1966 in music.

The Beatles' Rubber Soul won 1965 in a landslide. Let's see who wins 1966. Tons of groups debuting this month and coming to your own but I predict a lot of the same top threes in different orders

Billboard chart-topping albums of 1966:
Herb Alpert - Whipped Cream and Other Delights (cont. from '65)
The Beatles - Rubber Soul (cont. from '65)
Herb Alpert - Going Places
Barry Sadler - Ballads of the Green Berets
The Mamas & the Papas - If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears
Herb Alpert - What Now My Love
Frank Sinatra - Strangers in the Night
The Beatles - Yesterday and Today
The Beatles - Revolver
The Supremes - A' Go-Go
The Monkees - The Monkees

Billboard chart-topping singles of 1966:
Simon & Garfunkel - The Sound of Silence
The Beatles - We Can Work It Out
Petula Clark - My Love
Lou Christie - Lightnin' Strikes
Nancy Sinatra - These Boots are Made For Walkin
Barry Sadler - Ballad of the Green Berets
The Righteous Brothers - (You're My) Soul and Inspiration
The Rascals - Good Lovin
The Mamas & the Papas - Monday, Monday
Percy Sledge - When a Man Loves a Woman
The Rolling Stones - Paint it Black
The Beatles - Paperback Writer
Frank Sinatra - Strangers in the Night
Tommy James and the Shondells - Hanky Panky
The Troggs - Wild Thing
The Lovin' Spoonful - Summer in the City
Donovan - Sunshine Superman
The Supremes - You Can't Hurry Love
The Association - Cherish
Four Tops - Reach Out I'll Be There
? and the Mysterians - 96 Tears
The Monkees - Last Train to Clarksville
Johnny Rivers - Poor Side of Town
The Supremes - You Keep Me Hangin' On
The New Vaudeville Band - Winchester Cathedral
The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations
The Monkeys - I'm a Believer

What are your top three albums for 1966? We will keep a running tally and eventually have some sort of bracket. For me it would be:

1. Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde (my 2nd favorite album of all time)
2. The Beatles - Revolver
3. The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

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

 

Hot damn 1966 is quite the year in music based on that post alone.

 

Not quite ready for my ballot yet, but hard to imagine I won't land on Pet Sounds at #1. Did a marathon listen yesterday and have gotten in a bunch more today, a few of which I'm hearing for the first time.

Listened to these yesterday and today:
The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
The Beatles - Revolver
The Blue Magoos - Psychedelic Lollipop
Donovan - Sunshine Superman
Hep Stars - The Hep Stars
Ike & Tina Turner - River Deep - Mountain High
Gordon Lightfoot - Lightfoot
The Lovin' Spoonful - Daydream
The Kinks - Face To Face
The Monkees - The Monkees
Paul Revere & The Raiders - The Spirit of '67
Wilson Pickett - The Exciting Wilson Pickett
The Rolling Stones - Aftermath (US Release)
The Supremes - I Hear A Symphony
The Temptations - Gettin' Ready
The Troggs - From Nowhere
Stevie Wonder - Up-Tight

Really excited to keep digging, lots of stuff on my list to get in before I submit my top 3

 

top cuts:
buffalo springfield - buffalo springfield
cream - fresh cream
the kinks - face to face
the mamas and the papas - if you can believe your eyes and ears
13th floor elevators - the psychedelic sounds of the 13th floor elevators

additional cuts:
the animals - animalization
the animals - animalism
the byrds - 5th dimension
george jones - love bug
john mayall & the bluesbreakers - bluesbreakers w/eric clapton
the mamas and the papas - s/t
merle haggard - swinging doors and the bottle let me down
otis redding - the soul album
the rolling stones - aftermath
roy harper - sophisticated beggar
them - them again
tim hardin - tim hardin I
the who - a quick one

stuff to check out:
duke ellington - far east suite
john coltrane - ascension
marvin gaye - moods of marvin gate
the mothers of invention - freak out!
simon & garfunkel - parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
simon & garfunkel - sounds of silence
small faces - small faces
steve lacy - the forest and the zoo
wilson pickett - the exciting wilson pickett

 

you.... haven't heard blonde on blonde? i feel like you'd love it. even if his voice isn't for you, the drumming is top notch

 

I have! I gotta edit my post, I meant that's what I've listened to in prep for the ballot

 

I have The Mothers of Invention - Freak Out! on my list for tomorrow , it’s high on the list of albums I’ve heard the most about without ever actually listening to it myself.

Aside from that, all I can say is this year is pretty insane. Will post my list tomorrow

 

It's so much fun how songs got passed around and recorded back then. The Supremes put out a perfectly respectable version of "Baby I Need Your Loving" but it's pretty clear why the Four Tops have the rendition we're still talking about

 

Hard to not pick that same trio Pat picked. Not sure what my order is, though. Will have to play through those albums tomorrow.

