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Next 100 TOP SONG OF 1969 - #1 Back In The USSR - The Beatles (1 Viewer)

zamboni said:
Not to nitpick, but wasn't Odessey and Oracle released in April 1968?
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When I put the list together I had a number of songs off to the side to plug in just in case but I don't want to use them because Pip is going to do a list after mine and I want to see what he comes up with but you are right.

I was going by the hot 100 list and didn't even think to check the release.  It must have been a slow climb for some unknown reason but you are right, it was released earlier than my cutoff but I'll forgive myself since it broke out as a surprise hit single in 69.

Odessey and Oracle is the second studio album by English rock band the Zombies. It was originally released in the UK in April 1968 by CBS Records.

The album was recorded between June and August 1967. The sessions took place at Abbey Road Studios and Olympic Studios in London. It was received indifferently on release. A single from the album, "Time of the Season", became a surprise hit in the United States in early 1969.

 
Bracie Smathers said:
When I put the list together I had a number of songs off to the side to plug in just in case but I don't want to use them because Pip is going to do a list after mine and I want to see what he comes up with but you are right.

I was going by the hot 100 list and didn't even think to check the release.  It must have been a slow climb for some unknown reason but you are right, it was released earlier than my cutoff but I'll forgive myself since it broke out as a surprise hit single in 69.

Odessey and Oracle is the second studio album by English rock band the Zombies. It was originally released in the UK in April 1968 by CBS Records.

The album was recorded between June and August 1967. The sessions took place at Abbey Road Studios and Olympic Studios in London. It was received indifferently on release. A single from the album, "Time of the Season", became a surprise hit in the United States in early 1969.
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Sounds good. Feel free to hold your head up.

 
zamboni said:
Sounds good. Feel free to hold your head up.
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I see what you did their.

Also, I 'may' have found a UK release from 69 since ... well its a bit complicated.  By the time this song came out the band had broken up.  The album did nadda in the UK but this single broke out in the US which caused the group to quickly re-form.  On the strength of the hit single which broke out in every country except the UK so the group tried THREE TIMES to release it as a single in the UK where it failed to chart each time.  

 Rod Argent: "'Time of the Season' was the #1 in most countries in the world, but it wasn't in the UK. It's been released three times in the UK, and it's never been a hit. But the extraordinary thing is that everybody knows it in the UK. We played Glastonbury this year, and we had a big audience of the young kids who went completely mad when we played 'Time of the Season.' So, it has become, strangely enough, a classic in the UK, but it's never been a hit."

I'm sure I saw where it had a 69 release date and with three tries at the UK market I'm pretty sure at least one of them were in 69 when it was a huge hit everywhere outside of the United Kingdom.

EDIT:  Did not find the exact date but know it was re-released in 69, from Wiki:

Release history

The next single, "Time of the Season," slowly gained popularity before finally hitting big on the US charts in 👉 March 1969. After the song became a hit, Date re-released 👈 Odessey and Oracle with severely cropped artwork. This time the album charted, reaching number 95 in the US. By then Rod Argent and Chris White were busy with their new band, Argent...

Originally released in early 68 before my cutoff and did nothing.  Was picked up by a US company and slowly the single charted.  Once it charted in 69 the album was re-released so it must have had a release date in 69.

 
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Bracie Smathers said:
#15 Time Of The Season - The Zombies

What's yer name?

Whose your daddy?

It was the sixties man but this tune endures for more than a social reason, their is an unusual structure of how the song was built.

Built around the bassline heard in the intro, this song has some very effective and unusual structural components that helped it endure. The bass riff is punctuated with a hand clap and the breathy "ahhhh" vocal. These elements add sonic texture during the verses, and also show up in the two interludes.

And while most hit songs pound you with the chorus, this one doesn't. The full chorus - "It's the time of the season for loving..." takes just eight seconds and is repeated three times. That's just 24 seconds of chorus, but this minimalist approach gave the line tremendous impact, resonating with listeners at a time of social and political turmoil in America.
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Colin Blunstone to me was one of the most underrated singers in the history of rock.

 
Bracie Smathers said:
I see what you did their.

