60-tallet var et tiår med enorme omveltninger, sosialt, kulturelt og musikalsk. Denne lista gjenspeiler noe av dette, dog med hovedvekt på siste halvdel av tiåret. Aldri har vel popmusikken sett så gjennomgripende endringer som i de turbulente årene fra 1966 og i noen år framover, der nye studiomuligheter, psykedelisk dop og politiske spenninger ble gjenspeilet i musikk som ikke bare utfordret eksisterende rammer, men sprengte nye grenser med drønn som fremdeles vibrerer fram til vår tid.

Dette er mine favorittlåter fra tiåret, begrenset ned til én låt pr. artist. Bare The Beatles alene kunne jo lett fylt opp en slik Topp 100-liste. De aller fleste tilhører den angloamerikanske tradisjonen, men her både norsk jazz, sør-amerikansk tropicalia, tysk kraut og etiopiske grooves blant opplagte valg som The Velvet Underground, Neil Young og The Byrds. De kommer høyt opp på en liste som toppes av britisk høststemning på sitt aller fineste.

Nick Drake: River Man (1969)
The Beatles: Something (1969)
Nina Simone: Sinnerman (1965)
Neil Young: Down By the River (1969)
Velvet Underground: Sister Ray (1967)
Mulatu Astatke: Yekermo Yew (1969)
Dr. John: I Walk on Guilded Splinters (1968)
John Coltrane : Mr. P.C. (1963)
Fairport Convention: Autopsy (1969)
Captain Beefheart: Electricity (1967)

Roy Orbison: In Dreams (1963)
Frank Zappa: Willie the Pimp (1969)
Creedence Clearwater Revival: Walk on the Water (1968)
Grant Green: Idle Moments (1963)
The 13th Floor Elevators: Reveberation (1966)
The Byrds: Goin’ Back (1967)
Roberta Flack: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (1969)
Isaac Hayes: Walk on By (1969)
Ennio Morricone: Il Buono, Il Cattivo, Il Brutto (1966)
Pink Floyd: Set the Controls For the Heart of the Sun (1968)

Can: Father Cannot Yell (1969)
Bob Dylan: Masters of War (1963)
Miles Davis: Shhh/Peaceful (1969)
The Flying Burrito Brothers: Hot Burrito #1 (1969)
The First Edition: Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) (1968)
Buffalo Springfield: Broken Arrow (1967)
Johnny Cash: Folsom Prison Blues (1968)
MC5: Kick Out the Jams (1969)
Son House: John the Revelator (1965)
Tony Joe White: Don’t Steal My Love (1968)

Townes Van Zandt: Tecumseh Valley (1969)
Santana: Soul Sacrifice (1969)
Jan Johansson: Visa Från Utanmyra (1964)
The Band: The Weight (1968)
Skeeter Davis : The End of the World (1963)
Elvis Presley: Suspicious Minds (1969)
Jimi Hendrix: All Along the Watchtower (1968)
Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood: Some Velvet Morning (1967)
James Carr: The Dark End of the Street (1967)
Love: This House Is Not a Motel (1967)

Sam Cooke: A Change Is Gonna Come (1964)
Simon & Garfunkel: The Sounds of Silence (1964)
Otis Redding: I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (1965)
Leonard Cohen: Suzanne (1968)
Booker T. & Thee M.G’s: Green Onions (1962)
Caetano Veloso: Tropcália (1967)
Dionne Warwick: Walk On By (1964)
The Rolling Stones: Sympathy For the Devil (1968)
James Brown: Think (Live, 1962) (1963)
The Ronettes: Be My Baby (1969)

Testa-maryam Kidane: Heywete (196?)
The Mamas & the Papas: Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon) (1967)
Donovan: Hurdy Gurdy Man (1968)
Sun Ra and His Myth-Science Arkestra: Angels and Demons at Play (1967)
Os Mutantes: A Minha Menina (1968)
Jefferson Airplane: Comin’ Back to Me 1967
Van Morrison: The Way Young Lovers Do (1968)
The Sonics: Strychnine (1965)
Buffy Sainte-Marie: God Is Alive Magic Is Afoot (1969)
Julie Driscoll & Brian Auger: Indian Rope Man (1969)

Laura Nyro: New York Tendaberry (1969)
Bobby Fuller Four: I Fought the Law (1966)
The Monks: Black Monk Time (1966)
The Kinks: Waterloo Sunset (1967)
Arlo Guthrie: Coming Into Los Angeles (1969)
Bobby Vinton: Blue Velvet (1963)
The Kinks: Waterloo Sunset (1967)
The Electric Prunes: I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night) (1966)
Glen Campbell: By the Time I Get to Phoenix (1967)
Pete Drake: Forever (1964)

Terje Rypdal: Dead Man’s Tale (1968)
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band: Shifting Sands (1967)
Wendy & Bonnie: Let Yourself Go Another Time (1969)
John Fahey: Wine & Roses (1965)
Martha & the Vandellas: Heat Wave (1963)
Yusef Lateef: Juba Juba (1968)
Led Zeppelin: Dazed & Confused (1969)
Erik Andersen Quartet: Cordon Bleu (1969)
The Shangri-Las: Out in the Streets (1965)
The Seeds: Pushin’ Too Hard (1965)

Karin Krog: Mr. Joy (1968)
Henry Flynt & The Insurrections: Uncle Sam Do (1966)
The Supremes: Baby Love (1964)
Sandy Bull: Carmina Burana Fantasy (1963)
Oliver Nelson: Stolen Moments (1961)
Desmond Dekker & The Aces: Israelites (1968)
Count Five: Psychotic Reaction (1965)
The Zombies: Time of the Season (1968)
Blue Cheer: Parchment Farm (1968)
Silver Apples: Oscillations (1968)

Frank Sinatra: It Was a Very Good Year (1965)
The Crystals: Then He Kissed Me (1963)
Terry Callier: Golden Apples of the Sun (1968)
Muddy Waters: I’ve Got My Mojo Working (Live, Newport) (1960)
Blood, Sweat & Tears: I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know (1968)
The Stooges: 1969 (1969)
John Jacob Niles: Hangman (1961)
Joe Meek: I Hear A New World (1960)
Scott Walker: Winter Night (1969)
The Doors: The End (1967)

Bjørn Hammershaug