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The Who\u2019s John Entwistle, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend in the promotional video for 1972\u2019s \u201cJoin Together.\u201d<\/p>\n
For most rock fans, 1972 was one of those years when amazing new albums seemed to be coming out every week. Vinyl was flooding into record stores, the airwaves on FM radio were opening up and rock artists, alongside soul and pop artists, were going through periods of profound creative flourishing.<\/p>\n
Albums like Deep Purple\u2018s Machine Head, Chicago\u2018s Chicago V and The Rolling Stones\u2019 Exile on Main St. were lining the shelves next to Elton John\u2018s Honky Ch\u00e2teau and Stevie Wonder\u2018s Talking Book.<\/p>\n
While some tunes found immediate life on the radio, others lived on more quietly on albums with even bigger hits. But viewed collectively, they represent how richly diverse the music of that year truly was.<\/p>\n
In no particular order, here are 12 great (overlooked) songs from 1972 that are worth listening to again.<\/p>\n
\u201cRocks Off\u201d\u2014The Rolling Stones<\/p>\n
Exile on Main St. starts with a bang of dusty, freewheeling power, setting the tone for the Stones\u2019 double album magnum opus. Mick Jagger\u2018s cocky vocals come out roaring over Keith Richards\u2019 fuzzy guitar riff, a blast of horns and session great Nicky Hopkins\u2019 piano that reflect the freewheeling atmosphere of the late-night recording sessions. One of their best album openings ever.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cJoin Together\u201d\u2014The Who<\/p>\n
The rock-anthem was released as a U.S. single in June 1972, in between Who\u2019s Next and Quadrophenia as a leftover from the aborted Lifehouse<\/a> project. The track contains a potent harmonica riff and an unstoppable refrain about unity through music, and quickly became a hit in the U.K. and in the United States, where it remains their sixth-highest charting single. [A proper expanded edition of the project, now called Life House, was released in 2023. Various editions are available in the U.S. here<\/a>, in Canada here<\/a> and in the U.K. here<\/a>.]<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cAin\u2019t Wastin\u2019 Time No More\u201d\u2014The Allman Brothers Band<\/p>\n The opening track off the hybrid studio\/live double LP, Eat a Peach, Gregg Allman\u2019s composition embodies resilience and a stubborn refusal to give up in a challenging time for the band. The song is propelled by his piano playing, and Dickey Betts\u2019 impassioned slide guitar work, blending soul with purpose. A high point of the Allman Brothers<\/a>\u2019 work, the song remains incredibly compelling.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cMona Lisas and Mad Hatters\u201d\u2014Elton John<\/p>\n From the Honky Ch\u00e2teau album, this ballad was influenced by the future star\u2019s first experience of New York City. Bernie Taupin\u2018s colorful lyrics and Elton\u2018s piano playing painted an honest picture of the city and its many paradoxes. In the years since, it has become one of John\u2018s fan-favorite deep cuts.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cSupersonic Rocket Ship\u201d\u2014The Kinks<\/p>\n Released as a single and featured on Everybody\u2019s in Show-Biz, Ray Davies\u2019 delicate composition is among the Kinks\u2019 most ebullient pieces of music. Lyrically the song dreams up a welcoming land full of joy and optimism and its airy composition is full of his\u2019 characteristic whimsy, retaining all the early \u201870s magic the band possessed at the time.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cUse Me\u201d\u2014Bill Withers<\/p>\n From the Still Bill album, the single\u2014though it reached #2 on the Hot 100\u2014has been overshadowed by his signature #1 hit, \u201cLean on Me,\u201d released a few months earlier. Withers\u2019 natural, conversational lyrics and trance-like beat were key in turning ordinary human feelings into a song very much of the times. Still a classic soul playlist favorite.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cJohn, I\u2019m Only Dancing\u201d\u2014David Bowie<\/p>\n Released in September as a stand-alone single to coincide with the Ziggy Stardust album, this song really embodies the glam-rock fervor that was building around Bowie. Brash guitar coupled with some uplifting sax and the star\u2019s unmistakable, theatrical singing make this one of his most addictive early singles, and a strong reminder of just how quickly his sound was changing.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cDay Dreaming\u201d\u2014Aretha Franklin<\/p>\n This single from Young, Gifted and Black showcases the legend\u2019s innate knack for melding soul with sophistication. Franklin\u2019s lush vocal and smooth groove gives this romantic ode the dreamlike feeling that makes it one of her finest and most elegant recordings of the period. And, while it did reach #1 on the R&B chart and #1 pop, it\u2019s easy to overlook it when thinking of all those other hits from her Atlantic years.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cDialogue (Part I & II)\u201d\u2014Chicago<\/p>\n This follow-up single to \u201cSaturday in the Park,\u201d from the Chicago V album, is one of their most elaborate two-part songs. The track is a back-and-forth between two perspectives (with shared lead vocals by Terry Kath and Peter Cetera), the tune intersperses social messages and some serious horn-rock chops. [The song is included on 2025\u2019s\u00a0Chicago IX: Greatest Hits Expanded. The CD or 2-LP set is available in the U.S. here<\/a>, in Canada here<\/a> and in the U.K. here<\/a>.]<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll Take You There\u201d\u2014The Staple Singers<\/p>\n This inspirational tune was first released as a single in 1972 and appears on Be Altitude: Respect Yourself. Featuring a killer bass line and the comforting voice of Mavis Staples, the song combines the gospel soul of the Staple Singers with a laid-back soulful vibe. The optimistic message of the tune became one of the biggest hits of the year (though all these decades later it somehow feels overlooked).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cNever Before\u201d\u2014Deep Purple<\/p>\n The closing track on side one of Machine Head is a perfect example of Deep Purple\u2018s ability to combine brute-force hard rock with intelligent hooks. Ian Gillan\u2018s wail combines with Jon Lord\u2018s organ to make this a track of power and finesse. One of the best songs on this album, despite competition, most notably from \u201cHighway Star\u201d and \u201cSmoke on the Water.\u201d [A Super Deluxe Edition of the album was released in 2024 with many extras. It\u2019s available for order in the U.S. here<\/a>, in Canada here<\/a> and in the U.K. here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cSuperwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)\u201d\u2014Stevie Wonder<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to believe but the wonder-man actually released an album during his great \u201970s run that lacked any significant hit singles. This wide-ranging two-part piece is from his Music of My Mind LP. Stacked keyboards and soul-stirring vocals are present here as he moves into uncharted creative space: a stunning period that changed pop music forever during the rest of the decade.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Who\u2019s John Entwistle, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend in the promotional video for 1972\u2019s \u201cJoin Together.\u201d For…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":524602,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[236334,88,236335,216],"class_list":["post-524601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-best-classic-bands","tag-entertainment","tag-forgotten-1972-classic-songs","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=524601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/524602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=524601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=524601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=524601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}