The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night won 1964 in a landslide. Let's see who wins 1965. Features the debut of one of my favorite American bands during the invasion, The Byrds. Billboard chart-topping albums of 1965: Elvis - Rustabout The Beatles - Beatles '65 Soundtrack - Mary Poppins Soundtrack - Goldfinger The Beatles - Beatles VI The Rolling Stones - Out of Our Heads The Beatles - Help! Herb Alpert - Whipped Cream and Other Delights Billboard chart-topping singles of 1965: The Beatles - I Feel Fine (cont. from '64) The Supremes - Come and See About Me Petula Clark - Downtown The Righteous Brothers - You've Lost that Loving Feeling Gary Lewis - This Diamond Ring The Temptations - My Girl The Beatles - Eight Days a Week The Supremes - Stop! In the Name of Love Freddie and the Dreamers - I'm Telling You Now Wayne Fontana - Game of Love Herman's Hermits - Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter The Beatles - Ticket to Ride The Beach Boys - Help Me, Rhonda The Supremes - Back in My Arms Again The Four Tops - I Can't Help Myself The Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man The Rolling Stones - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction Herman's Hermits - I'm Henry VIII (I Am) Sonny and Cher - I Got You Babe The Beatles - Help! Barry McGuire - Eve of Destruction The McCoys - Hang on Sloopy The Beatles - Yesterday The Rolling Stones - Get Off of My Cloud The Supremes - I Hear a Symphony The Byrds - Turn! Turn! Turn! The Dave Clark Five - Over and Over What are your top three albums for 1965? We will keep a running tally and eventually have some sort of bracket. For me it would be: 1. Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home 2. The Who - My Generation 3. Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisted 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
last minute cuts: the beatles - rubber soul bert jansch - bert jansch the byrds - turn! turn! turn! jackson c frank - jackson c frank otis redding - otis blue/otis redding sings soul additional cuts: the beach boys - the beach boys today the beach boys - summer days and summer nights the beatles - help bert jansch - it don’t bother me buck owens - i’ve got the tiger by the tail the byrds - mr. tambourine man donovan - fairytales donovan - what’s bin did and what’s bin had the kinks - kinda kinks the kinks - the kink kontroversy nina simone - pastel blues the paul butterfleld blues band - s/t paul simon - the paul simon songbook the rolling stones - out of our heads the rolling stones - december’s children roy orbison - orbisongs the sonics - here are the sonics the temptations - the tempting temptations them - the angry young them the yardbirds - for your love the yardbirds - having a rave up with the yardbirds the zombies - the zombies adding to check out: barbara streisand - my name is barbara booker t and the MGs - soul dressing ella fitzgerald - ella at duke’s place george jones - new country hits herbie hancock - maiden voyage john coltrane - a love supreme john coltrane - the john coltrane quarter plays miles davis - my funny valentine the moody blues - the magnificent moodies ornette coleman - chappaqua suite sun ra - the heliocentric worlds of sun ra the temptations - sing smokey
1965 belonged to John Coltrane. A Love Supreme is one of the best albums ever made in any genre. The year was year.
Massive year. 1. Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited 2. Nina Simone - Pastel Blues 3. The Beatles - Rubber Soul Dylan's Highway 61 is probably my favourite "rock" album of all time, just a huge, flawless record with two of the most iconic bookends to open and close it. Pretty much every song could be my favourite on any given day. Bringing it All Back Home is also superb with maybe (?) my favourite Dylan song, "It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding", but would give Highway 61 the edge just about. Nina's Pastel Blues is also my favourite Nina album, and has 100% my favourite song by her, Sinnerman, which is an absolute powerhouse track to close the record, and utterly thrilling and transfixing every time I listen to it. She also released the equally perfect I Put a Spell on You in this year, which is significantly poppier, whereas Pastel Blues is more subdued. Both brilliant in their own right. There's not much to say about Rubber Soul that hasn't been said before, but for me this is when The Beatles take the big leap forward, and it's when I really start listening to them from. Like Dylan, picking a favourite Beatles song is a fools errand, but mine might as well be "In My Life". Honourable mentions would be a long list, but particular shout outs to Coltrane's A Love Supreme, which is one of my favourite jazz records, The Four Tops Second Album, which has these absolutely massive pop / soul smashes, Jackson C Franks' self-titled and only record, which is full of these lovely little folk songs, and a clear influence on the likes of Nick Drake. Finally, Smokey Robinson's Going to a go-go, which contains my favourite Smokey Robinson track, and one of my favourite soul songs in general, "The Tracks of my Tears".
