1966, The Year in Review, P3

The Next 8 Albums, for My Top 20 Albums of 1966

Note: Some of this commentary is adapted from that in No Hype No Trends Music’s 200 Best Albums of the 1960s.

As always, you can jump to the playlist at the bottom of each post to listen while you read.

Within each tier (Top 6, Next 6, etc.), all albums are listed roughly chronologically (all release dates from Wikipedia, unless otherwise noted).

Love
Love

Released 1966/03

Love had yet to glimpse the orchestral, psychedelic heights they would reach with 1967’s Forever Changes, but Arthur Lee’s band was still a powerful listen on their self-titled debut.

It this stage of their career, most of their tracks had more of a garage-rock feel. Some of these songs are excellent (the charged Burt Bacharach cover, “My Little Red Book,” for example); the rest is good enough for a listen or two but hardly essential. (They do a more than respectable job at the garage-rock standard, “Hey Joe.”)

Elsewhere they show themselves capable of a broader range. Hints of what was to come can be seen in tracks like the surging, insistent “Softly to Me” and the haunting, contemplative “Signed D.C.”

The estimation of this album seems to have increased in recent years—I’ve more than once seen it listed among the best handful of albums of 1966, an opinion that quite frankly could only make sense if you’d heard almost nothing else from that year. The album just isn’t that good all the way through. As a whole, I find it most notable as a precursor to their later achievements. Nevertheless, the high points from the album are quite worthy in their own right.

Listen to more Love.

Read more in my top 200 of the decade.

Notable Critical Mentions:

• Acclaimed Music top albums of the ’60s, No. 340

The Rolling Stones
Aftermath [UK]

Released 1966/04/15

Often considered the first essential Stones album, this has some recognizable classics—“Under My Thumb,” “Mother’s Little Helper”—plus plenty of great album tracks—“High and Dry,” “Think,” and more.

For the first time, all the songs were written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. (Earlier albums featured many covers, as was the tendency among even the best early British Invasion albums.) This fact, and that they were able to maintain such a high quality on these deeper album cuts, make this a touchstone in their development. They still hadn’t hit their peak, but this album is pretty darn great.

The US version cuts four songs from the UK version and adds “Paint It Black,” a career highlight.

Those seeking to make excuses for Mick Jagger’s macho piggishness will have a hard time explaining “Under my Thumb” and an even tougher go of justifying “Stupid Girl.” But the songs do rock, that’s for sure. I’m waiting for a female singer to convincingly gender-twist these songs.

Listen to more Rolling Stones.

Read more in my top 200 of the decade.

Notable Critical Mentions:

• Acclaimed Music top albums of the ’60s, No. 031
• 1001 Albums to Hear Before You Die (2005)
• Rolling Stone 100 Best Albums of All Time (1997), No. 038
• Rolling Stone: 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2003), No. 108

Wilson Pickett
The Exciting Wilson Pickett

Released 1966/08

If Otis Redding is the passionate soul of rhythm and blues and soul music, then surely Wilson Pickett is its fun-loving heart. On The Exciting Wilson Pickett, he belts out one irresistible dance tune after another. The Wicked Pickett and The Sound of Wilson Pickett are just about as good, too. All three are highly recommended.

Pickett can scream and cry and plead with as much fire and James Brown, and his band just rips it out behind him. It’s loads of fun, the life of the party. Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin may have garnered all the critical acclaim of the era, but most days I’d rather listen to Pickett. His energy is just plain infectious, sure to lift your spirits and get your feet a-tappin’.

Listen to more Wilson Pickett.

Read more in my top 200 of the decade.

Notable Critical Mentions:

• Acclaimed Music top albums of the ’60s, No. 358

Bert Jansch
Jack Orion

Released 1966/09

Jansch’s self-titled 1965 debut album remains the critical favorite, but I actually prefer his work here. Unburdened by the duties of songwriting, he rips into the traditional numbers on this album with sheer abandon.

His guitar playing and singing have never sounded better. The medieval headphone masterpiece “Henry Martin” is one of the most spellbinding acoustic guitar pieces I’ve ever heard. And his voice has a nasal, droning quality that blends perfectly with his playing on tracks like the title track, Nottamun Town,” and “Blackwaterside.”

It’s highly charged, electrifying stuff—only without the electricity. Folk music doesn’t get better than this.

Listen to more Bert Jansch (coming soon).

Read more in my top 200 of the decade.

