Top 200 Albums of the 1960s - Introduction 200-151

After last December’s 1970s list I knew the people were clamoring for my expert take on another decade’s music. Well maybe I’m overselling my own importance, but lists are fun I tell myself as I spent the better part of two months writing 200 album reviews. Thanks to a new job where I walk all day long and listen to music this was arguably the quickest research I put into an album list that wasn’t just a band ranking (more of those hopefully to come).

As a decade, nearly all the roots of modern music began in the 60s. Rapid advancements in recording technology, instruments, effects pedals, and a decade-long obsession with new sounds drove music throughout the ten years. In fact you can argue no decade advanced so rapidly. The music helped mirror the turbulent times, where topical things were paramount. Never before had the importance of musicians been so emphasized, and looking at today’s modern music, it hasn’t been the same since.

Like any list, this started with a rather wide net. I owe a special thanks to both AMG’s All Music Guide and Pitchfork’s own 200 album list of the 60s for offering a bounty of recommendations. Both these sources absolutely got some things right and well I will politely say I will agree to disagree on a few selections. Unlike my 70s list however, I found this grouping to be much more inclusive. One might say it is a difference in quality, or perhaps I was just being much more judicious here. By the time my initial research was done, I found myself with ample room to revisit dozens of “maybes”. 

Although I will often try to include more artists, there are a few who had multiple albums on here. Obviously The Beatles are well represented, as are Bob Dylan, the Stones, Velvet Underground, John Coltrane, The Byrds and others. Despite having a lot of jazz, it wasn’t as well represented as I would have initially thought.

Now a quick word about eligibility as always. This is a list of albums released in the 1960s. Oftentimes I would find conflicting sources from one site to another on when particular albums were released. For the most part I trusted Wikipedia for release dates as best I could. If an album was recorded in 1959 but not released until 1960+ I decided to include it. However a few albums like Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane’s collaboration and Charles Mingus’s Tijuana Moods were recorded in 1957 and not released until nearly 5 years later. I erred on the side of disqualification for these as the gap was simply too large. Since the concept of the LP took shape in the decade I was much more lenient to albums that cobbled together previously released singles, particularly in the early part. When in doubt, if Pitchfork counted an album, so did I, so take it up with them.

Ultimately this should serve as a primer for a truly wonderful and adventurous decade of music. Some of these may become new favorites, or confirm your own great opinions. I can guarantee a few will sail right over your head, but that’s ok many of these albums took multiple listens and sometimes years to finally click with me. You have time. As always if you read this far, thank you, I’ll quit yapping and get to ranking. See you on the next list. 

200. Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass - Whipped Cream and Other Delights
Look, something had to claim the 200th spot. As ridiculously mid-century this album feels it is hard to deny how damn great these arrangements are. In 1965, Alpert and co decided to almost entirely abandon their mariachi roots. I say almost because “Lollipops and Roses” scratches that itch and is damn near my favorite track. The sell out attempt proved enormously successful spending 8 weeks at #1 and going platinum 6x over. 

199. James Cleveland - Peace Be Still
I won’t put on airs like I know fuck all about gospel music. I read that James Cleveland was extremely influential in defining the genre then I’ll believe it. A very lo-fi live recording with Cleveland and the Angelic Choir, it is hard not to feel a little something holy spirit or not. A good amount of the country tinged gospel tends to be a lot more refrained and solemn. We got a black Jesus here and well this has soul. Cleveland is mesmerizing to listen to, and I can picture the James Brown church scene in the Blues Brothers whenever I hear this.

198. Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto - Getz/Gilberto
Back again with some mid-60s cultural phenomena. The album that helped capitalize on bossa nova and introduced a whole lot of white people to Brazilian music, long before tropicalia became a thing. The opening track “The Girl from Ipanema” is by far the best known song from here and as dumb as the song might seem it is one of the all-time ear worms. Hell just reading that song title probably put it in your head didn’t it? Antonio Carlos Jobim was responsible for writing most of the album as well as playing piano on it. He was part of a Carnegie Hall concert with Gilberto that led to a meeting with Getz, who had already put his own spin on bossa nova with Jazz Samba in 1962. The pairing would hit gold and remains a near perfect time capsule and defining moment for the genre.

