Music Milestones, 1966: The Beatles – Revolver

Pop/rock reached its maturity in 1966, and strong releases such as Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys, Aftermath by the Rolling Stones and Face to Face by the Kinks would easily contend for the best record of this year if the Beatles were not around. However, the Fab Four managed to outshine their peers with the brilliant Revolver, the experimental nature of which crucially ushered in the psychedelic era.

Despite all the experimentation that underlies Revolver, the record is a surprisingly cohesive blend of a wide range of tunes. George Harrison contributed a significant share to the songwriting, penning three indelible songs: the caustic “Taxman”; the Indian-tinged “Love You To”; and the lovelorn “I Want to Tell You”. Elsewhere, the Lennon/McCartney powerhouse was at its finest and yielded several nuggets. Highlights of the songwriting duo include the mellow “Here, There and Everywhere”, the cathartic “She Said She Said” and the comforting “And Your Bird Can Sing”. “Tomorrow Never Knows” closes the record, pushing the boundaries of pop/rock music to a whole new territory.

I leave you with “Eleanor Rigby”, which I think is the saddest and most moving song in Revolver:

Music Milestones, 1965: Herbie Hancock – Maiden Voyage

Herbie Hancock is undoubtedly part of my triad of favorite jazz pianists, together with Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk. Heavily influenced by his tenure in Miles Davis’ Second Great Quintet, Hancock’s style is rather different from that of his predecessors, and was pivotal for the development of hard bop in the 60s and jazz fusion in the 70s. While Hancock released several groundbreaking jazz fusion masterpieces, I tend to prefer his hard bop period, and therefore picked a record from that era to review here.

 
Maiden Voyage consists of five original compositions, no fewer than three of which became jazz standards. Hancock intended the title track to convey "the splendor of a sea-going vessel on its maiden voyage", and its strong rhythm section, accompanied by Freddie Hubbard’s capricious trumpet, successfully delivers the message. “The Eye of the Hurricane” is a more erratic piece, where the seemingly wayward musical elements suggest a storm underway. The hurricane subsides and gives way to “Dolphin Dance”, a piece that is indeed quite danceable and closes the record with a mellow tone.

Here is the title track for a fine introduction to Maiden Voyage:

Music Milestones, 1964: John Fahey – Death Chants, Breakdowns & Military Waltzes

Drawing from folk and blues of the 20s and 30s, John Fahey reinvented steel-string acoustic guitar with modern compositions, which helped lay the ground for a new form of self-taught fingerstyle playing that was traditional yet refreshingly novel. Fahey’s work was therefore instrumental for the advancement of American Primitivism, inspiring numerous acoustic guitar players from Leo Kottke and Robbie Basho to Sir Richard Bishop and Jack Rose.  Death Chants, Breakdowns & Military Waltzes is probably my favorite Fahey record, and constitutes an excellent introduction to his vast discography. “Sunflower River Blues” opens the record with a melancholy melody that displays Fahey’s guitar-picking at his best. The sounds of sadness find their way into the follower “When the Springtime Comes Again”, which eventually evolves toward a statement of rejuvenation and hope. “The Downfall of the Adelphi Rolling Grist Mill” is perhaps the eeriest song in the record, where a haunting flute accompanies Fahey’s feverish guitar and evokes a certain Western imagery. The music atmosphere lightens up in “Take a Look at that Baby”, a pretty little tune reminiscent of youthful love. For a taste of Death Chants, Breakdowns & Military Waltzes, have a listen to the opener “Sunflower River Blues”:

Music Milestones, 1963: Bob Dylan – The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan

Although folk music was being played throughout the United States in the early 60s, its listenership was mostly limited to college and bohemian circles before The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan came out. This record extended the reach of folk music to a wider audience, and thereby heralded the prominent role that singers/songwriters would have in popular culture from then on. It is therefore no surprise that The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan is among the first 50 records preserved by the National Recording Registry, alongside with other seminal works such as Scott Joplin’s ragtime compositions, Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings and Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue.

The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan is the second record released by Bob Dylan and the majority of the songs therein are original versions, the cover of traditional “Corrina, Corrina” being the only exception. The whole record is a successful blend of protest statements, love songs and lyrical surrealism. The protest statements are perhaps most vehement in “Masters of War”, a harsh denunciation of the war industry with arrangements based on the English medieval song "Nottamun Town". My favorite love song, although Dylan did not conceive it as such, is “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” where a sweet guitar melody underlies bitter words of unrequited love. The best piece of lyrical surrealism is arguably the closer “I Shall Be Free”, a true whirlwind of a song where the singer namedrops everyone from JFK to Elizabeth Taylor.

I invite you to listen to one of my favorite songs in the record, “Girl From the North Country”, performed live by Dylan and Johnny Cash in 1969: