Metalluk's Top-Fifty Pop Albums from the Sixties, Part I (Nos. 1-25)
Jan 15 '07 (Updated Jan 26 '07)
The Bottom Line From the magnificent blossoming of popular music in the sixties, here's my selections for the top-25 albums. See Part II for the second twenty-five.
One of the momentous developments in popular music during the sixties was the advent of long-playing albums (LPs). Although LPs had come into existence in the late fifties, it was not until about 1965 that they acquired an importance comparable to singles. Billboard magazine had maintained charts for top singles since 1955 but only introduced a chart for top albums beginning in 1965. So, although this list purports to represent the best albums for the entire decade of the sixties, the bulk of the entries are from the latter half of the decade and, especially, 1967-69.
Rock music was rapidly expanding in its complexity and sophistication during the sixties, so the music from the second half of the decade is generally better than that from the first half. In fact, during the first few years of the sixties, the folk music scene took precedence briefly over the rock genre. The most interesting pop music developments in the early sixties, in my opinion, came from performers like Joan Baez, Bob Dylan (initially more folk than rock), Pete Seeger, the New Lost City Ramblers, and so forth. It almost seemed that rock had run its course, by around 1963-4, but that, of course, proved not to be the case. Rock was massively reinvigorated by the British invasion as well as exciting new American groups emerging in the mid and late sixties.
This is my personal selection of the fifty best albums of the decade. I have limited the list to albums with which I have at least some familiarity. I don't claim to know every album from the sixties, whether from the major groups or more obscure cult groups. Please be tolerant if you find one or more of your favorites omitted. Most of these albums are now available on CD and most also have reviews here at Epinions. The albums are listed from lowest (twenty-fifth for this Part) to highest (first), according to proper "countdown" tradition. This is Part I of my list, encompassing albums in positions 1-25. You can check out Part II at:
Metalluk's Top-Fifty Albums from the Sixties Part II (Nos. 26-50)
*********************************************************************************
TOP-ALBUMS OF THE SIXTIES (Nos. 1-25):
*********************************************************************************
25. Steppenwolf: Monster (1969). For this album, Larry Byrom replaced Michael Monarch as the group's lead guitarist. This was the group's most politically aware album, but included no top-10 hit singles, though "Move Over" and "Monster" at least cracked the top-40.
24. Joan Baez: Joan Baez, Vol. 2 (1961). Baez had a distinctive vocal quality, with a wide range and a pleasing vibrato. Many of her songs were social protest songs or otherwise politically motivated. She demonstrated that artistic quality and social conscience can coexist admirably. Although usually classified as a folk singer, Baez also incorporated elements of rock, gospel, and country. Baez was born on Staten Island to a Quaker family of Mexican, English, and Scottish descent. This particular album was her second album and her first gold album. The songs are mostly traditional folk songs.
23. Led Zeppelin I (1969). This great English band included John Paul Jones, John Bonham, Jimmy Page, and Robert Plant. Led Zeppelin was among the originators of hard rock and heavy metal, but their music drew from a wide variety of influences and never strayed especially far from mainstream tastes. Bonham's death in 1980 brought premature closure to this group's fortunes, but, by then, they had already sold more than 300 million albums. This album, their first, combined blues, rock, and folk with eastern influences. Tracks like "Good Times Bad Times" exemplified their heavy metal sound while "Black Mountain Side" featured a lighter tone deriving from use of a steel-string acoustic guitar.
22. Bob Dylan: Freewheeling (1963). This was Dylan's second studio album and reached #22 on the charts. It was selected as just one of 50 popular albums to be added to the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress. "Blowin' in the Wind" is undoubtedly the album's most famous track, but other excellent ones include "Corrina, Corrina," "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right," and "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall."
21. Frank Zappa: Freak Out! (1966). You probably knew there'd be some Zappa on this list! Freak Out! was the debut album for Zappa and The Mothers of Invention and helped give identity to the Los Angeles "freak" scene of the mid-sixties. Although this album only succeeded in achieved cult status, the cult support for Zappa's work has expanded steadily and remains strong even today. Freak Out! featured lyrics of bold bluntness pertaining to inadequacies in the mainstream, establishment culture of the day.
