1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die - 1967

This is admittedly a slightly weaker list than the 1966 one, but still lots of goodies to choose from.

"Strawberry Fields Forever" is actually my one and only Beatles vote in these polls, but there are lots of other great songs too. could gladly have voted for "Waterloo Sunset", "A Day In The Life", "See Emily Play", "A Whiter Shade Of Pale", "Alone Again Or" or "Tears Of a Clown". All grrrrrreeat songs.

Missing "I Can See For Miles". Personally I also miss "Hole In My Shoe" by Traffic, but that one is a personal favourite of mine, and I'd be surprised to see it in the list. Ditto with The Hollies' "King Midas In Reverse".

Can't not vote for A Day In The Life. Loads of other great stuff here though. Very close 2nd place goes to Tears of a Clown.

The Door ?

Geir, these polls are just frustrating. I feel like I'm trying to choose which child gets saved from the fire.

Chose Alone Again Or, as it's the one I'd most like to hear now. It's still as epic as it ever was, but for years I thought it was a Boo Radleys song.

waterloo sunset easily, but Very close 2nd place goes to Tears of a Clown.

Hate to see double dipping for Hendrix, Beatles and VU here when other important songs were left out of previous years. Not a fan of this listmaker.

That said, I find myself oddly drawn to Buffalo Springfield. Maybe I've been conditioned to think of 1967 by that song through endless use in movies and tv, but even in a vacuum I think it's great.

Voted Venus In Furs.

Another impossible choice but let's just say Ode to Billie Joe.

Tears of a Clown

Ode to Billie Joe would've been my third choice.

she's often inclined to borrow somebodys dreams till tomorrow

yes.

Much easier to pick one to throw into a fire: Whiter shade of pale. Never liked that one.

SFF

Captain Beefheart & his Magic Band: Electricity
Velvet Underground: Heroin & Venus In Furs
Buffalo Springfield: For What It's Worth
The Beatles: Strawberry Fields Forever & A Day In the Life
Jefferson Airplane: White Rabbit
The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Purple Haze & Fire
Bobbie Gentry: Ode To Billie Joe
Leonard Cohen: Suzanne
Aretha Franklin: Respect
Procol Harum: A Whiter Shade Of Pale
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: Tears Of a Clown
James Brown: Cold Sweat

^ umm, i'll get back to you...

I don't think it's nitpicking to point out that "Tears of a Clown" was a #1 hit in 1970, in both the U.S. and U.K.--if your radio memories go back to the early '70s, you do not even remotely think of that as a 1967 song. (I wasn't aware it was on a '67 album till now.)

This is pretty easily "Heroin" for me. There are a number of songs on this list that I switch off now thanks to massive overexposure. "I'll Keep It with Mine" or "These Days" would be a much better Nico choice, I think. Oliver Stone was pretty clearly infatuated with Jim Morrison; I really wish he'd called his film The Door.

There's a lot of pretty good songs here, but I think this list is a good bit weaker than '66. It's between "Heroin", "A Day In The Life", and "Cold Sweat" for me. Screw it, I'll go with "Cold Sweat", again coz I'm certain the other 2 will get plenty of votes.

did you guys hear that?

that was my head exploding...

I could have gone with "The End," "For What It's Worth," "White Rabbit," "A Day in the Life," or any of several others, but I want to make sure there is at least one vote for the first and best version of "The Dark End of the Street."

Aww man, now I'm wishing I had voted for "White Rabbit". Actually this poll is stronger than I thought it was on first glance.

like, yeah, I'm voting Heroin, but yeah this is another huge chunk of my favorite songs; I would've chosen "Castles Full of Sand" & "Manic Depression" instead of "Fire" and "Purple Haze", and maybe Lucy in the Sky instead of SFF, but damn, p much all bases are covered (as opposed to the 66 list which was missing my favorite '66 song ("Rain"), along with "When a Man Loves a Woman")

Heroin
A Day in the Life
White Rabbit
Whiter Shade of Pale
See Emily Play
Venus in Furs
Tears of a Clown
Alone Again Or
The First Cut is the Deepest
Electricity
Sunshine of Your Love
The End
Strawberry Fields Forever

oh yeah & Cold Sweat, duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

good choices, i chose Alone Again Or.

Waterloo Sunset.

Very tough choice between Strawberry Fields and Waterloo Sunset. Beatles, probably.

Cold Sweat.

