Rock Evolution – The History of Rock & Roll - 1985 - (page 203)

Jointly credited to the songwriting partnership of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it was first released as a single on 6 May 1966, and later included as the opening track to the US version of their 1966 album Aftermath."Paint It Black" reached number one in both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. The song became the Rolling Stones' third number-one hit single in the US and sixth in the UK. Since its initial release, the song has remained influential as the first number-one hit featuring a sitar, particularly in the UK, where it has charted on two other occasions, and has been the subject of multiple cover versions, compilation albums, and film appearances. The song's lyrics are, for the most part, meant to describe depression. The song describes the extreme grief suffered by one stunned by the sudden and unexpected loss of a wife, lover or partner. It is often claimed that Jagger took inspiration from novelist James Joyce's 1922 book Ulysses, taking the excerpt "I have to turn my head until my darkness goes", referring to the novel's theme of a worldwide view of desperation and desolation. The song itself came to fruition when the band's leader Brian Jones took an interest in Moroccan music. It was their first song to feature a sitar instrumental.

Mick wrote it. I wrote the music, he did the words. Get a single together... What's amazing about that one for me is the sitar. Also, the fact that we cut it as a comedy track. Bill was playing an organ, doing a takeoff of our first manager (Eric Easton) who started his career in show business as an organist in a cinema pit. We'd been doing it with funky rhythms and it hadn't worked and he started playing it like this and everybody got behind it. It's a two-beat, very strange. Brian playing the sitar makes it a whole other thing.
Keith Richards (1971)

Paint it Black, The Rolling Stones
 
Pretty sure The Walker Brothers haven't made an appearance yet which means we've missed Make It Easy On Yourself and My Ship is Coming In in previous years, time to rectify this with their signature song:

The Walker Brothers - The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore

(Scott Engel/Walker went on to become a really interesting musician, was on 4AD when he passed away.)
 
The greatest Brian Wilson composition of all time was written in 1966. The legendary 'Surfs Up'. A composition with two movements, numerous complex and unusual key modulations and the most glorious harmonies. If there is a higher power than us, this is the music it would make.

Its almost impossible for it to be accurately placed in a year as there are recordings in 1966,67, 2004 or 2011. I am going to pitch it for 1971 when it featured as the last track of the Beach Boys album Surf's Up. It has a history surrounding it that needs telling in a little more detail than is appropriate for 1966.

Couldn't let the year go by without mentioning it though :-)
 
1966 saw the first two releases by the glorious Love. They released an eponymous album and then Da Capo later in the year so I reckon one from each is legit.

My Little Red Book - Love

Yes it's a cover but as the first track off their, fairly conventional, first album it sent out a subtle early message they were going to do things their way. It pissed Burt off big time but it's a top reworking.

Da Capo, the second album showed a reay leap in confidence/madness depending on how you look at it. Psychedelia, garage folk, jazz, a bit of bossa, and punk before punk even existed, it had it all including an almost pointless second side to the album. The mercurial Arthur Lee was already becoming what could politely be called idiosyncratic and giving people the run around. Side 1 is 6 songs that barely scratch the 2 or 3 minute mark and Side 2 is a single 19 minute edit of a very long jam session, supposedly done by Arthur to annoy Elektra who they were in dispute with almost from the moment they had signed. Love, weren't the first band to dabble in proto-punk but they were pretty influential.

7 and 7 Is - Love
 
GoatersLeftShin said:
Just been listening to a few songs from 1966 tonight and I've a few to add to the playlist:

The start of this song is just sublime then it kicks into a full rock monster. As usual, it's an absolute classic:

"Paperback Writer" - The Beatles
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Almost criminal to be left off of Revolver, huh? Was this also the beginning of artists holding back top hits off of released albums just to get the 45 single sales? The Beach Boys did the same thing with "Good Vibrations" not on Pet Sounds. We could have a whole thread on that in and of itself, I'd imagine. It took me years of getting this in my CD collection finally with Past Masters, Volume Two much later on.

GoatersLeftShin said:
I've always loved this song, but I've come across people who hate it. As I've said a million times, I don't like Bob Dylan's singing apart from when Bob Dylan is the only person who can sing a song. No one can do this song better than Dylan:

"Rainy Day Women" - Bob Dylan
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Glad you got it as we had recently reviewed Blonde On Blonde, so I noted the release, but didn't include any in my 10.
GoatersLeftShin said:
As a young kind in the 80s, the music of the 60s as not something you were supposed to listen to as it was seriously uncool. However, I loved the 60s shows and would listen for hours on my clock radio! :) this song was played loads and it's one I love - catchy, simple and just brilliant:

"Pretty Flamingo" - Manfred Mann
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A song I don't know, finally! ;-)
GoatersLeftShin said:
I was astonished to read once that as the popularity of Dylan grew, the singer of this classic Motown band was asked to record one of their greatest songs in a Dylan-style manner. It's almost impossible to imagine! Either way, it works simply because the singer is utterly magnificent but you can hear a tinge of Dylan in how he sings!

