Recommendation Thread: 1968

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Live in Phoenix
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Recommendation Thread: 1968

Post by Live in Phoenix »

[imgsize 365x249]http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/r57 ... ebk8xk.jpg[/imgsize] [imgsize 240x240]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... groove.jpg[/imgsize]

Welcome to the nightmare of 1968, featuring two high-profile assassinations, as well as Walter Cronkite's editorial against the Vietnam War, the Mỹ Lai Massacre, and LBJ declaring he will not run again for President. The lighter side of things is provided in part by Bill Cosby (at 51 accusers and counting), with To Russell, My Brother, Whom I Slept With declared the greatest comedy album of all time by Spin magazine in 2011.

In the midst of the hellish year of 1968, a lot of incredible music made its way through -- including the debut solo album by the Buffalo Springfield's Neil Young (I think he's great right out the gate), the elegant Odessey and Oracle, the nine weeks at #1 "Hey Jude," an excellent showing by the Byrds ... and the gloriously out-of-step Velvet Underground blowing their remaining chart potential out of the room. Also, my second-favorite song of the '60s, by Marvin Gaye. ("Grapevine" somehow doesn't make the cut for the featured songs on his album cover -- so I guess look out for those "And Others" songs, sometimes!)

Out of step in its own way, to the point where I have trouble remembering what year it came out, is the Kinks’s wonderful Village Green Preservation Society release, a collection of little gems instead of going for the big single. It's also a cautionary tale against following the charts too much, as it failed to chart upon release, yet is now the group’s best-selling original record.

I'm not a diehard Byrds fan, so I was surprised that when I stumbled upon The Notorious Byrd Brothers -- not exactly their biggest album -- its consistency and odd trance-like quality made it probably my favorite album of theirs. The entire half hour feels psychedelic yet pastoral at the same time; full of lineup turmoil behind the scenes, but with transcendent results.

Some favorites:
The Beatles – Helter Skelter (youtube link)
The Beatles – Revolution (youtube link)
Big Brother and the Holding Company – Piece of My Heart (youtube link)
The Byrds – Goin' Back (youtube link)
Marvin Gaye – I Heard It Through the Grapevine (youtube link)
The Kinks – Big Sky (youtube link)

The Velvet Underground – Sister Ray (youtube link)
(The band's recording engineer: "I don't have to listen to this. I'll put it in Record, and then I'm leaving.")
Neil Young – I've Been Waiting for You (covered on David Bowie's Heathen) (youtube link)
Neil Young – The Loner (youtube link)
The Zombies – Brief Candles (youtube link)


[imgsize 215x161]http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vOs7BjZrgqY/hqdefault.jpg[/imgsize] [imgsize 225x158]http://www.redicecreations.com/ul_img/24304HAL.jpg[/imgsize] [imgsize 200x196]http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/r57 ... jxwemv.jpg[/imgsize]
DaveC
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Re: Recommendation Thread: 1968

Post by DaveC »

An overlooked gem:
DaveC
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Re: Recommendation Thread: 1968

Post by DaveC »

The second* single released on the Apple label was this poignant and beautiful song based on an old Russian melody and superbly produced by Paul McCartney. It was a huge hit in 1968. It is a travesty that it is only bubbling under the top 6000 on AM.
* The first was a turgid sing along that also featured some "la la la"ing.
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Dan
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Re: Recommendation Thread: 1968

Post by Dan »

Here is my provisional albums list. I don’t mean to steal Honorio’s limelight (it’s not possible anyway), but 1968 was a good year for world music / albums not sung in English, and I would like to mention a few of those albums here.

