The Seven Greatest Bands of the 1960s

Like many people born well after the 60s ended, I love the music of that era. It sounds much fresher to my ears than does most of the music recorded today. These seven bands are my most favorite.

(#1) The Beatles - Surprising pick, right? Sometimes conventional wisdom is on target. Yes, The Beatles really are the greatest band of all time (and thus, obviously, the best band of the 1960s.) Considering they recorded their final album, Abbey Road, in 1969 they are really a "purely 60s" band (unlike most on this list which went on to record more music into the 70s (and in some cases beyond.)

My favorite Beatles album is 1968's self titled double album which is most well known as The White Album.

(#2) The Rolling Stones - Much of The Stones best music was recorded in the '70s, not the '60s but that being said they definitely recorded a huge amount of stone cold classics in the '60s too.

(#3) The Who - Like The Stones, they recorded a lot of their best stuff in the '70s. But then again they did recorded Tommy and a lot of their most famous singles (including "My Generation" of course) in the '60s. The musicianship of this band always blows me away and I think they were the best live band of the decade. I definitely recommend getting the Live at Leeds CD, I think it's the best live album ever.

(#4) The Jimi Hendrix Experience - They only released three albums (all of them in 1967 and 1968) but all three albums are absolute must have classics. I think my personal favorite is the final of the three: Electric Ladyland which is a real sprawling psychedelic double album that includes many different styles of music.

(#5) The Beach Boys - This selection isn't entirely on the strength of Pet Sounds. They did release a lot of other great music that sometimes gets overshadowed by Pet Sounds. All of this being stated, this selection was made mostly because of the greatness of Pet Sounds (and the mystical Smile which was finally realized by Brian Wilson almost 40 years later.)

(#6) Pink Floyd - The '60s Floyd of Syd Barrett was a different beast than the '70s Floyd lead by David Gilmour & Roger Waters. 1967's Piper at the Gates of Dawn is one of my all time favorite albums. I also highly recommend Syd Barrett's two solo albums (they were both released in 1970) if you are into this sort of psychedelic pop music.

Don't get me wrong, I love the 1970s Pink Floyd too especially Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and Animals but I don't think the '60s Barrett lead Floyd should be as overlooked as they are!

(#7) Led Zeppelin - Most people think of Zep as a '70s band but they did release their first two albums in the '60s and I actually prefer those '60s albums over their '70s work (although of course that was great stuff too.)