Also, I 'may' have found a UK release from 69 since ... well its a bit complicated.  By the time this song came out the band had broken up.  The album did nadda in the UK but this single broke out in the US which caused the group to quickly re-form.  On the strength of the hit single which broke out in every country except the UK so the group tried THREE TIMES to release it as a single in the UK where it failed to chart each time.  

 Rod Argent: "'Time of the Season' was the #1 in most countries in the world, but it wasn't in the UK. It's been released three times in the UK, and it's never been a hit. But the extraordinary thing is that everybody knows it in the UK. We played Glastonbury this year, and we had a big audience of the young kids who went completely mad when we played 'Time of the Season.' So, it has become, strangely enough, a classic in the UK, but it's never been a hit."

I'm sure I saw where it had a 69 release date and with three tries at the UK market I'm pretty sure at least one of them were in 69 when it was a huge hit everywhere outside of the United Kingdom.

EDIT:  Did not find the exact date but know it was re-released in 69, from Wiki:

Release history

The next single, "Time of the Season," slowly gained popularity before finally hitting big on the US charts in 👉 March 1969. After the song became a hit, Date re-released 👈 Odessey and Oracle with severely cropped artwork. This time the album charted, reaching number 95 in the US. By then Rod Argent and Chris White were busy with their new band, Argent...

Originally released in early 68 before my cutoff and did nothing.  Was picked up by a US company and slowly the single charted.  Once it charted in 69 the album was re-released so it must have had a release date in 69.
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You gave rock and roll to us, so no further  explanation needed. 👍

 
BroncoFreak_2K3 said:
Colin Blunstone to me was one of the most underrated singers in the history of rock.
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Have to share the story of him 'struggling' with the high notes on 'Time Of The Season'.

The recording of this song bought about a minor spat between keyboardist Rod Argent, who wrote the song, and the vocalist Colin Blunstone. The argument was over the phrase, "When love runs high." Blunstone struggled with the high note at the end of the line, and snapped at Argent, "If you're so good you come and sing it." Argent admitted in Mojo magazine February 2008: "It was written really quickly and we didn't rehearse it an awful lot. I was trying to change the phrasing."

Blunstone told his side in our 2015 interview. "It was written in the morning before we went into the studio in the afternoon, and I kind of struggled on the melody," he said. "Rod and I had quite a heated discussion – he being in the control room and me singing the song - and we were just doing it through my headphones. Because it had only just been written, I was struggling with the melody."

Blunstone added: "It makes me laugh, because at the same time I'm singing, 'It's the time of the season for loving,' we're really going at one another."

So LITERALLY while they are singing the time of the season is for loving they were fuming at one another, lol.  

 
Bracie Smathers said:
Have to share the story of him 'struggling' with the high notes on 'Time Of The Season'.

The recording of this song bought about a minor spat between keyboardist Rod Argent, who wrote the song, and the vocalist Colin Blunstone. The argument was over the phrase, "When love runs high." Blunstone struggled with the high note at the end of the line, and snapped at Argent, "If you're so good you come and sing it." Argent admitted in Mojo magazine February 2008: "It was written really quickly and we didn't rehearse it an awful lot. I was trying to change the phrasing."

Blunstone told his side in our 2015 interview. "It was written in the morning before we went into the studio in the afternoon, and I kind of struggled on the melody," he said. "Rod and I had quite a heated discussion – he being in the control room and me singing the song - and we were just doing it through my headphones. Because it had only just been written, I was struggling with the melody."

Blunstone added: "It makes me laugh, because at the same time I'm singing, 'It's the time of the season for loving,' we're really going at one another."

So LITERALLY while they are singing the time of the season is for loving they were fuming at one another, lol.  
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Not to sidetrack this epic thread, but I'm a huge Colin fan.

As far as Blunstone ballads go, this is probably my favorite Colin ballad ever..

Alan Parsons - Old and Wise

 
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Bracie Smathers said:
#15 Time Of The Season - The Zombies

What's yer name?

Whose your daddy?

It was the sixties man but this tune endures for more than a social reason, their is an unusual structure of how the song was built.

Built around the bassline heard in the intro, this song has some very effective and unusual structural components that helped it endure. The bass riff is punctuated with a hand clap and the breathy "ahhhh" vocal. These elements add sonic texture during the verses, and also show up in the two interludes.

