An Ear For An Era: 1965

This is daunting. Johnny Cash is daunting. Bob Dylan is daunting. This era, man. Ever since I started taking 60s music seriously I think I've professed 1967 as something of a landmark year for music or something but this 1965 has me thinking. 1967 may have been special, but it was really just a part of this greater whole. Maybe it was the apex of all of this, but this whole mid-to-late-60s ERA was something special. Not contained to one year, but a whole revolution that was going on that probably started in 1963 or so and just kept evolving. 1965 was another huge year but so is 1966 as well as everything into the early 70s. So this project just got real interesting (to me at least).

There is so much to cover that there's no way I can be all inclusive, so I'm not even going to try because that would almost defeat the purpose of this project. Well, the purpose of this project IS all inclusiveness but the blogging-about-it portion would just overwhelm me. So I'll mostly speak briefly about what really caught my ear, even though there was so much more I heard.

Just as we lost Sam Cooke in that last entry, his heir apparent came onto the scene and will be alive for the next...well, 2 years of this. Of course I'm talking about Otis Redding. Otis was just so much.  Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul is one of those albums that is just so much. Backed by The MGs (man, LOVE that guitar!), full of Sam Cooke covers, his voice! So perfect! I'm trying to cut down on clips to only have stuff people may not know, but the biggest highlight is probably "I've Been Loving You Too Long."

As far as other soul, I think Stax won the Stax vs Motown battle of this year purely on the strength of Otis (but I was also treated to some Sam & Dave!), but Motown can't be denied either. Hits like The Four Tops' "I Can't Help Myself," Jr Walker's "Shotgun," the unfortunately obscure Kim Weston, Marvelettes, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles (The Tracks of My Tears!), Stevie Wonder (Uptight!), Supremes (I Hear A Symphony!), etc.

How was Bettye LaVette not a huge sensation in the 60s? It's so weird. I had one single come on from her from 1965 and she already had her badass strain in her vocal chords she's known for now. I figured that was part of her hard living and part of why I love her current stuff, but that amazing voice seemed to be fully formed then! I had to double check and make sure my recording wasn't a re-recording from 2007 or something. Check it out!

"Let Me Down Easy"

There was also the pure northern soul stormer "Tainted Love" that I have to discuss! Aah! So much great soul! Yeah, Gloria Jones didn't put out too many singles and I have a hard time finding anything, but I'm glad I have an mp3 of this original. Say what you will about Soft Cell, they certainly picked a good one to cover. And I do love their version, but mostly now for helping me discover the original. If there were one soul song to pick to demonstrate the power of the genre to someone that somehow hasn't heard any of it, this would be the one.

Girl pop was still going strong as well.  Petula Clark's "Downtown," I had The Shangri-Las '65! album that is actually quite strong (I liked it more than their previous album), and The Dixie Cups' "Iko Iko" but I really gotta discuss Ellie Greenwich. Just a little bit ago Ellie Greenwich passed away, who was kind of a songwriting genius that also sang a few great songs herself. When she died I remember posting this video on Facebok, a strange thing someone created that I just happened upon when I did a youtube search for her. This is the song I have from 1965 and it's just beautiful. It's fast become one of my favorite pop songs of the 60s, which is saying a lot.

"You Don't Know"

Beach Boys - If we were going through my vinyl collection instead of digital collection I'd probably have much more to say here. I think I have three albums from this year from the Beach Boys as they made their way up to that-one-album-that-will-be-the-focus-of-1966, but my digital collection only has three songs (one from each of those albums). All three were pretty big hits (Help Me Ronda, Barbara Ann, and California Girls) that have been heard by everyone and so I don't have much to say about them. I will mention that Beach Boys Party! (the home of Barbara Ann) is quite the interesting route for them to go. For such a studio-focused group, its laid back live approach is interesting (particularly because this is the definitive version of that hit song). It's still weird to me that this stuff came IN BETWEEN Surfer Girl and Pet Sounds. Anyway, there are probably some great ballads on these albums that would have changed this perspective back.

