[Music] 50th Music Anniversary

[studio150]

Ahead of the Abbey Road 50th anniversary album release on Friday, your thoughts on the best albums from 1969.

We do need to fill in time during the international break. To assist I think all these were released in 1969 (happy to be corrected)

1. Abbey Road - The Beatles
2. Tommy - The Who
3. Led Zeppelin II - Led Zeppelin
4. Let It Bleed - The Rolling Stones
5. Led Zeppelin I - Led Zeppelin
6. The Band - The Band
7. Stand - Sly And The Family Stone
8. In The Court Of The Crimson King - King Crimson
9. Green River - Creedence Clearwater Revival
10. Crosby, Stills And Nash - Crosby, Stills & Nash
11. Hot Buttered Soul - Isaac Hayes
12. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere - Neil Young and Crazy Horse
13. Willy And The Poor Boys - Creedence Clearwater Revival
14. Dusty In Memphis - Dusty Springfield
15. Kick Out The Jams - The MC5
16. The Stooges - The Stooges
17. From Elvis In Memphis - Elvis Presley
18. The Chicago Transit Authority - Chicago
19. Blood, Sweat & Tears - Blood, Sweat & Tears
20. Santana - Santana
21. The Meters - The Meters
22. Jimmy Cliff - Jimmy Cliff
23. The Gilded Palace Of Sin - The Flying Buritto Brothers
24. Trout Mask Replica - Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band
25. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground
26. Five Leaves Left - Nick Drake
27. The Allman Brothers Band - The Allman Brothers Band
28. Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire) - The Kinks
29. Liege & Lief - Fairport Convention
30. On The Threshold Of A Dream - The Moody Blues
31. Stand Up - Jethro Tull
32. The Young Mods' Forgotten Story - The Impressions
33. Blind Faith - Blind Faith
34. Bayou Country - Creedence Clearwater Revival
35. Live/Dead - The Grateful Dead
36. Happy Trails - Quicksilver Messenger Service
37. Nashville Skyline - Bob Dylan
38. Volunteers - Jefferson Airplane
39. Cloud Nine - The Temptations
40. With A Little Help From My Friends - Joe Cocker
41. Beck-Ola - Jeff Beck Group
42. Then Play On - Fleetwood Mac
43. Ummagumma - Pink Floyd
44. A Salty Dog - Procol Harum
45. Aoxomoxoa - The Grateful Dead
46. It's A Beautiful Day - It's A Beautiful Day
47. Ssssh - Ten Years After
48. Oar - Alexander "Skip" Spence
49. Monster Movie - The Can
50. Volume Two - The Soft Machine
51. Second Winter - Johnny Winter
52. Joe Cocker - Joe Cocker
53. Streetnoise - Julie Driscoll with Brian Auger & The Trinity
54. Odessa - The Bee Gees
55. Songs for a Tailor - Jack Bruce
56. I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! - Janis Joplin
57. Testifyin' - Clarence Carter
58. Koko Taylor - Koko Taylor
59. Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud - James Brown
60. The Progressive Blues Experiment - Johnny Winter
61. Goodbye - Cream
62. Clouds - Joni Mitchell
63. It's a Mother - James Brown
64. Soul '69 - Aretha Franklin
65. Grand Funk - Grand Funk Railroad
66. Tons of Sobs - Free
67. The Brothers: Isley - The Isley Brothers
68. To Our Children's Children's Children - The Moody Blues
69. Three Dog Night - Three Dog Night
70. The Israelites - Desmond Dekker & The Aces
71. I'm A Loser - Doris Duke
72. 20/20 - The Beach Boys
73. Valentyne Suite - Colosseum
74. Mercator Projected - East of Eden
75. Phallus Dei - Amon Düül II
76. Arzachel - Arzachel
77. Get Ready - Rare Earth
78. Buying A Book - Joe Tex
79. Music Emporium - The Music Emporium
80. Bless Its Pointed Little Head - Jefferson Airplane
81. Deep Purple - Deep Purple
82. Pickin' Up The Pieces - Poco
83. Mendocino - Sir Douglas Quintet
84. Barabajagal - Donovan
85. Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5 - The Jackson 5
86. Morgen - Morgen
87. Can I Change My Mind? - Tyrone Davis
88. Sea Shanties - High Tide
89. Four Sail - Love
90. Free - Free
91. It's Our Thing - The Isley Brothers
92. Puzzle People - The Temptations
93. It's My Thing - Marva Whitney
94. Yes - Yes
95. The Spice of Life - Marlena Shaw
96. Heart & Soul - Johnny Adams
97. Kool And The Gang - Kool & The Gang
98. The Age Of Aquarius - The 5th Dimension
99. Spooky Two - Spooky Tooth
100. Hollywood Dream - Thunderclap Newman



