1969 'Summer of Love'

[firko]

While 1969 might not have been one of the greats in motocross bike development, it was a red letter year for rock/pop music. Glenn A Baker was on TV this morning talking about the music we were listening to when man first walked on the moon and after listing some of the songs of 1969 he stated that many of the greatest songs in rock history emerged in that "Summer of Love" year. After looking at a couple of online lists this morning I find myself agreeing with Glenn that rock music reached its creative peak in 1969. Although there has been some great stuff since, much of it is merely repeating the vibe of 1969. Below is a list of songs from that great year.....The list and order of merit isn't mine but it gives you an idea that so many rock standards came out in the same year. I can't think of another year to produce such a huge number of great songs. Everything from Frank Sinatras "My Way" to the MC5 classic' Kick out the Jams' which is now regarded as the first punk record to little Michael Jackson making his brothers look like hangers on (which they later proved to be) in 'I want you Back' are in there.

1 Whole Lotta Love  Led Zeppelin 
2 Proud Mary  Creedence Clearwater Revival 
3 I Want You Back  Jackson 5 
4 Honky Tonk Women  Rolling Stones 
5 Bad Moon Rising  Creedence Clearwater Revival 
6 Suite: Judy Blue Eyes  Crosby, Stills & Nash 
7 Dazed And Confused  Led Zeppelin 
8 Gimme Shelter  Rolling Stones 
9 Come Together  Beatles 
10 I Can't Get Next To You  Temptations 
11 Fortunate Son  Creedence Clearwater Revival 
12 Pinball  Wizard.The Who
13 Heartbreaker/Living Loving Maid  Led Zeppelin 
14 Evil Ways  Santana 
15 Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)  Sly & the Family Stone 
16 It's Your Thing  Isley Brothers 
17 You Can't Always Get What You Want  Rolling Stones 
18 Space Oddity  David Bowie 
19 My Way  Frank Sinatra 
20 Kick Out The Jams  MC5 
21 Something  Beatles 
22 Hot Fun In The Summertime  Sly & the Family Stone 
23 Suspicious Minds  Elvis Presley 
24 Get Back  Beatles 
25 Green River  Creedence Clearwater Revival 
26 Here Comes The Sun  Beatles 
27 The Thrill Is Gone  B.B. King 
28 The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down  The Band 
29 The Boxer  Simon & Garfunkel 
30 I Want To Take You Higher  Sly & the Family Stone 
31 Give Me Just A Little More Time  Chairmen Of The Board 
32 Down On The Corner  Creedence Clearwater Revival 
33 Stand  Sly & the Family Stone 
34 Venus  Shocking Blue 
35 What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)  Jr. Walker & the All-Stars 
36 Can't Find My Way Home  Blind Faith 
37 Whipping Post  Allman Brothers 
38 Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose  James Brown 
39 Oh What A Night '69  Dells 
40 Born On The Bayou  Creedence Clearwater Revival 
41 Feelin' Alright  Joe Cocker 
42 Midnight Rambler  Rolling Stones 
43 Time Is Tight  Booker T. & the M.G.'s 
44 We're Not Gonna Take It  The Who 
45 In The Court Of The Crimson King  King Crimson 
46 Something In The Air  Thunderclap Newman 
