Shortly after moving to the Bay Area I was putting music on my new 160gb iPod. I realize that these iPods were discontinued so by new I mean “new to me”. Anyways I was uploading the rather sexcellent Animals album, Animalism when long story short I had to decipher what the bonus tracks were on the particular edition I had. Most of these songs were recorded under the similar but different group Eric Burdon and the Animals, and most of them were random hippy crap. Based on the timeline these were recorded, they ranged form 1966-68 and all seemed to be a product of their time. More than one song were about San Francisco and just seemed to comment on the scene going on there.
This got me thinking about that time in music history. 1967 is to music what 1939 is to film. A seminal year best known for several vital landmark works of art that have elevated the year to some sort of mystical time when all the stars aligned. For a quick reference 1939 is when Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Stagecoach, and several other classic films were released. As a result there has always been a special label to the music of 1967. Not just in the Haight-Ashbury mystique of dirty gross hippies taking LSD, but that somehow the albums released during this year carried extra weight for carrying that date on it’s copyright.
Oakland is to San Francisco what the White Sox are to Cubs fans. We deserve more recognition but have always managed to buried under our more glamorous neighbors. Even if our neighbors live in a shitty city where parking is impossible and only people making 6 figures can afford the most basic studio. Oakland’s music scene consisted of MC Hammer and a few other rappers you already forgot about, so we might have some street cred, but will never lack the household names of San Francisco’s Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Santana, Journey, and others.
So why exactly does this list exist?
Good question me. My brother and I decided it was about time to update our top 100 album lists. Unlike my film list, that I refuse to update more than once a decade, my album list is poised for a tweaking every couple of years, regardless of how much might have changed. Thanks to NME and to a lesser extent Rolling Stone, I decided this time to make my top 100 a top 500. So I’ve cast a much wider net than normal to research this particular list. As an exercise of compartmentalizing, 1967 was a microcosm of my research. Instead of randomly listening to 600 odd albums, I focused on one year, and listened to all the albums I had from that particular year. Oh, did I mention I recently finished updating my record collection to not just be listed alphabetically but also chronologically? I did, and I’m a nerd, but it made researching 1967 a hell of a lot more streamlined.
Point is I dug head first into this legendary year, and was somewhat amazed to find out how damn hard it was to rank a top ten. There were easily another 10 albums I would have loved to include on this list, and there are some downright masterpieces that aren’t being represented. Ironically not a single band from San Francisco made my list, but there are no shortage of essentials included herein. If I left out an album, it isn’t necessarily because I hate it, but I just liked ten albums more. So at the request of absolutely no one, here’s my ten favorite albums from 1967.
10. The Rolling Stones - Between the Buttons
In 1968 the Stones would hire Jimmy Miller as producer and officially become “The Stones”. In 1967 they were still trying to sound like the Beatles and occasionally doing a damn good job at it. Between the Buttons was the last great album of their early era, and only a slight drop off from the masterpiece that was Aftermath. Like that previous album this had differing US and UK versions. For the sake of this list, I’m selecting the US release which features the classic singles “Let’s Spend the Night Together” and “Ruby Tuesday”. The differing tracks from the UK version were released later in 1967 as part of the Flowers album, a quasi-compilation that also featured some of the UK Aftermath songs. Between the Buttons showed the Stones trying to be popular and succeeding wildly. Sure they became the world’s greatest rock band when they stopped giving a shit and did whatever the hell they felt like, but when it came to an arms race with their peers, the Stones were more than up to the challenge.
Phil Ochs might not be the household name that the rest of the artists on my list might be but don’t let that detract any from how great this album is. It was Ochs fourth album, and saw him branch out to include Dixieland jazz as well as classical music with his own sarcastic brand of folk music. Unlike nearly everyone else recording at the same time, Ochs resisted the urge to incorporate psychedelia into his brand of music. The single “Outside of a Small Circle of Friends” is as witty, sarcastic, and catchy as any protest song from the decade. Every other track is absolutely perfect, it’s an album that manages to make you think, feel, and somehow never seems to be too preachy. P.S. I do realize this album cover was so much smaller than the rest, I apologize.
8. The Kinks - Something Else by the Kinks
Ok, you may have scrolled ahead, but I’ll tell you now, Forever Changes didn’t make the list. I had it right about here until I realized that I was missing one of my all time favorite Kinks albums. Face to Face might be the first great Kinks album, but if you asked anyone what their favorite track might be they’d probably scratch their head and answer something like “all of them”. Something Else is well, something else. This was the album where Dave Davies shined and contributed three songs to the album including a rare single “Death of a Clown”. However the strength of this album is the opener “David Watts” and more importantly the closing number “Waterloo Sunset”. I’m not exaggerating when I say “Waterloo Sunset” is the best song Ray Davies ever wrote and easily the best Kinks song. I may never really know what the hell a “Harry Rag” is but that doesn’t matter, this is vintage Kinks firing on all cylinders.
7. Jimi Hendrix - Axis: Bold as Love
This album was released December 1st in the UK and didn’t see the light of day in the US until early 1968. For this reason I can hear your proverbial eye roll as you tell me this isn’t a real “1967” album. For that reason just substitute Are You Experienced?, and shut up. Hendrix improved by leaps and bounds with each of his releases. Are you Experienced had some great songs but was limited by the conservative thinking of manager/producer Chas Chandler who seemed determined to make every song concise and radio friendly. The obvious exception was “Third Stone from the Sun”, which Hendrix seems to take as a jumping off point here with the bizarre opener “EXP”. His playing was better here, and he largely abandoned the fuzz of his debut to focus on cleaner and more soulful leads. I will still argue that “Bold as Love” and “Little Wing” are the two best songs Hendrix ever wrote and the fact that they’re both on this album easily puts it over it’s predecessor.
