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SEVENTIES
VA - David Hepworth, More Deep 70s (Undiscovered Jewels From Music's Most Action-Packed Decade) [2025] (4 x CDS)
The 1970s were too large to fit inside a single narrative. They were restless, contradictory, overflowing with invention, and full of artists who made extraordinary records between the headlines. More Deep 70s embraces that breadth. Across four discs, David Hepworth curates a decade not through its obvious landmarks but through the songs that slipped between categories, covers, live takes, overlooked singles, album tracks that carried more truth than the hits beside them. The result is a portrait of the 70s as a place of constant movement.
The first disc sets the tone with reinvention. Ramones, Devo, Don Covay, Nina Simone, Lowell George, Todd Rundgren, Nilsson, each track reshapes familiar material, proving how the decade thrived on reinterpretation. You hear artists bending genres, slowing tempos, sharpening edges, and turning other people’s songs into personal statements. It’s the 70s as workshop: restless, curious, unafraid.
The second disc tightens the frame around skinny‑tie energy. Cheap Trick, The Cars, Joe Jackson, Dwight Twilley, Shoes, Raspberries, Squeeze — bright guitars, sharp hooks, and a sense of urgency that pointed toward the new wave to come. These tracks show how melody and attitude could coexist without compromise.
The third disc shifts into Americana, where songwriters chased emotional clarity rather than volume. Gene Clark, Jimmy Webb, Laura Nyro, Millie Jackson, Bobby Bland, Dr. John, Guy Clark, Terry Allen — voices shaped by experience, arrangements built on warmth and space. It’s the quieter side of the decade, but no less intense.
The final disc widens again, moving through rock, art‑pop and reggae. Free, John Cale, Ultravox, Sparks, Burning Spear, Max Romeo, Richard Thompson — a reminder that the 70s were global, eclectic and impossible to pin down. The sequencing makes the connections feel natural: rhythm, mood, and imagination binding everything together.
What makes More Deep 70s special is its sense of discovery. Hepworth isn’t building a museum. He’s opening a door to the decade’s hidden rooms — the tracks that shaped taste, influenced peers, and carried the spirit of the era without ever dominating it. For collectors, it’s a treasure map. For listeners, it’s proof that the 70s remain the most surprising decade in modern music, still revealing new corners half a century later.(B)
Volume 1 can be found here:
https://butterboycompilations.blogspot.com/2023/01/va-david-hepworth-deep-70s-underrated.html
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Track lists
CD1
01 Ramones - Let's Dance 1:51
02 Devo - Satisfaction (I Can't Get Me No) 2:40
03 Nils Lofgren - Goin' Back 3:47
04 Hollies - Sandy (4th of July, Asbury Park) 4:11
05 Don Covay - Memphis 3:23
06 Nina Simone - Baltimore 4:38
07 Lowell George - What Do You Want the Girl to Do 4:48
08 Billy Swan - Don't Be Cruel (Slow Version) 4:13
09 Bunch - When Will I Be Loved 3:16
10 Frankie Miller - Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues 4:02
11 Greg Kihn - For You 3:58
12 Thin Lizzy - Rosalie (Live) 3:14
13 Todd Rundgren - Rain 3:17
14 Nilsson - Vine Street 2:51
15 Joe Cocker - Jamaica Say You Will 4:15
16 Terry Melcher - These Days 4:23
17 John Martyn - Spencer The Rover 4:09
18 Ian Matthews - Seven Bridges Road 4:05
19 Leo Kottke - Pamela Brown 3:29
20 Pointer Sisters - Grinning in Your Face 4:49
21 Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Psycho (Live) 3:22
CD2
01 Runaways - Cherry Bomb 2:18
02 Cheap Trick - Surrender 4:13
03 Cars - Double Life 4:14
04 Joe Jackson - It's Different for Girls 3:42
05 Dwight Twilley Band - I'm on Fire 3:19
