1964

The talking dog has transported me to 1964. A plane has landed at the airport they named for that kid who was President. They say he was given a boo-boo by a mean person named Lee, but most people think it was the Cubans or the Mafia. I think they were aliens myself. Did you see Mars Attacks? No, I didn’t either, because I haven’t gotten to 1996 yet, keep up people, will ya?

So these guys that all look like Moe of the Three Stooges come out of the plane. They now have a fourth stooge- he’s the drummer. The girls go wild and raid the plane. The plane is scared and runs away. I hope the plane doesn’t go to Vietnam; I hear that place is really scary.

I think I’ll watch some TV. Some voice tells me not to adjust my TV set. But how am I supposed to get rid of those rolling pictures? I mean it makes you look like you’re tripping on LSD or something, or maybe I just had too much bubble gum. I think my hair is drooping. I’ll use some hairspray. I hope it doesn’t eat the ozone layer because that would be bad. Ah, that’s better; now my hair is hard as concrete. And please don’t squeeze the Charmin or that store manager will kick your butt.

There’s this guy named Barry who wants to be President but he wants to nuke the world or something. Please, Barry, don’t hurt that little girl with the daisy.

Some abolitionist named Cassius Clay beats the liver out of some guy named Sonny. Then he changes his name, what nerve! If I tried to change my name, they’d tell me I’m anti-American or something. I guess I never will change my name to my preferred preference, Glenda, the Good Witch of the South. And don’t forget to use your zip; it’s now in the warning of those cigarette boxes. That and you might get cancer, they’re so cheerful.

Okay, so I guess it’s time to review my favorite albums of 1964 so here we go…

Event of the year: Elvis Presley does Ann Margaret

Fad:  Really bad Beatle wigs

Babe of the Year: Josephine the Plumber

Scandal of the Year: Barry Goldwater blows up the daisy girl. (according to LBJ anyway)

Movie or TV show to barf to: Gilligan’s Island

What we could have done without: The Beatles vs. the Four Seasons album

Pet of the year: Ann-Margaret

Other Tidbits: The Beatles invade America and Britain gets her colonies back, Goldfinger wants James Bond to die, Ringo Starr knocks out Muhammad Ali for the Heavyweight Boxing Title, Things go better with Coke, The Warren Commission concludes John Wilkes Booth acted alone in Lincoln assassination, The Battleship Maine is sunk in the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, the Rough Riders are sent to Vietnam, Liz marries Dick, Liz divorces Dick, Liz marries Dick again, Bob Dylan discovers pot, Martin Luther King wins the Academy Award, scientists discover that panthers are pink, fighting forbidden in the war room; Dr Strangelove can walk.

And with that, here is my top twenty-five for 1964…

1)  The Beatles- A Hard Day’s Night

2)  The Rolling Stones- The Rolling Stones

3)  Johnny Cash- Bitter Tears

4)  Bob Dylan- Another Side of Bob Dylan

5)  Phil Ochs- All the News That’s Fit To Sing

6)  The Beatles- Beatles For Sale

7)  Bob Dylan- The Times They Are a Changin

8)  Eric Dolphy- Out To Lunch

9)  Joan Baez- Joan Baez/5

10)  Judy Henske- High Flyin’ Bird

11)  The Holy Modal Rounders- The Holy Modal Rounders

12)  The Beach Boys- Shut Down Vol. 2

13)  Charles Mingus- Mingus, Mingus, Mingus

14)  The Kinks- Kinks

15)  The Ronettes- The Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica.

16)  The Animals- The Animals

17)  The Yardbirds- Five Live Yardbirds

18)  Muddy Waters- Folk Singer

19)  Lesley Gore- Girl Talk

20)  Ian and Sylvia- Northern Journey

21)  Dave Van Ronk- Inside Dave Van Ronk

22)  Sam Cooke- Ain’t That Good News

23)  The Supremes- Where Did Our Love Go

24)  The Hollies- In the Hollies Style

25)  Manfred Mann- The Five Faces of Manfred Mann

The British Invasion is now full blown as the Beatles again hold the top spot. I actually would rate With the Beatles higher than A Hard Day’s Night had they been released in the same year as they were in the US, but no matter; it’s all semantics when you get right down to it. The Rolling Stones debut (UK version) comes in at number two. This is followed by Johnny Cash’s best album, Bitter Tears. Here he sings about the plight of the Native American. Cash is always best when he sings about the issues of the day, as he will later with Man in Black for example. Dylan scores two in the top ten again and Phil Ochs’ debut scores big with me too. In terms of pure folk, Phil Ochs tops my list though I would take Dylan’s electric period overall if it came down to brass tacks. Jazz is now fading from my top twenty five but Out To Lunch is everything it’s said to be; a jazz classic. Mingus also scores here for one last time. Out of the Top Ten, highlights include the wacky Holy Modal Rounders and a surprising effort by Lesley Gore who proves she isn’t just a singles’ artist to the chagrin of her handlers no doubt.

Biggest Surprise-  Judy Henske- High Flying Bird.

I think I’ve established that I’m a pretty big fan of sixties folk but even I was taken aback by the blues-folk songstress. The arrangements were ahead of its time as folk in 1964 was still basically a singer with his/her guitar. Henske, though, would use percussion and other instrumentation that was still to become common with future folk albums. Phil Ochs didn’t get into going beyond an acoustic guitar until 1967 for example. Anyway, this was a pleasant surprise.

Biggest Disappointment- Downliner’s Sect- The Sect.

 Now these guys are a great blues rock band in the vein of the Pretty Things, but this album, to me, is basically a bunch of covers. They’re not bad mind you; it’s just an album that I would have thought would fare better with me.

Honorable Mention-  Ian and Sylvia- Four Strong Winds, Simon and Garfunkel- Wednesday Morning, 3 AM, Tom Paxton- Ramblin’ Boy, The Everly Brothers- Gone, Gone, Gone, The Temptations- Meet the Temptations

Stinker of the Year-  The Chipmunks- The Chipmunks Sing the Beatles

And the girls went screaming- all the way to the mental institution. Boy those Chipmunks knew how to cash in on a music trend (wait till you hear Chipmunk Punk). They didn’t even grow their hair; that mean David Seville made them wear Beatle wigs. I think after this album, I’ll go listen to something more swinging, like Lawrence Welk.

And so ends a rather exciting year. Next up will be 1965. See you then.