Beatles - Here is where I worry my blog will become the "check in on The Beatles, Beach Boys, Kinks, Stones, and The Who every year" but all these groups were so instrumental in the evolution of rock that I have to say something every time. So whatever. All of these Beatles albums seem essential from here on out. The critical darling of 1965 from the Beatles is of course Rubber Soul. But even that seems a little imperfect to me. Sure, it includes some bona-fide five-star songs (hello "In My Life" and "Michelle") and many other greats, but "Run For Your Life" still bothers me. When it came on I was kind of thinking it as a satire, like an early version of Shellac's "Prayer to God" which I love (pure violence but you can tell it's just a cathartic release of the over-the-top emotions one feels in certain situations), but it still bothered me. The upbeat nature of it. It kept creeping into my head at some point every day. And I read something about John Lennon regretting writing the song, which sealed the deal for the problematic nature of it. But I've written a lot about Rubber Soul when I really wanted to discuss Help! I think I actually like that one better. It came out before Rubber Soul but was probably their first pure genius album, there I said it. It might be because it was one of my later Beatles purchases so the non-hit songs are still a little newish to me but it also has Yesterday. Which, come on. I don't have to say anything about that song. An instant standard. It's funny, that Anthology thing has a live version of the song, which according to John Lennon's introduction may have been the first time the public heard it. It's just so astonishing, because the crowd was going all Beatlemania but it shut them up a little. Some annoying people just kept screaming but you could just feel the energy there that something special was happening. I guess that's all I'm going to say about that right now.

The trajectory of The Kinks is Kinda odd in this era to me. After blowing everything up with You Really Got Me, they seemed kinda middling. I love some of these songs (Tired of Waiting For You, Well Respected Man), but mostly it feels like they're just messing around with blues covers and pretending to be something they're not. Half the songs on Kinda Kinks were kinda...boring I guess. Comparatively. But don't worry, they're coming back in a big way soon.

The Stones! I complained about similar things for their last album, but it didn't take them long to get to their era of greatness. It's arrived. Strangely, I don't have Out Of Our Heads but I have that Forty Licks collection which has the big singles so I know they were great because the hits that came out this year were Satisfaction, The Last Time, and Get Off of My Cloud. So...yeah, they are here.

Hey! The Zombies had an album! Begin Here is the name. I still think they were criminally underrated in their pre-Odessey and Oracle days. This album is pretty diverse, showing the trippy pop side as well as their own unique take on american rock & roll. For some reason I didn't really buy it when The Kinks & The Stones did it, but I really dig the Zombies covers of bluesy American rock. I feel the same love put into it as I do when Jack White does it. Here's the album closer (although I also considered giving the opener, a cover of Bo Diddley's "Road Runner"), a 1956 blues stormer made popular by Muddy Waters:

"I Got My Mojo Working"

I really wish I had more music from The Sonics. I've heard them referenced as the very first proto-punk or whatever band of them all. Which I'll buy. All I have is one song, thanks to the soundtrack to Greenberg. That song is "Shot Down." Which is an awesome combination of early rock and soul and the pure energy of the punk that would come a decade later (although The Stooges & MC5 would do something similar pretty soon). This track is just so solid, so full of life. I REALLY wish I had more Sonics music! They seemed to be pushing things forward sonically more aggressively than anyone else, and that includes The Beatles, Beach Boys, and anyone else.

"Shot Down"

It is very sad that the earliest Bob Dylan album I own (digitally) is Highway 61 Revisited, but it'd be a pretty easy one to argue as his 60s masterwork. It's got such a sneer, such attitude, such great poetry. Like A Rolling Stone, Ballad of a Thin Man, Desolation Row?

Johnny Cash. Orange Blossom Special. It's a good segue because there are a couple Bob Dylan covers on this one. I looked at Cash's discography and it's pretty sad that this is the only studio album of his I have in this particular era (I have various songs but not full albums) and I can say with confidence that this is Cash at the height of his powers. That baritone is just completely entrancing, and the selection of songs on this album in particular is so perfect, it will go down as one of my favorite albums of all times. I think I already talked about The Wall in the last installment (briefly), I didn't realize at the time that it must have been located there for being recorded in 1964 because here it is on this album, along with so many other equally great songs. The Long Black Veil, It Ain't Me Babe, Don't Think Twice It's All Right, Danny Boy, I could go on. It's just The Commanding Authority of his voice, you just have to listen.