And while most hit songs pound you with the chorus, this one doesn't. The full chorus - "It's the time of the season for loving..." takes just eight seconds and is repeated three times. That's just 24 seconds of chorus, but this minimalist approach gave the line tremendous impact, resonating with listeners at a time of social and political turmoil in America.
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Great song. I remember seeing the band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame by Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles 😍.

They did this song and it was a bit comical watching the old geezers do it.

https://youtu.be/Ks1agImDmAk

 
Bracie Smathers said:
When I put the list together I had a number of songs off to the side to plug in just in case but I don't want to use them because Pip is going to do a list after mine and I want to see what he comes up with but you are right.

I was going by the hot 100 list and didn't even think to check the release.  It must have been a slow climb for some unknown reason but you are right, it was released earlier than my cutoff but I'll forgive myself since it broke out as a surprise hit single in 69.

Odessey and Oracle is the second studio album by English rock band the Zombies. It was originally released in the UK in April 1968 by CBS Records.

The album was recorded between June and August 1967. The sessions took place at Abbey Road Studios and Olympic Studios in London. It was received indifferently on release. A single from the album, "Time of the Season", became a surprise hit in the United States in early 1969.
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This would have been on my list by my criteria that probably only make sense to me.

I am counting songs that were from earlier but were re-released as a single in 1969 (or released as a single for the first time in 1969). There are I think three others on my list that also fit this category. 

Songs released as a single in late '68 that charted in '69 don't count, as the chart was based on the 1968 release. Songs that flopped in '67 or '68 but were re-released successfully in '69 count, as the chart was based on the 1969 release. This was the case for Time of the Season. This is less of a distinction for you because you count anything from the last three months of '68. 

 
#14  Your Time Is Gonna Come - Led Zeppelin

The entire group sang the chorus and they aren't great, lol.  Page played a Fender 10-string steel guitar on this, and Jones played a church-style organ, using a pedal to generate the bass.

Jimmy Page: "I had never played steel before, but I just picked it up. It sounds like a slide or something. It's more out of tune on the first album because I hadn't got a kit to put it together."

 
The backing vocals are terrible, but kind of charming in their own way. I couldn't imagine the song without them. And the rest of the song is top-notch. 

 
#13 Leaving On A Jet Plane - Peter Paul and Mary

Despite the title of the video this was released October 1969. 

John Denver wrote it in 67: "This is a very personal and very special song for me. It doesn't conjure up Boeing 707s or 747s for me as much as it does the simple scenes of leaving. Bags packed and standing by the front door, taxi pulling up in the early morning hours, the sound of a door closing behind you, and the thought of leaving someone that you care for very much. I was fortunate to have Peter, Paul and Mary record it and have it become a hit, but it still strikes a lonely and anguished chord in me, because the separation still continues, although not so long and not so often nowadays."

John wasn't the only one who felt forlorn hearing this tune, I distinctly recall a gloomy rainy day hearing it as a kid the first time and felt like weeping.  

I truly love this song.

 
Bracie Smathers said:
#13 Leaving On A Jet Plane - Peter Paul and Mary

Despite the title of the video this was released October 1969. 

John Denver wrote it in 67: "This is a very personal and very special song for me. It doesn't conjure up Boeing 707s or 747s for me as much as it does the simple scenes of leaving. Bags packed and standing by the front door, taxi pulling up in the early morning hours, the sound of a door closing behind you, and the thought of leaving someone that you care for very much. I was fortunate to have Peter, Paul and Mary record it and have it become a hit, but it still strikes a lonely and anguished chord in me, because the separation still continues, although not so long and not so often nowadays."

John wasn't the only one who felt forlorn hearing this tune, I distinctly recall a gloomy rainy day hearing it as a kid the first time and felt like weeping.  

I truly love this song.
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This was the second "older song that was not released as a single until (or was re-released as a single in) 1969" on my list. You'll probably also snag whatever others I may have since you've discovered my loophole. 😆

For some reason we had a copy of the very first episode of The Midnight Special. Probably because it had Harry Chapin's Taxi and my father and stepmother were huge Harry Chapin fans. It opens with John Denver and Mama Cass singing Leavin' on a Jet Plane, so that's how I knew the song; I didn't come across the PPM hit version until much later. 

