Sixties Music Site
Best Sixties Albums
Side 1
1. Out in the Street
2. I Don't Mind
3. The Good's Gone
4. La-La-La Lies
5. Much Too Much
6. My Generation
Side 2
7. The Kids Are Alright
8. Please, Please, Please
9. It's Not True
10. I'm a Man
11. A Legal Matter
12. The Ox
A glowering cover photo, on-the-run sound quality, and music to match. That's My Generation, and while it's hardly as consistent as The Who Sell Out, it's just as much fun to play. With the band steamrolling the title anthem, "The Kids Are Alright," "A Legal Matter," and a couple of James Brown covers, you can bet it was for them, too. Rock & roll for the hottest day of summer. --Rickey Wright
Track Listing
1. Born in Chicago
2. Shake Your Moneymaker
3. Blues With a Feeling
4. Thank You Mr. Poobah
5. I Got My Mojo Working
6. Mellow Down Easy
7. Screamin'
8. Our Love Is Drifting
9. Mystery Train
10. Last Night
11. Look Over Yonders Wall
A slew of albums by young white men out of their minds in love with music made by older black men came from both sides of the Atlantic during the mid-1960s, but two records really laid the groundwork for the decade's blues revival--the self-titled releases by John Mayall's Bluesbreakers out of London and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band out of Chicago. Both bands were led by harmonica-blowing vocalists; both featured ascending guitar gods--Eric Clapton with Mayall and Mike Bloomfield with Butterfield. Butterfield's ensemble, however, came of age closer to the roots of the music. The rhythm section heard on the group's 1965 debut was hired away from Howlin' Wolf, and Butterfield, while still in his early 20s when the album shipped, was already a familiar face on the Windy City's club circuit. "Born in Chicago" opens the album on a gritty note that never flags through this 11-track landmark. The slashing duo guitars of Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop and Butterfield's flash harp helped make Muddy Waters fathomable for a new audience and, decades later, it's still easy to understand how. --Steven Stolder




Otis Redding was a singer of such commanding stature that to this day
he embodies the essence of soul music in its purist form. from the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame s website page on Redding s 1989 induction
Though Otis Redding s career was cut tragically short by a plane crash,
his legacy and recordings are inestimably large. Intense, raw and emotional, his sound defines golden era Southern soul. Redding s third album, OTIS BLUE: OTIS REDDING SINGS SOUL, is considered his first LP masterpiece, and it ranks
#74 on Rolling Stone s list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, noting that it was recorded in a single 24-hour period in 1965, calls it, a virtual soul-music primer. The original album features a trio
of songs by Sam Cooke, Redding s idol, who had passed away shortly before OTIS BLUE was made. It also features his version of Respect a song he wrote, but that s an Aretha signature his great cover of (I Can t Get No) Satisfaction and other classic tracks.
SIDE 1
1. Ole Man Trouble
2. Respect
3. Change Gonna Come
4. Down in the Valley
5. I've Been Loving You Too Long
SIDE 2
6. Shake
7. My Girl
8. Wonderful World
9. Rock Me Baby
10. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
11. You Don't Miss Your Water
Track Listings
1. The Sound of Silence
2. Leaves That Are Green
3. Blessed
4. Kathy's Song
5. Somewhere They Can't Find Me
6. Anji
7. Homeward Bound
8. Richard Cory
9. A Most Peculiar Man
10. April Come She Will
11. We've Got a Groovey Thing Goin'
12. I Am a Rock

One suspects that Paul Simon cringes a bit when he listens to Simon & Garfunkel's 1966 breakthrough release. Lines from "I Am a Rock" ("For a rock feels no pain / And an island never cries") and the title track ("Fools, said I, you do not know / Silence like a cancer grows") are the essence of sophomoric poetry. And who but a couple of self-serious young men would sequence the suicide odes "Richard Cory" and "A Most Peculiar Man" back to back? That said, every callow couplet found here is counterbalanced by words that are disarmingly guileless. The unabashed romanticism of "Kathy's Song" is truly poignant; it ranks with "For Emily" and "The Only Living Boy in New York" among the duo's most resplendent performances. "April Come She Will" has a similar innocent appeal, while the title track, despite its overwrought moments and Tom Wilson's tacked-on production, is a folk-rock landmark. It's not hard to find fault with The Sounds of Silence, but it's easier still to bask in its inchoate splendor.
Steven Stolder
Track Listing
1. All Your Love
2. Hideaway
3. Little Girl
4. Another Man
5. Double Crossing Time
6. What'd I Say
7. Key to Love
8. Parchman Farm
9. Have You Heard
10. Ramblin' on My Mind
11. Steppin' Out
12. It Ain't Right
Track Listing
1. She Has Funny Cars
2. Somebody to Love
3. My Best Friend
4. Today
5. Comin' Back to Me
6. 3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds
7. D.C.B.A. -25
8. How Do You Feel
9. Embryonic Journey
10. White Rabbit
11. Plastic Fantastic Lover
Track Listing
1. Flying High
2. Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine
3. Death Sound Blues
4. Porpoise Mouth
5. Section 43
6. Superbird
7. Sad and Lonely Times
8. Love
9. Bass Strings
10. The Masked Marauder
11. Grace
Country Joe And The Fish.