 

Will do my usual post in a few hours, but I have to say Freak Out! is the best album I never want to hear again. Zappa may be a genius, but that doesn’t make him listenable

 

1. Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
2. The Beatles - Revolver
3. Otis Redding - Dictionary of Soul

 

This is impossible, but here are my picks:

1. The Beatles - Revolver
2. The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
3. Ennio Morricone - The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly soundtrack

 

1. The Beatles - Revolver
2. The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
3. Sammy Davis, Jr. - Sammy Davis, Jr. Sings and Laurindo Almeida Plays

Excruciating to cut:
Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde

Others I love:
Simon and Garfunkel - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
Nina Simone - Wild Is the Wind
The Supremes - I Hear A Symphony
Otis Redding - Complete and Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul
The Mamas and the Papas - If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears
Marvin Gaye - Moods of Marvin Gaye
Sam and Dave - Hold On, I'm Comin'
Celia Cruz - Son con Guaguanco
Cream - Fresh Cream
The Supremes - A-Go-Go
Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil

Good ones I've heard:
The Sonics - Boom
The Rolling Stones - Aftermath
The Monkees - The Monkees
Peter, Paul and Mary - The Peter, Paul and Mary Album
Stevie Wonder - Up-Tight
Irma Thomas - Take a Look
The Lovin' Spoonful - Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful
Wilson Pickett - The Exciting Wilson Pickett
John Mayall - Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton
The Butterfield Blues Band - East-West
Simon and Garfunkel - The Sounds of Silence
Roy Harper - Sophisticated Beggar
Sammy Davis, Jr. - Sounds of '66
Buffalo Springfield - Buffalo Springfield
Smokey Robinson and The Miracles - Away We a-Go-Go
Harry Belafonte and Nana Mouskouri - An Evening with Belafonte/Mouskouri
Otis Redding - The Soul Album
Love - Da Capo
Frank Sinatra - Strangers in the Night
Jimmy Smith and Wes Montgomery - The Dynamic Duo
Lightnin' Hopkins - Soul Blues
Tony Bennett - Movie Song Album

Not a fan:
13th Floor Elevators - The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators
The Mothers of Invention - Freak Out!
John Coltrane - Ascension

Targets for listening:
The Birds - Fifth Dimension
Fred Neil - Fred Neil
The Yardbirds - Roger the Engineer
The Kinks - Face to Face
Monks - Black Monk Time
Paul Revere and the Raiders - Midnight Ride
The Lovin' Spoonful - Daydream
Martha and the Vandellas - Watch Out!
Percy Sledge - When a Man Loves a Woman
Percy Sledge - Warm and Tender Soul
Carla Thomas - Carla
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass - What Now My Love
The Mamas and the Papas - The Mamas and the Papas
Barbra Streisand - Color Me Barbra
Ennio Morricone - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Donovan - Sunshine Superman
Frank Sinatra - Sinatra at the Sands
Ike and Tina Turner - River Deep - Mountain High
The Animals - Animalism
Antonio Carlos Jobim - Love, Strings and Jobim

 

If you were to pick one form each of these, which would it be?

This is a straight up masterpiece.

 

merle!

also not surprised you dislike 13thFE but they’re so my shit haha. have to imagine you’ll love face to face.

 

Otis Redding - Otis Blue
The Beatles - Revolver
The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

 

I really want Pet Sounds to take this but I’m not super confident by the looks of it so far.

 

I was unclear in phrasing that. Which Merle and which Animals? I'm leaning toward Animalism.

 

The electric jug just killed it for me. It's legit all I can hear in the arrangement.

 

there’s only one merle. that’s the title of one album. as for animals, i’d go animalism, yeah.

 

We're gonna see this top three a lot, just in different order variations.

1. The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
2. Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
3. The Beatles - Revolver

Feels like an extremely obvious top three, but it's obvious for a reason.

Nothing else from this year that really threatened the top three, but I really like Otis Redding's Dictionary of Soul, Simon and Garfunkel's two from this year, Sound of Silence and Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, Marvin Gaye's Moods of Marvin Gaye, Nina Simone's Wild is the Wind and The Supremes I Hear a Symphony.

Lots of great stuff, but required very little thought to make the top 3 (and then a little bit of thought to order them).

 

Fred Neil is a really cool album. Nocturnal, moody folk/singer-songwriter stuff. Obviously "Everybody's Talkin'" is a classic, but the whole thing is great.

The Mamas and the Papas might be their best set of songs. There are moments where the arrangements are a little weird or thin or the mix isn't my ideal, but good lord those vocal arrangements always make up for everything. "No Salt on Her Tail" is so damn good.

 

Highly recommend both Supremes albums from 66. If they were a double album, it’d easily make my top 3.

 

Both albums are very good but totally a prelude to the amazingness of Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland

 

Guys, don’t sleep on that Sammy/Laurindo Almeida record. Listen to it while the sun is shining