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

There is a story that he had to leave Calif. due to sexual wrong doing. No idea if correct.

Married a 15 year old Texan though I think that was legal there in those days. He's on record as saying he had relations with multiple underage girls whether he knew their age or not I don't know but from some of his quotes you'd have to assume he did.
 
Brilliant write-up @GoatersLeftShin. As you say, a nigh-on impossible task getting the list down to 10 but I very much look forward to listening as there are a few in there that I don't know.

I think that it was @threespires who first mentioned Forever Changes on these threads. I've listened to the album several times since and it is indeed a very good album. Bill's backed that up by nominating "Alone Again Or", which is a memorable song.

Whilst The Doors debut album is one of their best, I'm going to nominate a song from their second album, Strange Days, also released in 1967. The obvious choice is probably "People Are Strange", so I'll skip that. My favourite is "When The Music's Over", but at 11 minutes, it's probably a bit long for a playlist that will already be long. So I'm going for:-

"Love Me Two Times" - The Doors

By the way, there’s no effing way when i do my playlists that they will start with just ten tracks. And I’ve already drafted most of the first two years.
 
One of my fav records.....

'summer Wine' Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazelwood (1967)

Was going to offer 'You only live twice by Nancy as the film was released that year...but have to go 'Summer Wine'
so...altogether now....''take off your silver spurs and help me pass some time''...
LOL I was going to put forward Some Velvet Morning my favorite Lee Hazelwood composition that came out later in the year.

It's lyrics have always intrigued me , never been able to decide if its about sex , drugs , ancient Greece or none of these.

Lee was quoted as saying it wasn't about much at all but they are symptomatic of the more complex themes involved in psychedelic rock
 
By the way, there’s no effing way when i do my playlists that they will start with just ten tracks. And I’ve already drafted most of the first two years.
I’m sure that we can look the other way if you slip a handful of extra tracks in.
But again, part of the challenge is reducing the list and allowing others to fill in the blanks - you can still include lots more in the write-up and leave some out of the initial playlist.
 
I am going to put forward a song that would never have never seen the light of day if not for the Wrecking Crew.

Larry Knechtel is a musical genius, if you haven't heard him on piano and bass guitar you should and its little wonder the who's who of recording always sought him out and the fact he had time to be a member of Bread who more than deserve a track or two in the years to come on this thread is a testament to his legacy.

The singer of this number one hit was Asian American one of the first to achieve this feat.

Its simple , fun , bouncy sunshine pop nothing more , nothing less.

Windy by The Association.
 
Just to highlight how good the music was in this year, here's a list of the songs (not albums) I considered for this year but rejected for various reasons. Every song in the list could easily have been added as they are top class pop songs.

My personal favourite is Kites but either way it's a testament to the writers of these songs:

# Kites - Simon Dupree and The Big Sound

Hauntingly beautiful. Not sure if it was a one-hit wonder but either way, it's a magnificent song and that combination of sound-effects and instrument compliment each other beautifully.

# Alone Again Or - Love

I was very tempted to include the album, but at the expense of which single/album? As I said it's an impossible task. If I'd have included Forever Changes then someone would've complained that Piper was omitted! The music of this year is just so outstandingly good that these songs can be omitted due to the sheer quality of everyone else. It reminds me a bit of Wenger - a great manager who was unlucky to be in an era of other great managers!

# Cat Stevens - Matthew & Son

I love Cat Stevens and this song is one of his absolute finest.

# I'm a Man - Spencer Davis Group

An absolute Grade A1 classic - the percussion alone is magnificent but it's full to the brim of male swagger and menace. I was surprised to learn it was 67 as I had a feeling it was a few years later, but either way it could be played today and still carries potency. The great Stevie Winwood on keyboards and vocals.

# Traffic - Paper Sun

Another magnificent song by another magnificent band.