Given their origins, both geographically (San Francisco) and stylistically (founder Joe McDonald and lead guitarist Barry Melton first hooked up in a jug band), it wasn't surprising that the ragtag Fish sounded like an acid-soaked, plugged-in folk band when they debuted in '67. Simultaneously the most political and funniest of all the Northern California bands, the Fish's yippie-hippie philosophy was reflected in songs like "Superbird" (about Lyndon Johnson), "Flying High" (about getting you-know-what), and the bluesy free love saga, "Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine." That they could periodically wax serious as well (the wide-angled instrumental "Section Forty Three" and the moody "Bass Strings") only added more bite to their satiric pungency. --Billy Altman

The Hollies have been ignored for too long. There are so many 'Greatest Hits' albums available covering the Hollies 30 + years in the industry, all of them are good. However, this is an album that really works. Few of the songs that appear on this album appear on your average 'Hollies Greatest' releases but this is in no way a reflection of the material on Butterfly.
Track Listing
1. Dear Eloise
2. Away Away Away
3. Maker
4. Pegasus
5. Would You Believe
6. Wishyouawish
7. Postcard
8. Charlie And Fred
9. Try It
10. Elevated Observations
11. Step Inside
12. Butterfly
While they took their name from blues musicians Pink Anderson and Floyd Council when they started out as an R&B combo in the mid-60s, Pink Floyd's leader, guitarist Syd Barrett, soon began piloting the band through unprecedented sonic excursions typified by the title of their 1967 debut album's most celebrated track--the outsized instrumental "Interstellar Overdrive." Equally adept at composing catchy-sounding, Gothic-themed pop songs such as "See Emily Play," "The Scarecrow" and "The Gnome," Barrett seemed destined for greatness--that is, until psychedelic drugs got the best of him, and he abandoned the band to bassist Roger Waters and new guitarist David Gilmour. The rest, as they say, is history. --Billy Altman
Track Listing
1. Astronomy Domine
2. Lucifer Sam
3. Matilda Mother
4. Flaming
5. Pow R. Toc H.
6. Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk
7. Interstellar Overdrive
8. The Gnome
9. Chapter 24
10. The Scarecrow
11. Bike
Track for track, this is Simon & Garfunkel's best album. By 1968, Simon had shed his more precious tendencies as a songsmith. Meanwhile, the duo and coproducer/engineer Roy Halee had become adept studio technicians. "America" and "Mrs. Robinson" displayed the kind of sonic breadth that would flower even more fully two years later with "The Boxer" and "Bridge over Troubled Water." Bits of whimsy ("Punky's Dilemma," "At the Zoo") and melancholy ("Old Friends," "A Hazy Shade of Winter") complete this autumnal album. --Steven Stolder
Track Listing
1. Bookends Theme
2. Save The Life Of My Child
3. America
4. Overs
5. Voices Of Old People
6. Old Friends
7. Bookends Theme
8. Fakin' It
9. Punky's Dilemma
10. Mrs. Robinson
11. A Hazy Shade Of Winter
12. At The Zoo

Barely qualifying as a "concept" album, the second half of this album tells the story of Happiness Stan, a young man who sees the moon turn from full to half and decides he needs to find the missing part. It's a rather odd tale that's adorned with lush, psychedelic arrangements. The spoken narrative that links each song (provided by one Stanley Unwin in barely decipherable Clockwork Orange-style English) contributes to the yarn's surrealistic atmosphere. The real gems on this recording, however, are the six songs that make up the record's first half. From the sludgy, acid-jazz feel of the title track straight through to the comic plea for peace, love, and understanding ("Lazy Sunday," a song that opens with the universal sentiment "Wouldn't it be nice to get on with me neighbors..."), the real concept at work here is based on unforgettable songwriting. --Percy Keegan
SIDE 1
1. Ogden's Nut Gone Flake
2. Afterglow (Of Your Love)
3. Long Agos and Worlds Apart
4. Rene
5. Song of a Baker
6. Lazy Sunday
SIDE 2
7. Happiness Stan
8. Rollin' Over
9. The Hungry Intruder
10. The Journey
11. Mad John
12. Happy Days Toy Town
Blood, Sweat & Tears. 1968
Cheap Thrills - Big Brother & The Holding Company
One of the most eagerly awaited albums in rock history, Big Brother & the Holding Company's 1968 major label debut (they'd previously released one thinly produced collection on the small Mainstream label) made good on all the hype generated by Janis Joplin's amazing performance at the Monterey Pop Festival the year before. Crowned by its hit single, a churning remake of Aretha Franklin's sister Erma's "Piece of My Heart," the album also contained Joplin's Monterey showstopper, Big Mama Thornton's "Ball and Chain," as well as the Gershwin classic "Summertime," on which Joplin's always underappreciated band (especially guitarists Sam Andrews and James Gurley) match her vocal intensity with their own ferocious playing.