I also just realised that I have Otis Redding’s Otis Blue tagged with the wrong year in my ITunes library, so I missed that from consideration. Probably wouldn’t have made my top 3, but an incredible collection of soul / RnB staples that Otis makes his own.
1. The Beatles - Rubber Soul 2. Astrud Gilberto - The Astrud Gilberto Album 3. Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - Whipped Cream & Other Delights Tough year... I just went with what has sentimental value to me.
1965 in music Best Singles: California Dreamin’ - The Mamas And Papas Day Tripper - The Beatles California Girls - The Beach Boys Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers Yesterday - The Beatles My Generation - The Who Dance, Dance, Dance - The Beach Boys It Was A Very Good Year - Frank Sinatra The Sound Of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel Ticket To Ride - The Beatles For Your Love - The Yardbirds Game Of Love - Wayne Fontana I Can’t Explain - The Who We Can Work It Out - The Beatles Iko Iko - The Dixie Cups (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones My Girl - The Temptations A Change Is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke Like A Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan Best Albums: 1. Rubber Soul - The Beatles 2. A Love Supreme - John Coltrane 3. The Beach Boys Today! - The Beach Boys This is when I start worrying I’m missing many good songs as it’s hard to tell my favorites that came out by year without going through the songs individually.
1. Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home 2. The Beatles - Rubber Soul 3. The Beatles - Help! Just missed: Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited Four Tops - Second Album The Beach Boys - Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!!) John Coltrane - A Love Supreme Smokey Robinson and The Miracles - Going to A Go-Go Vince Guaraldi Trio - A Charlie Brown Christmas Others I Love: Otis Redding - Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul The Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man Nina Simone - I Put a Spell on You Moacir Santos - Coisas Nina Simone - Pastel Blues Nina Simone - Let It All Out B.B. King - Live at the Regal The Beach Boys - The Beach Boys Party! Sammy Davis, Jr. - If I Ruled the World Phil Ochs - I Ain't Marching Anymore The Paul Butterfield Blues Band - The Paul Butterfield Blues Band The Temptations - Sing Smokey Dean Martin - Remember Me (I'm the One Who Loves You) Good ones I've heard: The Who - Sing My Generation The Rolling Stones - Our of Our Heads Frank Sinatra - September of My Years The Beach Boys - Today! The Supremes - More Hits by The Supremes Otis Redding - The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads Jimmy Durante - Way of Life Harry Belafonte and Miriam Makeba - An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba The Lovin' Spoonful - Do You Believe in Magic Peter, Paul and Mary - See What Tomorrow Brings The Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones Now! Johnny Cash - Orange Blossom Special Thelonious Monk - Solo Monk Peter, Paul and Mary - A Song Will Rise Sammy Davis, Jr. - The Nat King Cole Songbook The Moody Blues - The Magnificent Moodies Not a fan: Albert Ayler Trio - Spiritual Unity Targets to listen to: Eddy Arnold - My World Barbra Streisand - My Name Is Barbra Original Cast - The Sound of Music Soundtrack Maurice Jarre - Doctor Zhivago Soundtrack Frank Sinatra - A Man and His Music Bert Jansch - Bert Jansch Buck Owens - I've Got a Tiger by the Tail The Sonics - Here Are the Sonics Martha and the Vandellas - Dance Party Jr. Walker and The All-Stars - Shotgun Marvin Gaye - How Sweet It Is To Be Loved by You Wilson Pickett - In the Midnight Hour The Byrds - Turn! Turn! Turn! Junior Wells Chicago Blues Band - Hoodoo Man Blues Yardbirds - Having a Rave-Up Astrud Gilberto - The Astrud Gilberto Album The Impressions - People Get Ready Tom Lehrer - That Was the Year That Was The Ramsey Lewis Trio - The In-Crowd Herman's Hermits - Introducing Herman's Hermits Elis Regina and Jair Rodrigues - Dois Na Bossa 2 The Righteous Brothers - You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass - Whipped Cream and Other Delights
These are on my list of targets to listen to. A Love Supreme is astounding. Worthy of every hosanna it recieves. Are you already a Moody Blues fan? If not, that's not really where I'd go if I was uninitiated. Incredible single, solid white British blues, but a significantly different lineup than their classic period (Justin Hayward and John Lodge hadn't joined yet and Denny Laine of Wings fame was in the band) You'll dig Sings Smokey for sure. FUCK yes on these two. When people say early Motown didn't have albums, these are what I use to argue. Astrud is on my list to possibly listen to. Herb Alpert is currently on my turntable. I won't lie, I've always owned it mostly because the cover is so iconic. There is something so insanely hypnotic about this song.
