I missed the start of this one and, sadly, feel the need to chime in and catch up.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Purple Haze I'm pretty much in the same boat as a lot of folks. I like most of Jimi's hits, and appreciate the guy's skills and influence on pop music of the time and to come, but am not necessarily a huge fan. I have Are You Experienced? and have listened to it a few times, but it's not really my bag. Some of it's pretty cool, but a lot of it is just sounds to me like a very talented band taking LSD, jamming, and recording the results.
I also second the love for Mitch Mitchell. The first time I saw an old Hendrix video, I was amazed. Jimi was black, obviously, and call it racist or whatever, but I guess I assumed the rest of the band was black as well. Then there's this skinny little white guy in a shirt and tie back there beating the shit out of a four-piece trap kit like there was no tomorrow. The Jimi Hendrix Experience may have been rock's first power trio.
Simon & Garfunkel - The Sound of Silence One of my all-time favorites from these guys. Yeah, the words are powerful and evocative, the music perfectly sets the tone, rising and falling with the words and the message they convey, but my favorite thing about this song is Art Garfunkel's amazing harmony throughout. He really was a vastly underrated singer, and the two-part harmonies and his choice of notes is mind-boggling.
Useless anecdote: My wife and I often sing in the car when it's just us, and typically she'll sing "lead" and I'll sing "background". I love singing harmony, as I'm pretty good at it, and my voice isn't really high enough quality for lead vocals. Anyway, one time we were driving my daughter and one of her friends somewhere, and this song came on the radio, and I decided that the girls were just gonna have to suffer; I'm cranking it up and we're singing this one because I love that harmony part. By the second verse, they were both laughing their asses off. Later, I asked my daughter why, and she said because it was so funny, us singing along with the radio (which everyone does) but in harmony (which nobody does). So... that makes it funny? I was secretly hoping they'd think it was pretty cool, maybe even pretty good. Busting out laughing was not the response I'd hoped for.
Also: Coincidentally, my son played the Disturbed version of this song for me the other day. I'd never heard it, or heard of it before. I thought it was okay, the guy did a decent job of capturing the mood, but that awesome harmony was missing, and to me that's a huge part of the song. Whatever. Props for covering it, I guess.
Johnny Cash - Ring of Fire I've never understood why this song is so popular, with Johnny Cash fans or anyone else. I love Johnny, always have. I have a bunch of his albums, including multiple "greatest hits things", and always skip this song. What the hell, Johnny, three verses but all the same lyrics each time? I always think of the children's rhyme: "Second verse, same as the first, a little bit louder and a little bit worse."
The Beatles - I Wanna Hold Your Hand Remember in grade school, that one girl you liked? You didn't want to kiss her or anything, because that's gross, and sex was unknown, unheard-of at the time. You just wanted to hold her hand. Spend some time together. The 60's, rock was still in grade school, still learning what it was all about. That's this song. I don't know if I like it, but I appreciate it as a perfect encapsulation of a time in our history and music. Rock today is "I want to fuck you like an animal". Yeah, real smooth. If those are the choices, give me the 60's.
Tom Jones - It's Not Unusual I'm old enough to remember The Tom Jones Show, which my mom watched religiously, so I'll always associate this song with that show. (For you younglings: It was a variety show, and this was the theme song. Yes, he started every show singing his most famous hit.) Great song. Tom Jones was, and still is, a great singer.
Man: Doctor, whenever I hear music, my feet start moving and I start dancing. I can't help it.
Doctor: Yes, I see. You have Tom Jones Disease.
Man: I've never heard of Tom Jones Disease. It is very common?
Doctor: It's not unusual.
Topic: The 1960s Song of the Day (currently featuring: The Animals) (Read 10836 times)