Since no Beatles songs were included on Classic Rock: 1965 this compilation gives a skewed picture of the music of 1965. Yes, Motown shows up strong: Wilson Pickett, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Temptations, The Four Tops, and The Supremes.
Classics like The Righteous Brothers’s “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ ” and “I Got You Babe” by Sonny and Cher rub shoulders with novelty songs like “Wooly Bully” by Sam The Sham (related to George Santos) and The Pharaohs and “Down in The Boondocks” by Billy Joe Royal.
“Help Me, Rhonda” is one of my favorite Beach Boys songs. And I never tire of listening to The Byrds’s rendition of “Mr. Tambourine Man.” Do you remember these songs from 1965? Any favorites here? GRADE: B+
TRACK LIST:
| 1 | The Byrds– | Mr. Tambourine Man Written-By – Bob Dylan | 2:22 |
| 2 | The Yardbirds– | For Your Love Written-By – Graham Gouldman | 2:31 |
| 3 | Wilson Pickett– | In The Midnight Hour Written-By – Steve Cropper, Wilson Pickett | 2:28 |
| 4 | The Miracles– | The Tracks Of My Tears Written-By – Marvin Tarplin, William Robinson*, Warren Moore | 2:56 |
| 5 | The Beau Brummels– | Just A Little Written-By – Robert Durand, Ron Elliott | 2:26 |
| 6 | The Righteous Brothers– | You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ Written-By – Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Phil Spector | 3:43 |
| 7 | The Temptations– | My Girl Written-By – Ronald White, William Robinson | 2:44 |
| 8 | Sam The Sham And The Pharaohs*– | Wooly Bully Written-By – Domingo Samudio | 2:21 |
| 9 | Billy Joe Royal– | Down In The Boondocks Written-By – Joe South | 2:36 |
| 10 | The Beach Boys– | Help Me, Rhonda Written-By – Brian Wilson | 2:47 |
| 11 | Barbara Lewis– | Baby, I’m Yours Written-By – Van McCoy | 2:32 |
| 12 | The Lovin’ Spoonful– | Do You Believe In Magic? Written-By – John Sebastian | 2:06 |
| 13 | The Four Tops*– | I Can’t Help Myself Written-By – Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier And Edward Holland Jr. | 2:43 |
| 14 | The Kinks– | Tired Of Waiting For You Written-By – Ray Davies | 2:34 |
| 15 | The McCoys– | Hang On Sloopy Written-By – Bert Russell, Wes Farrell | 3:04 |
| 16 | The Yardbirds– | Heart Full Of Soul Written-By – Graham Gouldman | 2:30 |
| 17 | Junior Walker And The All Stars*– | Shotgun Written-By – Autry DeWalt | 3:04 |
| 18 | Sonny And Cher*– | I Got You Babe Written-By – Sonny Bono | 3:12 |
| 19 | The Castaways– | Liar, Liar Written-By – Jim Donna | 1:53 |
| 20 | The Supremes– | Back In My Arms AgainWritten-By – Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier And Edward Holland Jr. | 2:54 |
| 21 | Gary Lewis And The Playboys*– | This Diamond Ring Written-By – Al Kooper, Bob Brass (2), Irwin Levine | 2:10 |
| 22 | The Toys– | A Lover’s Concerto Written-By – Denny Randell, Sandy Linzer | 2:35 |
This is a pretty good collection. I could do without The Toys and Gary Lewis.
Steve, I’m with you on Gary Lewis and The Playboys. “This Diamond Ring” dominated the airwaves for months in 1965. I haven’t heard it on Sirius/XM Radio or any other radio station for 40+ years.
That cover is totally 1975 and decidedly not a decade earlier. Meanwhile, as you note, without the Beatles, this collection is hardly representative of the time. However, I will note that I was today years old when I learned that Van “Do the Hustle” McCoy wrote “Baby, I’m Yours”. One truly does learn something new every day!
