Instrumental Hits From the 60's and 70's

The 60's and 70's provided some pivotal points in music history. By the end of this time period rock, punk, funk, and disco had gained a lot of ground. What we sometimes forget however, are the popular and important instrumental hits that also received a lot of air time and played a role in changing music as well.

Some of these instrumentals were original creations while others were adaptations of old classics. Some introduced or at least featured new instruments like the Moog synthesizer and electronic keyboards. Below, I will review some of the most popular of the instrumental hits from the 60's and 70's and let you listen in to get a taste of the music that help shaped what we listen to today.

In 1968 Mason Williams released "Classical Gas". He both composed and performed the song on classical guitar. Although it's been performed by a number of artists since this time, this is the original version.

This is one of the instrumental hits I recall listening to on a car trips with my parents when I was in grade school. Part of it's popularity was due to the fact that both young people and old alike could appreciate it equally.

You can hear Williams perform it below.

Released as a single in 1978, "Music Box Dancer" was a "chart topper". This piano piece was composed by Frank Mills and has been performed by many artists over the years.

This song hit the charts later in my teens, and although more of my listening time was spent with rock and disco types of tunes, this piano piece had a timeless appeal with all age groups as well.

Below you can hear the original version.

Also among the instrumental hits from the 70's was a song that was actually first written decades earlier by Scott Joplin. The ragtime piece "The Entertainer" was adapted by Marvin Hamlisch and served as the theme for the movie "The Sting".

I can recall hearing it on the radio, and seeing the movie a few years later on broadcast TV, but I best remember it from a live performance by the local high school band. That's popularity, when everyone else picks it up!

You can hear it as it was recorded as the theme for the movie below.

In the late 60's Gershon Kingsley wrote and recorded "Popcorn" but it wasn't until 1972 when a band called Hot Butter played it on the Moog Synthesizer, that it became successful on the charts in the US and elsewhere.

I can remember new sounds emerging when I entered middle school and the Moog Synthesizer was something we began hearing. Certainly, electronic music hadn't evolved to the level where it is today (in European discos and such) but it definitely seems to have it's start here.

Below, you can hear Hot Butter's version of this popular instrumental below.

This instrumental came off of the album Opera Sauvage released in 1979. Greek musician Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou wrote and performed many instrumental pieces throughout the 1970's, 80's, 90's and beyond, including the soundtracks of a number of movies. However this is the first one that I personally recall hearing.

Obviously he was interested in electronic music. You can hear it below.

Max Steiner wrote the music for the theme to the movie "A Summer Place". In 1960 this tune hit the charts as recorded by Percy Faith.

I don't actually recall this movie or hearing the tune as a child, but I can say that it's one from that time period which I've heard hundreds of times since without even knowing it's origins. That's another sign of popularity, it crosses generations without our even being aware that we know the tune.

You can hear this hit instrumental below.

Hawaii Five-O was a popular television series in the US during 1968 and for several years running. It was a detective/cop show starring Jack Lord. The theme to the show was created by Morton Stevens and is recognized easily by millions of people even now, more than 40 years later.

The theme song is certainly better known than the show itself and probably helped the tourism industry in Hawaii at the time.

You can hear the theme from the show below.

"The Rockford Files" was a TV series about a detective played by actor James Garner. It ran from 1974 through 1980. The theme song became popular and was often heard on the radio. It was written by Mike Post.

While James Garner was quite popular as a good guy and he clearly had a lovable and humorous title character in this show, the theme song is probably what most people today would likely remember from the series.

Listen to this theme song below.

Pianist Floyd Cramer wrote and played another one of the hit instrumentals from the 1960's. It was known as "Last Date".

I am familiar with this song primarily from an old album that my parents had. Basically I grew up hearing it and have always thought it had a very sad feel to it.

You can check it out below.

"Baby Elephant Walk" became popular in 1962 when it was featured in the movie "Hatari". The song was written by Henry Mancini.

This hit instrumental is one that I believe I recall from other sources however, since I never saw the movie "Hatari". I have to believe that's it's been used in a number of instances as background for the actions of curious little animals and youngsters.

You can hear it below.

The song "Walk,Don't Run" was released by the Ventures in 1960 and gained widespread popularity. However, my research shows that the song was actually written several years earlier by Johnny Smith. A number of musicians have performed the song both before and since.

Again, this hit instrumental obviously saw a lot of airtime well after the time it was released in 1960 or I would never be aware of it. Surfing music in general was popular on oldie stations for many years.

You can hear "Walk, Don't Run" below.

In 1962 the Sufaris wrote and recorded "Wipe Out" and in 1963 it was near the top of the charts. This instrumental features only two words, the title of the song, which can be heard at the beginning of the recording. It's probably one of the most recognized surfing songs ever recorded.

The video below features "Wipe Out".

Here's another of the hit instrumentals from the 60's. It's titled "Telestar". This one was recorded and released in 1962 by The Tornados. The song was named affer a communications satellite that had been launched that year and was recorded to emulate some of the sounds associated with that device.

My only memories of this particular song are of hearing it late at night when a local radio station signed off at the end of the day, many years later. The crackling sounds at the beginning and end of the recording were particularly eerie when heard at midnight. Listen to it below.

The theme music for the 1973 movie "The Exorcist" is a composiiton by Mike Oldfield entitled "Tubular Bells".  The song makes up an entire album of two versions that run over 20 minutes each.

