3 Top 40 Hits From 1971 That Every 70s Kid Still Knows by Heart Today
Three memorable 1971 chart hits highlighted in the article are Carly Simon’s “That’s the Way I’ve Always Heard It Should Be”, Stevie Wonder’s “If You Really Love Me” and Janis Joplin’s “Me and Bobby McGee”. The songs reflect the range of music emerging at the start of the decade and each became part of its artist’s story.
Simon co-wrote her debut single with Jacob Brackman, while Wonder wrote his song with his then-wife Syreeta Wright for *Where I’m Coming From*. Joplin’s version of Kris Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee”, from *Pearl*, became her only number one single, released a few months after her death; other artists had recorded it before and after her.
- Three 1971 hits came from Carly Simon, Stevie Wonder and Janis Joplin.
- Simon’s song was her debut single.
- Joplin’s “Me and Bobby McGee” became her only number one.
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The early 1970s brought together many styles of popular music, from singer-songwriter ballads to soul and rock. Songs could reach a wide audience through radio, record sales and the music charts, while also becoming closely associated with the artists who performed them.
Carly Simon co-wrote her debut single with Jacob Brackman, and Stevie Wonder wrote “If You Really Love Me” with Syreeta Wright, his wife at the time. Janis Joplin recorded Kris Kristofferson’s song “Me and Bobby McGee”; her version reached number one after her death, and other performers have recorded the song too.