 "Photo: Courtesy Photo")
 "Photo: Courtesy Photo")
With this being the last article I write for The New Hampshire, I thought I'd do a wrap-up of what my goal was in writing about what I have over the past year and a half. I love music, all types of music, but specifically music from the 1960s and 1970s. And while my purpose has never been to say that this is what people should be listening to or force anything down people's throats, I have tried to act as a starting point or a template that offered suggestions for people in the hopes that maybe they'll take what I write to heart and give the album I write about a try. Maybe they'll like it, maybe they won't…I recognized a long time ago that people have different tastes in music. There's no way you can force someone into liking something, but still, the albums I write about have a tendency to catch with the listener.
Moreover, what I have tried to do is bring to light some of the albums that you never hear about in this day of "classic rock" radio. There's plenty of good music on those stations, plenty of terrible music as well, and there is plenty of music that you simply don't hear but is just as good and worthwhile to listen to. Everyone knows about The Rolling Stones, yet not a whole lot of people know about their album Between the Buttons, which I wrote about last year. So here, to conclude my series of articles, I thought I would present a list of a few the albums that are a bit forgotten these days but are still some of the great albums to come out of their era and are well worth picking up and giving a chance. Some of these I've reviewed in the past and I have given asterisks next to if you have any desire to go back and read further on them. Thank you for reading and enjoy.
The Band - The Band The Band's debut, Music from Big Pink, is recognized as more of a landmark album, but their self-titled follow up is the better album and one of the greatest in rock history. The Band was able to create an authentic mix of American musical styles, and with stories out of the Americana songbook, the only thing un-American about this album is 80 percent of the group, who hailed from Canada. Key track: "The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down"
The Beatles - Rubber Soul Okay, so most people have probably heard of Rubber Soul and everyone has heard of The Beatles. Nevertheless, this album still manages to get overlooked because of the albums that followed this one in the coming years. Rubber Soul finds the fab-four rising to the challenges set by their peers, expanding their sound, and showing the world why they were the standard for which all pop music was (and still is) measured. And lyrically, there isn't a stronger album in The Beatles' catalogue than Rubber Soul. Key track: "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)"
Bob Dylan - New Morning In 1970, Bob Dylan released Self Portrait, an album that was so astonishingly bad people never knew what to make out of it. Today, when people look back on Dylan's career, they sort of see the five years or so after Self Portrait as an inconsistent period in Dylan's career until he made a huge comeback with Blood on the Tracks. But lost in that vacuum is New Morning, the album that Dylan followed Self Portrait up with that same year. New Morning is consistently solid throughout its running and showed Dylan still had it, even after the puzzling, and possibly intentional, monstrosity that was Self Portrait. Key track: "Time Passes Slowly"
Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska In 1980, Bruce Springsteen was at the pinnacle of popularity up to that point. "Hungry Heart" was his first single to crack the top 10 and The River was his first chart-topping album. Springsteen went the other way though and turned his back on this fame with his follow-up release, Nebraska, a stark album recorded without the E Street Band on a four- track recorder in his bedroom. An incredibly powerful and emotional, yet simple record, Nebraska plays a lot like a demo tape. It also managed to reach No. 3 on the Billboard. Key track: "Atlantic City"
Buffalo Springfield - Buffalo Springfield Again* Everyone knows Buffalo Springfield for the seminal "For What it's Worth." If there was justice in this world, however, everyone would also be familiar with their sophomore effort Buffalo Springfield Again. Again is an album that consists of a great deal of diversity throughout, yet there is still a persistent feel that presides over the record. Again also shows the first signs of true brilliance from Stephen Stills and Neil Young; frankly, neither of them has ever topped what they managed on this album. Key track: "Bluebird"
The Byrds - The Notorious Byrd Brothers When The Byrds first hit the scene in 1965, they were pioneers of the folk rock movement. They then recreated themselves with 1968's Sweetheart of the Rodeo and became pioneers of the country rock movement. In between these two periods lies their January 1968 release, The Notorious Byrd Brothers, somewhat of a transitional album for the group, as they hold on to their original folk rock sound but also foreshadow the country influences they would fully embrace in the coming months. With tinges of psychedelia added in, The Notorious Byrd Brothers is an album that holds together very well throughout and flows beautifully-- a crowning achievement for the most influential American rock group of the 1960s, as well as my all-time favorite band. Key track: "Wasn't Born to Follow"
Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band - Safe as Milk Much of the material in Don Van Vlient, a.k.a. Captain Beefheart's, catalogue is rather strange and tough to approach for most people. That is, with the exception of his first album, 1967's Safe as Milk. A fairly straight blues rock album with some twists, plenty of fuzz, and Ry Cooder's slide guitar work, Van Vlient displays one of the more authentic white blues voices as he shows off his tremendous range. Safe as Milk also happened to be John Lennon's favorite album when it first came out. Key track: "Electricity"
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention - Freak Out! Much like his childhood friend Don Van Vlient, Frank Zappa has plenty of weird stuff out there. His first album however, 1966's double LP Freak Out!, is a rather approachable album that stays very much within the pop songwriting context (for the most part). At the same time, Freak Out! also begins to push the boundaries of its time with hints of avant garde and there's plenty of Zappa's wit present here that was a standard element of his work from here on out. Key track: "Trouble Every Day"
Jeff Beck - Truth In the Mount Rushmore of guitar players from British Invasion, the faces of Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Jeff Beck can be seen. Beck, the least known of these four, was never a huge success as a songwriter or iconic rock figure like the other three, but on his 1968 debut solo effort after being kicked out of the Yardbirds, he certainly proves his place amongst the guitar heroes. What's even more incredible about this album is it displays a young Rod Stewart singing in a very powerful blues voice, proof that Stewart once actually had balls and wasn't always a complete joke. Key track: "Beck's Bolero"
Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow Everyone's heard the songs "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit." As singles, they stood out as two of the most recognizable songs of the era. But the album that they are also found on, 1967's Surrealistic Pillow, still remains somewhat of an obscurity. One listen through, however, will prove that the Airplane was more than a singles band; they could put together a consistent album that was just as great as their singles from start to finish. Key track: "Today"
John Mayall - Bluesbreakers featuring Eric Clapton Jeff Beck put out an incredible statement of his guitar prowess on the first album he made after being a member of The Yardbirds and the same holds true with Eric Clapton, who left The Yardbirds in 1965 and teamed up with British blues giant John Mayall in 1966 to create Bluesbreakers. One of the greatest guitar albums ever made, and quite possibly Clapton's finest work on a six string, Bluesbreakers, which went basically unnoticed in America, brought about the birth of the guitar hero and inspired the "Clapton is God" mantra in England. Later that year, Clapton would further blow out amps and minds as he teamed up with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker to form Cream. Key track: "Steppin' Out"
Joni Mitchell - Blue Mitchell is a mythical figure in rock history, yet you really never hear too much about her anymore. It's a shame because she has a tremendous body of work, especially with Blue, one of the most personally written records that comes across as heartbreaking at times. A great voice, great guitar playing ability, and great songwriting was the formula for Joni, who was Jimmy Page and Robert Plants' favorite songwriter and the inspiration for "Going to California." Key track: "California"
The Kinks - Face to Face, Something Else by The Kinks, and The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society The Kinks are, far and away, the most underappreciated band in rock history, to the point where there are three albums of theirs in succession that I can't even narrow it down to; they all warrant mentioning. 1966's Face to Face was Ray Davies first great statement as a truly significant and insightful songwriter. 1967's Something Else follows up the feel and progress made on Face to Face and contains the wonderfully written "Waterloo Sunset." 1968's Village Green somewhat brings swinging London back to thee olde ways of the English folklore. These three albums make up an unjustly lost section of one of the great rock groups. Key tracks: "Sunny Afternoon"/"Waterloo Sunset"/"Big Sky"
Love - Forever Changes* Love, a cult group from Los Angeles that mixed a Byrds-like, folk rock sound with garage band ethos, created one of the most tastefully produced psychedelic albums to come out of 1967 with Forever Changes. Lush strings, horns, edgy guitar parts, and wonderful songwriting from Bryan MacLean and, primarily, Arthur Lee, Forever Changes was the perfect closing to the "Summer of Love." Key track: "Alone Again Or"
Moby Grape - Moby Grape* No group ever experienced as much bad luck and misfortunate as the San Francisco quintet, Moby Grape. Yet, for one 13 song album, Moby Grape was able to develop an electric combination of country, folk rock, blues, soul, rock 'n' roll, and a hint of psychedelia for a true slice of the S.F. freak scene. One of the greatest and most over looked albums of all time, the group's self-titled debut also happens to be my favorite album ever made. If you pick up one album from this list, make it this one…you will not be disappointed. Key track: "Omaha"
