Pitchfork's 200 Best Albums of the 60s

[Ojai Sam]

It's strange that Hill and Taylor might be listed consecutively on the list. Both are not Jazz musicians that non-Jazz fans might easily enjoy. But comparatively speaking, it should be easier to enjoy Hill than Taylor. If you ever explored Jazz more, Hill might be someone to check out. If not, definitely avoid Taylor, or you might never give Jazz more tries.

Sometimes critics like to put hard-to-appreciate artists like Taylor on lists like this either to stretch our horizons or to show us how sophisticated they are.

 

[Old Uncle Toe]

Just latching onto this thread. I don't think I'll try to catch up, but will leap from the shore mid-stream and join the group in progress. (Ok, I did enjoy the Morricone album. That guy was a genius.)

I appreciate the comments about Hill and Taylor. I've never been able to get a handle on Jazz. So I appreciate comments about Taylor and Hill not being good starters for non-Jazz people and that of the two, Hill is less difficult. Not sure I'll make it through the whole album (12 minute opener?) but I'll give it the old community college try.

 

[Ojai Sam]

Welcome aboard, Toe!

This ship is moving at a leisurely pace and if you like, you can follow along on our Spotify playlist.

 

[Old Uncle Toe]

I made it through Andrew Hill - Point of Departure. Really not my style, but I like to give "not my style" a try sometimes, in case there's something there I'm missing. Maybe if I were a musician I'd better appreciate what those guys were doing. My favorite track was Dedication. I listened to it three times to decide why. In the end I figured it was only because it was less frenetic, more thoughtful, with less off-kilter scales and runs from the horns.

I recently listened to a jazz musician interviewed on NPR. He explained a little of the theory behind that style of jazz. It was interesting to finally understand why all the disjointedness. I wish I remembered who it was so I could relisten or reread. If any of you jazz lovers have an article or two to recommend on the topic I'd be interested to learn a little.

Looking forward to Wanda Jackson, Nilsson and Donald Byrd!

 

[Ojai Sam]

Looking forward to Wanda Jackson, Nilsson and Donald Byrd!

Someone has been peeking.

 

[lpfreak1170]

This ship is moving at a leisurely pace...

Pretty much.

196 – Wanda Jackson – Rockin' With Wanda


Now we're getting back into my wheelhouse (sorry, Zeebs). Wanda rocked just as hard as any of the guys (and sometimes even harder)...killer slab of rockabilly goodness. She had the look, the voice, and the attitude. Every woman that has ever decided to rock owes her a huge debt.

 

[Ojai Sam]

Pretty much.

196 – Wanda Jackson – Rockin' With Wanda


Now we're getting back into my wheelhouse (sorry, Zeebs). Wanda rocked just as hard as any of the guys (and sometimes even harder)...killer slab of rockabilly goodness. She had the look, the voice, and the attitude. Every woman that has ever decided to rock owes her a huge debt.

Wanda's second album doesn't include "Let's Have A Party" but it still scorches the turntable. The lead guitar of Buck Owens sets the rockabilly mood here. Wanda comes across as a more mature and dangerous Brenda Lee.

 

[Old Uncle Toe]

Wanda comes across as a more mature and dangerous Brenda Lee.

Bingo.

This was a fun listen. Gotta admit I liked her rough and tumble tracks better. There were a whole lot of more quiet and tender tracks on the end of the album which are not what I know Ms. Jackson for. Then I read a little and understood she'd put a rockabilly on one side of a single and a girly country song on the other so no matter which you preferred, you got exposure to the other. Good marketing.

 

[lpfreak1170]

195 – Nilsson – Aerial Ballet


Actually never got into this one when I first heard it years ago. I was young and dumb...such a beautiful, brilliant album.

 

[Ojai Sam]

195 – Nilsson – Aerial Ballet


Actually never got into this one when I first heard it years ago. I was young and dumb...such a beautiful, brilliant album.

Don't feel bad, Freak. Nilsson did nothing for me back in the day either. Fortunately you and I are no longer young and dumb. Well, at least I'm no longer young.

 

[lpfreak1170]

194 – Donald Byrd – A New Perspective


Interesting album that I enjoyed quite a bit. The choir threw me at first, but I thought it fit in nicely once I got used to it.

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

194 – Donald Byrd – A New Perspective


Interesting album that I enjoyed quite a bit. The choir threw me at first, but I thought it fit in nicely once I got used to it.

Good one - I agree the choir sounds a bit dated at first (almost like the "bah bah"s in some of the Bacharach numbers from Butch Cassidy, but it was quite a bold experiment by Byrd at the time. I agree as one acclimates, it really adds to the album's...er...new perpective?

 

[Ojai Sam]

194 – Donald Byrd – A New Perspective


Interesting album that I enjoyed quite a bit. The choir threw me at first, but I thought it fit in nicely once I got used to it.

This is a remarkable and under appreciated album. Pitchfork showed great insight in picking it.