So does the ranking look about right, which of these do you still listen to regularly, or which ones you played but now never give it a listen.

For me the top 10 could be in any order, and I still listen to the top 5 with probably Tommy more frequently than the other four.

 

[Wozza]

Dunno. I'll ask my dad.

 

[zefarelly]

Despite being born in 1971, I can honestly say I have most of those albums, many on original vinyl, even Spooky tooth, original island too.

Clarence Carter and Tyrone Davis are generally the preserve of souls/scooter fraternities, were they actually released in the U.K.? Pretty sure ( Kent albums aside) the vinyl I have is US import, when shit loads piled over here in the early naughtiest (2:1 exchange rate!!,)

2nd amendment . . . .I've seen 11 of those bands live, and shared a stage with 1! (Albeit a somewhat different line up!)

 

[Juan Albion]

Seeing The Who tonight. I'll give it some thought.

 

[AmexRuislip]

Ahead of the Abbey Road 50th anniversary album release on Friday, your thoughts on the best albums from 1969.

We do need to fill in time during the international break. To assist I think all these were released in 1969 (happy to be corrected)

1. Abbey Road - The Beatles
2. Tommy - The Who
3. Led Zeppelin II - Led Zeppelin
4. Let It Bleed - The Rolling Stones
5. Led Zeppelin I - Led Zeppelin
6. The Band - The Band
7. Stand - Sly And The Family Stone
8. In The Court Of The Crimson King - King Crimson
9. Green River - Creedence Clearwater Revival
10. Crosby, Stills And Nash - Crosby, Stills & Nash
11. Hot Buttered Soul - Isaac Hayes
12. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere - Neil Young and Crazy Horse
13. Willy And The Poor Boys - Creedence Clearwater Revival
14. Dusty In Memphis - Dusty Springfield
15. Kick Out The Jams - The MC5
16. The Stooges - The Stooges
17. From Elvis In Memphis - Elvis Presley
18. The Chicago Transit Authority - Chicago
19. Blood, Sweat & Tears - Blood, Sweat & Tears
20. Santana - Santana
21. The Meters - The Meters
22. Jimmy Cliff - Jimmy Cliff
23. The Gilded Palace Of Sin - The Flying Buritto Brothers
24. Trout Mask Replica - Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band
25. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground
26. Five Leaves Left - Nick Drake
27. The Allman Brothers Band - The Allman Brothers Band
28. Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire) - The Kinks
29. Liege & Lief - Fairport Convention
30. On The Threshold Of A Dream - The Moody Blues
31. Stand Up - Jethro Tull
32. The Young Mods' Forgotten Story - The Impressions
33. Blind Faith - Blind Faith
34. Bayou Country - Creedence Clearwater Revival
35. Live/Dead - The Grateful Dead
36. Happy Trails - Quicksilver Messenger Service
37. Nashville Skyline - Bob Dylan
38. Volunteers - Jefferson Airplane
39. Cloud Nine - The Temptations
40. With A Little Help From My Friends - Joe Cocker
41. Beck-Ola - Jeff Beck Group
42. Then Play On - Fleetwood Mac
43. Ummagumma - Pink Floyd
44. A Salty Dog - Procol Harum
45. Aoxomoxoa - The Grateful Dead
46. It's A Beautiful Day - It's A Beautiful Day
47. Ssssh - Ten Years After
48. Oar - Alexander "Skip" Spence
49. Monster Movie - The Can
50. Volume Two - The Soft Machine
51. Second Winter - Johnny Winter
52. Joe Cocker - Joe Cocker
53. Streetnoise - Julie Driscoll with Brian Auger & The Trinity