Pink Floyd - Meddle Released in 1971, during Pink Floyd's pre-Dark Side of the Moon days, this is the first consistently great album the group had put forth since Syd Barrett had to drop out because of an acid induced meltdown. Meddle has a very relaxed feeling with the exception of the pound "One of These Days," and the epic 23-and-a-half-minute long "Echoes," which can almost be looked upon as a blueprint for the breakthrough they were about to embark upon with Dark Side of the Moon, just two years later. Key track: "Echoes"
The Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones, Now! The Stones early blues days prior to "Satisfaction" are generally forgotten these days just because they've done so much since then. But The Stones had it from day one, and in no case is this more evident. Plenty of covers are present on Now!, including numbers by Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, but this album also begins to show the early development of the Jagger/Richards songwriting team, especially on "Heart of Stone." Key track: "Heart of Stone"
Sly and the Family Stone - There's a Riot Goin' On You never hear Sly and the Family Stone out there anymore except on commercials…what's up with that!? With the exception of "Family Affair," There's a Riot Goin' On doesn't contain a whole lot of the group's better known songs, yet it shows Sly Stone's ability to write a consistently great album as he continued to forge a new funk sound. Key track: "Family Affair"
Manassas (Stephen Stills) - Manassas It has always been a mystery to me why this album doesn't receive more recognition these days. After all, this was an album that reached the top five on the Billboard charts, created by one of the more well-known figures of rock history. Released in 1972 and featuring former Byrd Chris Hillman, Manassas is a sprawling double album that plays for over 70 minutes, with each of the four sides of the original vinyl release playing different styles of rock: latin flavored rock on side one, country rock on side two, folk and folk rock on side three, and blues and more traditional rock 'n' roll on side four, showing just how versatile of a musician Stephen Stills was. Key track: "Song of Love"
Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything? Something of a wunderkind, Todd Rundgren was only 24 when he came out with his 1972 release in which he wrote, sang, played, and produced every part on much of this double LP. Something/Anything? has a feel very akin to the soft rock movement that existed in the early '70s, a la Carole King, whose voice actually sounds quite similar to Rundgren's. Not that this necessarily is a bad thing-- Rundgren sings with a cool, smooth voice throughout the entirety of the album. Key track: "Hello, It's Me"
The Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat The Velvet's debut album, The Velvet Underground and Nico, is recognized as one of the greatest and most groundbreaking albums in rock history, and rightfully so; it is one hell of an album. But lost in the shuffle is White Light/White Heat, The Velvet Underground's 1968 follow up that is louder, nosier, rougher, looser, more excessive, more extreme and, in all honesty, more gratuitous then its predecessor as the group turned the volume up to 11 in the making of this album. Key track: "Sister Ray"
The Who - The Who Sell Out The Who was famous for putting together elaborate rock operas with Tommy and Quadrophenia. But the whole idea of making an album that had a concept began with 1967's The Who Sell Out. Sell Out, is supposed to play as if the listener were listening to a radio broadcast, with the songs separated by fake ads, station ids, and jingles played by the group. In terms of the music, The Who shows Pete Townshend really coming into his own as a songwriter. The band has its most psychedelic moments on "Armenia City in the Sky" and "I Can See For Miles," and some of the themes that were brought out in their following masterpiece, Tommy, are first heard here, especially on "Rael." Key track: "I Can See For Miles"
The Yardbirds - Roger the Engineer Of the original British Invasion groups, The Rolling Stones, The Animals, and The Yardbirds, were the three groups that set their foundations the most strongly in blues and R&B. When psychedelic music started to pervade the scene, all three of these groups followed suit and entered that world. But instead of completely changing their sound and trying to sound like other artists, The Yardbirds stuck with their roots and simply developed upon in, creating almost a voodoo, psychedelic-blues sound with a hard rock edge, as is evident on 1967's Roger the Engineer. Key track: "Over, Under, Sideways, Down"
The Zombies - Odyssey and Oracle By the time this album saw its release in 1968, The Zombies had already split up. Once people began to hear how much of a masterpiece this album was, there was a huge demand for the group to get back together. They never did, but Odyssey and Oracle still stands as one of the great symphonic pop masterpieces put together during the psychedelic era. With ornate arrangements and elaborate backing vocals accompanying Colin Blunstone's incredibly cool lead vocals, I'd almost say that this is the British Pet Sounds. Key track: "Time of the Season"
Be the first to comment on this article!