Placeholder for my post tomorrow. What a year. I listened on shuffle to nothing but stuff from ‘65 all day today and have been having an absolute blast.
Can anyone else relate to not really ever going through a “Motown” phase? Not for not liking it, but just growing up with mostly classic and modern rock music in the house I never really educated myself on who Sang these iconic songs. And then to hear songs I’ve known my whole life and be able read about the artists and make all those connections in my head is just so awesome. What a time for pop music in general. Example - I’ve had “I can’t help Myself” by Four Tops in my head all day. Now THAT is an objectively perfect song.
for your love is probably thee yardbirds one to go with, if you haven't heard either, tbh also have to imagine you'll love turn! turn! turn! and I've heard some moody blues but not a full album yet
Maybe I’ll swap my Yardbirds pick. I wanted to two-birds-one-stone it being on the Rolling Stone list And honestly I’d maybe wait for a better Moody Blues album to start with. For some reason Days of Future Passed has become the consensus (I imagine for the two incredible hits) but I am a passionate stan for On the Threshold of a Dream and especially A Question of Balance
1. The Beatles - Rubber Soul 2. Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited 3. Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home A year of quantum leaps, where two of the greatest recording artists of all time officially ascend to that all-time great status. Rubber Soul is my favorite Beatles album. More daring work would come later, but song for song, I think this is their apex. A brilliant balance between extremely fun pop songs ("Drive My Car," "I'm Looking Through You") and some first-ballot hall-of-famers in the "most gorgeous ballads of all time" conversation ("In My Life," "Norwegian Wood"). "Run for Your Life" is pretty cringe, but otherwise, this record is pretty close to flawless. Highway 61 Revisited was my favorite Dylan album for a long time, and probably the first one I really loved. These days, I probably prefer Blood on the Tracks (and maybe even Bringing It All Back Home, depending on the day) but then I listen back to the bookends on this record. For my money, there's only one album ever with a better opener/closer pairing, and I'm sure you all know what that is.
Today's listens: Jr. Walker and The All-Stars - Shotgun Obviously has the great single but the whole thing is one of the best party records I've ever heard. The band cooks, Walker's sax sound is incredible. Just joy on wax. The Sonics - Here Come the Sonics Awesome record. I'd heard their second but this one is even more ferocious if possible. I've always loved "The Witch", but never expected that intensity could sustain over a full record. Loud, wild, and intense. Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass - Whipped Cream & Other Delights Corny, sure, but also really pleasant. Well performed and light on its feet. The striptease version of "Love Potion No. 9" and "Lollipops and Roses" were particular highlights for me. Tom Lehrer - That Was the Year That Was A legitimate genius. I'd heard his first two records, but this was new to me on the whole. A few references went over my head given that it was topical in 1965 but most of it is still just hilarious. "The Vatican Rag" has to be one of the best satirical songs ever made.
“Subterranean Homesick Blues,” while great, does not hold a candle to “Like a Rolling Stone,” for me.
If I'm ranking those four songs: Like a Rolling Stone>Desolation Row>It's All Over Now...>Subterranean Homesick Blues