I don't necessarily think that all of these are the greatest hits of the 60s, but I was wanting to compile twenty songs from the 60s, limiting any artist to just one song, that encapsulate the essence of 60s music. I've arrived at eighteen songs and am wondering if anyone could suggest an additional two songs or possibly would want to suggest a different song by an artist that's already listed:

Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone
The Beach Boys - God Only Knows
Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth
The Beatles - A Day in the Life
The Doors - When the Music's Over
Jefferson Airplane - Somebody to Love
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Little Wing
Van Morrison - Brown Eyed Girl
The Band - The Weight
Cream - White Room
Simon & Garfunkel - America
Canned Heat - Going Up the Country
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Fortunate Son
Crosby, Stills & Nash - Long Time Gone
Norman Greenbaum - Spirit in the Sky
Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter
Thunderclap Newman - Something in the Air
Zombies - Time of the Season

7/2/2018 6:05:29 PM

Quote :

"that encapsulate the essence of 60s white music"

7/2/2018 6:14:37 PM

Good point. I was attempting to steer the list more toward rock and roll and away from soul, so I probably should have noted that in my post.

7/2/2018 6:47:40 PM

Love me some 60s rock. Some suggestions:

Steppenwolf - Born To Be Wild
The Kinks - Waterloo Sunset
Led Zeppelin - Dazed and Confused
The Who - My Generation
Space Oddity - David Bowie
The Strawberry Alarm Clock - Incense and Peppermints
Donovan - Sunshine Superman
The Moody Blues - Go Now
The Turtles - Happy Together

[Edited on July 2, 2018 at 7:27 PM. Reason : ]

7/2/2018 7:22:36 PM

Oh, and one of my all time favorites:

The Tornadoes - Telstar

7/2/2018 7:23:15 PM

Twenty songs isn't enough to "encapsulate" the "essence" of the greatest decade in music, and watching anyone try is going to make me insane.

Just tell us a little bit about who this playlist is for (i.e., how old is your dad, and where was he born that he doesn't like soul music?). Even without extra info, we can easily generate two typical songs to fill out the list...

The Mamas & the Papas - California Dreamin'
The Animals - We Gotta Get Out of This Place

(I considered The Mamas and the Papas because, with the exception of Grace Slick, you have literally no other women on your list. So that's one black guy and one lady to capture the "essence" of 60s music. If you wanna be cool at all, you could also consider including any song by Sly and the Family Stone... Surely, they count as "rock and roll" by almost all standards.)

[Edited on July 2, 2018 at 10:43 PM. Reason : crazy!]

7/2/2018 10:16:00 PM

This thread is racist af

7/2/2018 10:46:54 PM

Stand by me

If you're don't like it, just kill yourself.

7/2/2018 11:04:31 PM

Terrible song, but that's just my opinion.

I'm more of a Pat Boone kind of girl. For my money, "Moody River" can't be beat....and that's not even getting into his superior versions of songs like "Ain't That a Shame" and "Long Tall Sally."

7/2/2018 11:16:22 PM

Quote :

"that encapsulate the essence of 60s white music"

Was exactly my thought reading the OP list. It's also severely lacking in women. Where is Janis Joplin? Dusty Springfield? Aretha Franklin? Diana Ross? Gladys Knight? Etta James? Joni Mitchell? Joan Baez?

Quote :

"I was attempting to steer the list more toward rock and roll and away from soul"

That didn't stop you from including some folk music which was far less like rock than Motown was.

The "essence" of the 60s has to include The Four Tops, The Supremes, The Pips, The Drifters, The Temptations, Jackson 5...you can't ignore 1) how incredibly amazing those artists were and 2) how the racial integration of the music industry affected American society for years to come.

Also...no Frankie Valli/Four Seasons?

[Edited on July 2, 2018 at 11:24 PM. Reason : -]

7/2/2018 11:19:44 PM

Just to provide some clarification, the playlist is for my niece. The reason that I wanted to steer her toward rock and roll is that her mom primarily listens to soul, so she’s already fairly familiar with that genre.

Otherwise, I would have included Sam Cooke, Dusty Springfield, The Temptations, The Supremes, etc. It was definitely my fault for not being more clear, and I appreciate everyone’s input, whether it be rock or soul.

7/3/2018 12:04:02 AM

I hear ya. Even for classic rock alone, we gotta go more than 20--at least 50 minimum.

7/3/2018 12:09:42 AM

7/3/2018 1:01:35 AM

All Along the Watch Tower

7/3/2018 1:11:05 AM

I was being snarky when I assumed this had to be for your dad.

How old is your niece? Is she still young enough for the pop rock songs like Wooly Bully, Wild Thing, etc...? The Frat Rock! compilations are really good for younger kids, and I still adore them.

From that time period, there are also some classic greatest hits albums that everybody owned growing up:

Rolling Stones' Hot Rocks 1964-1971
CCR's Chronicle, Vol. 1
The Beatles/1967-1970
Sly and the Family Stone's Greatest Hits

7/3/2018 2:28:49 AM

I feel like you can make five playlists...rock, pop, soul, Motown, folk...put 20 songs in each and still be wanting for more. Then again, you could just push play on a Pandora shuffle of all four and be set.

