1. B.B. King, "Nobody Loves Me But My Mother." And she could be jivin' too. Video adds "How Blue Can You Get" ("I gave you seven children, and now you wanna give 'em back").

2. Jimi Hendrix, "Machine Gun." One of Jimi's most titanic guitar performances. I am not a big fan of Buddy Miles, but he brings a lot to this one, both with his singing and with his drumming, the latter of which is appropriately ham-handed. As if to prove the essential nature of Miles's contribution, the video features an early version with Mitch Mitchell on drums. I AM a big fan of Mitchell, but he's not the right drummer here. The video, from the Dick Cavett show, is also notable because it's only 2 1/2 minutes long.

3. Led Zeppelin, "Since I've Been Loving You." Its as if I could create a boilerplate for anytime a Led Zep song turns up. It would go something like this: "Yet another classic from the Led Zep catalog, with eye-popping solos from Jimmy Page, matching vocal pyrotechnics from Robert Plant, crushing bottom from Bonzo, along with the usual questions about plagiarism, songwriting, and credit where credit is due." This might be Jimmy's greatest blues-based solo of them all. I'm a bigger fan of Page the Riff Monster than of Page the Guitarist ("Kashmir" is their greatest song because of the riff, not the solo), but Mr. Guitar makes his case quite well here. Wikipedia comments: "One story mentions Jimmy Page taking a break following a series of failed attempts to track the solo. Seemingly unable to get the tone he was craving, he set about a walk around the studio to clear his mind. Sitting outside of the recording area was an unplugged amplifier, which he promptly appropriated, and recorded the solo we hear today on the next take. Audio engineer Terry Manning called it 'The best rock guitar solo of all time.'" (This song is "borrowed" from a Moby Grape song.)

4. Joe Cocker, "Cry Me a River." Before he was a joke on Saturday Night Live, before he was a broken-voiced balladeer, he was a force of nature, and one of the best singers of the time. The Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour was the beginning of the end of that part of his career ... "Cry Me a River" kicks serious ass, and in the video above you can even see a brief glimpse of the immortal Claudia Lennear.

5. The Rolling Stones, "Cocksucker Blues." The infamous track submitted to Decca to close out their contract. For some reason, Decca declined to release it. The chorus: "Oh where can I get my cock sucked? Where can I get my ass fucked? I may have no money, but I know where to put it every time." Mick sings it with the same intensity he brought to his Robert Johnson songs in Performance.

6. The Spinners, "It's a Shame." One of the finest acts of the 1970s. They might have seemed to come out of relative obscurity with this, which hit #14 on the pop charts, but they'd been recording for almost a decade, reaching the Black Singles Top Ten twice, in 1961 and 1965. Co-written and produced by Stevie Wonder, who was 20 years old at the time.

7. Joni Mitchell, "Ladies of the Canyon." Is there a prediction system for figuring out when/how an artist will take a turn that creates a chasm between before and after? I'm not sure that even describes Mitchell's career, but after a gradual progression from her folkie beginnings to the confident Court and Spark (similar, if arguably more ambitious to the arc Judy Collins followed from "pure" folk to "art-folk"), The Hissing of Summer Lawns was almost like the start of a new career. (Not necessarily a critically praised career. Here are Christgau's grades for her 70s studio albums, beginning with Ladies of the Canyon ... can you tell which is Court and Spark and which is Hissing? A- A A A B B+ B- C+

8. The Delfonics, "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)." If shuffle play was doing its job, this would have been placed next to the Spinners. The early 70s were a great time for R&B balladry.

9. Carole King, "Spaceship Races." And if the Delfonics were moved up a notch, Carole King could have hung out with Joni Mitchell. King was 28 years old in 1970. She'd been writing hit records for a decade. She'd recorded one obscure album with a band called The City. She even played some fine piano accompanying her namesake B.B. King on the album featured at the top of this list. Oh, and she finally got around to recording her first solo album. It peaked at #84 on the pop charts. "Spaceship Races" kicked the album off ... it's fairly standard pop rock, with City-mate Danny Kortchmar adding guitar that fluctuates between biting and tasty. The next year she made another album that you've probably heard of. (The video is for the last song on the album, "Up on the Roof.")

10. John Lennon, "God." One of those "had to be there" moments. First you had to live through the Beatles. Then you had to live through the breakup of the Beatles. You had to feel how massive was the popularity of the Beatles; you had to feel the loss when they broke up. Then you had to grasp at straws ... Paul's solo album was twee before we used that word, George's was majestic and spiritual and overblown, Ringo's was ignored. And, of course, the Beatles themselves released Let It Be that year. In that context came a double-whammy from John: this album, and an interview for Rolling Stone that removed whatever illusions might have continued to straggle along. "I don't believe in Beatles." Impossible to pick a video for this one ... it's a bad week for video links, I admit it ... I stuck "Cold Turkey" on there.