Two-Hit Wonders - 1967 to 1970 Quiz

Answer: Ode to Billie Joe

Most of us listeners always wondered what was thrown off the Tallahatchie Bridge and hours of speculative conversation has no doubt been spent on the topic. She who composed and recorded it, Bobbie Gentry, has never revealed the secret either. Indeed, in interviews, she seems to consider the issue of minor importance. She has stated the song is more about the failure of mother and daughter to comfort each other in a positive and supportive way in times of loss. When Billie Joe committed suicide and the singer was not eating, mother only expressed passing concern and seemed to be more interested in lining her up with the handsome new preacher. Then when Pa died, mother "doesn't seem to wanna do much of anything" and the singer, rather than offer consolation, "spends a lot of time pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge and drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge". What we have here is a failure to communicate!

Gentry was born in Mississippi in 1944 and following her parents' divorce while she was an infant, her mother moved to California and she was raised in poverty by her grandparents. She seemed to gravitate to music naturally and mastered several instruments as a child. She joined her mother in 1957 and upon graduation from high school, briefly performed in the Folies Bergeres in Vegas before returning to L.A. to study at the Music Conservatory. She had cut a couple of demo records, one of which attracted some interest with Capitol records. They signed her up and her first record release hit pay dirt in an unconventional manner - "Mississippi Delta" was the A-side, "Ode to Billie Joe" on the flip side. It was the side that DJs preferred and it was they who made it hit.

"Fancy" was that other hit she had in 1970 and it was similar in style if not in intrigue. She also scored Number 36 and Number 27 hits as part of a duo with Glen Campbell and starred briefly in a British TV variety series in the early 1970s. For most of the decade, she self-produced and performed in a very successful Las Vegas show but as the 1980s approached, she seemed to lose her interest in the entertainment industry and promptly retired to the life of an L.A. housewife. Her last public performance was for a benefit in 1981.

Answer: José Feliciano

Feliciano was born in Puerto Rico in 1945 and was blind at birth as a result of congenital glaucoma. His family moved to Spanish Harlem in NYC when he was five and with the encouragement of various family members, learned to play accordion and guitar, first performing in public at the age of nine.

Many of his first recordings were in Spanish until he achieved stardom with his 1968 breakthrough hit of "Light My Fire". As noted, "Hi-Heel Sneakers" was a successful follow-up but then, for whatever reason, subsequent releases didn't quite click.

In fact, he would have nine more singles find their way onto the Hot 100 but the most successful of those only peaked at Number 50. It was a live recording of his controversial version of "The Star Spangled Banner" that he performed before a 1968 World Series game in Detroit.

Although it seems to be regarded as the first occasion that the anthem was sung as a "pop" song, I would have reservations in making that claim. Surely others had done so before him but perhaps this was the most significant forum where a highly personalized version of the anthem was heard. Today, I would wager that Feliciano is best remembered for a recording that didn't chart at all - the Christmas classic "Feliz Navidad". Feliciano has continued to make music right into the 2010s in both Spanish and English.

However, only those in the Spanish idiom have made any Billboard appearances on the "Latin Pop" charts.

Answer: Incense and Peppermints

This song, "Incense and Peppermints", and the group that recorded it, Strawberry Alarm Clock, are to me a perfect example of how weird and fortuitous events can lead to a big hit and how those very events can then boomerang and bite you right on the rear.

The group formed in 1965 and underwent some personnel changes quite quickly but by early 1967, the key members of the group proved to be Ed King and Mark Weitz. The group was very popular in the Glendale and Santa Barbara areas of S. California and was talented enough to have recorded a number of singles for local distribution. Weitz had written a song called "The Birdman of Alkatrash" that was to be the "A" side of their next release and King and Weitz collaborated on an instrumental, "Incense and Peppermints", that would be the "B" side. Both songs were recorded as demos but their producer, Frank Slay, sent a tape of the "B" side to another fellow he managed, John Carter, who subsequently composed lyrics for the piece. When the time came to record the final product, Slay insisted on using Carter's lyrics for the song. Every member of the band who could sing gave it a whirl but nothing was working... all this for a "B" side! Eventually, 16 year old Greg Mumford, lead singer for another band who just happened to be in the studio, was recruited to give a try and his reading turned the trick. The "B" side became the smash hit... and then the troubles began.

