When people talk about the 1960s--especially when they're talking about music or politics--they really mean the period from 1963 or 1964 to sometime in the early 1970s.
The "conceptual 1960s," you might say, seems to call on rock 'n roll, hippies, anti-war sentiment, free love and stuff like that. All in all, the 1960s are not recalled fondly by many, and the negatives are the various protest movements, primarily, though civil rights protests are remembered somewhat fondly. The real pre-cursor or prototype of the anti-war protests was the Berkeley Free Speech Movement of 1964-1965. This occurred about the time the anti-war movement was gathering, though it is true that the anti-war movement did not achieve critical mass until the Tet Offensive of 1968.
One other way to think about the 1960s, however, was that the first of the decade's horribly tragic events--the assassination of JFK, the snuffing out of Camelot--occurred on November 22, 1963. It was less than 3 months later--on February 9, 1964--that the Beatles first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. Musically, this can be seen as a clear beginning of the "conceptual 1960s."
Then in 1971 Hunter Thompson wrote of the youth movement, "There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning.… And that, I think, was the handle—that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting—on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave.…
"So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back."
So the "conceptual 1960s" had ended, to an unusually perceptive eye--"the right kind of eyes"--by 1971. For most of us, the realization of this truth did not come until a little later, but just because we hadn't seen it doesn't mean the wave hadn't broken.
There you have it--"the 1960s," psychologically, were 1964 to 1971. So here are the greatest rock 'n roll songs of the period 1964 to 1971. You'll see that I lean heavily to songs from 1970 and 1971. this was the short-lived golden age of rock 'n roll.
1. Desolation Row--Bob Dylan (1965). What an amazing kaleidoscope of images, right from postcards of the hanging, "the circus is in town" and a beauty parlor filled with sailors to the Titanic sailing and lovely mermaids flowing. Then there's "the riot squad they're restless/they need somewhere to go" and "at midnight all the agents and the superhuman crew/come out and round up everyone that knows more than they do" and "when you asked me how I was doing/was that some kind of joke?" Eleven minutes of, well, desolation. Fellini-esque, they said, or influenced by Alan Ginsburg, which Dylan sort of confirmed, saying that "Desolation Row" came from "that New York type period, when all the songs were city songs. (Ginsburg's) poetry is city poetry. Sounds like the city." Al Kooper, who played electric guitar on early takes of "Desolation Row," but not the Highway 61 version, said that "Desolation Row" was Eighth Avenue in Manhattan with its "whore houses, sleazy bars and porno supermarkets." Who, exactly, is the blind commissioner or Cinderella or Ophelia or Dr. Filth or the Phantom of the Opera? I have not even seen anybody willing to hazard a guess.
It has also been reported that the song may refer to the lynching of 3 black men in Duluth, MN, Dylan's birthplace, in 1920. The 3 were employed by a circus that had come to Duluth, and they sold postcards of the 3 bodies hanging from a light pole.
The Highway 61 version was recorded August 4, 1965, with country/folk wizard Charlie McCoy on acoustic lead guitar. An earlier version (July 29) with Kooper on guitar was released on a 2005 collection, The Bootleg Series Volume 7. It's played at a mid-tempo so that there's plenty of space to articulate and for listeners to clearly hear and comprehend the lyrics. McCoy's fills keep the music interesting without getting in the way. The vocal is understated, laconic. When 1 discovers in the final verse that the singer, too, is trapped on "Desolation Row," that seems reasonable. He's not just an on-looker, he's part of the "circus" that he describes.
2. Echoes--Pink Floyd (1971). David Gilmour's guitar work on The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall may be considered to be prototypical of his work and representative of his best work, but to me "Echoes" is his greatest work and most representative. If somebody hasn't heard Gilmour's or Pink Floyd's work and wanted to know what his guitar sounds like, this would be the example as far as I'm concerned: Beautiful, silky, languid, single-note guitar leads, that's what Gilmour contributed to the genre of rock 'n roll guitar. And let's be honest. As much as Roger Waters contributed to Pink Floyd's success and to its sound and to its legacy with his lyrics and thematic concepts, it is indeed Gilmour's guitar that makes Pink Floyd Pink Floyd.
"Echoes" is somewhat unusual in Pink Floyd's work because there's an optimistic tone. Something positive is going to come of this human striving. Much of their work dwells more on the dark side.
It's a song about a girl who "used to dress so fine" but "Now you don't seem so proud/About having to be scrounging for your next meal.... Nobody's ever taught you how to live out on the street/But now you're gonna have to get used to it...." And then the famous chorus: "How does it feel/To be on your own/With no direction home/Like a complete unknown/Like a rolling stone."
But this song, unlike "Desolation Row," it's also about the music, the sensational music. Here, the music gets very much in the way, boldly, spectacularly. Al Kooper, a young and not particularly well-established guitarist, was invited to the session by producer Tom Wilson. However, it was only with Wilson out of the room that Kooper snuck over to the organ and played his now-famous organ filigree. When the track was played back, Wilson objected to the organ part saying Kooper was "not an organ player." Dylan, on the other hand, insisted that the organ be turned up in the mix.
Despite the song's 6 minute length--and the fact that many radio stations therefore would not play the song--it went to #2 on the Billboard charts. Rolling Stone has twice (2004, 2011) put the song at #1 on its list of the top 500 songs of all-time.
The "conceptual 1960s," you might say, seems to call on rock 'n roll, hippies, anti-war sentiment, free love and stuff like that. All in all, the 1960s are not recalled fondly by many, and the negatives are the various protest movements, primarily, though civil rights protests are remembered somewhat fondly. The real pre-cursor or prototype of the anti-war protests was the Berkeley Free Speech Movement of 1964-1965. This occurred about the time the anti-war movement was gathering, though it is true that the anti-war movement did not achieve critical mass until the Tet Offensive of 1968.
One other way to think about the 1960s, however, was that the first of the decade's horribly tragic events--the assassination of JFK, the snuffing out of Camelot--occurred on November 22, 1963. It was less than 3 months later--on February 9, 1964--that the Beatles first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. Musically, this can be seen as a clear beginning of the "conceptual 1960s."
Then in 1971 Hunter Thompson wrote of the youth movement, "There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning.… And that, I think, was the handle—that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting—on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave.…
"So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back."
So the "conceptual 1960s" had ended, to an unusually perceptive eye--"the right kind of eyes"--by 1971. For most of us, the realization of this truth did not come until a little later, but just because we hadn't seen it doesn't mean the wave hadn't broken.
There you have it--"the 1960s," psychologically, were 1964 to 1971. So here are the greatest rock 'n roll songs of the period 1964 to 1971. You'll see that I lean heavily to songs from 1970 and 1971. this was the short-lived golden age of rock 'n roll.
