GETTING BACK IN TUNE: VITAL ROCK OF THE '60S
TV SOUNDTRACK TRIES TO CAPTURE THE PERIOD, BUT FOR THE RECORD, HERE
ARE THE ORIGINALS
JIM FARBER
* 02/03/99
New York Daily News
(Copyright 1999 Daily News, L.P.)
No decade produced music more integral to its soul than the '60s.
Songs of that time provided the glue between the sex, drugs and
politics of the day, giving them more social relevance than the tunes
of any other decade in this century.
In the time since, lots of albums have tried to sum up that dense
and charged time, from the soundtracks to "The Big Chill" and
"Forrest Gump" to the new one, which hits stores this week, for NBC's
"The '60s" miniseries.
The latest attempt corrals the usual suspects, from "The Weight"
by The Band, to The Temptations' "My Girl," to James Brown's "Say It
Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud." There's just one fresh track: a nice
re-do of Dylan's "Chimes of Freedom," sung by the bard and Joan
Osborne. Still, as '60s sets go, it's a pretty flimsy primer. For
those who want something broader, here's some must-own work from that
war-torn, tie-dye time, beginning with the holy trinity:
1) Bob Dylan: The single greatest writer and innovator of the era.
Buy everything, especially "Bringing It All Back Home" "Highway 61"
and "Blonde on Blonde."
2) The Beatles. Again, you must own everything, but stress
"Rubber Soul," "Revolver," "Sgt. Pepper," "The Beatles" and "Abbey
Road."
3) The Rolling Stones: Their peak's on "High Tide and Green
Grass," "Through The Past Darkly," "Beggar's Banquet" and "Let It
Bleed."
4) Motown: Stick with greatest hits by The Supremes, The
Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, etc.
5) Jimi Hendrix: The era's great guitar innovator, evidenced on
"Are You Experienced?," "Axis: Bold as Love" and "Electric
Ladyland."
6) Cream: The trio who turned psychedelic rock into free jazz on
"Disraeli Gears" and the double set "Wheels of Fire."
7) Neil Young: Era's darkest guitarist
and quirkiest singer, best on "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere."
8) Jefferson Airplane: The peak of S.F. psychedelia. Buy
"Surrealistic Pillow" for the songs. "Bless Its Pointed Little Head"
for the jamming, and "Volunteers" for its defiance.
9) Janis Joplin: Rock's most passionate blues belter. Her "Cheap
Thrills" offers anything but.
10) Santana: Latin fire combines with rock on self-titled '69
debut.
11) James Brown: The creator of funk; caught an early peak on
1963's "Live at The Apollo"
12) The Beach Boys: 1966's "Pet Sounds" remains the acme of Brian
Wilson's nexus of emotional innocence and technical sophistication.
13) Led Zeppelin: Blues music encased in cement, creating heavy
metal and so much more. Both "I" and "II" still sound new.
14) Van Morrison: He created Celtic soul on "Astral Weeks."
15) Aretha Franklin: The title "Lady Soul" says it all.
* 16) The Byrds: Gospel of folk-rock drives LPs like "Turn, Turn,
Turn."
17) Sly and The Family Stone: The group that made funk go pop on
LPs like "Stand."
18) Creedence Clearwater Revival: Voodoo blues as catchy as Top 40
on LPs like "Willie & The Poorboys."
19) Fairport Convention: This group birthed British-traditional-
* folk-rock on the indelible "Liege & Lief."
20) MC5: The Detroit group set the blueprint for '70s punk on
1969's "Kick Out the Jams."
