In the 1970s, music was our connectivity to one another in a world without smart phones. It both influenced and reflected our shared experiences. Concerts were abundant and inexpensive. When a song from the 70s is played now, nearly everyone who was young at that time can tell you a story about it, recall a special memory, or describe a concert they attended where they heard that band. It was integral part of our youth culture.

In my memoir No Rules there are eleven songs mentioned by name in the text, and four more that are described. There are eleven others on my playlist that may or may not be obvious to the reader as to why they are included. In this article, I provide the reference for each piece of music, including why those not in the book were selected. Each song does not completely describe my personal experience, so don’t be concerned if it deviates from my story. As much as possible I have tried not to include spoilers, but sometimes the selected paragraph gives out hints, and you can sometimes tell where something takes place. This is why I don’t explain who ‘we’ is below. If possible spoilers concern you, don’t continue reading this until you have read the book.

Enjoy while you listen and read.

 

She’s Leaving Home (The Beatles) – This one is not in the book, but you can probably guess that it relates to the opening chapter where I am leaving home, although not meeting a man from the motor trade.

 

Norturne No.2 in E Flat, Op. 9 No.2 (composer Chopin) – From Chapter 2, this music is described in this paragraph about my mother who wanted to be a concert pianist. Chopin was her favorite composer.

Another time, she was playing a difficult Chopin piece and was getting frustrated, replaying the same section over and over, until she finally stopped, looking defeated. “All I ever wanted to be was a concert pianist, but my piano teacher told me I wasn’t strong enough,” she said. She turned her hands to look at them as she spoke. “He said a woman’s hands aren’t big enough, which is why there are no women concert pianists.” She looked at her hands a moment longer before rising from the piano stool.

 

California Girls (The Beach Boys) – Also in Chapter 2, this song is implied by this paragraph when my sister Anne and I are younger in the 1960s.

That summer, when the Beach Boys became popular, Anne and I fantasized we were surfer girls with boys dropping at our feet.

We pretended we lived on a beach in California where we hung around with surfer boys as we lounged on chairs in the backyard and listened to the transistor radio she’d bought with babysitting money. We put on sunglasses and pretended to be sunbathing, though we were actually sitting in the shade so our pale skin wouldn’t get burned.

 

Mama Told Me (Not To Come) (Three Dog Night) – In Chapter 4, Anne and I have our first encounter with Eddie, which sets off a chain of events.

I wished I was old enough for Eddie to like me but knew he probably thought I was a kid. Anne put a quarter in the jukebox at our table and “Mama Told Me Not to Come” by Three Dog Night began to play.

 

Still Raining, Still Dreaming (Jimi Hendrix) – In Chapter 5, the first person we meet is Ed. I wasn’t familiar with the music of Jimi Hendrix, but Electric Ladyland was one of his favorite albums to play.

We entered his living room, where a huge American flag with a peace sign in place of the stars hung across one wall; on another was a psychedelic poster of a couple sitting in a tantric sex embrace, facing each other, arms and legs encircling one another. Peter Max posters of each of the Beatles hung in rainbow hues along the side wall. I was awestruck.

As we walked across the room, my feet sank into the wall-to-wall carpeting. It felt like I was walking on pillows; I wondered what was underneath.

Ed switched on the stereo, then the TV, leaving it silent. The first guitar riffs of Jimmy Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland blasted as colorful electrical streaks pulsed through an attached globe in time to the music.

 

Your Song (Elton John) – In Chapter 7, the one I love is singing. To me?

Music had returned to the transistor radio, and Elton John’s love song, “This Is Your Song,” played. Bob sat across the room, watching me, and began singing along to the words as if he was singing them to me. His eyes looked full of emotion, telling me things I longed to hear him speak. Is he telling me he loves me with these lyrics? I wondered.

 

Guinnevere (Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young) – Later in Chapter 7, he is definitely singing to me.

We spent the next few days together sharing greeting card experiences.

We rode through the canyon and stopped at another beach, watched sunsets from the rock jetty near our house, and stayed up together until dawn. We sat on our rooftop eating spaghetti for breakfast and watching the sun rise. One afternoon as we lay together with our bodies intertwined, listening to the Crosby, Stills and Nash album, he looked into my green eyes and sang along with the haunting song “Guinnevere.” The intimacy between us was growing.

 

What’s Going On (Marvin Gaye) – From Chapter 8 at night.

During one ride, the opening notes of Marvin Gaye’s new song “What’s Going On” came over the radio followed by his haunting voice—and a chill shot through me; it was as though I was feeling his song in my body. I leaned my head back against the seat and closed my eyes, dreaming awake, wondering how life would ever feel right again.

 

Me and Bobby McGee (Janis Joplin) – Also in Chapter 8.

I had never known pain like this before, pain that crept into my dreams and got under my skin. There was a new hit Janis Joplin song called “Me and Bobby Magee” that was on the radio constantly. I cried along with her every time she wailed about how much she missed holding Bobby, and I felt like I too had nothing left to lose.

 

Wild Horses (The Rolling Stones) – In Chapter 9, we attend a party where this song is described.

He walked in without knocking, and we squeezed our way past people standing in the hall and into the overcrowded living room. The sweet aroma of pot and incense flooded the air, and Mick Jagger’s voice wailed about wild horses from the stereo speakers, mixing with the loud drone of conversation.

 

Wild World (Cat Stevens) – Chapter 10, listening to music with a friend.