1. Desolation Row--Bob Dylan (1965). What an amazing kaleidoscope of images, right from postcards of the hanging, "the circus is in town" and a beauty parlor filled with sailors to the Titanic sailing and lovely mermaids flowing. Then there's "the riot squad they're restless/they need somewhere to go" and "at midnight all the agents and the superhuman crew/come out and round up everyone that knows more than they do" and "when you asked me how I was doing/was that some kind of joke?" Eleven minutes of, well, desolation. Fellini-esque, they said, or influenced by Alan Ginsburg, which Dylan sort of confirmed, saying that "Desolation Row" came from "that New York type period, when all the songs were city songs. (Ginsburg's) poetry is city poetry. Sounds like the city." Al Kooper, who played electric guitar on early takes of "Desolation Row," but not the Highway 61 version, said that "Desolation Row" was Eighth Avenue in Manhattan with its "whore houses, sleazy bars and porno supermarkets." Who, exactly, is the blind commissioner or Cinderella or Ophelia or Dr. Filth or the Phantom of the Opera? I have not even seen anybody willing to hazard a guess.
It has also been reported that the song may refer to the lynching of 3 black men in Duluth, MN, Dylan's birthplace, in 1920. The 3 were employed by a circus that had come to Duluth, and they sold postcards of the 3 bodies hanging from a light pole.
The Highway 61 version was recorded August 4, 1965, with country/folk wizard Charlie McCoy on acoustic lead guitar. An earlier version (July 29) with Kooper on guitar was released on a 2005 collection, The Bootleg Series Volume 7. It's played at a mid-tempo so that there's plenty of space to articulate and for listeners to clearly hear and comprehend the lyrics. McCoy's fills keep the music interesting without getting in the way. The vocal is understated, laconic. When 1 discovers in the final verse that the singer, too, is trapped on "Desolation Row," that seems reasonable. He's not just an on-looker, he's part of the "circus" that he describes.
2. Echoes--Pink Floyd (1971). David Gilmour's guitar work on The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall may be considered to be prototypical of his work and representative of his best work, but to me "Echoes" is his greatest work and most representative. If somebody hasn't heard Gilmour's or Pink Floyd's work and wanted to know what his guitar sounds like, this would be the example as far as I'm concerned: Beautiful, silky, languid, single-note guitar leads, that's what Gilmour contributed to the genre of rock 'n roll guitar. And let's be honest. As much as Roger Waters contributed to Pink Floyd's success and to its sound and to its legacy with his lyrics and thematic concepts, it is indeed Gilmour's guitar that makes Pink Floyd Pink Floyd.
"Echoes" is somewhat unusual in Pink Floyd's work because there's an optimistic tone. Something positive is going to come of this human striving. Much of their work dwells more on the dark side.
3. Good Vibrations--Beach Boys (1966). Some say it was the Stones, but the fact is that the Beatles' real doppelganger is Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. Like the Beatles, they grew up and were introduced to pop fans as white rock 'n roll, borrowing black forms but playing them in ways that were quite unmistakably their own. Each had the wit and wisdom, however, to branch out after popularity had been achieved. The Beatles' evolution from "I Want to Hold Your Hand" to Sgt. Pepper's is well known. The Beach Boys travels from "Surfin' U.S.A.," which cleverly superimposed the white California teen world on to Chuck Berry's rock 'n roll forms and style, to "Good Vibrations" is perhaps being forgotten. Both are of course regarded has hopelessly light weight now in the 21st century. But when you consider where rock 'n roll was in 1962, before the appearance of either, the Beach Boys deserve almost the same credit as the Beatles for turning it from a dying fad into a genre that has dominated pop music for 50 years.
"Good Vibrations" is the crowning achievement of the band's 2nd period, their progressive, experimental period. Aside from the quirky theremin (OK, there was also a cello), it uses the same materials as the band's earlier material--that is to say, 4 or 5 great singing voices--to build an incredible sound and an incredible song. Surprisingly, it was only their 3rd #1 hit. (It was their 13th top 10 hit, and their last for a decade.) But aside from simply being a great song in its own right, it also showed that whatever the Beatles could do, Brian Wilson could do. Well, of course, except that Wilson and the Beach Boys couldn't do it again (pardon the pun).
4. What's Going On?--Marvin Gaye (1971). The most unlikely and the most eloquent of the protest music of the period. It didn't sound like protest music and it wasn't strident and bossy and arrogant like most white boy rock 'n roll. But my goodness: "Mother, mother/There's to many of your crying/Brother, brother, brother/There's far too many of you dying/You know, we've got to find a way/To bring some lovin' here today.... Father, father/We don't need to escalate/You see, war is not the answer/For only love can conquer hate/You know, we've got to find a way/To bring some lovin' here today." But of course father, father eventually shot his son, Marvin Gaye, dead, so maybe love don't conquer hate after all. I don't know.
5. Like A Rolling Stone--Bob Dylan (1965). Bookends. "Like A Rolling Stone" opens Highway 61, "Desolation Row" closes it. The 2 greatest songs from 1 of rock 'n roll's greatest artists. No wonder Highway 61 rates as the greatest rock 'n roll LP of all-time. Wikipedia says the song "transformed Dylan's career and is today considered one of the most influential compositions in post-war popular music and has since its release been both a music industry and a popular culture milestone....""Good Vibrations" is the crowning achievement of the band's 2nd period, their progressive, experimental period. Aside from the quirky theremin (OK, there was also a cello), it uses the same materials as the band's earlier material--that is to say, 4 or 5 great singing voices--to build an incredible sound and an incredible song. Surprisingly, it was only their 3rd #1 hit. (It was their 13th top 10 hit, and their last for a decade.) But aside from simply being a great song in its own right, it also showed that whatever the Beatles could do, Brian Wilson could do. Well, of course, except that Wilson and the Beach Boys couldn't do it again (pardon the pun).
4. What's Going On?--Marvin Gaye (1971). The most unlikely and the most eloquent of the protest music of the period. It didn't sound like protest music and it wasn't strident and bossy and arrogant like most white boy rock 'n roll. But my goodness: "Mother, mother/There's to many of your crying/Brother, brother, brother/There's far too many of you dying/You know, we've got to find a way/To bring some lovin' here today.... Father, father/We don't need to escalate/You see, war is not the answer/For only love can conquer hate/You know, we've got to find a way/To bring some lovin' here today." But of course father, father eventually shot his son, Marvin Gaye, dead, so maybe love don't conquer hate after all. I don't know.
It's a song about a girl who "used to dress so fine" but "Now you don't seem so proud/About having to be scrounging for your next meal.... Nobody's ever taught you how to live out on the street/But now you're gonna have to get used to it...." And then the famous chorus: "How does it feel/To be on your own/With no direction home/Like a complete unknown/Like a rolling stone."
