1967:
We've now hit 1967 and the first thing I did when I started writing this was to head back to my write up on 1963 and listen to the music in that year. Quite simply, the progress made since then is utterly astonishing.
Before we head into the music, the year also sees a lot of non-musical events that help to define the era:
The Vietnam War is leading to more anti-government protests across the US. Combined with race riots, the young people in the US are revolting against what is happening. The Great Muhammed Ali refuses National Service and is stripped of his titles. The US passes the "Loving v Virginia" law allowing inter-racial marriages which hints that social change is coming.
The anti-war feeling is leading towards an anti-capitalist movement on the West Coast of the US and centred on San Francisco. The Hippie movement is born an centred on San Francisco. Long haired men are promoting new ideas of sharing, co-operation, psychedelics and trying to expand the human conscience. Aliented from the post-War ideas of middle-class materialism, the ideas of the counter-culture were embraced and through music and culture, the hippie ideas were catapulted through record and radio around the world. Back in 1963, Dr Timothy Leary was sacked from his role at University due to his stance and practices on psychedelics. However, he was then embraced by the counter-culture who warmed to his ideas. Speaking in front of a crowd of 30,000 Hippies in San Francisco, he urged them to 'Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out' as part of the first 'Summer Of Love'. I don't think I can think of a phrase that beautifully sums up that era than that one. It wasn't about taking trips and becoming a bum, it was a call for people to 'wake up' from their situations, co-operate with nature and other people and basically drop out of the idea that material gain and ultimately Capitalism offered.
Whilst we might look back on 'turn on, tune in, drop out' and think they were a little deluded to think they could over Capitalism - afterall, nothing else has so far, I do think the impact of the Hippies resonates to this day. The Green movement has many roots in that time, the concept of the 'alternative lifestyle' certainly comes from that and we can also trace the ideas of 'Fair Trade' too.
The Monterey Pop Festival (1967) was one of the first large-scale music festivals to bring together rock, folk, and psychedelic music, showcasing a diverse range of artists. It helped promote the careers of Jimi Hendrix, Ravi Shankar, Otis Redding, Janis Joplin, and The Who in the US. The festival also marked a cultural turning point, embodying the spirit of the Summer Of Love.
In Europe, the UK wins the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time with Sandie Shaw's 'Puppet On A String'. Homosexuality was decriminalised and the first colour TV programmes were broadcast. Radio 1 is launched, partly as a response to the popularity of the illegal pirate radio stations. The recently launched Telstar satellite allows for the first global TV programme. 'Our World', to be broadcast from London. Over 400m people tuned in to hear The Beatles beam "All You Need Is Love" around the world. Fired up with Hippie ideals, the song is both simple and complex. There's nothing more simple and beautiful than love, but the 'hidden message' is that Hippie ideas of love and co-operation are being transmitted into homes around the world. Sadly, Joe Meek who wrote the classic 'Telstar' song back in 1962 dies this year in a sad, ironic twist.
Around the world there are coups, protests, imprisonments of political leaders and there is a feeling that there is 'Somthing in the Air', although that song wasn't released this year but maybe helped to inspire it's title! :) The whole world feels like change is a-foot. Whether it's political, social or musical change is everywhere. The war in Vietnam is continuing, civil war starts in Cambodia, the six-day war between Israel, Egypt, Syria and Jordan starts and ends.
The Space Race is gathering pace and there are a number of space treaties and expeditions which are hinting that humans may soon be entering space for peaceful scientific advances, or nuclear holocaust. This year also saw the death Robert Oppenheimer who lead the US to the first nuclear weapons. His legacy continuing way past his own death.
The world is changing and quickly. In the west there's social change, around the world political change. Deference is declining, matching the declining Church attendance. The counter-culture, Anti-War and Civil Rights movements are inspiring people to question and demand, rather than to conform. The youngsters want something other than what their parents had and it feels like anything is possible. Imagine seeing colour TV, Radio 1, worldwide broadcasts, Anti-War protesters rattling the government, Ali refusing National Service, the space race increasing at pace and seeing homosexuality decriminalised - it must've felt like anything was possible.
Now, I am pretty sure that not every part of the UK was awash with LSD, cannabis and magic mushrooms. Anecdotally, I don't think most people in Oldham, Bradford, Stockport were turning on, tuning in and dropping out in any great number. However, they would eventually feel the effect of these new ideas. They were busy with work, families and the like and concerned with the general drudgery of day-to-day life. However, the ideas in the late 60s have left an imprint we can feel even now.
