Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s by Tamthebam

This was a great decade for music although it was dominated with music from the mid/late sixties with great albums from The Beatles, Stones & Bob Dylan. Many iconic bands were formed during this period and there was a big breakthrough for soul/ RnB albums with the labels Atlantic, Stax and Motown leading the way. I like all types of music no matter who was responsible and I did not include any "Best Of" albums that I included in my year charts.

• Chart updated: 02/07/2025 14:15
• (Created: 09/24/2013 19:44).
• Chart size: 100 albums.

There are 8 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s has an average rating of 89 out of 100 (from 20 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

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1. (=)

The Velvet Underground & Nico 

 The Velvet Underground & Nico

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The best album of the 60's way ahead of its time. Lou Reed & co. must have had a ball making this album it is loose & loud and yet very together, then there are Nico's amazing vocal. It's reputation only grows with time. [First added to this chart: 09/24/2013]

Year of Release:

1967

Appears in:

3,033 charts

Rank Score:

42,443

Rank in 1967:

2

Rank in 1960s:

4

Overall Rank:

10

Average Rating:

 89 (3,514 votes)

Comments:

353

2. (=)

Abbey Road 

 The Beatles

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From start to finish this is one of my favourite Beatles album it is their best album and one of the best albums of all time and the last album they recorded (Let It Be was released a year later but the tracks for it had already been recorded). They hit an all time peak with this record I doubt they would have been able to better it,if they had stayed together. Octopus's Garden & Silver Hammer are the only tracks which get less than 90/100. [First added to this chart: 09/24/2013]

Year of Release:

1969

Appears in:

3,705 charts

Rank Score:

60,834

Rank in 1969:

1

Rank in 1960s:

1

Overall Rank:

3

Average Rating:

 92 (4,593 votes)

Comments:

472

3. (=)

The Beatles (The White Album) 

 The Beatles

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This album sounds like 3 individual songwriters battling to see who can win with their songs. It makes for a great listen even if it is a bit disjointed. Not all four were present in the studio at the same time McCartney working mostly solo or with Harrison/Starr and Lennon preoccupied with Yoko Ono whose influence is clearly felt on Revolution 9. There are 30 tracks this could have been trimmed down to 28 omitting Piggies & Revolution 9, having said that the album is a must for all Beatle fans and music lovers contains some great tracks - Happiness Is A Warm Gun, Blackbird, Back In The U.S.S.R. & Helter Skelter. [First added to this chart: 09/24/2013]

Year of Release:

1968

Appears in:

2,921 charts

Rank Score:

39,673

Rank in 1968:

1

Rank in 1960s:

6

Overall Rank:

14

Average Rating:

 89 (3,801 votes)

Comments:

340

4. (=)

I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You 

 Aretha Franklin

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This is thee soul album of the 60's head & shoulders above everything else Aretha did or any solo artist in the 60's. She along with Nina Simone have voices that transcend time you know within 3 secs. of hearing her voice "that's Aretha". Every track here is brilliant Respect, the title track, Dr. Feelgood, Do Right Woman & a brilliant version of A Change Is Gonna Come stand out but this is just a superb RnB/soul album. [First added to this chart: 09/24/2013]

Year of Release:

1967

Appears in:

647 charts

Rank Score:

4,540

Rank in 1967:

14

Rank in 1960s:

50

Overall Rank:

383

Average Rating:

 80 (605 votes)

Comments:

26

5. (=)

Beggars Banquet 

 The Rolling Stones

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This is a great Stones record not a single weak track Sympathy, Jigsaw, Salt of the Earth and Street Fighting Man stand out from the rest but the other mostly acoustic numbers make the album a relaxing listen and a smooth ride. [First added to this chart: 09/24/2013]

Year of Release:

1968

Appears in:

1,217 charts

Rank Score:

9,456

Rank in 1968:

7

Rank in 1960s:

28

Overall Rank:

161

Average Rating:

 84 (1,539 votes)

Comments:

96

6. (=)

Rubber Soul 

 The Beatles

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The first of the Beatles masterpieces which still sounds great today. Beatles album until The White album & Abbey Road were released. It is my 4th best Beatles album and one of my all time 100 albums. It contains one of the better Ringo tracks "What Goes On" along with Norwegian Wood, In My Life Michelle, Nowhere Man, The Word & Drive My Car which rank 90/100 or more. The rest of the album is good I think that Revolver released 6 months later took some of the spotlight away from this album but over the years I keep coming back to it more so than Sgt. Pepper or Revolver. [First added to this chart: 09/24/2013]

Year of Release:

1965

Appears in:

2,331 charts

Rank Score:

28,348

Rank in 1965:

2

Rank in 1960s:

9

Overall Rank:

28

Average Rating:

 88 (3,354 votes)

Comments:

258

7. (=)

