My Music Library - 1967

Last summer there was this music meme circulating through the blogs. One was supposed to list the best album of the year for every year you’ve been alive. I thought it was pretty good, as far as memes go. It was a pretty daunting task for any serious music fan. With over 600 albums in my collection, I couldn’t just whip up that kind of list at the drop of hat. I know I’d miss something. But rather than cram my list all into one, or even a few posts, why not focus on each year and explain my choices (just in case someone gives a shit).

So that’s what I’m going to do. At the breakneck pace of a year per month (faster if I actually have the time), I’m going to write up a post on selected albums that came out that year and try to figure which one was best, although apples and oranges come to mind. I realize that it’ll take me years to get through all of this, but so what?

Bear in mind that this is all my opinion. You can disagree with me, of course. I expect you to. Feel free to tell me what moved you in that year. Maybe if it’s something I haven’t heard, I’ll check it out. But music is in the ear of the beholder. It’s a subjective experience. If anyone tells you you’re wrong for what you like, well, isn’t that a bit like being told what to think? Didn’t we get enough of that shit in high school?

Alright, enough of that.

I’m starting in 1967, not because I was born but because that’s where my music collection really begins. Before then it’s really spotty. Picking through my classical collection would be odd to do this way. And, except for John Lee Hooker’s “The Real Folk Blues” in 1966, most of the old Blues stuff is compilations that span decades.

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It’s 1967. I’ve been conceived but I’m still enjoying the blissful confines of my mother’s womb. Out in the world things aren’t so peaceful. The Vietnam War rages on while antiwar protests rage at home. Israel surprises the world by surviving the Six Day War. The Soviet Union and China rattle sabers at on another then China gets the bomb. A fire kills the Apollo 1 crew and a Soviet probe lands on Venus and melts. The Supreme Court declares that interracial marriage bans are unconstitutional during the Summer of Love and Elvis marries Priscilla. The Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup and haven’t since.

In the music world the Beatles were at the height of their psychedelic era glory with the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. For me, the good parts are the title track, "With a Little Help...", "Lucy...", and "A Day In The Life." The rest doesn't do much for me.

Rock's first power trio (well, I think they qualify as the first), Cream, released their second album, Disraeli Gears. Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker were fantastic together. For me, this was Clapton at his best. The premier songs were "Strange Brew, "Sunshine of Your Love" and "Tales of Brave Ulysses." The latter song would buzz in my head throughout my collegiate Greek Mythology course.

The Who released their third album, The Who Sell Out, an oddly prophetic title. ;) The humorous album cover featured the band hawking various products and the album contained several faux commercials. But it didn't do all that well. "I Can See For Miles" was the only song to register with the masses.

For me, the best material were the debut albums from three bands: The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Doors and Pink Floyd.

After going through several personnel changes and band names, the members of Pink Floyd got into the studio to record their first album, just as the Beatles were recording Lonely Hearts Club Band. The Beatles are typically credited with creating psychedelic rock with their 1966 album, Revolver, but Pink Floyd wrested control from them with The Piper At The Gates of Dawn.

Piper… is full of strange little tunes that range from comical (“Bike”) to just plain weird (“Pow R Toch”). At times mysterious (“Lucifer Sam”, “Matilda Mother”, “Chapter 24”), mischievous (“Gnome”), and playfully sinister (“Flaming”). Space rock was born with "Astronomy Domine" and "Interstellar Overdrive." The former a whirling run through of planets and moons full of crescendos, the latter an instrumental jam that threatens to veer off course forever but is reigned in at the last minute.

The album is Syd Barrett's masterpiece and my #3 album for 1967. He wrote 8 of the 11 songs and collaborated on 2 others. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from here as excessive use of LSD combined with an already fragile mental state would bring him crashing down.

UCLA film school alumni Jim Morrisson and Ray Manzarek were hanging out in Venice Beach in 1965 looking for an outlet for their artistic vision as Hollywood wasn’t knocking. Morrisson was writing poetry and Manzarek was a keyboardist. The two formed a band and, after a few lineup changes, began writing and performing with Robby Krieger (guitar) and John Densmore (drums) as The Doors. The rest is history. Well, their story is well known. There’s no need for me to rehash it.

1967 would see The Doors release their first two albums: The Doors and Strange Days. Their debut was a mix of songs that they’d been performing live for years so the execution came off without a hitch. Playing a mix of acid rock, blues rock and psychedelia they took America by storm. The first single, and first track off the album, "Break On Through (To The Other Side)" was their mission statement. The album was dark and mysterious with "The Crystal Ship" and "End of the Night" and wildly sexual with their cover of "Back Door Man" and "Take It As It Comes." "Twentieth Century Fox" and "Light My Fire" were all about the pick up. "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)" fits in there too in an inebriated sort of way. But the album's masterpiece is "The End." My earliest memory of the song was it being played in the background during "Apocalypse Now." It was overwhelmingly powerful.

Strange Days showed up later in the year with a similar collection of songs. The title track and "People Are Strange" are Morrisson's allegories for the band's heady new fame. But the alienation is conveyed so well that it's easy for anyone that feels that way to relate to the songs. There's the mix of sexual songs with "You're Lost Little Girl", "Love Me Two Times" and "My Eyes Have Seen You." "Horse Latitudes" is scary. This album's magnum opus is "When The Music's Over," a declaration of revolution.

I got into The Doors in high school. They were enjoying a resurgence at the time in addition to being a classic rock radio staple. Primarily, I remember driving around in my friend's car with the songs on the tape deck, singing along in perfect harmony with Mr. Mojo as we asked passersby to "show us the way to the next whisky bar" and commiserated in the fact that "people are strange."

These two albums get my vote for #2 and #5 respectively.

And then there's Hendrix. While Clapton was proclaimed to be "God" at one point, Hendrix's rise to prominence would certainly challenge that notion. However, there was no rivalry between the two. In fact they were friends up until Jimi's death.

Teamed with Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell, The Jimi Hendrix Experience had their earth shattering debut with Are You Experienced?. Before I bought this album, I'd heard 8 of the 11 tracks on the radio. The three that I hadn't heard, "Love or Confusion", "May This Be Love" and "I Don't Live Today" were surprising discoveries after classic rock radio had had their way this album. Often times, the songs you hear on the radio from a band are the only good ones on an album. It's always great when you can discover hidden gems that were overlooked.

The title track, "Third Stone From The Sun", "The Wind Cries Mary" and "Manic Depression" stick out as my favorites. I'm not sure that I can offer any insight here that hasn't been said a thousand times before. The band blended styles to form an innovative sound that was familiar yet unique. They were the first to work with stereophonic and phasing elements on their recordings. Oh forget it. You've heard it all already.

Axis: Bold As Love would emerge at the end of the year (at least in England) to fulfill their record contract. It was another great album chock full of more musical invention, though it would be less of a radio sensation than its predecessor. "Spanish Castle Magic", "Little Wing", "Castles Made of Sand" and "If 6 Was 9" are my favorites.

One fact that never seems to get much mention is that Hendrix was left-handed. All guitars were right handed. Rather than let that be an obstacle, he re-strung his guitars. I suppose that doesn't mean all that much to most people, but for me, a fellow lefty, that said a lot. Twenty years later, left handed guitars were out there, but expensive. I wound up buying a used Aria Pro II RS Straycat and just restrung it like he did. Of course, the similarities end there.

Are You Experienced? and Axis: Bold As Love get my votes for #1 and #4 albums of 1967, respectively.

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DED