ten times 2 - music and film of the sixties

A friend asked me about my favorite music and films from the sixties, a list of ten each. Not an easy ask, for sure. So here are some favorites, but it isn't a list of the "ten best" or even my desert island collection, just some works that I enjoy.

Music

Beatles, Sgt. Pepper - probably the most influential album of the day, with a consistent theme, unified style, and the brilliance of top artists at their very peak. Indelibly etched in the mind of anyone who was there at the time. Maybe even unfair to mention; in its day, when you asked somebody who their favorite musciains were, the implication was "besides the Beatles, of course."

Beach Boys, Pet Sounds - it is well documented that this was the album that inspired Sgt. Pepper, which is enough to give it a special place. One thing they have in common is that both are admissions that the recording studio is a different medium than live performance, and should be explored as to its own possibilities. Angelic singing, the cream of the crop of Holloywood studio musicians, brilliant arrangemets, and it still sounds great in a convertable with the top down. Get the surround version if you can.

The Band, Music from Big Pink - they brought rock back to its roots, eschewing the glitz and getting back to rural American themes.

Jimi Hendrix Experience, Axis Bold as Love - this caught a lot of people by surprise; the first album was groundbreaking, this one put a line in the sand regarding the possibilities of the electric guitar.

Cream, Fresh Cream - the first supergroup, about the time Eric Clapton ascended to the clouds. Why did it take the English to get us to realize how cool Chicago blues could be?

Blood Sweat & Tears, Child is Father to the Man - has nothing to do with the later group of the same name; this is Al Kooper's amazing melange of pop, jazz, and R&B, and still kicks major ass. The production is a little overblown to today's ears, but remember, this was the sixties!

Butterfield Blues Band, East/West - an all-start virtuoso band that introduced Soutch Chicago blues to a lot of folks and had a huge influence in the San Francisco scene. Hard to beat Paul, Elving, Mike, and the rest.

Grateful Dead, Aoxomoxoa - at the top of their game as musical alchemists. They never were much of a studio band (Live Dead would be more representative of this period), they took amazing risks and turned out quite a studio wonder.

Bob Dylan, Blonde on Blonde - Dylan was so far beyond most artists by this time he was in a universe of his own. Brutal honesty, wild poetry, and honest music (Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield seemed to the perfect note every time).

Buck Owens, Together Again - Buck at the top of his game, turning out hit singles like a machine gun. A major influence on the Beatles (Georege couldn't get enough of Don Rich). Honky-tonk doesn't get any better, this is where country music moved to when Nashville overdoes on barbituates around 1958.

Film

Cool Hand Luke - Paul Newman was always great, but this one tapped into the restlessness everyone was feeling and showed how a flawed by righteous man could stand up to anything.

Bonnie and Clyde - damn, nobody made violence as sexy as Faye and Warren . Great directing, editing, and integration with music too.

The Graduate - mix Mike Nichols, Buck Henry, and Dustin Hoffman, and add releveant contemporary music as you question the whole viability of our culture. Winner.

Easy Rider - Cormanesque biker movie that got right to the root of the question - answer: we blew it.

Psycho - Hitchcock was jealous of the cheap indie movies that made much bigger profits (as a percentage) than his, so he took 'em on and as always, ended up with great art.

Midnight Cowboy - Times Square as I'll always remember it; the hustler Rizzo and clueless Joe Buck.

2001 - when I saw it in first release, half the audience stayed in their seats after the lights came up, arguing if it was art or pretense. The debate continues, I suppose, but am reminded of the premiere of The Rite of Spring, when a riot broke out in the theatre. You're on to something if it arouses such passion.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence - the great auteur John Ford's statement on the closing of the west and how the media perception of it wasn't quite the real thing. Bravo to Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, and Lee Marvin, all American originals.

The Apartment - Billy Wilder could be quite brutal in his observations of American life; a plendid mix of cynicism and optimism, pulled off by an amazing cast.

La Dolce Vita - not to forget a director so far above most of the others he is truly in a class by himself. Made at his turning point from neorealism to the Jungian, it is a reminder of how the Italian cinema of the day was so much more frank and honest than the Americans could ever hope to get away with.