Deb, thank you for you kind comment on learning Van “Do the Hustle” McCoy wrote “Baby, I’m Yours.” Art Scott sent me an email last week thanking me for enlightening him on tête-bêche with the THREE ACES review last Friday. Yes, I try to make this blog a learning, yet fun experience!
Only three that I don’t remember, or perhaps never heard (The Toys, The Castaways, and The Beau Brummels). Don’t like The McCoys , Gary Lewis or Junior Walker. All the rest are at least OK, with the clear favorites being The Byrds, The Beach Boys, and The Yardbirds. I really don’t like these compilations in general but this one is better than average.
Michael, the Time-Life CD series are a cut above most of the other music compilations. I suspect they had more money to spend on song acquisition.
Interdivisional…these date from the Time-Warner era.
Of course I remember all those groups and their songs – my favourites are Mr Tambourine Man which also was the favourite of the other members of the political group I was in.
And then I got you Babe by my favourite female singer at that time …
Typical for the music in my favourite bar.
The Beatles I don’t miss – too much kitsch for me, but what about the Rolling Stones?
Strabge.
Wolf, Beatles music was everywhere in 1965 so not including at least one of their hits on CLASSIC ROCK: 1965 doesn’t present an accurate picture of that time.
To expect cheapo collections to do so is unrealistic, alas.
Todd, sometimes I buy the cheapo collections for one or two obscure songs. But, in the main, the Time-Life CDs deliver value.
The Beatles, The Stones and The Who are missing but they rarely show up on compilations.
Steve, I’ve noticed Big Name performers seldom show up on these CD compilations.
The Kinks certainly in the same league as the Who…
This was my spring semester in 9th grade, the summer after, and the fall semester of 10th grade. Some (most?) of these acts lip-sync’d on BANDSTAND, Dick Clark’s WHERE THE ACTION IS, and Lloyd Thaxton’s syndicated dance show out of L.A. As I recall, BANDSTAND had gone strictly weekends, ACTION was its weekday fill-in, and Thaxton also ran during the week.
Fred, I was in 10th Grade in 1965 and listened to these songs (and more like them) every day. Somehow I learned to do homework while listening to music…a trick I’ve lost over the years.
Hard to pick a favorite. They all bring back memories…an Irish pub on Cape Cod, hearing HELP ME, RHONDA sung in an authentic Irish accent , with Ted Kennedy at a corner table singing along…a nervous teen-aged Cher waiting for the raucous crowd to settle down before she came onstage…a friend who used to hang out with Gary Lewis, saying it’s amazing what an echo chamber can do…just tooling around in my convertible with the top doiwn and the radio on full blast.
Only negatives are HANG ON SLOOPY and THIS DIAMOND RING.
Positives are everything else — especially the Kinks, Yardbirds, Spoonful, and the Beau Brummels.
Jerry, I always marvel at your wonderful reminisces!
Yes, of course I know them all. This was the year I graduated high school (at 16). Favorites? Well, a couple that obviously stand out are “My Girl” and “Help Me Rhonda,” but I always loved “Baby, I’m Yours” too. We went to two doo wop concerts in the last 10 years or so hoping to see Barbara Lewis do this (and “Hello Stranger”), but both times she was a no-show. I’d add “The Tracks of My Tears” and “I Can’t Help Myself” to the favorite list.
The problem with Gary Lewis is, basically, that he can’t really sing. This was his first and biggest hit. We listen to The True Oldies Station in Florida, and Gary’s songs are in regular rotation there.
My favorite story about these songs comes from Jackie (a year or so before we met). They went to Washington, D. C. on their Senior Class Trip that year (they stayed overnight in a motel), and she says they sang “Wooly Bully” all the way there and all the way back! How would you have liked to be the chaperone on that trip?
I know them all. This might be the last time I can say this as you move forward. I was in charge of school spirit at my tiny school and I made them sing Peter, Paul and Mary all the way to New York and back.
You can’t go wrong with PP&M, Patti.
Patti, hearing Peter, Paul and Mary sing “If I Had a Hammer” for hours on a bus would have done me in just like “Wooly Bully”!
