That Wonderful Year in Music... 1968 (Again)

As I had promised a few weeks ago, I was planning on revising some of my "year in music" lists, but only a select handful. 1968 was the first year I covered and wrote the blog on a lark; where most of my music blogs took two or three weeks of research, I wrote my '68 almost by memory in about six hours. That blog alone was the impetus of a pet project that went on for four years, encouraging me to study the history of rock, pop, and jazz music.

It's easy to see why I choose 1968 first; that whole year is impossibly strong and almost omnipresent in its scope and influence. From a cultural and musical perspective, everything that the '60s built up to hit a crescendo that year. Unofficially this was the second year of the "classic rock" era, country-rock was blossoming, and R&B and soul were as confrontational and immediate as they'd ever been. Only the jazz world struggled to move forward; the death of John Coltrane a year earlier sent shockwaves through the whole scene, and even though there was some classic releases in 1968 the confusion and sorrow were at times too transparent.

(Note: parentheses note original ranking)


1. The Beatles (a/k/a The White Album), The Beatles. (1) Looking at the big picture, this is the Fab Four's most jumbled and splintered effort, and by far the most bloated. Judged on its musical merit alone, it's another masterwork from the '60s most definitive band. Trading the psychedelia of their previous three albums for a heavier guitar sound, this self-titled double-LP finds The Beatles retaining their whimsy and sounding as eclectic as they've ever been. Ignore the great band slowly falling apart and pay attention to the variety of styles and genres the Beatles have seemingly mastered.
2. Odessey and Oracle, The Zombies. (2) As outstanding as it was flukey, The Zombies' third and final album found an audience in the US well after the quintet had broken up and American interest in the band was seemingly tapped out. Indeed, Oracle was intended as a final statement and this soaring declaration is elegant, bold and at 32 minutes, concise. The end result of this band's frustration and disharmony was one of the defining psychedelic pop/rock albums of its time.
3. White Light White Heat, The Velvet Underground. (3) Neither aided by troubled chanteuse Nico nor coddled by "producer" Andy Warhol, the Velvets' second album --their only release with the classic Reed/Cale/Morrison/Tucker lineup-- is a complete assault on what anyone in 1968 would consider "music." Where their first album challenged conventions, White Heat beats those conventions to a pulp. Every song takes the band's inner demons to the hilt, and the climatic "Sister Ray" is basically four instruments at war with each other for 17-plus minutes.
4. Astral Weeks, Van Morrison (9)
5. Beggars Banquet, The Rolling Stones (7)
6. The Village Green Preservation Society, The Kinks (4)
7. Electric Ladyland, The Jimi Hendrix Experience (8)
8. Music from Big Pink, The Band (5)
9. We're Only In It For The Money, Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention
10. Bookends, Simon & Garfunkel. (6) The '60s most notable folk duo were a group that steadily became stronger and more confident with each album, and Bookends is an ambitious effort that pales only to their masterpiece 1970 swan song, Bridge Over Troubled Water. A nation divided --usually figuratively, sometimes literally-- is reflected on almost every track, from the enigmatic journey of "America" to the wry bleakness of "Mrs. Robinson" and "At The Zoo."

11. Sweetheart of the Rodeo, The Byrds (10)
12. At Folsom Prison, Johnny Cash
13. Lady Soul, Aretha Franklin
14. A Saucerful of Secrets, Pink Floyd (11)
15. Cheap Thrills, Big Brother & The Holding Company. Meet Janis Joplin. San Francisco's best-kept secret brought the house down at Monterey Pop, but legal entanglements kept Joplin and her band from signing a major label contract and capitalizing on their breakthrough show. Luckily, Cheap Thrills delivers and than some, offering all the excitement and energy of their live show on one convenient LP. Janis is the breakout star without question, shredding ears and vocal cords alike with unique urgency, emotion, and desperation.
16. Waiting for the Sun, The Doors
17. The United States of America, The United States of America
18. Creedence Clearwater Revival, Creedence Clearwater Revival
19. Switched-On Bach, Wendy Carlos
20. Eli & The Thirteenth Confession, Laura Nyro. A criminally under-appreciated singer-songwriter, Nyro is known more for the songs that were covered by other artists (Three Dog Night, the 5th Dimension, Barbra Streisand) than for her own lilting, confessional releases. Thirteenth Confession showcases a musical talent that peaked fairly early yet had a lot to say, augmented by a savvy blend of blue-eyed soul and New York pop. Everyone from Tori Amos to Alecia Keys owes some debt to the late, great Laura Nyro.