 
Bracie Smathers said:
#79   Have You Heard parts 1 & 2 and "Voyager - The Moody Blues

Has to include all-three parts as keyboardist Mike Pinder wrote this three-part, album-ending prog-rock masterpiece.  
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Revisiting the Moodies' 1969 output as I refine my list, it strikes me that Pinder and Ray Thomas shouldn't have been singing. They weren't good at it. I get that they were a democratic band and let everyone write and take the lead at various times, but they had a fantastic singer in Justin Hayward on board, they should have used him more in that role. 

 
#12 Son of a Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield

Listen to that seductive sexy voice doused in feminine allure.  

Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien aka Dusty Springfield had a string of hits that made her a star but Mary had a secret that she lived in fear of being exposed, she was a lesbian in a time where if that were made public it would ruin her career.  She had a sham marriage to dodge inquiries then later in her career she secretly was wed in1983 in a short lived bonding with a violent partner that was tumultuous and left her physically scarred for the rest of her life, to her death in 1999.

Secret lesbian marriage that destroyed Dusty; Star landed in hospital and needed plastic surgery after lover's attacks.

The song was written for The Queen of Soul and has been covered many times but Dusty's version has risen to the top and is on Rolling Stones list of the top 500 songs of all time.  Springfield was huge, worked with just about everybody including Burt Bacharach, had songs written for her by Carol King, and was instrumental in introducing Motown artists to England and played a role in getting Led Zeppelin their first recording contract.

Near the end of her career she came out and even worked with the group the Pet Shop Boys who were one of the first openly gay pop groups but the thing she will always and first be remembered for is her incredible voice and on this tune it is perfect.

 
Pip's Invitation said:
Revisiting the Moodies' 1969 output as I refine my list, it strikes me that Pinder and Ray Thomas shouldn't have been singing. They weren't good at it. I get that they were a democratic band and let everyone write and take the lead at various times, but they had a fantastic singer in Justin Hayward on board, they should have used him more in that role. 
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Reminds me a little of Queen, where Mercury was the definitive singer but a couple of the other guys were allowed to sing their own songs.

 
Bracie Smathers said:
#13 Leaving On A Jet Plane - Peter Paul and Mary

Despite the title of the video this was released October 1969. 

John Denver wrote it in 67: "This is a very personal and very special song for me. It doesn't conjure up Boeing 707s or 747s for me as much as it does the simple scenes of leaving. Bags packed and standing by the front door, taxi pulling up in the early morning hours, the sound of a door closing behind you, and the thought of leaving someone that you care for very much. I was fortunate to have Peter, Paul and Mary record it and have it become a hit, but it still strikes a lonely and anguished chord in me, because the separation still continues, although not so long and not so often nowadays."

John wasn't the only one who felt forlorn hearing this tune, I distinctly recall a gloomy rainy day hearing it as a kid the first time and felt like weeping.  

I truly love this song.
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Love this song.  

 
Leroy Hoard said:
Reminds me a little of Queen, where Mercury was the definitive singer but a couple of the other guys were allowed to sing their own songs.
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At least on the two '69 albums, it's much more balanced than that. Freddie sang all the songs he and John Deacon wrote, and some of the songs Brian May wrote. That usually made up 2/3 to 3/4 of their albums. For the most part, the individual Moodies sang the songs they wrote, so on the '69 records, Hayward does maybe 1/3 of the lead vocals. 

 
Bracie Smathers said:
#12 Son of a Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield

Listen to that seductive sexy voice doused in feminine allure.  

Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien aka Dusty Springfield had a string of hits that made her a star but Mary had a secret that she lived in fear of being exposed, she was a lesbian in a time where if that were made public it would ruin her career.  She had a sham marriage to dodge inquiries then later in her career she secretly was wed in1983 in a short lived bonding with a violent partner that was tumultuous and left her physically scarred for the rest of her life, to her death in 1999.

Secret lesbian marriage that destroyed Dusty; Star landed in hospital and needed plastic surgery after lover's attacks.

The song was written for The Queen of Soul and has been covered many times but Dusty's version has risen to the top and is on Rolling Stones list of the top 500 songs of all time.  Springfield was huge, worked with just about everybody including Burt Bacharach, had songs written for her by Carol King, and was instrumental in introducing Motown artists to England and played a role in getting Led Zeppelin their first recording contract.