20. Crosby, Stills & Nash (1969). Beautiful, close harmonies made this folk/rock group something special. This group formed out of the discords brewing in other groups. Crosby left the Byrds, Stills became available from the breakup of Buffalo Springfield, and Nash when The Hollies took a turn of direction he didn't like. The three had voices that blended perfectly. This album provided two hits: "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" and "Marrakesh Express." The follow-up album, for which Neil Young joined the group, was even better, but was a seventies album and, thus, ineligible for this list.
19. Country Joe and the Fish: I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die (1967). Though a long-time fixture on the music scene, Country Joe will always be most remembered for the classic anti-war song that was this album's title song. It illustrates political satire at its best and helped stoke the antiwar sentiment of the sixties. Another album track, "Superbird," satirized then President Lyndon B. Johnson.
18. Big Brother and the Holding Company (1968). This group formed in San Francisco in 1965 from essentially the same music scene that produced Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead. The band initially consisted of Sam Andrew, James Gurley, Peter Albin, and the drummer Chuck Jones (soon replaced by Dave Getz). The group soared to popularity only after the addition of lead singer Janis Joplin, but Joplin left the group after just two years, acquiring a new backing band, The Kozmic Blues Band. Thus, the Holding Company ultimately emulated its name, proving to be only a holding company for its principal asset, Joplin. "Bye, Bye Baby" and "Down of Me" are two of the splendid tracks. Joplin became one of the greatest female vocalists in rock history, until her tragically early death.
17. Jimi Hendrix: Are You Experienced? (1967). Are You Experienced? was the debut album for Hendrix and introduced the music listening public to his fantastic guitar wizardry and feedback-laden music. This album is widely considered among the best debut albums in rock history and often ranks in the top-ten on lists of best rock albums ever.
16. Otis Redding: Otis Blue (1965). This was the third album from Redding and is widely considered his first great one. It includes covers for songs by Sam Cooke, B.B. King, the Temptations, and, even, the Rolling Stones, but his original song, "Respect," and co-authorized song, "I've Been Loving You Too Long," are two of the best, along with "Satisfaction" by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
15. Doors: Waiting for the Sun (1968). This was the Doors' third album and reached #1 on the album chart. The track "Hello I Love You" was a big hit. I'm also especially fond of "Spanish Caravan," "We Could Be So Good Together," and "Summer's Almost Gone" from this album.
14. Rolling Stones: Let It Bleed (1969). This was a dark album by the Stones and, coming at the end of the sixties, seemed a fitting synopsis of the bleaker aspects of the decade. Keith Richards got his first vocal solo on this album ("You Got the Silver"). Along with the predecessor album, Beggars Banquet, and the two immediate successors, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street, Let It Bleed is considered part of a four album streak that represents the Stones at their pinnacle.
13. Steppenwolf: The Second (1968). This album includes Steppenwolf's most famous song, "Magic Carpet Ride," which is reason enough to own the album, which peaked out at #3. The album contents derive from psychedelic rock, hard rock, and blues.
12. Jefferson Airplane: Surrealistic Pillow (1967). With changing line-ups, this band also reinvented its name successively as "Jefferson Starship" (1974-84), "Starship" (1984-9), and "Jefferson Starship The Next Generation" (1991-the present). As the "Jefferson Airplane" (1965-72), they emerged out of the psychedelic rock movement in San Francisco, as a kind of American counter to the British invasion. Singer Marty Balin was responsible for putting together the original group, which also included Paul Kantner, Jorma Kaukonen, Signe Toly Anderson, Jerry Peloquin, and Bob Harvey, but with personnel changes over the years, the group has included twelve different musicians. Gracie Slick, a contralto with great vocal prowess, joined the group in 1966. Surrealistic Pillow was the group's second album and included two classic tracks: "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love."
11. Frank Zappa: Uncle Meat (1969). This double vinyl album, consisting of music originally written for a never-to-be-realized movie, further revealed Zappa's compositional genius. Classic tracks include "Uncle Meat (Main Title Theme)," "Dog Breath Variations," "Ian Underwood Whips It Out," and the "King Kong Variations," the last of which occupied an entire side of an LP.
10. Cream: Wheels of Fire (1968). The third album from Cream was immensely successful, reaching #1 in the U.S. and #3 in the U.K. Part studio album and part live album, this gem's top track was "White Room."