Pet Sounds 

 The Beach Boys

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There isn't much left to say about Brian Wilson and his imagination an amazing album full of summertime music. You wake up on a sunny day play this album and the feeling lasts all day play it on a rainy day and it cheers u up. Every track is an experience I should know it took me 30 years to get into it ! [First added to this chart: 09/24/2013]

Year of Release:

1966

Appears in:

2,838 charts

Rank Score:

41,403

Rank in 1966:

2

Rank in 1960s:

5

Overall Rank:

12

Average Rating:

 88 (3,254 votes)

Comments:

356

8. (=)

Nina Simone Sings The Blues 

 Nina Simone

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A great soul/RnB album Nina at her best. Standout tracks are "A little sugar ....." "Do I Move You" "In The Dark " "Since I Fell For You " and "Blues For Mama" but to top all of those is the amazing "My Mans Gone Now ". A brilliant album. [First added to this chart: 09/24/2013]

Year of Release:

1967

Appears in:

137 charts

Rank Score:

627

Rank in 1967:

37

Rank in 1960s:

231

Overall Rank:

2,518

Average Rating:

 80 (161 votes)

Comments:

3

9. (=)

Let It Bleed 

 The Rolling Stones

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A great album Gimme Shelter, Midnight Rambler, You Can't Always Get What You Want are all here I prefer the original Honky Tonk Woman to the country version but that's the only fault I can find. The title track, Live With Me & Monkey Man are brilliant. Sticky Fingers & Exile would follow. [First added to this chart: 09/24/2013]

Year of Release:

1969

Appears in:

1,762 charts

Rank Score:

18,104

Rank in 1969:

4

Rank in 1960s:

15

Overall Rank:

59

Average Rating:

 85 (2,083 votes)

Comments:

139

10. (=)

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere 

 Neil Young & Crazy Horse

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[First added to this chart: 09/24/2013]

Year of Release:

1969

Appears in:

933 charts

Rank Score:

8,430

Rank in 1969:

8

Rank in 1960s:

31

Overall Rank:

184

Average Rating:

 84 (1,091 votes)

Comments:

57

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Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s composition

Year	Albums	%
1960	0	0%
1961	0	0%
1962	0	0%
1963	4	4%
1964	3	3%
1965	10	10%
1966	10	10%
1967	20	20%
1968	23	23%
1969	30	30%

Artist	Albums	%
The Beatles	9	9%
Bob Dylan	6	6%
The Rolling Stones	5	5%
The Beach Boys	5	5%
Nina Simone	5	5%
Aretha Franklin	4	4%
Simon & Garfunkel	3	3%
Show all

Country	Albums	%
	56	56%
	31	31%
	8	8%
	4	4%
	1	1%

Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s chart changes

New entries
Five Leaves Left by Nick Drake

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Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s similarity to your chart(s)

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Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s ratings

Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 20 ratings for this chart.

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Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
75/100	03/14/2025 12:20	SomethingSpecial	1,031	85/100
85/100	01/11/2023 22:03	Moondance	476	85/100
85/100	01/11/2023 20:25	Johnnyo	2,415	80/100
90/100	01/11/2023 09:28	Liedzeit	76	85/100
100/100	10/14/2021 12:56	Cytoma	171	90/100

Rating metrics: Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some charts can have several thousand ratings)
This chart is rated in the top 5% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 88.8/100, a mean average of 90.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 90.3/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 7.8.

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Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s comments

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Rating:  

85/100

From Moondance 01/11/2023 22:12

Nice chart with good coverage of the decade. I agree that the decade didn't truly kick off with great albums until 1963.
Nice to see Laura Nyro in there (twice)! ~ but surprised to see CSN a lot lower than I think they deserve, given the quality of the album.
I agree with a previous comment that Cream deserve a place in the top 100 of the 60's and we could quibble over artists like Blind Faith, Iron Butterfly, Blood Sweat & Tears.

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

85/100

From Johnnyo 01/11/2023 20:25

Very good chart

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

95/100

From leniad 11/10/2020 03:03

Solid chart, love your writing

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

90/100

From cabvo 03/16/2020 14:15

Beggars Banquet in the top 10! Great choice for an overall great list!

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

100/100

From CharlieBarley 01/04/2017 19:40

Sweet 60s chart! 44 albums in common. Good to see the Rod Stewart album or as it was called in the UK An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down. Good diversity of music. I think you have good taste man.

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

75/100

From bluesbrew82 09/08/2015 17:24

A nice chart, fluid. No Janis Joplin or Cream? Still a good feeling chart as is. Glad u dropped Moby Grape in there.

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

90/100

From tgarritsen 02/07/2014 17:15

Fun to see Aretha Franklin so high.

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

80/100

From greatson 10/22/2013 12:56

You seem to be the soul representative of BEA.
There sure is a lack of good soul music on BEA, but I´m not fully satisfied with your chart - a bit too many classics and too many albums of your top4 - no real surprises.
The music`s OK

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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