But this song, unlike "Desolation Row," it's also about the music, the sensational music. Here, the music gets very much in the way, boldly, spectacularly. Al Kooper, a young and not particularly well-established guitarist, was invited to the session by producer Tom Wilson. However, it was only with Wilson out of the room that Kooper snuck over to the organ and played his now-famous organ filigree. When the track was played back, Wilson objected to the organ part saying Kooper was "not an organ player." Dylan, on the other hand, insisted that the organ be turned up in the mix.
Despite the song's 6 minute length--and the fact that many radio stations therefore would not play the song--it went to #2 on the Billboard charts. Rolling Stone has twice (2004, 2011) put the song at #1 on its list of the top 500 songs of all-time.
6. A Day in the Life--The Beatles (1967).
And then there's the recurring line, "I'd love to turn you on." So, yes, it's a drug song. Then there's the trippy orchestral crescendo between the 2 big sections of the song, and the final piano chord that is allowed to resonate for over 40 seconds before fading away. All taken as the Beatles' effort to appeal to stoned listeners which, of course, it did. Wikipedia calls it "one of the most famous final chords in music history."
Sgt. Pepper's is generally regarded as the Beatles' greatest album. But for "A Day in the Life," however, it wouldn't even be in the conversation.
And then there's the recurring line, "I'd love to turn you on." So, yes, it's a drug song. Then there's the trippy orchestral crescendo between the 2 big sections of the song, and the final piano chord that is allowed to resonate for over 40 seconds before fading away. All taken as the Beatles' effort to appeal to stoned listeners which, of course, it did. Wikipedia calls it "one of the most famous final chords in music history."
Sgt. Pepper's is generally regarded as the Beatles' greatest album. But for "A Day in the Life," however, it wouldn't even be in the conversation.
7.
California Dreamin’--The
Mamas and the Papas (1965). The Mamas and the Papas' 1st LP was titled If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears, and it was a more apt title than folks could possibly understand today. Because the sound of "California Dreamin,'" at the time, was unheard of. The 4 strong voices with a super-live, forward mix, just leaped out of transistor radios and grabbed listeners by the throat. And then there were the "eyes," to whom the group appealed mainly with the alluring looks of Michelle Phillips but the overall hippie-fied look of all 4 singers. And of course California was at its peak of hip. Young people all over America were California Dreamin' at the time. It was where dreams came true. The whole package is exhibit #1 for the genius (tragic genius) of Papa John Phillips, who concocted the whole enterprise but then couldn't keep it going due to a variety of factors including his own drug addiction. But that's just 1 more way that he represented while also transcending the era.
8 (tie). Brown-Eyed Girl--Van Morrison (1967).
8 (tie). Moondance--Van Morrison (1970). What a curse, to have recorded his greatest song so early in his career. But let's be honest, Van Morrison, as great as he has been and has continued to be, has never quite matched "Brown-Eyed Girl." Anybody who has ever dated a brown-eyed girl has been sucked into this song and it will give a little thrill every time you hear it until the day you die. In an era that somewhat eschewed the love song, this one is as pure a love song as the era has to offer.
Except that "Moondance" would be a very close second in every respect. What a beautiful languid melody, gently rising and falling. And on the chorus--"And all the night's magic seems to whisper and hush/And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush/Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love...."--just the slightest increase of intensity is just thrilling, it's magic.
15 (tie). A Whiter Shade of Pale--Procol Harum (1967).
15 (tie). Light My Fire--The Doors (1967). Two incredible keyboard-based records from the same year. "A Whiter Shade of Pale" was one of those songs, like "California Dreamin,'" that caused people to sit up and say, Who the hell is that? What the hell is that? It sounded like Percy Sledge, but the big organ sound was playing a Bach melody and then there was this: "We skipped the light fandango/Turned cartwheels cross the floor/I was feeling kinda seasick/But the crowd called out for more/The room was humming harder/As the ceiling flew away/When we called outfor another drink/The waiter brought a tray...." And I don't know about you, I have no idea what in the hell it is about, but it stuck in my imagination from then until now.
"Girl we couldn't get much higher." Take that, Ed Sullivan. The Doors, or more properly, Jim Morrison was the bad boy among bad boys, making Mick Jagger, for example, look like a choir boy. But he and his band entered the rock music scene in 1967 with a big bang called "Light My Fire," an irresistible little ditty about, well, you know, even before you heard that big long beautiful keyboard solo by Ray Manzarek. Their sound was absolutely unique and "Light My Fire" remains to this day their 1st and greatest song.
16. All My Loving--The Beatles (1964). It's a pretty simple, straight-ahead pop-rock song with a great little guitar solo and (mostly) a typical soaring, enthusiastic Paul McCartney vocal.
e, not all of their best music is from 1967.
17 (tie). 1983--Jimi Hendrix Experience (1968). 1
17 (tie). All Along the Watchtower--Jimi Hendrix Experience (1968). "1983" is a long slow psychedelic blues about living underwater after the nuclear holocaust. It's hard to rate "1983" ahead of "All Along the Watchtower," both from one of the best rock albums ever, Electric Ladyland, but there it is. "Watchtower" is of course Hendrix' cover of Bob Dylan, a version that helped make the legend of both artists.
18. Closing My Eyes--Fleetwood Mac (1969). So much more of early rock 'n roll--and especially British rock 'n roll--is borrowed directly from black American music than most today could possible be aware of. And the greatest interpreter of black American music among the 1st and 2nd British invasion is also largely forgotten today. That would be Peter Green, founder and leader of what was at the time called Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. The Fleetwood Mac that people today are generally familiar with came much later. Then Play On is Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac's masterpiece though the LP was released under the name Fleetwood Mac only. It was Peter Green's last Fleetwood Mac LP and it is the British blues at its very finest--not merely derivative, as most British blues previous to this was--but original, unique...but still bluesy. In fact, if you're in need of a downer, this is your LP and "Closing My Eyes" is your song.
"Now its the same as before/And I'm alone again/With no sorrow for myself/And I'm blaming no one else/And closing my eyes/And seeing you standing there.... No use to try anymore as before/Someday I'll die/Maybe then I'll be with you." All sung to a slow dirge of a tune, as it should be.
19. Wouldn’t It Be Nice--Beach Boys (1966). The last single before "Good Vibrations" (#3 above), this has the same theme as the even more brilliant "When I Grow Up" (#8 above). "Wouldn't it be nice if we were older/And we didn't have to wait so long/And wouldn't it be nice to live together/In the kind of world where we belong/You know it's gonna make it that much better/When we can say good night and sleep together." All sung in a stunningly beautiful but uptempo vocal melody.
20. Mercy, Mercy Me--Marvin Gaye (1971). "What's Going On" with the ecology?
21. Nothing Is Easy--Jethro Tull (1969). Tull's greatest song, though Aqualung remains their overall top achievement. Still, this is heavy, heavy, heavy despite the fact that the flute is the chief melody instrument. How'd they do that?