In terms of the music, picking any combination of songs and albums from this year is impossible. It's really as simple as that.
The quality and quantity of music in this year is absolutely astonishing. I gave up trying to pick a definitive 'Top 10' of songs and albums as the list of songs outside it are just as good as the ones inside. I suspect the playlist for 1967 which be longer and stronger than every year before it.
I can't quite find who said it in this thread, but someone said that 1966 is the year that marks the start of when we will see the album take over the single. I agree with that, but 1967 absolutely puts a real marker in the ground and whilst there's probably only Revolver and Pet Sounds in 1966 that we can regard as great albums, they have quite simply have started a musical arms race with bands trying to come up with a different sound. Bands now are expected to write their own songs and perform them. Listening back to 1963, it's incredible how quickly this transformation happened.
What we're going to see next defines the era and opens up the door and the pathway to the musical styles of the 1970s. Everywhere I look in 1967, I see musical genius at such a high level that I wish I could've experienced it. I struggle to understand the musical leap from 1963 to 1967. Every week and every month we see era-defining albums and singles. It's like decades have gone by from 1963-1967.
In my opinion, the music I'll put forward to you marks 'Year 0' of the start of modern rock music. Music before 1967 will not sound like music after 1967. In my view, 1967 represents the high-mark of music and that it will be difficult to make a better playlist than this year!
So, here are my selection for the greatest singles and albums from 1967. I have selected the singles for the playlist and one song from each album.
What a pleasure it's been to sift through this year and enjoy the genius.
Singles:
# The Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane
Unable to hear themselves play live, The Beatles headed into the studio for their next album. However, there was a relatively long period of time between their last output so they were under commercial pressure to put out a single to assure fans they were still together. Originally pencilled in for Sgt Pepper, they released a double-A side and in doing so created the greatest single ever released. I honestly don't think it will ever be topped. Revealing the new direction they were heading, the extraordinary song-writing ability of Lennon and McCartney and breaks new ground in terms of production, intent and the ability to pull in techniques and ideas from anywhere. It also hints at what is to come later in the year with the release of Sgt Pepper.
# Let's Spend The Night Together/Ruby Tuesday
Music fans in the US were treated to this double A side which, is the only single to come close to rivalling rival Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane. Let's Spend The Night Together is probably my favourite Stones song. It's sexy, raunchy but has that hint of inexperience which really makes it. It's easy to sound masculine, but it's really hard to do it with that hint of vulnerability and Jagger carries it off to perfection. To have a B-side of Ruby Tuesday shows just how far The Stones had come since the early days - they are now pumping out rock classics.
# By The Time I Get To Phoenix - Glenn Campbell
Whilst much of the music world is in the grip of psychedelia, not everyone was. Artists such as Sinatra, Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck etc were still topping the charts and are still great performers and singers. Some still performed songs written by other people and I am so glad they did, otherwise they wouldn't have made classic singles like this.
By The Time I Get To Phoenix is a song written by the great Jimmy Webb and I think this song is one of those songs you could easily add to The Great American Songbook without question. It's got this evocative sound with beautiful lyrics which capture the wistful nature of leaving a lover. Campbell's superb vocals sound beautiful next to the soaring strings. I still can't make out whether he is glad he is going or regrets leaving as he heads past Alberquerque.
Quite rightly, the beautiful 'Wichita Lineman' gets all the attention, but this song is equally as good. A masterpiece.
# A Whiter Shade Of Pale - Procul Harem
Inspired by JS Bach's 'Air on the G string', this beautiful and haunting song is another masterpiece. I keep saying this word, but it shows the utterly high standard of singles and albums in this year that I can use it about everything I pick!
The melody needs no introduction and the lyrics sound profound and meaningless at the same time. It's a beautiful, psychedelic classic that just seems like you can interpret it in so many ways. It certainly has a dream-like quality and mixes classical and rock music together. It's another sign that classical music and rock music will come together to create progressive rock.
Albums:
# The Beatles - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
It's been described as the greatest album ever released by the greatest rock band ever made at the height of their musical and cultural peak. And I agree. Bored with stardom, touring, unable to hear themselves play in huge stadiums and the relentless pressure of it all, they went into the studio to produce their next album. McCartney came up with the idea of The Beatles being another band. Freed from the constraints of touring, they sought inspiration from their childhoods and mixed these ideas alongside a large portion of magic mushrooms, pioneering studio techniques and pushed the studio, and rock music, to a new high point.
