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