Here's my best stab at 5 of my favorites from each category, sticking to the one song per artist parameter:

Hard Rock - All Along the Watchtower (Jimi Hendrix), Proud Mary (CCR), Piece of My Heart (Janis Joplin), Somebody to Love (Jefferson Airplane), Paint it Black (Rolling Stones)

Pop/Soft Rock - I Wanna Hold Your Hand (Beatles), Can't Take My Eyes Off of You (Frankie Valli), I'm a Believer (Monkees), Unchained Melody (Righteous Brothers), Happy Together (Turtles)

Soul - A Change is Gonna Come (Sam Cook), At Last (Etta James), Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay (Otis Redding), When a Man Loves a Woman (Percy Sledge), Stand By Me (Ben E. King)

Motown - Respect (Aretha Franklin), Sugar Pie Honey Bunch (Four Tops), Get Ready (Temptations), I Want You Back (Jackson 5), Ain't No Mountain (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell)

Folk - Sound of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel), Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell), Blowing in the Wind (Peter, Paul, & Mary), Turn Turn Turn (The Byrds), Times They are a Changin' (Bob Dylan)

[Edited on July 3, 2018 at 3:23 AM. Reason : -]

7/3/2018 3:19:07 AM

About 10 years ago I downloaded a file called 'Bacobens rock top 500' or something. Maybe you could just put that on a flash drive. It's from the 60s & 70s

7/3/2018 8:39:21 AM

Perhaps the OP could have mentioned that he was going for the essence of 60's rock. I don't think it's fair to call him racist based on his opinion of 60's rock.

I don't think anyone will deny the impact that Motown had on the 60's and future generations of artists. They were an incredible group of artists who helped ease integration (as much as it could have been "eased" in the 60's).

As far as women goes, I find it interesting that you left out Janis Joplin, if you're going for more of the rock side of things. There were tons of great women artists from the 60's that were not mentioned. If you remove the women from Motown, you've still got Joni Mitchell, Brenda Lee....and Patsy Cline.

The women of Motown probably deserve their own thread.

But just like in politics, this guy's post, his opinion, was kinda ripped apart because it didn't have the appropriate ratios, and thus called racist.

7/3/2018 9:00:39 AM

^^^^ She's going into the fifth grade, which, if I recall correctly, is when I started to dig my teeth into music other than what was commonly being played on the radio; although, this may have just been when I began raiding my brother's CD collection.

^ I've also created a similar 70s playlist, which is where I have Janis Joplin, The Who, The Animals, etc. I'm wanting to maintain the single-song-per-artist parameter across decades, as well.

I'm open to adding a song by any of these artists to the 60s playlist and then just swapping out a different song on the 70s playlist, so it didn't seem worth mentioning in the OP.

[Edited on July 3, 2018 at 9:17 AM. Reason : ]

7/3/2018 9:07:35 AM

Quote :

"But just like in politics, this guy's post, his opinion, was kinda ripped apart because it didn't have the appropriate ratios, and thus called racist."

there’s a horrible history of the whitewashing of rock music so it was completely fair to call the OP out for only including white artists

anyways, you should buy your niece the T.A.M.I. Show dvd

7/3/2018 9:38:53 AM

^ That looks awesome.

Since the thread title is 60s Greatest Hits and not 60s Greatest Rock Hits, I've included a similar list of soul music from the 60s, just to round things out:

Prince Conley - I'm Going Home
The Miracles - You've Really Got a Hold On Me
Don Covay - Mercy, Mercy
Sam Cooke - A Change Is Gonna Come
Jr. Walker and The All-Stars - Shotgun
The Temptations - My Girl
The Four Tops - Reach Out I'll Be There
The Isley Brothers - This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)
Jimmy Ruffin - What Becomes of the Broken Hearted
Martha and The Vandellas - Jimmy Mack
Sam & Dave - Hold On! I'm Comin'
The Supremes - You Can't Hurry Love
Brenton Wood - Gimme Little Sign
Stevie Wonder - Uptight (Everything's Alright)
William Bell - Eloise (Hang On In There)
Eddie Floyd - I've Never Found a Girl (To Love Me Like You Do)
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - You're All I Need
Otis Redding - The Dock of the Bay
Dusty Springfield - Son of a Preacher Man
The Dramatics - Your Love Was Strange

7/3/2018 10:34:32 AM

it’s insanely awesome

if you don’t actually buy her the dvd, you have to show her the James Brown set. it’s on youtube.

7/3/2018 10:37:52 AM

Needs some Kinks

7/3/2018 11:41:36 AM

"At Last" (Etta James) is one of my wife's all-time favorite songs and it had a huge influence on her taste in music from about the time she was that age. Don't pass on it.

Also, I'd choose Ain't No Mountain over You're All I Need.

7/5/2018 1:25:09 PM

Quote :

"I think this commercial is what made me as a kid think Aretha, not Fontella Bass, originally sang "Rescue Me". I'm sure others did too.?"

7/6/2018 10:56:29 PM