1968 in music. • Page 3

truly incredible stuff. idk how i missed that in my rundown

edit: lol the date is labeled in the 2010s in my apple music. must be a dumb reissue thing

 

you know, it might shock you to find out i have not listened

 

this has made me miss MULTIPLE big releases while compiling my playlists. Now I have to check multiple sources (plus you guys) to ensure I don’t miss essential stuff.

 

1. Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
2. The Beatles - The Beatles
3. James Taylor - James Taylor

Astral Weeks is about as close to pure magic as music gets. Just entrancing, beautiful, and so, so unique. No one ever sounded quite like Van, though plenty have tried. I feel like Astral Weeks paves the way for so much music that I love.

Of the most beloved Beatles albums, The White Album is definitely the one that took the longest for me to "get." I definitely understand the criticisms about the bloat and the occasionally unlistenable experimentation (I took skip "Revolution 9" every time through. I went back about two years ago and delved into that album, and really came to appreciate it more. There's definitely a single-disc version that's the best album they ever made. But I agree with Chris that the mess (and the tumult and dysfunction it signaled within the band) is part of what makes the album so fascinating and fun to explore.

As for James Taylor, his music has been like a warm blanket for me my entire life. I remember my parents listening to him on the stereo when I was a kid, and his sound has always been immensely comforting to me. This album has my very favorite James Taylor song ("Something in the Way She Moves") though I'll be honest and say I actually prefer the re-record from the greatest hits album.

Honorables:
Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison
The Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet
Muddy Waters - Electric Mud

 

I listened to his beach album, Stevie At The Beach, over the weekend and felt much the same. It was a pleasant curio that I probably won’t reach for again any time soon.

Killin’ harmonica though! His chops are so deep and varied, his harmonica playing goes a bit underappreciated. Move over Little Walter!

 

ive never seen a city in this country that so openly adores someone as van in belfast

 

I actually just listened to Van's "Why Are you on Facebook?", and it's honestly nowhere near as bad as I was expecting! Lyrically, of course, it's classic old man yells at cloud, but the instrumentation is quite nice, and his voice can still carry a tune well. Even the ridiculous chorus of "Why are you on Facebook?" is quite catchy.

 

Listened to The Super Super Blues Band, which is a super-group consisting of blues heavy-weights Bo Diddley, Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, which is an incredible collection to have on one record. It's a slightly rambling record, with seven tracks, all of which are classic blues staples, coming in at about 45 minutes, often locking into a groove, while each of the trio have a go at singing different parts of the song. There's a loose, improvised feel to it, with the men often shouting over the top of each other and joking around, telling stories or playfully mocking each other.

It's a bit of a case of "Too many cooks" for a studio record, but I bet this would be a brilliant live show.

 

I literally didn’t know this was a thing

 

Me neither! There was another one in 67 too with Little Walter instead of Howlin’ Wolf - found them yesterday when browsing Muddy Waters discography on Wiki, so was excited to listen.

 

Harry Nilsson - Aerial Ballet
A little more cute and a little less weird than the later stuff, but his writing is still phenomenal and the songs sound great. Also helps to have his version of "One" (totally different than the also-excellent Three Dog Night version) and his iconic cover of "Everybody's Talkin'"

Deep Purple - Shades of Deep Purple
They weren't at their peak powers on the debut, but they still came in hot. "Hush" is obviously an all-timer. And I really like the prologues and instrumental passages they use to open the album and preface "I'm So Glad". The main thing holding them back actually isn't Rod Evans on vocals, though Ian Gillan was obviously big upgrade. It's that Richie Blackmore had not leveled up to being a guitar god yet. He has great moments, and then some pretty uncharactaristically forgettable stuff. They do a slowed-down Vanilla Fudge-style cover of "Help!" that works 200x better than it has any right to...except Blackmore's solo is really underwhelming.

The Turtles - Present the Battle of the Bands
This is legit a lost classic. Holy crap. It's nominally a concept album where they host a battle of the bands and they're all the bands. So they try out a million different styles/genres (country, Lovin' Spoonful-ish stuff, bluegrass, instrumental R&B party jam, psychedelia, Byrds-y harmony rock, sunny pop). But the coolest thing is it's all lightly satirical, but their chops are such that all the songs absolutely fucking work, while also slyly taking the piss. "Eleanor" in particular is genius. Great, elaborate pop single...with deliberately winking lyrics that are basically a fuck you to the label begging them to do "Happy Together" again. One track's lyrics are apparently their recipe for pot brownies. Others are full of puns and in-jokes. My favorite track is definitely the oddball though: I recognize "I'm Chief Kamanawanalea (We're the Royal Macademia Nuts)" from hip-hop samples, but it's SO good as a weird little pop jam of its own.