"Reach Out (I'll Be There)" - The Four Tops
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Another team Holland–Dozier–Holland classic, notice the melody at the beginning is eerily familiar to the Supremes "You Keep Me Hanging' On" that I listed. They were too similar to include both in my original 10. Nice additions!
 
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Saddleworth2 said:
Jointly credited to the songwriting partnership of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it was first released as a single on 6 May 1966, and later included as the opening track to the US version of their 1966 album Aftermath."Paint It Black" reached number one in both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. The song became the Rolling Stones' third number-one hit single in the US and sixth in the UK. Since its initial release, the song has remained influential as the first number-one hit featuring a sitar, particularly in the UK, where it has charted on two other occasions, and has been the subject of multiple cover versions, compilation albums, and film appearances. The song's lyrics are, for the most part, meant to describe depression. The song describes the extreme grief suffered by one stunned by the sudden and unexpected loss of a wife, lover or partner. It is often claimed that Jagger took inspiration from novelist James Joyce's 1922 book Ulysses, taking the excerpt "I have to turn my head until my darkness goes", referring to the novel's theme of a worldwide view of desperation and desolation. The song itself came to fruition when the band's leader Brian Jones took an interest in Moroccan music. It was their first song to feature a sitar instrumental.

Mick wrote it. I wrote the music, he did the words. Get a single together... What's amazing about that one for me is the sitar. Also, the fact that we cut it as a comedy track. Bill was playing an organ, doing a takeoff of our first manager (Eric Easton) who started his career in show business as an organist in a cinema pit. We'd been doing it with funky rhythms and it hadn't worked and he started playing it like this and everybody got behind it. It's a two-beat, very strange. Brian playing the sitar makes it a whole other thing.
Keith Richards (1971)

Paint it Black, The Rolling Stones
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And there IT is, I knew someone would (soon) get it and give it the proper write-up it deserved, thanks @Saddleworth2 .

It was in my Spinal Tap 11, but didn't make my 10 due to the write-up was already too long.
 
Saddleworth2 said:
Jointly credited to the songwriting partnership of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it was first released as a single on 6 May 1966, and later included as the opening track to the US version of their 1966 album Aftermath."Paint It Black" reached number one in both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. The song became the Rolling Stones' third number-one hit single in the US and sixth in the UK. Since its initial release, the song has remained influential as the first number-one hit featuring a sitar, particularly in the UK, where it has charted on two other occasions, and has been the subject of multiple cover versions, compilation albums, and film appearances. The song's lyrics are, for the most part, meant to describe depression. The song describes the extreme grief suffered by one stunned by the sudden and unexpected loss of a wife, lover or partner. It is often claimed that Jagger took inspiration from novelist James Joyce's 1922 book Ulysses, taking the excerpt "I have to turn my head until my darkness goes", referring to the novel's theme of a worldwide view of desperation and desolation. The song itself came to fruition when the band's leader Brian Jones took an interest in Moroccan music. It was their first song to feature a sitar instrumental.

Mick wrote it. I wrote the music, he did the words. Get a single together... What's amazing about that one for me is the sitar. Also, the fact that we cut it as a comedy track. Bill was playing an organ, doing a takeoff of our first manager (Eric Easton) who started his career in show business as an organist in a cinema pit. We'd been doing it with funky rhythms and it hadn't worked and he started playing it like this and everybody got behind it. It's a two-beat, very strange. Brian playing the sitar makes it a whole other thing.
Keith Richards (1971)

Paint it Black, The Rolling Stones
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Was on my 1966 list - one of my favourite Stones songs.
 
threespires said:
Pretty sure The Walker Brothers haven't made an appearance yet which means we've missed Make It Easy On Yourself and My Ship is Coming In in previous years, time to rectify this with their signature song:

The Walker Brothers - The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore

(Scott Engel/Walker went on to become a really interesting musician, was on 4AD when he passed away.)
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Scott Walker had a superb baritone voice which he tried to coarsen by drinking large amounts of alcohol. He thought his voice sounded “too sweet.”
 
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As I mentioned the Ewan McColl's collection of this song from a miner in the North-East, I think that we should include it on this playlist.