# Traffic - Hole in my shoe

As a kid, I ADORED this song. I obviously had no idea that it was (probably) a LSD inspired song but I loved the imagery, melody and general silliness of it. I love it to this day. I can't get my head around how it sounds like the melody and drums are being played backwards, that is some band who can do that.

Who can't love these lyrics? :) Imagine Cliff, Elvis, Frank, Engelbert or a million others trying to sing this! :)
I looked to the sky
Where an elephant's eye
Was looking at me
From a bubblegum tree
And all that I knew
The hole in my shoe
Was letting in water

# Bernadette - The Four Tops

The great Four Tops were such a great band that I could easily include every song they did in every year. I think Bernadette might be their best, Levi Stubbs' voice just absolutely makes it.

# Happy Together - The Turtles

When I think about how to write a great pop song, this is a song I'd hold up for a template - simple, joyful, beautiful and utterly melodic. You just want to sing it and the way it changes from minor to major is sublime. And those harmonies - not as good as the Beach Boys - but they are bloody close.

# I Can Hear The Grass Grow - The Move

Another psychedelic rocker, what a magnificent song from Roy 'Wizzard/ELO' Wood's first band. It just rocks from root to flower!

# Flowers In The Rain - The Move

As above, just a brilliant pop song.

# New York Mining Disaster 1941 - The Bee Gees

One of the first singles from the magnificent Bee Gees, it's a brilliant pop song.

# Let's go to San Francisco - The Flower Pot Men

If I lived in the UK in 1967, working in some shithole factory making plates I would be dreaming about going to San Francisco and making effort to get there. Songs like this make me dream to this day of what it was like there.

# Waterloo Sunset - The Kinks

Without question, one of Britain's finest bands and songwriters this is a masterpiece. Beautiful, clever, melodic and carrying a twist - everything I love in a pop song.

# The First Cut Is The Deepest - PP Arnold

A brilliant Cat Stevens song, sung beautifully by a great singer.

# San Francisco - Scott McKenzie

I guess this song is similar to the Flower Pot Men, it's just beautiful. Just listen to those lyrics and the idea of having to put flowers in your hair to mix it in just beautiful.

# We Love You - The Rolling Stones

What a brilliant, beautiful protest song. 'We Love You' is a brilliant riposte to those who arrested them for drugs - another psychedelic masterpiece.

# She's A Rainbow - The Rolling Stones

Our wedding song was Here, There & Everywhere by The Beatles but this song is my wife in a song. She's A Rainbow who combs colours into my life. This psychedelic masterpiece is just utterly beautiful and captivating.

# I Can See For Miles - The Who

Ordinarily, in any other year, a song like this would easily be the best of the year. It's a testament to 1967 that you could place it 30th in the list due to the sheer number of utterly brilliant songs and still complain that the song in 40th place is better.

As you can imagine, this is part of my singles list - there are still lots of great singles I've not listed, as well as albums but I think I'm backing up my claim of 1967 as being one of the greatest years for rock EVER!
 
Well done mate. That is a beauty of a write up for 67. As you said its absolutely impossible to capture it all. There is just too much in terms of variety and quality. It is a brilliant start to the playlist.

Its completely mind blowing. I still believe that The Beatles and The Beach Boys between them drove this complete revolution as Bands were inspired to follow their lead.

No other period comes close to the decade between mid 60's and mid 70's for groundbreaking music across nearly every genre. I thought you captured the vibe from 1967 very well indeed.

I have 1971 and it is shaping up to be an absolute stonker.
Cheers @Saddleworth2 - one thing I've really started to appreciate in these last few thread 'years' is just how good and influential The Beach Boys were. I've always loved them, but you are completely correct to point out just how much they pushed the boundaries and in particular The Beatles. To paraphrase Alan Clark in the Civilisation TV series of around this time 'if no one else listened to The Beach Boys, it does not matter. The Beatles did and that is why they matter'. The Beach Boys pushed the The Beatles and vice versa and it led to two of the most brilliant rock albums of the century. As complicated as they are, at their heart they are hopeful, joyful, melodic and just beautiful works of art. Something I do feel (ok, I sound old) is missing in a lot of todays music.