A Day In The Life

"Higher & Higher"

I <3 basically every song but I'll put my hand up fer whiter shade of pale coz I loved it as a youngin

Blame my general lack of reverence for the 60s, I guess, but "Heroin" was kind of a no-contest vote for me here.

Heroin's huge; one of the reasons I got into the 60s tbf

I kinda wish that Crystal Ship was up there instead of The End

Voted Venus In Furs.

― immer wieder, ralf & günther (NickB), Friday, June 3, 2011 3:56 AM (5 hours ago)

^^^

"Alone Again Or" is not the only one, but it does stand out a little for me here. Curious to consider it alongside "The Look of Love" - just shows exactly HOW great a songwriter Arthur Lee was!

Bryan MacLean wrote Alone Again Or

Oh, right!

Well, gosh, he was good - "Softly to Me," "Orange Skies."

yeah he was :)

The Door ?

Typo. The Doors obv.

Geir, these polls are just frustrating. I feel like I'm trying to choose which child gets saved from the fire.

I know what you mean. I wasn't able to save "Waterloo Sunset" in my case. Hopefully somebody else did.

I don't think it's nitpicking to point out that "Tears of a Clown" was a #1 hit in 1970, in both the U.S. and U.K.

Then, the modern age counts album tracks rather than physical singles, and it was an 1967 album track.

I'm not sure what your previous statement means. If a song is buried on an album in 1967, but a #1 hit in 1970, it makes far more sense to put it on the 1970 list--that's how virtually everyone would have experienced it at the time, as a 1970 song. If a tree falls in the forest, etc.

The way this book has been sorted chronologically, it hasn't. I also know I have sorted my WimP/Spotify playlists the same way - an album track that was released as a single a year or two later, has been included in the year for that - for instance "Thriller" is in my 1982, not my 1984 playlist. And the authors here seemed to think likewise. This even though I believe the UK hit version from 1970 was a slightly different mix.

i'm gonna start by cutting the velvet underground songs: they get plenty of love from the cool kids, so they'll do fine here with or without me.

i can let the beefheart and hendrix songs go without too much pain.

problem is, on reflection, i need to make room for "alone again or", "the first cut is the deepest" and "waterloo sunset". so i've only managed to cut my initial list by two songs.

hmmm...

'ode to billie joe' over 'waterloo sunset' over 'a day in the life'

I thought "Dead End Street" was a sleeper in the last poll and I think my other favorite Kinks single from this period, "Days" (from '68), is maybe another one.

My five favourite '67 songs MIA: Country Joe & the Fish's "Janis," the Creation's "Making Time," Donovan's "Colours" (hippified version), Twiggy's "Over and Over," and Keith Shields' "Hey Gyp" (and another ten I won't mention). Also: there should be something from the first Moby Grape LP.

I guess the problem about the first Moby Grape album is to decide exactly which track. The thing with that album is those who have heard it tend to agree it's a good album, but it's almost impossible to find consensus about one or two key tracks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_FlNwQlBmU

1968 1967

Strawberry Fields >>>>>>> Day in the Life imo

"Come in the Morning" is the great Bob Mosley track.

I agree WmC, Day in the Life is way overrated, SFF is still perfection

I'd trade one of the Velvets songs on the list for "Omaha" in a heartbeat. And I love the Velvets.

"Omaha"'d be my choice too.

One more point about "Tears of a Clown" and I'll let it go--I realize it's not important. Comparing it to "Thriller" makes no sense. The impact of Thriller the album was huge and virtually immediate. To identify "Thriller" the song as 1982 (when it first appeared on an album) instead of 1984 (when it was released as a single) is perfectly okay. It's a song that I'm fairly sure would have been already very well known as 1982 came to a close.

"Tears of a Clown" was the last song on a Miracles album (Make it Happen) that made it to #28 on the Billboard chart. I don't know what that translates to in terms of sales in 1967, but I checked Whitburn, and it wasn't a gold album. I'm guessing relatively few people had even heard "Tears of a Clown" in 1967.

So if this is just bookkeeping, which I guess is your point, then okay. But if these lists are in any way supposed to have cultural resonance--i.e., reflect their year in some way--then "Tears of a Clown" belongs on the '70 list. I see a lot of songs above that definitively say "1967" to me; seeing "Tears of a Clown" there is disorienting.

How has no one said Etta James? i got that far down the list and didn't need to read any further

Clemenza: almost no one heard those Velvet Underground songs until, like, 1986, so...

There's a lot of songs I'd put on here before "Obama"

I was a Factory regular back in '66 and '67, so we were very big on "Heroin"...Nice line, D.A.M.--not sure if that's intentional or not!

