When I went back in time to find out which outstanding
longplayers still sound spectacular today after 50 years I
was really surprised that some of them actually turn fifty
as you hear their influences daily in 21st century music.
Here’s my selection. Ten classics! Ten stunning survivors!…

1/ ‘ASTRAL WEEKS’ by VAN MORRISON
Rolling Stone wrote: “Van Morrison never sounded more warm and ecstatic,
more sensual and vulnerable, than on his enigmatically beautiful solo debut”
Released:  29 November 1968
Listen: here

2/ ‘BEGGARS BANQUET’ by THE ROLLING STONES
Time Magazine: “England’s most subversive
roisterers since Fagin’s gang in Oliver Twist”
Released: 6 December 1968
Listen: here

3/ ‘THE KINKS ARE THE VILLAGE GREEN PRESERVATION SOCIETY’ by THE KINKS
Rolling Stone: “Each new hearing is a combined joy of renewal and discovery”
Released: 22 November 1968
Listen: here

4/ ‘WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT’ by THE VELVET UNDERGOUND
All Music wrote: “It’s easily the least accessible of VU’s studio albums, but anyone
wanting to hear their guitar-mauling tribal frenzy straight with no chaser will love it.”
Released: 30 January 1968
Listen: here

5/ ‘GRIS-GRIS’ by DR.JOHN
Rolling Stone: “A swamp-funk classic. ‘Gris-Gris’ blends
New Orleans R&B, voodoo chants and chemical inspiration.”
Released: 22 January 1968
Listen: here

6/ ‘THE BEATLES / THE WHITE ALBUM’ by THE BEATLES
All Music wrote: “None of it sounds like it was meant to share album space together,
but somehow The Beatles create its own style and sound through its mess.”
Released: 22 November 1968
Listen: here

7/ ‘OGDENS’ NUT GONE FLAKE’ by THE SMALL FACES
All Music wrote: “The ballsiest-sounding piece of
full-length psychedelia to come out of England in 1968”
Released: 24 May 1968
Listen: here

8/ ‘DANCE TO THE MUSIC’ by SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE
Rolling Stone: “Overall the album is uneven, but its highs are intense,
prolonged and ecstatic. Seductive melodies and horn lines tickle your mind.”
Released: 27 April 1968
Listen: here

9/ ‘ELECTRIC LADYLAND’ by JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE
All Music: “Jimi Hendrix takes his funk and psychedelic sounds to the absolute limit.”
Released: 16 October 1968
Listen: here

10/ ‘MUSIC FROM BIG PINK’ by THE BAND
Rolling Stone: “The rustic beauty of The Band’s music and the drama of their own
reflections on family and obligations made ‘Big Pink’ an instant homespun classic.”
Released: 1 July 1968
Listen: here