Near the end of her career she came out and even worked with the group the Pet Shop Boys who were one of the first openly gay pop groups but the thing she will always and first be remembered for is her incredible voice and on this tune it is perfect.
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I had no idea, that's horrible.

I should have had this on my list; I knew the single was late '68, but I forgot the album was Jan. '69. 

 
Bracie Smathers said:
#13 Leaving On A Jet Plane - Peter Paul and Mary

Despite the title of the video this was released October 1969. 

John Denver wrote it in 67: "This is a very personal and very special song for me. It doesn't conjure up Boeing 707s or 747s for me as much as it does the simple scenes of leaving. Bags packed and standing by the front door, taxi pulling up in the early morning hours, the sound of a door closing behind you, and the thought of leaving someone that you care for very much. I was fortunate to have Peter, Paul and Mary record it and have it become a hit, but it still strikes a lonely and anguished chord in me, because the separation still continues, although not so long and not so often nowadays."
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Denver wrote the song as "Babe, I Hate To Go" when he was still a member of a folk group called The Mitchell Trio. He was thinking of launching a solo career, so he tested the waters by recording a demo album filled with original songs. He paid for 250 copies to be pressed, which he gave out to friends and family. His manager (Milt Okun) wasn't very impressed with "Babe I Hate To Go" but thought that it might be a good fit for another act that he happened to manage.

Here's the original 1966 version: "Babe I Hate To Go"

Here's a version that Denver recorded with The Mitchell Trio in 1967: "Leaving, On A Jet Plane"

 
Bracie Smathers said:
#12 Son of a Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield

Listen to that seductive sexy voice doused in feminine allure.  

Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien aka Dusty Springfield had a string of hits that made her a star but Mary had a secret that she lived in fear of being exposed, she was a lesbian in a time where if that were made public it would ruin her career.  She had a sham marriage to dodge inquiries then later in her career she secretly was wed in1983 in a short lived bonding with a violent partner that was tumultuous and left her physically scarred for the rest of her life, to her death in 1999.

Secret lesbian marriage that destroyed Dusty; Star landed in hospital and needed plastic surgery after lover's attacks.

The song was written for The Queen of Soul and has been covered many times
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I've heard conflicting stories about why Aretha didn't record it first -- some variation on "the record label didn't want to offend her religious fans" -- but once Dusty had a hit with it, Aretha insisted on doing her own version which is almost as good. Oh, and it's got Duane Allman on guitar: "Son Of A Preacher Man"

Her sister Erma did a killer version as well.

 
Several of the songs selected, including “Son of a Preacher Man” and “Jet Plane”, were super high on my list until I discovered they were actually released in ‘68. So disappointed. 

 
BroncoFreak_2K3 said:
Colin Blunstone to me was one of the most underrated singers in the history of rock.
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This. The Zombies are one of the most underrated acts of the British Invasion. Mixing rock with cool jazz overtones, they were quite the jammy fivesome, bringing freakouts and rave-ups a whole new cool in the form of weird time signatures including waltz times. (Love it!).

 
#11 The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Roberta Flack

You might think this came out in 72, it did as a re-release after actor/director Clint Eastwood used it in his directorial debut movie Play Misty For Me about a DJ who is stalked by an infatuated listener.  Flack put this out in 69 but the song did nothing till it found the audience it deserved.

The origins of this tune date back to 1957:

Folk singer Ewan MacColl wrote this in 1957 for his lover, Peggy Seeger. She was in a play and phoned him for suggestions on a song for a romantic scene. MacColl wrote this on the spot in less than an hour, playing it over the phone for his wife to use in her play. "We weren't really getting along at the time," Peggy Seeger recalled to Mojo magazine of the romantic epic in a 2015 interview. "After all, he was married to someone else then."

MacColl was married to his second wife, Jean Newlove, at the time. He left her for Peggy Seeger and the pair eventually tied the knot in 1977.

 
Bracie Smathers said:
#11 The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Roberta Flack

You might think this came out in 72, it did as a re-release after actor/director Clint Eastwood used it in his directorial debut movie Play Misty For Me about a DJ who is stalked by an infatuated listener.  Flack put this out in 69 but the song did nothing till it found the audience it deserved.