George, it was the kids singing Lee Hays and Pete Seeger’s “Hammer Song” and other PP&M songs…Hays also wrote crime fiction for EQMM and other Mercury Press magazines when no composing for and performing with the Weavers (and the Babysitters).
Todd, certain songs just grate on me.
Jeff, I would have gone mad as a chaperone forced to endure hours of “Wooly Bully”! And you’re right on the mark with Gary Lewis’s lack of vocal talent. But, the magic of the the recording engineers…
Still, Gary Lewis more talented than his father.
Todd, Jerry Lewis is still revered…in France!
Not sensibly anywhere.
Definitely a cut above the average compilation. I don’t care what’s missing due to rights issues, I just care about what they do include, and this one isn’t bad.
Two cuts by the Yardbirds; everybody else got one. Not sure how that happened. Great Kinks song, that doesn’t show up all the time.
It’s funny, I have three compilations of Kinks music, with of course lots of duplication, but I keep them all because I like the organization of each one.
Jeff, same here. I have multiple CDs of The Rolling Stones and I still enjoy the original albums (remastered) and the various collections.
I have several Time-Life collections including this one. Don’t know if they still run those infomercials but, if I was scrolling thru channels late at night, I’d often stop on them. Ah, nostalgia.
I suspect Beatle music might be a little too pricey for many of these collections. Time-Life did a good job of capturing most everything else for their compilations.
Beth, I agree with you. The Time-Life music CD series are the class of the compilation field. Better songs, well-known artists and groups, and excellent packaging.
It’s not always because of costs. Some groups figure if you want to listen to our music then buy our albums.
Steve, that was a Smart Strategy in the time of vinyl and CDs but it doesn’t work now in the era of streaming.
Don’t hate anything on this one…am still a lifelong Kinks. Miracles and Yardbirds as well as Byrds and Beach Boys fan…I’ll take Barbara Lewis over Cher.
Todd, but Jeff Meyerson says Barbara Lewis doesn’t show up!
It’s true. I think one time they said she was sick. The other, who knows?
I have Billboard Magazine sets – The Greatest Rock’n’Roll Hits – from when I first started buying CDs. Each year (1957-1961 and 1962-1966, plus 1967) only has 10 songs, but with no Beatles or Stones music, the top 10 (presumably) of each year is off-kilter and has some odd choices. This seems particularly true of 1965, whose top 10 is:
Hang on Sloopy
Mr .Tambourine Man
This Diamond Ring
Help Me, Rhonda
You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’
Wooly Bully
1-2-3
Treat Her Right
Turn! Turn! Turn!
Eve of Destruction
Turn! Turn! Turn! and Eve of Destruction, not on your list, were both #1 hits, but Treat Her Right and 1-2-3 (by Len Barry) were not. Each reached #2.
Jeff, Time-Life has several series of music CDs and the songs that were left off CLASSIC ROCK: 1965 might be on one of the other CDs. I’ll have to check.
Instead of Back in My Arms Again, surely it is Stop! In the Name of Love that should represent the Supremes. But if you wanted too pick the biggest hits of 1965 and/or what has best stood the test of time, #1 would definitely be Satisfaction. #2 would probably be Yesterday. And Like a Rolling Stone would be up there in the Stood the Test of Time category.
Jeff, I concur with all three of your picks.
Ah, 1965! The year I graduated high school (at 17) and the year I spent several months as lead singer of The Violations! I know all of these songs and the only one I don’t like is by The Scientologist and the Slut (Sonny and Cher)!
I had a bunch of Time-Life cassettes way back when and every one of them disintegrated after a while! Cheap crap!
Bob, that’s why I have ZERO cassettes in my house and thousands of CDs! Last I looked “The Scientologist” was still dead from his interaction with a tree.
And he’ll stay that way! Another reason to love trees!
Of course, this was put together to mostly (not entirely) evade the biggest hits…but clearly the lead-off would lose you, George!
https://socialistjazz.blogspot.com/2010/03/1965.html
Todd, there’s a lot of great music in your post! Thanks for the link!