from #43 to #17 in its third week on the chart) and "Rock Steady" by Aretha Franklin, which climbs fifteen places from #33 to #18.

Elsewhere in The Top 40 we see Sly and the Family Stone make an impressive 33 point leap from #59 to #26 in its second chart week with "Family Affair," while Sonny and Cher continue their climb with their comeback hit, "All I Ever Need Is You," which moves from #44 to #31 this week.  Also making some noise are Van Morrison's "Wild Night" (up from #48 to #34) and David Cassidy's remake of The Association's hit "Cherish," which climbs from #72 to #38, making it the biggest mover of the week, just ahead of Sly and the Family Stone.

Playing Favorites:

Three Dog Night have the top debut this week with "An Old Fashioned Love Song," which premiers at #67.  (As hot as these guys are right now, you just KNOW this one's gonna be a smash.) 



I always liked Jefferson Airplane's "Pretty As You Feel" ... but it never earned the chart kudos I think it should have. It's new this week at #95.



Another track that my brother used to play the heck out of around the house was Savoy Brown's "Tell Mama," which debuts at #97.  It, too, will never be a major chart hit ... but it sure had a nice feel to it.



Also of interest this week are Joan Baez's version of The Beatles' "Let It Be," which topped the chart last year ... and the soon-to-be classic "Sunshine" by Jonathan Edwards.

This Week in 1971:   

November 8th – Led Zeppelin IV is released.  It will go on to sell 23 million copies in the US alone.  (This is the one that includes the “Stairway To Heaven” track, which placed at #6 in our TOP 3333 MOST ESSENTIAL CLASSIC ROCK SONGS OF ALL TIME Countdown last year.  Despite these results, it is considered by many to be the greatest classic rock song of all time.)