197. Eric Dolphy - Out to Lunch
I can already hear the pearl clutching jazz aficionados clutching their pearls at how low this album is, but well make your own list damn it. Released 4 months before his death at age 36, Out to Lunch was Dolphy’s only album for Blue Note and remains by far his best known work. It is firmly in the avant-garde jazz camp but the aptly named “Straight Up and Down” at least shows that there was still some compositional melody here. Freddie Hubbard showing again why he was one of the go-to trumpeters in the 60s, his band is rounded out by an 18 year old Tony Williams on drums, Richard Davis on bass, and Bobby Hutcherson on the vibraphone. It is Hutcherson’s presence that adds a distinct flavor to this along with Dolphy playing any and all other woodwind instruments. Challenging but still accessible it remains influential and a great gateway for the more avant-garde side of jazz.

196. Harry Nilsson - Aerial Ballet
Nilsson’s third album was the one that largely established him as a major songwriter. It features “Everybody’s Talking” which is ironically the album’s only cover song. A song that would be immortalized in the next year’s best picture winner Midnight Cowboy. Nilsson’s originals included “Daddy’s Song” which The Monkees covered for the soundtrack to Head (which was left off the initial release of the album), and “One” which became an enormous hit for Three Dog Night. The title was an ode to Nilsson’s grandparents who apparently were highwire circus performers. Which would help explain a lot of the more circusy elements of some of the songs here. +

195. Ray Price - San Antonio Rose
In September of 1961 Ray Price hit the studio to record a tribute album to Bob Wills. His session men included Willie Nelson and perhaps the most legendary fiddle playing session man of all time Tommy Jackson. Price did such a great job on this set that for decades after San Antonio Rose became his own signature tune. He and Willie would later reunite in 1980 to record an album of the same name. Wills was a Texan who popularized Western swing, and if you ask Waylon Jennings and others he’s still the king. If you are curious about Wills or Western swing, this is a fantastic introduction. 

194. Oliver Nelson - The Blues and the Abstract Truth
Oliver Nelson might have very well been the least known jazz musician on his own album. Once again our main man Freddie Hubbard comes in with the trumpet, and Eric Dolphy on the alto and flute. Bill Evans on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Roy Haynes on drums put this group on par with any in jazz history. The opener “Stolen Moments” became a standard and was covered by everyone from Ahmad Jamal, Phil Woods, to Frank Zappa. This is frequently cited as one of the very best post-bop records and essential listen for any jazz fans.

193. 13th Floor Elevators - The Psychedellic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators
Released in 1966 it the 13th Floor Elevators became one of the earliest and most definitive bands to embrace psychedelic rock. Roky Erickson yelping and howling his way through what is essentially garage rock with a lot more drugs. Tommy Hall is credited with playing the electric jug, which might very well be the only time such an instrument was used. It gives the whole thing the trippy spaced out effect and damned if it doesn’t set the mood. I throw the word essential around a lot but for 60s psychedelic rock this set the standard.

192. Kenny Burrell - Midnight Blue
Inspired by Charlie Christian and Django Reinhardt before him, Kenny Burrell helped set the standard for jazz guitar in the 1960s. Along with Wes Montgomery, Herb Ellis, and Grant Green Burrell defined what the electric guitar could do in jazz (undistorted of course). His best album as a leader remains Midnight Blue which would fit in perfectly next to Green’s Idle Moments or Ellis’s Nothing But the Blues. One of the things that helps set the album apart from even other jazz guitar albums is the appearance of Ray Barretto on the congas, making for far more interesting rhythms. Burrell did give everyone the day off with “Soul Lament”, an unaccompanied piece that is about as pure as his playing ever got.

191. Laura Nyro - Eli and the Thirteenth Confession
Recorded when she was still 20 years old Laura Nyro’s second album is to many people (myself included) her best. Several of the songs were first previewed at The Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. If you’re unfamiliar with Nyro and her music I would perhaps best describe it as Carole King’s Tapestry with more emotive singing and less recognizable songs. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing but this album has classics all up and down it even if modern audiences have largely forgotten it. If there is a best known song it would probably be “Eli’s Coming” which was the most successful single here and covered by a number of artists shortly after the release. A wonderful introduction to one of the more forgotten female singer-songwriters.