22. I Am A Rock--Simon and Garfunkel (1966). Like Gordo, Paul Simon has his detractors. But Simon so perfectly captured the more contemplative side of the '60s not by rearranging folk music (like Gordo and John Phillips) but by creating it (like Dylan). It's hard to say that "I Am A Rock" is even his greatest creation but he certainly deserves to be found somewhere in the top 25.
23. Subterranean Homesick Blues--Bob Dylan (1965). A 3rd tune from the best year that any rock artist has ever had--Dylan in 1965, with Bringin' It All Back Home and Highway 61. This was a total breakthrough--his 1st top 40 hit (#39), one of his 1st "electric" songs, and also known for the then innovative "music video." Then there's the rapid-fire lyrics just brimming with alienation ("Twenty years of schoolin'/And they put you on the day shift") and what have now become familiar aphorisms among baby boomers ("You don't need a weatherman/To know which way the wind blows..." "The pump don't work/'Cause the vandals took the handles."
24. I’m Going To Say It Now--Phil Ochs (1965). Ochs belongs right up there with Dylan and Simon as social satirists, but in Ochs case that was everything he had to offer. And when the anti-establishment ethos died away he couldn't adjust, so he hanged himself. But he left a tremendous legacy of protest music behind. I happen to like this one the best though there are many to choose from. It's about his experience of going away to college....
"I know I'm just a student, sir, and I only want to learn/But it's hard to read through the rising smoke of the books that you'd like to burn/So I'm gonna make a promise and I'm gonna make a vow/That when I got something to say, sir/I'm gonna say it now.... Oh, you've given me a number and taken off my name/To get around this campus, why, you almost need a plane/And you're supporting Chiang Kai-Shek while I'm supporting Mao/So when I've got something to say, sir, I'm gonna say it now."
I don't need to tell you that Ochs' music was banned from the radio, and that's one reason why his legacy is nearly lost.
25. Crossroads--Don McLean (1971). Best known for "American Pie," but there were some immensely more personal and emotional songs on the album--"Vincent," for one. But even more than that was "Crossroads:" "You know I've heard about people like me/But I never made the connection/They walk one road to set them free/Then find they've gone the wrong direction...." His performances in this day were so moving that the Roberta Flack hit, "Killing Me Softly With His Song," was written about Don McLean, of all people.
26. Oh No--Frank Zappa (1971). This is another of Frank's putdowns of the hippie philosophy of the time--"All you need is love" and all of that. This is in fact Frank's "Positively Fourth Street."
"Oh, no, I don't believe it/You say that you think you know the meaning of love/You say love is all we need/You say with your love you can change/All of the fools, all of the hate/I think you're probably out to lunch...All your love/Will it save me/All your love/Will it save the world/From what we can't understand?"
27. Sixteen Miles (to Seven Lakes)--Gordon Lightfoot (1966). People who say that Gordo is a lightweight might hear this song as just more evidence for their point of view. But what I hear is a purer expression of the folk boom, sung by one of the loveliest voices this side of Judy Collins. There's not a lot of folk music/folk boom/folk mania on this list, but whatever you call it, "Sixteen Miles" is one of the best examples of its prototypical personna of the lonely loser, a personna that had a powerful impact on the growth of youth culture of the day.
8 (tie). Brown-Eyed Girl--Van Morrison (1967).
8 (tie). Moondance--Van Morrison (1970). What a curse, to have recorded his greatest song so early in his career. But let's be honest, Van Morrison, as great as he has been and has continued to be, has never quite matched "Brown-Eyed Girl." Anybody who has ever dated a brown-eyed girl has been sucked into this song and it will give a little thrill every time you hear it until the day you die. In an era that somewhat eschewed the love song, this one is as pure a love song as the era has to offer.
Except that "Moondance" would be a very close second in every respect. What a beautiful languid melody, gently rising and falling. And on the chorus--"And all the night's magic seems to whisper and hush/And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush/Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love...."--just the slightest increase of intensity is just thrilling, it's magic.
9. When I Grow Up (to Be a Man)--Beach Boys (1964). If "Good Vibrations" was the culmination of the Beach Boys 2nd, more progressive period, then this was the culmination of the 1st period. in which the Beach Boys were synonymous with teenage concerns. But while this song is clearly from an adolescent point of view, it certainly has to be seen as a remarkably self-conscious assessment of adolescence--not just hey, let's party, but hey, when am I going to be in charge of my own life and what will that feel like? Musically, too, the song is much more than a Chuck Berry clone and can be seen as transitional to the band's more mature period, though the full transition was 2 years off and short-lived.
"Will I dig the same things that turn me on as a kid/Will I look back and say that I wish I hadn't done what I did... Will my kids be proud or think their old man's really a square/When they're out havin' fun, yeah, will I still wanna have my share/Will I love my wife for the rest of my life/When I grow up to be a man."
10. Penny Lane--The Beatles (1967). Recorded in the Sgt. Pepper's sessions, "Penny Lane" was however released as the B-side of "Strawberry Fields Forever" in early 1967 and was later included on the LP Magical Mystery Tour. Penny Lane is a street and a neighborhood near John Lennon's childhood home in Liverpool, and the song is a series of vignettes, a kaleidoscope of people going about perfectly mundane day-to-day activities, though the images are surreal and contradictory. It's a beautiful summer day "beneath the blue suburban skies" one minute, then the next a "fireman rushes in from the pouring rain/Very strange." Sort of "A Day in the Life," as it were, but in this case one that leaves a peppy, positive and uplifting impression. The song is remembered also for the piccolo trumpet solo by David Mason (not that Dave Mason).
11. Sit Down, Young Stranger--Gordon Lightfoot (1970). This and "Minstrel of the Dawn" put Gordo among the most eloquent of the folkies--right up there with Dylan and Simon and Joni Mitchell--at expressing the doubt and disillusion that young folks were feeling at the time. "I'm standin' in the doorway, my head bowed in my hands/Not knowin' where to sit, not knowin' where I stand/My father looms above me, for him there is no rest/My mother's arms enfold me and hold me to her breast/They say you been out wanderin,' they say you've travelled far/Sit down, young stranger, and tell us who you are.... Now will you try and tell us that you been too long in school/That knowledge is not needed, that power does not rule/That war is not the answer, that young men should not die/Sit down, young stranger, I wait for your reply...,."
The really stunning thing is the simple recognition that the singer is a "stranger" to none other than his own mother and father… and himself.
12. Layla--Eric Clapton (1970). One of the most emotional songs and LPs ever, that was "Layla" and Layla. But even a drug-addled "god" could see that he needed Duane Allman to help him carry out his vision, and what incredibly beautiful music the 2 made together. "Layla" was in 2 parts, Clapton's anguished vocal driving the 1st part, but then the long guitar duet just floats into a dreamlike state that makes everything all right.