Track Listing
1. Combination of the Two
2. I Need a Man to Love
3. Summertime
4. Piece of My Heart
5. Turtle Blues
6. Oh, Sweet Mary
7. Ball and Chain
Side 1
1. Overture
2. It's a boy
3. 1921
4. Amazing journey
5. Sparks
6. Eyesight to the Blind (the hawker)
Side 2
7. Christmas
8. Cousin Kevin
9. The acid queen
10. Underture
Side 3
11. Do you think it's alright?
12. Fiddle about
13. Pinball Wizard
14. There's a doctor
15. Go to the mirror!
16. Tommy can you hear me?
17. Smash the mirror
18. Sensation
Side 4
19. Miracle cure
20. Sally Simpson
21. I'm free
22. Welcome
23. Tommy's holiday camp
24. We're not gonna take it
Tommy had the dubious distinction of being the first-ever rock opera; however, it's none the worse for that, Ken Russell's adaptation notwithstanding. Due largely to Pete Townshend's skill as a songwriter and composer, Tommy tells a coherent story and includes quality rock and roll at the same time, an impressive feat by itself. While surprisingly more linear than the later Quadrophenia, Tommy boasts several songs that stand up well on their own, including the classic "Pinball Wizard," "The Acid Queen," "I'm Free," and "Sally Simpson." Much of the rest doesn't make much sense lyrically unless you listen to the entire album, but you'll probably want to do that anyway, preferably with the lights low and the stereo cranked. --Genevieve Williams

Track Listings
1. Just a Little Lovin'
2. So Much Love
3. Son of a Preacher Man
4. I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore
5. Don't Forget About Me
6. Breakfast in Bed
7. Just One Smile
8. The Windmills of Your Mind
9. In the Land of Make Believe
10. No Easy Way Down
11. I Can't Make It Alone

STAND! - SLY & FAMILY STONE
In 1967, Sly Stone was unabashed: his debut, A Whole New Thing, claimed high ground--it was new, big time. He knew it. By 1969, the newness was transformed, Sly was imploring listeners to Stand! and breaking new ground. The snarl of "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey" with its droning organ and wah-wah guitar had claws, it was unmistakable. And the full-on blast of harmonica, fuzz guitars, and horns that opens "I Want to Take You Higher" just cemented the claim: Music would unite and fight and kick and get you high. "Everyday People" almost seems an anomaly in this company, a breezy harmony vocal backing, simple piano framing, long horn lines, and a churchy chorus. It's the biggest hit from Stand!, a true pop gem. What you get with the rest of the album (and Sly's early catalog overall) is sui generis. "Sing a Simple Song" has scouring, wordless shouts, a heavy beat backed by multiple voices half-atop each other, horn riffs jetting across guitar riffs, and an abrupt, scrambling end. It's a tight and tough embrace, an open door. It's 1969. --Andrew Bartlett
Track Listing
1. Stand!
2. Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey
3. I Want to Take You Higher
4. Somebody's Watching You
5. Sing a Simple Song
6. Everday People
7. Sex Machine
8. You Can Make It If You Try
Track Listing
1. St. Stephen
2. Dupree's Diamond Blues
3. Rosemary
4. Doin' That Rag
5. Mountains Of The Moon
6. China Cat Sunflower
7. What's Become Of The Baby
8. Cosmic Charlie
CLOUDS - JONI MITCHELL
Joni Mitchell's second album contains the first manifestations of her artistic brilliance. Where her debut, Song to a Seagull, has hints of greatness, Clouds displays the real thing. With her newfound control on melody and lyrical economy, she delivers songs that are readily accessible, instantly hummable, and virtually timeless. Her hippie excesses are still in view ("Songs to Aging Children Come" is untamed), but, for the most part, she has found her voice. "Both Sides Now" has become a lite-FM staple (thanks to Judy Collins's cover). While songs such as the incredibly idyllic "Tin Angel" (nicely covered by Tom Rush on his classic Circle Game), "Chelsea Morning," and "I Don't Know Where I Stand" have become modern folk standards. --Rob O'Connor
Track Listing
1. Tin Angel
2. Chelsea Morning
3. I Don't Know Where I Stand
4. That Song About the Midway
5. Roses Blue
6. The Gallery
7. I Think I Understand
8. Songs to Aging Children Come
9. The Fiddle and the Drum
10. Both Sides, Now
Side 1
1. I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)
2. Do Right Woman, Do Right Man
3. Respect
4. Dr. Feelgood (Love Is A Serious Business)
5. Baby I Love You
6. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman
7. Chain Of Fools
Side 2
8. (Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone
9. Ain't No Way
10. Think
11. You Send Me
12. The House That Jack Built
13. I Say A Little Prayer
14. See Saw
Track Listing
1. 21st Century Schizoid Man/Mirrors
2. I Talk to the Wind
3. Epitaph/March for No Reason/Tomorrow and Tomorrow
4. Moonchild/The Dream/The Illusion
5. The Court of the Crimson King/The Return of the Fire Witch/The Dance of the Puppets











G.I. BLUES, Presley's first movie following his return from military service was,
like most of his '60s movies, a light romantic comedy with plenty of musical numbers.
As the decade progressed and the Presley movie formula ossified, Hollywood and Colonel
Tom expended less effort finding suitable musical material for Presley to sing. Presley's
earliest '60s movies, however, usually boasted strong soundtracks, and G.I. BLUES
is among the best of them. None of the songs are embarrassing--no "Yoga Is As Yoga
Does" or "Queenie Wahini's Papaya" here--and, in fact, nearly all are very good.
Best,of course, is the Carl Perkins classic "Blue Suede Shoes", but also excellent
are "Such A Night"-like boogie entitled"Tonight Is So Right For Love", the title
track, and several lovely ballads, among them "Pocket Full Of Rainbows", "Wooden
Heart", and the lullaby "Big Boots". Overall, G.I. BLUES doesn't rock quite as hard
as Elvis' pre-Army soundtracks, but it does demonstrate considerably more life than
most of the soundtracks that followed. In fact, Presley's handlers should have worked
harder at getting him material of this quality for his later films.
This album now seems as remarkable as his mid-'60s breakthoughs. Like Presley's Sun
Sessions, it is both the remnant of a lost rural America and the seed of rock culture.
The music is primarily Dylan, with acoustic guitar, barking traditional folk, and
blues. He was 20, a Northern hick come to New York to be the next Woody Guthrie.
