Popular rock albums from 1967
Содержание
When talking about the iconic albums and hits of the 60s, you can see that every year something special happened. But it seems that never before has rock music been associated with conspiracy theories, or more simply, conspiracy theories. That innovation belongs to the 67th. So, today we're talking about the most striking albums that became popular that year.
The most successful debut album in rock history
Just a year before, a new band called the Jimi Hendrix Experience had been formed in England, and everyone associated with the band knew in advance that success was coming. The reason for this confidence was none other than Jimi Hendrix - an innovator and virtuoso whose guitar playing amazed everyone, including his star colleagues.
The first album of the band was called "Are You Experienced" and immediately brought the band popularity, raising them to high positions in the charts. The album was ranked number 5 in Billboard magazine.
Hendrix's creative influence was felt in this album in every detail, even in the cover. The thing is that the British and American versions of the album were different from each other. The initiator of the changes was Jimi, who was not satisfied with the cover and the order of the songs on the record. The purely British restrained picture did not convey the way Jimi saw the music. So he decided to do things his own way. For a start, he hired photographer Carl Ferris and gave him complete freedom of action. The guys in the band borrowed brightly coloured jackets from Jimi's wardrobe, and in addition all three of them had Afro hairstyles.
American version of the coverThe cover was colourful and Jimi was pleased, and we can visualise his vision of the music...
Pill surrealism
Meanwhile, Jefferson Airpline are going through a change that will make the band as we all know it. For starters, lead singer Grace Slick is joining the company, and it is her contralto that is set to become the voice of the band. Also, drummer Skip Spence is replaced by jazz drummer Spence Dryden, who happens to be Charlie Chaplin's nephew. And finally, the band is taken slightly away from the folk-rock they started with. Jefferson Airplain, like many bands at the time, is swept up in the wave of psychedelic. And that's when their second album "Surrelistic Pillow" appears, featuring such incredible tracks as "Somebody to love" and "White Rabbit".
The album rose high, reaching #3 on the Billboard magazine chart and set a new direction for the band that would later become their main style.
Moving on to number 2 on the Billboard chart we come across The Rollibg Stones and their new album "Between the Buttons". This time around, the band briefly drifted into the psychedelic and baroque-pop genres. Brian Jones, bored with the electric guitar, brought to the new album the sound of the most unusual and diverse instruments: organ, marimba, vibraphone. And these experiments were to the fans' liking.
Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Orchestra
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is the best album of all time, according to Rolling Stone, the 9th most sold album (over 30 million sales), and one of the most scandalous albums of The Beatles.
It was a time of change for the Beatles. The band gave up concert performances and decided to devote themselves fully to the studio. The band's range of musical genres was seriously expanded, and now they had time to experiment. And to everything else, they decided to change their image: they grew moustaches and beards, Lennon wore glasses. In general, a fertile ground for rumours was created. Though, hardly any of them imagined what scale these rumours would reach....
The abrupt change could lead to all sorts of thoughts, but one theory stood out: Paul McCartney was not really Paul McCartney, it was a double, and the real Paul had died in a car crash. Surprisingly, this theory had not only ardent supporters, but also "proof". Although, scepticism is scepticism, and theories are theories that can neither be confirmed nor disproved. This theory is still alive and has made the band even more attractive to fans, adding a certain charm of legend and mystery.
So, doppelganger or not, the band recorded a very interesting and atmospheric album, which included very colourful songs. For example, the song "When I'm Sixty Four", which Paul McCartney composed at the age of 16.
The main song of the album was "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", which introduces us to the fictional Sgt. Pepper's Arkestra. And in this album many songs are performed not by Paul or John, but by Ringo Starr, which makes us think that he is "Sgt. Pepper".
As it has already been said, this album became popular, pivotal, scandalous, you can choose such epithets for a long time. The compositions in it are unusual and diverse, literally for every taste!
The 67th was filled with many other interesting albums and songs, but all in one article probably won't fit, so we'll wrap it up here and now.
