UK Music Chart: November 7, 1970

Number 15: Jimi Hendrix Experience: Voodoo Chile

Woodstock by Matthews' Southern Comfort continued as the UK Number 1 song for a second week on this date in 1970, but the recent death of a rock legend saw a posthumous release of one of Jimi Hendrix's best known tracks as a single. It made its chart debut this week and would go on to top the British listing before the end of November.

The Chart:

• 01 (01) Matthews' Southern Comfort - Woodstock 
• 02 (02) Clarence Carter - Patches 
• 03 (05) Deep Purple - Black Night 
• 04 (03) Freda Payne - Band Of Gold 
• 05 (15) Edwin Starr - War 
• 06 (04) The Tremeloes - Me And My Life 
• 07 (07) The Temptations - Ball Of Confusion (That's What The World Is Today) 
• 08 (14) The Rattles - The Witch 
• 09 (13) Melanie - Ruby Tuesday 
• 10 (06) Black Sabbath - Paranoid 
• 11 (10) The Four Tops - Still Water (Love) 
• 12 (19) Don Fardon - Indian Reservation 
• 13 (09) Diana Ross - Ain't No Mountain High Enough 
• 14 (11) The Carpenters - (They Long To Be) Close To You 
• 15 (--)  Jimi Hendrix Experience - Voodoo Chile 
• 16 (18) Jimmy Ruffin - It's Wonderful (To Be Loved By You) 
• 17 (16) The Hollies - Gasoline Alley Bred 
• 18 (24) Christie - San Bernadino 
• 19 (12) Desmond Dekker - You Can Get It If You Really Want 
• 20 (17) Des O'Connor - The Tip Of My Fingers

*Previous week in brackets; Climbers denoted in red; New entries in bold
Image: Voodoo Child: The Jimi Hendrix Collection

15: Jimi Hendrix Experience: Voodoo Chile

It was September 18, 1970 when the world learned that Jimi Hendrix, "arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music", had died. He had been principally an album act in the US, while in the UK he accomplished much more commercial success with both his single releases as well as his albums. Up to this point, he had entered the UK Top 20 five times but, prompted by his death, Voodoo Chile (or Voodoo Child, depending on your preference) was released in late October and became his sixth and final appearance. With the additional pull of Hey Joe and All Along the Watchtower on the B-Side, this week the single debuted on the chart at Number 15 and would rise to Number 1 in the next fortnight.

   

18: Christie: San Bernadino

San Bernadino was the follow-up to Christie's Number 1 song Yellow River, which had charted earlier in the year. Although it was a Top 10 single in the UK (Number 7), it seems to have been largely forgotten in favour of the band's bigger previous hit. However, it fared even better in Germany where it topped the charts, while it placed well in both Spain and Italy. San Bernadino turned out to be Christie's final big hit in the UK, though, with only Iron Horse briefly denting the Top 50 in 1972.

Until next time...