I completely agree about that that era from 65-75 it's truly astonishing. You can literally hear entire genres of music just being created within months of each other.

As much as I love the 60s, the 70s will have some absolute monsters to put up against 1967 and it will be fascinating to see - again - how much the sound changes in such a few years. Music from 1967 will sound old fashioned and simple a few years later!
 
Kites - Simon Dupree and The Big Sound

Actually the 3 brothers became Gentle Giant, the prog rock band.

Another great single was Tears of a Clown by Smokey Robinson.
Tears of a clown is a bona fide, platinum, nailed on, genuine best of all time, song.
The story, the melody, the arrangement, the vocals. Just great.
 
Just to highlight how good the music was in this year, here's a list of the songs (not albums) I considered for this year but rejected for various reasons. Every song in the list could easily have been added as they are top class pop songs.

My personal favourite is Kites but either way it's a testament to the writers of these songs:

# Kites - Simon Dupree and The Big Sound

Hauntingly beautiful. Not sure if it was a one-hit wonder but either way, it's a magnificent song and that combination of sound-effects and instrument compliment each other beautifully.

# Alone Again Or - Love

I was very tempted to include the album, but at the expense of which single/album? As I said it's an impossible task. If I'd have included Forever Changes then someone would've complained that Piper was omitted! The music of this year is just so outstandingly good that these songs can be omitted due to the sheer quality of everyone else. It reminds me a bit of Wenger - a great manager who was unlucky to be in an era of other great managers!

# Cat Stevens - Matthew & Son

I love Cat Stevens and this song is one of his absolute finest.

# I'm a Man - Spencer Davis Group

An absolute Grade A1 classic - the percussion alone is magnificent but it's full to the brim of male swagger and menace. I was surprised to learn it was 67 as I had a feeling it was a few years later, but either way it could be played today and still carries potency. The great Stevie Winwood on keyboards and vocals.

# Traffic - Paper Sun

Another magnificent song by another magnificent band.

# Traffic - Hole in my shoe

As a kid, I ADORED this song. I obviously had no idea that it was (probably) a LSD inspired song but I loved the imagery, melody and general silliness of it. I love it to this day. I can't get my head around how it sounds like the melody and drums are being played backwards, that is some band who can do that.

Who can't love these lyrics? :) Imagine Cliff, Elvis, Frank, Engelbert or a million others trying to sing this! :)


# Bernadette - The Four Tops

The great Four Tops were such a great band that I could easily include every song they did in every year. I think Bernadette might be their best, Levi Stubbs' voice just absolutely makes it.

# Happy Together - The Turtles

When I think about how to write a great pop song, this is a song I'd hold up for a template - simple, joyful, beautiful and utterly melodic. You just want to sing it and the way it changes from minor to major is sublime. And those harmonies - not as good as the Beach Boys - but they are bloody close.

# I Can Hear The Grass Grow - The Move

Another psychedelic rocker, what a magnificent song from Roy 'Wizzard/ELO' Wood's first band. It just rocks from root to flower!

# Flowers In The Rain - The Move

As above, just a brilliant pop song.

# New York Mining Disaster 1941 - The Bee Gees

One of the first singles from the magnificent Bee Gees, it's a brilliant pop song.

# Let's go to San Francisco - The Flower Pot Men

If I lived in the UK in 1967, working in some shithole factory making plates I would be dreaming about going to San Francisco and making effort to get there. Songs like this make me dream to this day of what it was like there.

# Waterloo Sunset - The Kinks

Without question, one of Britain's finest bands and songwriters this is a masterpiece. Beautiful, clever, melodic and carrying a twist - everything I love in a pop song.

# The First Cut Is The Deepest - PP Arnold

A brilliant Cat Stevens song, sung beautifully by a great singer.

