Various Artists - NOW - Yearbook 1971 Various Artists

4CD

Step back to the early ’70s – an unforgettable era of pure pop, rock, soul, easy listening and singer-songwriter classics with NOW Yearbook 1971, featuring 80 amazing tracks across 4 CDs.

Opening with an incredible run of truly timeless classics… Elton John’s signature ‘Your Song’ leads, followed by Paul McCartney’s debut solo single ‘Another Day’, and Rod Stewart with his first chart-topper ‘Maggie May’ alongside the second #1 for T.Rex with ‘Get It On’. U.S. classics; Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’ is as popular today as it was in ’71, as is John Denver’s ‘Take Me Home Country Roads’. Country-pop hits for Lynn Anderson and Olivia Newton-John come ahead of singer-songwriter gold from Cat Stevens and Carly Simon…Diana Ross hit #1 with ‘I’m Still Waiting’ and the Jackson 5 hit the top in the U.S. with one of their most beloved tracks, ‘I’ll Be There’. Next up, peerless soul ballads from The Delfonics and Al Green along with big pop hits for R. Dean Taylor, Blue Mink, The Fortunes, Sweet and The Kinks before Tom Jones completes the first disc with ‘She’s A Lady’.

Judy Collins’ version of ‘Amazing Grace’ was massive hit and would end up spending an incredible 67 weeks on the UK charts! …and opens CD2… Peter Noone enjoyed a big hit covering David Bowie’s ‘Oh You Pretty Things’ and Cilla Black was back in the Top 3 with ‘Something Tells Me…’.’Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves’ gave Cher a U.S. #1 and comes ahead of a run of pure-pop gems from Clodagh Rodgers (with 1971’s UK Eurovision entry), The Mixtures, Jackie Lee, Lobo and ‘Knock Three Times’, the first #1 for Tony Orlando & Dawn. Easy Listening gold up next from Andy Williams, Perry Como, Elvis Presley, Tom Jones and Tony Christie, plus more of the years’ pop hits from Bay City Rollers, Gilbert O’Sullivan, Marmalade, New World, Hurricane Smith and to close the disc a Top 10 hit, ‘I Believe (In Love)’ for Hot Chocolate.

CD3 celebrates 1971’s groundbreaking soul, rock and singer-songwriter classics, opening with Marvin Gaye’s landmark masterpiece ‘What’s Going On’, before the Oscar-winning ‘Theme From "Shaft"’ from Isaac Hayes. Ike & Tina Turner’s electrifying ‘Proud Mary’ is followed by the sublime ‘Spanish Harlem’ from Aretha Franklin, while Diana Ross and Gladys Knight & The Pips deliver two of the year’s finest Motown ballads with ‘Remember Me’ and ‘If I Were Your Woman’. The second half of the disc turns up the volume with a superb run of rock classics, from Titanic’s international smash ‘Sultana’ and Deep Purple’s ‘Strange Kind Of Woman’ to Badfinger’s ‘No Matter What’, before one of the defining anthems of the era, The Who’s epic ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’. Three Dog Night’s U.S. #1 ‘Joy To The World’ leads into further highlights from Curved Air, Family, C.C.S. and Atomic Rooster, while Redbone’s ‘The Witch Queen Of New Orleans’ and Free’s ‘My Brother Jake’ showcase two more unforgettable rock-oriented chart hits. The collection closes with three timeless recordings: Buffy Sainte-Marie’s powerful ‘Soldier Blue’, Joan Baez’s interpretation of ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down’, and finally Janis Joplin’s posthumous hit – the classic ‘Me And Bobby McGee’.

CD4 opens with another run of unforgettable chart smashes and #1s from Rod Stewart with ‘Reason To Believe’ and T. Rex with ‘Hot Love’, plus early glam-pop favourites from Sweet and Slade. Mungo Jerry keep the #1s coming before Dave & Ansel Collins' groundbreaking chart-topper ‘Double Barrel’ became the second ever reggae single to hit the UK #1 spot – and another #1 for The Tams with the re-released Northern Soul classic ‘Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me’. Legends, the Four Tops, The Temptations, Bill Withers, The Delfonics, Jackson 5 and The Supremes deliver a stunning run of timeless Soul classics, joined by the Northern Soul favourites ‘I'm Gonna Run Away From You’ from Tami Lynn, and ‘Heaven Must Have Sent You’ from The Elgins. Pop favourites from Middle Of The Road with their #1 ‘Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep’, Tony Orlando & Dawn and The New Seekers lead into two of the year's most memorable #1s – both tv-personality led - that book-ended the year as Clive Dunn's ‘Grandad’ is followed by Benny Hill's ‘Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)’ - the Xmas #1 for 1971- to bring this spectacular Yearbook collection to a smile-inducing close.