47 Sweet Caroline  Neil Diamond 
48 No Time  Guess Who 
49 Twenty-Five Miles  Edwin Starr 
50 Someday We'll Be Together  Diana Ross & the Supremes 
51 My Whole World Ended  David Ruffin 
52 Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)  Steam 
53 In The Ghetto  Elvis Presley 
54 Rainy Night In Georgia  Brook Benton 
55 She Came In Through The Bathroom Window  Joe Cocker 
56 Good Times, Bad Times  Led Zeppelin 
57 Beginnings  Chicago 
58 Choice Of Colors  Impressions 
59 He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother  Hollies 
60 Let It Bleed  Rolling Stones 
61 Living In The Past  Jethro Tull 
62 Get Ready  Rare Earth 
63 Don't Let Me Down  Beatles 
64 Down By The River  Neil Young 
65 Grazing In The Grass  Friends Of Distinction 
66 Reconsider Me  Johnny Adams 
67 Cinnamon Girl  Neil Young 
68 Psychedelic Shack  Temptations 
69 Everybody Is A Star  Sly & the Family Stone 
70 Overture From Tommy  The Who 
71 Up On Cripple Creek  The Band 
72 A Boy Named Sue  Johnny Cash 
73 Lay Lady Lay  Bob Dylan 
74 Lodi  Creedence Clearwater Revival 
75 Aquarius / Let The Sun Shine In  5th Dimension 
76 Soul Deep  Box Tops 
77 Sugar, Sugar  Archies 
78 Who's Lovin' You  Jackson 5 
79 Communication Breakdown  Led Zeppelin 
80 Come And Get It  Badfinger 
81 You've Made Me So Very Happy  Blood, Sweat & Tears 
82 More Today Than Yesterday  Spiral Starecase 
83 I Want You (She's So Heavy)  Beatles 
84 Badge  Cream 
85 21st Century Schizoid Man  King Crimson 
86 Ballad Of John And Yoko  Beatles 
87 Marrakesh Express  Crosby, Stills & Nash 
88 Mother Popcorn  James Brown 
89 Cissy Strut  Meters 
90 Black Pearl  Sonny Charles & the Checkmates 
91 Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town  Kenny Rogers & the First Edition 
92 Spinning Wheel  Blood, Sweat & Tears 
93 My Cherie Amour  Stevie Wonder 
94 I Can Hear Music  Beach Boys 
95 Je T'aime ...Moi Non Plus  Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg 
96 I Wanna Be Your Dog  Stooges 
97 Galveston  Glen Campbell 
98 Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'  Crazy Elephant 
99 Didn't I (Blow Your Mind)  Delfonics 
100 Hey There Lonely Girl  Eddie Holman 
20 more worth mentioning.
101 Too Busy Thinking About My Baby  Marvin Gaye 
102 Walk On By  Isaac Hayes 
103 White Bird  It's A Beautiful Day 
104 Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head  B.J. Thomas 
105 Wedding Bell Blues  5th Dimension 
106 Sweet Cherry Wine  Tommy James & the Shondells 
107 Traces  Classics IV 
108 Leaving On A Jet Plane  Peter, Paul & Mary 
109 Oh Happy Day  Edwin Hawkins Singers 
110 Baby I'm For Real  Originals 
111 Hawaii Five-O  Ventures 
112 Easy To Be Hard  Three Dog Night 
113 Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?  Chicago 
114 Laughing  Guess Who 
115 Going In Circles  Friends Of Distinction 
116 Give Peace A Chance  Plastic Ono Band 
117 Backfield In Motion  Mel & Tim 
118 My Pledge Of Love  Joe Jeffrey Group 
119 And When I Die  Blood, Sweat & Tears 
120 Put A Little Love In Your Heart  Jackie DeShannon 