 

I'm about to put this record on myself. I heard "Elenore" yesterday on shuffle and it took me back to my childhood, another one my Dad played ALL the time. What a brilliant song indeed. "You Showed Me" is on this record too, right? Such great pop tunes.

Edit: "Cool Story Bro" - I even had to text my sister about this song yesterday, to see if she remembered it, because she named her newborn daughter Eleanor (after our grandmother, not the song LOL). She's like YEP and I sing it to the baby all the time. hahaha

 

Aw man that’s sweet. It’s such a good song

And yes, “You Showed Me” is there, which I never realized was written by Roger McGuinn and Gene Clark apparently

 

1. The Beatles - The Beatles
2. The Zombies - Odessey and Oracle
3. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland

Honorable Mentions:
The Band - Music From The Big Pink
Blood, Sweat & Tears - Blood, Sweat & Tears
Buffalo Springfield - Last Time Around
The Byrds - The Notorious Byrd Brothers
The Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodeo
Cream - Wheels Of Fire
Donovan - The Hurdy Gurdy Man
The Doors - Waiting For The Sun
Glen Campbell - Wichita Lineman
Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison
The Kinks - Are The Village Green Preservation Society
Nazz - Nazz
Otis Redding - The Dock Of The Bay
Pink Floyd - A Saucerful of Secrets
The Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet
Simon & Garfunkel - Bookends
The Turtles - The Battle Of The Bands
Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
The Velvet Underground - White Light / White Heat

Albums to get to from this year by the following artists:
Canned Heat, CCR, Deep Purple, James Taylor, Marvin Gaye, The Moody Blues, Small Faces, Steppenwolf, Traffic

Another huge year for non-album singles too - Beatles "Hey Jude", "Lady Madonna", Stones "Jumpin' Jack Flash", The Rascals "A Beautiful Morning", Tommy James "Mony Mony", Sly & Fam Stone "Dance to the Music" ... there's prob tons more.

I'm just hoping I can get to my "need to listen to" as well as some of the other suggestions mentioned in here that I was not familiar with at all before this week.

 

i love CCR but the debut is their most “minor” work and they would level up nearly immediately

 

Astr

Yeah I glanced over the tracklist and thought "oh, I don't know most if any of these".

Then looked ahead - they released THREE freaking records in '69!?

 

and they’re all perfect

you definitely know/should know covers of suzie q and i put a spell on you though

 

in any other year, those three CCR albums could take up all three of my ‘69 spots. but it might be the greatest music year ever. gonna be tough.

 

I’d never discourage anyone from listening to The Moody Blues, but it’s a bit of a growing pains record. Their two in ‘69 are much stronger. (If you’re already familiar with them and just filling in a gap, feel free to ignore me).

Also that Sly track is on an album. In fact it’s the title track. Definitely right before they leveled up, too.

It’s absolutely bananas how big the leap is to Bayou Country from the s/t

 

Oops good call on that Sly track, my mistake there!

And yeah I MAY skip The Moody Blues, but we'll see how much time I have. One other factor that I hate to admit is that there are some artists/bands that I just haven't been in the mood (no pun intended) for, 'style-wise', during the given week that we are focusing on, which totally affects my enjoyment level. I'm trying to bookmark a few of those for listens in a different season, but that's hard as shit to keep up with.

 

Yup you're right I do know those tracks quite well.

 

Don’t feel bad about it. Then it’s homework. Make a list of possible targets. Then listen to some. Whatever makes you excited to listen

I’ve been listing like 15 and then getting 8-ish. It’s all about enjoying the process

 

yeah i only ever really get 1/4 of my lists each week, but they’re all on a doc so i can progressively work through them as the week passes

 

Every record you get to is a bonus that way, as opposed to feeling bad that you came under your target!

There’s a lifetime of listening and opportunities ahead to hear more.

 

Legit love the positive vibes in here.

I am currently listening to the self-titled Traffic record, which I'm thoroughly enjoying. A very forward thinking record, some blues, little folk, some psychedelia, and some early hints of prog-rock. I know there's multiple guys singing on this thing that I can't always pick out, but there are moments when Steve Winwood's voice blasts through and is just instantly recognizable.