NOW Yearbook 1971 – a celebration of the diversity and wonderful creativity of a magical year in pop.

4CD DLX

Step back to the early ’70s – an unforgettable era of pure pop, rock, soul, easy listening and singer-songwriter classics with NOW Yearbook 1971, featuring 80 amazing tracks across 4 CDs. Available as a deluxe 4CD set housed in ‘hard-back-book’ packaging, including a 28-page booklet featuring a summary of the year and a track-by-track guide.

Opening with an incredible run of truly timeless classics… Elton John’s signature ‘Your Song’ leads, followed by Paul McCartney’s debut solo single ‘Another Day’, and Rod Stewart with his first chart-topper ‘Maggie May’ alongside the second #1 for T.Rex with ‘Get It On’. U.S. classics; Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’ is as popular today as it was in ’71, as is John Denver’s ‘Take Me Home Country Roads’. Country-pop hits for Lynn Anderson and Olivia Newton-John come ahead of singer-songwriter gold from Cat Stevens and Carly Simon…Diana Ross hit #1 with ‘I’m Still Waiting’ and the Jackson 5 hit the top in the U.S. with one of their most beloved tracks, ‘I’ll Be There’. Next up, peerless soul ballads from The Delfonics and Al Green along with big pop hits for R. Dean Taylor, Blue Mink, The Fortunes, Sweet and The Kinks before Tom Jones completes the first disc with ‘She’s A Lady’.

Judy Collins’ version of ‘Amazing Grace’ was massive hit and would end up spending an incredible 67 weeks on the UK charts! …and opens CD2… Peter Noone enjoyed a big hit covering David Bowie’s ‘Oh You Pretty Things’ and Cilla Black was back in the Top 3 with ‘Something Tells Me…’.’Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves’ gave Cher a U.S. #1 and comes ahead of a run of pure-pop gems from Clodagh Rodgers (with 1971’s UK Eurovision entry), The Mixtures, Jackie Lee, Lobo and ‘Knock Three Times’, the first #1 for Tony Orlando & Dawn. Easy Listening gold up next from Andy Williams, Perry Como, Elvis Presley, Tom Jones and Tony Christie, plus more of the years’ pop hits from Bay City Rollers, Gilbert O’Sullivan, Marmalade, New World, Hurricane Smith and to close the disc a Top 10 hit, ‘I Believe (In Love)’ for Hot Chocolate.

CD3 celebrates 1971’s groundbreaking soul, rock and singer-songwriter classics, opening with Marvin Gaye’s landmark masterpiece ‘What’s Going On’, before the Oscar-winning ‘Theme From "Shaft"’ from Isaac Hayes. Ike & Tina Turner’s electrifying ‘Proud Mary’ is followed by the sublime ‘Spanish Harlem’ from Aretha Franklin, while Diana Ross and Gladys Knight & The Pips deliver two of the year’s finest Motown ballads with ‘Remember Me’ and ‘If I Were Your Woman’. The second half of the disc turns up the volume with a superb run of rock classics, from Titanic’s international smash ‘Sultana’ and Deep Purple’s ‘Strange Kind Of Woman’ to Badfinger’s ‘No Matter What’, before one of the defining anthems of the era, The Who’s epic ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’. Three Dog Night’s U.S. #1 ‘Joy To The World’ leads into further highlights from Curved Air, Family, C.C.S. and Atomic Rooster, while Redbone’s ‘The Witch Queen Of New Orleans’ and Free’s ‘My Brother Jake’ showcase two more unforgettable rock-oriented chart hits. The collection closes with three timeless recordings: Buffy Sainte-Marie’s powerful ‘Soldier Blue’, Joan Baez’s interpretation of ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down’, and finally Janis Joplin’s posthumous hit – the classic ‘Me And Bobby McGee’.