"Scarborough Fair/Canticle" - Simon & Garfunkel
 
mancity111 said:
One of their best good choice , what an arrangement , would get into my top 5 songs of 1966 of the hit songs anyway.
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I felt the same way, but given its long history prior, I went with the song that started off the year and was written in the UK with a pretty cool backstory of Paul's travels prior.

Has anyone seen the "Homeward Bound" sign at Widnes Station? I might have to make a stop there next time around to see that, which appears to be coming later on this year.
 
Black&White&BlueMoon Town said:
I felt the same way, but given its long history prior, I went with the song that started off the year and was written in the UK with a pretty cool backstory of Paul's travels prior.

Has anyone seen the "Homeward Bound" sign at Widnes Station? I might have to make a stop there next time around to see that, which appears to be coming later on this year.
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I agree that for the backstory alone it was the best choice.

Just checked on Google maps and Widnes station is 22 miles from my house. Probably something that I should go to see.
 
Black&White&BlueMoon Town said:
I felt the same way, but given its long history prior, I went with the song that started off the year and was written in the UK with a pretty cool backstory of Paul's travels prior.

Has anyone seen the "Homeward Bound" sign at Widnes Station? I might have to make a stop there next time around to see that, which appears to be coming later on this year.
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Been through the station a few times. Isn't there some contention about whether it was actually Ditton Junction which isn't there anymore? Not convinced Simon actually had much clue where he was so maybe the good folk of Widnes just took the opportunity for a claim to fame! Fair play to them.
 
This is an incredible playlist that I am really enjoying.

Probably pointless to pick out individual tracks but it feels like we are seeing a move from the traditional pop/soul/rock songs ("Homeward Bound", "When A Man Loves A Woman", "If I Were A Carpenter"), through the experimental ("Good Vibrations", "Paint It Black") to the full-on psychedelic ("Eight Miles High", "Hey Joe").

Not keen on the Dylan track, one of his poorer efforts, I never seem to appreciate Frank Sinatra but everything else was great.
 
Herbie Hancock was well into his stride by now. The title track from his album Maiden Voyage is one of his best loved songs. Have we had any discussion yet about concept albums? This is one but not quite in the archetypal prog rock way and in fairness Sinatra had been knocking out concept albums for years prior to this before the bearded wizard brigade got their hands on the idea.

Maiden Voyage - Herbie Hancock

(This album is a good one for lying on the sofa and decompressing if you've had a rough day.)
 
threespires said:
Been through the station a few times. Isn't there some contention about whether it was actually Ditton Junction which isn't there anymore? Not convinced Simon actually had much clue where he was so maybe the good folk of Widnes just took the opportunity for a claim to fame! Fair play to them.
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I'm not going to accuse you of just skimming my write-up, but then again you did mistake LBJ for Ms. B&W's Mum! ;-)

Yes, I covered the controversy, and I found it pretty fascinating on the backstory of "where" did he write that song? I probably subscribe to the "he likely wrote parts of it in numerous places", but yes, I did enjoy reading about the lore behind that one and the steps that Widnes took to "claim" it. ;-)
 
RobMCFC said:
According to Wikipedia, "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" appeared as the lead track on the 1966 Simon & Garfunkel album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

I haven't found anything to contradict that yet but happy to be corrected.
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The prior version was from another artist (Ewan MacColl), so it is good with me too.

I will also add that S&G had different UK releases and US releases and it is HARD sometimes to track down the first time a song was released somewhere given their approach to releasing albums and songs in different markets. That is one thing I learned in researching them for this year as some things had already been released in the UK well before they were in the US, and vice versa in some instances. Hence the title segway I used:
Which album, which release, and most importantly, which ‘station’?

(Interestingly that song doesn't show up for me in the US on my playlist, so I probably missed it prior too, but my Search function here worked ;-) )
1740751227640.png
 
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Black&White&BlueMoon Town said:
The prior version was from another artist (Ewan MacColl), so it is good with me too.

I will also add that S&G had different UK releases and US releases and it is HARD sometimes to track down the first time a song was released somewhere given their approach to releasing albums and songs in different markets. That is one thing I learned in researching them for this year as some things had already been released in the UK well before they were in the US, and vice versa in some instances. Hence the title segway I used:
Which album, which release, and most importantly, which ‘station’?

(Interestingly that song doesn't show up for me in the US on my playlist, so I probably missed it prior too, but my Search function here worked ;-) )
View attachment 148232
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Ewan MacColl's version in 1964 must have been his second (or third or later attempt) because as I wrote in my Country & Folk write-up:-

Although many artists have recorded versions of this song, MacColl’s version didn’t appear until 1957, ten years after he'd originally collected it.
 
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