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Song of the Day #1,445: ‘Overs’ – Simon & Garfunkel

Best Albums of the 60s – #14
Bookends – Simon & Garfunkel (1968)

On Simon & Garfunkel’s fourth album, Bookends, the duo entered full-on concept album territory. Or maybe I should say “half-on concept album,” because the record is split between a suite of songs about beginnings and endings (hence the title) and a group of songs that were left over from the Graduate soundtrack.

Perhaps that paints the duo as a little unfocused, but when you consider the second half contains such great songs as ‘Fakin’ It,’ ‘A Hazy Shade of Winter’ and the full version of ‘Mrs. Robinson,’ it’s hard to argue with the results.

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Song of the Day #1,444: ‘I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)’ – Aretha Franklin

Best Albums of the 60s – #15
I Never Loved a Man the Way That I Love You – Aretha Franklin (1967)

I feel a little guilty for having only two women on this top twenty, though I suppose it’s less egregious considering I have only nine artists total. But the two albums recorded by women are truly special — seminal releases that play just as well today as they did thirty plus years ago.

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Song of the Day #1,443: ‘Madonna’ – Jude

After several weeks of predictable Elvis Costello and Bob Dylan selections, it’s nice to see another Random Weekend selection that actually feels random.

This is probably just the second time I’ve heard the opening track from Jude’s self-released 2004 album, Sarah. I downloaded the album from CDBaby.com (where it apparently holds the title of the site’s most downloaded album ever — a fact that says more about CDBaby.com than Sarah) but I was unimpressed after my initial listen.

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Song of the Day #1,442: ‘Black Diamond Bay’ – Bob Dylan

When I recently counted down my list of favorite 70s albums, Blood on the Tracks was the only Bob Dylan album to make the cut. I considered adding The Basement Tapes and especially Desire to that list but ultimately decided to make room for other artists.

Listening to ‘Black Diamond Bay,’ today’s Random Weekend selection, I find myself rethinking that decision. Desire is a fabulous collection, as lyrically rich and sonically beautiful as anything Dylan has recorded.

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Song of the Day #1,441: ‘I Am a Rock’ – Simon & Garfunkel

Best Albums of the 60s – #16
Sounds of Silence – Simon & Garfunkel (1966)

I backed into my appreciation of Simon & Garfunkel after discovering Paul Simon as a solo artist. So I always kind of looked at the duo as the opening stages of a brilliant career and less as a groundbreaking unit in its own right.

But over the years I’ve come to understand just what an impact they had on the musical landscape.

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