A discovery and re-evaluation of the 1960s

[RoundTheBend]

Score: /100

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It's A Man's Man's Man's World by James Brown

The Scratch
It's A Man's Man's Man's World
Bewildered
Is It Yes Or Is It No?
Ain't That A Groove Part 1
The Bells
Ain't That A Groove Part 2
Come Over Here
In The Wee Wee Hours (Of The Nite)
I Don't Mind
Just You And Me
I Love You, Yes I Do

Overall Experience:

[RoundTheBend]

Score: /100

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Up-Tight by Stevie Wonder


Love A Go Go 2:42
Hold Me 2:35
Blowin' In The Wind 3:45
Nothing's Too Good For My Baby 2:38
Teach Me Tonight 2:38
Up Tight (Everything's Alright) 2:53
Ain't That Asking For Trouble 2:47
I Want My Baby Back 2:46
Pretty Little Angel 2:11
Music Talk 2:57
Contract On Love 2:02
With A Child's Heart

Overall Experience:

[RoundTheBend]

Score: /100

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Blonde On Blonde by Bob Dylan


Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 4:36
Pledging My Time 3:50
Visions Of Johanna 7:33
One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later) 4:54
I Want You 3:07
Memphis Blues Again 7:05
Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat 3:58
Just Like A Woman 4:52
Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine 3:30
Temporary Like Achilles 5:02
Absolutely Sweet Marie 4:57
4th Time Around 4:35
Obviously 5 Believers 3:35
Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands 11:23

Overall Experience:

[RoundTheBend]

Score: /100

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Astral Weeks by Van Morrison

In The Beginning
1 Astral Weeks 7:00
2 Beside You 5:10
3 Sweet Thing 4:10
4 Cyprus Avenue 6:50
Afterwards
5 The Way Young Lovers Do 3:10
6 Madame George 9:25
7 Ballerina 7:00
8 Slim Slow Slider 3:20

Overall Experience:

[RoundTheBend]

Man, this is way more work than I originally thought.

I just finished the top 100 albums on this site though for the 1960s and rated each one of them... I just couldn't write my impressions for each one (time/laziness/easier to just keep track of it on my spreadsheet and on the site and adding this process was just another step and while at work/driving etc, makes it difficult to keep up).

[RoundTheBend]

Progress so far... I wanted to write a review of each album, but found with my schedule I'm going to rate it all first and then hopefully get back to the review. I found my reviews were just personal ideas that came to mind when I listened to it and not really a review... and who really cares about my opinion.

It did help me articulate why I like something, so it's really helpful, I just need to not be so lazy.

Having said that I'm being lazy, I've listened to 147 albums in the past few weeks.