54. Odessa - The Bee Gees
55. Songs for a Tailor - Jack Bruce
56. I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! - Janis Joplin
57. Testifyin' - Clarence Carter
58. Koko Taylor - Koko Taylor
59. Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud - James Brown
60. The Progressive Blues Experiment - Johnny Winter
61. Goodbye - Cream
62. Clouds - Joni Mitchell
63. It's a Mother - James Brown
64. Soul '69 - Aretha Franklin
65. Grand Funk - Grand Funk Railroad
66. Tons of Sobs - Free
67. The Brothers: Isley - The Isley Brothers
68. To Our Children's Children's Children - The Moody Blues
69. Three Dog Night - Three Dog Night
70. The Israelites - Desmond Dekker & The Aces
71. I'm A Loser - Doris Duke
72. 20/20 - The Beach Boys
73. Valentyne Suite - Colosseum
74. Mercator Projected - East of Eden
75. Phallus Dei - Amon Düül II
76. Arzachel - Arzachel
77. Get Ready - Rare Earth
78. Buying A Book - Joe Tex
79. Music Emporium - The Music Emporium
80. Bless Its Pointed Little Head - Jefferson Airplane
81. Deep Purple - Deep Purple
82. Pickin' Up The Pieces - Poco
83. Mendocino - Sir Douglas Quintet
84. Barabajagal - Donovan
85. Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5 - The Jackson 5
86. Morgen - Morgen
87. Can I Change My Mind? - Tyrone Davis
88. Sea Shanties - High Tide
89. Four Sail - Love
90. Free - Free
91. It's Our Thing - The Isley Brothers
92. Puzzle People - The Temptations
93. It's My Thing - Marva Whitney
94. Yes - Yes
95. The Spice of Life - Marlena Shaw
96. Heart & Soul - Johnny Adams
97. Kool And The Gang - Kool & The Gang
98. The Age Of Aquarius - The 5th Dimension
99. Spooky Two - Spooky Tooth
100. Hollywood Dream - Thunderclap Newman



So does the ranking look about right, which of these do you still listen to regularly, or which ones you played but now never give it a listen.

For me the top 10 could be in any order, and I still listen to the top 5 with probably Tommy more frequently than the other four.

All on ipod
Great effort

 

[GT49er]

Blimey - a few memories there!

 

[Superphil]

3. Led Zeppelin II - Led Zeppelin
5. Led Zeppelin I - Led Zeppelin
8. In The Court Of The Crimson King - King
15. Kick Out The Jams - The MC5
25. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground
45. Aoxomoxoa - The Grateful Dead
56. I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! - Janis Joplin
81. Deep Purple - Deep Purple


I have these, and for sure my favourites are Led Zep 1 & 2 from that list.

 

[smillie's garden]

My goodness there were some fantastic albums released 50 years ago. I've heard most of your list, but there are some on there I'll give a listen to. I noticed no jazz in your list: In a Silent Way by Miles Davis would be up there for me, as would Fat Albert Rotunda by Herbie Hancock. Also, in Brazil, Gal Costa, Os Mutantes, Milton Nascimento, and Gilberto Gil all released great albums. Plus, the oft sampled Songs of Experience by David Axelrod was from '69. Interestingly it looks like Subway Joe by Joe Bataan was released on Dec 31st '68, although All Music lists as a 1969 release. Brill stuff either way.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

I have 11 of them. High Tide

 

[studio150]

Despite being born in 1971, I can honestly say I have most of those albums, many on original vinyl, even Spooky tooth, original island too.

