1969 in music.

The Beatles' The Beatles won 1968. Let's see who wins 1969. last year of the decade and quite possibly the grandaddy of them all.

Billboard chart-topping albums of 1969:
The Beatles - The Beatles (cont. from '68)
Glen Campbell - Wichita Lineman (cont. from '68)
Blood Sweat and Tears - S/T (cont. from '68)
Original Cast - Hair OST
Johnny Cash - At San Quentin
Blind Faith - S/T
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Green River
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Led Zeppelin - II

Billboard chart-topping singles of 1969:
Marvin Gaye - I Heard it Through the Grapevine (cont. from '68)
Tommy James - Crimson and Clover
Sly & the Family Stone - Everyday People
Tommy Roe - Dizzy
The 5th Dimension - Aquarius
The Beatles - Get Back
Henry Mancini - Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet
Zager and Evans - In the Year 2525
The Rolling Stones - Honky Tonk Women
The Archies - Sugar Sugar
The Temptations - I Can't Get Next to You
Elvis - Suspicious Minds
The 5th Dimension - Wedding Bell Blues
The Beatles - Come Together / Something
Steam - Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye
Peter, Paul and Mary - Leaving on a Jet Plane
Diana Ross and the Supremes - Someday We'll Be Together

What are your top three albums for 1969? We will keep a running tally and eventually have some sort of bracket. For me it would be:

1. The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed
2. The Stooges - The Stooges
3. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Green River

What are some of the forgotten gems from the year? What is overrated? What did you discover at a young age and what did you discover later?

YEARS IN MUSIC • forum.chorus.fm

 

I don't see The Beatles losing this one, but we'll see, I suppose!

 

filling out the top 10 (not counting these towards points of course):
4. King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
5. Neil Young - Everybody Knows this is Nowhere
6. The Band - The Band
7. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Bayou Country
8. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground
9. The Beatles - Abbey Road
10. Townes Van Zandt - Townes Van Zandt

additional honorable mentions (alphabetical):
the allman brothers - the allman brothers
blind faith - blind faith
bob dylan - nashville skyline
can - monster movie
captain beefheart - trout mask replica
cream - goodbye
creedence clearwater revival - willy and the poor boys
crosby, stills and nash - crosby, stills and nash
the flying burrito brothers - the gilded palace of sin
free - free
the kinks - arthur (or the decline of the british empire)
led zeppelin - ii
MC5 - kick out the jams
nick drake - five leaves left
the who - tommy

other solid albums:
alice cooper - pretties for you
the byrds - ballad of easy rider
david bowie - david bowie
the doors - the soft parade
free - tons of sobs
glen campbell - galveston
grateful dead - aoxomoxoa
jeff beck - beck-ola
joe cocker - with a little help from my friends
joni mitchell - clouds
led zeppelin - i
leonard cohen - songs from a room
merle haggard - a portrait of merle haggard
merle haggard - same train, a different time
neil young - neil young
plastic ono band - live peace
santana - santana
tim Buckley - blue afternoon
tim Buckley - happy sad
townes van zandt - our mother, the mountain

stuff to check out:
frank zappa - hot rats
humble pie - town and country
isaac hayes - hot buttered soul
johnny cash - at san quentin
miles davis - in a silent way
scott walker - 3
scott walker - 4
sly and the family stone - stand!

 

will be truly "drinking the kool aid" levels of insane to me if they take this one. i love abbey road as much as the next guy, but look at that list! come the fuck on

you will 100% be correct lol, I'm just getting my ranting out early

 

This is quite a few albums I haven't heard.

Have you heard any of his non-Shaft stuff before? It's a trip.

Whoah...

 

damn lol. feel like you’d love a lot of those

and, yeah. shaft is basically it. sly/funkadelic are big holes for me too

 

1. Elvis - From Elvis in Memphis
2. Jackson 5 - Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5

 

1. The Beatles - Abbey Road
2. The Stooges - The Stooges
3. Gal Costa - Gal Costa

The Beatles winning every year since 1965 would be a bit boring (albeit obviously well deserved...), but I really couldn't go for anything else at the top spot. Probably my favourite Beatles album, and the final little medley of songs to complete the album is sublime. Outside of that, tracks like Come Together, Something and I Want You (She's So Heavy) are without doubt some of my favourite Beatles tracks. I wouldn't mind it if something else won in 1969 to give it a bit of variety, but picking anything else for me would be cheating a bit...

The Stooges debut is a fantastic piece of pure energy and garage rock / proto punk masterpiece. Fantastic scuzzy guitar tone throughout, and without doubt one of the most influential rock n roll albums of all time. Probably not quite my favourite Stooges record (that'd be Raw Power), but you can't go wrong here.