He removed the headphones from his neck and placed the pillow-like plastic cups over my ears. The music vibrated through my bones as though I were directly plugged into an amplifier. I closed my eyes and listened to Cat Stevens singing “Wild World” and I felt like the refrain could be about me. It made me sad.

 

California (Joni Mitchell) – Chapter 11. This song is not in the book, but in Chapter 11 as a result of what occurs, all I want to do it to get back to California.

 

Funk #49 (James Gang) – While this song is not specifically mentioned in Chapter 11, I attend a James Gang concert where they play this song. Attending the concert has unexpected results.

 

Maggie May (Rod Stewart) – In Chapter 14, I attend a concert that included Rod Stewart as the warm up band for Deep Purple.

“Yeah, England,” Rod screamed into the microphone, staggering across the stage, as the predominantly French audience booed. “Maggie Mae” was a hit song, but Rod Stewart was making no fans with his obnoxious remarks. He appeared to be drunk and the crowd began chanting, “Deep Purple, Deep Purple, Deep Purple.”

 

Like A Rolling Stone (Bob Dylan) – Later in Chapter 14, musicians are playing at the youth hostel.

At last the musicians stooped to crawl into an arch-shaped stone dungeon lit by one red light bulb hanging from the ceiling. Those still with us followed, crouching into the space and sitting cross-legged on the icy stone floor. They began singing a Bob Dylan song, “Like a Rolling Stone.” It had been a hit when I was younger, but now I felt like it was my song, a story of homelessness and life on the road, of being lost and searching.

 

Bitch (The Rolling Stones) – When the Rolling Stones went on tour in 1972, it was their first tour in the United States since the Altamont concert in 1969. Meanwhile, their album Sticky Fingers had been released in the years in between. It was their first album to hit number 1 on nearly every chart around the world. They had now advanced to super stardom. People were trading motorcycles for tickets which were nearly impossible to get. Truman Capote covered the tour as a travelogue for Rolling Stone magazine. Stones mania was everywhere and the tour was labeled a “rock and roll legend” by critic Dave Marsh.

In Chapter 16, a friend of mine scores tickets in another city. Road Trip! This is a classic song from that time that was often on the radio.

 

Street Fighting Man (The Rolling Stones) – In Chapter 17, we attend the concert and this is their final song of the set. 

Before their final song, the house lights came on and the riot squad linked arms, standing shoulder to shoulder and boot to boot across the front of the stage in defiance of the crowd, as Mick screamed out the lyrics to “Street Fighting Man.” The song had been banned from Chicago radio stations in 1968 following the violence during the Democratic National Convention, where thousands of police and National Guardsmen had clashed with half as many anti-war demonstrators and hundreds had been injured. It had been released a week after the event. Now the Stones sang it like an anthem for the Chicago protestors, and the crowd responded. 

Bad, Bad Leroy Brown (Jim Croce) – In Chapter 18, this popular song from that summer plays at a party we hear about.

“Chicks! All right! Come on in.” A guy with light brown hair in a ponytail and wire-rimmed sunglasses motioned for us to enter as we stood in the doorway. He handed Joanne the bottle of vodka from the table.

“Here, have some juice. Not much else left, but you can get a good buzz with this shit.”

The song “Leroy Brown” was playing on the stereo; our host proceeded to dance around the room to the tune while Joanne took a swig of vodka and then passed it to me.

 

Welcome to Goose Creek (Goose Creek Symphony) – Although not in the book, we traveled with a group of people from Hope in two large vans to attend a free concert to see Goose Creek Symphony. Bluegrass music was becoming very popular as the back-to-nature trend was growing. This corresponds with the timeframe of Chapter 20.

 

In The Beginning (Emerson, Lake, and Palmer) – Also not in the book, but this was our song circa Chapter 21.

 

Ohio (Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young) – Another song not in the book, but in Chapter 22 its relevance is clear.

 

Black Water (Doobie Brothers) – At Hubbard Hill, we used a car battery connected to a radio and an 8-track player to hear music, considered a necessity. We played this song often although it isn’t mentioned in the book. Timeframe of Chapter 23.

 

Dancing in the Moonlight (King Harvest) This song was written by King Harvest about the people living with nature in the community surrounding Ithaca. While at Hubbard Hill, we attended a party with a band that played under the full moon, and of course they played this song and we all danced. Timeframe of Chapters 23 – 24.

 

The Corn Won’t Grow So Rock ‘n Roll (Goose Creek Symphony) – This song well describes how life typically transpired at Hubbard Hill. All types of people would drive up for conversations. Some nights you could find us all dancing around the cabin with whoever else was visiting. Everyone was invited for dinner. Timeframe of Chapters 23 – 25.

 

The Boxer (Simon and Garfunkel) – In Chapter 27, it’s the night before Christmas Eve.

We finished our dinner and talked on into the night. After a while, Mike brought out his guitar and his new book of Paul Simon songs, and the three of us sat around singing “Lincoln Duncan,” “The Boxer,” and “America.”

 

I Am Woman (Helen Reddy) – No song expresses better the spirit of how woman felt in the 1970s as they awakened to feminism and abandoned the rules designed to keep women in their place. It’s not listed in the book but you can sign along while in Chapter 28 and during the Epilogue.

 

If you have any questions about this playlist, or would like more information around it, please contact me at [email protected]. I will be happy to answer.

Peace.