BEARank Album Artist Year Genre Rating My Rank
2 Abbey Road The Beatles 1969 100 1
3 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band The Beatles 1967 100 2
67 Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme Simon And Garfunkel 1966 100 3
11 Are You Experienced The Jimi Hendrix Experience 1967 95 4
12 Led Zeppelin II Led Zeppelin 1969 95 5
9 The Doors The Doors 1967 95 6
58 The Times They Are A-Changin' Bob Dylan 1964 95 7
N/A Wooly Bully Sam The Sham And The Pharaohs 1965 Find
N/A The Andy Williams Christmas Album Andy Williams 1963 Find
N/A For Twisters Only Chubby Checker 1961 Find
N/A College Concert The Kingston Trio 1962 Find
581 Donovan's Greatest Hits Donovan 1969 95
464 6- And 12-String Guitar Leo Kottke 1969 95
76 Stand! Sly and the Family Stone 1969 95
47 Bookends Simon And Garfunkel 1968 95
19 Magical Mystery Tour The Beatles 1967 95
1 Revolver The Beatles 1966 95
105 Santana Santana 1969 90
94 With The Beatles The Beatles 1963 90
64 Live At The Apollo James Brown 1963 90
63 I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You Aretha Franklin 1967 90
39 At Folsom Prison Johnny Cash 1968 90
28 White Light/White Heat The Velvet Underground 1968 90
23 The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground 1969 90
16 Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin 1969 90
8 Rubber Soul The Beatles 1965 90
6 Pet Sounds The Beach Boys 1966 90
5 The Beatles (The White Album) The Beatles 1968 90
624 Brave New World Steve Miller Band 1969 85
132 Smiley Smile The Beach Boys 1967 85
122 At San Quentin Johnny Cash 1969 85
98 Wheels Of Fire Cream 1968 85
79 Beatles For Sale The Beatles 1964 85
68 Willy And The Poor Boys Creedence Clearwater Revival 1969 85
61 Green River Creedence Clearwater Revival 1969 85
45 Otis Blue / Otis Redding Sings Soul Otis Redding 1965 85
43 Strange Days The Doors 1967 85
41 Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere Neil Young And Crazy Horse 1969 85
35 Help! The Beatles 1965 85
34 Five Leaves Left Nick Drake 1969 85
24 Beggars Banquet The Rolling Stones 1968 85
20 Bringing It All Back Home Bob Dylan 1965 85
15 Astral Weeks Van Morrison 1968 85
14 Let It Bleed The Rolling Stones 1969 85
4 The Velvet Underground And Nico The Velvet Underground 1967 85
N/A It's A Man's Man's World James Brown 1966 80
608 I Walk The Line Johnny Cash 1964 80
317 The Hurdy Gurdy Man Donovan 1968 80
183 Sunshine Superman Donovan 1966 80
135 Silver Apples Silver Apples 1968 80
126 Live/Dead Grateful Dead 1969 80
115 Modern Sounds In Country and Western Music Ray Charles 1962 80
111 The Chicago Transit Authority Chicago Transit Authority 1969 80
99 Kick Out The Jams MC5 1969 80
86 Cheap Thrills Big Brother And The Holding Company 1968 80
78 Lady Soul Aretha Franklin 1968 80
72 Waiting For The Sun The Doors 1968 80
65 Sounds Of Silence Simon And Garfunkel 1966 80
57 The Stooges The Stooges 1969 80
50 Please Please Me The Beatles 1963 80
49 Crosby, Stills & Nash Crosby, Stills & Nash 1969 80
38 A Hard Day's Night The Beatles 1964 80
30 The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society The Kinks 1968 80
18 Electric Ladyland The Jimi Hendrix Experience 1968 80
13 In The Court Of The Crimson King King Crimson 1969 80
N/A Love Man Otis Redding 1969 75
N/A Let The Sunshine In Diana Ross & The Supremes 1969 75
825 The Graduate Simon And Garfunkel 1968 75
711 The Best Of The Animals The Animals 1966 75
582 Canned Wheat The Guess Who 1969 75
445 Hums Of The Lovin' Spoonful The Lovin' Spoonful 1966 75
223 The Dock Of The Bay Otis Redding 1968 75
222 Anthem Of The Sun Grateful Dead 1968 75
206 Kinks The Kinks 1964 75
144 Out Of Our Heads The Rolling Stones 1965 75
95 Hot Buttered Soul Isaac Hayes 1969 75
92 Liege And Lief Fairport Convention 1969 75
69 King Of The Delta Blues Singers Robert Johnson 1961 75
62 My Generation The Who 1965 75
52 Days Of Future Passed The Moody Blues 1967 75
36 Axis: Bold As Love The Jimi Hendrix Experience 1967 75
32 Songs Of Leonard Cohen Leonard Cohen 1967 75
22 Odessey And Oracle The Zombies 1968 75
10 Blonde On Blonde Bob Dylan 1966 75
N/A Up-Tight Stevie Wonder 1966 70
792 My Cherie Amour Stevie Wonder 1969 70
499 Daydream The Lovin' Spoonful 1966 70
486 Crying Roy Orbison 1962 70
460 Grand Funk Grand Funk Railroad 1969 70
404 Make It Happen Smokey Robinson And The Miracles 1967 70
366 Walk Don't Run The Ventures 1960 70
346 Do You Believe In Magic The Lovin' Spoonful 1965 70
292 Going To A Go-Go Smokey Robinson And The Miracles 1965 70
255 Happy Trails Quicksilver Messenger Service 1969 70
225 Where Did Our Love Go The Supremes 1964 70
201 In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida Iron Butterfly 1968 70
176 Pain In My Heart Otis Redding 1964 70
110 Between The Buttons The Rolling Stones 1967 70
96 The Marble Index Nico 1968 70
93 Today! The Beach Boys 1965 70
91 The Psychedelic Sounds Of The 13th Floor Elevators 13th Floor Elevators 1966 70
87 Nashville Skyline Bob Dylan 1969 70
84 Space Oddity David Bowie 1969 70
82 My Favorite Things John Coltrane 1961 70
81 Goodbye And Hello Tim Buckley 1967 70
74 Giant Steps John Coltrane 1960 70
71 Chelsea Girl Nico 1967 70
66 Getz/Gilberto Stan Getz & João Gilberto 1964 70
60 Sketches Of Spain Miles Davis 1960 70
56 Aftermath The Rolling Stones 1966 70
48 In A Silent Way Miles Davis 1969 70
44 Surrealistic Pillow Jefferson Airplane 1967 70
42 Hot Rats Frank Zappa 1969 70
37 Disraeli Gears Cream 1967 70
29 The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady Charles Mingus 1963 70
26 The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan Bob Dylan 1963 70
25 The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn Pink Floyd 1967 70
21 A Love Supreme John Coltrane 1965 70
17 Forever Changes Love 1967 70
7 Highway 61 Revisited Bob Dylan 1965 70
632 In Dreams Roy Orbison 1963 65
307 Steppenwolf Steppenwolf 1968 65
269 Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. Simon And Garfunkel 1964 65
165 Volunteers Jefferson Airplane 1969 65
88 Face To Face The Kinks 1966 65
75 The Notorious Byrd Brothers The Byrds 1968 65
73 Dusty in Memphis Dusty Springfield 1969 65
70 A Saucerful Of Secrets Pink Floyd 1968 65
59 Freak Out! The Mothers of Invention 1966 65
55 We're Only In It For The Money The Mothers of Invention 1968 65
51 The Who Sell Out The Who 1967 65
46 Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire) The Kinks 1969 65
40 Music From Big Pink The Band 1968 65
27 Tommy The Who 1969 65
765 Mellow Yellow Donovan 1967 60
106 Another Side Of Bob Dylan Bob Dylan 1964 60
100 Younger Than Yesterday The Byrds 1967 60
97 Scott 4 Scott Walker 1969 60
85 Out To Lunch! Eric Dolphy 1964 60
80 Sweetheart Of The Rodeo The Byrds 1968 60
77 Blind Faith Blind Faith 1969 60
33 The Band The Band 1969 60
31 Trout Mask Replica Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band 1969 60
338 Happy Together The Turtles 1967 50
83 John Wesley Harding Bob Dylan 1967 50
54 Safe As Milk Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band 1967 50

