Day 53 - Country Joe & The Fish - Electric Music For The Mind And Body (1967)

'Electric Music For The Mind And Body' was a pretty awesome album. The late 60's were full of drug-infused music but not all of it was good, i'm glad to say Country Joe & The Fish were. This was their debut album with 11 songs oozing with drug references, most notably 'Bass Strings' which ends with the creepy slow repetition of LSD. A lot of the songs are hyper and all over the place and i'm pretty sure, judging from the album cover, they was accompanied by trippy light shows when they performed live. The one exception to the usual vibe of the songs is 'Sad and Lonely Times' which reminds me of Bob Dylan and The Beatles. I give this album a 4/5 for the good songs and the trippy vibe.

Tracks I enjoyed the most: Flying High, Death Sound, Porpoise Mouth, Section 43, Super Bird, Sad and Lonely Times, Love & Bass Strings.

Day 52 - The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

Although I have yet to hear the rest of The Beatles' discography 'Sgt. Pepper's...' is a big contender for my favourite Beatles album. I loved every song on this album, even the ones I hadn't heard previously. The album cover is iconic and prompted many conspiracy theorists to suggest that Paul McCartney was dead and replaced with a doppelganger (which is clearly ridiculous but the documentaries made on it are spooky nonetheless). I loved the change in style of the music on this album, it is more psychedelic and experimental and was one of the first times The Beatles incorporated Indian music into their songs with the George Harrison written song "Within You Without You". This album is hit after hit and I recommend it to everyone who loves great music. Shockingly when the album was released in some asian countries the songs "A Day In The Life", "With A Little Help From My Friends" and "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" were excluded for drug references, that's such a shame because they are some of the best songs on the album. I wholeheartedly give this brilliant album 5/5.

Tracks I enjoyed the most: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, With A Little Help From My Friends, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, Getting Better, She's Leaving Home, When I'm Sixty-Four, Within You Without You & A Day In The Life.

Day 51 - Nico - Chelsea Girl (1967)

'Chelsea Girl' is Nico's first solo album and my personal favourite of hers. Nico hated the album when it was released because in post production they added violins and flutes to her songs. This was the album Nico made before she became all dark and eerie in her music so the songs on this are sweet and melancholy. My favourite song on this album is the title track "Chelsea Girls", a song about the tragic denizens of the Chelsea Hotel and their lives and deaths. It's a shockingly beautiful track. Other great songs are "These Days", "The Fairest Of The Seasons" and "Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams". Nico may not have liked the album but I adore it and her deep crooning German accented voice is beautiful. 5/5.

Tracks I enjoyed the most: Chelsea Girls, These Days, The Fairest Of The Seasons, It Was A Pleasure Then, I'll Keep It With Mine, Somewhere There's A Feather & Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams.

Day 51 - Astrud Gilberto - Beach Samba (1966)

As some of you may remember I first wrote of Astrud Gilberto as the woman who sang the lovely "The Girl From Ipanema" on her husband João Gilberto's album 'Getz/Gilberto' back in 1964. 'Beach Samba' is Astrud's fourth solo album. I love Astrud, she has a wonderful sweet voice and her bossa nova version of Burt Bacharach's "Call Me" is great. Another favourite of mine is "You Didn't Have To Be So Nice", a cute song she sings with her son. The album has some nice slow songs and some songs that make you wanna do the rhumba. I give this album 5/5.

Tracks I enjoyed the most: Stay, You Didn't Have To Be So Nice, Misty Roses, A Banda (Parade), Oba Oba, I Had The Craziest Dream, Bossa Na Praia (Beach Samba) and Nao Bate O Corocao.

Day 50 - Nina Simone - Wild Is The Wind (1966)

"Wild Is The Wind" is an amazing album. I've never been a big fan of Nina Simone, in fact I quite often confused her voice for that of a man, but after listening to "Wild Is The Wind" I have been converted and adore The High Priestess Of Soul now. Nina is so passionate when she sings, she wants you to feel every word she sings. This is especially true for the songs that are about black oppression, a cause very dear to her heart. The song 'Four Women', a story told from the perspectives of four different black women about their lives and their role in white society, was actually banned by the New York jazz radio station WLIB for supposedly being racist. I thought this album was made up of all new material at the time but according to Wikipedia it was actually made up of several recordings left off earlier Nina albums, this just goes to prove that whether you listen to an original Nina album or a compilation you'll still be left feeling deep emotion and hearing great music. I give this album a well deserved 5/5.

Tracks I enjoyed the most: Four Women, Lilac Wine, Wild Is The Wind, Black Is The Colour Of My True Love's Hair and If I Should Lose You.

Day 50 - Roger The Engineer - The Yardbirds (1966)

"Roger The Engineer" is another of those albums that I feel don't really belong in the "greatest albums of all time" book. This album was alright but not brilliant. The guitarist who played on every song was great but the rest of the band, and the singer, didn't thrill me. There are quite a few catchy songs on this album that I liked and i'm sure they were successful singles when it was released. "Jeff's Boogie" is a particularly good track, it's so vibrant, fast and fun. It reminds me of the old 50's big band numbers, except with electric guitar. As allmusic points out it does contain some good psychedelic tracks but it's not one of the great albums of the decade. I give this album 3/5.

Tracks I enjoyed the most: Lost Woman, Over Under Sideways Down, Jeff's Boogie, Hot House Of Omagarashid and He's Always There.

Day 49 - John Mayall's Blues Breakers - Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (1966)

It's a relief to hear a good album after the last fiasco I reviewed. "Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton" (AKA "Beano" because of the children's magazine Eric is reading in the photo) is a great blues rock album. Eric masterfully plays guitar throughout the album as John sings all the songs wonderfully, except for "Ramblin' On My Mind" which Eric sings. Among the songs are several instrumental pieces which I really enjoyed, "Hideaway" and "Steppin' Out" being my favourites. Overall this has become of my favourite blues rock album and i'm sure i'll be playing the songs I like over and over in the future. I give this album 4/5.

Tracks I enjoyed the most: All Your Love, Hideaway, Double Crossing Time, What'd I Say, Key To Love & Steppin' Out.