1967 in music. • Page 2

I have to hear these Nina and Aretha albums based on these accolades. I will post my list tomorrow!

 

I’m so irritated I haven’t listened to a note of music all day until now. Anyone else suffer from this problem when their work day gets away from them? It actually negatively affects my mood when I can’t listen to some music lol

 

Okay seriously why is Nina Simone not more talked about?? Maybe she is within music nerd circles but in a general sense, how have I missed her for all of these years?

Her voice is just entrancing - like legitimately can send chills down your spine in a good way. Wow is all I can say.

 

she is incredibly popular and discussed hahaha. maybe just not on this site

 

It must just be naïveté on my part lol.

first I had heard of her was probably the sample Kanye used for “blood on the leaves” - that Kanye song actually has aged kind of poorly in my opinion. A good example of how new interpretations of classic songs are not always the best idea. His lyrical content given the subject matter of the original song are kind of ..... eh questionable at best.

 

Another random ‘67 gem. This song used to be on my Dad’s road trip mixtapes - but every time I hear it now I think of the Breaking Bad sequence. Such incredible use of a song here for an intro to an episode.

who else digs this one ?

 

That's been very much on the rise in recent years. Her stuff was hard to find on CD and spottily on streaming for years. I don't blame someone for not having noticed it hitting critical mass over the last decade to 12 years.

 

Blood On the Leaves is probably the first I heard of her, but Lana Del Rey's version of the Other Woman led me to Nina's, and that's when I started actually seeking her music out a little. I kind of assumed she was someone everyone knew, but I guess when you think about it that's probably not true to the extent of someone like Aretha.

 

Love this song! The Association had some great songs. “Never My Love,” “Along Comes Mary” and this one are among their best.

But the first songs that come to mind when it comes to ‘60s BB needle drops is Marty Robbin’s “El Paso” and “Sugar Town” by Nancy Sinatra in Better Call Saul.

 

Can we include ‘70s BB needle drops too - America’s “a horse with no name” ?

 

i believe "incense and peppermints" is one of the first usages of a fuzz pedal. thereby it is the most important song of the year. also featured ed king pre-lynyrd skynyrd

 

I read that the lead vocal this song was sung by a “friend of the band” that just happened to pop by the studio on the day they recorded it. Wasn’t actually a member of the band. Google Greg Munford. Wild times.

 

I absolutely love that bossa nova outro in Incense and Peppermints, that sunshine pop feeling real swell stuff.

 

Speaking of sunshine pop from this year - this song hasn’t been mentioned yet, who else knows it?

I dare you not to get this song stuck in your head ....

 

Sha la laaaaaa

 

1 Nina Simone - Sings the Blues
2 The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced
3 Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You

4 The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
5 Nina Simone - High Priestess of Soul*
6 The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Axis: Bold As Love
7 The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
8 The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground & Nico

*(had this one down as '66 in my library until seeing it in this thread, whoops)

I've listened to AYE more than almost any other album dating back to when I first heard it as a kid ("I Don't Live Today" and "Purple Haze" were probably the two coolest songs, to my ears, I'd ever heard to that point), but as has been pointed out a couple times the Nina album is just way too powerful not to be #1. Such a singular talent showcasing nearly all her different modes. Glad to see a few people discovering it for the first time recently.

 

Me too! More than anything, these threads are teaching me that my album tagging was pretty inaccurate. In pretty much every year, there's been an album I'd planned on mentioning, only to realise that I'd either missed the year, or I was too early.

Should become less of an issue as we go on, but the year labelling on my iTunes was a right mess.

 

Placeholder for my list posting now tomorrow.

Might even have a last second change or two in my top 3.

 

The Doors - Strange Days
Y'know, if you don't get sucked into the Lizard King/poet genius nonsense, The Doors are a pretty damn good band. This one doesn't have the highs of The Doors (some of the songs are leftovers from the debut) but it actually might hang together better as a record.

The Young Rascals - Groovin'
Really good record. The hit is iconic, the vocals have tons of energy (I feel like Billy Joel was definitely listening) and the songs are strong. Too bad I know the Pat Benatar version of "You Better Run" so much better, because it smokes the original here.

