1969

In the 1950s a lot of folk music was closely connotated with Beatniks and left-leaning banjo-pluckin' musicians (Woody, Seeger, etc). Due to the political nature of a lot of folk music the general public didn't find it as palatible as, say, big band/showtunes/Sinatra/country songs about your cheatin' heart. But a decade later the Beatniks morphed into hippies, the banjos into electric guitars, and a cultural revolution brought opinionated music from fringe to mainstream. As the 1970s neared, music (folk or otherwise) could sound like absolutely anything and people would listen.

Even though there were some pretty rockin' acts from 1969 (MC5, The Stooges, Led Zep, etc.) here are five softer (though no less important) songs from five musicians who's musical influence is still apparent today.


The Monkees - "Listen to the Band"
Peter Tork left The Monkees in 1969, but the remaining three members recorded two albums that year anyway. These albums weren't a big commercial success, but Michael Nesmith's songs (mellow-fied country-rock, a genre that wouldn't reach full fruition until the mid-70s) nonetheless stood out.


Townes Van Zandt - "Waiting Around to Die"
Van Zandt once said that his songs weren't necessarily sad; they were hopeless. Also, I can't think of any other song that mentions codeine.




Nick Drake - "Day is Done"
The instrumentation is beautiful, Drake's voice and lyrics ache, and the pacing is just right. I sort of love this song.


Crosby, Stills & Nash - "Guinnevere"
Some of the best harmonies ever. This song is so gentle that one day I'm afraid it's going to flutter out an open window like a feather snatched by an unperceivable breeze. Or something.



Tim Buckley - "Dream Letter"
Happy Sad was Buckley's first real experimental album and deviated from the folksy appeal and accessibility of his first two albums. His new approach was minimalistic and contained jazz influence and resulted in a completely unique style of music.

[Note: In an effort to facilitate the purchasing of the albums from these artists, in addition to linking .mp3s I've also linked up where you can buy the music from Amazon.com.]