1965 was a little rough for albums. Not due to a lack of quality, but rather a lack of originality. There were so many artists with a couple originals who then supplemented their albums with covers. Hell, that's how The Beatles started. I was considering Here Are the Sonics by The Sonics and Begin Here by The Zombies, but I felt there were too many covers. I even briefly considered Highway 61 Revisited out of desperation. Other contenders were Herbie Hancock Maiden Voyage and Miles Davis ESP. In the end, I have my top four and they are pretty good.
Ironically, my number one has three covers and questionable sequencing. It's The Who Sings My Generation by The Who. I'm puzzled why a band would come out of the gate with a manifesto like "My Generation" and bury it on track six behind a James Brown cover and an original that sounds like an R&B cover. "People try to put us down just because we get around. Things they do look awful cold. Hope I die before I get old". That's a Roger Daltrey punch in the face to the "Greatest Generation". Factor in arguably the best pop song of all-time, "The Kids Are Alright", and this is already one of the most important albums of the Sixties. Then there are several straight up rockers like "Good's Gone", "La-La-La Lies" and "Much Too Much". Try to imagine being alive when this album came out. It was louder, edgier and more confrontational than anything that preceded it. And they had Keith Fucking Moon. So good.
For my number two, I'm going with John Coltrane's A Love Supreme. This is peak Coltrane with his classic quartet of McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones. If a made a Mt. Rushmore for jazz albums, this would be on it. If you find Coltrane intimidating, go back to his stuff with Miles and work your way through his catalog chronologically. He was a musical genius and a brilliant player. Unquestionably the most gifted individual to pick up a saxophone.
Number three is Rubber Soul by The Beatles. An album of originals. Yay! Not as good as Revolver, but a nice companion piece that showed the direction they were heading as a band. The songs were more sophisticated and complex. This change was credited to the influence of Dylan. Perhaps, but it probably would have happened organically anyhow. For me, the standout tracks are "Nowhere Man", "Think For Yourself" and "If I Needed Someone". What else can I say, it's The Beatles.
Number four is a bit of a stunner. I'm going with A Charlie Brown Christmas by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. It is a beautiful album in the style of Bill Evans. This has to be the bestselling and most listened to Christmas album ever. Worth listening to just for "Linus and Lucy". This is a nostaglia selection sorry, not sorry.
Wow, tomorrow is 1964, the year I was born; barely. That will be my last album Mt. Rushmore for specific years. I will do a Sixties recap and some other random Mt. Rushmores. After that I'm not sure. I have published something for 38 straight days and I don't want to lose my momentum. Anyhow, 1964 looks like a lot of jazz and country, but I will review my options one more time. Peace.
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