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    Number One with an Axe! A Look at the Guitar’s Role in America’s #1 Hits, Volume 4, 1970-74
    Number One with an Axe! A Look at the Guitar’s Role in America’s #1 Hits, Volume 4, 1970-74
    Number One with an Axe! A Look at the Guitar’s Role in America’s #1 Hits, Volume 4, 1970-74
    Ebook61 pages29 minutes

    Number One with an Axe! A Look at the Guitar’s Role in America’s #1 Hits, Volume 4, 1970-74

    By Michael Rays

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    About this ebook

    What role has the guitar played in America’s #1 hit songs?

    Guitar gadfly/pop historian Michael Rays is back with the fourth volume of his ebook series, “Number One with an AXE!” This book covers the 122 #1 hits of the years 1970-74. It's a golden era for guitars: singer-songwriters, multi-track guitars and wah-wah pedals are everywhere! For each #1 hit, Rays gives:

    • The title, artist, date the song reached #1 and number of weeks spent at #1
    • Scores of 1-10 in four guitar-centric categories: Riffage, Rhythm, Fills and Solos (a song can score anywhere from 0-40 points)
    • Commentary on the song and its guitar parts (plus various other observations)
    • A video link to the song when available (which is most of the time)
    The ebook ends with compiled lists of the top guitar #1 hits of 1970-74 based on various data gleaned from all the song scores.

    "Number One with an AXE!" is a wildly fun slice of music history. It's a MUST for anyone who can't get enough guitar!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMichael Rays
    Release dateNov 27, 2017
    ISBN9781370995677
    Number One with an Axe! A Look at the Guitar’s Role in America’s #1 Hits, Volume 4, 1970-74
    Author

    Michael Rays

    Michael Rays grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He graduated from Northwestern University and served nine years in the Navy, flying the SH-60B Seahawk helicopter. Michael lives in Billings, Montana with his wife and daughter.

    Read more from Michael Rays

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      Book preview

      Number One with an Axe! A Look at the Guitar’s Role in America’s #1 Hits, Volume 4, 1970-74 - Michael Rays

      Number One with an AXE!

      A Look at the Guitar’s Role in America’s #1 Hits

      Volume Four: 1970-74

      By Michael Rays

      Published by Michael Rays at Smashwords

      Copyright 2017 Michael Rays

      Also by Michael Rays, published at Smashwords:

      Number One with an AXE! The Fifties

      Number One with an AXE! Volume 2: 1960-64

      Number One with an AXE! Volume 3: 1965-69

      Number One with an AXE! Volume 5: 1975-79

      Number One with an AXE! Volume 6: 1980-84

      Number One with an AXE! Volume 7: 1985-89

      Guitar Odyssey: A Journal of Musical Growth

      Guitar Odyssey 2: Talkin’ Dirty

      Six-String Sleuth: A Guitar Player’s Guide to Figuring Out Song Chords

      Headers: Scores & Headlines from Brazil 2014

      Number One with an AXE! is a look at the role of the guitar in America’s #1 Billboard hits. Guitar gadfly Michael Rays listens to, comments on and scores each #1 hit in terms of four guitar-centric criteria: riffage, rhythm, fills and solos. The result is an exploratory history of the guitar at the pinnacle of American pop music.

      The seventies are upon us... bring on the acoustics! Bring on the wah!

      Table of Contents

      Riffs on Guitar Odyssey

      Ode to Guitar Players

      Methodology Used

      1970

      1971

      1972

      1973

      1974

      Facts & Statistics

      About the Author

      Riffs on Guitar Odyssey

      Back to Table of Contents

      …you quickly get into the spirit of the project and it becomes great fun to read.

      - darkerthanblue.wordpress.com (Deep Purple blog)

      Rays creates a chronicle of growth that will immerse and inspire fellow guitar players who have their own 'impossible' playing goals and aspirations…

      - D. Donovan, Senior eBook Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

      …a surprisingly entertaining read.

      - Last Best News

      …Michael Rays has crafted a literate, interesting, funny and, oddly, moving account of his six-string journey…

      - Missoula Independent

      You learn, as Rays did in real time, that the journey towards achieving something, even if it seems simple at first blush, can be trying, surprising, and fulfilling with ample happy accidents in between.

      - Guitarkadia.com

      Ode to Guitar Players by Michael Rays

      Back to Table of Contents

      What meaneth one who says ‘I play guitar’?

      A batch of basic chords strummed ‘round the fire

      An introverted teen who’d be a star

      woodshedding endless blues licks on a Squier?

      A young gal voicing jazz chords warm and pure

      An old man finger-picking on the porch

      A classicist, with tones that long endure

      or metal shredders carrying the torch?

      A drunken punker, fast and out of tune

      an aging rocker holding onto youth

      a bold flamenco player ‘neath the moon

      a studious composer seeking truth?

      Thus meaneth one who says ‘I play guitar’:

      ‘I’ve joined the journey infinitely far.’

      Methodology Used (aka Are my methods unsound?)

      Back to Table of Contents

      My methodology was pretty straightforward: I got a list of all the #1 songs on the Billboard pop charts and I listened to each one. Some songs entered the #1 spot, fell out and then re-entered;

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