The Best Albums From 1965

1965 was a very interesting year for music. Not as interesting as the coming years but this year was no slouch. First and foremost, this year was dominated by some of the best folk albums to ever grace the musical landscape. In general folk dominated 1965. Bob Dylan and his contemporaries dominated album sales as people were very interested in the movement and the protest songs written for Vietnam. Along with folk, rock was beginning to take shape as the major innovator it always wanted to be in the 50s. Rock was getting more complicated in 1965. Garage rock(a nastier, louder and dirtier form of rock & roll) was beginning to take shape in a very embryonic state. With the most important contributions being the first Sonics album and the two Kinks albums on this list. Also the first flourishes of Psychedelic Rock was beginning to take it's place in the grand scope of musical evolution. The Beatles were beginning to shed their teeny bopper image with the release of "Help" and "Rubber Soul" and the Stones were beginning to branch out a bit too. The Byrds basically invented Jangle Pop which is no small accomplishment. The last gasps of Exotica happened this year and wouldn't regain popularity until the 90s with the Swing Revival and Kitsch movement. Albert Ayler opened up a lot of new doors for Jazz with his "out there" trio of albums on this list. We had some great late period old time country in the form of Johnny and Jonie Mosby, we were further acquainted with a man who would go on to be immensely famous by the name of Willie Nelson. Roger Miller injected some much needed modernism into an old country framework with his debut and followup in the same year. And lastly, but certainly not least we were graced with two of amongst a small number of Girl Group full lengths(Girl Groups tended to mostly release singles) from the Shangri-Las. All in all, 1965 was a landmark year for quite a few genres that would see a major shift in the next few years. Stay tuned to see what those changes were as we continue our journey next time with 1966! Please enjoy the spotify playlist I have provided for your listening pleasure down below.

Albert Ayler Trio-Spiritual Unity(ESP Disk)

Genre: Free Jazz, Spiritual Jazz

Albert Ayler Quartet-Ghosts(Debut)

Genre: Free Jazz

Albert Ayler-Bells(ESP Disk)

Genre: Free Jazz

Robbie Basho-The Seal Of The Blue Lotus(Takoma)

Genre: American Primitivism

Les Baxter-The Fabulous Sounds Of Les Baxter, Strings, Guitars Voices!(Pickwick/33)

Genre: Exotica, Pop

The Beatles-HELP(Capital)

Genre: Pop Rock, Merseybeat, Film Soundtrack, Folk Pop

The Beatles-Rubber Soul(Parlaphone)

Genre: Pop Rock, Folk Rock, Psychedelic Pop

James Brown-Papa's Got A Brand New Bag(King)

Genre: Soul, Rhythm & Blues, Funk

Sandy Bull-Inventions(Vanguard)

Genre: American Primitivism

The Byrds-Mr. Tambourine Man(Columbia)

Genre: Folk Rock, Pop Rock, Jangle Pop

John Coltrane-A Love Supreme(Impulse!)

Genre: Spiritual Jazz, Avant-Garde Jazz, Modal Jazz, Post-Bop

Sam Cooke-Shake(RCA Victor)

Genre: Southern Soul, Soul

Donovan-What's Bin Did And What's Bin Hid(Pye)

Genre: Contemporary Folk, Singer/Songwriter

Bob Dylan-Bringing It All Back Home(Columbia)

Genre: Folk Rock, Singer/Songwriter, Contemporary Folk, Electric Blues

Bob Dylan-Highway 61 Revisited(Columbia)

Genre: Folk Rock, Singer/Songwriter, Blues Rock, Contemporary Folk

John Fahey-The Transfiguration Of Blind Joe Death(Riverboat)

Genre: American Primitivism, Acoustic Blues

Richard & Mimi Farina-Reflections In A Crystal Wind(Vanguard)

Genre: Contemporary Folk, Singer/Songwriter, Psychedelic Folk, Blues

Richard & Mimi Farina-Celebrations For A Grey Day(Vanguard)