Montague Terrace (In Blue)

Lol clemenza--that's what is known as a "Morbian slip"

But if these lists are in any way supposed to have cultural resonance--i.e., reflect their year in some way--then "Tears of a Clown" belongs on the '70 list.

Note that the book is sorted chronologically, but otherwise by decade, not by year. It is I that have chosen to divide the polls into years to avoid way too large lists of songs. And since the book lists "Tears Of a Clown" among other songs made in 1967, it made sense to include it there and not wait until I do 1970. But I do agree the song is in a lot of ways identified as a 1970 song (and, as I said, I even believe the UK hit version was a slightly different mix)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

"A Day in the Life"

my original intention was to go with "Strawberry Fields" but it doesn't need the votes, so it's "Chelsea Girls" for me

I don't want to be a negative presence on these threads but sheesh no Otis Redding?

"Dock of the Bay" is 68, right? That has to make it...
I'm a bit nonplussed by the lack of Percy Sledge or Sam & Dave in this poll but it's possible I just missed them...?

I believe "Dock Of The Bay" is not in there. Which is a bummer because it is by far the best thing Otis Redding ever did.

okay this dude is kind of lame

either "Look of Love" or "Higher and Higher" or just maybe "See Emily Play". Probly the first of those I think.

oh dammit or "Ode to Billy Joe" or "Respect" or "Tears of a Clown". sheesh

Dock of the Bay is far from the best thing Redding did

Although I don't have strong feelings about what should get the nod as Otis Redding's best song, I've previously expressed my objections to Geir Hongro's habit of making insupportably sweeping statements on these threads.

No force on earth will ever break him of that.

Would it have made any difference if he prefaced it with "i think"? It's obviously a personal opinion.

It's the "by far" that makes my neck snap (and I'm not even an Otis Redding lover). "'Dock of the Bay' is the best thing Redding did," with or without the qualifier, that I'd hardly take notice of. When you add "by far," though, it makes Otis Redding sound like Gregory Abbott. (Nothing against Gregory Abbott--substitute whatever one-hit soul singer you want.) Which, for most anybody, would be an absurd equivalency. So yes, I think an "I think" would help.

It is by far. "The Dock Of The Bay" is a nice melodic ballad, that was even originally composed for him. It thrones miles and miles above those repetitive R&B numbers or cover versions that he otherwise tended to do.

You always make a stronger case against yourself than I could ever make.

I generally find Stax/Volt horribly overrated compared to Motown. But "Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay" is a nice and melodic song.

say "melodic" again

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Aretha Franklin: Respect 0

Obviously I didn't vote for it either, but this seems quite wrong.

I think "Respect" suffers from overplay as much as any song I can think of--"Satisfaction"/"Stairway to Heaven"-level overplay. I'm surprised the Beatles dominated this. They split their vote, which I figured, but I thought that would have dropped them back to the middle of the pack.

A bit surprised myself too. But even though 1967 may not be ILM's favourite Beatles year, those two particular tracks still stand rather strongly. "Waterloo Sunset" was probably more of a victim of a vote split, as I guess many of us who voted Beatles might have gone for that one otherwise.

These polls bring me no joy--it's like drowning the rest of your kids to save one of em

"Respect" is a victim of movie previews.

These polls bring me no joy--it's like drowning the rest of your kids to save one of em

― Iago Galdston, Monday, June 6, 2011 6:32 PM (1 hour ago)

Totally otm.

I guess it's semi-interesting that the two Beatles tracks, while among their most influential, are not ones you'll hear much on the radio or in the supermarket. We'll see how the overplayed-to-hell "Hey Jude" gets on in 1968.

I love Hey Jude but all the ILM dislike for it has definitely knocked it down a few notches for me

How can you have a list from 1968 without Jumpin' Jack Flash? That omission offends every one of my musical sensibilities.

JJF would've gotten my vote

Vote for Cold Sweat. I'll always remember the first time I heard that track, driving up and over Twin Peaks in 2006-7ish while Michael Tilson Thomas explained on the radio why it's so good. And it is.

How can you have a list from 1968 without Jumpin' Jack Flash? That omission offends every one of my musical sensibilities.

Because this is the 1967 list? Or have you already seen the 1968 one?

I see Hendrix has suffered from the split vote: His fans have split...

X-Post There is no "Jumpin' Jack Flash" in the 1968 list either though.

then 1968 must be one heck of a great list then.