The biggest bands of the 1970s have released tons of material, and yet, a few lost masterpieces have yet to see the light of day… at least outside of demo tapes and bootlegs. It’s a real shame. The following three songs, specifically, are absolutely amazing lost songs from the 1970s that really do need a proper release today. I know I would definitely listen to a cleaned-up, remastered version of at least one of these stellar tunes. Let’s take a look!

“Swan Song” by Led Zeppelin

There are quite a few unreleased Led Zeppelin tracks and bootlegs floating around today. However, the most famous of them all has to be “Swan Song”. Recorded at some point in the mid-1970s, “Swan Song” never actually made it to an album, and yet, fans are still talking about it to this day. And despite releasing quite a few previously unheard songs across reissues and compilation albums, “Swan Song” has yet to be properly released. 

According to Jimmy Page, that’s probably because he can’t find the multitrack tape of the song. What a bummer.

“Black Gold” by Jimi Hendrix

Technically a song cycle or suite and not an individual song, I still had to include “Black Gold” by Jimi Hendrix on this list of lost songs from the 1970s. This medley of song ideas was recorded by Hendrix shortly before he passed away in 1970. Many believe that these demo tapes were meant to become a fully-fledged fifth studio album from the rock guitar god. 

Sadly, that fifth album never came to be. You can find recordings from these tapes online, but they aren’t easy to find. Some tidbits from the suite, such as “Machine Gun”, have since been officially released.

“A Different Kind/Thinking About You” by The Rolling Stones

At some point between 1977 and 1978, The Rolling Stones recorded a track during the Some Girls sessions titled “A Different Kind”, also known as “Thinking About You”. This instrumental piece, written by Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, features some pretty noteworthy elements. Those elements include spoken word vocals from Jagger and a Hawaiian steel guitar track from Ronnie Wood. 

This has to be one of the most enigmatic lost songs of the 1970s. I can’t find much information about it… anywhere. It might not even be real. It could possibly be a total fabrication from a fansite, but that recording is far too convincing to be fake. I’ll leave this one here, considering a lot of amateur music history sleuths might want to try to crack this case open.

Photo by MediaPunch/Shutterstock