Stooges: First song is bad. Best songs are I wanna be Your Dog and No Fun. Kinks: A pretty weak album. Wasn't critically acclaimed but now considered their best. Will have to listen again now, torture myself, and be back and admit if you are right. Banana Velvet Underground: Great album. Nick Drake: Good not Great. Not into the rest. Don't know "Friends". because Capo doesn't have my taste. Only in it for the Money sounds good but I don't like anything by Zappa. Sweetheart of the Rodeo: The Christian Life and plenty of our poor twangy songs. Best counterculture songs: Love's A house is not a Motel. Neil Young: Down by the River. MC5: Kick out the Jams. The 13th Floor Elevators. You’re Gonna Miss Me. Standells - Dirty Water. The Seeds - Pushin too Hard. The Stooges: I wanna be your dog. Beatles: Tomorrow Never Knows.
How could your list of "Albums out-of-step with counterculture" and NOT include "Kick Out the Jams" by MC5??? They say that the "Summer of Love" never made a stop in Detroit and THIS album proves this!
It's a little complicated. MC5 was the only scheduled group not to chicken out of performing in the Chicago park during the riots at the 1968 Democratic Convention. That put the group itself at the epicenter of the counter-culture movement at that particular moment.
@@xavstarclp Perfect response. Not to mention John Sinclair trying to mold them into counterculture icons even if this was really only recognized in Detroit. White Panthers, etc
My cool uncle gave me that Stooges album when I was 6 or 7 years old. I didn't 'get it' or like it, so I gave it to my cousin lol. About 10 years later, I heard it again and thought it was one of the best records ever. Ended up being friends with Ron, doing some recording sessions together and a live gig on Sunset Strip in 1992. The Stooges were WAY ahead of their time.
I used to live around the Pittsburgh area for 30 years and got my rock and roll schooling listening to WDVE. At the time it was the top AOR station in Pittsburgh and I used to think Deep Purple was one of those "evil" bands that your parents warned you about. Not ONE time can I recall that station playing anything by the Stooges. It took a 1 -page magazine article (SPIN) written by Black Flag's Henry Rollins mentioning WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT and FUNHOUSE as his 2 all-time favorite albums. that I sought out the Stooges first 3 albums and was absolutely hooked.
@@Sanguillen39ifyWell, Boston radio (especially WBCN)did play those albums (and many more obscure rock albums from that era) before the stations developed playlists in the mid 1970s and business decisions controlled airplay -but Lou Reed and some Stooges made it on there. Oedipus was the big punk DJ, but I heard this stuff long before the late 1970s when he was a big influence. I guess time and place make a huge difference. What annoyed me was the absence of littler known progressive rock or avant garde rock on the air. I had to go to college and put it on the radio myself before I heard it on the radio at all!
@@neilclark1681 We might have. My godmother lived within walking distance from Hollywood on Sunset. By the way, I'm assuming you are referring to Steubenville ?
In 67 I was living around Cleveland and got my DL. I started driving up to Detroit on weekends to see some buddies who lived there. I was blown away by the music scene there at the Grande, Cobo Hall and many venues. So many great rock, blues and Motown artists. I saw Iggy & the Stooges at least a dozen times. Every time they were outrageous and Iggy was mesmerizing. Usually half naked and lean, wirey and muscular. It was crazy in Detroit in the 60s.
@@EastSider48215 Somebody said, "Music is an umbilical chord to nature." I think music is as close as we mortals will ever get to actually speaking with God. Bach was also of this opinion.
Don't forget about other iconic Detroit groups such as the MC5, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Amboy Dukes, Salem Witchcraft, the early work of George Clinton laying down what would become Parliament. It was an iconic scene very much at odds with the hippie music of the time. Working class sensibilities laying down disillusionment and alienation. It's why Detroit adopted The Who early on, very much sharing that sensibility.
Ray Davies called it "the most successful flop of all time." even though it didn't sell well at first, over time it became the Kinks' biggest selling album.