Sgt Pepper is certainly one of the first concept albums. Songs flow from one song to the next and it all sounds coherent, this was something new at the time. It astonished people as they'd not heard anything like at before. It goes without saying, the songs on the album are classics - Sgt Pepper, With a little help from my friends, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Getting Better, Fixing a hole, She's leaving home, Being for the benefit of Mr Kite, When I'm 64 and of course the peerless A day in the life. It features the first song written by a western artist playing Indian instruments in the scales etc that are Indian in nature - Within you, without you.
Whilst Pet Sounds and Revolver made heavy use of the studio, Sgt Pepper marks the point where the studio is where albums are made. It also marks the point where - finally - pop/rock music is now accepted as a serious artform and that the album is not a colleciton of singles, but something to experience. You would've been laughed at in 1963 if you'd held any pop music from that year up against Holst, Debussy etc. Sgt Pepper can he held in that calibre of music due to it's impact.
It literally sounds almost HD even when compared to Pet Sounds or Revolver and especially any Wall Of Sound album. You can hear the hi-hat and it sounds 'clean' and not mushy. It also helps to create the idea that pop music can take influences from anywhere - Indian music, Victorian fairgrounds, childrens imaginations, avant garde composers and make it sound absolutely obvious that these topics fit together. It helps to create the concept album and progressive rock.
The greatest song on the greatest album ever made is 'A Day In The Life', a smashing together of 2 songs by the greatest songwriters of the 20th Century. Decades after it's release, any time you hear songs with multiple 'movements', you can trace parts of the DNA back to this song. 'Paranoid Android' by Radiohead, 'Mr Blue Sky' by ELO, 'Bohemian Rhapsody' by Queen all share the DNA of this song and album.
Sgt Pepper is a masterpiece, very music of it's time, but it completely shattered boundaries. The recording techniques created for the album changed how music was recorded. The tape cutting and use of the tape recorder - sampling - was ahead of it's time. It's also worth considering in just over 12 months from 1966 to 1967 they would release Revolver, Sgt Pepper and another superb album - Magical Mystery Tour. Incredible.
The album is a masterpiece.
# Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved A Man the Way I Love You
Whilst many people will know her songs as 'singles', this album is an absolute masterpiece. I keep saying that word!
I will say it for another band further on, but some albums just 'rock' and this album rocks even though it's a soul album. It goes without saying, but her singing is utterly peerless. Soulful, powerful and yet smooth and tender this album showcases a soul legend at her musical peak. I do think listening to a song like 'Respect' when it's played on it's own as a 'classic' on something like Magic you lose something. It's overplayed and it's meaning is lost - demanding respect as a woman and as a black woman.
Whilst her vocals are the star of the album, the production is equally as good in my view. It showcases her vocals yet really adds to the depth of them album. There's some seriously good musicians on this album and from the first song to the last, every song is magnificent.
Whilst psychedelia steals the show this year, this albums shows that souls was still a huge part of this era and this album is maybe the best of it's genre.
# Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced?
Maybe 10 years ago, teenagers were copying the guitar techniques of Hank Marvin and Chuck Berry. As good as these guitarists were in their own right, the electic guitar is now going to be completely transformed in the hands of Jimi Hendrix. It's no exaggeration to say he takes the electric guitar to unimaginable places and new heights. Whilst some might say Chuck Berry was the first rock god, he is nowhere near close to Hendrix.
The ultimate showman, Hendrix made playing the guitar look easy and sound easy. Even to this day, it's hard to believe that there's only one guitarist on his albums. His ability to fuse the blues with rock and psychedelia is astonishing and this album showcases that. Featuring classics like Purple Haze, Manic Depression, Hey Joe, Foxy Lady and Red House this album also rocks - literally.
Every electric guitarist after Hendrix is influenced by Hendrix. And this album plays a huge part in that.
# The Doors - The Doors
Blending rock, blues, jazz and more than a hint of psychedelics "The Doors" is their classic debut rock album. And it's another album that rocks.
