537 Essential Rock Albums – Pt. 1 The first 270: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9781502787408: Books
61. Beatles – Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club band
Well this is the Beatles great masterpiece from that magic year of 1967. Seemingly there was some supernatural cloud that the Earth passed through that gave everyone a super boost of creativity.
The idea for this was some sort of concept album with the Beatles masquerading as a fictional band. That idea fell by the wayside and only appeared as a couple of songs, the name of the album and the uniforms they wore.
The concept did spark off a bout of creativity that built on what they had been doing on Revolver.
This was when the whole Acid Rock, hippie scene was beginning to take off and the Beatles had been highly influenced both by that and the psychedelic drugs that were going round at the time. It resulted in a race to try to get in front on ideas, originality, bizarre instrumentation and song formats. The psychedelic effects are clearly visible throughout the album and it showed that the Beatles were still right up there with the most innovative.
What Brian Wilson had been doing with the Beach Boys had made an impression on the Beatles. They were striving for an album that was far out and they achieved it.
The type of complex music featured on Sgt. Peppers was a million miles away from the standard two and a half minute R&B, Rock ‘n’ Roll and Pop songs of their first few albums. The effect of Dylan on their music and lyrics was evident.
I remember first hearing the album on mono but I swapped my mono version for Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Axis Bold as love’ and bought a stereo version. I had been extremely impressed when somebody had played me the album on a good sound system in stereo. It seemed to open it out, enable you to hear all the instruments and lots of stuff that you couldn’t hear on my system. It was so much richer.
The Beatles were still right at the forefront leading the way. They had made the jump into the British Underground and were no longer the cuddly lads from Liverpool. They were fully fledged Freaks and card carrying members of the alternative society.
The album itself featured numbers like ‘She’s leaving home’, ‘Within you and without you,’ ‘A day in the life,’ and ‘Lucy in the sky with diamonds’.
It was generally well received and even establishment figures were reporting on it and taking it seriously as a piece of music with lyrics that were compared to major poets. It was generally agreed that Rock had come of age, was now something to be considered alongside classical, had an intellectual rigour and was now aimed at adults.
It had come a long way in a few years.
The only criticism I had was that the incredible ‘Strawberry Fields forever’ was not included.
62. NWA – Straight outta Compton
This was the original gangster rap album that sparked off the whole proliferation of the genre and made rap the biggest thing on the planet.
Compton was the black area of Los Angeles and was a heavily gang controlled. There were many gang-related killings and a lot of conflict with the police and gang members.
NWA – Niggaz Wit Attitudes – took the street gang culture, its dress code, mannerisms, language and attitude, applied it to the Hip-hop to create a distinctive style of ‘Gansta rap’ which immediately became very popular.
When in prison gang members had the shoe-laces removed from their trainers, belts from trousers and were issued with over-sized shirt and trousers. When back on the street they took to strutting about in the same manner to tell the world how tough they were.
White middle-class kids picked up on this fashion and overnight everyone was swanning about with sloppy trainers with no laces, oversize trousers hanging round their arses and shirts that were five sizes too big. You couldn’t make it up.
There was a great deal of concern expressed by the establishment at the overt violence, extreme language, attitude towards police and the establishment, extreme sexism and misogyny but the kids loved it.
The music was compelling and very accessible and songs like ‘Straight out of Compton’, ‘Fuck the police’ and ‘Gangsta Gangsta’ made Ice Cube, Easy-E and Dr Dre household names.
This album set the tone for the future prominence of Rap as the major music force in the States.
I love the album even if I can’t identify with the violent life-style I can hear the frustration and anger aimed at the institutional racism that the black community felt they were subjected to. We’d had the Black Panthers and now we had black gangsters.
63. Big Brother & the Holding Company – Cheap Thrills
Janis Joplin came up to San Francisco from Texas and brought her voice, outrageous costume and personality with her. She was larger than life with a voice to go with it. Janis teamed up with the San Franciscan Acid Rock band Big Brother & the Holding Company.
At the time in the 1966/67 period the whole Bay area was a melting pot of young musicians all fired up with the new hippie subculture in the Haight-Asbury area and looking to promote their message, establish community and interact. There was quite a scene developing with bands such as the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Country Joe and the Fish. It was very political with heavy social messages, anti-Vietnam War sentiment and a message of Love and Peace that captured the imaginations of young kids.
The music had been sparked off by Dylan and the East Coast scene through the Lovin’ Spoonful and the success of the Byrds.
Big Brother was one of the Acid Rock top acts in San Francisco playing the scene centred on the Avalon Ballroom, Fillmore West and free gigs and happenings in the Golden Gate Park. When they incorporated Janis into the group they took a further step forward. It was a feature of San Franciscan bands to feature a female vocalist as with Grace Slick and Janis had one of the most powerful voices around and soon brought a flamboyant element to band’s performance.
That Cheap Thrills album was one of those top psychedelic albums to come out of there in that magic time of 1967/8. Janis can be heard to good effect on numbers like the covers of Big Mama Thornton’s ‘Ball and Chain’ and the classic ‘Summertime’ but the forte was the powerful ‘Piece of my heart’.