The movie is one of the most celebrated horror films of all time and was adapted from a novel by William Peter Blatty.

You can hear a portion of "Tubular Bells"  in the video below.

The movie "Love Story" was released in 1970. It starred Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw as young lovers who are torn apart by a terminal illness. The theme song was one of the major instrumental hits of the decade. It was entitled "Where Do I Begin" and was written by Francis Lai.

The song was subsequently recorded by a variety of artists, both with and without lyrics/vocals. You can hear this sad and beautiful song in the video provided below.

"Feels So Good" was first written and performed by Chuck Mangione in 1977. It was released on his album of the same name that year. In 1978, he released a shortened version as a single and it hit the charts.

The flugelhorn is featured in this song. You can hear "Feels So Good" performed live in the video posted below.

British group Apollo 100 recorded a classical tune and made it a major hit in the US in 1972. The song entitled "Joy" was a version of Johann Sebastian Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" which was arranged by Tom Parker.

I recall having a single of this instrumental which I loved playing simply for it's ability to lift up the spirits. Hear it on the video provided below.

Another insturmental hit from the 70's that has been widely heard in the years since, is Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll, Part 2". Part 1 has lyrics but Part 2 is primarily an instrumental with the word "Hey" repeated at various points. It hit the US charts in 1972 and later became very popular at sporting events which is my most vivid memory of this tune.

The video below features this song.

Billy Preston released the single "I Wrote a Simple Song" in 1971 but the original B-side of the record was the tune that really took off. "Outa Space" was an upbeat Funk/R&B instrumental hit that same year.

Playing the video below will allow you to hear the original music from a 45 of this song.

Yes, even disco offered instrumental pieces. In 1976 Walter Murphy and the Big Apple Band recorded and released "A Fifth of Beethoven". Of course it was adapted from the classical piece, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.

While it's been used in a variety of films and shows, it's use in the disco hit, "Saturday Night Fever" is probably it's most memorable performance.

You can hear "A Fifth of Beethoven" in the video provided here.

Blues and soul also offered some instrumental hits in the 60's and 70's. "Green Onions" by Booker T & the M.G.s was very successful. It was recorded in 1962 and featured an organ.

The video posted below shows a live performance of this tune.

First written as a commercial jingle for Diet Pepsi, "Music to Watch Girls By" was recorded by Bob Crewe in 1967. It was a chart success and went on to be recorded by other artists as well, both with and without lyrics.

You can hear it in the video posted below.

"A Taste of Honey" is an instrumental classic written by Bobby Scott and Ric Marlow. It was released with the film of the same name and won a Grammy award in 1962. Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass also recorded a version in 1965 and took it back to the charts and a 1966 Grammy award.

I remember this hit instrumental song from the Herb Alpert Album, "Whipped Cream & Other Delights" that my parents used to play when I was a kid. You can hear this version in the video posted below.

The music for "Love is Blue" was written by Andre' Popp. (In French, L' Amour Est Bleu) It was recorded both with and without lyrics. In the US, the most popular version was released in 1967 and was an instrumental hit, making it onto the charts in 1968 as recorded by Paul Mauriat.

You can hear this version of the song in the video provided below.

Rock provided another interesting instrumental piece during the 1970's. "Frankenstein" was created by Edgar Winter and released by his group (The Edgar Winter Group) on the album "They Only Come Out at Night". It made heavy use of the synthesizer which was new at the time. It hit the charts in 1973.

You can hear it on the video provided here.

Another very popular instrumental, "No Matter What Shape Your Stomach's In", was recorded by the T-Bones and hit the top of the charts in December 1966. Three members of the band later recorded under the name Hamilton, Joe Frank, & Reynolds.

The song was also used in Alka Seltzer commercials.

Stranger on the Shore was written by Acker Bilk and first released in 1961. He performed it on clarinet with a chorale backing. It's been recorded since by many artists and used in a number of films. The performance you see below was video recorded in the 1980's. 

Calcutta was another chart topping instrumental in the 1960's. It was recorded by band leader Lawrence Welk and hit #1 on the charts in 1961. It sold over a million copies and pushed the album by the same name to #1 as well.

The performance of Calcutta shown below is from a performance on the Lawrence Welk show which ran from 1955 to 1982.

The 1979 instrumental "Rise" was recorded by Herb Alpert and was a favorite that sold millions. This original recording featured Alpert's trumpet and hit the top of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. It later received a Grammy award.

In the mid-1970's George Benson released the hit Breezin', both a single and an album. The jazz guitarist become famous as a child and has continued his career through current day. Below is a video that features a studio version of "Breezin'.

As you can see on this page, Herb Alpert was very popular in the 60s and 70s. Another one of his hits was Spanish Flea. It's a song that many millions of people recognize but probably don't know the name. It was released in 1965.

Previous versions of the song were done by other artists and included vocals.

In 1965, the movie Dr. Zhivago was released. The epic film was a success and so was the music. The music of Lara's Theme was very popular at the time as an instrumental. It was later released as "Somewhere My Love" with vocals added.

The Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP) was a hit in 1974. It was popularized on the show "Soul Train and was done by MFSB (Mother, Father, Sister, Brother).

The original Godfather movie (the first in a trilogy) was a top grossing film in 1972 and produced a couple of instrumental hits. One of the most popular was the love theme which also had a vocal version called "Speak Softly Love". Of course, the Godfather theme was another popular tune itself.