The origins of this tune date back to 1957:

Folk singer Ewan MacColl wrote this in 1957 for his lover, Peggy Seeger. She was in a play and phoned him for suggestions on a song for a romantic scene. MacColl wrote this on the spot in less than an hour, playing it over the phone for his wife to use in her play. "We weren't really getting along at the time," Peggy Seeger recalled to Mojo magazine of the romantic epic in a 2015 interview. "After all, he was married to someone else then."

MacColl was married to his second wife, Jean Newlove, at the time. He left her for Peggy Seeger and the pair eventually tied the knot in 1977.
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Had no idea it was released in 69, 

 
Bracie Smathers said:
#11 The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Roberta Flack

You might think this came out in 72, it did as a re-release after actor/director Clint Eastwood used it in his directorial debut movie Play Misty For Me about a DJ who is stalked by an infatuated listener.  Flack put this out in 69 but the song did nothing till it found the audience it deserved.
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I had this on my list hoping you'd forget when her version originally appeared. 

 
Bracie Smathers said:
#10 Thank You - Led Zeppelin

So different.

Only Zep song that Plant wrote entirely by himself with the dedication to this wife Maureen.  Page sings a lil-bit of backup and even though it sounds off-key I like it.   "Little drops of rain"

The lyrics, "If the sun refuse to shine" and "When mountains crumble to the sea" came from a Jimi Hendrix song called "If 6 Was 9."
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So different indeed. Hard to believe this exists on the same album as the moaning and groaning of Whole Lotta Love, and a drum solo. 

 
Bracie Smathers said:
#10 Thank You - Led Zeppelin

So different.

Only Zep song that Plant wrote entirely by himself with the dedication to this wife Maureen.  Page sings a lil-bit of backup and even though it sounds off-key I like it.   "Little drops of rain"

The lyrics, "If the sun refuse to shine" and "When mountains crumble to the sea" came from a Jimi Hendrix song called "If 6 Was 9."
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My wedding song.

 
#9 Get Ready - Rare Earth

Written by Smokey Robinson for the Temptations for Motown and that is where Rare Earth made history as the first white group to be signed by Motown.

Motown saw Rare Earth as a way to break into white audiences so they created a subsidiary for them to record that was conveniently called Rare Earth Records.  With their soul sound and on the Motown label many assumed they were a black group.

The single is chopped down from the original 25 minute album version that would not fit most 1969 radio programming but I like the abridged version that runs less than thee minutes. 

 
I had the misfortune of hearing the full version once on a jukebox at a bar. It's godawful -- and I'm usually fine with long jams. 

The short version is fine, but I prefer I Just Want to Celebrate. 

 
#8  Crimson and Clover - Tommy James & The Shondells

Tommy James combined his favorite color and flower to come up with the title:   "They were just two of my favorite words that came together. Actually, it was one morning as I was getting up out of bed, and it just came to me, those two words. And it sounded so poetic. I had no idea what it meant, or if it meant anything. They were just two of my favorite words. And Mike Vale and I – bass player – actually wrote another song called 'Crimson and Clover.' And it just wasn't quite there. And I ended up writing 'Crimson and Clover' with my drummer, Pete Lucia, who has since passed away."

College back in the day, a group of us were headed to the game (CU would win the National Championship that year) we were in a convertible that a girl from Miami was driving and this tune came on.  Without a word we looked at each other as the person sitting in the passenger seat cranked up the volume as we broke out into spontaneous joyous and quite horrible song as everyone at the intersection looked on and smiled.  Great, GREAT memory, lol.  Love this tune.

 
#7  Revolution - The Beatles

John wanted a different sound with his vocals so he sang lying on his back.  The scream was a double track and the dirty guitar sound was created by scraping the paint from his Epiphone Casino and having engineers run it directly through the soundboard. When the 45 single was released, many customers returned it, thinking the record was damaged in some way.

"Count me out."

Lennon was a complete pacifist and wanted no part of violent revolution but Vietnam and opposition was ramping up to a crescendo in 1968.  John started tinkering on the India retreat:   "I had been thinking about it up in the hills in India. I still had this 'God will save us' feeling about it, that it's going to be all right (even now I'm saying 'Hold on, John, it's going to be all right,' otherwise, I won't hold on) but that's why I did it, I wanted to talk, I wanted to say my piece about revolution. I wanted to tell you, or whoever listens, to communicate, to say 'What do you say? This is what I say.'"

