One of the highlights of 1967 was taking a road trip down to see my mother’s sister Bernice in St. Petersburg, Florida and then on to Houston, Texas to see her brother Stanley. They had moved away before I was born so it was likely my first time meeting them. While my own memories of the trip are rather sketchy, we do have many home movies and photos of that vacation. Uncle Stanley appeared pretty animated.
It’s hard for me to imagine today what our parents were thinking taking the four of us on such a major car trip! I’ve no doubt we were sweet and trouble-free…
My Top Ten of 1967:
1. Happy Together – The Turtles
2. Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
3. I’m a Believer – The Monkees
4. The Letter – The Box Tops
5. Can’t Take My Eyes Off You – Frankie Valli
6. I Was Made to Love Her – Stevie Wonder
7. Somebody to Love – Jefferson Airplane
8. Light My Fire – The Doors
9. The Beat Goes On – Sonny & Cher
10. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman – Aretha Franklin
So many of the songs from my Top Ten of 1967 were seeping into my consciousness at that young age of four. The Turtles’ Happy Together would prove to be a favorite of mine with its easily defined lyrics and catchy chorus. I remember singing songs such as these while visiting my grandparents’ house with my friend Annie. The home was less than a mile away on New England Avenue and my grandparents had big rocking chairs throughout its rooms.
Annie and I sang the hits of the day on the back-porch rockers while my Busia (my father’s mother from Poland) tended to our every need. My never married Uncle Charlie lived with them and had his own upstairs floor filled with old TV Guides, magazines, records, and binders filled with the titles of the popular music artists and their songs alphabetized on every page. Somehow his passion (and apparent need) for storing and categorizing so much popular culture also crept into my own mindset later in childhood. Once, Uncle Charlie took me on a train further into the city to visit a huge record store on Ashland Avenue, I believe it was Rose Records. It was wondrous and exciting, beginning my love for vinyl and train rides. Here (from left to right) is my Grandpa Palczewski, Uncle Charlie, my dad, Busia, and my mom:
But later Happy Together meant even more to me than all that. In my adult years I was always more interested in long-term relationships over one nightstands and casual dating. The lyrics to the song express it pretty clearly: “I can’t see me loving nobody but you for all my life! When you’re with me baby the skies will be blue for all my life!” It’s a bit idealistic to really believe and I did feel those thoughts with various people I met early on, BUT I did eventually find someone that made those dreams come true. Much more on Frank later…
The strange and goofy Monkees were all over the television in 1967. I’m a Believer was one of their songs that I grew to like years later.
We had a blue black and white television set at the time so I’m not quite sure I grasped the “colorful” qualities of the Monkees but their songs were definitely infectious. Here’s my brother Jeff enjoying the beauty of a ball game on that TV.
The Letter and Brown Eyed Girl were also huge hits at the time that continued to be played on oldies radio for many years. When putting together my own compilations later Van Morrison’s song seemed so prominent in my childhood that I just assumed his song was a hit in the early 1970s when I really became cognizant of music on the radio.
I’ve already mentioned my love for Stevie Wonder’s music during this era. As I went back to create these lists in my 50s, I realized how much more effect his catalogue of this time had on me than his much more celebrated albums of the 1970s. There is something so emotional, sweet, and enduring about Wonder’s celebration of young love in these earlier recordings. I’ll also say more on that later.
The Doors’ Light My Fire is a rock classic from 1967. The long version is pretty long and trippy and the short version is compressed but still packs a major wallop of sweaty desire. “Come on baby light my fire. Try to set the night on fire!” Oh yeah!
Aretha Franklin’s emotional rendition of the Carole King song (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman became enshrined for me when it was also included in the 1983 film The Big Chill. The song is featured when Glenn Close’s character agrees to “share” her husband, played by Kevin Kline, with Mary Kay Place, who wants a baby but doesn’t have a husband. The song works so well in the scene, especially Franklin’s line “Ooh baby what you’ve done to me!” It’s heartfelt in every way. Here’s Aretha:
I remember hearing Can’t Take My Eyes Off You at a very early age. The lyrics are beautiful and speak to many moments in my life when I’ve been attracted to someone: “You’re just too good to be true, can’t take my eyes off of you. You’d be like heaven to touch. I want to hold you so much. At long last love has arrived and I thank God I’m alive. You’re just too good to be true, can’t take my eyes off of you.” Of course, the song also has some incredible brass and Valli’s powerful “I love you baby!” moment. It’s a song that would be used in a very bittersweet scene in the Oscar-winning film The Deer Hunter in 1978. The tune contrasts with a very different kind of emotional pain felt by the American soldiers in Vietnam later in the film. I still think it’s one of the most romantic songs ever written.
Somebody to Love was one of the many earmarks of the summer of love in 1967. With powerful lyrics and strong vocal performance by Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane, this one has many of the elements of 1960s psychedelic rock. It became a favorite of mine after my friend John J. pulled out his parents’ 60s records when we were in high school. He had a certain affinity for the rebellion of that decade which, by 1979, seemed long gone. It was also used effectively in one of my favorite Coen Brothers’ film A Serious Man from the late 2000s.
Finally, I have to mention Sonny & Cher’s The Beat Goes On. This one became the theme song for their television series in the 1970s. They also recorded a live version on their 1971 Live concert album. That version went on for a hilarious 8 minutes as Cher would take over the song and seemingly make it her own call for a solo career. I would listen to that one a lot in the 70s. There’s no denying though that the original from ’67 was an irresistible commentary on the constantly evolving state of our culture.
It would be interesting to hear a new version of this song with lyrics calling to life in the 21st Century. How much of it would need to be changed?
Links to my Top Ten of 1967:
Up Next: 1968 - “Those were the days my friend, we thought they’d never end…”
Wondering why Sonny and Cher are in some kind of barn for this song. You can tell Jim Morrison is singing live not lip syncing on Light My Fire. So fun to watch these and see where they fit into your life!
I'm slightly concerned I'm using a different source list for 1967. Here's my list (again in no specific order)
* Expressway to Your Heart
My Chicago roots show here: traffic and expressways
* Ode to Billie Joe
There's so much going on under the radar in this song
* Pleasant Valley Sunday
To this day, this song reflects my view of the suburbs
* For What It's Worth
Only in the past few years have I - MAYBE - realized the meaning of this song
* I dig rock n roll music
Love the music references
* The Beat goes on
More music references
* Mirage
Honestly, a post from The Lost Songs Project pushed this into my top 10
* Friday on my mind
* Happy Together
* I'm a Believer
Let's talk about misheard lyrics. I thought they said "I thought love was more or less a Griffen good. Seems the more i gave the less i got.". In my Econ class, I learned that a Giffen Good was something that you buy more of even as the price goes higher. It made sense to me ... at the time ...
Had a wonderful conversation with random guy at a restaurant who was eavesdropping on Phil and I talking about yours (and my) lists.