190. Mary Lou Williams - Black Christ of the Andes
When Mary Lou Williams converted to catholicism later in life she got pretty weird with it. Part gospel and devotional, she incorporated a lot of avant-garde jazz and vocals to make sure this was a gospel record any white person would hate. Williams was already in her 50s when she made this and about 7 years removed from writing any music. The idea of offering her own very unique and personalized spin on sacred jazz was too tempting to pass up. Her playing is extraordinary throughout, but there really isn’t any other piece of music quite like this. Words can’t quite do it justice.

189. Quincy Jones - Walking in Space
In between producing albums for everyone who ever made music, Quincy Jones had a few of his own jazz albums. Walking in Space was his return to recording as a leader after a lengthy stint making movie music. Some major luminaries pop up in his modernized big band here including our favorite trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, Roland Kirk, J.J. Johnson, Ray Brown and Eric Gale. The first two tracks were from Hair and well that musical was inescapable in 1969. Ever the producer, Jones greatest strength was in his arrangements and putting all the pieces together. A brilliant album that maintains its jazz pedigree while dabbling in funk, fusion, psychedelia, and pop. 

188. Joni Mitchell - Clouds
Joni Mitchell’s second album serves as something of a blueprint for Blue while absolutely having its own identity. Mitchell did nearly everything on the album, including painting the cover. Lyrically it would touch on many of her favorite themes including her own relationships, the Vietnam war, mental illness, and even some hippie occultism. Despite eventually going gold there is very little commercialism here. Just a great leap forward for Mitchell. 

187. Morton Subotnik - Silver Apples of the Moon
The 1960s were by far the decade most obsessed with discovering new sounds with music. By the later part of the decade numerous people were developing their own analog synthesizers. Subotnik was working on his own and spent nearly 10 hours a day for nearly 13 months to put together this album. The goal was to create sounds that would be impossible to recreate and in terms of far out sixties shit, this doesn’t even sound like it is from the same planet.  A surprise success when it was released, Silver Apples of the Moon has had an enormous impact on nearly all electronic music since. 

186. Jimmy Smith - Back at the Chicken Shack 
Before the electric organ became a brief fixture in rock music, Jimmy Smith was damn near a one man evangelist for the instrument. Although the album was recorded in the same sessions that produced Midnight Special in 1960, it wouldn’t see the light of day until 1963. Perhaps no one knew what gold they were sitting on, as this would become Smith’s defining album. Back at the Chicken Shack would be a very stripped down affair with Smith being backed by Kenny Burrell, Stanley Turrentine on sax, and Donald Bailey on drums. Like Ray Manzerek of the Doors a few years later, Smith handled the bass duties with his feet. The two Smith compositions “Messy Bessie” and the title track would be the highlights and help take jazz music into a more modern soulful direction. 

185. Marvin Gaye - In the Groove
The album that gave us “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” a single that was so successful the album was later reissued with that title. Motown was rapidly growing out of touch and instead opted to release the opening track “You” as a single which featured Gaye singing falsetto for the first time. In the Groove was his first solo album in a couple years after a series of well received duet albums. Gaye was making baby steps as an artist, writing a couple songs and taking a stab at producing for the first time in his career. The result is a slightly more emboldened and confident performer about to enter his prime as an artist.

184. Joan Baez - Joan Baez
Recorded when she was only 19 years old, Joan Baez’s self-titled debut largely set the standard for Greenwich Village folk music in the early 60s. The album is almost entirely Baez and her guitar playing her live set with very few re-takes. It’s perhaps the closest thing you can get on record to sitting in a club in the Village hearing her play live. Nearly every song was traditional and arranged by Baez, which was the style at the time. Her underrated playing is fantastic throughout but the real star is obviously her generational voice.