# San Francisco - Scott McKenzie

I guess this song is similar to the Flower Pot Men, it's just beautiful. Just listen to those lyrics and the idea of having to put flowers in your hair to mix it in just beautiful.

# We Love You - The Rolling Stones

What a brilliant, beautiful protest song. 'We Love You' is a brilliant riposte to those who arrested them for drugs - another psychedelic masterpiece.

# She's A Rainbow - The Rolling Stones

Our wedding song was Here, There & Everywhere by The Beatles but this song is my wife in a song. She's A Rainbow who combs colours into my life. This psychedelic masterpiece is just utterly beautiful and captivating.

# I Can See For Miles - The Who

Ordinarily, in any other year, a song like this would easily be the best of the year. It's a testament to 1967 that you could place it 30th in the list due to the sheer number of utterly brilliant songs and still complain that the song in 40th place is better.

As you can imagine, this is part of my singles list - there are still lots of great singles I've not listed, as well as albums but I think I'm backing up my claim of 1967 as being one of the greatest years for rock EVER!

Does Bernadette trump Standing In The Shadow of Love? I don't know, but to your point you could argue the case for so so many songs different.

PP Arnold paid a young Cat £30 for The First Cut, that's one hell of a bargain.
 
I dint't think anyone has nominated a track from one of my favourite albums from 67. Tim Hardin 2. Love the songwriting, the instrumentation and arrangements are very nice. You can hear where many artists would be influenced over the next few years.

If I were a Carpenter - Tim Hardin.
 
Just to highlight how good the music was in this year, here's a list of the songs (not albums) I considered for this year but rejected for various reasons. Every song in the list could easily have been added as they are top class pop songs.

My personal favourite is Kites but either way it's a testament to the writers of these songs:

# Kites - Simon Dupree and The Big Sound

Hauntingly beautiful. Not sure if it was a one-hit wonder but either way, it's a magnificent song and that combination of sound-effects and instrument compliment each other beautifully.

# Alone Again Or - Love

I was very tempted to include the album, but at the expense of which single/album? As I said it's an impossible task. If I'd have included Forever Changes then someone would've complained that Piper was omitted! The music of this year is just so outstandingly good that these songs can be omitted due to the sheer quality of everyone else. It reminds me a bit of Wenger - a great manager who was unlucky to be in an era of other great managers!

# Cat Stevens - Matthew & Son

I love Cat Stevens and this song is one of his absolute finest.

# I'm a Man - Spencer Davis Group

An absolute Grade A1 classic - the percussion alone is magnificent but it's full to the brim of male swagger and menace. I was surprised to learn it was 67 as I had a feeling it was a few years later, but either way it could be played today and still carries potency. The great Stevie Winwood on keyboards and vocals.

# Traffic - Paper Sun

Another magnificent song by another magnificent band.

# Traffic - Hole in my shoe

As a kid, I ADORED this song. I obviously had no idea that it was (probably) a LSD inspired song but I loved the imagery, melody and general silliness of it. I love it to this day. I can't get my head around how it sounds like the melody and drums are being played backwards, that is some band who can do that.

Who can't love these lyrics? :) Imagine Cliff, Elvis, Frank, Engelbert or a million others trying to sing this! :)


# Bernadette - The Four Tops

The great Four Tops were such a great band that I could easily include every song they did in every year. I think Bernadette might be their best, Levi Stubbs' voice just absolutely makes it.

# Happy Together - The Turtles

When I think about how to write a great pop song, this is a song I'd hold up for a template - simple, joyful, beautiful and utterly melodic. You just want to sing it and the way it changes from minor to major is sublime. And those harmonies - not as good as the Beach Boys - but they are bloody close.

# I Can Hear The Grass Grow - The Move

Another psychedelic rocker, what a magnificent song from Roy 'Wizzard/ELO' Wood's first band. It just rocks from root to flower!