It's amazing that at 20 he sings "In My Time of Dying" and "See That My Grave is
Kept Clean," not as traditional songs, but making their doom and resignation sound
personal. --Steve Tignor
Track Listing
1. You're No Good
2. Talkin' New York
3. In My Time of Dyin'
4. Man Of Constant Sorrow
5. Fixin' To Die
6. Pretty Peggy-O
7. Highway 51 Blues
8. Gospel Plow
9. Baby, Let Me Follow You Down
10. House Of the Risin' Sun
11. Freight Train Blues
12. Song To Woody
13. See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
Track Listing
1. Green Onions
2. Rinky Dink
3. I Got A Woman
4. Mo' Onions
5. Twist And Shout
6. Behave Yourself
7. Stranger On The Shore
8. Lonely Avenue
9. One Who Really Loves You
10. You Can't Sit Down
11. Woman A Lover A Friend
12. Comin' Home Bab
Released in 1962, the first full-length album by Booker T. & the MG's, GREEN ONIONS,
revolves around the classic, slow-burning, organ-led instrumental title track. It's
impossible to overstate the importance and impact of this, the band's biggest chart
hit, which oozes smokey cool as Steve Cropper's strangled guitar cries and Booker
T.'s terse keyboard bursts criss-cross over a framework that prefigures everything
from funk to dub. Al Jackson and Lewis Steinberg keep the rhythm firmly in the pocket
here and on covers such as "I Got a Woman" and the chill, down-tempo blues of Acker
Bilk's "Stranger on the Shore". Together, the MG's (short for Memphis Group) developed
a collective groove that would prove crucial to the development of '60s soul.
SIDE ONE
Blowin’ In The Wind
Girl From The North Country
Masters Of War
Down The Highway
Bob Dylan’s Blues
A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
SIDE TWO
Don’t Think Twice It’s All right
Bob Dylans Dream
Oxford Town
Talking World War lll Blues
Corrina, Corrina
Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance
I Shall Be Free
Containing many of his most striking early compositions--and sounding today far
less dated than The Times They Are A-Changin', his next largely "protest" album--the
guitar/voice/harmonica sound and vision of Freewheelin' remains by turns hilarious
("Talking World War III Blues"), sweet ("Corrina, Corrina"), bitter ("Don't Think
Twice, It's All Right"), enraged ("Masters of War"), questing ("Blowin' in the Wind"),
and all of these things at once ("I Shall Be Free"). More than any other album, Freewheelin'
established Dylan as the "voice of a generation," though even that expansive title
was destined to be constricting in the face of the art he would soon create. --David
Cantwell
Track Listing
1. Mess Around
2. How You've Changed
3. Hallelujah, I Love Her So
4. I Believe to My Soul
5. Worried Life Blues
6. Roberta
7. I Ain't Got You
8. Bright Lights, Big City
9. Let the Good Times Roll
10. For Miss Caulker
11. Roadrunner
Track Listing
SIDE ONE
1. I Get Around
2. All Summer Long
3. Hushabye
4. Little Honda
5. We'll Run Away
6. Carl's Big Chance
SIDE TWO
7. Wendy
8. Do You Remember?
9. Girls on the Beach
10. Drive-In
11. Our Favorite Recording Sessions
12. Don't Back Down
Track Listing
1. Wouldn't It Be Nice
2. You Still Believe In Me
3. That's Not Me
4. Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)
5. I'm Waiting For The Day
6. Let's Go Away For Awhile
7. Sloop John B
8. God Only Knows
9. I Know There's An Answer
10. Here Today
11. I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
12. Pet Sounds
13. Caroline No
Track Listing
1. Make Me Know It
2. Fever
3. The Girl of My Best Friend
4. I Will Be Home Again
5. Dirty, Dirty Feeling
6. The Thrill of Your Love
7. Soldier Boy
8. Such a Night
9. It Feels So Right
10. The Girl Next Door Went A'walking
11. Like a Baby
12. Reconsider Baby
Track Listing
1. So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad)
2. Some Sweet Day
3. Just In Case
4. Memories Are Made Of This
5. That's What You Do To Me
6. Sleepless Nights
7. What Kind Of Girl Are You
8. Oh True Love
9. Carol Jane
10. Nashville Blues
11. You Thrill Me (Through And Through)
12. I Want You To Know
Track Listing
Side 1
Tonight Is So Right For Love
What's She Really Like
Frankfort Special
Wooden Heart
GI Blues
Side 2
Pocketful Of Rainbows
Shoppin' Around
Big Boots
Didja Ever
Blue Suede Shoes
Doin' The Best I Can
Track Listing
1. (Ghost) Riders in the Sky
2. Wheels
3. Lonely Heart
4. Bulldog
5. Lullaby of the Leaves
6. Beyond the Reef
7. Raw-Hide
8. Meet Mr. Callahan
9. Trambone
10. Last Date
11. Ginchy
12. Josie
Track Listing
Side 1
Blue Hawaii
Almost Always True
Aloha-Oe
No More
Can't Help Falling In Love
Rock-A-Hula Baby
Moonlight Swim
Side 2
Ku-u-i-po
Ito Eats
Slicin' Sand
Hawaiian Sunset
Beach Boy Blues
Island Of Love
Hawaiian Wedding Song
Track Listing
1. Crying
2. Great Pretender
3. Love Hurts
4. She Wears My Ring
5. Wedding Day
6. Summer Song
7. Dance
8. Lana
9. Loneliness
10. Let's Make A Memory
11. Nite Life
12. Running Scared
13. Candy Man
14. Let The Good Times Roll
15. Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)
Thank God someone thought to record the Godfather in concert at this vital stage
of his career--and at the ultimate shrine of black American music to boot. There
is no more exciting document of live performance in the history of R&B: powered by
tireless drummer Clayton Fillyau, James Brown and the Famous Flames tear their way
through a slew of King hits--from "Please, Please, Please" to "Night Train"--taking
soul power to the very edge of gospel abandon in the process. The Apollo audience,
hysterical with adulation, plays as big a part in Live at the Apollo as Brown himself.