64. Doors – Absolutely live
The Doors were from Los Angeles and had that harder R&B style that was not quite the Love and Peace of San Francisco.
As a live band they were superb and their performance at the London Chalkfarm Roundhouse is legendary. They were so tight musically with Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore laying down such a good base that Jim Morrison was able to work all around it laying down his poetry and ad-libs. I’ve even listened to all the bootlegs from late on when Jim was supposedly addled with alcohol, drugs and disillusionment and they sound alright to me. Jim always was a showman who likes the attention centre stage.
I loved their live albums as much as the studio stuff and it captured their sound well.
Absolutely live was a great album culled from a series of performances at shows in 1970. This was great for a number of reasons. Firstly it meant that we got a great album that was recorded on the best recording gear possible at the time. Secondly it meant that they professionally recorded all the shows so we now have those great shows released having been professionally recorded. Thirdly it allowed the band to show off its full repertoire complete with its Blues roots on the Bo Diddley cover ‘Who do you love’.
The sound quality was excellent and the performances spot on. They moved fluidly through some of their greatest numbers ‘Five to one’ ‘Alabama Song’, ‘When the Music’s over’ and the infamous ‘Celebration of the Lizard’.
65. Country Joe & the Fish – Feel like I’m fixing to die
Country Joe and the Fish started out as a political Jug Band before getting into the Acid Rock scene and this is obvious when you listen to the title track of this album; it is Jug Band music with a strong political, anti-Vietnam War message.
I loved that title track but always felt it was a bit incongruous with the rest of the album.
Apart from that opening track the rest of the album picked up where the first had left off. Their was the eulogy for the other big female vocalist on the San Franciscan scene ‘Janis’, who Joe had some romantic connection with, and a number of other delicate trippy songs with lots of psychedelic atmosphere. My favourite track was ‘Who am I?’ which seemed to tap into the feeling of confused introspection that I was going through at the time.
Country Joe and the Fish’s sound was the epitome of that fabulous 1967/68 period when we really thought we were changing society for ever and bringing a different ethos to the selfish greed and warmongering exploitation of the society we had come to despise. It wasn’t to be but this album always fills me with nostalgia for those great days, the idealism, optimism and brotherhood of that time.
This was a stand out album from that era. The music was so original and inventive and the sound so great to listen to.
Country Joe and the Fish produced one more great album and then, just like the era they emerged from, they ran out of steam and faded away.
66. Captain Beefheart & his Magic Band – Trout Mask Replica
This is the one that everyone quotes as Beefheart’s best and one of the most innovative, weird and original albums ever made.
Some find this music discordant and I can understand that. At first listening it appears to be all over the place with changes of rhythms, interweaving guitars and changes of pace. If you’ve been brought up on nicely constructed songs with a familiar structure with a nice chorus and middle eight then this is a shock.
However, once you get your ear tuned in you find that it all gels together into the most amazing music you have ever heard. It is intricate and complex and you never get fed up with it. The lyrics are poetic and distinctive. It is still the most original and innovative album ever recorded. The range of styles and extraordinary musicianship is beyond anything I’ve heard anywhere.
I guess it helps if you have had the chance to see them perform the material live. If you haven’t had that opportunity then you have missed out on something. I only saw that incredible band three times but those concerts are indelibly imprinted into my brain.
Unfortunately the Captain is now departed but do not give up hope. The Magic Band are still alive and well and touring with John French at the helm and they are still amazing. It’s almost as good as it was all those years before.
Another amazing thing about this album is the incredible standard of the songs. It was a double album packed with tracks and there wasn’t a single filler amongst them. Every track is a gem
I’m playing it right now and it is as brilliant as ever it was! This was not merely music of a particular age. It is as relevant now as ever it was.
67. Edgar Broughton Band – Wasa Wasa
Now a lot of people saw Edgar Broughton as a British imitator of Captain Beefheart. That was probably because of Edgar’s deep gravelly voice and the single they did of ‘Dropout Boogie’ with its incongruous ‘Apache’ bit in the middle.
Edgar was a great performer at all those free festivals back in the sixties. They were always up for a benefit or two and supporting causes. Indeed, when they were banned from doing one free festival they got all their gear on a truck and went through the High Street playing as loudly as they could. I bet that won them a few fans.
‘Wasa Wasa’ was one of those magical albums that come along from time to time. It starts with ‘Death of an electric citizen’ with its great guitar intro, heavy riff and great gravelly vocal.
The band had signed to EMI’s Harvest label and was full of Underground zeal.
They were nothing like Beefheart.
68. Incredible String Band – Wee Tam & the Big Huge
The Incredible String Band came out of the Folk scene and blended it in to the psychedelic scene to create Psychedelic Folk with all its multi-instrument format coupled with mysticism. It suited the age perfectly. They were a really feel-good band.
They had already hit big with ‘The hangman’s beautiful daughter’ and this was their big double album that followed that. For me it was their apotheosis. There were beautiful lilting songs with great harmonies. They had moved to being a four piece with the incorporation of the two girls.