Great idea. In her incredible album, New York Tendaberry (1969), Laura Nyro exposed the counter-culture delusions of free love, drugs and peace with songs covering themes such as infidelity, betrayal, heartbreak, poverty and the killing of the Kennedy's and Martin Luther King Jr in the track Save the Country. IMO, this album is the artistic pinnacle of modern songwriting. Joni Mitchell simply called it "beautiful". Miles Davis was dropping in while Nyro was recording. Roy Halee, the producer, stated in an interview 5-6 years ago that Nyro was the best he ever worked with. Olivia Rodrigo's mega hit Drivers Licence is based on Nyro's You Don't Love Me When I Cry, the opening track. Its a unique and difficult album. It took me 6 listens to get it. The track Captain for Dark Mornings is one of Joni Mitchell's top ten ever, and an obvious influence on Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights.
Rock *is* countercultural by definition. Psychedelia was influenced by and influenced the artists presented here. What was great about ‘60s music was that it defied niches, unlike music today, and it wasn’t a product of ideologues trying to hijack the culture but of artists who were experimenting with new forms. You could argue that Lou Reed and Mothers of Invention were a counterculture within a counterculture. The sex and drugs were and are today part of the scene and were during the 60s an expression of freedom from the rules placed on them by squares.
@@DJ-bj8ku Freedom without restraint equals death, destruction and pain. For example, see the 27 club and ruined health and careers, such as Eddie Hoh. Altamount killed the utopian delusion of indulgent, naive, stupid idealists who ran out of food at Woodstock and had to be fed by the local hard working community rooted in reality.
I'm a big fan of 'Eli and the 13th Confession.' I confess I don't know 'New York Tendaberry,' but I'm not surprised to see her work recommended here, as she was definitely someone charting her own course.
@@DJ-bj8ku 'The sex and drugs were...an expression of freedom from the rules....' But precisely as such, they were ripe for manipulation and commercialization -- as Zappa so explicitly called out. (Or as the Who summed it up, 'Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.')
This video was wonderfully produced. Simple, direct, and articulate with no distractions. Thank you for sharing your obviously extensive knowledge of music & music history. Your vinyl collection must be to die for!! -Just subscribed & look forward to checking out your other videos. ❤❤
You have an excellent show. Your presentation stirs tremendous curiosity about theses albums. The truth is most of the pop music and what passed for rock music in the 60s was pretty cheesy and inauthentic.
@@tomrobinson5776 I listened to this album totally by chance when I was 16. I was at a rented cottage and Ogden's Nutgone Flake just happened to be one of the many cassette tapes that the owner had and I played it. This album would shape my musical future! I never knew that such an unassuming young Brit could have such an epic, soulful voice as Steve Marriot! Glad that you feel the same way!
The Kinks were already pulling back from hard rock by 1966. In fact, their first album that went against the prevailing rock trend was the one before "Village Green," called "Something Else by the Kinks" (1967). It already had the diversity of music that is found on "Village Green."
@@paulgoldstein2569 I would have mentioned "Face to Face," but they really hadn't completely left behind their hard rock sound yet, so I went one album later.
I’ve never said this before, but I think Something else by The Kinks might be as close to a perfect record as one could make. This is coming from someone who isn’t a huge Kinks fan, but that record is so good.
Man, great job! You hit that nail right on the head! Thanks, my aunt was alive during that time, she was cool, she told me they made lots of fun of the folks running around, jumping on the bandwagon of hippie everything. That Zappa album is straight up crazy, thanks again.
One thing I find interesting about Zappa is that he was basically his own counter-counterculture, being opposed to both the mainstream and the hippies.
Great title....didn't know what to expect... and then you came out with 10 really interesting choices. One could quibble but it's a tricky topic so fair enough. Keep up the good work.
Yes DEFINITELY Hot Rats, so glad you mentioned that one! I would also add Lothar and the Hand People “Space Hymn” also from ‘69, always dug that one. What a time for individual, free thinking music!
@@MichaelHansenFUN Ha ha. I was thinking of the Good Rats. Long Island NY band. They are pretty good. Never made fame outside the NYC area. But check them out if you like.