# Flowers In The Rain - The Move

As above, just a brilliant pop song.

# New York Mining Disaster 1941 - The Bee Gees

One of the first singles from the magnificent Bee Gees, it's a brilliant pop song.

# Let's go to San Francisco - The Flower Pot Men

If I lived in the UK in 1967, working in some shithole factory making plates I would be dreaming about going to San Francisco and making effort to get there. Songs like this make me dream to this day of what it was like there.

# Waterloo Sunset - The Kinks

Without question, one of Britain's finest bands and songwriters this is a masterpiece. Beautiful, clever, melodic and carrying a twist - everything I love in a pop song.

# The First Cut Is The Deepest - PP Arnold

A brilliant Cat Stevens song, sung beautifully by a great singer.

# San Francisco - Scott McKenzie

I guess this song is similar to the Flower Pot Men, it's just beautiful. Just listen to those lyrics and the idea of having to put flowers in your hair to mix it in just beautiful.

# We Love You - The Rolling Stones

What a brilliant, beautiful protest song. 'We Love You' is a brilliant riposte to those who arrested them for drugs - another psychedelic masterpiece.

# She's A Rainbow - The Rolling Stones

Our wedding song was Here, There & Everywhere by The Beatles but this song is my wife in a song. She's A Rainbow who combs colours into my life. This psychedelic masterpiece is just utterly beautiful and captivating.

# I Can See For Miles - The Who

Ordinarily, in any other year, a song like this would easily be the best of the year. It's a testament to 1967 that you could place it 30th in the list due to the sheer number of utterly brilliant songs and still complain that the song in 40th place is better.

As you can imagine, this is part of my singles list - there are still lots of great singles I've not listed, as well as albums but I think I'm backing up my claim of 1967 as being one of the greatest years for rock EVER!
Yep all of these could have been included without doubt , a year lank with great songs
 
I dint't think anyone has nominated a track from one of my favourite albums from 67. Tim Hardin 2. Love the songwriting, the instrumentation and arrangements are very nice. You can hear where many artists would be influenced over the next few years.

If I were a Carpenter - Tim Hardin.
Agreed , I did choose my favorite cover of this song namely Bobby Darin's which is timeless for 1966.
 
A write up of a film from the Guardian:

'In November 2016, the singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, renowned for his plaintive ballads, died a few months after the woman who inspired many of them, his Norwegian lover and muse, Mariane Ihlen. Theirs had been a large and chaotic romance that was in many respects a product of the particular times (the 1960s) and the specific place (the Greek island of Hydra) in which they met. The relationship’s legacy was a catalogue of classic songs Suzanne, So long Marriane, Bird on a Wire, a great deal of heartache, but also a lasting sense of the creative power of love.

All of this the documentary maker Nick Broomfield explores in his tender, funny and hauntingly moving new film Marianne and Leonard: Words of Love. Broomfield is not a disinterested observer. He knew Ihlen well. They too were lovers for a while during one of the long breaks in Ihlen’s relationship with Cohen. And her effect on the film-maker was almost as influential as her part in the Canadian poet-musician’s career"

I watched the film and the subsequent mini series and enjoyed them both and would recommend them to anyone with even a passing interest in his music. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Leonard. I was introduced to him in the early 70's when a Cohen album was always put on at 3.00am in the morning when few of us were still conscious at some party or other. I found him fucking depressing. Through the years i have learned to appreciate his songwriting and talent and his fascinating story. His 1967 debut remains my favourite of all his work given it contains many of his classics.View image in fullscreen

So long Marianne - Leonard Cohen
 
Just to highlight how good the music was in this year, here's a list of the songs (not albums) I considered for this year but rejected for various reasons. Every song in the list could easily have been added as they are top class pop songs.

My personal favourite is Kites but either way it's a testament to the writers of these songs:

# Kites - Simon Dupree and The Big Sound

Hauntingly beautiful. Not sure if it was a one-hit wonder but either way, it's a magnificent song and that combination of sound-effects and instrument compliment each other beautifully.

