TJR presents... Albums of the Decade: 1960s
The Jukebox Rebel |
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Updated 1 year ago
Featuring the top rebel-approved (6.5+) cuts from the 1960s albums of the decade chart @ TJR:
www.thejukeboxrebel.com/album-chart-of-the-1960s/
runtime: 13h 2m
(self-limited to the first 200 available tracks)
THE ALBUM TAKES OVER
This was the decade when the album overtook the single as the foremost recorded music statement, both artistically and in terms of sales/marketing. The complete album approach was famously celebrated as The Beatles and The Beach Boys traded transatlantic blows from “Rubber Soul” (1965) to “Pet Sounds” (1966) to “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band” (1967). The Doors producer Paul Rothchild nailed it brilliantly: “Things were wonderful in the 60's, because it was an era of intense experimentation. Everyone was trying to out-hip each other”.
With 7 albums in my Top 100, Bob Dylan is, without doubt, my artist of the decade, with a sharp and intelligent commentary that was backed by a killer catalogue of songs; his fertility between 1962 and 1966 seems super-human to me. As if to underline these majestic credentials, his “Blonde On Blonde” masterpiece stands as the first set of “rock era” songs to be issued on the double long play format, clocking in just shy of the 72 minute mark. The Jazz and Classical markets had been producing such sets since 1950, and even Johnny Cash had got involved in 1965, but Dylan's ambitious release stands as an influential landmark in the story of the album in more ways than one. Double albums would soon become fairly common with The Mothers of Invention (“Freak Out”), The Jimi Hendrix Experience (“Electric Ladyland”), The Beatles (“'White Album'”) and Captain Beefheart (“Trout Mask Replica”) serving as just a few examples.
Almost naturally, America's dominance in the western world's musical culture was slightly lessened in the 60s; 28% of my Top 100 came from the British Isles, with beat groups such as The Beatles, The Kinks, Them and The Rolling Stones spearheading the famous “invasion” and finding favour with me.
The Folk revival which had been bubbling under in the 50s, comes to the boil in the 60s with fine servings from Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, The Dubliners, Leonard Cohen and a great many others. Reflecting the drug culture of the decade, psychedelic music-makers such as The Doors, Love and The Seeds serve up a myriad of earthly delights. It's also a massive decade for soul music with amazing records from the likes of Aretha Franklin, Irma Thomas and Otis Redding.
Pop and Country remain of course, but the biggest thing to take from the albums of the 60s is the widening of the musical language and landscape; Ska / Rocksteady and Reggae emerge from Jamaica and, for me, Prince Buster and Desmond Dekker sit quite happily beside experimental fresh and edgy music from groups such as Monks, The Velvet Underground, Silver Apples and Can.
Top 100 overview:
Countries: the USA (59); England (15); Ireland (6); Germany (5); Northern Ireland (4); Canada (3); Scotland (3); Jamaica (2); South Africa (2); Burma (1); Cuba (1)
Genres: Folk (21); Blues Rock / Soul Rock (15); Psychedelia (15); Blues / Rhythm n Blues (11); Folk Rock / Americana (10); Pop (9); Cerebral Pop (7); Soul (7); Soul Ballad (7); Songwriter (6); Rock n Roll / Rockabilly (4); Trance Rock (4); Alternative Folk (3); Avant-Garde (3); Country (3); Proto-Punk (3); Africana (2); Pop Ballad (2); Reggae (2); Ska / Rocksteady (2); Electronica (1); Jazz (1); Moodcore (1); Rock (1); Rock n Roll Ballad (1); Storytelling (1)
Artists: Bob Dylan (7); The Dubliners (5); The Doors (4); Nico (3); Otis Redding (3); Simon & Garfunkel (3); The Beatles (3); The Kinks (3); The Rolling Stones (3); The Seeds (3); The Velvet Underground (3)
Average album rating: 8.00 out of 10
The Jukebox Rebel
08-May-2019