And then at the very end, Nico showed up already! What?! We're still in this period of uplifting music but now we have a VU collaborator showing up? Stuff's gonna get dark real soon. It's the note this year ended on, and once again it looks toward the future.

"The Last Mile"

That's gonna be it for '65.

Where I stand: 2118 of 36390 (yep, the total went down. I decided to delete some of the non-remastered versions of remastered stuff as well as other duplicates that were going to make this take even longer. Not that it made much of a dent...).

Other Highlights Worth Mentioning:

• I keep saying it, but it's pretty astonishing how relevant Frankie Valli managed to stay for how long...this year he had "Let's Hang On (To What We've Got)" while other artists from his original era fell by the wayside...
• He also had a really strange cover of "Don't Think Twice It's All Right" under the moniker The Wonder Who? that may be worth seeking out solely for the bizarreness of it.
• I could do a whole blog about the obscure girl pop and soul tracks I've amassed over the years of those compilations and reading blogs about obscure soul...not mentioned above would include stuff from Yvonne Carol, Twinkle, Paul Kelly, Gene McDaniels, Fred Hughes, Cilla Black, and African Beavers.
• The Who! I have The BBC Sessions which had some of their early singles including My Generation. I'll have a lot to say about them in 1966 because there were about 3 albums that year, but they already had so many great tracks! La-La-Lies, Anyway Anyhow Anywhere, etc...
• I have excluded Christmas music from this project because I don't want to hear it in March, but Vince Guaraldi's A Charlie Brown Christmas would have popped up if I had not. I might catch up with the Christmas music in December or something for a special edition, we'll see how it goes.
• Sam The Sham's "Wooly Bully!" I so want to do this drunkenly in karaoke. Anyone know if the track is available for Rock Band? That one'd be a lot of fun.
• I did have one last Sam Cooke track. I could've pushed back more to 1965. The thing that happened was there was the posthumous album Shake released in 1965, but most of my tracks came from the Portrait of a Legend compilation, so when I was labeling years in that one I put the recorded date (1964) but then later got another track "It's Got The Whole World Shakin'" which I attributed to the 1965 album. I could have put several tracks from that same album together, but that's just pushing back the grief of losing him in this journey. So I already mourned him.
• Nancy Sinatra showed up, but I have some better material coming from her very soon...
• I do like that track "A Groovy Kind of Love" by The Mindbenders. So 60s!
• "Peanut Duck" by "Marsha Gee." What the h is this?? (Look it up!)
• Lots of Lightnin' Hopkins and Lead Belly showed up randomly! It was pretty great.
• The first from James Carr!!!!!! The alternative universe Otis, criminally underrated. I'll have more on him later.
• Yep, James Brown too. Papa's Got A Brand New Bag and I Feel Good. I hate that generic movie trailers and soundtracks have kind of ruined these songs for me.

In The Next Installment...

Duh! Pet Sounds! and Revolver! and Blonde On Blonde! Also some Allen Toussaint, some great French girl pop (a well as Serge Gainsbourg), more girl pop & soul, later era Bo Diddley, Loretta Lynn, Monkees, Nancy Sinatra, TWO Otis albums, Percy Sledge, lots of The Who, and ? And The Mysterians! It'll be fun. 

An Ear For An Era: 1964

Ok, now we've got a year at a time until 2015 or so, whenever I actually get through all this. At least 2014 I think.

So what was 1964? Why is it so worthy of getting its own individual year as opposed to 1963? Well, 1963 would have been fine as well to start, but probably not before that. OK, 1964 had lots of great debuts, lots of great albums that established artists more thoroughly, and other such interestingness.

I'll get the jazz out of the way early because there wasn't much. Just a bunch of Vince Guaraldi. It was very pleasant. Lots of the style he used for the Peanuts cartoons could be found here, so nothing too groundbreaking, just pleasant. Oh, and another very pleasant track was "Moon River" by Louis Armstrong. Wikipedia says his version came out in 1965. I don't know where I got the information to place it in 1964, but there it is.