Neil Diamond - Just for You
I'm not generally a Neil fan. His vocals are too mannered and insincere for me a lot of the time. But in his early years, when he was just writing simple, direct songs, he was an absolute force. This one works better than it has any right to, not necessarily because it has a lot of intentionality put into it as an "album", but just because almost every single song is a knock-down classic. If you want to know why he's had a half-century career, this will convince you.

Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band - Safe As Milk
Shock to report I liked this a lot. I HATE Trout Mask Replica. Unlistenable nonsense. But this retains some blues/R&B structure AND it is just draped with guitar from a very young and hungry Ry Cooder, who plays his ass off. The weird touches here make it distinctive, before he let them completely take over and had his head up his ass.

Beau Brummels - Triangle
How had I literally never heard of this band? Incredible arrangements with first-call session guys (Jim Gordon, Carol Kaye, Van Dyke Parks, James Burton) turning little fantasy folk songs into semi-psychedelic epics. "Lovely" is the best way to describe it.

Gene Clark - Gene Clark with the Godsin Brothers
I'd only heard White Light previously and Jesus is he underrated as one of the great writers of his era. Just tremendous songs and the Godsin Brothers' harmonies may not quite be Byrds-level, but they aren't that far off.

Merle Haggard - I'm a Lonesome Fugitive
Merle is one of the most dependable artists ever. Never an album that isn't rock solid. This is pretty straight country, but you can hear the late-'60s sneaking in with some of the guitar playing. It's a good look on him.

Gal Costa and Caetano Veloso - Domingo
Did you know Gal Costa and Caetano Veloso's debut albums were this collaboration? Crazy to have two legends kick off together this way. It's much more Gilberto than it is Tropicalia, but their voices are exactly as you remember them from their world-changing solo records. Lovely, light and intimate bossa nova.

 

nodding my head vigorously

 

Beau Brummels seem to be a band boomers remember fondly but who haven’t found an audience among subsequent generations. The first album from 1965 is a pleasant slice of beatles imitation. Marshall Crenshaw told me they were his favorite band when he was a kid.

and speaking of VDP, he had a couple of killin tunes in 1967 with Harper’s Bizarre:

and this song High Coin is my absolute favorite Van Dyke song:

Neither of these albums are total knockouts, but they’re great sunny pop. Also Ted Templeman was in this band. Wild.

Since I’m certain I’ll forget it when 1972 comes, Clear Spot is an amazing Beefheart album, also pretty digestible music:

 

Um...are you on speaking terms with Marshall Crenshaw? Way to bury the lede!

 

1. The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
2. The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
3. Nina Simone - Nina Simone Sings The Blues

I was absolutely that blown away by Nina and shocked that I never gave her much of a listen before this week. Both of her albums from this year are stunning.

Honorable Mention AKA Also Love These Albums
The Beach Boys - Smiley Smile
The Beach Boys - Wild Honey
Buffalo Springfield - Buffalo Springfield Again
The Byrds - Younger Than Yesterday
Cream - Disraeli Gears
Donovan - A Gift From A Flower To A Garden
Donovan - Mellow Yellow
The Doors - The Doors
The Doors - Strange Days
Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced
Jimi Hendrix - Axis: Bold As love
The Kinks - Something Else
Love - Forever Changes
Nina Simone - High Priestess Of Soul
Pink Floyd - The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
The Rascals - Groovin'
The Rolling Stones - Between The buttons
The Rolling Stones - Their Satanic Majesties' Request
Spanky & Our Gang - Spanky & Our Gang
The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground & Nico
The Who - The Who Sell Out

Separate post this weekend for the ones I have checked out for the first time this week. Still working through a few of them.

 

i might be becoming a zappa man.......

is this what middle age is?

 

Not really. He sometimes sings for a band called The Smithereens I’m involved with, so I talk to him every so often.

But I’m doing a really cool project with him soon! Hopefully he’ll regale me with his many tales of rock n roll weirdnes.