9. Beatles: Revolver (1966). This album followed Rubber Soul and propelled the Beatles another step ahead of most of their competition. It reached #1 in both the U.S. and the U.K. Among the great tracks are "Eleanor Rigby," "Yellow Submarine," "Good Day Sunshine," "Got to Get You Into My Life," and "Tomorrow Never Knows."
8. Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour (1967). This great album only pales a bit from the fact that it fell between two better ones, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band and the so-called White Album. Great tracks include "I Am the Walrus," "Hello Goodbye," "Strawberry Fields Forever," and "Penny Lane."
7. Frank Zappa: Absolutely Free (1967). The second album of The Mothers of Invention was jam-packed with brilliant composition and biting satire. The album's structure was also unique, with each LP side comprising a suite of segued songs. This album provided me with entertainment for most of the entire summer of '67 and still plays well today. The final track, "America Drinks and Goes Home," is one of the most brilliant compositions in any category of music.
6. Who: Tommy (1969). This remarkable album was the first ever pegged as a "rock opera," though it was really more of a rock cantata. Many of the tracks are equally successful when removed from the context of the story. In fact, five of the songs were released as singles, including "Overture," "Pinball Wizard," "Listening to You," and "See Me, Feel Me." Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle, and Keith Moon were the principal musicians of this band.
5. Doors: Doors (1967). The Doors, an American rock band, consisted of Ray Manzarek (keyboards), Jim Morrison (vocalist), John Densmore (drummer), and Robby Kreiger (guitar). Morrison was equally infamous for his odd lyrics and his labile stage personality, due in part to the fact that he often performed stoned on drugs. Morrison's death in 1971 only added to the group's mystique, so that interest in their music continues briskly to the present time. The group was "discovered" by a record company scout while performing at the Whisky a Go Go in London. Their self-titled debut album in 1967 created a great sensation, with hits such as "Break On Through (To The Other Side)," "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)," "Light My Fire," and "The End."
4. Frank Zappa: We're Only in it for the Money (1967). Beginning with the cover itself, which is a brilliant satire on the cover of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album (see below), this album reeks of creative ingenuity. Tracks like "Bow Tie Daddy," "Nasal Retentive Calliope Music," and "Let's Make the Water Turn Black" feature multi-pronged political and social satire along with amazing musical inventiveness, while the final track, "Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny," challenges the arbitrary boundaries between the pop and classical musical domains.
3. Beatles: White Album (1968). This amazing two disc album includes so many great songs that it seems absurd to single out only a few for mention, but some of the best include "Back In the U.S.S.R.," "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Happiness Is A Warm Gun," "Rocky Raccoon," and "Revolution 9." This album was so superlative that it required no hype whatsoever. The Beatles released it in a plain white jacket with just the name "Beatles" in small embossed letters.
2. Frank Zappa: Hot Rats (1969). No other "popular musician" in history wrote music as rich in inventiveness, complex, or eclectic as Zappa. Hot Rats features jazz-rock fusion music. There's not a weak track on the album, but perhaps the most famous one is "Peaches en Regalia."
1. Beatles: Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967). Arguably the greatest rock album ever made, this masterpiece combines thirteen great tracks into a cohesive package of remarkable conceptual continuity. From the title song, on through "With A Little Help From My Friends," "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds," [read, LSD], "She's Leaving Home," "Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite!", and "A Day In The Life," every track is a treasure. The album's jacket is also a great classic.
*********************************************************************************
There you have it folks. No doubt some of you will feel that I've overrated the Beatles and/or Frank Zappa, but, in my opinion, they were the two unmatchable standards of the decade that the other groups could only hope to approach. Thanks for reading. If you liked this listing, please check out Part II as well. You might also want to check out my lists of Best Songs of the Fifties:
Metalluk's Top-120 Songs from the Fifties (Part I: 1-40)
Metalluk's Top-120 Songs from the Fifties (Part II: 41-80)
Metalluk's Top-120 Songs from the Fifties (Part III: 81-120)
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
metalluk
|
 - Top 100 |
|
Location: Saunderstown, RI, USA
Reviews written: 930
Trusted by: 230 members
About Me:
Five ... Four ... Three ... Two ... One ...
Blastoff!
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.