 
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#6  Get Together - The Youngbloods

This song was re-released to become what may be the 60s signature tune. 

"Get Together" was first recorded and released by the Youngbloods in 1967, but it didn't break through as a hit until 1969, when The National Conference of Christians and Jews distributed it to radio and TV stations to support Brotherhood Week.

Broadcasters were required to run public service announcements. Non-profit organizations vied for this airtime with messages that were often boring but with this tune these PSAs became popular.

Listeners called stations to ask about the song. This prompted The Youngbloods record company, RCA, to re-release it, and this time it was an undeniable hit, reaching #5 in September 1969.

 
Bracie Smathers said:
#6  Get Together - The Youngbloods

This song was re-released to become what may be the 60s signature tune. 

"Get Together" was first recorded and released by the Youngbloods in 1967, but it didn't break through as a hit until 1969, when The National Conference of Christians and Jews distributed it to radio and TV stations to support Brotherhood Week.

Broadcasters were required to run public service announcements. Non-profit organizations vied for this airtime with messages that were often boring but with this tune these PSAs became popular.

Listeners called stations to ask about the song. This prompted The Youngbloods record company, RCA, to re-release it, and this time it was an undeniable hit, reaching #5 in September 1969.
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You took another one of my loophole songs. Might be the last one.

However, I have another Youngbloods song from '69 that I like even better, that will be on my list unless it's in your top 5.

 
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#5 All Along The Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix

Originally recorded by Bob Dylan but Jimi's version is the one everyone associates with this song. 

Hendrix: "... Watchtower is a song I could have come up with, but I'm sure I would never have finished it. Thinking about Dylan, I often consider that I'd never be able to write the words he manages to come up with, but I'd like him to help me, because I have loads of songs I can't finish..."

In 2020, Rik Emmett of Triumph ranked it #1, calling it, "Still the greatest guitar recording that ever made the Top 40. A legendary guitarist making a defining statement. Plus, the epic transfigured Biblical setting of a Bob Dylan song? As good as it gets."

Ranked 47th in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004.

Interesting Hendrix trivia: Jimi Hendrix’s UFO and Alien Encounters

... Hendrix was open about his UFO sightings and belief in aliens ... at one of his last concerts performed at an extinct volcano in Maui. Between the three sets, while Jimi rested in a special Hopi tent, many attendees reported seeing UFOs and hearing music coming from rocks.

That story was confirmed by Curtis Knight – before hitting it big, Jimi was a member of Curtis Knight and the Squires – and Knight told of another UFO encounter near Woodstock, New York, in 1965 when the band became trapped in their car during a heavy snowstorm. He claimed a UFO landed in front of them, an alien appeared and the snow suddenly melted and the car became hot, saving them from freezing and freeing the car. While Jimi rarely talked about it, his songs may have. Here’s a line from “Somewhere” off of First Rays of the New Rising Sun, a 1997 posthumous album of unreleased songs.

And up in the clouds I can imagine UFOs chuckle to themselves, ‘Heh heh’ / Laughing, they saying, ‘Those people so uptight, they sure know how to make a mess, hey!’

 
#4 Magic Carpet Ride - Steppenwolf

Thus Spake Zarathustra

-- Friedrich Nietzsche

Neitzsche influenced Strauss and was a big influence on Herman Hesse who wrote Steppenwolf a novel describing the conflict between bourgeois acceptance and spiritual self-realization in a middle-aged man that ends in a grotesque surrealistic episode set in a 'Magic Theatre'.

The song by Steppenwolf 'may' be connected to the deep powerful philosophical works of German modernism but Plebeians assume it was about drug use, lol.  John Kay who wrote the tune says it was about his wife Jutta but linking it to Hesse seems more appropriate.

Stereo systems had evolved in the late '60s, and rock music was best enjoyed between two towering speakers hooked up to a hi-fidelity stereo sound system. These systems, with 10-inch woofers, turntables and equalizers, were expensive and took up a lot of space, but made for quality listening if you could afford it.
Kay had a top of the line system. Working on their second album with bass player Rushton Moreve who came up with a bouncy groove and inserted the line "I like my job, I like my baby" as a placeholder. Kay took the placeholder and set to work on the lyrics.