Genre: Contemporary Folk, Singer/Songwriter, Psychedelic Folk

Jackson C. Frank-Self Titled(Columbia)

Genre: Contemporary Folk, Singer/Songwriter, Acoustic Blues

The Fugs-Sing Ballads Of Contemporary Protest, Point Of Views And General Dissatisfaction(Broadside)

Genre: Folk Rock, Garage Rock, Psychedelic Folk, Beat Poetry, Satire, Proto-Punk, Psychedelic Rock

France Gall-Self Titled(Phillips)

Genre: Ye Ye, Sunshine Pop, Baroque Pop, Jazz Pop

Astrud Gilberto-The Astrud Gilberto Album(Verve)

Genre: Bossa Nova, Vocal Jazz

Son House-Father Of Folk Blues(Columbia)

Genre: Delta Blues, Gospel

Bert Jansch-Self Titled(Transatlantic)

Genre: Contemporary Folk, Singer/Songwriter, Folk Baroque, English Folk Music

The Kinks-Kinda Kinks(Pye)

Genre: Garage Rock, Pop Rock, Mod, Rock & Roll, British R&B, Freakbeat

The Kinks-The Kink Kontroversy(Pye)

Genre: Pop Rock, Rock & Roll, Beat Music, Mod, Garage Rock, British R&B

Roger Miller-The Return Of Roger Miller(Smash)

Genre: Singer/Songwriter, Country, Country Pop

Roger Miller-The Third Time Around(Smash)

Genre: Singer/Songwriter, Country, Nashville Sound, Country Pop

The Missing Links-Self Titled(Phillips)

Genre: Garage Rock, Psychedelic Rock

Johnny And Jonie Mosby-Mr And Mrs Country Music(Harmony)

Genre: Country, Honky Tonk, Nashville Sound

Fred Neil-Bleeker & MacDougal(Elektra)

Genre: Singer/Songwriter, Contemporary Folk

Willie Nelson-Country Willie Sings His Own Songs(RCA Victor)

Genre: Nashville Sound

Phil Ochs-I Ain't Marching Anymore(Elektra)

Genre: Contemporary Folk, Singer/Songwriter

Odetta-Odetta Sings Dylan(RCA)

Genre: Contemporary Folk, Gospel, Acoustic Blues

Otis Redding-Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul(Volt)

Genre: Deep Soul, Southern Soul, R&B, Blues

Judy Roderick-Woman Blue(Vanguard)

Genre: Blues, Contemporary Folk, Acoustic Blues

The Rolling Stones-Out Of Our Heads(Decca)

Genre: British R&B, Rock, R&B, Rock & Roll, Blues Rock, Mod

The Shangri Las-65!(Red Bird)

Genre: Girl Group, Brill Building

The Shangri Las-Leader Of The Pack(Red Bird)

Genre: Girl Group, Brill Building

The Horace Silver Quintet-Song For My Father(Blue Note)

Genre: Hard Bop, Latin Jazz

Nina Simone-Pastel Blues(Phillips)

Genre: Vocal Jazz, Soul, R&B, Blues

Nina Simone-I Put A Spell On You(Phillips)

Genre: Vocal Jazz, Soul, R&B, Soul Jazz, Traditional Pop

The Sonics-Here Are The Sonics!!!(Etiquette)

Genre: Garage Rock, Proto-Punk, Rock & Roll, R&B

Sun Ra Arkestra-The Heliocentric Worlds Of...(ESP Disk)

Genre: Free Jazz, Third Stream

The Walker Brothers-Take It Easy With The Walker Brothers(Phillips)

Genre: Baroque Pop

The Who-My Generation(Brunswick)

Genre: Mod, Beat Music, Garage Rock, British R&B, R&B

The Zombies-Begin Here(Decca)

Genre: Beat Music, British R&B, Mod