BEST JAZZ ALBUMS
1. Now He Sings, Now He Sobs, Chick Corea. In the intermediate period between backing Stan Getz and Miles Davis, Corea's fourth album as a leader proved he was a genius in his own right. Rounding out the trio is bassist Miroslav Vitous and drummer Roy Haynes, and all three artists never cave into each other. Originally released with five tracks, Now He Sings has been expanded "Leaves of Grass"-style to include 11 original compositions by the piano auteur.
2. Filles de Kilimanjaro, Miles Davis
3. Forest Flower, Charles Lloyd
4. Underground, Thelonious Monk
5. Midnight Creeper, Lou Donaldson

Honorable Mention: A Monastic Trio, Alice Coltrane (12).

BEST SINGLES
"Hey Jude," The Beatles
"White Room," Cream
"Going Up The Country," Canned Heat
"Time Has Come Today," The Chambers Brothers
"Hurdy Gurdy Man," Donovan
"I'm Gonna Make You Love Me," The Supremes & The Temptations
"Open My Eyes," The Nazz
"Bend Me, Shape Me," The American Breed
"I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight," Boyce & Hart
"Fire," The Crazy World of Arthur Brown

"Journey to the Center of the Mind," Amboy Dukes
"Livin' in the USA," Steve Miller Band
"Magic Carpet Ride," Steppenwolf
"Elenore," The Turtles
"Lady Willpower," Gary Puckett and the Union Gap
"Judy in Disguise (with Glasses)," John Fred & His Playboy Band
"Grazing in the Grass," Hugh Masekela
"Love is Blue," Paul Mauriat
"Wichita Lineman," Glen Campbell
"MacArthur Park," Richard Harris

Your thoughts?

Next Week: my annual MLB haiku preview.

A Diamond with a Flaw is Better Than a Pebble Without

With my monthly musical journey all but over (I will revisit and revamp some lists later this year) I thought touch upon some of the quirks and foibles of my four years' worth of great listens. This will be the first of such inventories:

Not every song on an album has to be great to make it a strong album overall. The 1995-96 Chicago Bulls had their Jack Haley, the 1927 Yankees their Julie Wera. Sometimes the brilliance of the whole allows you to ignore one weak track that either breezes by or fits only in the context of the album's peripheral. You take away that one song and it somehow completes your listening experience. Without being too nitpicky or beating around the bush, what happens when bad songs appear on great albums?

For the sake of not being too wonky, I will use the top of Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, plus a couple personal favorites. Keep in mind, this is their list and not mine I apologize for any inadvertent plagiarism on my part.


1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles. This is a tough call. If you think erstaz children's sing-alongs sung by Ringo are cloying, "A Little Help From My Friends" might be your pick. "She's Leaving Home" has probably the least memorable melody, but it's a fine, tragic story-song. "Sgt. Pepper's (Reprise)" is a truncated encore of the title track and barely a song in its own right, but it segues into the brilliant "A Day in the Life." It's the buffer between the full-length masterpiece you just heard and the individual achievement you're about to hear. In the end, I went with the droning Within You, Without You.
2. Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys. In the context of the album, the title track is fine. Out of context, it feels like intermission music in an old-time movie theater. If you want to nitpick, this is an instrumental credited to the Beach Boys, yet only one member (Brian Wilson) plays on the track; the small army of session players that populate and color this album merely cater to Wilson's whims. It's not filler per se, but the album's namesake feels like a tag-along.
3. Revolver, The Beatles. Another tough pick. "Yellow Submarine" has always been ammo for the Ringo haters, and while it has some annoying qualities, it's hard to not sing along. Of the three druggiest songs on the album, "I'm Only Sleeping" pales next to "She Said She Said" and "Tomorrow Never Knows," but only barely. There's too much I love here. No Pick.
4. Highway 61 Revisited, Bob Dylan. I would choose "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35," but that was on Blonde on Blonde. I would choose the icky "Ballad in Plain D," but that was on Another Side of Bob Dylan. The nine tracks on this album are miniature masterstrokes joined together as one breathtaking suite. Again, No Pick.
5. Rubber Soul, The Beatles. I don't want to keep hating on Fab Four, but this is Rolling Stone's top five after all. Sure, "The Word" is kinda sappy, but Wait is a well-written song hindered by a rushed production.