183. Gilberto Gil - Gilberto Gil
If you thought I was going to highlight a bossa nova album but no tropicalia then shame on you. Like nearly every early album in the movement this was self-titled and not to be confused with another self-titled Gilberto Gil album released right after. There is a sweet spot in the movement when everything seemed to be clicking before eventually going overboard with experimental freak outs. I may be alone in this but “Pega a Voga, Cabeluda” might be my favorite Brazilian song, with an infectious energy and some vocals right out of a mariachi jam. The album features Gil on acoustic guitar with fellow countrymen Os Mutantes providing most of the other instrumentation. Incorporating samba and rock music it is as good of a primer as any for anyone looking to explore some South American music. 

182. Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left
Everyone’s favorite cult folk artist's first album might be overshadowed by his next two, but Five Leaves Left is no slouch in any way. Recorded with almost no overdubbing, Drake was perhaps never more vulnerable and melancholy (although the sparse Pink Moon sessions might beg to differ). The tone of the album differed greatly from the more pop oriented hippy folk music of the time which might explain why it failed commercially. 

181. Nina Simone - High Priestess of Soul
In a lot of ways Nina Simone was the female answer to Ray Charles. An immensely gifted artist and pianist who tackled nearly every style of music throughout the decade. This album proves almost immediately that she was a natural at soul music. I always preferred her recordings without all the over the top schmaltz and studio executive ideas of what is commercial. Simone contributes a couple of originals with the gospel tinged “Come Ye” and “Take Me to the Water”. Among the other songwriters are future David Lynch collaborator Angelo Badalamenti on “I Hold No Grudge” and “He Ain’t Comin’ Home No More”. Her rendition of Chuck Berry’s “Brown Eyed Handsome Man” might be my favorite version of it. Perhaps her strongest overall album, perhaps.

180. Hank Thompson - On Tap, in the Can, or in the Bottle
The other great Hank in country music, Hank Thompson made something of a living on drinking songs. After the fun honky tonk of “A Six Pack to Go”, Thompson decided to go for something of a concept album about drinking. There are numerous themed country albums throughout the 60s and this takes things from the fun of getting hammered to the depressing coping of it. Unlike many artists of the day, Thompson himself penned or co-wrote every song on the album. After a string of top notch country albums this was his crowning achievement.

179. The United States of America - The United States of America
Another of the great psychedelic one album wonders of the 1960s. Formed as something of an experimental anarchist collective between composer Joseph Byrd and vocalist Dorothy Moskowitz. Despite the experimentation, which included various electronic sounds, the resulting album is much more accessible than the description might sound. With a limited budget and severe technical limitations Byrd set to work with producer David Rubinson to make magic. Highly political and satirical with a noticeable leftist slant this remains a truly singular record. “Hard Coming Love” and “The Garden of Earthly Delights” showed a glimpse of the limited commercial appeal they might have had if they ever made another album.

178. The Mothers of Invention - Freak Out!
Dropping like an atom bomb in 1966, Frank Zappa’s first album with The Mothers of Invention was truly revolutionary. Considered by many to be the first double LP, although Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde was released one week earlier it would serve as something of a manifesto for Zappa. Seeing the trends in hippies who were hanging around LA, taking drugs, and playing shitty music the entire thing makes a mockery of it all. This would be further refined and perfected on We’re Only In It For the Money but the template was all there on Freak Out. The group was signed under the assumption they were another white blues band, but after recording “Who Are the Brain Police?” the bait and switch was on. That isn’t to say there isn’t plenty of blue influence here, particularly on “Trouble Every Day”. Zappa’s lifetime love of doo-wop is present from the jump, but it was the drawn out, experimental, occasionally atonal songs that showed the Mothers weren’t like other LA groups. 

177. Blood, Sweat, & Tears - Child is Father to the Man
Although their second album might have been much more successful, the first Blood, Sweat, & Tears album is by far the more interesting musically. This is because it was the only album featuring Al Kooper who conceived of the band and wrote nearly every song on it. Inspired to have a rock band with horns, it arrived right at a time when the jazz world was dipping their toes into rock. BST was at the vanguard of the other side of that merger. David Clayton-Thomas might have been a better vocalist, but Kooper as a writer couldn’t be touched here. “I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know” and “I Can’t Quit Her” firmly put the group in a soulful blues camp, but the diversity of sounds here touched on nearly every musical style. 

