3 Classic Soul Hits From 1972 That You Can’t Stop Singing Today

Whether or not you can sing, there’s something about a classic soul song that just makes you go for it. You know what I’m talking about. When the rest of your family leaves the house, or when you’re alone in the car, perhaps stuck in traffic. You roll up the window tight and turn your commute into a kind of soul (and sole) karaoke. So in this spirit, here are three classic soul hits from 1972 you can’t stop singing.

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“Where Is The Love” by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway

There’s something about a duet that adds extra drama to a heartbreaking love song. “Where Is The Love” describes the moment one realizes their partner has remained in another relationship. But listening to Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway harmonize with one another makes me wonder what’s going on with these two. By the track’s end, it feels like the opposite of harmony. Flack and Hathaway suddenly appear to sing at each other, rather than in unison. It may be an easy listening soul tune, but this classic hit seems to reveal dueling love triangles. Which makes it all the more interesting to keep singing.

Oh, how I wish I’d never met you,
I guess it must have been my fate.

“You Ought To Be With Me” by Al Green

There’s real pain in Al Green’s voice on “You Ought To Be With Me”. Unrequited love has broken many hearts, and Green’s track exposes the cascading emotions of his circumstance. The groove suggests there’s hope. But the orchestration foreshadows how he’ll ultimately end up alone. He’s spiraling, pleading, crooning, and wailing as only Al Green can. There’s a gorgeous R&B guitar part by Teenie Hodges that sits behind the strings and prominent drums. It helps propel the track as Green tries to wrap his head around how this girl can be with another guy.

“Freddie’s Dead (Theme From ‘Superfly’)” by Curtis Mayfield

Curtis Mayfield shaped the guitar style of Jimi Hendrix as well as the socially-conscious music of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and others. Mayfield’s third album is the soundtrack to the 1972 Blaxploitation film, Super Fly. “Freddie’s Dead”, the theme song, highlights the cinematic soul of Mayfield’s soundtrack, but also how the genre was rapidly evolving in the early 1970s. The dichotomy between Mayfield’s soft voice and the character Fat Freddie’s death feels profoundly sad. Like an exhausted storytelling recounting one in an endless string of tragic tales.  

Photo by Gilles Petard/Redferns