Also, some personal favorites:

Odelay!, Beck. Whenever I listen to this album, I'm naturally inclined to skip over High Five (Rock the Catskills). Even though it maintains the surrealist party-rock aesthetic, "High Five" veers into generic "Jock Jams" territory.
Purple, Stone Temple Pilots. If I didn't hear Interstate Love Song at all for the next six months, I would not miss it. Now that grunge and '90s is seeping its way into classic rock playlists, I hear this song now on twice as many radio stations. For a nearly 20-year-old song, it needs a rest.
#1 Record, Big Star. Remember The India Song? The song with the flutes and allusions to Rudyard Kipling? Yeah, that one.
Purple Rain, Prince. I often wonder if Foo Fighters covered Darling Nikki just to be ironic.
British Steel, Judas Priest. United is quite possibly the greatest soccer --er, football-- anthem nobody wanted. The song's Wikipedia is embarassingly threadbare, which tells you how much Priest fans appreciate this song.

I'm sure I'll think of more, but I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Musical Odds and Ends

As most of you know by now, I've almost run of years to cover in my monthly music blog. My four-year is almost at an end, though I may revise and revisit some lists in the distant future. Even though I've written about the sound and substance of these great musical works, I have barely covered the artistic effort and assorted intangibles of these albums.

With that said, please enjoy these arbitrary lists:


Five Great Albums with Terrible Covers
Magical Mystery Tour, The Beatles (1967)
Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! (live), The Rolling Stones (1970)
If I Could Only Remember My Name, David Crosby (1971)
Dirty Mind, Prince (1980)
Boys and Girls in America, The Hold Steady (2006)

Five Terrible Albums with Great Covers
Relayer, Yes (1974)
Chicago XIV, Chicago (1979)
Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants, Stevie Wonder (1980)
KooKoo, Debbie Harry (1981)
Falling Into Infinity, Dream Theater (1997)

The Six Greatest Sixth Albums of All Time
1. Rubber Soul, The Beatles (1965)
2. Highway 61 Revisited, Bob Dylan (1965)
3. Quadrophenia, The Who (1973)
4. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Wilco (2002)
5. Green, R.E.M. (1988)
6. Physical Graffiti, Led Zeppelin (1975)

The Ten Best Albums with a Naked Woman on the Cover
Blind Faith, Blind Faith (1969)
Abraxas, Santana (1970)
Electric Ladyland (original version), Jimi Hendrix (1970)
Country Life, Roxy Music (1974)
Cut, The Slits (1979)
Candy-O, The Cars (1979)
Mother's Milk, Red Hot Chili Peppers (1989)
Ritual De Lo Habitual, Jane's Addiction (1990)
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kanye West (2010)
The Haunted Man, Bat for Lashes (2012)

Three Albums with Semi-Legible, Handwritten Liner Notes by the Artists
After the Gold Rush, Neil Young (1970)
Live/1975-85, Bruce Springsteen (1986)
The Idler Wheel is Wiser Than..., Fiona Apple (2012)

Your thoughts?

That Wonderful Year in Music... 1967

If 1966 was the year that music gained brightened hues, than 1967 was when everything went technicolor. This is the year most associated with "flower power," Haight-Ashbury, and the rise of the counterculture. Monterrey Pop put acid rock and psychedelia on the map, the Vietnam war was in full swing, and race riots nationwide gave the Civil Rights Movement an ugly aftertaste. The "generation gap," shorthand for an increasingly widening cultural and sociopolitical wedge between young and old, further polarized American culture.

Even though I declared '66 the best for music of this particular decade, '67 was quite sublime in its own right. It was a year of unforgettable debuts (The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead) and sudden goodbyes (Billy Strayhorn, John Coltrane, Woody Guthrie, Brian Epstein, Otis Redding). For those of us that weren't alive during the Summer of Love this is where "Classic Rock" was conceived, similtaneously coexisting yet breaking away from Motown, bubblegum pop, free and Latin jazz, and British blues. Politics and drugs aside, 1967 was a staggering year for music, opening the floodgates to an unrivaled variety of sound.

BEST ROCK ALBUMS:

1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles. The most scrutinized and over-analyzed album in rock history, Sgt. Pepper's is an piece of art best appreciated without reading any critics' dissertations first. Don't let theories taint the experience, listen to this with fresh ears. Only after that can you debate the Ringo vocal on track #2, whether certain songs have aged better than others, or the real meaning of the mesmerizing "A Day in the Life." If you want to understand the essence of pop music, this is a good place to start.