13. In the Court of the Crimson King--King Crimson (1970). This was the heaviest thing I had ever heard at the time, and it was so much heavier than anything that came before, there's never been a song that made such a quantum leap in heaviness, ever. My god.
14. Love Minus Zero/No Limit--Bob Dylan (1965). One of Bob's pretty love songs, maybe the prettiest loviest of them all, utterly free of cynicism. This song is as much covered as almost any Dylan song, most notably by Joan Baez in a truly beautiful version."Will I dig the same things that turn me on as a kid/Will I look back and say that I wish I hadn't done what I did... Will my kids be proud or think their old man's really a square/When they're out havin' fun, yeah, will I still wanna have my share/Will I love my wife for the rest of my life/When I grow up to be a man."
10. Penny Lane--The Beatles (1967). Recorded in the Sgt. Pepper's sessions, "Penny Lane" was however released as the B-side of "Strawberry Fields Forever" in early 1967 and was later included on the LP Magical Mystery Tour. Penny Lane is a street and a neighborhood near John Lennon's childhood home in Liverpool, and the song is a series of vignettes, a kaleidoscope of people going about perfectly mundane day-to-day activities, though the images are surreal and contradictory. It's a beautiful summer day "beneath the blue suburban skies" one minute, then the next a "fireman rushes in from the pouring rain/Very strange." Sort of "A Day in the Life," as it were, but in this case one that leaves a peppy, positive and uplifting impression. The song is remembered also for the piccolo trumpet solo by David Mason (not that Dave Mason).
11. Sit Down, Young Stranger--Gordon Lightfoot (1970). This and "Minstrel of the Dawn" put Gordo among the most eloquent of the folkies--right up there with Dylan and Simon and Joni Mitchell--at expressing the doubt and disillusion that young folks were feeling at the time. "I'm standin' in the doorway, my head bowed in my hands/Not knowin' where to sit, not knowin' where I stand/My father looms above me, for him there is no rest/My mother's arms enfold me and hold me to her breast/They say you been out wanderin,' they say you've travelled far/Sit down, young stranger, and tell us who you are.... Now will you try and tell us that you been too long in school/That knowledge is not needed, that power does not rule/That war is not the answer, that young men should not die/Sit down, young stranger, I wait for your reply...,."
The really stunning thing is the simple recognition that the singer is a "stranger" to none other than his own mother and father… and himself.
12. Layla--Eric Clapton (1970). One of the most emotional songs and LPs ever, that was "Layla" and Layla. But even a drug-addled "god" could see that he needed Duane Allman to help him carry out his vision, and what incredibly beautiful music the 2 made together. "Layla" was in 2 parts, Clapton's anguished vocal driving the 1st part, but then the long guitar duet just floats into a dreamlike state that makes everything all right.
13. In the Court of the Crimson King--King Crimson (1970). This was the heaviest thing I had ever heard at the time, and it was so much heavier than anything that came before, there's never been a song that made such a quantum leap in heaviness, ever. My god.
15 (tie). A Whiter Shade of Pale--Procol Harum (1967).
15 (tie). Light My Fire--The Doors (1967). Two incredible keyboard-based records from the same year. "A Whiter Shade of Pale" was one of those songs, like "California Dreamin,'" that caused people to sit up and say, Who the hell is that? What the hell is that? It sounded like Percy Sledge, but the big organ sound was playing a Bach melody and then there was this: "We skipped the light fandango/Turned cartwheels cross the floor/I was feeling kinda seasick/But the crowd called out for more/The room was humming harder/As the ceiling flew away/When we called outfor another drink/The waiter brought a tray...." And I don't know about you, I have no idea what in the hell it is about, but it stuck in my imagination from then until now.
"Girl we couldn't get much higher." Take that, Ed Sullivan. The Doors, or more properly, Jim Morrison was the bad boy among bad boys, making Mick Jagger, for example, look like a choir boy. But he and his band entered the rock music scene in 1967 with a big bang called "Light My Fire," an irresistible little ditty about, well, you know, even before you heard that big long beautiful keyboard solo by Ray Manzarek. Their sound was absolutely unique and "Light My Fire" remains to this day their 1st and greatest song.
16. All My Loving--The Beatles (1964). It's a pretty simple, straight-ahead pop-rock song with a great little guitar solo and (mostly) a typical soaring, enthusiastic Paul McCartney vocal.
e, not all of their best music is from 1967.
17 (tie). 1983--Jimi Hendrix Experience (1968). 1
17 (tie). All Along the Watchtower--Jimi Hendrix Experience (1968). "1983" is a long slow psychedelic blues about living underwater after the nuclear holocaust. It's hard to rate "1983" ahead of "All Along the Watchtower," both from one of the best rock albums ever, Electric Ladyland, but there it is. "Watchtower" is of course Hendrix' cover of Bob Dylan, a version that helped make the legend of both artists.
18. Closing My Eyes--Fleetwood Mac (1969). So much more of early rock 'n roll--and especially British rock 'n roll--is borrowed directly from black American music than most today could possible be aware of. And the greatest interpreter of black American music among the 1st and 2nd British invasion is also largely forgotten today. That would be Peter Green, founder and leader of what was at the time called Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. The Fleetwood Mac that people today are generally familiar with came much later. Then Play On is Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac's masterpiece though the LP was released under the name Fleetwood Mac only. It was Peter Green's last Fleetwood Mac LP and it is the British blues at its very finest--not merely derivative, as most British blues previous to this was--but original, unique...but still bluesy. In fact, if you're in need of a downer, this is your LP and "Closing My Eyes" is your song.
"Now its the same as before/And I'm alone again/With no sorrow for myself/And I'm blaming no one else/And closing my eyes/And seeing you standing there.... No use to try anymore as before/Someday I'll die/Maybe then I'll be with you." All sung to a slow dirge of a tune, as it should be.
20. Mercy, Mercy Me--Marvin Gaye (1971). "What's Going On" with the ecology?
21. Nothing Is Easy--Jethro Tull (1969). Tull's greatest song, though Aqualung remains their overall top achievement. Still, this is heavy, heavy, heavy despite the fact that the flute is the chief melody instrument. How'd they do that?
22. I Am A Rock--Simon and Garfunkel (1966). Like Gordo, Paul Simon has his detractors. But Simon so perfectly captured the more contemplative side of the '60s not by rearranging folk music (like Gordo and John Phillips) but by creating it (like Dylan). It's hard to say that "I Am A Rock" is even his greatest creation but he certainly deserves to be found somewhere in the top 25.