Obviously A New Perspective is unusual due to the 8 voice choir. The voices reinforce the subtle spirituality that is also conveyed by the song titles. The choir was under the direction of Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, a versatile genius whose diverse work is tragically forgotten today. Wiki sez:

Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (June 14, 1932, Manhattan, New York City or possibly (unconfirmed) Winston-Salem, North Carolina – March 9, 2004, Chicago) was an innovative American composer whose interests spanned the worlds of jazz, dance, pop, film, television, and classical music.

Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson was Afro-American. He was named after Afro-British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875–1912). Perkinson's mother was active in music and the arts as a piano teacher, church organist, and director of a theater company.

Perkinson attended the High School of Music and Art in New York City. After graduating from high school, he attended New York University. He later transferred to the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied composition with Vittorio Giannini and Charles Mills. He received bachelor's and master's degrees from the Manhattan School of Music.[2] He also studied with Earl Kim at Princeton University. He was on the faculty of Brooklyn College (1959–1962) and studied conducting in the summers of 1960, 1962, and 1963 in the Netherlandswith Franco Ferrara and Dean Dixon and also learned conducting in 1960 at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.

Perkinson cofounded the Symphony of the New World in New York in 1965 and later became its Music Director. He was also Music Director of Jerome Robbins's American Theater Lab and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Perkinson composed a ballet for Ailey entitled For Bird, With Love inspired by the music of jazz great Charlie Parker.

Perkinson wrote a great deal of classical music, but was equally well-versed in jazz and popular music. He served briefly as pianist for drummer Max Roach’s quartet and wrote arrangements for Roach, Marvin Gaye, and Harry Belafonte. He also composed music for films such as The McMasters (1970), Together for Days (1972), A Warm December (1973) starring Sidney Poitier, Thomasine & Bushrod (1974), The Education of Sonny Carson (1974), Amazing Grace (1974), Mean Johnny Barrows (1976), and the documentary Montgomery to Memphis (1970) about Martin Luther King. In 1970 he wrote incidental music for at least one episode of the US tv show Room 222.

Perkinson's music has a blend of Baroque counterpoint; American Romanticism; elements of the blues, spirituals, and black folk music; and rhythmic ingenuity.

So A New Perspective, despite the hard bop personnel, represents a rare foray by Blue Note into the realm of Third Stream, the fusion of jazz and classical. Oh, and the Jaguar XK-E on the cover belonged to Byrd. At this time Donald also urged Herbie Hancock to buy a Shelby Cobra, which Herbie still owns.

 

[axolotl]

I heard the entire second side of Donald Byrd's A New Perspective for the first time one evening about five years ago on KKJZ-FM (K-Jazz).

I was figuratively gobsmacked. I thought I had to have it.

Oddly, I didn't buy a copy at that time. I just ordered it on Amazon today.

 

[Old Uncle Toe]

I just listened to A New Perspective today. I've admitted before that jazz often leaves me flat (no pun intended). On this album the first track was kind of entertaining, the second and third were okay but not doing much for me, and it went downhill from there. It reminded me of movie music from the 1960's. Not a bad thing, rather kind of nostalgic. But by the end of the album I was ready to move on to something else. I'm glad I listened, but this just didn't stick with me.

But I love a Jaguar X-type and I knew that headlight the moment I saw the album cover. This is a great angle on the curves of that car. That and the understated appearance of the artist make for an attractive album cover.

 

[Old Uncle Toe]

And then I backed up one notch to listen to...

Not bad, but I'm listening at work and can't really focus on the lyrics. With only the melodies and orchestration to go by, this is nice and harmless and inoffensive. But that's not really enough to carry an album. I need to listen at home or in the car where I can pay attention to the lyrics. Btw, I didn't realize Nilsson's parents' profession were high wire acrobats. Sounds like an interesting biography to read if one exists.

 

[lpfreak1170]

193 – The Beach Boys – Surfer Girl


Very strong early album from Brian and the gang. Also contains the earliest example of Brian's heavier writing in "In My Room".

 

[lpfreak1170]

This is why I don't do these threads...lol.

192 – Link Wray & The Wraymen – S/T


Not quite as good as I was hoping for...I'm pretty sure I was wanting 12 tunes that hit as hard as "Rumble"...lol. Anyway, since it is Link Wray, you know you're at least gonna get some great guitar work and a couple stompers.

 

[Old Uncle Toe]

This is why I don't do these threads...lol.

192 – Link Wray & The Wraymen – S/T


Not quite as good as I was hoping for...I'm pretty sure I was wanting 12 tunes that hit as hard as "Rumble"...lol. Anyway, since it is Link Wray, you know you're at least gonna get some great guitar work and a couple stompers.

I had the exact same experience. With Rumble in the back of my mind I picked up a couple Link Wray CDs. And sure, there were a couple of interesting tracks on each, but nothing came close to that one hit and those CDs are collecting dust on my shelf. I'm sure his influence is noteworthy for those who actually play electric guitar rather than just listen to it, like me. But as far as his career, I wonder if he'd have done better to become a session musician and make his name slowly and carefully, a la Booker T. or Steve Cropper.

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Love the scene from the film It Might Get Loud, where Jimmy Page listens to "Rumble" (one of his favorites when he was younger) with such a pure enjoyment. Here's a guy who could play this song in his sleep, yet he still appreciates it so much as an early influence