Clarence Carter and Tyrone Davis are generally the preserve of souls/scooter fraternities, were they actually released in the U.K.? Pretty sure ( Kent albums aside) the vinyl I have is US import, when shit loads piled over here in the early naughtiest (2:1 exchange rate!!,)

2nd amendment . . . .I've seen 11 of those bands live, and shared a stage with 1! (Albeit a somewhat different line up!)

Clarence Carter - Testifyn' Atlantic 588191 was a UK release

Tyrone Davis - Can I Change My Mind Atlantic 588 209 was a UK release (although it may have been 1970, but the North American release was 1969)

But accept both will have been difficult to get hold of a year or two after being released

 

[catfish]

King Crimson must win the award for best album cover.

 

[studio150]

King Crimson must win the award for best album cover.

Funny you should mention that, in the words of Blue Peter, here's one I prepared earlier

https://nortr3nixy.nimpr.uk/showthread.php?370866-Your-Favourite-Album-Cover&highlight=album+cover

 

[Super Steve Earle]

Stand up by Jethro Tull
Crosby, Stills and Nash

Two of 1969's finest and very listenable to this very day.

 

[Gwylan]

I think Trout Mask Replica is the best album ever by a popular beat combo, so it's certainly top of the list

But there are some great albums there: Dusty in Memphis; Hot Buttered Soul; Kick out the Jams; The Stooges; Monster Movie and my favourite VU album, the Velvet Underground

What a year

 

[Godstar]

Yep, for me from that list: The Velvets, Stooges & MC5. Honourable exclusions David Bowie - David Bowie(reissued as Space Oddity), The Doors - Soft Parade & 13th Floor Elevators - Bull of the Wood.

 

[Icy Gull]

I have 19 of those albums and still listen to

CS and Nash - those harmonies
Led Zep
Neil Young - nobody does it better than Neil Young with Crazy Horse for me
Dusty in Memphis - not sure she ever bettered this album
Velvet Underground
Fairport Convention - Sandy Denny at her peak
The Band
King Crimson
Creedence Clearwater - what a great band they were, so many good John Fogerty songs
Santana - one of the highlights of Woodstock
Dylan - clearly remember the outrage from long time fans at the Country album
Free - loved this band, remember Paul Kossof passing away so young
Poco - the band plundered by the Eagles who never really made it but were better imo
The Stones - Let it Bleed
Love
The Byrds

What a great year

Abbey Road can do one apart from a couple of George Harrison songs though

 

[DavePage]

Seeing The Who tonight. I'll give it some thought.

I was there and thought they were great, shame about Roger near the end but they were very professional.
Loved the orchestral, having been more into the stage version of Tommy and Quadrophenia, they played well and sounded great
Pete was in a very enthusiastic frame of mind, seemed to really be enjoying himself (a lot different from last time I saw them in Toronto

Wore a bhafc related shirt (soho down to) a definite whoosh, one **** on the train did ask then went on about his beloved soccer and MLS (clearly the founders of the sport), couldn't even be arsed to argue with him let alone listen

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

I have 17 of those

 

[dolphins]

Pink Floyd's More, also released in 1969, is a better album overall than Ummagumma in my opinion (although Umma does have some great stuff on it - Narrow Way for example, and Grantchester Meadows, both on the studio album - the live album doesn't feature as good performances as heard elsewhere throughout that year)

 

[maltaseagull]

I was there and thought they were great, shame about Roger near the end but they were very professional.
Loved the orchestral, having been more into the stage version of Tommy and Quadrophenia, they played well and sounded great
Pete was in a very enthusiastic frame of mind, seemed to really be enjoying himself (a lot different from last time I saw them in Toronto

Wore a bhafc related shirt (soho down to) a definite whoosh, one **** on the train did ask then went on about his beloved soccer and MLS (clearly the founders of the sport), couldn't even be arsed to argue with him let alone listen

What happened?