23. Subterranean Homesick Blues--Bob Dylan (1965). A 3rd tune from the best year that any rock artist has ever had--Dylan in 1965, with Bringin' It All Back Home and Highway 61. This was a total breakthrough--his 1st top 40 hit (#39), one of his 1st "electric" songs, and also known for the then innovative "music video." Then there's the rapid-fire lyrics just brimming with alienation ("Twenty years of schoolin'/And they put you on the day shift") and what have now become familiar aphorisms among baby boomers ("You don't need a weatherman/To know which way the wind blows..." "The pump don't work/'Cause the vandals took the handles."
24. I’m Going To Say It Now--Phil Ochs (1965). Ochs belongs right up there with Dylan and Simon as social satirists, but in Ochs case that was everything he had to offer. And when the anti-establishment ethos died away he couldn't adjust, so he hanged himself. But he left a tremendous legacy of protest music behind. I happen to like this one the best though there are many to choose from. It's about his experience of going away to college....
"I know I'm just a student, sir, and I only want to learn/But it's hard to read through the rising smoke of the books that you'd like to burn/So I'm gonna make a promise and I'm gonna make a vow/That when I got something to say, sir/I'm gonna say it now.... Oh, you've given me a number and taken off my name/To get around this campus, why, you almost need a plane/And you're supporting Chiang Kai-Shek while I'm supporting Mao/So when I've got something to say, sir, I'm gonna say it now."
I don't need to tell you that Ochs' music was banned from the radio, and that's one reason why his legacy is nearly lost.
25. Crossroads--Don McLean (1971). Best known for "American Pie," but there were some immensely more personal and emotional songs on the album--"Vincent," for one. But even more than that was "Crossroads:" "You know I've heard about people like me/But I never made the connection/They walk one road to set them free/Then find they've gone the wrong direction...." His performances in this day were so moving that the Roberta Flack hit, "Killing Me Softly With His Song," was written about Don McLean, of all people.
26. Oh No--Frank Zappa (1971). This is another of Frank's putdowns of the hippie philosophy of the time--"All you need is love" and all of that. This is in fact Frank's "Positively Fourth Street."
"Oh, no, I don't believe it/You say that you think you know the meaning of love/You say love is all we need/You say with your love you can change/All of the fools, all of the hate/I think you're probably out to lunch...All your love/Will it save me/All your love/Will it save the world/From what we can't understand?"
27. Sixteen Miles (to Seven Lakes)--Gordon Lightfoot (1966). People who say that Gordo is a lightweight might hear this song as just more evidence for their point of view. But what I hear is a purer expression of the folk boom, sung by one of the loveliest voices this side of Judy Collins. There's not a lot of folk music/folk boom/folk mania on this list, but whatever you call it, "Sixteen Miles" is one of the best examples of its prototypical personna of the lonely loser, a personna that had a powerful impact on the growth of youth culture of the day.
28. It Takes A Lot to
Laugh, It Takes A Train to Cry--Bob Dylan (1965). 1st, what a great title for a song, especially 1 in which those specific words never actually appear. Just a straightforward folk-rock song, almost a defining song for the genre. I mean, what would Gram Parsons have done if this song hadn't existed?
29. Sad Eyed Lady of the
Lowlands--Joan Baez (1968). Another Dylan cover. It's hard to say this is better than Bob's but here it is. It's the highlight of a largely unsuccessful LP of all Dylan covers, a concept that sounds like "can't miss." And surely there's some other winners there--"Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word." But frankly Joanie always seems to me to lack passion. She's a technician. Somehow she transcends that here.
30. World in Changes--Dave Mason (1970). Mason played in Traffic with Stevie Winwood, he was a true heavyweight, though largely forgotten today. This one just soars, thanks particularly to a spectacular organ solo, I think it's by Leon Russell.
31. I Will--The Beatles (1968). OK, a warning. I'm not just a Beatles guy, I'm a McCartney guy. Among my top 10 Beatles songs, 6 were written by McCartney, 2 by Lennon, and just 2 were true Lennon-McCartney collaborations. This 1 is a pretty, laid-back love song that proved a quarter-century later to be particularly well-suited to the voice of Alison Krauss.
30. World in Changes--Dave Mason (1970). Mason played in Traffic with Stevie Winwood, he was a true heavyweight, though largely forgotten today. This one just soars, thanks particularly to a spectacular organ solo, I think it's by Leon Russell.
31. I Will--The Beatles (1968). OK, a warning. I'm not just a Beatles guy, I'm a McCartney guy. Among my top 10 Beatles songs, 6 were written by McCartney, 2 by Lennon, and just 2 were true Lennon-McCartney collaborations. This 1 is a pretty, laid-back love song that proved a quarter-century later to be particularly well-suited to the voice of Alison Krauss.
32 (tie). The Times They Are
A-Changin’--Bob Dylan (1964).
32 (tie). I Want to Hold Your Hand--The Beatles (1964). 2 of the most influential songs of the decade.
33. When the Levee Breaks--Led Zeppelin (1971). I don't know how many people would pick this as Led Zeppelin's greatest tune, I mean, there's a lot to choose from. But for me, this is it. Not quite as over the top as some but still heavy, intense, Led, Page and Plant.
34. I Can’t Help Myself--The Four Tops (1965). In 1965 my parents took my sister and me to the east coast--New York and Washington, D.C. What I learned on that trip was that there in the midwest we were missing out on a thrilling body of black music. "I Can't Help Myself" was #1 nationally at the time, but wasn't played on the radio in Minnesota. What else were we missing out on?
32 (tie). I Want to Hold Your Hand--The Beatles (1964). 2 of the most influential songs of the decade.
33. When the Levee Breaks--Led Zeppelin (1971). I don't know how many people would pick this as Led Zeppelin's greatest tune, I mean, there's a lot to choose from. But for me, this is it. Not quite as over the top as some but still heavy, intense, Led, Page and Plant.
34. I Can’t Help Myself--The Four Tops (1965). In 1965 my parents took my sister and me to the east coast--New York and Washington, D.C. What I learned on that trip was that there in the midwest we were missing out on a thrilling body of black music. "I Can't Help Myself" was #1 nationally at the time, but wasn't played on the radio in Minnesota. What else were we missing out on?
35. Trouble Every Day--Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention (1966). Some of the most powerful (and most powerfully pissed off) protest music of the decade. The disgust with what was goin' on was palpable. The music is primitive, but no more so than, say, the Butterfield Blues Band. But its intensity was unquestioned. "Eve of Destruction" was about as intense as protest music got in those days--and it may not be fashionable to say, but "Eve of Destruction" was pretty intense; I think Barry McGuire meant it--but it had nothin' on this. In fact, I had never heard anything as absolutely pissed off as this.
36. Catch the Wind--Donovan (1965). Like Dylan, Donovan started out as a pretty pure folkie, recreating the sounds of an earlier time, but he quickly branched out into more contemporary sounds that people called folk-rock. This was his 1st and best work. That's not to say his folkie period was better than his rocked up period, but this is just a beautiful song expressing a real credible emotion.