# Alone Again Or - Love

I was very tempted to include the album, but at the expense of which single/album? As I said it's an impossible task. If I'd have included Forever Changes then someone would've complained that Piper was omitted! The music of this year is just so outstandingly good that these songs can be omitted due to the sheer quality of everyone else. It reminds me a bit of Wenger - a great manager who was unlucky to be in an era of other great managers!

# Cat Stevens - Matthew & Son

I love Cat Stevens and this song is one of his absolute finest.

# I'm a Man - Spencer Davis Group

An absolute Grade A1 classic - the percussion alone is magnificent but it's full to the brim of male swagger and menace. I was surprised to learn it was 67 as I had a feeling it was a few years later, but either way it could be played today and still carries potency. The great Stevie Winwood on keyboards and vocals.

# Traffic - Paper Sun

Another magnificent song by another magnificent band.

# Traffic - Hole in my shoe

As a kid, I ADORED this song. I obviously had no idea that it was (probably) a LSD inspired song but I loved the imagery, melody and general silliness of it. I love it to this day. I can't get my head around how it sounds like the melody and drums are being played backwards, that is some band who can do that.

Who can't love these lyrics? :) Imagine Cliff, Elvis, Frank, Engelbert or a million others trying to sing this! :)


# Bernadette - The Four Tops

The great Four Tops were such a great band that I could easily include every song they did in every year. I think Bernadette might be their best, Levi Stubbs' voice just absolutely makes it.

# Happy Together - The Turtles

When I think about how to write a great pop song, this is a song I'd hold up for a template - simple, joyful, beautiful and utterly melodic. You just want to sing it and the way it changes from minor to major is sublime. And those harmonies - not as good as the Beach Boys - but they are bloody close.

# I Can Hear The Grass Grow - The Move

Another psychedelic rocker, what a magnificent song from Roy 'Wizzard/ELO' Wood's first band. It just rocks from root to flower!

# Flowers In The Rain - The Move

As above, just a brilliant pop song.

# New York Mining Disaster 1941 - The Bee Gees

One of the first singles from the magnificent Bee Gees, it's a brilliant pop song.

# Let's go to San Francisco - The Flower Pot Men

If I lived in the UK in 1967, working in some shithole factory making plates I would be dreaming about going to San Francisco and making effort to get there. Songs like this make me dream to this day of what it was like there.

# Waterloo Sunset - The Kinks

Without question, one of Britain's finest bands and songwriters this is a masterpiece. Beautiful, clever, melodic and carrying a twist - everything I love in a pop song.

# The First Cut Is The Deepest - PP Arnold

A brilliant Cat Stevens song, sung beautifully by a great singer.

# San Francisco - Scott McKenzie

I guess this song is similar to the Flower Pot Men, it's just beautiful. Just listen to those lyrics and the idea of having to put flowers in your hair to mix it in just beautiful.

# We Love You - The Rolling Stones

What a brilliant, beautiful protest song. 'We Love You' is a brilliant riposte to those who arrested them for drugs - another psychedelic masterpiece.

# She's A Rainbow - The Rolling Stones

Our wedding song was Here, There & Everywhere by The Beatles but this song is my wife in a song. She's A Rainbow who combs colours into my life. This psychedelic masterpiece is just utterly beautiful and captivating.

# I Can See For Miles - The Who

Ordinarily, in any other year, a song like this would easily be the best of the year. It's a testament to 1967 that you could place it 30th in the list due to the sheer number of utterly brilliant songs and still complain that the song in 40th place is better.

As you can imagine, this is part of my singles list - there are still lots of great singles I've not listed, as well as albums but I think I'm backing up my claim of 1967 as being one of the greatest years for rock EVER!
I second their inclusion in the 1967 playlist. All classics.
 

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top