Can we talk about rock n roll already?

Those 50s artists that influenced all those 60s artists weren't about to slow down (at least the ones still alive). Chuck Berry had an album that included the song "No Particular Place to Go," and while it's basically a rework of School Days, it's a fun song. It just also kind of shows the lack of artistic development that these guys had and why we needed the British invasion and all that. That song came out the same year as (insert below listed album/song here)? That just makes you seem behind the times. However, it is still quite enjoyable and I love that song. There was also some more Little Richard, including a song that was later covered by one of my other favorites (Elvis Costello), the great this song:

"Bama Lama Bama Loo"

But rock & roll's gotta evolve, and I'm just going to go in alphabetical order talking about all this stuff.

The Beach Boys put out one of their "definitive" albums in Shut Down Volume 2. It's got one of their most upbeat hits "Fun Fun Fun," and some great instrumental tracks ("Denny's Drums," "Shut Down, Part II" and some sort-of regrettable silly songs "Pom Pom Playgirl," an awkward sounding "Louie Louie" cover, and a really dumb skit (that is still a good educational tool to teach someone which singer is Mike and which is Brian), but what I really go for are the ballads and this one's got plenty of 'em. "Don't Worry Baby," "Keep An Eye on Summer," and the gorgeous this one:

"The Warmth of the Sun"

Did you ever hear of The Beatles? Two, count 'em two albums in 1964! First was Beatles For Sale, which includes so many great songs but I still consider it "early Beatles." Still, it's got a Buddy Holly cover, a Chuck Berry cover, and "Baby's In Black" which is kind of a grandfather to one of my favorite Magnetic Fields songs (you figure that one out!). The other album, though, is really getting at the genius that was The Beatles. A Hard Day's Night. Completely solid, full of hits, and also some songs toward the end that I'm still not super familiar with, making it quite the exciting listen.

Now a detour. I have this song that is just SO terrible that I have a love/hate relationship with it. It's one of the dumbest songs I ever heard. It's a Beatles parody. I LOVE how terrible it is!

Gene Moss "I Want to Bite Your Hand"

Johnny Cash doesn't really fit here with the new up-and-coming rock n roll kids, but "The Wall" is a great song so here's where I'll mention that.

One of the most exciting moments in this adventure so far was the opening riff to "All Day And All of the Night" by The Kinks. Distortion! Rock and roll is now officially here in all its defiant glory. 

The Rolling Stones had what seemed to me like a weak start (considering what they'd go on to accomplish) with England's Newest Hit Makers. It's basically just a covers album. It's good that they wear their early influences so blatantly, but I'm glad they started creating their own sound down the road.

I was surprised to hear the first Simon & Garfunkel I had. "The Sound of Silence" came out in 1964 too? I don't have the album it's from but it's probably a great one.

But you know who just may have been the best rock & roll band of this year? Maybe? I'd like to put out some love for The Zombies. What I have is "The Decca Stereo Anthology" which is a 2-disc collection of all the songs they recorded for Decca records. Somewhere around 50 tracks. A real treasure. Do you know how many records they put out in this period on Decca? One. Which came out in 1965 (so I'll talk about them more next time). Everything else just seemed to not be released? Including 11 great tracks recorded in 1964. GET THIS COLLECTION!

OK, that's good for rock n roll. We must move on to ska! There's a ska cover of the Bonanza song from the compilation discussed last time by Carlos Malcom & The Afro-Caribs. I used to love that song so much and I'm not sure why exactly. There's also some Maytals in the collection but let's talk about  Byron Lee & The Dragonaires. This song has been covered in movies by Fishbone, it's been around in many cover versions but here's the original:

"Jamaica Ska"

Speaking of dancing, we've still got plenty more girl group sounds from that collection discussed from the last entry. Highlights included April Young, Betty Everett, Cher, Sandie Shaw, The Shangri-Las (actually have their whole self-titled album including hits like Leader Of The Pack!), Susan Lynne had another cautionary song about the dangers of boys that try to be so cool and tough called "Don't Drag No More." The Pinups seemed like they wanted to be female Beach Boys with their song "Lookin' For Boys." But the ultimate highlight was by someone named Lulu:

"I'll Come Running"

Now that's a segue into soul music if I ever heard one. It was all about Motown these days with great artists like The Adantes, Brenda Holloway, more well-known hits like The Supremes' "Where Did Our Love Go" (probably my favorite Supremes song) and Mary Wells' "My Guy." And we got the debut album by The Temptations (Meet the Temptations). It had their hit "The Way You Do The Things You Do" which is a great introduction to all the voices in the group, but I prefer the b-side to that single:

"Just Let Me Know"

I didn't have much by way of Stax for 1964 (just more Carla Thomas, who was still great) but thanks to the Eccentric Soul series of compilations I was treated to The Deep City Label. Here's Helene Smith:

"You Got To Do Your Share"

I'm sure there will be more from this compilation (and others) in the near future.

And Aretha Franklin of course! I only have one song from her from 1964 but it was a good one, still one of the greatest kiss-off performances in popular music.

"I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face"

Which brings us to the great great great Sam Cooke. First to come up was his live album Sam Cooke At the Copa, which is a very strong performance set to some very jazzy backing. Highly recommended. But then I was upset very much when I was looking at what I was expecting still in 1964. I noticed the album title of the compilation is Portrait of a Legend: 1951-1964. It ends here. He died in 1964. I knew he died early, but for some reason I figured it'd be 1967 or so. Just a little more is all I'm asking for. But no, that's the end of the line. So 1964 ended perfectly for me, as my shuffle was kind and saved that compilation for last, meaning it ended on this one-two punch:

"That's Where It's At" 

"A Change is Gonna Come"

Any time a dearly departed singer sings a beautiful song mentioning his own mortality in the lyrics it just makes it that much more poignant to hear that line: "It's been too hard livin' but I'm afraid to die, 'cause I don't know what's up there beyond the sky..."

I hope it's every bit as beautiful as your voice.



Where I stand: 1837 of 36497.

Other Highlights Worth Mentioning:

• This came out of nowhere. I don't remember it from the class that I got the CD from but there was the song. One of the weirdest avant garde things I've heard: Bethany Beardslee "Philomel (Babbitt)"

• The Four Seasons were still pretty great.
• "My Girl" actually came on even though I think that album came out in 65. Must have been when the single was released or something.
• My favorite Rolling Stones song was still a cover but not from that album: "It's All Over Now"
• Jr Walker & The All Stars: still my favorite instrumental soul group?
• But don't forget Jimmy McGriff! Still being awesome & stuff.
• I'm not sure I'm a huge Impressions fan but "Keep on Pushin'" is a good song.
• Gene Pitney: I love his songs but "It Hurts to Be In Love" has some of the most awkward phrasings I've heard in music.
• Ella!
• Dusty Springfield covering "Can I Get A Witness" was wonderful.
• Buddy Holly had an even more far out posthumous release?
• Buck Owens & Patsy Cline...maybe I could've made a small country section to put Johnny Cash into.

In The Next Installment...

More Beatles! Help! and Rubber Soul!!! An actual Bob Dylan album (Highway 61 revisited)! More awesome obscure soul! Johnny Cash's great album Orange Blossom Special! An actual Kinks album! Otis Redding (had to have someone try to fill in Sam Cooke's shoes)! Nico! A taste of The Who! And the aforementioned Zombies album. This will be so rockin'.

An Ear For An Era: 1960-1963

Ah, my final multiple-year grouping. Which means the next few will probably be coming in fast, as there will be less music to get through each time. 249 songs only for next round, and then slowly working up to 400 toward the end of the 60s, and then hovering around there for a while. For perspective, this current round has 443 songs I listened to. Don't you love numbers!?!

Speaking of numbers, 1960-1963! This was a time period, as far as I can tell, that supremely talented musicians had a lot of fun without particularly pushing things forward. At least for the most part.

We'll start off talking about the obvious. Tons of Gunther Toody's ready rock n roll classics came on! Of course Ben E. King was king. I don't know who else to single out here. The biggest pain about listening to The Four Seasons is trying to sing along. That's a falsetto right there!

I don't have any Elvis albums from this time period but I have some great singles. I don't think I properly talked about him last time so let me post this song because it's beautiful.

