The '60s: Original NBC Motion Picture Soundtrack
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Free Music Notes for The '60s: Original NBC Motion Picture Soundtrack
Free Music Review: Won't You Please Come Chicago...Or the Haight...or Nirvana?
Hit: 4 Stars
I've yet to get around to viewing the mini-series this soundtrack comes from, although--surprise, surprise--going through my VHS collection recently, I was surprised to see I actually own it. Not sure where I picked it up (prolly some store's close-out sale, now that I think of it). I'll have to get around to watching it sometime soon, I promise. But in the meantime I'm happy to satisfy my 60s-nostalgia jones with this compilation.
Well, it's not JUST a compilation of well-known actual '60s tracks, since it does open with an interesting RE-recording of Dylan's "Chimes Of Freedom," this time done as a somewhat abbreviated duet featuring the song's author and Ms Joan Osborne, an interesting pairing to be sure. Joan hangs back a bit, but is, overall, an effective partner to the idiosyncratic Mr. Dylan. Unlike that other Joan (Baez), Osborne doesn't offer up a conventionally pretty counterpoint to Dylan's rough vocal roughness. She's not trying to prettify the tune in any way. Her status as a 90s star isn't exactly without significance either. Her very presence (as an artist who is rooted in and certainly honors classic 60s music) suggests the continuing of a tradition. A canny pairing, when you think about it.
Technically, Graham Nash's "Chicago" is from the '70s, so it's inclusion may seem questionable to chronological purists. Of course, the '60s didn't really come to an end until (give or take) '73 (just about when the draft ended, but that could be coincidence). I have no argument with it's being included here thematically, but I do find it a little weak as a closing track.
I suppose you could say the rest is kinda what you'd might expect would be included in a TV mini-series entitled THE SIXTIES: a roster of some of the era's most definitive tracks, but with only a few surprises. I mean, the Jefferson Airplane is "Somebody To Love," which I think has been included on the soundtrack of every 60s-themed movie or TV production since, well, the 1960s! Which is not to say it's a bad song, or a bad selection, but I would've been impressed if they'd come up with a less obvious choice. What about something like "Two Heads" or "The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil"? But then, the audience wouldn't have had that instant recognition factor, more than likely, and fewer Ritz Crackers would have been sold.
Then again, the Byrds cut, "Draft Morning," is a relatively obscure number from that group's middle period. I'm guessing it's related to a significant plot development in the story. (One of the heroes HAS to get drafted and sent off to Vietnam, right? Or do they receive a draft notice and head off to Canada? Maybe both?). Good song, one of Crosby's best of that era. Not too heavy handed, just kinda somber.
Another surprise, you could say, is the inclusion of Eric Burden & the Animals' "Wind of Change." The psychedelic era Burden was considered something of a joke by many. HE often was a bit (or maybe waaay too) heavy handed. This title track to a little heard album is not exactly subtle, but, oddly enough, it does work in the context of this collection. The song's lyrics seem to be a series of shout-outs to Mr. Burden's musical and cultural heroes. Ravi Shankar gets his second citation in an Eric Burden tune, in fact. You can chuckle at the clunkiness of Burden's lyrics, but if you were putting together a soundtrack for 60s-themed TV show, what better way to honor all kinds heroes and heroines of the counterculture than to include a number like this one. Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday Charlie Christian, Duke Ellington, King Oliver, Jelly-Roll Morton, Robert Johnson, RAy Charles, Chuck Berry, Charlie Parker all get a tip of the hat. As do the Beatles and the Stones. Covers a lot of ground in 4 minutes. And who knows? Maybe somebody watching that show in 1999 might have actually been inspired to check out one or two of those esteemed artists. Or possibly even have sought out more Eric Burden stuff, which he certainly wouldn't complain about.
It probably should also mention that the soundtrack gives close to equal time to early and mid-Sixties pop, and not just the Sturm-und-Drang of the closing years of the decade. I imagine this must be consistent with the teleplay, which I'm sure must, at times, hearken back to the more innocent days of the early (pre-Vietnam era) '60s. The soundtrack suggests as much w/ tunes like the Beach Boys' "Don't Worry Baby," Manfred Mann's "Doo Wah Diddy," and the girl group classic "My Boyfriend's Back" by the Angels. The Lovin' Spoonful's "Do You Believe In Magic" is a good example of a transitional tune--pleasant pop, to be sure, but just a tad trippy.