38 (tie). When the Ship Comes In--Bob Dylan (1964).
38 (tie). Absolutely Sweet Marie--Bob Dylan (1966).
38 (tie). Most Likely You'll Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine--Bob Dylan (1966). Apparently "When the Ship Comes In" is meant to refer to Bob's ship but it sure feels bigger, like the ship is comin' in for everybody, for the counter-culture, for the young, for the new age. The times they are a-changin' and when the ship comes in they'll really change. That's what I heard. "Sweet Marie" is another spirited but lighter rock love song with the famous line, "I'm sitting here beating on my trumpet... And where are you tonight, sweet Marie." Meanwhile, if Bob was unhappy about this particular breakup, he didn't quite capture that in the rollicking rocker, "Most Likely You'll Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine."
39. Repent Walpurgis--Procol Harum (1965). A dark beautiful dirge of an instrumental.
40 (tie). Did She Mention May Name?--Gordon Lightfoot (1968).
40 (tie). Minstrel of the Dawn--Gordon Lightfoot (1970).
40 (tie). Go My Way--Gordon Lightfoot (1971).
40 (tie). Cabaret--Gordon Lightfoot (1971).
41. I've Just Seen A Face--The Beatles (1966). This was a breakneck-paced love song with a strong country or bluegrass lilt to it, so that many of the early covers of it were in fact by country and bluegrass bands. Another great, enthusiastic vocal by Paul.
42. Like Crying--Fleetwood Mac (1969). Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, that is.
43. Sloop John B.--The Beach Boys (1966). A reworking of a classic folk tune into a hymn, an anthem, with the most beautiful angelic singing you've ever heard.
44. Dead Flowers--The Rolling Stones (1971). I've said I was a Beatles guy, not a Stones guy. Still, how can "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and "Street Fightin' Man" and "Satisfaction" and...and...all be missing from the top 50? Well, I liked a lot of their songs, but not quite that much. But this one, to me, had the emotion and nuance that was missing from too much of their music.
45. Lookin' Out My Back Door--Creedence Clearwater Revival (1970). By contrast with the Stones, I loved Creedence, and yet their top song only comes in at #45? Wow. But I said this was the golden age.
46. Outside of a Small Circle of Friends--Phil Ochs (1967). Another by the great protest singer, this one was about the Kitty Genovese murder which any number of witnesses managed to ignore and avoid providing help to the victim because, well, "I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody/Outside of a small circle of friends."
47 (tie). Who Are the Brain Police--Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention (1966).
47 (tie). Let's Make the Water Turn Black--Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention (1968). Two more from the master. These initial version were chock full of sound effects. It was only later as Frank recorded new versions that the melodies started to stand out. These are just absolutely awesome melodies, that's the bottom line. The social satire is almost gravy, if you can believe that.
48. Tupelo Honey--Van Morrison (1971).
49 (tie). Oh Well--Fleetwood Mac (1969).
49 (tie). The Green Manalishi--Fleetwood Mac (1970).
50. Your Song--Elton John (1970). Elton John wore out his welcome pretty quick, kind like an early version of Mumford and Sons. But this was a nice little emotional piece that really worked.
51. Just Like A Woman--Bob Dylan (1966). At one time this might have been #8 or $10 but, personally, this is one song that I've simply heard too many times. Srill, objectively, I know it's a great song and it's gotta be in the top 50.
52. Golden Slumbers--The Beatles (1969).
53 (tie). One Way Sunday--Mark-Almond (1970).
53 (tie). Song for You--Mark-Almond (1970). And awesome, forgotten band.
54. Don't Worry Baby--The Beach Boys (1964).
55. Hang on to a Dream--Tim Hardin (1969).
56. Get Together--The Youngbloods (1969).
57. A Long, Long Time--Linda Ronstadt (1970).
58. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue--Bob Dylan (1965).
59. The Witch's Promise--Jethro Tull (1970).
60. Today--New Christy Minstrels (1964).
61. Canadian Railroad Trilogy--Gordon Lightfoot (1967).
62. The Circle Game--Joni Mitchell (1970).
63. Pilgrim's Progress--Procol Harum (1969).
64. Hungry Freaks, Daddy--Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention (1966).
65. I Fought the Law--Bobby Fuller Four (1966).
66. Sounds of Silence--Simon and Garfunkel (1966).
67 (tie). Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands--Bob Dylan (1966).
67 (tie). The Chimes of Freedom--Bob Dylan (1964).
67 (tie). Positively Fourth Street--Bob Dylan (1965).
68 (tie). Fun Fun Fun--The Beach Boys (1964).
68 (tie). California Girls--The Beach Boys (1965).
69. Something in the Air--Thunderclap Newman (1969).
70 (tie). Dr. Robert--The Beatles (1966).
70 (tie). Yesterday--The Beatles (1965).
70 (tie). The Night Before--The Beatles (1965).
71 (tie). Whippin' Post--The Allman Brothers (1969).
71 (tie). In Memory of Elizabeth Reed--The Allman Brothers (1971).
72. I Heard It Through the Grapevine--Marvin Gaye (1968).
73. Epitaph--King Crimson (1970).
74. I Ain't Marchin' Anymore--Phil Ochs (1965).
75 (tie). I Looked Away--Derek and the Dominoes (1970).
75 (tie). Bell Bottom Blues--Derek and the Dominoes (1970).
76. Because--Dave Clark 5 (1964).
77. America Drinks and Goes Home--Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention (1967).
78. Burning of the Midnight Lamp--Jimi Hendrix Experience (1968).
79. Sweet Baby James--James Taylor (1970).
80. You'll Never See My Face Again--The BeeGees (1968).
81. Turn! Turn! Turn!--The Byrds (1965).
82. Ride the Wind--The Youngbloods (1971).
83. That's the Bag I'm In--H.P. Lovecraft (1968).
84. Your Mother Should Know--The Beatles (1967).
85. Battle of Evermore--Led Zeppelin (1970).
86 (tie). Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues--Bob Dylan (1965).
86 (tie). Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues--Judy Collins (1966).
87. High Flyin' Bird--Richie Havens (1967).
88. If You Would Just Drop By--Arlo Guthrie (1970).
89 (tie). Tears of Rage--The Band (1968).
89 (tie). Whisperin' Pines--The Band (1969).
90. God Only Knows--The Beach Boys (1966).
91. Inner City Blues--Marvin Gaye (1971).
92. You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling--The Righteous Brothers (1965).
93. Fixing A Hole--The Beatles (1967).
94. The Letter--The Box Tops (1967).
95. Baba O'Riley--The Who (1971).
96. Kind of a Drag--The Buckinghams (1967).
97. Rich Man's Spiritual--Gordon Lightfoot (1966).
98. Everybody's Talkin'--Harry Nillson (1969).
99. Elusive Butterfly--Bob Lind (1966).
100 (tie). To Sir, With Love--Lulu (1967).