6. The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
For reasons I haven’t really figured out, I never considered this a proper album. It is something of an anomaly. It’s part soundtrack, but perhaps more oddly it is the only Beatles album that was superior in it’s US form. The US version contained the UK EP but threw in a separate side of the singles “Strawberry Fields Forever”, “Penny Lane” and “All You Need is Love”, and well why isn’t it an album? Since it’s The Beatles I’m tempted to put it at the top of my list, especially when you examine just how phenomenal some of these tracks are. However it lacks the cohesive “album” feel that Sgt. Peppers, Abbey Road, or The White Album had. It might be nitpicking, but when you’re discussing the greatest band in rock you have to measure their work on a different grading scale.
5. Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)
It might seem sacrilege to some of you, but nearly every time I listen to this album I skip right past “Respect”. It’s an iconic song for sure, one she took right from Otis Redding and forever made her own, but to me it’s like listening to “Satisfaction” from the Stones. Luckily for Aretha and all of us, every other song on the album is better, yeah you heard me. It’s so easy to see Aretha as this institution that has had praise heaped on her for decades based solely on reputation. This album is really the reason why she is an institution. Sure Lady Soul helped cement her legacy, but this really is the finest soul record that was ever recorded, at least by a female vocalist. Every song is outstanding, and she really brings it home with her rendition of “A Change is Gonna Come” which I’d like to think is a tribute to the late Sam Cooke.
4. The Doors - The Doors
Chronologically speaking, this is the “oldest” album on this list. The Doors found a way to make their own way in music without sounding like anyone else but also avoiding a lot of boring wankery that plagued a lot of the other bands that followed in their wake. I’ve had many a drunk conversation with Doors fans over whether or not this is their best album, and for the record I most certainly think it is. Anyone who isn’t a fan of “The End” I highly recommend getting some medical grade THC and watching Apocalypse Now. As for the rest of the album, this is the band at their most focused, unique, and vital. I could probably listen to “The Crystal Ship” on repeat for the rest of my days and be a happy man. Even their obligatory blues cover “Back Door Man” is so endearingly made their own that you can’t help but be taken in by everything Morrison, Kreiger, Manzarek, and Densmore were laying down.
3. Bob Dylan - John Wesley Harding
I’m not entirely sure it’s out of place to say Bob Dylan pulled masterpieces out of his ass in the 60s. Dylan seemed like one of those musical geniuses who seemed to grow bored of his own abilities. He was without question the best folk singer and songwriter of his generation, and he dove head first into his own unique noisy brand of rock and roll. Following a lengthy for the time hiatus, he came back near the end of 1967 with an album that seemed at first glance to be a return to his roots but on closer inspection was just the start of another chapter. The noisy electric rock of Highway 61 and Blonde on Blonde were replaced by acoustic guitars, simple melodies, and dense, enigmatic lyrics. Dylan didn’t dive head first into country music but dipped his toe enough to encourage a legion of Dylan worshipers to follow his lead. “The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest” is one of his greatest never heard of songs. The title track as well as “All Along the Watchtower” help give the album a loose concept feel that make it seem like a unified concept album. This is Dylan at his most accessible, and a perfect introduction to anyone who was curious to know what the big fuss is with that Robert Zimmerman guy.
2. Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground and Nico
At this point in time the number one album on my list would seem a foregone conclusion. You may also take a quick second to double check the list and proceed with rampant complaints about which masterpiece I left off. That said this album shouldn’t come as any surprise to anyone out there. Damn near any other year this would have easily topped my list, but well you know what’s above it. Lyrically this album blazed more trails than we’ll ever fully comprehend. Musically it is a wonderful balance. Half the album seems to lull you into a comfortable daze, the rest seems like the fever dreams of someone detoxing. It is truly singular in the history of rock as well as the Velvet Underground. They never would record with Nico again, Lou Reed would shortly sever their relationship with Andy Warhol, and their next album was ear piercing noise fest of obnoxiousness passed off as brilliant art. The band would never be this unified, this trailblazing, this melodic, and this vital again. Countless critics have praised this album to the high heavens, so really what more can I add?
1. The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
If this is surprising, then you’re fired. Before people inexplicably decided Revolver was the best Beatles album, Sgt. Peppers was THE album to end all albums. The one that launched the concept album craze, prompted countless acts to think about the total picture. Albums were no long a collection of songs or singles, but a unified whole. Since we’re talking about The Beatles here, every song on this album is better than every song anyone else ever wrote, but by measuring it against the other songs in their catalog, “She’s Leaving Home”, “A Day in the Life”, and “Lovely Rita” are all time classics. Ringo laid down perhaps his greatest drumbeat in the “Sgt. Peppers (reprise)” and happens to offer some of his best vocals in “With a Little Help From My Friends”. This is the album The Beatles delivered after retiring from touring, and their first unified studio album (US and UK versions were the same) showed just what could happen if the greatest band in the world were given free reign to make the greatest album the world had yet seen.
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