CD4 opens with another run of unforgettable chart smashes and #1s from Rod Stewart with ‘Reason To Believe’ and T. Rex with ‘Hot Love’, plus early glam-pop favourites from Sweet and Slade. Mungo Jerry keep the #1s coming before Dave & Ansel Collins' groundbreaking chart-topper ‘Double Barrel’ became the second ever reggae single to hit the UK #1 spot – and another #1 for The Tams with the re-released Northern Soul classic ‘Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me’. Legends, the Four Tops, The Temptations, Bill Withers, The Delfonics, Jackson 5 and The Supremes deliver a stunning run of timeless Soul classics, joined by the Northern Soul favourites ‘I'm Gonna Run Away From You’ from Tami Lynn, and ‘Heaven Must Have Sent You’ from The Elgins. Pop favourites from Middle Of The Road with their #1 ‘Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep’, Tony Orlando & Dawn and The New Seekers lead into two of the year's most memorable #1s – both tv-personality led - that book-ended the year as Clive Dunn's ‘Grandad’ is followed by Benny Hill's ‘Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)’ - the Xmas #1 for 1971- to bring this spectacular Yearbook collection to a smile-inducing close.

NOW Yearbook 1971 – a celebration of the diversity and wonderful creativity of a magical year in pop.

3LP

Step back to the early ’70s – an unforgettable era of pure pop, rock, soul, easy listening and singer-songwriter classics with NOW Yearbook 1971 - featuring 50 amazing tracks across a 3-LP set, pressed on bright yellow vinyl.

Opening with an incredible run of truly timeless classics… Elton John’s signature ‘Your Song’ leads, followed by Paul McCartney’s debut solo single ‘Another Day’. U.S. classics next: Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’ is as popular today as it was in ’71, as is John Denver’s ‘Take Me Home Country Roads’. Country-pop hits for Lynn Anderson and Olivia Newton-John come ahead of the debut single from Carly Simon and to close the side, Judy Collins’ version of ‘Amazing Grace’ was massive hit and would end up spending an incredible 67 weeks on the UK charts!...flip the LP over for Rod Stewart with his first chart-topper ‘Maggie May’ alongside the second #1 for T.Rex with ‘Get It On’ and also the second chart-topper for Mungo Jerry with ‘Baby Jump’. The Kinks and Free follow leading to two of the defining anthems of the era, The Who’s epic ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’, and closing LP1, Deep Purple with ‘Strange Kind Of Woman’.

LP2’s first side opens with some of ‘71’s most soulful ballads: Al Green’s ‘Tired Of Being Alone’ is followed by Diana Ross, who hit #1 with ‘I’m Still Waiting’ and the Jackson 5 hit the top in the U.S. with one of their most beloved tracks, ‘I’ll Be There’. The Tams enjoyed a #1 with the re-released Northern Soul classic ‘Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me’, and leads a run including The Elgins, The Supremes and ‘I'm Gonna Run Away From You’ from Tami Lynn. The side winds down with two stunning ballads from The Delfonics with ‘La La Means I Love You’ and The Temptations with ‘Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)… whilst over on Side 2…’Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves’ gave Cher a U.S. #1 and Cilla Black was back in the UK Top 3 with ‘Something Tells Me…’. Up next, Tony Christie leading a run of pure-pop gems from Bay City Rollers, Middle Of The Road with their #1 ‘Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep’, The Mixtures, Clodagh Rodgers (with 1971’s UK Eurovision entry), and ‘Knock Three Times’, the first #1 for Tony Orlando & Dawn – and to complete the second LP a Top 10 hit, ‘I Believe (In Love)’ for Hot Chocolate.

The third LP kicks off with T.Rex and their first #1 ’Hot Love’, the first #1 from the ‘glam’ scene that would dominate the singles charts over the next few years. Peter Noone enjoyed a big hit covering David Bowie’s ‘Oh You Pretty Things’ and is followed by early glam-pop favourites from Sweet and Slade. Up next, Dave & Ansel Collins' groundbreaking chart-topper ‘Double Barrel’ which became the second ever reggae single to hit the UK #1 spot. Easy Listening gold up next from Perry Como, Andy Williams, Elvis Presley and to close the side ‘Till’ from Tom Jones… and over on the final side… a stellar run celebrating 1971’s groundbreaking soul classics, opening with Marvin Gaye’s landmark masterpiece ‘What’s Going On’, before the Oscar-winning ‘Theme From "Shaft"’ from Isaac Hayes and Ike & Tina Turner’s electrifying ‘Proud Mary’. Bill Withers’ sublime ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ leads to a final run of classics from Cat Stevens with ‘Wild World’, Joan Baez’s interpretation of ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down’, and Janis Joplin’s posthumous hit – the timeless ‘Me And Bobby McGee’, and it’s left to Rod Stewart to sign off the year with his #1 ‘Reason To Believe’.

NOW Yearbook 1971 – a celebration of the diversity and wonderful creativity of a magical year in pop.