Whilst Jim Morrison is the star of the show, The Doors are more than him. The band are very tight and superb. Whilst other bands are still using organs, Ray Manzarek's keyboard sound just sounds amazing still and a real antidote to the guitar riff. Other songs on the album include Break On Through, Soul Kitchen, The Crystal Ship, Alabama Song (Whisky Bar), Light My Fire and "The End" which helped to push the boundaries of how long a song should last as well as have a dark, uncomfortable feeling.
Coming from the counter culture, this album partly captures that essence of rebellion and the counter-culture which was happening in the world.
# The Moody Blues - Days Of Future Passed
It was only a couple of years ago that the Moody Blues wrote the classic 'Go Now', one of my all-time favourite songs. Yet they are now capable of writing this progressive landmark, partly due to a change in personnel.
When I first heard this album, I was astonished. This wasn't the Moody Blues I knew and I wasn't sure if it was 'real' in that it's very much classical in nature mixed with rock. Days Of Future Passed is one of the first albums that is undoubtedly progressive. It blends classical and rock music like no other album had been done at this point. It's also a concept album that explores a persons working day.
Sadly, the iconic "Nights in white satin" has been overplayed on the likes of Magic and Smooth radio which completely strips this masterpiece of it's context. At the end of the album, it's utterly beautiful with an almost triumphant ending. For a 'quiet' song it has a colossal sound that rivals even the Wall Of Sound production. I still don't know even now whether it is classical music at heart or rock but what I do know is that it's a masterpiece and points many bands toward progressive rock and provides a blueprint for what it sounds like.
# Safe As Milk - Captain Beefheart
Some albums, regardless of genre or decade, just rock exactly like Aretha Franklin's album. This just rocks, not just a bit but 110%. This is one of those albums that you can put on for any mood and it cheers you up. I'm sure Beefheart's raspy delivery is inspired by the great Howlin Wolf and it fits perfectly with his Magic Band and that band know how to rock.
The debut album from the legendary Captain Beefheart starts with the magnificent "Sure Nuff n Yes I do" and mixes blues and rock to set the tone for the rest of the album. Other tracks are definitely psychedelic in nature and it's definitely another counter culture classic. The album also features "Electicity", "I'm glad" and "Abba Zaba".
# Conclusion
So, where does 1967 leave us? Without question, the musical bar has been pushed so high that it's debatable whether this year will be beaten! :)
Selecting just 10 songs has been impossible. I will leave it others to point out the obvious classic albums and singles I've omitted. Such is the quality of this year that even a top 50 would be difficult!
The Beatles have completely changed the musical landscape. The idea of what a rock album is, can be, or sounds like has been blown up. They've put the studio at the heart of the recording process. The techniques they introduced change how music will sound forever. Their songs are more complex, yet still retain a universal appeal (on the whole). They are constantly pushing new boundaries to breaking points and showing the rest of their contemporaries the path forward. They have - along with the Moody Blues - demonstrated that literally any other musical source is able to be successfully merged into rock music. This year has seen classical music, avant garde classic music, tape looping, fairground music, Indian classical music, rock and the blues merged and melted together in ways that are simply unimaginable even a couple of years ago.
We now have the first guitar-god - Jimi Hendrix. He changes how the electric guitar sounds, how it's played and what it's capable of. His outrageous stage performaces would change how guitarists perform. Hendrix alongside other 'wild men' of rock like Jim Morrison and Mick Jagger start to revive the style of Little Richard/Jerry Lee Lewis etc that the front man is wild, sexy and slightly unhinged. We now know what a rock star looks like and behaves like.
Progressive rock has been invented thanks to the Moody Blues. The fusion of classical music with rock has been done for the first time in a way that is coherent. It would go onto inspire many rock bands to choose adventerous new sounds and explore even more ideas.
Whilst music and drugs have always been related in some form, we now see a clear link between psychedelics and music which is clear. The effect of psychedelics on the musicians themselves is undeniable. The idea of the counter-culture has gone from being an underground idea to being out there. Whilst not everyone was living a Hippie lifestyle, the ideas behind 'turn on, tune in and drop out' are being 'promoted' by The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and others.
Finally, and possibly most importantly, we now see the album as being more important than the single. Sgt Peppers ground-breaking idea that the music should be listened from start to finish helps to push the album to being the dominant way to listen to music. Bands will now be judged on how good their albums are, not their singles.
In my view, 1967 is one of the great years for rock music. Enjoy the music and remember to turn on, tune in and drop out! :)
Spotify playlist