Many world music aficionados associate 1968 with Tropicália, a rather short-lived Brazilian genre/movement that peaked in the late 1960s. Tropicália contained elements of traditional Brazilian music such as bossa nova that was blended with psychedelic rock and other “foreign” influences, and the production style of the music was fairly arty and experimental. Highlights include Gilberto Gil’s self-titled album and Os Mutantes’ self-titled debut, the latter perhaps taking the idea of experimentally combining Brazilian styles with a variety of non-Brazilian genres further than any other Tropicália album (and it is the album from 1968 that has grown on me the most since the first time I heard it). Two other famous Tropicália albums not on my list are Tropicália ou panis et circencis, which was performed by various artists, and Caetano Veloso’s self-titled album (self-titled albums were clearly a popular trend in Brazil in 1968). I suspect that Honorio will have nice things to say about those two albums that are not on my list.

It was also another good year for French music. (I think) I remember there being a fair amount of discussion about Serge Gainsbourg’s Initials B.B. a while ago. Sometimes I struggle with Gainsbourg’s talk-singing style, but the music on this album has enough irony and humour to make it an enjoyable listening experience for me, even if things get a little bit silly at times. I’m relying on one of our French-speaking friends to remind us that we can’t truly get Gainsbourg if we don’t understand his witty lyrics. Of course, that Belgian called Jacques Brel, whom the French have adopted as French, unsurprisingly released yet another good album. His song “Vesoul” will likely be my #1 song of 1968. In the song, Brel is almost outclassed by the accordion player, Marcel Azzola. Not that the poor accordion player had an easy time – Brel kept telling him to heat up: “Chauffe, Marcel, chauffe!!”
But my favourite French album of 1968 is Jacques Dutronc’s self-titled album, also known as Il est cinq heures. Apparently Dutronc’s debut from 1966 contains most of his hits, but I feel that this 1968 album is more varied, combining French pop and chanson with a variety of Anglophone styles, which to me sounded quite unique and exciting.

Shivkumar Sharma, Brijbushan Kabra and Hariprasad Chaurasia made a landmark Hindustani classical album called Call of the Valley in 1968. Hindustani classical music is not an easy genre to get into if you’re not familiar with its very un-Western sounds, but this album is relaxing and meditative, even if not “easy-listening”.

Ray Barretto’s Acid was an intentional attempt to create a cross-over album of Latin music and soul. The songs on the album that incorporate soul are good, but it’s the energetic salsa and jazzy songs that reveal Barretto’s true talent.

Cornelis Vreeswijk is a singer/songwriter I discovered through Henrik. I listened to Vreeswijk’s song “Saskia” because it was on Henrik’s all-time songs list a few years ago (and it was again on his list in the recent all-time songs poll). It’s a beautiful song; in fact, Vreeswijk’s whole album Tio vackra visor och personliga Person is good. Here’s “Saskia”:

Other non-Anglophone recommendations:

Pixinguinha, Clementina de Jesus & João da Bahiana’s Gente da antiga (Genre: Choro)
José Afonso’s Cantares do Andarilho (Portuguese Folk Music)
Bembeya Jazz National’s Sous la direction de Diaoune Hamidou (Highlife, Mande Music)

A few random thoughts on some of the albums on my list that are actually sung in English:

The quirky and clever baroque pop of Harry Nilsson’s Aerial Ballet somewhat surprised me, given that the only song I knew on the album before listening to it was his wonderful cover of Fred Neil’s “Everbody’s Talking”, which is very different from the rest of the songs (though still the best song on the album, in my opinion).

But of course, to many people (including me) the highlight of baroque pop (and psychedelic pop and sunshine pop) is The ZombiesOdessey and Oracle. I’m really pleased that this album is moving out of the realm of cult classic and is getting more recognition from both critics and music fans – it deserves a wider audience. It is such beautifully orchestrated and harmonized music. Similar things could be said of The Millennium’s potentially classic baroque/psychedelic/sunshine pop album Begin. Hopefully that album will also become taller in stature.

It had been a while since the last time I listened to The KinksThe Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, and for some reason I had a feeling that this time round I wasn’t going to like it as much as before. But I was wrong. After every song I thought to myself that the band surely wouldn’t be able to keep coming up with such absolutely lovely melodies for the duration of the album… but they did.