2. The Velvet Underground & Nico, The Velvet Underground. Recorded over two days in late 1966, the Velvets were originally the hired soundtrack artists for "producer" Andy Warhol's surrealist road show. The end result of their recording debut --with German model/actress Nico shoehorned in on additional vocals-- is the most unique and distinctive rock recording of its time. The unit of Lou Reed, Stering Morrison, John Cale, and Maureen Tucker were masters of their art: tangled guitars, lyrics of literary fatalism, and a sense of nihilism never heard on record before.

3. Are You Experienced?, The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Arguably the most important instrumentalist in American music of the past half-century, the Seattle-bred electric guitarist hit the ground running on his major label and headlining debut. From the moment you hear the first strains of "Hey Joe" you know you're in for something special, transcendant almost. Considering that the entire original Experience lineup is now deceased, perhaps acid-blues of such majesty was meant to be savored.

4. The Doors, The Doors

5. Forever Changes, Love

6. Magical Mystery Tour, The Beatles

7. Axis: Bold as Love, The Jimi Hendrix Experience

8. Disraeli Gears, Cream

9. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Pink Floyd

10. I Never Loved a Man The Way I Love You, Aretha Franklin. The best straight-up soul album of all time? Quite possibly. The leadoff track "Respect" is a song that radio played to death (and still does), but like my #1 album pick her signature song requires a naked ear to feel the urgency and force of her voice. The rest of I Love You is top notch though not quite as earth-shattering; if Aretha were the last word in gospel, I'd attend her church.

11. The Who Sell Out, The Who

12. Something Else By, The Kinks

13. Strange Days, The Doors

14. Flowers, The Rolling Stones

15. Again, Buffalo Springfield. Personnel issues prevented this album from being as unified as their fine debut a year earlier, but from a songwriting standpoint this is a major leap in maturity for all involved. Neil Young is the breakout star here, taking lead on the Stones-ish "Mr. Soul" and the poignant, veritably haunted "Broken Arrow."

16. Younger Than Yesterday, The Byrds

17. Days of Future Passed, The Moody Blues

18. Surrealistic Pillow, Jefferson Airplane

19. John Wesley Harding, Bob Dylan

20. Procol Harum, Procol Harum. A session band that turned legit on the strength of one brilliant song, Harum's debut full-length is an entertaining meld of psychedelic, blues, and classic influences. "A Whiter Shade of Pale" (the aforementioned hit) and its luscious, swirling organ sets the tone, yet its commercial success overshadows an entire album's worth of fascinating proto-prog-rock. The Bach-influenced track "Repent Walpurgis" is a lost '60s gem.

BEST JAZZ ALBUMS:

1. The Real McCoy, McCoy Tyner. Struggling as an artist but growing as a pianist and composer, Tyner's first Blue Note session is his unfiltered vision of hard bop. With saxophonist Joe Henderson anchoring the proceedings, Tyler punctuates his dutiful soloist with crashes of 88-key thunder. If Tyner's other '67 release Tender Moments is more cerebral, than The Real McCoy is its feisty cousin.

2. Miles Smiles, Miles Davis

3. Wave, Antonio Carlos Jobim

4. Schizophrenia, Wayne Shorter

5. Sorcerer, Miles Davis

BEST SINGLES:

"You Keep Me Hangin' On," Vanilla Fudge

"Dear Mr. Fantasy," Traffic

"Incense and Peppermints," Strawberry Alarm Clock

"I Had To Much To Dream (Last Night)," The Electric Prunes

"Talk Talk," The Music Machine

"Wear Your Love Like Heaven," Donovan

"Gimme Little Sign," Brenton Wood

"Western Union," The Five Americans

"Him or Me, What's It Gonna Be?" Paul Revere & The Raiders

"The Happening," The Supremes

"Silence is Golden," The Tremeloes

"Sunshine Girl," Parade

"It's a Happening Thing," The Peanut Butter Conspiracy

"Fat City," The Sons of Champlin

"The Letter," The Box Tops

"Never My Love," The Association

"Society's Child," Janis Ian

"Pretty Ballerina," The Left Banke

"Underdog," Sly & The Family Stone

"Friday on My Mind," The Easybeats

Your thoughts?

That Wonderful Year in Music... 1966

After nearly 36 months, I have finally reached my favorite year of the '60s. Where '67, '68, and '69 were all top-heavy in great albums, 1966 balanced the long player's arrival as an art form with a cornucopia of all-time great singles. Without belaboring their impact 45 years on, any of the top three albums of my list could've been #1 in any other year, or any other decade for that matter. On the 45 RPM front, everything seemed to be firing on all cylinders: R&B, folk-pop, Motown, bubblegum, British Invasion, primative garage rock and early psychedelic. It was also a curious yet fascinating year in jazz, as the Blue Note post-bop stalwarts of the past decade or so finally conceided to liberal improvisation and the "free" movement. In all, there was a general sense of liberation and daring-do in the sounds of '66 that just couldn't be tamped down.