In support of the song, the band was obliged to do two things; record an album and then go on tour. Mumford was unavailable for either and furthermore, they didn't have sufficient material to fill an album. To solve the problem, they introduced two new members into the group. One had the right voice to do the vocals while the other had songs suitable for recording on the album. More troubles evolved when the issue of royalties arose. For some reason, Slay, the producer, accorded complete song writing credit to Carter and his partner, Tim Gilbert, who had done nothing whatsoever in the creation of the song. Miffed over this mismanagement, the band fired their manager who retaliated by creating another band with the same name to compete for bookings. By 1969, the whole situation had become so confusing and litigious that the band simply disintegrated. Many reunions of the group have taken place over the subsequent years with varying configurations of original and replacement members. As of 2012, most of their appearances occur in S. California and even a new studio album was released.

Answer: I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)

"I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)" was The Electric Prunes' biggest hit peaking at Number 11 in early 1967. Your other choices included the group's only other Hot 100 hit, the Number 27 "Get Me to the World on Time" and if nothing else, the group probably had the cleverest titles among those with only two hits, both of which were written by the team of Annette Tucker and Nancie Mantz. "Pushin' Too Hard" was a modest Number 36 hit for The Seeds, their only Top 40 entry while "I Had a Dream" peaked at Number 17 for Paul Revere and the Raiders. All these were hits in 1967.

Each of the Electric Prunes' songs was the centerpiece of an album and although the albums weren't quite as successful as the singles, they were at least adequate. Group members were certain that their third album would be comprised of their own material now that they were reasonably successful. To their chagrin, their manager brought in Dave Axelrod to write and produce their next project, "Mass in F Minor". It was indeed a psychedelic treatment of a Mass written in Latin but there was one big problem... the musical arrangement was too complex for the skills possessed by the individual group members. Furthermore, their noses were still somewhat out of joint after being snubbed in terms of contributing their own compositions. When Axelrod brought in his own studio musicians to complete the project, that was the coup de grâce for the original group members. To a man, they simply deserted the group and went their separate ways. Two more albums were recorded by new musicians flying under the Electric Prunes banner but when they bombed, the demise of the band was assured. A few of the original members reunited 30 years later but the ringleader of that reunion passed away in 2011. The future of the group at this time is now much in doubt.

Answer: You Keep Me Hanging On

Compared to some of their psychedelic band peers of the era, Vanilla Fudge tended to a grittier image and a "harder" sound. If one was to designate a band that successfully bridged the gap from psychedelic to heavy metal music, they would be the obvious choice.

Organist Mark Stein, lead guitarist Vince Martell and bassist Tim Bogert were members of The Pigeons until 1966 when drummer Carmine Appice joined the group which then became Vanilla Fudge. In 1967, they were playing the club circuit along the Atlantic Coast when a record producer named George Morton heard their cover of "You Keep Me Hanging On" and offered to record it. The record didn't make much of an impression at the time peaking at Number 67 on the Hot 100. However, the album on which the song was featured rocketed up that chart to Number Six and the group was getting more prestigious gigs as a result. When they performed the song on the "Ed Sullivan Show" in 1968 to a rousing reception, Atco Records decided to re-release it and it also peaked at Number Six on the Hot 100. Two more of their releases charted that year; "Take Me For a Little While" managed minor hit status at Number 38 but a nine minute version of Donovan's "Season of the Witch" stalled at Number 65. Throughout 1968 and 1969, they were constantly touring with the likes of Cream and Jimi Hendrix but still found the time and energy to create three more studio albums. Whether any singles were released from those albums, I don't know but none charted if there were. Meanwhile, the band members were paying a price for this flurry of activity and were becoming physically and mentally exhausted. Following a European tour in early 1970, they mutually agreed to take a little break which ultimately lasted over a dozen years. Since then, the band has taken several other extended breaks but they would always get back together again, unchanged, for tours and studio work. The last such reunion occurred in 1999 but by then, Bogert had had enough of the grind and was replaced by Pete Bremy. As of 2011, they announced that the tour they were commencing that year would be their last... but who knows?