The ‘Incredibles’ epitomised the idealism and mysticism of those sixties days. This double album captured it perfectly. I loved the clear simple production.
It is hard to sort styles and stand out tracks. There were many Indian instruments and an assortment of other old English and World stringed instruments, flutes and percussion. The result was extremely original and the voices blended into perfect harmonies. Both Mike Heron and Robin Williamson were at the peak of their song-writing abilities and performances.
I saw them a few times around this time and they were extraordinary and very well received.
This was always one of my favourite albums and a great one to put on at the start of a day to raise the spirits.
69. Bob Marley – Rastaman Vibration
Reggae had been largely considered a Pop, lightweight music before Bob Marley raised up its profile, gave it prominence as a World Music with gravitas.
In the mid sixties the Mods had adopted Reggae and US R&B as their music to dance to in their clubs. The charts were full of rather Poppy songs by Desmond Dekker, the Pioneers, Millie and the Skatalites.
What Bob Marley did was to create a rockier version of reggae with clear Rasta and political stances. Even then it probably would not have come to anything if Chris Blackwell hadn’t signed them up to Island Records and got them to record their stuff with a greater Rock element and production to appeal to Western Rock fans. Bob Marley took off.
There were a number of brilliant albums but Rastaman Vibration is almost my favourite. I think ‘War’ with its lyrics based on Emperor Haile Selassie’s speech to the United Nations is one of his greatest songs. The rest of the album is peppered with brilliant songs ‘Who the cap fits’, ‘Crazy baldheads,’ ‘Positive vibration’, ‘Johnny was’, and ‘Want more’ are all superb. The sound and production was perfect.
Just think what we might have had if Bob had only agreed to have that foot amputated. The cancer would not have spread and he’s probably still be going today. We’d have had a ton of other brilliant albums.
70. Rolling Stones – Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones burst upon the scene in 1963 in the wake of the Beatles. They caused quite a stir being portrayed as dirty, scruffy and unkempt in contrast to the wonderful cuddly mop-top Beatles. Their long hair was considered disgusting.
Looking back at the photos and album covers of the day it all looks extremely innocuous. They looked quite smart and tidy. It is only when compared to the short-back and sides of post-war Britain males that they look different.
This album came out in 1964 in the wake of their first few singles. I was fourteen at the time and bought it the day it came out. As I was going off to France I took it with me hitch-hiking round and still have that very album.
The Stones took their name off a Muddy Waters track ‘Rolling Stone blues’ and started off as an offshoot of Alexis Korner’s Blue’s Incorporated as a Blues and R&B band. That first album reflected that with the Muddy Waters, Slim Harpo, Jimmy Reed, Rufus Thomas, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley covers. There was little evidence of their own song-writing skills though nanker/phelge, their pseudonym appeared a couple of times.
The Stones brought a British sound to those R&B numbers that made it more accessible to white ears. They then successfully took it back to the States and flogged their own stuff back to them before becoming more Rock and Pop influenced and writing their own original material in earnest.
That first album represented a seminal moment in the success of British Beat music that was to dominate the sixties in the wake of the Beatles breakthrough. The Stones were pitted against the Beatles as the premier band in the world. This album showed that they were bluesier and more earthy. It was a brilliant debut. My favourite tracks are ‘I just want to make love to you,’ ‘Walking the dog’, ‘I’m a king bee’, ‘Carol’ and ‘Mona’.
71. Cream – Wheels of Fire
If it had not been for Jimi Hendrix Cream would have been the foremost Rock Band of the Underground era. They were all veterans of the Korner/Bond/Mayall school of British Blues and had learnt their trade through long stints on the club scene. As a power Blues/rock trio there was none to compare with the exceptions of Taste and the Experience. Ginger Baker was the foremost drummer on the scene with a firm basis in Jazz, Jack Bruce was the best Bass player around and Eric Clapton was a brilliant guitarist – hence the name Cream.
They started out as a Blues band and soon got themselves a reputation on the scene.
I’d seen all of them play with various bands prior to forming Cream and really rated Clapton as a guitarist. If it wasn’t for the fact that Hendrix took the instrument into another dimension I reckon that he, Rory Gallagher, Pete Green and Jeff Beck were the best around.
Cream as a live band were so good they hurt the roots of your hair.
I don’t think any of the three of them ever got near to the quality they reached together. They might not have got along too well as individuals but they certainly did as musicians.
I was lucky enough to see them up close at the Windsor Jazz and Blues festival when I was just seventeen. I was with my mates Hat and Booker and we blagged our way into the Press enclosure at the front of the stage by writing Press on bits of fag packets and pinning them to our jackets. We got waved through. I stood and watched them play from right up close. It was incredible.
This album was a two album set with one being studio and the other being live. The studio album featured some great songs written by the poet Pete Brown who collaborated with Jack Bruce to produce ‘White room’ and ‘Politician’. Then there were the blues epics ‘Born under a bad sign’ and ‘Sitting on top of the world’ which were extended and developed into epics. The second album was live and recorded in 1968 at their San Francisco shows. There were only four tracks but their long sprawling tracks with long jams allowed all the members to show off their virtuosity.
It was a brilliant album.