The shrieking build-up and sudden drop down into "Lost Someone" is one of the most
heart-stopping moments in soul. --Barney Hoskyns
Track Listing
1. Introduction By Fats Gonder/ Opening Fanfare - James Brown & The Famous Flames,
The James Brown Band, Fats Gonder
2. I'll Go Crazy
3. Try Me
4. Instrumental Bridge #1 (James Brown/Live At The Apollo, 1962)
5. Think
6. Instrumental Bridge #2 (James Brown/Live At The Apollo, 1962)
7. I Don't Mind
8. Instrumental Bridge #3 (James Brown/Live At The Apollo, 1962)
9. Lost Someone
10. Medley: Please Please Please/You've Got The Power/I Found Someone/Why Do You
Do Me Like You Do/I Want You So Bad/I Love You, Yes I Do/Strange Things Happen/Bewildered/Please
Please Please
11. Night Train
Track Listing
1. Once I Had A Sweetheart
2. Jackaroe
3. Don't Think Twice It's Alright
4. We Shall Overcome
5. Portland Town
6. Queen Of Hearts
7. Manha De Carnaval
8. Te Ador
9. Long Black Veil
10. Fennario
11. Ne Belle Cardillo
12. With God On Our Side
13. Three Fishers
14. Hush Little Baby
15. Battle Hymn Of The Republic
This lavish holiday set has been called the greatest rock & roll Christmas album
of all time. That's an opinion that's tough to argue with when you find yourself
immersed in the massive sounds painstakingly crafted by legendary producer Phil Spector.
His "wall-of-sound" technique is perfectly suited to the music of the season, as
he proves with layer upon layer of piano, sleigh bells, buoyant percussion, and,
of course, those legendary Spector sound harmonies. The Crystals turn their sassy
interplay into sheer magic on "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town", The Ronettes stroll
sweetly through numbers like "Sleigh Ride", while Darlene Love delivers areal knockout
punch with her yearning version of "Christmas (Baby, PleaseCome Home)". Sure to become
the soundtrack for your holidays. --DavidSprague
Track Listing
1. White Christmas - Darlene Love
2. Frosty The Snowman - Ronettes
3. The Bells of St. Mary's - Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans
4. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Crystals
5. Sleigh Ride - Ronettes
6. Marshmallow World - Darlene Love
7. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus - Ronettes
8. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer - Crystals
9. Winter Wonderland - Darlene Love
10. Parade of the Wooden Soldiers - Crystals
11. Christmas - Baby Please Come Home - Darlene Love
12. Here Comes Santa Claus - Bob B Soxx & The Blue Jeans
13. Silent Night - Phil Spector & Artists
Their first-ever album, Please Please Me is raw and rough and still very rock &
roll. Having already scored two hits when this appeared, Lennon and McCartney were
only just beginning to flex their writing muscles and so relied heavily on the cover
material to see them through. Their insecurity about their own abilities seems curious
in hindsight since they'd pulled the title song and "I Saw Her Standing There" (with
thanks to Little Richard) out of their hats. But they were an unknown quantity, still
to launch a million bands and take pop music to places it had never dreamed of. A
small step for four men, a giant leap for music.
--Chris Nickson
SIDE ONE
I Saw Her Standing There(McCartney/Lennon)
Misery (McCartney/Lennon)
Anna(Go to Him) (Alexander)
Chains (Goffin & King)
Boys (Dixon & Farrell)
Ask Me Why (McCartney/Lennon)
Please, Please Me (McCartney/Lennon)
SIDE TWO
Love Me Do (McCartney/Lennon)
P.S. I Love You (McCartney/Lennon)
Baby It’s You (David/Williams/Bacharach)
Do You Want To Know A Secret (McCartney/Lennon)
A Taste Of Honey (Scott/Marlow)
There’s A Place (McCartney/Lennon)
Twist & Shout (Medley/Russell)
This is the one that turned the world upside-down. Released as its creators evolved
from pop group to phenomenon, WITH THE BEATLES both affirmed promise and proclaimed
genius. A slew of memorable Lennon/McCartney compositions embraced pop at its most
multi-faceted, robust, melancholic, excited, andwistful. Their grasp of melody and
harmony startled, yet for every unusual chord sequence employed, the Beatles' vigourand
sense of purpose remained true. Influences and mentors were acknowledged by a handful
of cover versions, but the strength of the album lies in the group's own creations.
WITH THE BEATLES freed artists to record their own material, and the course of pop
was irrevocably changed.