The Rolling StonesBeggars Banquet is an apt example of when I think that the sum of an album is better than its parts – there aren’t too many songs on the album that I truly admire, but I really like the rootsy feel of the album as a whole, thanks to the blues and country music that run through it. I also like the swaggering, confident delivery by the Stones, and I think the production is exceptional.

I love Johnny Cash’s country music; I like his wry humour and I like how he used his music to become a spokesperson for society’s outcasts and downtrodden. It doesn’t surprise me that his slightly twisted sense of humour and sympathetic attitude towards outcasts came together so brilliantly during his live performance at Folsom Prison. It seemed like an appropriate place for him to shine.

Simon and Garfunkel appeared to take themselves out of their comfort zone a little bit with Bookends. The gentle arrangements are still there, but they also experimented with very un-folky sounds to create touching stories of innocence lost, of ageing, and of people in America in search of themselves.

Dr. John’s unusual and well-executed blend of psychedelic sounds and New Orleans R&B on Gris-Gris is definitely a kind of weird that resonates with me. And oh my, 1968 also provided plenty of sassy but heartfelt soul thanks to Aretha Franklin and Etta James (and Otis Redding – of course he was not as sassy, but no less soulful).

The Byrds didn’t disappoint these ears of mine with their take on country rock on Sweetheart of the Rodeo, neither did Van Morrison disappoint with his sensitive folk on Astral Weeks.

During the first five tracks or so of The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Electric Ladyland, I felt like I was being abused by all that electric guitar (I guess this is not a familiar feeling for many people around here?), but eventually the album’s trippy psychedelic soundscape won me over… and then the two best tracks were saved for last.

But my favourite album of 1968 is not an unexpected choice: The BeatlesWhite Album. They experimented with so many genres that it’s miraculous that the album isn’t a complete mess; yet it not only manages to be cohesive, the Beatles also successfully take on (or playfully mock?) all of those genres, and in the process some classic Beatles songs were created.
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Dan
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Re: Recommendation Thread: 1968

Post by Dan »

:greetings-waveyellow: again.

My provisional songs list:

1 | Jacques Brel | Vesoul
2 | Aretha Franklin | Think
3 | The Rolling Stones | Sympathy for the Devil
4 | Otis Redding | (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay
5 | Jimi Hendrix | All Along the Watchtower
6 | Marvin Gaye | I Heard It Through the Grapevine
7 | The Flirtations | Nothing But a Heartache
8 | Dusty Springfield | Son of a Preacher Man
9 | Aretha Franklin | I Say a Little Prayer
10 | Harry Nilsson | Everybody's Talkin'

11 | Tammy Wynette | Stand by Your Man
12 | The Zombies | Time of the Season
13 | The Beatles | Blackbird
14 | Cornelis Vreeswijk | Saskia
15 | Linda Lyndell | What a Man
16 | Sly and the Family Stone | Everyday People
17 | Simon & Garfunkel | America
18 | The Zombies | Friends of Mine
19 | The Kinks | Picture Book
20 | Steppenwolf | Born to Be Wild

21 | Gal Costa | Baby
22 | The Zombies | Changes
23 | Claes-Göran Hederström | Det börjar verka kärlek, banne mej
24 | Simon & Garfunkel | Mrs. Robinson
25 | The Millennium | To Claudia on Thursday
26 | The Beatles | Rocky Raccoon
27 | The Kinks | Village Green
28 | The Kinks | Starstruck
29 | Jacques Dutronc | Il est cinq heures... Paris s'éveille
30 | The Beatles | While My Guitar Gently Weeps

31 | Tyrone Davis | Can I Change My Mind
32 | Dr. John | Danse Kalinda Ba Doom
33 | Desmond Dekker & The Aces | Israelites
34 | The Beatles | Hey Jude
35 | Donovan | Hurdy Gurdy Man
36 | The Beatles | I Will
37 | Harry Nilsson | One
38 | Big Brother and The Holding Company | Piece of My Heart
39 | Os Mutantes | A Minha Menina
40 | Fleetwood Mac | Albatross

