You’re either ready to play or you ain’t.

Nah, not really. I'm just teasing you. I would probably take Zappa over him, though, but that's really more about a personal taste.

I love a lot of Zappa's work, but he tainted that by dropping an unjustifiable amount of trash. It's hard to hear his 80s work without thinking that he's just being a lazy twat. Beefheart gave us 11 masterpieces, only one garbage album, and one mediocre record. A clear winner.

Still having a tough time but hopefully I'll be back into some groove this week. Pet, I promise to get my amended Beatle list to you so we can kick off our own Beatle spectacular. In the meantime...


1966

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Event of the year: Mr. Spock fails to take over the Starship Enterprise
Fad: Burning Beatle records
Babe of the Year: Catwoman
Scandal of the Year: Batman gets drunk off milk on national TV
Movie or TV show to barf to: Three On a Match (Jerry Lewis)
What we could have done without: China’s cultural revolution
Pet of the year: The Lost in Space robot

Other Tidbits: Historians announce that at least one German POW camp was a barrel of laughs, says Professor Wilhelm Klink, John Lennon says The Beatles are better looking than Jesus and Alabama invades Liverpool, Batman complains you just can’t get rid of a bomb, Charles Whitman wins the Texas Clock Tower shooting event and joins the NRA, Miranda is warned not to do it again, The Pink Panther is dyed Black, Ronald Reagan becomes Queen of England.

1966 may be my favorite year musically, though 67 and 68 may have been better years for albums. Anyway, here we go…





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1) The Beatles- Revolver
2) The Beach Boys- Pet Sounds
3) Mothers of Invention- Freak Out
4) The Kinks- Face To Face
5) The Rolling Stones- Aftermath
6) The Thirteenth Floor Elevators- The Psychedelic Sounds of the Thirteenth Floor Elevators
7) Simon and Garfunkel- The Sounds of Silence
8) The Byrds- Fifth Dimension
9) The Seeds- The Seeds
10) Bob Dylan- Blonde On Blonde
11) Simon and Garfunkel- Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme
12) Donovan- Sunshine Superman
13) The Who- A Quick One While He’s Away
14) John Lee Hooker- It Serves You Right To Suffer
15) Phil Ochs- In Concert
16) The Mamas and the Papas- If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears
17) John Coltrane- Ascension
18) Otis Redding- Complete and Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul
19) The Seeds- A Web of Sound
20) Love- Da Capo
21) Tim Buckley- Tim Buckley
22) The Remains- The Remains
23) The Young Rascals- The Young Rascals
24) Cream- Fresh Cream
25) The Everly Brothers- Two Yanks in England

Yes, 67 and 68 are better album years but 1966 is no slouch. The Beatles hold the top spot for the fourth straight year followed by another deserving number one, the Beach Boys’ brilliant Pet Sounds that would greatly influence the Beatles’ magnus opus next year. It’s a year for experimentation as Zappa comes in at number three. The first of several classic albums by the Kinks comes in at number four, while the Stones come back and round out the top five. The Thirteenth Floor Elevators and the Byrds also score standouts in the top ten as do the Seeds. Simon and Garfunkel score twice on this chart, Parsley, Sage, etc. just missing the top ten. Other gems include Sunshine Superman, a classic John Lee Hooker entry, John Coltrane’s last great piece, a surprisingly good Mamas and Papas album, and an equally surprising Everly Brothers who prove they still have it. Also check out Eric Clapton and the Bluesbreakers in the honorable mentions. Maybe it’s here where the heavy lead guitar that would define the seventies begins.

Biggest Surprise- Tim Buckley- Tim Buckley.

Another one I didn’t expect to crack my top Twenty-Five, but this is a perfect example on how the folk scene was progressing. This comes off as a typical rock n roll album but Buckley is actually a folk artist. This is really more of a great folk-rock album and Rubs loves his folk rock.

Biggest Disappointment- Los Bravos- Black is Black.


I was tempted to make this my stinker of the year but the title track saves this album from that dubious award. I wasn’t expecting to be enlightened by this album, but basically it was a lot of pap surrounding one classic single. Ugh!


Honorable Mention- The Lovin Spoonful- What’s Up Tiger Lily Soundtrack, The Blues Project- Live at the Café Au Go-Go, Paul Butterfield Blues Band- East-West, The Yardbirds- Roger the Engineer, John Mayall- Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton


Stinker of the Year- Mrs. Miller- Mrs. Miller’s Greatest Hits


Hey, remember Leona Anderson? Well, Mrs. Miller makes her look like Aretha Franklin. She became a bit of a sensation the way Susan Boyle would later (though Boyle could obviously sing). Of course, Capitol Records and the public knew she (Mrs. Miller) was terrible and she became something of a novelty. And yes she is. She’s off key and even more off rhythm. A must listen for lovers of bad music.

Wow, that was a fun ride. Will we turn on, tune in, drop out? Stay tuned to next week to find out in 1967. Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel.

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Sorry to hard ass you but the album is just A Quick One.

A Quick One, While He's Away is a proggy track on the same album.

Sixty-six was one heck of a year. For whatever reason, I find that most of the top records released then sound less dated than those from the next couple of years.

Good list, nice to see Ascenion on there. Personally I slightly prefer Meditations from that year (Meditations, Sun Ship, and Interstellar Space constantly swap places as my fave Coltrane record), but Ascension is the more important album.

You missed a couple of big hitters though


Cecil Taylor - Unit Structures


Monks - Black Monk Time

That's what I thought too, but I saw some pages that said the title was the same as the song. Anyway, it's still a great album


I listened to Black Monk Time and did consider putting it in there. I might have if I had expanded it another five or ten. But as I mentioned in the 65 chart, this was such a great period for me that a lot of great albums probably won't get mentioned. Black Monk Time falls into that group I'm afraid. Still one of the great garage rock albums though.

Here's hoping Free's debut and self titled make the cut in 68 and 69.

Nope, Free won't, sorry; too much competition. I think a couple bands you'll like will get in though.

The fact that you even know who Free are is enough for me. :beer:

1967

These are some albums RS probably would have left off:

Tauhid
Atlantis
The Real McCoy
Virtuosi

I think it's only fair that a mod close this journal. I doubt RS wanted people (particularly you) writing in it after he had gone. Do the decent thing.

Good call, I guess.
Still hope RS will return at some point, until then I'm closing it.