SIDE ONE
It Won’t Be Long (Lennon/McCartney)
All I’ve Got To Do (Lennon/McCartney)
All My Loving (Lennon/McCartney)
Don’t Bother Me (Harrison)
Little Child (Lennon/McCartney)
Till There Was You ( Willson)
Please Mr. Postman (Dobbin/Garrett/Garman/Brianbert)
SIDE TWO
Roll Over Beethoven (Berry)
Hold Me Tight (Lennon/McCartney)
You Really Got A Hold On Me (Robinson)
I Wanna Be Your Man (Lennon/McCartney)
Devil In Her Heart (Drapkin)
Not A Second Time (Lennon/McCartney)
Money (Bradford/Gordy)
Track Listing
1 Too Much Monkey Business
2 Got Love If You Want It
3 Smokestack Lightning
4 Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
5 Respectable
6 Five Long Years
7 Pretty Girl
8 Louise
9 I'm a Man
10 Here 'Tis
A Hard Day’s Night
The Beatles
Track Listing
1. I Should Have Known Better
2. If I Fell
3. I'm Happy Just To Dance With You
4. And I Love Her
5. Tell Me Why
6. Can't Buy Me Love
7. Hard Day's Night
8. Anytime At All
9. I'll Cry Instead
10. Things We Said Today
11. When I Get Home
12. You Can't Do That
13. I'll Be Back
A HARD DAY'S NIGHT was the first Beatles album of all-original material, and the
first to feature George Harrison playing his Rickenbacker electric 12-string guitar
(on the opening chord of "A Hard Day's Night", for instance). The distinctive sound
of the 12-string inspired countless guitarists including Roger McGuinn and David
Crosby of the Byrds.
The film from which these songs hail remains a classic combination of happy 1960s
naivete and nascent hipster wit. Many of the most important rock bands to emerge
in the latter half of the '60s came into being because of A HARD DAY'S NIGHT's irresistible
vibrancy. The tunes flow like the finest red wine,as the title track leads to the
glorious harmonica of "I Should Have Known Better" and the powerfully poignant "If
I Fell".
Track Listing
1. Taxman
2. Eleanor Rigby
3. I'm Only Sleeping
4. Love You To
5. Here, There and Everywhere
6. Yellow Submarine
7. She Said, She Said
8. Good Day Sunshine
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
10. For No One
11. Doctor Robert
12. I Want to Tell You
13. Got to Get You into My Life
14. Tomorrow Never Knows
Track Listing
1. Drive My Car
2. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
3. You Won't See Me
4. Nowhere Man
5. Think For Yourself
6. The Word
7. Michelle
8. What Goes On
9. Girl
10. I'm Looking Through You
11. In My Life
12. Wait
13. If I Needed Someone
14. Run For Your Life
Rank 'em how you like, Rubber Soul is an undeniable pivot point in the Fab Four's
varied discography no matter where, or how, you first heard it. The album was softened
up in its original 12-song American edition to jibe with the Dylan/Byrds folk-rock
sound, as well as squeeze money from the Parlophone catalog. The 14-song U.K. edition--the
version now available on compact disc--is a different, more dynamic, and ultimately
more accomplished achievement. So many classics: "Drive My Car" and "Nowhere Man"
(both omitted from the U.S. edition) merge the early combustible Beatifics to a burgeoning
studio consciousness; "The Word" can be read as a pre-psych warning shot; the sitar-laden
"Norwegian Wood" and the evocative "Girl" (the latter written on the last night of
the sessions) stand as turning points in John Lennon's oeuvre. George finally emerges
too, with the McGuinn-ish "If I Needed Someone." --Don Harrison
Track Listing
1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
2. With A Little Help From My Friends
3. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
4. Getting Better
5. Fixing A Hole
6. She's Leaving Home
7. Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!
8. Within You Without You
9. When I'm Sixty-Four
10. Lovely Rita
11. Good Morning Good Morning
12. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
13. A Day In The Life
Revolver wouldn't remain the Beatles' most ambitious LP for long, but many fans--including
this one--remember it as their best. An object lesson in fitting great songwriting
into experimental production and genre play, this is also a record whose influence
extends far beyond mere they-was-the-greatest cheerleading. Putting McCartney's more
traditionally melodic "Here, There and Everywhere" and "For No One" alongside Lennon's
direct-hit sneering ("Dr. Robert") and dreamscapes ("I'm Only Sleeping," "Tomorrow
Never Knows") and Harrison's peaking wit ("Taxman") was as conceptually brilliant
as anything Sgt. Pepper attempted, and more subtly fulfilling. A must. --Rickey Wright
One of the most famous and influential albums ever recorded, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely
Hearts Club Band had a huge impact on the music world, signaling the beginning of
a new era of sophistication and maturity in rock. The musical experimentation was
dynamic and fresh, several tracks were edited to create seamless transitions, and
even the visual design was more elaborate than anything previously attempted. Producer
George Martin and The Beatles searched for new sounds and studio effects. They added
crowd sounds and animal cries from sound-effects recordings, sped up Paul McCartney's
vocals in "When I'm Sixty-Four" (to make him sound younger), and sustained a single
piano chord for 40 seconds to end "A Day In The Life." The orchestrations, scored
by Martin, were hailed by critics as bridging the gap between pop and classical music,
and many people who had never bought a rock record bought Sgt. Pepper's.