(Like past lists, my albums are ranked but my favorite songs are not.)

BEST ALBUMS

1. Revolver, The Beatles. If Rubber Soul was the appetizer and Sgt. Pepper's the dessert, than the Fab Four's seventh album was the main course. A crucial turning point in the band's philosophy, aesthetic, and sound, Revolver is the wedge between the band's straight-ahead earlier work and the sonic exploration and restless experimenting of their late '60s output. Even though Abbey Road was his true breakout, George Harrison nearly steals the show with his three writing contributions: the cynical "Taxman," the sitar durge "Love You To," and the dissonant "I Want To Tell You." With all the risks taken on this disc, it's almost a miracle that everything holds together, which makes Revolver an absolute must-own album.

2. Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys. Very few people understand the complexities of the human mind. Even fewer understand Brian Wilson's. When it comes to melodic melancholy, nothing compares nor ever will match the lush orchestration, inherent sense of loneliness, and yearning upper-register harmonizing of Pet Sounds. As the troubled songwriter aspired to be the next Phil Spector, Wilson not only cashed in all his chips, he rendered the "Wall of Sound" guru irrelevant overnight.

3. Blonde on Blonde, Bob Dylan. Its a testament to how deep the genius pool was in '66 that a genre-defining album would finish third on an annual list. The final act of Zimmerman's mid-decade triptych of masterpieces (see my '65 list for more details) draws the line in the sand between rock and pop; the sound is freewheeling and ramshackle, and the lyrics are so dense that you'll find a new meaning or subtext with every listen. The witty wordplay flows like water, whether it's on rockers such as "Stuck Inside of Memphis" or ballads like "Visions of Johanna." Dylan would continue to record great albums well after Blonde, but nothing has rocked as hard since.

4. Unit Structures, Cecil Taylor

5. Aftermath, The Rolling Stones

6. Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme, Simon & Garfunkel

7. Freak Out!, The Mothers of Invention

8. Adam's Apple, Wayne Shorter

9. Buffalo Springfield, Buffalo Springfield

10. Black Monk Time, The Monks. One of the most bizarre backstories in rock history also begat the album that inadvertantly invented punk. (Click here for the whole skinny.) Slashing two chords a good decade before The Ramones and voicing their radical beliefs when Dead Kennedys were still in grammar school, these American ex-pats started a revolution they had no idea was even brewing. Plus, Dave Day plays a blistering banjo.

Honorable Mentions: Got a Good Thing Goin', Big John Patton; 5th Dimension, The Byrds; Fresh Cream, Cream; If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears, The Mamas and the Papas; The Monkees, The Monkees; Sounds of Silence, Simon & Garfunkel.

Best Album I Haven't Heard Yet: The Psychedelic Sounds of..., The 13th Floor Elevators. I've heard so much about this album, yet I can't find a hard copy for my dear life. Once I score this disc, I'll make the proper adjustment to the list above.

BEST SINGLES

"What Becomes of the Brokenhearted," Jimmy Ruffin

"When a Man Loves a Woman," Percy Sledge

"Devil With a Blue Dress/Good Golly Miss Molly," Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels

"This Old Heart of Mine," The Isley Brothers

"Ain't Too Proud to Beg," The Temptations

"You Keep Me Hangin' On," The Supremes

"Reach Out (I'll Be There)," The Four Tops

"River Deep Mountain High," Ike & Tina Turner

"Sweet Talkin' Guy," The Chiffons

"Philly Dog," Herbie Mann

"Paperback Writer," The Beatles

"Five O'Clock World," The Vogues

"Psychotic Reaction," Count Five

"Wild Thing," The Troggs

"Good Lovin'," The Young Rascals

"Sunshine Superman," Donovan

"Black is Black," Los Bravos

"Red Rubber Ball," The Cyrkle

"Walk Away Renee," The Left Banke

"96 Tears," ? and the Mysterians

Your thoughts?

That Wonderful Year in Music... 1965

As everyone knows by now, the House of Representatives passed Obamacare the other night. Problem is, I'd been working on this particular blog for well over a week and I didn't have the time to write something else. If the health care debate is still raging next week, I'll probably post my thoughts on the topic then. Thank you for your patience.