06 Mink DeVille - Just Your Friends 4:12
07 Sniff 'N' The Tears - Driver's Seat 3:59
08 Shoes - Too Late 2:44
09 Raspberries - Go All The Way 3:25
10 Graham Parker & The Rumour - Local Girls 3:37
11 John Hiatt - Take Off Your Uniform 4:07
12 XTC - Life Begins at The Hop 3:49
13 Inmates - Dirty Water 2:59
14 Deaf School - What a Way to End it All 2:56
15 Tim Moore - Rock and Roll Love Letter 4:23
16 Squeeze - Up The Junction 3:09
17 Crabby Appleton - Go Back 3:06
CD3
01 Roger McGuinn - Draggin' 3:38
02 Gene Clark - No Other 5:08
03 Jimmy Webb - P.F. Sloan 4:16
04 Laura Nyro - Stoney End 2:43
05 Millie Jackson - Loving Arms 3:44
06 Bobby Bland - It's Not The Spotlight 3:53
07 Dr. John - I Been Hoodood 3:14
08 Meters - Fire on the Bayou 4:06
09 Taj Mahal - Satisfied 'N' Tickled Too 5:24
10 Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks - I Scare Myself 5:19
11 Joe Ely - Honky Tonk Masquerade 3:42
12 Guy Clark - Desperados Waiting for A Train 4:29
13 Paul Williams - Someday Man 2:53
14 Chip Taylor - I Wasn't Born in Tennessee 3:05
15 Joe Simon - Georgia Blue 2:59
16 Muddy Waters - Mannish Boy 2:57
17 Terry Allen - New Delhi Freight Train 7:28
CD4
01 Heads Hands & Feet - (Let's Get This) Show on The Road 3:49
02 Free - The Highway Song 4:15
03 John Cale - You Know More Than I Know 3:35
04 Ultravox! - Young Savage 3:00
05 Nico - It Has Not Taken Long 4:11
06 Sparks - Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth 2:27
07 Heptones - Country Boy 2:56
08 Burning Spear - Marcus Garvey 3:27
09 Max Romeo & The Upsetters - Chase The Devil 3:26
10 Jess Roden - On Broadway 7:08
11 Swamp Dogg - Did I Come Back Too Soon (Or Stay Away Too Long) 3:43
12 Kevin Ayers - Didn't Feel Lonely Till I Thought of You 4:37
13 801 - Rongwrong 5:10
14 Jim Capaldi - Eve 3:41
15 Richard Thompson - Roll Over Vaughn Williams 4:11
16 Bryn Haworth - Grappenhall Rag 2:58
17 Peter Skellern - I Guess You Wish You'd Gone Home 2:43
18 Morris on Band - Princess Royal 3:44
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Music weaves itself into the fabric of our emotions, dances through the corridors of memory, and whispers to the soul of who we are. Sharing these stories deepens the connection, turning the experience into something timeless and profound.
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Thank you for both Vol.1 & 2 Butterboy.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, Done4it.
DeleteCheers.
David Hepworth's 1971 book was an excellent musical study of a rather special year and his whole take on the 70s is a fascinating glimpse into a decade which offered a dizzying array of styles and talent (and some awful dross too, let's be honest). Thanks so much for this upload BB (and vol 1), it's a perfect way to review the 70s as a real smorgasboard of sounds.
ReplyDeleteHi harry the dog,
DeleteYou’ve summed up Hepworth’s angle perfectly. His 1971 book nailed the feeling of a year in motion, and his wider take on the 70s captures that wild mix of brilliance, invention and, yes, the occasional patch of dross. That’s what makes the decade so fascinating, it never sits still.
I’m really glad this set (and Vol. 1) works as a way to revisit that whole smorgasbord. It’s a fun lens to look through.
Cheers.
Hey BB - just because I didn’t get the thesis at first glance I have posted links to both volumes over on my blog so that folks may be intrigued enough to head over here! Bestests
ReplyDeleteHi Andy,
DeleteThat’s very kind of you. Thank you for sharing both volumes on your blog. If the “thesis” didn’t reveal itself at first glance, that probably means I buried myself a little too deep in the fun of building it. But curiosity is a powerful thing, and if your links send a few intrigued travellers this way, I’m grateful.