Better known as the "White Album," this was meant to be the record that brought them
back to earth after three years of studio experimentation. Instead, it took them
all over the place, continuing to burst the envelope of pop music. Lennon and McCartney
were still at the height of their powers, with Lennon in particular growing into
one of rock's towering figures. But even McCartney could still rock, and the amazement
on "Helter Skelter" was that he had vocal cords at the end. From Beach Boys knock-offs
to reggae and to the unknown ("Revolution #9"), this has it all. Some records have
legend written all over them; this is one. --Chris Nickson
Disc 1:
1. Back in the U.S.S.R.
2. Dear Prudence
3. Glass Onion
4. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
5. Wild Honey Pie
6. Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
8. Happiness Is a Warm Gun
9. Martha My Dear
10. I'm So Tired
11. Blackbird
12. Piggies
13. Rocky Raccoon
14. Don't Pass Me By
15. Why Don't We Do It in the Road?
16. I Will
17. Julia
Disc 2:
1. Birthday
2. Yer Blues
3. Mother Nature's Son
4. Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey
5. Sexy Sadie
6. Helter Skelter
7. Long, Long, Long
8. Revolution 1
9. Honey Pie
10. Savoy Truffle
11. Cry Baby Cry
12. Revolution 9
13. Good Night
The Beatles' last days as a band were as productive as any major pop phenomenon that
was about to split. After recording the ragged-but-right Let It Be, the group held
on for this ambitious effort, an album that was to become their best-selling. Though
all four contribute to the first side's writing, John Lennon's hard-rocking, "Come
Together" and "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" make the strongest impression. A series
of song fragments edited together in suite form dominates side two; its portentous,
touching, official close ("Golden Slumbers"/"Carry That Weight"/"The End") is nicely
undercut, in typical Beatles fashion, by Paul McCartney's cheeky "Her Majesty," which
follows. --Rickey Wright
Track Listing
1. Come Together
2. Something
3. Maxwell's Silver Hammer
4. Oh! Darling
5. Octopus's Garden
6. I Want You (She's So Heavy)
7. Here Comes the Sun
8. Because
9. You Never Give Me Your Money
10. Sun King
11. Mean Mr. Mustard
12. Polythene Pam
13. She Came in Through the Bathroom Window
14. Golden Slumbers
15. Carry That Weight
16. End
17. Her Majesty
SIDE ONE
The Times They Are A Changin’
Ballad Of Hollis Brown
With God On Our Side
One Too Many Mornings
North Country Blues
SIDE TWO
Only A Pawn In Their Game
Boots Of Spanish Leather
When The Ship Comes In
The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll
Restless Farewell
All Composed By Bob Dylan.
Dylan was virtually gushing great songs when this masterpiece arrived in the summer
of 1965. From the epochal opening of "Like a Rolling Stone" through the absurdly
apocalyptic closer, "Desolation Row," his command of surrealistic language was daring
and amazing. As a vocalist, he was rewriting the rules of the game. Jimi Hendrix
made note of Mr. Z's technically suspect pitch and decided that he too was a singer.
And the backing, though ragged, is precisely right. Is this the essential Dylan album?
It's certainly one of them. --Steven Stolder
Track Listing
1. Like a Rolling Stone
2. Tombstone Blues
3. It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
4. From a Buick 6
5. Ballad of a Thin Man
6. Queen Jane Approximately
7. Highway 61 Revisited
8. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
9. Desolation Row
Track Listing
1. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
2. Pledging My Time
3. Visions of Johanna
4. One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)
5. I Want You
6. Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again
7. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
8. Just Like a Woman
9. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)
10. Temporary Like Achilles
11. Absolutely Sweet Marie
12. 4th Time Around
13. Obviously 5 Believers
14. Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands
Track Listing
1. Break On Through (To The Other Side)
2. Soul Kitchen
3. The Crystal Ship
4. Twentieth Century Fox
5. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)
6. Light My Fire
7. Back Door Man
8. I Looked At You
9. End Of The Night
10. Take It As It Comes
11. The End
On their 1967 debut album, the Doors more than fulfilled the promise of their infamously
challenging gigs around Los Angeles throughout the previous year. Whether belting
out a standard like "Back Door Man" or talk-singing such originals as "The Crystal
Ship" and "I Looked at You," leather-clad vocalist Jim Morrison exuded both sensuality
and menace. The mixture, on the outsize album finale, "The End," helped rewrite the
rules on rock song composition. None of this would have worked, though, were it not
for the highly visual instrumental work of keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robbie
Krieger, and drummer John Densmore, whose work on tracks such as "Take It As It Comes"
and the lengthy hit "Light My Fire" virtually defined the rock-blues-jazz-classical
amalgam that was acid-rock. --Billy Altman
Track Listing
1. Hello, I Love You
2. Love Street
3. Not To Touch The Earth
4. Summer's Almost Gone
5. Wintertime Love
6. The Unknown Soldier
7. Spanish Caravan
8. My Wild Love
9. We Could Be So Good Together
10. Yes, The River Knows
11. Five To One
1968's WAITING FOR THE SUN, the Doors' first chart-topper, delivered the #1 signature
smash "Hello, I Love You" and the Top 40 hit "The Unknown Soldier".
In retrospect, it's hard to believe that Buffalo Springfield could not only top their
debut album, but that they'd do it within a year. AGAIN clearly states the band's
case as a rootsy American Beatles to rival folk-rock kings the Byrds.
Singer-songwriters
Steve Stills and Neil Young were firing on all cylinders, Young moving easily from
sharp-tongued acid rock ("Mr. Soul") to complex, art song-like ballads (the epic
"Broken Arrow"). Stills could shift on a dime as well, offering the hypnotic, jazzy
waltz "Everydays" right alongside the celebratory "Rock & Roll Woman" and the RUBBER
SOUL-influenced "Bluebird". Richie Furay gamely navigated the choppy seas between
these two giants and penned some beautiful, ahead-of-its-time country-rock along
the way.