Answer: Time Has Come Today

Lester, Joe, Willie and George Chambers grew up in Lee County, Mississippi, the sons of poor sharecroppers. Like so many other black artists, their musical beginnings were as members of their Baptist Church choir. The eldest, George, was drafted into the military in 1952 and when he completed his commitments two years later, settled in L.A. where his brothers joined him. They sang Gospel and folk music and developed a positive reputation throughout California. Among the contacts they made was one with blues singer Barbara Dane who invited them to accompany her to New York City for a series of concerts. It was there where they met folks like Pete Seeger which ultimately led to an appearance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. Shortly afterward, drummer Brian Keenan, a white fellow, was incorporated into the group and he nudged them toward the contemporary rock sound that proved successful for them.

Their masterpiece, "Time Has Come Today", was originally an eleven minute epic on a similarly titled LP that they condensed as a single release. The best it could do on the Hot 100 was Number 11 but it sat in that position for five full weeks unable to crack the Top 10. Personally, I thought it was a terrific song well worthy of Top 10 recognition. Their next release was an Otis Redding composition, "I Can't Turn You Loose", that peaked at a disappointing Number 37 but subsequent releases fared even worse at Numbers 83, 92 and 96. Obviously, they were spinning their wheels and briefly disbanded in 1972 before reuniting again two years later. Since then, they've worked in loose association with each other for occasional tours and appearances but have the space to pursue individual projects as well. In fact, in 1981 I had occasion to see Lester Chambers play a Greenwich Village pub with a band he formed with ex-Electric Flag bassist Harvey Brooks. Sadly, it was so long ago I remember very little of the occasion!

Answer: Games People Play

Joe South's two Top 40 hits were this one, "Games People Play" in 1969 and "Walk a Mile in My Shoes" which also peaked at Number 12 in 1970. I was somewhat surprised that neither achieved higher status on the Hot 100. Perhaps they both garnered more radio play where I was than places elsewhere or maybe I just regarded them with more esteem for the messages they conveyed. Regardless, he did chart with other self-composed pieces, just eluding the coveted Top 40 with the Number 41 "Don't it Make You Want to Go Home". His rendition of "Birds of a Feather" barely cracked the charts at Number 96. It would do much better in the hands of The Raiders who took it to Number 27 two years later in 1971. Actually, South first entered the Hot 100 as an 18 year old in 1958 with the immortal "The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor" penned by none other than The Big Bopper. It had the makings for an Abbot and Costello movie but instead, peaked at Number 47 on the Hot 100.

South was born in Atlanta in 1940 and after that introduction to the charts in 1958, he settled in as a sideman in Nashville playing guitar on albums for such luminaries as Simon and Garfunkel, Wilson Pickett, Bob Dylan and Aretha Franklin throughout the 1960s. He was also honing his composing skills during this period, his first success coming in 1965 with "Down in the Boondocks", a Number Nine hit for Billy Joe Royal. Among his other hit compositions were "Hush", Number Four for Deep Purple in 1968, "Yo-Yo", Number Three for The Osmonds in 1971 and, perhaps his best remembered piece, "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden", recorded by Lynn Anderson in 1971. It peaked on the Hot 100 at Number Three but went right to the apex of the Country chart.

He never relished the performing and touring elements of the business and essentially walked away from it in 1971. He was on tour when his brother, who led his back-up band and played drums, committed suicide. South went into a deep depression and save for one album in 1975, retired from the entertainment business for close to 25 years. He finally re-emerged in the mid-1990s in the music publishing industry. He succumbed to a heart attack in September, 2012, aged 72.

Answer: Expressway to Your Heart

Even if you didn't recognize the given lyrics for "Expressway to Your Heart", the words may have seemed eerily familiar... and rightfully so! Lyricist Kenny Gamble used them before for a song that he and Leon Huff composed for Dionne Warwick in 1966 that later became a hit for Dianna Ross and The Supremes with The Temptations in 1968. It was one of your alternative choices, "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" and here's how the words were used in that piece:

"Every minute, every hour
I'm gonna shower you
With love and affection
Look out, it's comin' in your direction"

The Soul Survivors were a New York based band of white R&B musicians who relocated to Philadelphia to work with Gamble and Huff just when that duo was starting to make a name as music writers/producers. In fact, this record was the first one written and produced by Gamble and Huff to be a big hit. While The Soul Survivors were a passing fancy (they disbanded in 1968), Gamble and Huff would be front and center for "The Sound of Philadelphia" which would last until about 1975. They composed and produced most of the hits for several artists associated with that "sound" such as The O'Jays ("Backstabbers", "Love Train", "For the Love of Money"), Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes (If You Don't Know Me by Now", "The Love I Lost"), Billy Paul ("Me and Mrs. Jones"), The Intruders ("Cowboys to Girls") and many, many others. They haven't written or produced anything significant since the mid-1980s but even after collaborating on over 3,000 pieces of work, they still dabble at their craft in semi-retirement and remain residents of Philadelphia.