176. Patsy Cline - Sentimentally Yours
Patsy Cline joined Hank Williams and Jimmie Rodgers in the sad club of gone-way-too-soon country legends when her plane crashed in 1963. Known mostly for singles it is easy to look at her small output as a greatest hits artist, but her final album before her death is a stone cold classic. It starts with “She’s Got You”, another #1 country hit that’s as iconic as any of her classics. The rest of the album largely maintains that quality including two great covers of the aforementioned Hank Williams. “Heartaches” and “Lonely Street” might be my two highlights. One of music’s greatest “what could be” artists, at her absolute peak.

175. Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band - Safe as Milk
My introduction to Captain Beefheart was Trout Mask Replica. I will not be gaslit into thinking that is anything less than the worst album ever recorded by any artist ever. If you like that album you are lying and possibly deaf or just trolling people. You probably also claim to enjoy the taste of Malort but that’s neither here nor there. So it took a good number of years before I was willing to investigate any of the Captain’s other albums. Turns out Safe as Milk is actually pretty damn excellent. Carries on the common trend in 60s music of idolizing the blues (which helps when your vocalist sounds like Howlin’ Wolf), but with just enough of an oft-kilter 60s vibe to give it a unique spin. 

174. The Temptations - Cloud Nine
In some ways this is the album that led to me making this list. Which might seem odd considering it’s only at #174, but allow me to explain. I had given this a spin along with a couple early 70s Temptations albums when I thought I should maybe go back and see what else they had. One of Motown’s signature groups, they had a LOT of hits, and pumped out albums like a factory. After going through all their classic albums I circled right back around to thinking this was the best album after all. It did set the wheels in motion to check out a whole lot of other sixties albums and well here we are. Motown was forever slow to change any part of their formula but after seeing the success of Sly and the Family Stone, The Temptations agreed to go in a new funkier psychedelic soul direction. The decision paid off as the album hit #4 on the pop charts and even won their first Grammy. It was also the first album to feature Dennis Edwards who replaced David Ruffin. The fact that Motown pumped out about 4 more Temptations albums in 1969 alone shows they clearly didn’t understand what made this successful. 

173. Amon Duul II - Phallus Dei
Along with Can’s Monster Movie this is essentially where Krautrock began. I’d like to describe exactly what the hell is going on here musically, but I’m not sure the right words exist. Amon Duul was a commune in Munich which split shortly before this album was conceived. The splintered group added the II, and well we got this. Part atmospheric horror, part bad acid trip, with a little bit of progressive jams it sounds somewhat otherworldly. Relying more on mood and sonic textures I can say this might not be for everyone, but it certainly was for me.

172. Bobby Blue Bland - Two Steps From the Blues
Imagine being so good at singing that B.B. King takes a backseat to you. Bobby Blue Bland was such a vocalist, and although we can debate who had a better voice, there’s no denying the man could sing. Two Steps From the Blues is much more polished than the majority of the blues on this list, but lush string arrangements aside, Bland’s voice truly shines. I do acknowledge the fact that this album features previously released songs, but it still forms a very cohesive album. Early 60s LPs were often part singles collections, and random studio filler which makes it very much an album of its time. “I Pity the Fool” and “Cry, Cry, Cry” are truly exceptional as is the title track. One of the all time great blues records.

171. Ike and Tina Turner - River Deep Mountain High
After catching a live show of Ike and Tina Turner, Phil Spector worked tirelessly to record them and sign them to his own label. He produced about half the album with his wall of sound, including the title track and lead single which eventually became one of the duo's best known numbers. Ike Turner produced the rest which was mostly reworkings of earlier songs. The resulting album would easily be Ike and Tina’s best album, but after the title track didn’t do as well on the charts in the US as expected the album was shelved here. It would take three more years for American record buyers to get their own version (without importing) which killed what could have been a commercial breakthrough. Over time though audiences have come around to the bizarre and brilliant pairing of Tina and Phil Spector.

170. Herbie Hancock - Maiden Voyage
It has taken me the better part of 25 years to finally admit the truth, Maiden Voyage is better than Empyrean Isles. Look I know I’m not alone in this assessment, but once I was blinded by “Cantaloupe Island” for all that time. Sure maybe I like that song more than any individual number here, but this is top to bottom a stronger set. Hancock was well on his way as a composer and the title track might just be his finest 60s recording (at least according to Herbie himself). The lineup is also quite stacked, but besides Hancock it was Freddie Hubbard who most makes his presence felt here.