The soul selections are actually pretty well chosen too, I think. There are critics out there who will tell you that, no matter what the lyrical content of individual songs, soul and r&b tunes of the era were all about self-assertion and reclaiming of identity. I think they have a point. Does it matter that Marvin Gaye's "Can I Get A Witness" is "about" a failed relationship and not racial tensions? Maybe not. It may not be all THAT much of a stretch to say that the defiance implicit in the lyrics has a sub-text. And if it's harder to find such a subtext to a classic like the Temps' "My Girl," its lushly romantic sentiment pled the case for the universality of emotion and emphasized our common humanity (AND, ok, I'll admit our common "mushiness") more than any more politically themed number ever could.
On the other hand, by the time James Brown released "Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)" a few years later, that was just about THE right statement for its own time. Things were accelerating so rapidly back then. If Otis and Aretha's versions of a song like "Respect" (neither of which is included here, unfortunately) could be interpreted as a kind of coded message about black pride, there was absolutely no need to be so coy by '68 (when James Brown's tune was recorded). Black pride hit AM radio. The Man couldn't bust our music: in fact he was turning a profit on it.
But it all still sounds so great, more than 40 years on.
Free Music Review: Understandably Hard To Know Which 60's Songs To Put On 1 CD
Hit: 4 Stars
Of course it is understandably hard to know which 60's songs to put on 1 CD, let alone which ones to put in a mini series about any decade, especially the 1960's. From 1960 as we were just 10 years into the second half of the twentieth century (look where we are today, on the dawn of the next century) until 1969 popular music evolved from Pre Beatles (which of course encompassed so many wonderful styles and varieties) to the Beatles and finally to the Post Beatles break up era. Quite a diversified decade of popular music. It has been said that Woodstock 1969 symbolized the end of the 1960s and the music associated with that decade. Although I tend to agree with that thought I leave it up to the reader to decide. With all of the above said let me say that I think that the songs chosen for "The 60's" Soundtrack are a good representation of that turbulent time. The inclusion of Woodstock 1969 performers Jefferson Airplane and Bob Dylan and a fine cross section of artists indicate to me that the producers of the soundtrack intended to release an originally thought out representation of the music from the 1960s. "The 60's" certainly is more appealing to the Customer than the sometimes predictable and repetitive songs which one seems to find on other 1960's theme/compiliation CDs.
Looking forward to seeing the Television Program in the not too distance future.
Free Music Review: Interesting Compilation; Not Complete, but How Could It Be?
Hit: 4 Stars
I was fortunate enough to go thru the sixties as a teenager, and feel the power and magic of this music without the shackles of age or the wisdom that comes with it. And this is why, for all the technical advancements we have now, there is, for me, a warmth and a smile to this music that I havent felt since.Look, no compilation of 60s music is ever going to satisfy because there was just too much good stuff, and to choose a couple dozen as a representation is bound to come up short.
The Soundtrack of the film was nicely done, as a complement to the film itself. And the songs they chose were mostly good songs, and well placed. Remember, this was not intended as a Greatest Hits, and for that we should all be glad. We've all heard those songs, perhaps too often. So those of you still focusing on what was missing should grow up and go look someplace else.
But I do want to note one disappointment about the CD, and that is what it did not take from the film. I was really excited to hear not one, but two songs from the first Velvet Underground album, the one with Nico. In 1967 their sound came out of another galaxy. And that the producers had the clout to bring HEROIN and VENUS IN FURS to primetime TV is a major victory in itself.
But these songs didn't make it to the CD. Too Bad.
Free Music Review: A fairly "groovy" CD for sixties music fans!
Hit: 4 Stars
The Sixties movie was wonderful, but some of my favorite songs that were in the movie are not included on the CD. Where is "Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum? Or Jefferson Airplane's "Volunteers", or...So I'm getting a little carried away. I wasn't even born in the sixties, but Sixties music is pretty much all I've ever listened to. I would say that NBC should at least put out a companion to this CD. Also, I would have to add a few suggestions of songs that could have been in this:"I Feel Like I'm Fixing To Die Rag" by Country Joe and the Fish", "Strawberry Fields Forever" by the Beatles, "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane, something by the Grateful Dead, "I Feel Free" by Cream, anything by Jimi Hendrix, and also something by Janis Joplin. However, if they're going to sum up sixties music on one album, I would say this is a fairly good representation.Free Music Review: 'The '60's:Original NBC Motion Picture Soundtrack'(Polygram)
Hit: 4 Stars
Loved the 3 1/2 hour made-for-TV movie as I just couldn't wait to lay my mitts on the soundtrack disc.Although it COULD have included a couple of MORE key songs from the era.There are several tunes on this fifteen track offering that I hadn't heard in years.Like Marvin Gaye's "Could I Get A Witness?"(one of the BEST Motown songs ever),Bob Dylan's "Chimes Of Freedom" and The Animal's "Winds Of Change".A few that I'll always hold close to my heart are Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody To Love" and Cream's "Sunshine Of your Love".Nice.