No 70s Kid Alive Could Forget These 3 Classic Rock Songs From 1970

If you were once a 70s kid with a serious love for rock music, you’re probably still a big rock fan today. And I bet after hearing these 1970 classic rock songs for the first time, the 70s kid in you has returned to them on occasion through the years. Let’s look at some nostalgic gems from the start of the 70s, shall we?

“Machine Gun” by Jimi Hendrix from ‘Band Of Gypsys’

Remember this psychedelic, soulful hard rock jam from Jimi Hendrix? This jam-based protest song was one of many that loosely touched on the Vietnam War. But, considering we’re talking about Hendrix here, the riff throughout is an absolutely entrancing experience. Its album, Band Of Gypsys, made it to No. 5 on the Billboard Top LPs chart. And the 12-minute live version of the song is considered one of Hendrix’s greatest guitar performances of his career.

“Only Love Can Break Your Heart” by Neil Young from ‘After The Gold Rush’

Neil Young had quite a few hits in the 1970s. But I think “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” deserves a lot more love. His contemporaries sure loved it, considering the folk rock song has been covered by everyone from Saint Etienne to Jackie DeShannon to Florence And The Machine. As a single, “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” became Young’s very first Top 40 hit song as a solo musician. It peaked at No. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

“The Man Who Sold The World” by David Bowie from ‘The Man Who Sold The World’

This David Bowie song got a breath of new life in the 90s. Nirvana covered it for their MTV Unplugged set. But if you were a Bowie fan back in the 70s, you definitely fell in love with this song when it first came out. “The Man Who Sold The World” by David Bowie makes it to our list of classic rock songs from 1970 that any 70s kid would remember, and for good reason. It’s easily one of his greatest career works. I’m still shocked that Bowie didn’t initially release “The Man Who Sold The World” as a single.

(Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)