Although i wouldn't call it a near masterpiece like most of the albums mentioned here, but the self titled Silver Apples album from 1968 is the first one that always comes to mind for me when thinking about albums that sound nothing like anything else from the 60's.
I obtained a copy of the s/t Silver Apples LP along with 3 more albums at a swap meet in 1976 when I was 14. $2 for all. The Silver Apples completely warped my brain as a teenage pothead kid. I have an original on KAPP, and the reissue as well. Essential 60's LP!!
Absolutely love Silver Apples, I feel Contact is maybe even a bit better than the first one (scored an original with the poster a couple years ago), just a bit more production and realization of the potential of the 'Simeon'. I also have both of their 45s on Kapp, You and I is one heavy track despite the lack of a solid low bass, it's good stuff all around.
Heck yeah! I thought the mentions on here were great but I immediately thought Silver Apples would have been perfect on this list! And I didn't even have to scroll far to find a mention of it! I would also add White Noise's An Electric Storm as well - both were pioneering works for the electronic music genre!
Great video, many of my favourite albums, and delighted to see The Byrds and Burritos on there, I was even thinking you looked a bit like Roger McGuinn!
Some obscure/underground albums to add to this list: Silver Apples - Silver Apples (1968) Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica (1969) The Red Krayola - God Bless the Red Krayola and All Who Sail With It (1968) Cromagnon - Cromagnon (1969) White Noise - An Electric Storm (1969) Lothar and the Hand People - Presenting... Lothar and the Hand People (1968) The Outsiders - CQ (1968) The Peter Brötzmann Octet - Machine Gun (1968) Blues Climax - Blues Climax (1969) Nihilist Spasm Band - No Record (1968) AMM - AMMMusic (1967)
Glad you mentioned One of Us Cannot Be Wrong from Songs of Leonard Cohen - one of my favorites of all time! The Kinks are The Village Green Preservation Society is one I got into fairly recently but can't put down! Masterpiece! If you haven't checked out White Noise and their album An Electric Storm, it would fall into this category of out-of-step with the counterculture albums as well. It was an early electronic album, which also featured other unusual instrumentation as well, and featured Delia Derbyshire, the woman who made the original Doctor Who theme by splicing sounds together on tape!
Delia Derbyshire was a true innovator, genius and pioneer. She deserves to be honored, not because she was "the first _woman_ to do blahdeblah" but because she was the first _human_ to create the sounds and techniques she invented.
Extremely surprised there was no mention of Beefheart's epochal Trout Mask.....the very definition of a record swimming against the current of the times. Fabulous list overall though my friend.
Without question a definite choice for this kind of list. In fact I meant to show 10 albums, but spaced out and forgot to show Safe As Milk. It was on the list, ha 😉
Velvet Underground sold 30000 copies yet was remembered . Ever heard of The Masked Marauders? I bought the 8trac on a Bargain Table for a dollar. Recently bought the CD. Fun to listen to. Has quite a story behind how it came to be.
Nice concept for a list. Being pretty old I can say I have heard OF all these, but heard few of them at the time. My (future but now ex) wife introduced me to Leonard Cohen about 1971. Her girlfriend introduced VU around 1973. A school friend played me Zappa around 1971. I will have to confess my youthful unconventionality was pretty conventional
Frank Zappa himself summed it up with one sentence on the song "Absolutely Free" about his opinion of the counterculture and hippies in general: "Flower Power Sucks." He also fired members of his band who did drugs, particularly Lowell George who overdosed in 1979. Frank told Lowell to form his own band after hearing a rough draft of his song "Willin'". Lowell did form a band of his own on Frank's firm advice, and that band became Little Feat, formed in 1971. In spite of being against heavy street or psychedelic drugs, Frank was addicted to cigarettes and coffee. They kept him awake at night when he was mixing and recording his many albums, he claimed, as he was a notorious workaholic in the studio.