Notable Critical Mentions:

• Acclaimed Music, bubbling under the top 3000 albums of all time

Otis Redding
Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul

Released 1966/10/15

Could any one album possibly encapsulate all of soul music in one album, serving as a dictionary for the entire genre? Probably not, but I can’t think of a performer more up to the task than Otis Redding.

Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul is yet another fine album by one of the greatest R&B and soul singers of all time. This is perhaps his most consistently excellent album, although the high points on Otis Blue give it a slight edge overall.

Listen to more Otis Redding.

Read more in my top 200 of the decade.

Notable Critical Mentions:

• Acclaimed Music top albums of the ’60s, No. 123
• Rolling Stone: 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2003), No. 251

The Lovin’ Spoonful
Hums of The Lovin’ Spoonful

Released 1966/11

“Summer in the City” is the instantly recognizable track on Hums of the Lovin’ Spoonful, the band’s best album. But it’s not particularly representative of the album as a whole—the album is too varied to be summed up by any one song.

Indeed, the band deliberately set out to try their hand at a range of different styles. The plodding “Bes’ Friends” and slide-whistle hoe-down “Henry Thomas” both have a refreshing old-timey feel. “4 Eyes” sounds almost like a countrified garage-rock workout. And some eerie droning (which sounds to my ears like a cross between a sitar and bagpipes) spices up “(Sittin’ Here) Lovin’ You.”

Throughout, John Sebastien’s sense of humor lurks near the surface. “Voodoo in My Basement” sounds a bit like a Screamin’ Jay Hawkins send-up. And “Nashville Cats” is a jaunty celebration of guitar pickers—with a touch of tongue in cheek. Who knew there were exactly 1,352 guitar pickers in Nashville, all of whom play as clear as country water and wild as mountain dew?

Listen to more Lovin’ Spoonful.

Read more in my top 200 of the decade.

Notable Critical Mentions:

• Acclaimed Music, bubbling under the top 3000 albums of all time

Buffalo Springfield
Buffalo Springfield

Released 1966/12/05

Formed in Los Angeles, the Canadian and American band Buffalo Springfield was the launching point for the careers of Stephen Stills and Neil Young, two of the most accomplished musicians and songwriters of their era. Although both would reach greater heights post-Springfield, the band’s three albums contain early touchstones in their development, featuring plenty of terrific country and folk rock songs with a distinct psychedelic tinge.

No vision of the ‘60s would seem complete without Stills’ counterculture protest song “For What It’s Worth” (released as a single about two weeks after the initial album release and included on all subsequent pressings). Young’s crying, stuttering guitar work lends the driving album highlight “Leave” a psychedelic feel. “Go and Say Goodbye,” the sprightly “Pay the Price,” and the mellow “Hot Dusty Roads” nicely show Stills’ country and folk-rock strengths.

Young contributes an early classic “Burned” and wrote “Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing,” about a musician discouraged by negative reactions. Fittingly, Young chose not to sing the song himself, handing vocal duties to band-mate Richie Furay.

Listen to more Buffalo Springfield.

Read more in my top 200 of the decade.

Notable Critical Mentions:

• Acclaimed Music top albums of the ’60s, No. 186

Fred Neil
Fred Neil

Released 1966/12

I’d place Fred Neil’s self-titled sophomore album—re-released later in 1969 as Everybody’s Talkin‘, after Harry Nilsson’s cover version became such a bit hit—a touch below his debut, Bleeker & MacDougal, but it’s still an excellent album of folk rock and early singer-songwriter compositions.

Here, Neil expands on the restless-soul blues themes he explored with his debut with a more contemplative search for meaning for his two richest songs, songs, “The Dolphins” and “Everybody’s Talking.” He tops things off with a one-of-a-kind country-folk raga!

Listen to more Fred Neil.

Read more in my top 200 of the decade.

Notable Critical Mentions:

• Acclaimed Music top albums of the ’60s, No. 157
• 1001 Albums to Hear Before You Die (2005)

Here’s the complete 1966: The Year in Review playlist for you—three tracks per album. Enjoy!

More 1966, The Year in Review

More Years in Review of the 1960s…

Cover Art Citations:

• Love: By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15313419
• Aftermath [UK]: By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63026751
• The Exciting Wilson Pickett: Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13586547
• Jack Orion: By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2596576
• Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul: By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4516903
• Hums of The Lovin’ Spoonful: Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9085835
• Buffalo Springfield: Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1193029
• Fred Neil: By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16882815