I like to dream, yes, yes
Right between the sound machine

Kay:  "I popped the cassette into the player, and out of these rather large speakers came this track. And what popped into my head was, 'I like to dream... right between the sound machine.' The 'sound machine' being that stereo system. I wrote the lyrics and melody in 20 minutes, went and overdubbed the vocal, and then we did some more work on the track with instrument overdubs and the like, and 'Magic Carpet Ride' evolved from that."

 
Bracie Smathers said:
#4 Magic Carpet Ride - Steppenwolf

Thus Spake Zarathustra

-- Friedrich Nietzsche

Neitzsche influenced Strauss and was a big influence on Herman Hesse who wrote Steppenwolf a novel describing the conflict between bourgeois acceptance and spiritual self-realization in a middle-aged man that ends in a grotesque surrealistic episode set in a 'Magic Theatre'.

The song by Steppenwolf 'may' be connected to the deep powerful philosophical works of German modernism but Plebeians assume it was about drug use, lol.  John Kay who wrote the tune says it was about his wife Jutta but linking it to Hesse seems more appropriate.

Stereo systems had evolved in the late '60s, and rock music was best enjoyed between two towering speakers hooked up to a hi-fidelity stereo sound system. These systems, with 10-inch woofers, turntables and equalizers, were expensive and took up a lot of space, but made for quality listening if you could afford it.
Kay had a top of the line system. Working on their second album with bass player Rushton Moreve who came up with a bouncy groove and inserted the line "I like my job, I like my baby" as a placeholder. Kay took the placeholder and set to work on the lyrics.

I like to dream, yes, yes
Right between the sound machine

Kay:  "I popped the cassette into the player, and out of these rather large speakers came this track. And what popped into my head was, 'I like to dream... right between the sound machine.' The 'sound machine' being that stereo system. I wrote the lyrics and melody in 20 minutes, went and overdubbed the vocal, and then we did some more work on the track with instrument overdubs and the like, and 'Magic Carpet Ride' evolved from that."
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Love love love the verses and the chorus. Don’t love the long instrumental. Way too long, almost unlistenable. 

 
What a great bunch of songs on this page!   Get Together is the song that comes to mind for me when I think of 60s music.  

 
#3 Street Fighting Man - The Rolling Stones

 Keith Richards: “Our generation was bursting at the seams.”

The Stones shied away from political statements till Jagger attended an anti war rally in London.

Jagger noted if felt like: “... a palace revolution” where he gave a nod to a Martha & the Vandellas tune that he would later cover with David Bowie, the “summer’s here and the time is right for fighting in the street.”

Like a refined recipe, take a dry crisp guitar, add a big bass drum, pair it with the zeitgeist of the day, heaping helping of Jagger's snarling delivery,  with just a pinch of droning sitar, and a shehnai (a reed instrument used in Indian music) played by Traffic member Dave Mason and what do you get?

Keith Richards: “That’s where the vision met reality,” he said. “When we finished recording ‘Street Fighting Man’ and played back the master, I just smiled. It’s the kind of record you love to make.”

 
Bracie Smathers said:
#12 Son of a Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield

Listen to that seductive sexy voice doused in feminine allure.  

Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien aka Dusty Springfield had a string of hits that made her a star but Mary had a secret that she lived in fear of being exposed, she was a lesbian in a time where if that were made public it would ruin her career.  She had a sham marriage to dodge inquiries then later in her career she secretly was wed in1983 in a short lived bonding with a violent partner that was tumultuous and left her physically scarred for the rest of her life, to her death in 1999.

Secret lesbian marriage that destroyed Dusty; Star landed in hospital and needed plastic surgery after lover's attacks.

The song was written for The Queen of Soul and has been covered many times but Dusty's version has risen to the top and is on Rolling Stones list of the top 500 songs of all time.  Springfield was huge, worked with just about everybody including Burt Bacharach, had songs written for her by Carol King, and was instrumental in introducing Motown artists to England and played a role in getting Led Zeppelin their first recording contract.

Near the end of her career she came out and even worked with the group the Pet Shop Boys who were one of the first openly gay pop groups but the thing she will always and first be remembered for is her incredible voice and on this tune it is perfect.
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Love her with the PSB's song "What Have I Done to Deserve This"

 
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