@@NuisanceMan I never thought Flower Power was too bad myself. Zappa was a genius, but he was very cynical about optimism, and he was unafraid to let it be criticized on both the conservative and liberal sides, whether it was Nixon, LBJ, Regan, or Tipper Gore. The "We're Only In It For The Money" album cover design by Cal Schenekel was an attack on The Beatles and "Sgt. Pepper's". John Lennon could be as easily as snarky and cynical as Zappa, but remember, he and Zappa fought over the rights to "King Kong" rewritten as "Jamrag". They were bitter freinimies as a result over that jam session.
You could have included one or two albums by Creedence Clearwater Revival, as CCR in no way attempted to cash in on the Psychedelic or Progressive Rock styles that dominated most of the late sixties. Instead, they stuck to this no-nonsense Rock 'N' Roll which was totally out of fashion for the late sixties, even occasionally reviving Rock 'N' Roll classics of the fifties which was even more out of fashion by then, and eventually, even a cover of Roy Orbison's Ooby Dooby. Yet they still managed to get a booking for the Woodstock music festival, along all the hippie acts, and then released a live album of their performances there. Maybe you could have have included The Pretty Things' S. F. Sorrow. But I was already thinking of The Kinks.
These ten are all long time faves in my record collection and you nailed the fact that they were out of step with the peace and love thing. Well done video.
What is the peace and love thing in music? If it’s psychedelia you’re referring to, it influenced and was influenced by the bands presented in this video.
@DJ-bj8ku The self-appointed hipsters at the time thought these records were nowhere. That's the point. Not trying to make working definitions for psychedelic music or anything like that because it's too vague and who cares anyway? These records were thought to be out of step by the people who cared about that sort of thing. Got it?
@@buzzawuzza3743Who were the self-appointed hipsters? Did you live through the era? I did. There was no such thing as “out of step.” These artists and bands were influenced by, reacting to or influencing other artists at the time, meaning they were all experimenting with the form. Got it?
I was first introduced to the velvet underground and nico album around 1978,at age 8,through a friend of my moms.I was instantly drawn to it! Classic album! I like the song sister ray as well
Great list. I’ve coincidentally discovered half of these albums while looking for new stuff over the last 25 years and agree they are amazing. I’m cueing up the remainder on Spotify this afternoon.
Pleasantly surprised that this showed up in my suggested videos. I actually have a couple of these ('The Velvet Underground and Nico' and 'We're Only In It for the Money'). Glad to see the Kinks' 'Village Green Preservation Society' included. I know I caught a video of them performing the title song, I believe from soon after it was released (I think it may have been from the show 'Beat Club,' on West German TV). I also notice that the Stooges' debut was on the same label as the Doors (Elektra), and that the jacket design looked like it might have been going for a Doors look.
This was an excellent video. Great choices. Although it completely took me by surprise. I really thought you were gonna head down the path of bubblegum pop. But instead, your picks were very diverse.
Excellent topic ! Without a doubt, that Stooges album was the absolute origin of Punk. Many people might argue that Punk was born in the Empire State because of the New York Dolls and the Ramones. But of course, Motown wins the bragging rights on that issue. I do have a CD copy of Stooges debut, but it would be really nice to own a vinyl copy. It’s a very special album.
You can't mention punk without mentioning the MC5 as well. Look who Patti Smith married for God's sake. Fred "Sonic" Smith used to hold court at CBGB's in the early days with all the punks basically worshipping him as a near god. They were one of the original garage bands. If Iggy was the spiritual father, the MC5 were the holy spirit of Punk energy and abandon.
I don't think so. Protopunk goes back to Kingsmen, early Kinks, Troggs, etc. Stooges sound like they were trying to the Doors, veering into hard rock of their era.
So good to hear opinions from a "RU-vidr" motivated by their love of the topic instead of a love for TicTok fame. Zappa is challenging music even today so I'm not that familiar with it, but I almost snorted my beer out of my nose when I saw the "Only In It For The Money" album cover. Great selections, thanks.
I really like this kind of video. I don’t have any of these though I used to have the Stooges. But just hearing what you had to say about them was really interesting. I checked out The Velvet Underground with Nico some years back. I think I should again and the other album too.