41 | Johnny Cash | Cocaine Blues
42 | Fleetwood Mac | Black Magic Woman
43 | The Edwin Hawkins Singers | Oh Happy Day
44 | Françoise Hardy | Comment te dire adieu
45 | The Wailers | Stir It Up
46 | The Band | The Weight
47 | Shivkumar Sharma, Brijbushan Kabra & Hariprasad Chaurasia | Rag Pahadi
48 | Piero Umiliani | Mah Na Mah Na
49 | The Beatles | Julia
50 | Canned Heat | On the Road Again
...will keep us together.
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Honorio
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Re: Recommendation Thread: 1968

Post by Honorio »

Non-English recommendations for 1968 in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…




a) Portuguese:
Non-English language of 1968 was obviously Portuguese, thanks to the multicoloured explosion of Brazilian Tropicália, "a Brazilian counterculture art movement started in São Paulo in 1967-68; its most famous aspect was the music, typically a blend of Psychedelic Rock and experimental production with Brazilian pop music such as Bossa Nova, with the lyrics being left wing-tinted abstract poetry" (according to Rateyourmusic).

In July of 1968 a group of young Brazilian artists released a collective album as a manifesto, "Tropicália ou panis et circencis" ("Tropicália or Bread and Circuses," musicmp3ru link), with a cover art inspired by "Sgt. Pepper's" including the participants in the project, from top to bottom and left to right, Tom Zé, Os Mutantes, Caetano Veloso (holding a picture of Nara Leão), Rogerio Duprat (producer), Gal Costa, Torquato Neto (lyricist) and Gilberto Gil (holding a picture of José Carlos Capinam, lyricist). On the inside a colourful display of what we can name Psychedelic Samba, the sum of the varied talents of some young musicians that were going to dominate the Brazilian scene of the 1970s (especially Veloso, Gil and Zé). Recommended song: the wonderful Gal Costa and Caetano Veloso duet "Baby" (You Tube link).

But this groundbreaking album was preceded by three no less groundbreaking albums (and followed by three other albums), being those 7 albums the cornerstone of Tropicália. The best one (and also the more innovative) is the homonymous debut album of "Os Mutantes" ("The Mutants"), released on June of 1968 (Spotify link), a blast of freedom, an irresistible fusion of pop, avant-garde and Brazilian music. Many gems here but my favourite is, of course, the joyous "A minha menina" ("My Girl"):

But chronologically the first Tropicália album is the solo debut of Caetano Veloso, also self-titled, released in March of 1968 (Spotify link). Caetano added his particular sweetness to the newborn style. My favourite song is the pretty "Clarice" but I'm aware that the recommended song should be the foundational "Tropicália" (You Tube link).

Another excellent album is the second album by Gilberto Gil, also homonymous, released in May of 1968 (Spotify link) and maybe more samba-influenced than the other albums of the scene. Recommended song: "Domingo no parque" ("Sunday at the Park", YouTube link).

And finally the (again self-titled) debut of Tom Zé (Spotify link), the most eccentric artist within the movement. Favourite song: "Parque industrial" ("Industrial Park", YouTube link).

The two albums that completed the initial run of Tropicália were the eighth album by Nara Leão and the solo debut album by Gal Costa (the latter released in 1969). And you know what? Both were self-titled!





b) French:
"Initials B.B." (Spotify link) is an album that showcases the most playful side of Serge Gainsbourg, playing with influences from pop, comic and noir and, of course, playing with B.B. My favourite song is his duet with Brigitte Bardot "Bonnie and Clyde":

The last album with original songs by Jacques Brel (until his 1977 comeback), "Jacques Brel (a.k.a. J'arrive)" ("I'm Coming," Youtube link), was remarkable. The recommended song could be no other than "Vesoul" and its mad accordion (YouTube link).