Elvis Presley - Are You Lonesome Tonight?

I'm going to jump around a bit. There's not a good way to flow this in my opinion. I had a classic Coltrane album come up (Giant Steps). That was a good one. But what I really loved was this other album I happen to have (thanks to a weird compilation of him backing up other people) titled simply Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane. Here's a song from that. It's just pretty.

Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane - Why Was I Born?

Now another jump. Blues! After this it will make sense. During this time period it seems my collection of blues was dominated by John Lee Hooker who rocked it and Lightnin' Hopkins who just has a way with songs and whatnot. Here's something great.

Lightnin' Hopkins - Baby Don't You Tear My Clothes

Once when one of those mall CD stores was going out of business I found the best find I have found at one of those clearance things. It was called Girl Group Sounds Lost And Found and featured 4 CDs full of awesome girl pop of the 60s. I quite enjoy it. I keep giving almost every song 3+ stars in my itunes ratings, which is a big deal for me. This was the golden age of pop and this is exemplified by all the great girl groups! Here is one example. I like this song (even though it's less of a rarity than other songs in my collection) because it makes me think of that scene from Mulholland Drive. (So here's the scene from Mulholland Drive is what I'm saying)

Linda Scott - I've Told Every Little Star

I've only given brief mentions of Ray Charles but he really hit onto something good in the early 60s. He put out Modern Sounds in County and Western Music. At first I thought it would be Ray Charles singing country music and wondered how that would work. But instead, he sang songs that were country standards of the time in his own style. Wikipedia says it was a big deal for bringing black & white people together and is one of the most significant recordings in popular music. But you know what? Just for the thrill, I'm going to post a different song.

Ray Charles - Just For a Thrill

Speaking of country music, Johnny Cash. I think I'll have more to say about him later. But he put out some of his big hits in this period (Ring of Fire, The Legend of John Henry's Hammer). The one album I have from this period is pretty good (Blood Sweat & Tears), but I feel like his best was yet to come.

The other big country star of the time was of course Patsy Cline. Her voice is just so beautifully sad. So much so that it's odd whenever she sings a song that's not heartbreaking. So here is one of her sad songs, just the way everyone must like it.

Patsy Cline - Why Can't He Be You

One of my very favorite singer/songwriters of this time was Gene Pitney. I only have a measly best-of collection so no deep cuts here (I have a couple of his records on vinyl) but I wanted to post this song for two reasons. One, it's kind of a response to the Patsy Cline song posted above. And two, he wails just so strongly in here it's easily my favorite (hit) song of his.

Gene Pitney - Half Heaven, Half Heartache

Speaking of great singers, Roy Orbison! His great album Roy Orbison Sings Lonely and Blue cannot come more highly recommended. I just don't want to have to keep posting videos upon videos. But unfortunately this is the last we'll hear from him until the Traveling Wilburys in 1988! So...just listen to the full album!

Soul. Etta James was soul. She put out the album At Last! and it has that famous song. And Stormy Weather. And I can't help it, I'm posting a song that has a similar delivery to At Last, but isn't overplayed. Make this one your wedding song!

Etta James - A Sunday Kind of Love

Also in the world of soul was Bettye LaVette. She's been rockin it lately but I have a song of hers from way back in 1962 called "You'll Never Change." Look it up! And then Sam Cooke put out my favorite song of his, "Cupid." Well that's not true, but it's one of my favorites. And I had an actual album by him called Night Beat. Which seemed kind of comparatively middling amongst his catalog. I'm not sure why. It's still beautiful, but I feel like nothing really stood out on that album.

You know who was a really awesome soul singer? And she's still alive and such? Tina Turner. I feel weird loving a song by Ike & Tina Turner knowing what he did to her...but Tina kills it so hard on this track I have to at least show that part off.

Ike & Tina Turner - It's Gonna Work Out Fine

And we come down to hitsville & soulsville. Motown and Stax. The big dogs. Soul. In one corner we have the likes of The Miracles, The Supremes, and the Marvelettes. On the other? Carla Thomas and Booker T. Which do you prefer, based only on 1960-1963? I think Carla Thomas is a bit underrated and would have to say she beats out the Motown artists of the time as far as vocal soul goes.