I always felt that the Beach Boys' mid-to-later-60s genius and influence on others (McCartney/Sgt Peppers) was overshadowed by the legacy of their poppy, clean-cut image, not to mention the band name. Maybe they should have changed it to something like "The Sea Men" and done a re-launch :)
I appreciate your love of the music, you obviously know your stuff and I share your taste, but this is all music from within the counterculture, even if only in tone, and all of it impossible to imagine without the societal and musical changes of time.
As always, your commentary is thoughtful and interesting. I think that another album which went against what was expected at the time was Bob Dylan's "John Wesley Harding."
I also wonder if you considered Van Morrison's 'TB Sheets' from 1967. Title song dealing with tuberculosis -- talk about out of step with the 'Summer of Love.'
I was waiting for Freak Out! Nice list. It’s funny, as a producer deeply influenced by 60’s production and someone whose records are called “psychedelic”, these albums you mention are some of the primary influences on my production style. Although as a SF Bay native, I think that the country stuff was in step with the summer of love vibe. California is deeply rooted in country music via the Oklahoma migration during the dust bowl. SF and LA folk rock and psychedelia came out of the early 60’s folk revival. Hippies have a “back to the land, back to the country “ ethos. To me the country thing lines up parallel to the more adventurous sounds of the Grateful Dead and Buffalo Springfield, the Youngbloods, the Airplane, etc… I love the list. From my perspective I would accept your list excepting the country stuff and add these three: MC5 - “kick Out the Jams” Zappa & Mothers - “Freak Out!” Neil Young - “Everybody Knows this is Nowhere”
I would go for Song Cycle, by Van Dyke Parks. Sold so few copies that the record company took out an ad to give them away. Influenced nobody (except maybe Randy Newman and Harry Nilsson). One of my favorite records, and my wife used to give me shit when I played it.
Days was on the original album, but only in Europe and New Zealand, it was a No 12 hit single in the U.K. 1968. No other Kinks album charted in the U.K. after this one, all the Kinks albums charted in the U.S. except Village Green, apart from Percy. Another interesting fact, The Beach Boys released Do It Again, just two weeks after Friends and became a No1 single in the U.K, the only other No1 Beach Boys single in the U.K. was Good Vibrations! Of course all these are classics, but for me, I was born October 1952, there was still a very straight mainstream culture, in the 60’s, it was a very small clique of people that were counter culture, or turned on hippies really. That’s what made the era a fascinating time to grow up, there were clashes of culture change happening virtually everyday 😊
thanks. i love the beach boys's friends album, the byrds's sweetheart, the kinks's preservation, flying burrito brothers's, stooges's and velvet's debuts.
I'd also include Love - Forever Changes - some dark themes and under currents throughout the album. Certainly not a peace and love is all you need vibe.
I could sense the later The Band’s “Northern Cross Southern Star” had the Byrd’s “Sweethearts of the Rodeo” influence with Acadian Driftwood, you know, that “pure feel”, but when I first heard Music From Big Pink’s “Chest Fever”, I felt The Band was indeed feeding off of 60’s heavy psychedelia somewhat, so maybe that’s why it did not get on this list! I just subbed this gentleman‘s work, it felt like I was gathering around a warming fire of familiar greatness, I felt home with this list, and mostly it makes me want to get these tracks popping again on my stereo!!
I think you could do another episode featuring albums of the early seventies, like bands that were influentual later on, but ignored at the time. It is a great theme for a podcast. e.g.Big Star
Some superb albums there. Also Nico's Marble Index is incredibly sad and gothic like, no mellow yellow vibes from her. The Kinks album Something Else had a slight nod to psych with Lazy Old Sun but otherwise had that lovely , timeless autumnal feel❤ The one i thought should have been massive was Goodbye And Hello by Tim Buckley, it never took off but to me is a gorgeous album. Best wishes from England mate. Great upload.
Literally the only reason I clicked on this video, and I have never seen or heard of you before, was because I thought "if he doesn't have Sweetheart of the Rodeo he doesn't know shit." God job, you know you got a new sub.
