I loved playing cds in the car. I have thousands of cds, and I want to listen to them all over and over — though of course in practice some of them get buried for years before resurfacing. When cds first disappeared from cars, I would put the discs on flash drives and play them that way. Eventually, though, I gave up and now I listen to albums or (more often) playlists from Apple Music. One day recently I put in a playlist of 60s music, and then thought about compiling my own. It was (as most things seem to be) easier said than done. I looked at several lists online, and clicked on the songs that I liked in Apple, putting them in my ‘1965 in Music’ playlist — figuring that “60s” would just be too broad, and 1965 seemed as good a year to start as any.

Now, if I were doing a legitimate list for an entity more than just myself, I would do some thorough research, and make decisions as to in what year edge cases would be placed — many songs are singles in one year and on albums in the year before or after. Just throwing things together for myself, I don’t have to worry about consistency.

What I do have to worry about is the obscure albums I’ve bought that aren’t going to show up in any “history of…” I wasn’t buying much in the mid-sixties, but in 67-68 I was very much in an easy listening mode: Claudine Longet, Paul Mauriat, Nancy Sinatra. I quickly graduated to rock, but also checked out the less-visited corners of record stores, buying things like Beaver & Krause’s In a Wild Sanctuary. It’s going to be work to remember what some of these acquisitions were.

Anyway, back to 1965. Most of the selections below will be recognizable as AM radio songs. A lot of them I didn’t listen to at the time, but came back to later. These are still songs that I like listening to now, starting with one of my easy listening tracks. I can’t remember whether I bought this lp or my parents did; so I don’t know whether I enjoyed the album cover more next to my stereo or theirs. But I — like many others — certainly enjoyed the album cover. (My mother — a bobby-soxer back in the 40s — bought Frank Sinatra albums. I enjoyed

listening to them.

Herb Albert & the Tijuana Brass

              A Taste of Honey

Joan Baez

              Farewell, Angelina

The Beach Boys

              Barbara Ann

              California Girls

              Help Me, Rhonda

              In the Back of My Mind

              When I Grow Up (to Be a Man)

The Beatles

              Help!

              In My Life

              Michelle

              Norwegian Wood

              Think for Yourself

              Ticket to Ride

              Yesterday

              You’re Going to Lose That Girl

              You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band

              Blues with a Feeling

              Born in Chicago

The Byrds

              I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better

              Mr. Tambourine Man

              Turn! Turn! Turn!

Chad & Jeremy

              Before and After

Cher

              All I Really Want to Do

Petula Clark

              Downtown

              I Know a Place

Judy Collins

              So Early, Early in the Spring

Sam Cooke

              You Send Me

Donovan

              Catch the Wind

              Colours

Bob Dylan

              Like a Rolling Stone

              Love Minus Zero/No Limit

              Mr. Tambourine Man

              Subterranean Homesick Blues

Four Tops

              I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)

Jackson C. Frank

              Blues Run the Game

The Hollies

              Look Through Any Window

Tom Jones

              What’s New Pussycat?

The Kinks

              Dedicated Follower of Fashion

              Till the End of Day

              Tired of Waiting for You

              A Well Respected Man

Tom Lehrer

              The Vatican Rag

The Lovin’ Spoonful

              Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?

              Do You Believe in Magic?

The Moody Blues

              Go Now

Fred Neil

              Little Bit of Rain

Peter, Paul & Mary

              Early Mornin’ Rain

              For Lovin’ Me

Wilson Pickett

              In the Midnight Hour

The Righteous Brothers

              You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’

Smokey Robinson & the Miracles

              Ooo Baby Baby

              The Tracks of My Tears

The Rolling Stones

              As Tears Go By

              Get Off of My Cloud

              Heart of Stone

              (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction

Simon & Garfunkel

              The Sound of Silence

Frank Sinatra

              It Was a Very Good Year

Barbra Streisand

              My Man

              Second Hand Rose

              Someone to Watch Over Me

The Supremes

              Stop! In the Name of Love

The Temptations

              My Baby

              Since I Lost My Baby

The Turtles

              Eve of Destruction

              It Ain’t Me Babe

The Who

              The Kids Are Alright

              A Legal Matter

              My Generation

The Yardbirds

              For Your Love

              Heart Full of Soul

The Zombies

              She’s Not There

              Tell Her No