10. Dick Dale - King of the Surf Guitar
Dick Dale is probably best known for his version of Miserlou, which plays in the beginning of the film Pulp Fiction. This song is not unfortunately on this album, but the album contains other great surf-rock masterpieces. The sounds rely on sharp and clean electric guitars. There are a few really good saxophone solos there as well. These songs are groundbreaking novelties in surf-rock genre, but there are strong influences from 50's rock n' roll. These rock n' roll tunes are fantastic for dancing. Playing music like this on 7" records can make a great party. I can see why young people of the time went crazy for this music. Dick Dale is not the most well-known artist of the time, but everyone knows his sound. Listen to the album on Grooveshark.
The Beatles are of course the best known beat group of early 60's. It's good to know though that there were many others. Gerry and the Pacemakers were another Liverpool band who were managed by Brian Epstein and recorded by George Martin. Their sound is actually quite close to that of the Beatles. Only the songs are not quite as innovative as their colleagues'. As dance music, this works really well. Listening to this I can see women dancing in their dotted dresses and young men with their greasy hair.Looking at the album cover, you can see how impersonal the style issues were for bands of the time. All the bands had the same outfits. Gerry and the Pacemakers are different from many other bands of the time, because of their great melodies. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Johnny Cash was one of the leading figures of the early 60's music scene. His country songs have highly recognisable sound. Blood, Sweat & Tears has many songs that are basically about the American working man. The opening, over eight minute long The Legend of John Henry's Hammer is also known from Cash's live album recorded at the Folsom prison. If you've heard one Cash song, you've basically heard them all, if you listen just to the melody and sounds that is. He's a storyteller and really good at that. I'm not really good at listening to lyrics, but with Johnny Cash you should really listen to the lyrics. Blood, Sweat & Tears is not among Cash''s most legendary albums, but it's still a great piece of work. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Willie Nelson is one of the most legendary country singers of all times. He has made some exceptionally beautiful country ballads. This album is a bit more traditional country album, but just because of that it's quite legendary. Nelson's voice is soft and full of that classic American sound known from many films. Nelson's most well-known albums are probably from the 70's, but these 60's albums show the traditional sound of him when he wasn't yet that hippie, we've used to seen him as. This album's sound really brings to mind the old Hollywood films full of romance and weird dialogue. It's a great album to listen to when you don't have to rush anywhere. This is where many of today's americana artists have gotten parts of their sound. Listen to the album on Grooveshark.
Peter, Paul and Mary are one of the most well-known folk acts of the 60's. Their music is more old-school folk than Dylan or Simon & Garfunkel. Many of the themes are still connected to Christianity, which takes my enthusiasm slightly away from this trio. Still, the sounds are groundbreaking in developing folk music traditions. Puff, the Magic Dragon is a known children's song to many. The melody in this song is brilliant. There have been some speculations that the title of the song would refer to smoking marijuana. Who knows. Some of these songs sound a bit childish, but once you get over that connection, it's mainly about beautiful melodies sung with great emotion. Listen to the album on Spotify.
The best albums in the late 50's and early 60's are mainly jazz albums. My knowledge about them is shamefully bad. Charles Mingus' The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is one of the fantastic albums of the time. There's dark melancholy and amazingly skilful playing on it. The trumpet is quite amazing. This album brings to my mind the old film-noir classics, where a broken man talks in deep-toned voice about his failures while drinking a glass of whiskey in a corner bar. Like jazz records usually, this album is not about individual songs, but about the mood that is heard throughout the album. The piano parts in Group Dancers are amazing. The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is one of the best jazz albums of all times. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Surfin' USA is probably the best example of the early up-beat Beach Boys. The guitars are sharp and clean as they should be in surf rock and vocal harmonies are carried out beautifully. This is music for dancing and good times in the summer. This music may be far away from the later brilliant albums, such as Pet Sounds, but it's still good as it is. This is Beach Boys' second album and already all the pieces are there to make this one of the greatest American youth groups of the 60's. Listening to this music makes me think of people playing beach volley on the beach in the sun. It also includes Beach Boys' version of Miserlou, the song known to everyone from the film Pulp Fiction. Listen to the album on Spotify.
John Fahey is, more than anything else, a master of acoustic guitar. His playing is exceptionally great. These songs are instrumental folk songs played only on one guitar. It seems quite amazing how someone can make such as sound picking up a guitar. I didn't know John Fahey before making this blog, but his skilful guitar-playing caught my attention immediately. I don't know is people who don't play can appreciate this as much as I do, but I hope so. In my opinion, this exceptional talent deserves to be graded one of the best albums of 1963. Listening to this album may be quite a hypnotic experience and I do encourage to listen to this when you can just lie still and listen to the music. Listen to the album on Spotify.
In 1963 larger audiences got to know the Liverpool beat group called The Beatles. They released their first two albums this year. Both albums have their moments, but in my opinion, the second album of these is overall better. That's why I'm posting it here instead of Please Please Me. The early Beatles songs are still quite simple looking back to them now, but at the time, they have been groundbreakingly different from anything that was made before. The vocal harmonies, melodies and sounds are all really well done. The cover photo is very classy and the style of the Beatles made a whole generation to dress in a same way. The Beatles is the most legendary band that ever existed and their story is important to me right from the very beginning. Listen to the album on Youtube.
On Dylan's second album you can find some of his most legendary folk songs, such as Blowin' In the Wind and A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall. This is Dylan's most legendary purist era album. The sounds are made only on one acoustic guitar, harpsichord and Dylan's nasal voice. The songs are stories about American society in the early 60's. Guitar-playing is absolutely brilliant. It's quite amazing to think that Dylan was only 22 years old at the time of this release. His voice and lyrics are really grown-up. Masters of War started Dylan's anti-war campaign with a bang. the song has a fantastic intensity. Freewheelin' is one of the most legendary albums of the whole 60's and deserves to get the first place on this list. Listen to the album on Spotify.
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