Then we started looking at the second decade — my heyday — and I told him “there are just too many choices from those years, too many great songs, blah, blah, whine, whine,” and Levine got this look of triumph on his face. “You’ve got to man up and make choices,” he said.
That’s why I love the guy.
But, since, as I indelicately told my compadre, this being MY space and all, I get to make up the rules. I have, therefore, split the second decade of the rock era in half. We’ll look at 1965-1969 in this column and consider 1970-1974 in our next installment. And if people are still interested — incidentally, thanks so much for the feedback so far — we’ll move on to ‘75-’84, ‘85-’94 and possibly ‘95-2004 in subsequent columns.
I say possibly because Levine is one of those folks who thought music stopped happening after 1965. As the comic Gallager once noted, “He’s still stuck in the ‘60s,” and to a degree, I’m a ‘70s guy. But we’ll continue until we stretch the boundaries of relevance.
1965
LEVINE: “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” by the Righteous Brothers; “Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones. “An all-time classic by one of the best rock duos of all-time and the Stones’ best song.”
FLETCHER: “Unchained Melody” by the Righteous Brothers; “Yesterday” by the Beatles. “Two of the greatest love songs ever; the first an unrequited stunner, the second a love-gone-bad heartbreaker.”
OTHER BIGGIES: “I Got You (I Feel Good),” James Brown; “Help,” the Beatles; “Shotgun,” Jr. Walker & the All-Stars; “My Girl,” the Temptations; “Eve of Destruction,” Barry McGuire; “Like a Rolling Stone,” “Positiviely Fourth Street,” Bob Dylan; “We Gotta Get Out of This Place,” the Animals.
1966
LEVINE: “The Sound of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel. “Listening to the words of this song is always a treat.”
FLETCHER: “Rain”/”Paperback Writer” by the Beatles. “The best single/B-side ever recorded with my favorite Fab Four song (‘Rain’) and another in my Top 10.”
OTHER BIGGIES: “When a Man Loves a Woman,” Percy Sledge; “Wild Thing,” the Troggs; “Good Vibrations,” the Beach Boys; “Hold on I’m Coming,” Sam & Dave; “Hanky Panky,” Tommy James & the Shondells; “Crying Time,” Ray Charles; “Knock on Wood,” Eddie Floyd; “My Generation,” the Who; “California Dreamin’,” “Monday, Monday,” The Mamas & Papas; “96 Tears,” ? and the Mysterians; “Sunshine Superman,” Donovan; “Strangers in the Night,” Frank Sinatra.
1967
LEVINE: “Respect” by Aretha Franklin. “The Queen of Soul’s best record.”
FLETCHER: “Try a Little Tenderness” by Otis Redding; “A Whiter Shade of Pale” by Procol Harem. “Two very different kinds of soul, each incredible in its own way.”
OTHER BIGGIES: “Brown Eyed Girl,” Van Morrison; “Soul Man,” Sam & Dave; “Higher and Higher,” Jackie Wilson; “Hello Goodbye,” “Strawberry Fields Forever,” the Beatles; “Ruby Tuesday,” the Rolling Stones; “Light My Fire,” the Doors; “Purple Haze,” Jimi Hendrix; “I Think We’re Alone Now,” Tommy James & the Shondells; “To Love Somebody,” the Bee Gees; “White Rabbit,” Jefferson Airplane; “Ode to Billy Joe,” Bobby Gentry; “A Little Bit Of Soul,” Music Explosion.
(An interjection here: I guarantee that any true music lover is looking at this list and nodding their head in agreement and many of you will soon break out those albums you’d long forgotten or the Time Life “Best Of” CD collection you ordered. Sorry, back to the list.)
1968
LEVINE: “Mrs. Robinson” by Simon & Garfunkel. “How can you not love a song that includes the line ‘Where have you gone Joe Dimaggio’?” (Note: Yes, Levine is a Yankees fan ... don’t hold that against him.)
FLETCHER: “The Weight” by the Band. “No, it’s not just a jingle for some stupid cell phone ad ... ‘Take a load off, Annie’ ...”
OTHER BIGGIES: “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay,” Otis Redding; “Born to Be Wild,” Steppenwolf; “Hey Jude,” the Beatles; “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” Marvin Gaye; “Street Fightin’ Man,” “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” the Rolling Stones; “All Along the Watchtower,” Jimi Hendrix; “Hello, I Love You,” the Doors; “White Room,” Cream; “Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo),” Manfred Mann; “Cry Like a Baby,” the Boxtops; “Hush,” Deep Purple.
1969
(Hereafter known as more great songs than you can shake a stick at.)
LEVINE: “Some Day We’ll Be Together” by Diana Ross & the Supremes. “If a tear doesn’t come to your eye when you hear this song, you’re emotionally bankrupt.” (Yes, he really wrote that!)
FLETCHER: “The Boxer” by Simon & Garfunkel; “Israelites” by Desmond Dekker & the Aces; “In the Year 2525” by Zager & Evans. “Sure I wimped out, but I cannot choose between these vastly different but great songs ... so sue me.”
OTHER BIGGIES: “Son of a Preacher Man,” Dusty Springfield; “Proud Mary,” “Bad Moon Rising,” “Down on the Corner,” Creedence Clearwater Revival (great year for a great band); “Games People Play,” Joe South; “Get Back,” “Something,” the Beatles; “Sugar Sugar,” the Archies; “Hony Tonk Women,” the Rolling Stones; “Can’t Get Next to You,” the Temptations; “And When I Die,” Blood, Sweat & Tears; “Everyday People,” “Hot Fun in the Summertime,” Sly & the Family Stone; “In the Ghetto,” “Suspicious Minds,” Elvis; “Crimson & Clover,” Tommy James & the Shondells; “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes,” Crosby, Stills & Nash; “Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In,” the Fifth Dimension.
NEXT: The other half of the greatest musical decade ever.
E-mail Carlton Fletcher at
carlton.fletcher@albanyherald.com.
