10. Manfred Mann - Five Faces of Manfred MannManfred Mann is one of the 60's British beat bands that, like Beatles, took their influences from 50's rock n' roll and blues. Manfred Mann's music is skilfully played and it stands out because of its sounds. The sound is clearer and more blues-oriented than many other beat bands' of the time. The piano and harmonica give a nice add to normal guitar-led rock. They also use vibraphone and saxophone in a couple of songs, which gives a nice distinctive sound for the group. Manfred Mann was one of the first UK groups to reach number one spot on the US charts. Considering the time it was made, Manfred Mann's sound is fairly modern, but the songwriting does not provide many surprises. Good for dancing though! Listen to the album on Spotify.
I included this album mainly because of its influence on many psychedelic rock bands of the late 60's, including obviously The Beatles. Ravi Shankar's music could be categorised as Indian classical music, played with sitar, flute and various drums. The melodies remind a modern listener of many popular classics made mainly in the 60's. The feel on the album is really hypnotic. This albums is indeed best listened to while lying on the sofa with eyes closed. It does not seem surprising that many bands who were using marijuana and LSD were really drawn into this kind of hypnotic music. It completely takes the listener away from this world. The best way to listen to this sort of music is just to concentrate on nothing else. Listen to the album on Spotify.
London-based The Kinks became later one of the masters of melodic pop, but like so many others, they started as a beat band playing old rock n' roll classics and new music influenced by those. Ray Davies already showed some talent in songwriting on this debut album. You Really Got Me is still one of the most well-known songs of the band. The guitar-work on the album sounds better than on many other beat albums of the time. Like The Beatles, The Kinks were able to come up with more interesting melodies than other bands of the time. Even though this debut album is still fairly boring for most parts, it still has some fantastic moments that predict the future melodic sound of the band. The Kinks is one of the most influential rock-pop bands of all times. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Despite of its name (jazz in Swedish), this album is an instrumental album portraying instrumental piano songs. Many of the songs have their roots in old folk songs, but they have been made into new innovative jazz songs. The sounds are really stripped down and most of the songs have only piano and double bass. The melodies have a lot of blues influences. There's a melancholic feel to the album, even though it definitely isn't all sadness. It's no wonder this album became the best selling Swedish jazz album of all times. This album I found while making this blog. It however captured my attention immediately. There's something beautiful and catchy in the melodies played here. Great collaboration of piano and bass. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Johnny Cash is one of the most legendary country singers of all times. I Walk the Line is an album that gathered some of the best songs from the Sun Record era and remade them for Columbia records. The song collection is therefore very impressive. It has such classics as I Walk the Line, Folsom Prison Blues, Hey Porter and Big River. Cash's voice has heaps of charisma, even though he's not really that good a singer in technical terms. I'm not really sure if this album counts as a collection album, but it's just nice to get to include a Cash album on this blog, since he's one of the most legendary musicians of all times. The band behind Mr. Cash knows their stuff and the intensity on the album is great. Listen to the album on Youtube.
Joan Baez is one of the absolute masters of early 60's folk music. Her vibrato voice is known to many. The guitar-work on this album of hers is quite fantastic. There are old traditional folk songs as well as contemporary pieces. The sound is very folk purist and most of the songs have only guitar and her singing voice. Baez became one of the voices of the protest folk scene of the early 60's. Her music has no doubt influenced a lot of modern singer-songwriters. The album is mainly just a collection of songs, rather than a comprehensive whole, but that was the case with most of the albums of this time. Baez's music has a significant place in the history of music and this is one of her best albums. Listen to the album on Spotify.
The Beach Boys is mostly known for their early-career, super-American, surf-rock. Their music at that time defined what college kids were listening to. This album is exactly in the middle of that period. All Summer Long has many well-known hit songs, such as I Get Around and All Summer Long. This album just shouts out summer. It's not an album to listen to when it's dark outside and cold even indoors. This is music for the beach or for playing sports in the park. The vocal harmonies are excellent and the Beach Boys sound is unmistakable. At this time, The Beatles were breaking through in US, but Beach Boys only got boost from that competition and kept making better and better albums. This album is one of their best of the early era. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Bob Dylan defined the whole generation of early 60's movement against inequality and war. His early albums are pure folk, containing almost nothing else than an acoustic guitar, harpsichord and his nasal singing voice. The Times They Are A-Changin' is full of songs that at the time were called protest songs. The title-track is the most well-known of these songs, but as a whole the album is filled with interesting songs. I especially want to mention North Country Blues, which captures perfectly Dylan's role as a storyteller with a melancholic and sad melody. There's amazing intimacy in these songs. It feels like Dylan is singing just for you and making you listen what he has to say. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Hard Day's Night is the album that was made at the peak of The Beatles' early success. They were touring all the time, but at the same time they wrote two albums a year, plus made films. It's amazing how they avoided a nervous breakdown. Obviously a few years later, they had to stop touring, because it was getting too hectic. Like McCartney put it, people didn't come to their gigs anymore to hear them. They came to see them. The screams were so loud that you couldn't actually hear the music. hard Day's Night still has pretty simple upbeat pop-songs, but there's much more variation in the melodies than with many other performers' at the time. Best songs on this album, in my opinion, are And I Love Her, Any Time at All, Things We Said Today and I'll Be Back. Listen to the album on Youtube.
Simon & Garfunkel's debut album was overshadowed at the time of its release by the arrival of The Beatles to the US. This was unfortunate, since it's an amazing debut album. it has all the best bits about the duo already. Songs, such as Bleecker Street, Sparrow, The Sound of Silence, He Was My Brother and the title track are all classics and amazing songs at that. The duo's vocal harmonies are beautiful and their guitar-playing is highly skilful. In my opinion, this is one of the best folk albums ever made. It has the best overall selection of songs of any Simon & Garfunkel album. I've listened to Simon & Garfunkel all my life, since I remember already hearing it at home when I was a child. I will never get bored of it though. Listen to the album on Spotify.
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