100 (tie). (Theme from) Valley of the Dolls--Dionne Warwick (1968).
Best Artists of "the 1960s" (1964-1971)
1. Bob Dylan
2. The Beatles
3. The Beach Boys
4. Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac
5. Gordon Lightfoot
6. Jimi Hendrix
7. Eric Clapton
8. Van Morrison
9. Frank Zappa
10. The Doors
11. Phil Ochs
12. Paul Simon
13. Jethro Tull
14. Led Zeppelin
15. Pink Floyd
16. Marvin Gaye
17. Creedence Clearwater Revival
18. King Crimson
19. Procol Harum
20. Donovan
21. The Rolling Stones
22. Allman Brothers Band
23. Mark-Almond
24. The Mamas and the Papas
25. The Band
26. The Byrds
27. Judy Collins
28. Don McLean
29. The Youngbloods
30. Joni Mitchell
31. The Who
32. James Taylor
33. H.P. Lovecraft
34. Richie Havens
35. Tim Hardin
36. Arlo Guthrie
37. Dave Clark Five
38. Dave Mason
39. The Box Tops
40. Harry Nillson
47 (tie). Let's Make the Water Turn Black--Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention (1968). Two more from the master. These initial version were chock full of sound effects. It was only later as Frank recorded new versions that the melodies started to stand out. These are just absolutely awesome melodies, that's the bottom line. The social satire is almost gravy, if you can believe that.
48. Tupelo Honey--Van Morrison (1971).
49 (tie). Oh Well--Fleetwood Mac (1969).
49 (tie). The Green Manalishi--Fleetwood Mac (1970).
50. Your Song--Elton John (1970). Elton John wore out his welcome pretty quick, kind like an early version of Mumford and Sons. But this was a nice little emotional piece that really worked.
51. Just Like A Woman--Bob Dylan (1966). At one time this might have been #8 or $10 but, personally, this is one song that I've simply heard too many times. Srill, objectively, I know it's a great song and it's gotta be in the top 50.
52. Golden Slumbers--The Beatles (1969).
53 (tie). One Way Sunday--Mark-Almond (1970).
53 (tie). Song for You--Mark-Almond (1970). And awesome, forgotten band.
54. Don't Worry Baby--The Beach Boys (1964).
55. Hang on to a Dream--Tim Hardin (1969).
56. Get Together--The Youngbloods (1969).
57. A Long, Long Time--Linda Ronstadt (1970).
58. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue--Bob Dylan (1965).
59. The Witch's Promise--Jethro Tull (1970).
60. Today--New Christy Minstrels (1964).
61. Canadian Railroad Trilogy--Gordon Lightfoot (1967).
62. The Circle Game--Joni Mitchell (1970).
63. Pilgrim's Progress--Procol Harum (1969).
64. Hungry Freaks, Daddy--Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention (1966).
65. I Fought the Law--Bobby Fuller Four (1966).
66. Sounds of Silence--Simon and Garfunkel (1966).
67 (tie). Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands--Bob Dylan (1966).
67 (tie). The Chimes of Freedom--Bob Dylan (1964).
67 (tie). Positively Fourth Street--Bob Dylan (1965).
68 (tie). Fun Fun Fun--The Beach Boys (1964).
68 (tie). California Girls--The Beach Boys (1965).
69. Something in the Air--Thunderclap Newman (1969).
70 (tie). Dr. Robert--The Beatles (1966).
70 (tie). Yesterday--The Beatles (1965).
70 (tie). The Night Before--The Beatles (1965).
71 (tie). Whippin' Post--The Allman Brothers (1969).
71 (tie). In Memory of Elizabeth Reed--The Allman Brothers (1971).
72. I Heard It Through the Grapevine--Marvin Gaye (1968).
73. Epitaph--King Crimson (1970).
74. I Ain't Marchin' Anymore--Phil Ochs (1965).
75 (tie). I Looked Away--Derek and the Dominoes (1970).
75 (tie). Bell Bottom Blues--Derek and the Dominoes (1970).
76. Because--Dave Clark 5 (1964).
77. America Drinks and Goes Home--Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention (1967).
78. Burning of the Midnight Lamp--Jimi Hendrix Experience (1968).
79. Sweet Baby James--James Taylor (1970).
80. You'll Never See My Face Again--The BeeGees (1968).
81. Turn! Turn! Turn!--The Byrds (1965).
82. Ride the Wind--The Youngbloods (1971).
83. That's the Bag I'm In--H.P. Lovecraft (1968).
84. Your Mother Should Know--The Beatles (1967).
85. Battle of Evermore--Led Zeppelin (1970).
86 (tie). Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues--Bob Dylan (1965).
86 (tie). Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues--Judy Collins (1966).
87. High Flyin' Bird--Richie Havens (1967).
88. If You Would Just Drop By--Arlo Guthrie (1970).
89 (tie). Tears of Rage--The Band (1968).
89 (tie). Whisperin' Pines--The Band (1969).
90. God Only Knows--The Beach Boys (1966).
91. Inner City Blues--Marvin Gaye (1971).
92. You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling--The Righteous Brothers (1965).
93. Fixing A Hole--The Beatles (1967).
94. The Letter--The Box Tops (1967).
95. Baba O'Riley--The Who (1971).
96. Kind of a Drag--The Buckinghams (1967).
97. Rich Man's Spiritual--Gordon Lightfoot (1966).
98. Everybody's Talkin'--Harry Nillson (1969).
99. Elusive Butterfly--Bob Lind (1966).
100 (tie). To Sir, With Love--Lulu (1967).
100 (tie). (Theme from) Valley of the Dolls--Dionne Warwick (1968).
Best Artists of "the 1960s" (1964-1971)
1. Bob Dylan
2. The Beatles
3. The Beach Boys
4. Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac
5. Gordon Lightfoot
6. Jimi Hendrix
7. Eric Clapton
8. Van Morrison
9. Frank Zappa
10. The Doors
11. Phil Ochs
12. Paul Simon
13. Jethro Tull
14. Led Zeppelin
15. Pink Floyd
16. Marvin Gaye
17. Creedence Clearwater Revival
18. King Crimson
19. Procol Harum
20. Donovan
21. The Rolling Stones
22. Allman Brothers Band
23. Mark-Almond
24. The Mamas and the Papas
25. The Band
26. The Byrds
27. Judy Collins
28. Don McLean
29. The Youngbloods
30. Joni Mitchell
31. The Who
32. James Taylor
33. H.P. Lovecraft
34. Richie Havens
35. Tim Hardin
36. Arlo Guthrie
37. Dave Clark Five
38. Dave Mason
39. The Box Tops
40. Harry Nillson
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