Answer: The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde

Let's review the other criminally oriented choices you were faced with: "Indiana Wants Me", complete with wailing siren, was a Number Five hit in 1970 for one-hit wonder R. Dean Taylor; "I Fought the Law" was recorded by The Bobby Fuller Four in 1964 and peaked at Number Nine (if you played my quiz in this series on two-hit wonders from 1960-64, you would have known that); "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence" was a Number Four hit in 1962 for Gene Pitney and he was no two-hit wonder.

I found it odd that a Brit would sing a song about American bank robbers and lethal killers. I found it even odder to find out that it was also written by two British songwriters named Mitch Murray and Peter Callander who had a penchant for composing songs about American villains and heroes. For example, they also wrote "The Night Chicago Died", a ditty about the mayhem wreaked on Chicago during the Capone era popularized by the group Paper Lace. Another of their compositions was "Billy, Don't Be a Hero" about a young Union soldier in the American Civil War. Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods rode that song right to Number One in 1974.

Georgie Fame (nee Clive Powell) was born in 1943, developed his musical roots in the Manchester area, and then moved to London with his family in 1959 where he was "discovered" by a songwriter who introduced him to a talent manager named Larry Parnes. Parnes managed the careers of several young British R&R musicians of the era like Billy Fury, Marty Wilde, Vince Eager and Johnny Gentle - you can see how Clive Powell became Georgie Fame and even though he absolutely despised the name, he had to accept it or hit the road. Those were Parnes' terms! Fame became the keyboardist for The Blue Flames, Billy Fury's band, and when Fury went solo in 1961, he inherited the lead vocalist role as well. They played the London club circuit for several years as they honed their peculiar blend of ska, jazz, rock and r&b music that would lead to success. As a group, they recorded "Yeh, Yeh", their first British Number One and Number 21 on the Hot 100, and the song "Get Away" which also topped the British chart. I think it was quite popular in Canada (I remember hearing it often) but it only managed to peak at Number 70 on Billboard. Two years later, as a solo artist, he had his last big hit in the U.S. with "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde". It was also his third and last Number One in Britain although he would have two more moderate hits there before bidding a permanent adieu to the charts in 1969. In later years, he spent much of the 1970s and 1980s playing the cabaret circuit and writing jingles for British TV, played keyboards for Van Morrison on his albums and tours from 1989 to 1997 and since then, has recorded and toured with his own band while advancing the "vocalese" jazz form he now embraces.

Answer: Build Me Up Buttercup

The Foundations were a most unusual group on many levels. First, they formed in January, 1967, as a result of advertisements placed in Melody Maker magazine but no one seems to know who placed the ads. Second, they came from all over the place... Jamaica, Trinidad, Ceylon and various places in England and were one of the first inter-racial groups in the U.K. Third, their musical backgrounds were as varied as their birth certificates - jazz, calypso, rock and genres in between - but when they merged, the result was a funky R&B sound that British critics felt was as Motown a sound as one could derive in the U.K. Fourth, they were big in size with an unheard of eight members at their peak. Fifth, they were not only diverse in race and background but also in age... at their inception members ranged in age from 38 to 18! And finally, within three years they ceased to exist.

It probably should come as no surprise that the group would be short-lived under these circumstances and in fact, personnel shuffles began as early as the spring of 1968 after "Baby, Now that I Found You" became a hit. The lead singer of the group, Clem Curtis, was the one who bolted when he observed that some of the other members were not working as diligently as they should have now that they were "stars". The real impetus for the final break-up of the group occurred when their manager, Tony Macauley, resigned. He not only was their leader but also wrote or co-wrote all their hits. Apparently, none of the other group members could fill the composing gap. As such, disbanding was almost inevitable. Shortly thereafter, Curtis re-formed the group with different personnel and it slowly evolved into a staple attraction on the British nostalgia circuit, aided immeasurably when "Build Me Up Buttercup" was featured in the 1998 film "There's Something About Mary".