Are You Experienced? - The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced? - 1967

It's really ridiculously cold here in NYC today. I know, it's January and I live in the Northeast, I should expect this stuff, but keep in mind the majority of us NYCers have to walk a lot. Leaving my apartment this morning, my hair froze in the half block walk it took me to get to the coffee shop.

The title track from this classic rock staple is a lot more experimental than I generally give Hendrix credit for. Sure, he's a great guitar player, but at least in what we hear on the radio, he's rarely more than a flashy blues player. But the backwards tape loops and chiming piano part sound like something from more of a studio innovator than Hendrix is generally credited with being. No complaints on my part.

And Your Bird Can Sing - The Beatles - Revolver - 1966

I'm hardly breaking new ground in saying The Beatles contain multitudes. In their decade of existance they were: The German hooker bedding rockabilly cover band, the original boy band, the song writing movie stars, the Dylan worshipping balladeers, the hard rocking guitar band, the studio experimenting acid heads, and finally the burnt out, strung out and hung over men trying to find their bearings. But of all those, Revolver Beatles have always been my favorite, and this is probably my favorite of John's songs on the album.

I like The Beatles most when they were honestly a band, writing and playing together, still playing live shows. You can hear all of them at their best here: John's ability to weave an acerbic sensibility into a rock melody, Paul's boyant bass line and even more boyant harmony vocals, George's searing circular guitar work, and Ringo's...okay, well maybe Ringo played the drums, who would know?

All You Need Is Love - The Beatles - All You Need Is Love (Single) - 1967

Okay, so I gave myself a pass about having to write about over played classic rock songs, and this is most certainly that...but I do actually have a story about it.

I used to date this girl who hated this song...that's not really a story. I mean, I kinda hate this song too (It's a sign of what a completionist dork I am that I have songs on here that I hate), but unlike me it was not the hippy nostalgia, the cloying sentimentality, or whimsical horn parts that made her hate the song. She hated it for one little moment.

As the song comes to a close, descending into cacaphony, the band incorporates pieces of many other songs...La Marseillaise, a bit of Bach, Greensleaves, a Glenn Miller tune. In this stew Paul sings a small snippet of "She Loves You". Now this particular girl had an issue with any overt display of ego, and to name check your own song in the mix of these undeniably timeless tunes to her was arrogant in the extreme. (She'd grown up the youngest of five sisters, and was therefor uncomfortable with a great deal of typical male behavior).

I counter-argued that, despite not particuarly caring for the song, I did respect it's efforts at being a post modern pastiche...she was fine with that, it was the self elevation that bothered her. I pointed out that, even as early as 1967, "She Loves You" was already a part of the musical canon, but still the self-congratulatory aspect of bothered her too much.

It's always odd when you find yourself in the position of defending something you don't even like that much.

All Tomorrow's Parties - The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground and Nico - 1967

I know there is probably a roving gang of East Village Rock Snobs that will hunt me down and kill me for this, but...this song bores the ever-living shit out of me.