Great list! I think I've owned about 7 of these (well, 8, as we're including "White Light/White Heat") during my now-long years. 3 of these I've genuinely never heard of: The Kinks record, that Beach Boys record, and the Byrds record. When it comes to the Kinks, I've always been indifferent: there were so many other British bands around, you know? Never really liked the Beach Boys, and as for the Byrds record, I'm interested in that one and am going to check it out. Amusing to hear your description of the critical reception to the Stooges, demonstrating how mainstream the "counter culture" had actually become. No longer so "counter". Zappa understood this from the beginning. Watching your video at first, I was all, "Where's the Doors?" - but they don't really belong here. I'd been thinking of Morrison's Oedipal anguish and attraction to death and how "out of touch" those themes were, but the music was, sonically speaking, about late-Sixties as you could possibly get.
"We're Only In It For The Money" is worth the price for the album cover alone! If you read Frank Zappa's book, it ties everything together, like we find our who Ronnie and Kenny are and othe little tid bits of Frank's esoteric humor.
Great list! I'm gonna have to listen to some of them that I haven't actually listened to. Im super glad you added Nick Drake to the list - his debut is one of my favorite albums. I would possibly add Syd Barrett's The Madcap Laughs. Although it technically released 2 days into 1970, all of the songs were recorded between 1968 and 1969, I'd still count is as being an album from the late 60s era. It's quite a step away from really anything that was professionally released from that time, with an honestly refreshing as-is quality, replete with mistakes and false starts included. Just a very, very raw, album, and one that went off in a completely different direction from the types of songs that he wrote while in the Pink Floyd. Tracks like "No Good Trying" and "No Man's Land" sound like they could have honestly been released decades after they were released. "Dark Globe" is just brutally sad, "Octupus" is genuinely fun and catchy, and "Late Night" is a fairly poignant and touchingly emotive way to wrap it all up. Syd, of course, was in a terrible head space at the time, having suffered a massive mental breakdown that got him fired from Pink Floyd...and it shows on the record, for reasons that I think make it compelling to listen to, as it gives you a look into the mind of someone who is really having a very rough time at it and not just putting it on. It's definitely a hard listen in places knowing that he wasn't doing so well, but I think it's still a rather brilliant - if, at times, unsettling - album.
@@tomrobinson5776 Agreed! Ironically, it's the album that actually first inspired me to start playing guitar - this despite its reputation for having a something of a rough performance with the guitar in particular 🤣
Out of step with the Sixties? All of these fit perfectly into the era. I was there, and unless you're taking "the Sixties" to mean some reductive Life magazine flower child article, this is way off.
Wow great idea for a video! I love 60’s music and I do dig the stuff that was kinda out of the box! Great albums here too and all spot on within topic! Subbed your channel and will check out your other videos! Killer stuff! ✨✌️👽✨
I remember asking record store clerk if he had any Stooges albums and he asked me, “Which one? The one where they were trying to be the MC5, the one where they were trying to be the Velvet Underground, or where they were trying to be the Doors?” 😂
I'm 67 with two big brothers. In my house were The Velvet Underground and Nico, at least 3 Mother's albums, and my favorite of your list, Sweetheart of the Rodeo. I could go on about the jazz and blues and rock. Oh, and the younger of those brothers went on to become Leonard Cohen's musical director and bassist, working with him since the late 1970s. Oh, The Fugs?
But Fire was a huge hit. #2 on the charts! But it was fairly complicated musically (Crane was a great keyboard player and Carl Palmer joined the Crazy World on drums). I think this guy should check his history better. The Summer of Love was 1967; the Jefferson Airplane had changed in 1968 with After Bathing at Baxter's, which was more like a Mother's album. I hate gross exaggerations of history and this is really guilty of this. Hot Rats is about as close to mainstream instrumental as Zappa got. It was great, but pretty homogenized compared to other Mothers records of this period. The video ignores that around 1968, artists were given a lot of freedom as to what they released. The style police didn't start until around 1972.
Cool video, I'll have to check out some of these that I haven't listened to. I'll throw in Bob Dylan's John Westley Harding, an album that spared no thought for commercial viability.
great selections! i saw the stooges twice. in '69 in long island. and then the legendary show at club unganos n.y.c. i was a huge fan of his "anti-hippy" style!
