1967 – The Greatest Year in the History of Rock Music

Normally we like to talk and argue about on which is the best rock music decade. Some will prefer the 60’s of the British Invasion and Psychedelic Love. Others would definitely prefer the progressive and punk rock of the 70’s. My parents would put their soul on heavy metal and synthetic sound of the 80’s. The younger dudes, have a tendency to choose the Grunge and Brit pop movement from America and England respectively. Someone there for the indie rock and post punk revival from the 00’s?

Well, I prefer to go deeper on this subject: the best year in the history of rock music, in my humble opinion, is 1967!

A half-century ago, protests erupted around the world against the Vietnam War, race riots in the U.S. destroyed parts of Detroit and other northern cities and Elvis Presley married Priscilla in Las Vegas. Casino Royale also hit the cinemas telling the story of a poker-playing American gangster at the casino, and in case you’re a fan of that genre of games, you can play them at https://casinoaussie.net/online-casinos/10-dollar-casino/ while listening to your favorite tunes. The list doesn’t end here though as it goes on with O.J. Simpson being a running back for the University of Southern California, Israel fighting and winning the Six- Day War against Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, and… music changing forever with a bunch of excellent albums.

Beyond the roller-coaster of those cultural transformations, 1967 was also an extraordinary year for rock history! Back in those days, were released some magnificent debuts: the commercial failure upon its release, “The Velvet Underground and Nico” and now widely recognized as one of the greatest and most influential albums in the history of popular music; the 20 million seller album “The Doors” who has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn” (the only album made under founding member Syd Barrett’s leadership) that has been hailed as one of the best psychedelic rock albums. And last, but not the least, a favorite of mine, the powerful “Are You Experienced“, which was an immediate critical and commercial success, and it is widely regarded as one of the greatest debuts in the history of rock music. The album features the almighty  Jimi Hendrix and is innovative approach to songwriting and electric guitar playing which established a new direction in psychedelic and hard rock music.

The “Summer of Love” also saw the born of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band“. It was an immediate commercial and critical success, spending 27 weeks at the top of the UK albums chart and 15 weeks at number one in the US. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it number one in its list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time“!

Here are the 10 albums from 1967 that change pop culture and you need to own at your home:

• “The Velvet Underground and Nico” by The Velvet Underground
• “The Doors” by The Doors
• “Are You Experienced” by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
• “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” by The Beatles
• “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn” by Pink Floyd
• “Songs of Leonard Cohen” by Leonard Cohen
• “Surrealistic Pillow” by Jefferson Airplane
• “Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim” by Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim
• “Forever Changes” by Love
• “The Who Sell Out” by The Who