Cheers.
Marvelous. While I did not know David Hepworth until now (thank you!), thankfully I had Dr. Demento on the radio to open this door as well. Horizons wonderfully expanded. I find it curious the New York Dolls are not represented on either of these sets by Mr. Hepworth. In a single band they captured this manifest, tossing pop, girl groups, rock and roll, blues and anything else they found on the gritty New York sidewalk into the pot, whirled it around and spit it back to us in a salacious, gritty, slutty and joyously confused and carefree wallop upside the head. What a glorious time is captured here. Blessings and thank you BB!
ReplyDeleteHi Ian,
DeleteWonderful thoughts, thank you. Hepworth has a knack for opening doors, and it’s great that this set expanded things for you the way Dr. Demento once did. That mix of curiosity and surprise is exactly what makes these collections fun.
Your point about the New York Dolls is spot‑on. If any band embodied the chaotic, joyful collision of styles that defined the era, it was them, pop sparkle, girl‑group sweetness, gutter‑level rock and roll, blues grit, and that glorious, messy swagger all thrown together. They were a whole thesis in one band, and their absence here is definitely felt.
It really was a wild, creative time, and I’m glad this set helped bring some of that energy back into focus.
Thank you for the lovely note.
Cheers.
Many thanks for this BB. I checked this out on Discogs: Disc 1 subtitled "Re-Make / Re-Model" 2 "Skinny Tie Music" 3 "Americana" - was that a genre in the 70's? and interestingly Disc 4 "Basing Street Blues" - home to Island Studios in London, hence featuring Island Recording Artists. A great compilation, I rate Hepworth up there with Jon Savage and Bob Stanley for consistently providing these really interesting releases. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteHi Michael,
DeleteGreat observations. Hepworth always thinks in themes, and those subtitles show how carefully he frames each disc. They all make perfect sense, you can almost feel the studio walls in the track choices. As for Americana, you’re right to raise an eyebrow. It wasn’t a defined genre in the 70s the way it became later, but the roots were already there, singer‑songwriters, country‑rock, folk‑rock, that whole blend of American storytelling and looseness. Hepworth is basically retro‑fitting the term to capture a mood rather than a strict category.
I agree with you on Hepworth. He sits comfortably alongside Jon Savage and Bob Stanley, all three have that gift for shaping history into something readable, listenable and genuinely interesting.
Cheers.
Interesting choices, sometimes leftfield, but always making sense. I didn't know much about Hepworth before, do acknowledge his taste and wide range of pop knowledge ... but, regarding historical context and deepness, Mr Savage - for me and IMHO - is premier league. Nevertheless, thanks a lot, BB, for this chance to compare selections (and, of course, always enjoy them, and this one in particular, very much!). Best: TC
ReplyDeleteHi The Chairman,
DeleteReally appreciate your thoughts. Hepworth’s selections do wander into some leftfield corners, but they always seem to click into place once you sit with them, that mix of instinct, taste and broad pop knowledge is very much his signature.
And yes, when it comes to historical depth and context, Jon Savage is hard to beat. He’s operating in that premier‑league space where the research, the narrative and the cultural framing all lock together. Hepworth feels more like a curator with a sharp ear, while Savage builds the architecture around the music. Both valuable, just different angles.
Glad this set gave you a chance to compare approaches, and even better that you enjoyed the ride.
Cheers.
Thanks for this.
ReplyDeleteIMHO BB I think you are shaping musical history everyday!
Hi lemonflag,
DeleteThat’s a generous thing to say, and it means a lot. I’m not shaping musical history, the artists, writers and listeners already did that, but if I can shine a light on corners that get overlooked, or help people reconnect with music they love, that’s more than enough.
Your enthusiasm and curiosity are a big part of what keeps this place lively.
Cheers.