169. John Lee Hooker - Burnin’
Recorded in Chicago on October 26, 1961 Burnin’ would be the definitive John Lee Hooker album. At 50, Hooker would finally have his signature tune with “Boom Boom” which leads things off. The rest of the session was straight forward blues and all the compositions are credited to Hooker. Before all the white British kids became obsessed with American blues, a truly remarkable revival was happening in the US and Hooker was many to capitalize on this. It was also the first time he had a whole proper band backing him, but nothing is lost in the transition.

168. David Axelrod - Song of Innocence
There was no shortage of anomalies in 60s music. The fact that a boxer turned producer and A&R man was given cart-blanche to make a solo album inspired by a book of poems from William Blake just shows how we used to be a proper country damn it. Utilizing a group of nearly thirty different musicians including the now legendary wrecking crew it touches on multiple genres while very much forging its own path. Axelrod himself played nothing on the album, instead embracing his role as composer. This might be a biased guitarist speaking here but a tremendous amount of credit for the success of the album belongs to Al Casey who absolutely steals the show. 

167. Dr. John - Gris-Gris
I have listened to this album a lot over the years and until recently I always tossed up my hands and said “what the fuck was any of that?”. Mac Rebennack was something of a troubadour in the music world, playing guitar, then bass, and finally piano. After a stint in jail for drug possession he made it to LA where he became part of the wrecking crew. He did play on Freak Out which may or may not have had an effect on his future as a solo act. After growing somewhat fed up with the life of a session musician he created his own alter ego Dr. John, and set about making a little taste of home, but in a very tripped out drug friendly 1960s way. It may surprise no one to hear that he had no intention of doing any singing on the album, but when his first choice vocalist was unavailable well he hush-mumbled his way through the sessions. Despite finally clicking while listening to this for the list, I gave it another spin while feeling the effects of an edible, and man as long as THC doesn’t make you anxious I cannot recommend that enough. 

166. Pink Floyd - Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Like a lot of fans of Pink Floyd I came to this album hoping to hear the early sounds of the boys who brought us The Wall, Dark Side of the Moon, or at the very least Meddle. What I got was Syd Barrett’s psychedelic freak show. These weren’t the long winded jams they would dabble in later, but short concise pop songs run through enormous echo, reverb, and general experimentation. There is the longer instrumental “Interstellar Overdrive” which shows a little of the direction the remaining members would take without Barrett. By some accounts this is the birth of progressive rock right here, but fans of King Crimson might have some words. Treated as its own very unique one off it fits more in line with The United States of America or Thirteenth Floor Elevators than the Floyd of the 70s. Very much a classic of its own though. 

165. Etta James - Rocks the House
Look I recognize I am probably in the minority on this one, but I will take this live album from Etta James over the bloated, over the top At Last. That album showed James as a prestige artist and the next great torch ballad singer, when Etta at her core was a howling, fiery, dynamo of a blues singer. This performance, recorded in Nashville in September of 1963 captures that artist in peak form. Her performance of “Money” feels absolutely personal and she brings the house down with Ray Charles’ “What’d I Say?” This feels like the way she was meant to be heard, where you can practically feel the sweat on stage. 

164. Ray Charles - Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music
Hey speaking of Ray Charles, here we go. Although both his volumes of Modern Sounds are nearly equally good I won’t cheat. Ray was an early rock and roll pioneer, firmly planted in the R&B side of things. He had his run at jazz and blues in equal measure before taking a rather unorthodox approach to country music. When I first heard the album I wondered what he was doing but after listening to a LOT of country music from this era, the man brilliantly made these songs his own. He showed that music is music and whether it was Hank Williams, Floyd Tilman, or the Everly Brothers it was pure genius. Ray Charles was quick to note the similarities between the blues and country as often songs about heartache and telling it like it is. The result proved enormously successful and inspired artists on all sides. A great unifier in early 60s music and Ray Charles most enduring album.