SIDE1
1. Mr. Soul
2. A Child's Claim to Fame
3. Everydays
4. Expecting to Fly
5. Bluebird
SIDE2
6. Hung Upside Down
7. Sad Memory
8. Good Time Boy
9. Rock & Roll Woman
10. Broken Arrow
Track Listing
Side 2
1. Beautiful Delilah
2. So Mystifying
3. Just Can't Go To Sleep
4. Long Tall Shorty
5. I Took My Baby Home
6. I'm A Lover Not A Fighter
7. You Really Got Me
Side 2
1. Cadillac
2. Bald Headed Woman
3. Revenge
4. Too Much Monkey Business
5. I've Been Driving On Bald Mountain
6. Stop Your Sobbing
7. Got Love If You Want It
© All rights reserved SixtiesMusic.org
Track Listing
1. Do You Believe In Magic
2. Blues In The Bottle
3. Sportin' Life
4. My Gal
5. You Baby
6. Fishin' Blues
7. Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind?
8. Wild About My Lovin'
9. Other Side Of This Life
10. Younger Girl
CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL
Remarkably, this is the third studio album Creedence Clearwater Revival released
in 1969! During that stunning burst, John Fogerty could do no wrong. Green River
isn't as chock-full of CCR standards as the record that followed it in 1970 (Cosmo's
Factory), and, at 30 minutes, it's briefer than its rather brief predecessor (Willy
and the Poorboys). Still, this is economy at its best. The title track, "Lodi," and
"Bad Moon Rising" are all indelibly etched into the memory banks of classic-rock
fans, while "Commotion" and "Cross-Tie Walker" are perfect swamp-rock complements.
"The Night Time Is the Right Time" is one more in a series of spot-on Fogerty covers.
And "Wrote a Song for Everyone" manages to be both rarefied and down to earth in
the same breath--which is really CCR in a nutshell. --Steven Stolder
Track Listing
1. Green River
2. Commotion
3. Tombstone Shadow
4. Wrote a Song for Everyone
5. Bad Moon Rising
6. Lodi
7. Cross-Tie Walker
8. Sinister Purpose
9. The Night Time Is the Right Time
Track Listing
1. Mothers little helper
2. Stupid Girl
3. Lady Jane
4. Under My Thumb
5. Doncha Bother Me
6. Going Home
7. Flight 505
8. High And Dry
9. Out Of Time
10. It's Not Easy
11. I Am Waiting
12. Take it or Leave It
13. Think
14. What To Do
Beggars Banquet is among the Stones two or three greatest albums, so it's also among
the very best rock & roll albums ever made. Though known for its twin anthems of
social decay, "Sympathy For The Devil" and "Street Fighting Man," it's actually the
album's gritty yet beautiful acoustic country and country-blues numbers--"Dear Doctor,"
"Prodigal Son," "No Expectations," "Factory Girl"--that has helped Beggars stand
up so effectively through the years--that and the fact that Keith Richard's lyrics
here often come as close to sincerity as he's capable. When he sings "Let's drink
to the hard working people," for once you almost believe him. --David Cantwell
Track Listing
1. Sympathy for the Devil
2. No Expectations
3. Dear Doctor
4. Parachute Woman
5. Jigsaw Puzzle
6. Street Fighting Man
7. Prodigal Son
8. Stray Cat Blues
9. Factory Girl
10. Salt of the Earth
One of the Stones' most beloved albums, 1969's Let It Bleed was a benchmark for several
reasons. First, founding guitarist Brian Jones died during the recording process.
Second, the Stones take their last significant look at pure blues (Robert Johnson's
spooky "Love in Vain") and country ("Country Honk," the two-stepping alter ego of
"Honky-Tonk Women") before folding both styles into a cohesive rock & roll vision.
Third, it contains some of the band's most eerie hits, such as the flame-enveloped
"Gimme Shelter," the drug-reality anthem "Monkey Man," the epic "You Can't Always
Get What You Want," and Mick Jagger's menacing "Midnight Rambler." --eve Knoppe
Track Listing
1. Gimme Shelter
2. Love In Vain
3. Country Honk
4. Live With Me
5. Let It Bleed
6. Midnight Rambler
7. You Got the Silver
8. Monkey Man
9. You Can't Always Get What You Want
Side One
Have You Seen Your Mother Baby Standing In The Shadows
Paint it Black
It’s All Over Now
The Last Time
Heart of Stone
Not Fade Away
Come On
Side Two
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
Get Off My Cloud
As Tears Go By
19th Nervous Breakdown
Lady Jane
Time Is On My Side
Little Red Rooster
Track Listing
1. John Wesley Harding
2. As I Went Out One Morning
3. I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine
4. All Along The Watchtower
5. The Ballad Of Frankie Lee And Judas Priest
6. Drifter's Escape
7. Dear Landlord
8. I Am A Lonesome Hobo
9. I Pity The Poor Immigrant
10. The Wicked Messenger
11. Down Along The Cove
12. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
The Moody Blues' second album was also their first of what would be a succession
of "concept" albums. Inspired by the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper and utilizing the London
Festival Orchestra primarily for epic instrumental interludes between songs, Days
of Future Passed moved the Birmingham band away from its early R&B roots (as displayed
on its debut album with soon-to-depart future Wings member Denny Laine) into uncharted
rock territory, making them the early pioneers of both classical and progressive
rock. The concept of the 1967 release was very simple, tracing a day in the life
from dawn to night, from awakening to sleep.
Track Listing
1. The Day Begins
2. Dawn Is a Feeling
3. Another Morning
4. Peak Hour
5. Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?)
6. Time to Get Away
7. The Sun Set
8. Twilight Time
9. Nights in White Satin