Third spot was a bit trickier - nothing really jumped out as head and shoulders above the rest, but I went for Gal Costa's self-titled record, perhaps just to give it a bit of promo. A fantastic bit of Brazilian pop, with bits of psychedelic undertones in parts, and Gal's transfixing voice. Certainly worth a listen or two if you don't recognise the name.

Some honourable mentions;

Aretha Franklin - Soul '69: Another great Aretha album, probably not quite up there with her previous records, but contains excellent versions of Tracks of My Tears and Bring it on Home to Me amongst others.

Bob Dylan - Nashville Skyline: Dylan goes full country, with some lovely tracks like Lay Lady Lay. Short and sweet, and a much smaller statement from him. Also, I can't not notice the almost perfect triangle of light in the album art between his head, arm and body that looks like a play button.

Gladys Knight and the Pips - Nitty Gritty: Only heard this recently, but this is a fantastic soul record, nothing "new", but fantastically delivered.

Isaac Hayes - Hot Buttered Soul: A really intriguing meeting point between soul, jazz and prog, with just four lengthy tracks coming in at 45 minutes, it's fascinating. There's very little that sounds like it - even now.

Nina Simone - Nina Simone and Piano: As the name suggests, a solo Nina record with just her voice and her piano playing. I perhaps don't listen to this as much as I should, but if you're in the mood for some more mellow Nina, this is certainly worth a listen.

MC5 - Kick out the Jams: Similar to The Stooges, a fantastic garage / proto-punk album, and one of the best live records of all time, and certainly one of the best "Motherfuckers!" on record.

Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica: Throwing this in at the end, even if I really have no idea if I like this or not. For one, it's an absolute mess that needs to be listened to at least once, because it sounds like nothing else. Secondly, because of an all time great line from Robert Christgau about it; "Great played at high volume when you're feeling shitty, because you'll never feel as shitty as this record".

 

Nice

 

Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left
also the CSN album

 

1969 In Music

Top 3 Albums:
1. Abbey Road - The Beatles
2. Led Zeppelin II
3. Five Leaves Left - Nick Drake

More Favorite Albums:
Led Zeppelin I
Stand! - Sly & The Family Stone
In A Silent Way - Miles Davis
In The Court Of The Crimson King - King Crimson
The Stooges
Santana
The Soft Parade - The Doors
Space Oddity - David Bowie

Favorite Songs:
Because - The Beatles
Dazed And Confused - Led Zeppelin
Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin
Space Oddity - David Bowie
Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones
The Boxer - Simon & Garfunkel
River Man - Nick Drake
Across The Universe - The Beatles
Aquarius / Let The Sunshine In - Fifth Dimension
I Want To Take You Higher - Sly & The Family Stone
Get Back - The Beatles
Pinball Wizard - The Who
Mother Popcorn - James Brown
21st Century Schizoid Man - King Crimson
I Wanna Be Your Dog - The Stooges
The Ballad Of John & Yoko - The Beatles
My Way - Frank Sinatra
Suite: Judy Blue Eyes - Crosby, Stills & Nash
Break Away - The Beach Boys
Suspicious Minds - Elvis Presley
Give Peace A Chance - Plastic Ono Band
Cissy Strut - The Meters
Kick Out The Jams - MC5
I Want You Back - Jackson Five
Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond

 

1. The Beatles - Abbey Road
2. The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed
3. King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King

 

if the beatles win 70 with let it be, i’m gonna need y’all to get some help

 

I know what I’m putting 1 but the other two spots are gonna be tough

 

the beatles are going to win 1995 with Anthology 1

 

and 2000 with 1

 

probably true but incredibly foolish

 

George Harrison should give them a run for their money next year.

 

Let It Be is my favorite Beatles to listen to some days so we’ll see

 

I've got to imagine the Beatles run ends here. Let It Be definitely has its fans, but isn't lionized in quite the same way that their records from the back half of the 60s are. Off the top of my head, probably not in my top three for 1970.

 

all things must pass is better than all but, like, two beatles albums

 

Also, for what it’s worth, this is why we’re having threads with a week of discussion and not just a poll. When you just vote for one, you get consensus. The interesting picks are in the margins

 

absolutely agreed. i just want some better bands to win!!!

 

Not to spoil my own voting, but Let it Be is my least favorite Beatles record (albeit one with possibly my fave Beatles track, Across The Universe), so it will NOT be my #1.

 

I've Got A Feeling and Two of Us are also super close to my heart.... but for some reason all around the album just feels so uneven, etc. Must be the Phil Spector effect.