163. Chuck Berry - St. Louis to Liverpool
During his 20 months in prison for violating the Mann Act, a whole crop of new musicians made Berry’s music as relevant as ever. Fully acknowledging the boost the Beatles gave him with their version of “Roll Over Beethoven”, the Liverpool nod was added to the title. It is classic Berry, complete with an uncomfortable amount of songs about young schoolgirls, but hey it was a different time, even if he was a known sex pervert. Stepping back for a minute though, “No Particular Place to Go”, “You Can Never Tell”, “Promised Land”, and “Little Marie” all became instant classics. 

162. Albert King - Born Under a Bad Sign
More blues, what is it the 60s or something? Like a lot of white people I first heard the title track from Cream. It was King’s first album for Stax records and was recorded with their house band Booker T. and the M.G.s. This wound up being a commercial breakthrough for King, and the title track immediately became a standard in the blues world. King’s playing was unique, a left handed guitarist who refused to restring his guitar; it gave his simple blues leads a tone completely original if not accidental. “Crosscut Saw”, “Personal Manager”, and “The Hunter” proved there were no shortage of highlights beyond the title track.

161. Charles Mingus - Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus 
Confession time folks, this spot was originally reserved for another Charles Mingus album, Tijuana Moods. No less than three times on this list did I find a 60s jazz masterpiece was actually recorded in 1957. Now I am willing to give a little bit of space, say an album was recorded in 1959 and released in 1960, or maybe one session was earlier, but a line needs to be drawn somewhere. Well most folks would probably regard Mingus x 5 as the superior album anyway. The original idea was for Mingus to have a large ensemble of brass and sax. Several of these songs appeared on previous albums of his, often with slightly different titles. As a result it comes across as a re-imagined greatest hits of sorts. It serves as one of the best primers you could get for a truly legendary titan of jazz that may or may not have been an enormous piece of shit who often punched out musicians. 

160. John Fahey - The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death
Introduced on his very first album, Blind Joe Death was an imaginary blues musician who taught John Fahey to play. Throughout numerous liner notes, fake biographies were written, and the legend grew. Originally issued on just 50 copies, I’m not entirely sure how the hell this album ever got heard by anyone, but god bless obscure music hipsters. John Fahey was something of a free style guitarist, with a whole lot of open tunings who served as a one man band (with an occasional banjo guest appearance). Lyrical guitar playing wasn’t entirely new, but it wasn’t exactly common. Fahey’s unique style of playing multiple parts at once is a masterclass in finger picking. 

159. Ornette Coleman - Free Jazz
Hey I’m as surprised as you are that this album made the cut. Coleman, and especially this album was always something I admired but could barely stomach. I constantly think of the Simpsons line “She sounds like she’s hitting a cat with a violin”, or to quote Homer “Jazz, they just make it up as they go along, I can do that”. Perhaps it is because I listened to so much of Coleman’s offshoots after this, tons of would-be innovators taking the free reign improvisation and trying to top him in terms of dissonance and making your ears bleed but it made this album click. For starters it is not as “free” as it might seem, there is an order to this chaos, and a rather impressive group of musicians including Eric Dolphy, Freddie Hubbard, Charlie Haden, and Don Cherry. I certainly would understand if you assumed no one actually likes avant-garde jazz but tries to gaslight people into thinking it’s brilliant so they don’t feel like they wasted their time listening to it. However, in the case of this landmark, it actually works dag nabbit. 

158. The Stooges - The Stooges
Overshadowed in their own city by the MC5, The Stooges arrived in 1969 with very little fanfare. The decades since have been very kind to their legacy. This might be as polished as they got in their initial heyday, but make no mistake it is still a Stooges album. “I Wanna Be Your Dog” and “1969” set the tone early. It was unavoidable that they would get some Velvet Underground comparisons especially with John Cale producing the album, but they clearly showed they were very much their own band. It might not hit the crazy heights of Fun House or Raw Power but it certainly is no slouch. 