FIRKO ADDITIONS
Something in the Air..Thunderclap Newman
The Real Thing..Russel Morris
American Woman..The Guess Who
Everybody's Talking..Harry Nilson
Who Do You Love...Juicy Lucy or Quicksilver Messenger Service
Crossroads..Cream
Willy the Pimp,  parts 1&2..Mothers of Invention..
Rag Moma Rag..The Band
Oh Well,  parts 1&2..Fleetwood Mac
Kozmic Blues..Big Brother and the Holding Company (Janis Joplin)
In the Court of the Crimson King..King Crimson

 

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[DR]

Just goes to show how different generations have different veiws Firko. While they are all great artists and great songs there's only 1 in that whole list that appealed to me enough to warrant me purchasing their music years ago. That artist is David Bowie. I have a fairly large collections of albums still but Bowie is the only common artist

[JC]

Doc, how can you go past Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Beatles, Who etc I tho't you were my generation & that we all loved all those great bands.

'Spose it just goes to show (again) that one man's meat is another's poisin.

[AjayVMX]

And I think we even played a couple of those at CD6... 

[firko]

Yeah you did Alistair but you wimped out on doing Iron Butterflys imortal party favourite  'Inna Gadda da Vida'.  Klub Kevlar executive has voted to throw you in the mosh pit  if you guys don't do it next year. Start practicing.

That artist is David Bowie.

Your right Doc, it's different strokes for different folks. I have over 600 vinyl albums and a fair few CDs but don't own one David Bowie record. I fully understand that he is one of the greats and appreciate that many people love his music but his stuff never did too much for me. In fact that whole glam rock thing bypassed me with the exception of Mott the Hooples "All the Young Dudes" which was co written by David Bowie which is one of my all time favourites.

[AjayVMX]

Yeah...pity that.    Oh well, once a wimp, always a wimp. 

[TooFastTim]

Yeah well..some of us remember 1969 from behind out mothers skirts! I was all of 7 then. BUT one song on that list had a profound influence on my life. Not really the song itself but a TV documentry series that used that song as it's into. The song is "Living in the past" and the documentry series was "The scientists". I watched it in my mid teens and I swore I was going to become a scientist. I did and not a moments regret.

BTW, I have most of the songs on CD (before my pirating days!)

[mx250]

I feel old :'(. I remember all of them like it was yesterday .

[Graeme M]

Yeah, that's some list of songs alright. ALL from 1969? Who'd have guessed that... How's it compare to, say... ummm 2009?

[Nathan S]

How's it compare to, say... ummm 2009?

While I pretty well agree with Doc's comments, the I reckon the answer to that question is "quite well".

Interesting to note that none of JJJ's top ten songs of all time were less than a decade old.... And the winner their Hottest 100 from 2008 only polled 90-somethingth in the all time vote.

[mainline]

great list of classics, I wasn't born then though   Apart from Bowie and the Beatles, and CCR I don't have any albums of those specific artists but I've got most of their stuff on compilations.
 
The radio at work is always tuned to the golden oldies station, combine that with the old ute and the old bikes, not to mention the old house, and my boss thinks I'm some sort of throwback.

"Galveston" jeez that brings back childhood memories, there must have been a Glen Campbell fan in the house somewhere

[MX?]

Was only 11 then. 
Lot of great names there though. CCR, Beatles, Bowie, Rolling Stones.
Where was this mob? though '69 was early days for them then.

[firko]

That JJJ list was a perfect reflection of the voter age. While Smells Like Teen Spirit is a great song well deserved of being in any top 100, being voted the greatest record of all time is a bit of a stretch. It doesn't take much thought to think of 10 songs that had more musical innovation, sociological impact, and a great unforgettable groove than 'Teen Spirit.

My choice for the greatest rock record of all time? Like a Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan with Born to Run by Springsteen close behind with Queens Bohemian Rhapsody in third. With no Beatles, Rolling Stones or any women performers at all I don't think the JJJ list a very accurate or reflective list.

It's all relative to when you were "smelling the teen spirit" I suppose so with me it was the 66-76 period that formed my love of music and feeds my bias for that era. To leave the Beatles out of any "greatest" list is never a good look.

[DR]

Guess I was more the 70's/80's as my collection though only about 100 LP's in total follows more along the lines of

Bowie
Pink Floyd
INXS
Cold Chisel
The Angels
Flowers (Icehouse)
Rose Tattoo
Alice Cooper
Skyhooks
The Eagles
Supertramp
Jim Croce
Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens)
Dire Straits
AC-DC
Pearl Jam
Blue Oyster Cult
Bon Jovi
Red Hot Chilli Peppers
The Offspring
Bachmann Turner Overdrive
Springsteen
Bob Segar
Aerosmith
Australian Crawl
Crowded House
Hunters and Collectors

and many others. More recently Seether and Sum41 but as much as I respect the era the 60's stuff doesn't do it for me. Some Led Zeplin and some Slade, Deep Purple and Status Quo but for the most it's stuff like the above

[mainline]

good list Doc, when is the footpeg viewing party??? Get some "Don't Fear the Reaper" blasting out over the burbs