I have THE STOOGES and those two VU lps(and three others). I THINK a late friend of mine(he died two years ago) had that Kinks lp and had EVERYTHING by Cohen. He had some Zappa lps,but I don't recall if he had the '''MONEY'' one. I THINK he had that Byrds' lp(my memory is hazy here;sorry). I didn't discover VU until the late 70s(I'm 61). My late friend grew up in the 60s. He wasn't a VU fan and later in life gave me a couple of Lou Reed lps he no longer liked,THE BELLS and CONEY ISLAND BABY. His lp collection generally lined up with his era but he did have an adventurous side. I wish I could remember the name of one lp he played for me that featured a high and grating female singer who clearly was out of step with the late 60s. He admitted he sometimes did this as a joke to annoy his guests. Have never heard of that Beach Boys' lp. Interesting list.
"The Counter Culture" was called that for a reason... The reason being, is that "mainstream culture" was STILL GOING STRONG. Most of the music made was NOT BY (or for) THE COUNTERCULTURE! You didn't mention that they were STILL making 45's of the latest Pop HITS played repeatedly on AM radio... Cars rarely even had FM radios in them during the late 60s. Motown music and Soul Music were GOING STRONG along with Country Western and frikken Barbara Streisand, Neil Diamond, Englebert Humperdink, and Tom Jones.. It's just that the GREATEST musical innovations that changed the cultural musical landscape came from "the Counterculture"... and "the Counterculture" WASN'T JUST about peace, love, and hippie life either. And the term "hippie" can't even be nailed down in a tidy way. The only way I can get on board with your characterization of the late '60s is if I pretend that MOST of the music was expressions of the COUNTERCULTURE'S sensibilities, in fact, MOST of it wasn't. So your list of albums that you characterize as being SURPRISING for its time is nonsensical when actually, just par for the course. But the list of albums that would be counterculture is LONG and GLORIOUS... and that is where my musical tastes lie... I was 14 years old in 1969 and remember it well.
Nice list, bands Ive recently discovered, Silver Apples and The Monks fit well into this theme. I would also ask if by the late ‘60s was really a counter culture, or just the culture (even if they were still calling it that). Mind you I was 8 in 1969, I am no expert.
The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny is the little metal ring they used to place in the injection mold holes of cheap baby dolls to keep the plastic from tearing. It was generally placed where the vagina would be on a more anatomically correct doll.
Excellent list. I preferred Arthur by the Kinks instead of Village and Buffalo Springfield Again versus Flying Burrito Brothers. But for the most part, you absolutely nailed the essential.
@@tomrobinson5776Arthur is my favorite as well, Lola possibly tied. I’ve also rediscovered Preservation Act 1, fantastic and overlooked, and kind of a throwback to their late 60’s vibe.
Loved this segment, Tom. I agree with all your choices, but the absolute standout being the Kinks, always against the grain, never compromising and always true to themselves. Question: Did the Kinks ever play any of the rock festivals or for that matter, were they ever invited?
They didn’t play any of the famous ones like Monterey Pop, Woodstock as they were banned from ‘65 thru late ‘69 in the states. Once their fame skyrocketed in the late 70’s/early 80’s they did play the first US Festival in San Bernardino in 1982. You are right. The Kinks never compromised and many times were out of fashion. They never did a psych album, or sold out in spectacular fashion like so many of their contemporaries. They always had integrity even at their lowest commercial points.
@@tomrobinson5776 Speaking of 'lowest commercial points,' I think the word you were reaching for during the video for 'peak' low point was 'nadir' -- lowest point reached.
@@ronmackinnon9374 I think Ray had a physical punch up with someone from the US Musicians Union during their first tour of 1965. There’s were insults thrown at Ray and a fight ensued. Plus unruly behavior on the tour got them banned as well. They lost 4 crucial years in the US (65-69) and once the ban was lifted in ‘69 they basically had to start from scratch on the touring circuit.