157. Mickey Newbury - Looks Like Rain
After a disappointing debut album Mickey Newbury left RCA to make an album truer to his vision. He took a low key approach to the concept album, linking every song with atmospheric sounds and ever present rain. The entire album is balladesque and makes me wonder how much Leonard Cohen he was hearing at the time. Despite strong country roots (and being recorded in Nashville) this is far more in line with the singer-songwriter movement than that scene. Although numerous outlaw country artists would take huge inspiration from Newbury in an effort to change country music from the somewhat formulaic Nashville sound. “San Francisco Mabel Joy” is a masterpiece, and that character served as the inspiration for his next album. “She Even Woke Me Up to Say Goodbye” became a massive hit for Jerry Lee Lewis and was another strong highlight.

156. Loretta Lynn - Don’t Come Home a Drinkin (With Lovin’ on Your Mind)
Fun bit of trivia, this was the first country album by a female artist to be certified gold. As was often the case in the 60s, the title track was a smash hit for Lynn (who co-wrote it) and an album was quickly rushed together to capitalize. Turns out she was simply on a roll here as every other song is on par. I’m also an enormous fan of the closer “I Got Caught” which was one of Lynn’s originals for the album. Most of it is just top notch country music of the day, full of songs about cheating, drinking, and calling out that no good man. It was her 9th album and remains a highwater mark in a career that spanned decades.

155. Ravi Shankar - India’s Master Musician
Ok this is where the list gets a little complicated. There is more than one album named India’s Master Musician by Ravi Shankar, and well one of them was credited as being released in 1959 and the other recorded and released in 1963. Different sources claim it was recorded in Hollywood, others say Abbey Road studios, and to be honest, I listened to both versions and could barely tell them apart. With all that being said it is easy to hear from this how Ravi Shankar became a huge and unlikely influence on pop music in the mid-60s. His “mastery” of the sitar is apparent and if you tolerate the experiments of George Harrison and Brian Jones on the instrument wait until you hear someone who actually knows what they’re doing. A stark contrast from the Bollywood inspired movie music, this is classical music of a very different nature. Pure vibes, it is an engaging and rapturous listen.

154. Wendy Carlos - A Well Tempered Synthesizer
After the surprising commercial success of Switched on Bach, Wendy Carlos was ready to expand her electronic repertoire with her second album. Working with synth inventor Robert Moog, his own synthesizer was being tweaked and developed almost in real time. The result was an instrument that helped stay in tune but also developed a richer tone. Switched on Bach might have been the full scale revelation but I would wager this is the more refined and superior work. Good luck finding a copy.

153. Scott Walker - Scott 4
This is a fair time to point out that Scott Walker’s first three albums are all varying degrees of good to great. His fourth album however was clearly his early peak. It was the first of his albums to consist entirely of original songs, which were credited to his actual name Scott Engel. He decided initially to release the album under his given name and after it failed to chart we got Walker back. Good thing too, because this album deserved to find the widest audience possible. You know I’m rooting for your album when it opens with “Seventh Seal” which is a lovely 5 minute synopsis of Ingmar Bergman’s masterpiece. In addition to the growing confidence of Scott the songwriter and singer, the arrangements here are leaned out by comparison. That isn’t to say there isn’t some orchestral flare but far more subdued than the often bombastic Tom Jones inspired recordings of his first albums. 

152. Eddie Palmieri - Justicia
An instrumental figure in salsa music throughout the 60s, Eddie Palmieri did what many great artists did by the end of the decade, and got political. Justicia was a bilingual album and a study in contrasts. The title track is a jam that sets up a party-like atmosphere before tearing it all down by the second side. Some of the English vocals by Ismael Quintana sound like they could be from Frank Sinatra. The more accessible Cuban flavored side A is particularly inspired. Palmieri dug deep into latin-jazz and the experimental nature of the day for the latter part of the album, but it never got free form atonal experimental. 

151. Bill Evans - Waltz for Debby
How magical it must have been to be at New York’s Village Vanguard in June of 1961. Both this album and Evans’ earlier Sunday at the Village Vanguard were from the same performance. Bassist Scott LaFaro died in a car accident 10 days after the recordings which made Sunday focused more as a showcase for his extraordinary bass playing. In fact there are so many bass solos on that set that you start to wonder who the leader of the band was. Waltz for Debby showed a more integrated trio and a better balanced collection of performances. You can toss a coin on which record from these sessions is your favorite but they both remain essential jazz recordings and perhaps the finest trio recording ever.