It Was Fifty Years Ago Last May…………
TWENTY GREAT ALBUMS from 1967: By now the album had superseded the single as the vehicle through which an artist would most express their visions and true ambition. Few would have predicted the long-player to have travelled so far in such a short space of time and although people did not go around humming albums, their value as a creative, contemporary art form was now established and much of the experimentation and creativity that abounded in this monumental twelve months gave indication the rock album was heading toward the thematic works that were to come in the following eighteen months – SF Sorrow, Tommy and Arthur (or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) heralding the arrival of what became termed the ‘concept album.’
But for the moment let us remain firmly in 1967 where breath-taking innovation in production techniques, musical excellence and lyrics reflecting new levels of consciousness (expansion of the mind brought on by changing spiritual values, hallucinogens or sometimes both), but everywhere was the sound of musical and lyrical boundaries being pushed back. It is however, worth pointing out, the single was far from finished as masterpieces such as ‘I Can See For Miles,’ ‘Waterloo Sunset,’ ‘Let’s Spend The Night Together,’ and ‘Light My Fire’, were all released from albums that year – and in many ways no less accomplished than songs such as ‘A Day In The Life,’ ‘Broken Arrow,’ and ‘Third Stone from the Sun,’ that were representative of the newly-defined album track.
THE TWENTY BEST ALBUMS of 1967
- ARE YOU EXPERIENCED ? – The Jimi Hendrix Experience;
- SERGEANT PEPPER’S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND – The Beatles;
- BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD AGAIN – Buffalo Springfield;
- THE WHO SELL OUT – The Who;
- SOMETHING ELSE by THE KINKS – The Kinks;
- THE DOORS – The Doors;
- YOUNGER THAN YESTERDAY – The Byrds;
- LIVE IN EUROPE – Otis Redding;
- BETWEEN THE BUTTONS – Rolling Stones;
- DISRAELI GEARS – Cream;
- SURREALISTIC PILLOW – The Jefferson Airplane;
- PROCOL HARUM – Procol Harum;
- MOBY GRAPE – Moby Grape;
- MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR – The Beatles;
- ABSOLUTELY FREE – The Mothers of Invention;
- WILD HONEY – The Beach Boys;
- FRESH CREAM – Cream;
- FLOWERS – Rolling Stones;
- SONGS TO A SEAGULL – Joni Mitchell;
- HAPPY TOGETHER – The Turtles;
NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of MONTY’S DOUBLE – an outstanding new thriller now available as an Amazon Kindle Book.