Françoise Hardy's 1968 album "Comment te dire adieu" ("How to Say Goodbye to You," Spotify link) should be included in the definition of the word "delicious." The recommended song is the sweet tittle theme (YouTube link).

Hardy's husband, Jacques Dutronc, released in 1968 his self-titled second album (Spotify link), almost as interesting as his first. The recommended song is the fantastic "Il est cinq heures... Paris s'éveille" ("It's Five o'Clock, Paris Awakens", YouTube link).





c) Spanish:
Ray Barretto signed with Fania Records and switched from the charanga line-up of his band to conjunto, only with two vocalists (one in English and one in Spanish), two trumpets, piano, bass, timbal and congas (played by himself). This change of approach rendered his most acclaimed album, "Acid" (Spotify link). The recommended song is the self-defining "El nuevo Barretto" ("The New Barretto," You Tube link).

Pic-Nic were a Spanish Soft-Pop band fronted by Jeanette Dimech, a young girl born in England from an African father and a Spanish mother, raised in California and then living in Barcelona after her parents' divorce. Their only album, "Pic-Nic" (Spotify link), contained some delicious tunes like "Amanecer" ("Daybreak," YouTube link).

Peret was not the inventor of the Rumba Catalana (Catalonian Rhumba, a mix of Spanish Flamenco and Caribbean music), this award should go to El Pescaílla, but Peret was its main figure. His third album, "Peret" (Spotify link), is a perfect showcase of his raw but playful style. The recommended song was one of his biggest hits, "Una lágrima" ("A Tear"):





d) Italian:
After the Dollar trilogy Ennio Morricone collaborated with Sergio Leone for the fourth time (and not last, Morricone was going to score every Leone film) with "C'era una volta il West" ("Once Upon a Time in the West," Spotify link). The epic opening theme is great but the recommended song could be no other than the impressive "L'uomo dell'armonica" ("Man With a Harmonica," You Tube link).

"Tutti morimmo a stento" ("We All Die Agonizingly," Spotify link), Fabrizio de André's second album, is also his first (of many) concept album, an album about death but "psychological, moral, mental" according to his own statement. Recommended song: "Ballata degli impiccati" ("Ballad of the Hanged," YouTube link).




e) Swedish:
The Swedish/Dutch troubadour Cornelis Vreeswijk immersed himself in Brazilian samba to deliver an album that mixes brilliantly Bossa with his personal Singer-Songwriter style, "Tio vackra visor och Personliga Person" ("Ten Beautiful Songs and Personal Person," Spotify link). My favourite song is "Somliga går med trasiga skor" ("Some People Walk in Tattered Shoes," You Tube link).


And 5 additional recommendations:


Shivkumar Sharma, Brij Bhushan Kabra & Hariprasad Chaurasia - Call of the Valley (Hindi)


Brigitte Fontaine - Brigitte Fontaine est…? (French)


La Lupe - Two Sides of La Lupe / Dos lados de La Lupe (Spanish)


Bembeya Jazz National - Sous la direction de Diaoune Hamidou (Maninka/French)


Quilapayún - X Viet-Nam (Spanish/Italian)


And finally a guilty pleasure, one of the first songs I ever heard (my dad bought the single). When I was a kid I used to think that the cover art was really sexy. I still think so:

Patty Pravo - La bambola ( Italian) (You Tube link)


Yes, yes, I know, these are almost the same recommendations that Dan made some days ago. I promise we haven't talked about that (by the way, Dan, I don't forget it, I'll write to you by mail pretty soon) but probably both used Rateyourmusic as a source of inspiration.
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Pierre
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Re: Recommendation Thread: 1968

Post by Pierre »

Honorio, I would like to know your opinion about Los Brincos' 1968 album "Contrabando".