If 1964 was the year that audiophiles first took notice of the LP as an all-encompassing artistic statement, as compared to a collection of recent songs, than 1965 was the first great year for long-players. It was also a year of double vision, as nearly every major act of the time --most of them now recognized as all-time greats-- released at least two new albums that year. 1965 was more than just the halfway point of the decade; it drew a wedge between the straight-laced sounds of the Camelot era and the psychedelic free-for-alls that closed the '60s. The British Invasion, Motown, and the folk sounddominated the American music charts outright, while surf-rock and the Brill Building slowly faded from sight. Jazz had both feet planted in its modal period, and suddenly it was cool for white guys to play the blues. These are my favorite albums from '65:

1. Highway 61 Revisited, Bob Dylan. And just like that, the unwilling leader of the folk movement went full-blown electric. After dipping his toe into that rock n' roll sound on side A of Bringing It All Back Home, the second phase of Dylan's long and unparalled career was initiated. The playful folkie from Greenwich Village had transitioned into an angry young man with a knack for wordplay. The snare shot that kicks off "Like a Rolling Stone" is like a call to arms, and the six-plus minutes that follow could be described with an infinite number of adjectives; arguably, it's the nastiest, visceral, metaphor-laden, powerful, difficult, unexpected, and unrelenting song ever recorded.
2. Rubber Soul, The Beatles. Speaking of second acts, The Beatles' 6th long-player was also a portent of things to come. Bridging the simplicity and innocence of their early work and the lyrical and instrumental experimentation of future efforts like Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's, Rubber Soul is a transitional album in the most complimentary sense. The sitar that carries "Norwegian Wood" is discerning and lulling at the same time, while the piano solo on "In My Life," warped in post-production to mimic a harpsichord, is dainty and pretty without ever sounding effete or trite.
3. Maiden Voyage, Herbie Hancock. Building upon the themes of his 1964 breakthrough Empyrean Isles, the aquatically obsessed Hancock devised a concept album aimed at creating an oceanic atmosphere. Borrowing (so to speak) bassist Ron Carter and drummer Anthony Williams from Miles Davis' legendary second quintet, Maiden Voyage showcases a promising young jazz pianist at the high point of his creative powers. Sure, Voyage may not be as adventurous as Isles, though it certainly does a better job of balancing accessible, lyrical jazz with risk-taking hard bop.
4. Bringing It All Back Home, Bob Dylan
5. Help!, The Beatles
6. E.S.P., Miles Davis
7. Speak No Evil, Wayne Shorter
8. Mr. Tambourine Man, The Byrds
9. Ascension, John Coltrane
10. Out of Our Heads, The Rolling Stones. If the Stones' third LP (fourth in the States) was remembered solely for "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction)," it'd still be a great album. A rumination on sex and commercialism, "Satisfaction" was unlike anything on the radio at the time, much less on an album of mostly blues and R&B covers. The track listings for the US and UK versions vary wildly, but both versions are equally... satisfactory.

Honorable Mentions: The Cape Verdean Blues, Horace Silver; Soothsayer, Wayne Shorter; December's Children (And Everybody's), The Rolling Stones; Begin Here, The Zombies; Today!, The Beach Boys.

1965 was also an excellent year for singles. If you know any or all of these 20 songs, I'm sure you'd agree:

"A Well Respected Man," The Kinks
"We Gotta Get Out of This Place," The Animals
"You've Got To Hide Your Love Away," The Silkie
"Yesterday," The Beatles
"I Know a Place," Petula Clark
"Catch Us If You Can," Dave Clark Five
"For Your Love," The Yardbirds
"I Want Candy," The Strangeloves
"Concrete & Clay," Unit 4+2
"Go Now," The Moody Blues

"I Hear A Symphony," The Supremes
"Since I Lost My Baby," The Temptations
"It's The Same Old Song," The Four Tops
"In The Midnight Hour," Wilson Pickett
"The 'In' Crowd," Ramsey Lewis Trio
"Do You Believe in Magic," The Lovin' Spoonful
"Eve Of Destruction," Barry McGuire
"Treat Her Right," Roy Head and The Traits
"She's About a Mover," Sir Douglas Quintet
"Unchained Melody," The Righteous Brothers

NOTE: I confused the release date of John Coltrane's A Love Supreme (February 1965) with the recording date (December 1964), so it appears my 1964 list from several months ago. I humbly regret the error.
Your thoughts?