[RoundTheBend]

Kinda finishing this up... I didn't "diary" much, but did find this interesting/learned something new:

Soo random thought:

Two artists I didn't really care for, but now maybe respect a little more listening to their 60s debut.

Bee Gees (not disco, but hippy dippy stuff similar to later Beatles, but not as good)

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1st by Bee Gees

Fleetwood Mac (Not sure how to describe what they are famous for, but this album is some raw blues rock... not terribly unique blues rock, but really good guitar tone at least.

Fleetwood Mac by Fleetwood Mac


They sound nothing like what they are famous for and show that they are able to do other music than just their restricted genre or they can only do one thing kinda thing... one thing GOOD maybe a different argument, but it's not like this is kill me now terrible either... just average.

[Grzywa]

Any after thoughts ? I mean, considering the substantial amount of effort you've put into it, did it overall make you re-evaluate the 1960s era, or rather re-confirm what you'd already known before ?
_________________
Always shouts out something obscene

[RoundTheBend]

[Satie]

Are you considering engaging with the jazz of the '60s? I know you constantly state it as the prevailing genre of the '50s, but I think most people see the '60s as a huge high point of jazz music. I would argue that there was more consistent and diverse jazz ouput and innovation in the '60s than virtually any other period in its history. I think any overview of the '60s is incomplete (like, not 90% complete but like 30% complete) without jazz music being a huge part of the investigation.

Still, admirable effort and glad you could re-assess a lot of your longstanding opinions about the era!