A few years back, I used to live for a few months in Barcelona, and I used that time to buy two albums by them, this one and "Los Brincos II" from 1966. I bought them following the Rolling Stone 50 greatest Spanish albums list which includes "Contrabando", plus a whim for the other one. Thing is, I like "Los Brincos II" better than "Contrabando", although I think the album cover to the latter is better:

[imgsize 225x225]http://multimedia.fnac.com/multimedia/E ... 870065.jpg[/imgsize]

Although you didn't talk about it, I guess you know the album Honorio, so I'm interested in what you may think about it :)

Otherwise, since I'm here, here's a hidden gem in French from 1968:

Gérard Manset, "Manset":

[imgsize 225x225]http://www.pressibus.org/chanson/manset_gerard/01.jpg[/imgsize]

Manset is a sort of legendary indie figure from the French scene - he lives in semi-reclusiveness, and has avoided commercial success on purpose since his very beginnings, except on this one, his first album. It includes one of his only "hits" (other than the future "Il voyage en solitaire"), which is "Animal on est mal". The album is hardly a commercial sellout; after all, it features a song called "Je suis Dieu" (I Am God), which was not very well perceived in the then more conservative and Christian France. Still, Manset disowned the album because of "Animal" and went so far as burning up the masters! Vinyl copies are very sought after today, since it was never re-released.

And also, listen to "Le Bal des Laze" by Michel Polnareff. His second album from 1968 is not as good as either his first one or the subsequent "Polnareff's", but this song is sometimes considered his best, and with reason. Masterful psychedelic pop.

[imgsize 225x225]http://images.45cat.com/michel-polnaref ... e-az-s.jpg[/imgsize]
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Honorio
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Re: Recommendation Thread: 1968

Post by Honorio »

Hi Pierre, sorry for lasting that much to reply to your question. I like "Contrabando" but I can't help but find it kinda anticlimactic after Los Brincos' second album. The reason why is that after this second album Los Brincos splitted up in two parts. Since Los Brincos are usually considered "the Spanish Beatles" let me compare this with McCartney and Harrison leaving The Beatles after "Rubber Soul" and Lennon reforming the band with Starr and two new members. Juan Pardo (McCartney) and Junior (Harrison) created Juan y Junior and had many hits during 1967 and 1968 with a sweet pop sound reminiscing (and sorry for being too repetitive) of McCartney's ballads. Fernando Arbex (Lennon) and Antonio González (Starr) kept the band's name but seemed unsure about the path to follow. "Contrabando" included many sweet pop songs trying to compete on the charts with Juan y Junior (and partially succeeding with songs like "Lola" and "Nadie te quiere ya") but also wanted to introduce (maybe too cautiously) some psychedelic influences rendering an interesting album but somehow uneven (especially if we compare it with what the Fab Four were releasing at the time). Their next (and last) album, "Mundo demonio carne" (1970), took these psychedelic influences to the forefront but the final result ended being even more inconsistent (and unsuccessful), taking to the final disbandement of Los Brincos.
About the cover art I agree, it's splendid. It was designed by Iván Zulueta, a cult painter and filmmaker (he only directed two movies but the second one, "Arrebato," was considered by Rockdelux the best Spanish movie ever). Sadly his heroin addiction took him to live in reclusion for his last 25 years, leaving a scanty legacy. You can see some of his draws, album covers or film posters here.
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Pierre
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Re: Recommendation Thread: 1968

Post by Pierre »

No need to apologize, Honorio, I was patient :D

Your post is very interesting as usual, and your summary and analysis of Los Brincos does confirm some of my own thoughts. I don't know the Spanish rock scene nearly enough, and I'm always interested in learning new things.

Also, thank you for the information about Iván Zulueta; I didn't know him but I definitely like what I saw in the video. That's the kind of psychedelic art I really like to look at. One day I may try to watch his movies if I have time.

So, thank you for everything! :obscene-drinkingcheers:
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