Carla Thomas - Promises

But what about the instrumental soul? We've got the impossibly cool Booker T & the M.G.s representing Stax and we have Jr. Walker & The All-Stars on the Motown side of the coin. I don't need to post the song "Green Onions" to describe how cool it sounds. The intrusive guitar just upping the ante over a deep, deep groove...just fabulous. But Jr Walker had this song. I still can't decide.

Jr. Walker & The All-Stars - Brainwasher

But don't forget Jimmy McGriff!

So...soul...rock n roll...pop...a little jazz (sorry jazz for not discussing you more!)...what am I missing? Oh, then we got to 1963.

Ska of course! Early ska hits came up from Desmond Dekker, The Maytals, and Kentrick Patrick. You know, I got this compilation called This Is Ska Too! when I was a young rude boy (ok not really a rude boy) in high school listening to the skapunk of the day. I was aware of old Jamaican ska but didn't know where to begin. I saw this compilation thinking it was a way of welcoming in people like me to this world. A way of saying "you like ska? Well this is also ska!" But it turns out there was also a compilation called This Is Ska! so there goes that theory.

Oh, 1963. You also brought us some early gems by the biggest artists OF the 60s, didn't you?

The Beach Boys!!! You know, if you were to ask me, before this listening project, what the order was for the early Beach Boys albums, I would have assumed Surfer Girl came in right before Pet Sounds. So much maturity! So much of what they did so great with harmony was established! But here it is, from way back in 1963.

And of course we must not forget The Beatles. They'd been creepin' on in to this since 1959 thanks to those anthology releases that have every little demo, significant live performance, alternate take, etc. By the time I got to 1963 there was more than an album full of live performances and early singles, but then we finally got to the album. Please Please Me. Now, as a debut album in 1963, you can't expect greatness. But the singles produced by this album...Twist and Shout, Love Me Do, the title track, PS I Love You, Do You Want To Know A Secret...it's just fabulous. Not really any deep cuts worth exploring just yet, but highly enjoyable.

But I'm not leaving you with The Beatles. I'm leaving you with a great live album (is it the first great live album? I don't know!). This performance had the girls screaming as if it were Elvis or The Beatles or someone. I didn't know he'd developed this big of a fanbase at this time in his career, but I guess he had. Of course I'm talkin' about James Brown y'all! Live At The Apollo Theater! Definitely different from where he would go in his career (more soul than funk) but you can just hear his showmanship on this record. It hinted at the future of soul music. 

I also really need to check out more of this early James Brown & The Famous Flames material. Sounds great.

Where I stand: 1623 of 36486 songs deep.

Other Highlights Worth Mentioning:

• Some posthumous Buddy Holly singles, which were also great. Check out "Now We're One."
• The Dave Brubeck Quartet, "Somewhere"
• Dinah Washington, "September in the Rain"
• Ricky Nelson!
• Booker T & The MGs "I Got A Woman" - I'd like to hear a remix of Kanye's "Gold Digger" sampling this much faster version of this song.
• Ornette Coleman kept it going although nothing was as striking to me as that "Chronology" song I posted from 1959.
• Surfer Girl may have been a fantastic album but The Beach Boys also put out the terrible song "Be True To Your School" the same year.
• You know what other song from this period reminded me of a David Lynch movie? Bobby Vinton's "Blue Velvet."
• Early Carol King! This marks the first artist I've encountered in this project that I have also seen live in concert. Woohoo! This was from that Girl Group Sounds compilation I mentioned.
• Phil Ochs "Too Many Martyrs" and Bob Dylan "Fixin' to Die." I need to have more early albums from these two instead of just random tracks.

In The Next Installment...

Starting the one-year-at-a-time thing! I hope I don't bore you with all my words. But 1964 looks very significant. The Beach Boys (Shut Down Volume 2)! TWO Beatles albums including A Hard Day's Night! More girl groups and soul! The Kinks! The Rolling Stones! Live Sam Cooke! Meet The Temptations! The Zombies! Maybe I can finally focus in on a few things and write deeper instead of wider. This entry just had too much ground to cover.