I suppose that, like everything that is subjective, we all harbor our own prejudices about what constitutes importance or greatness in popular music. As can easily be discerned by my own personal selections, I definitely have a strong preference for Beatles and Rolling Stones albums during the British Invasion.

There certainly were some excellent jazz and/or folk releases in 1965, but to my taste, Albert Aylor or Bert Jansch sound more like a product of their times than relevant to today. I acknowledge the inherent prejudice in that statement, but defend it by pointing out that my ‘prejudice’ is based on my age. As a kid, music by the Beatles and Stones was incredibly appealing to me in the mid-‘60s, but now I see that there is much more to it than that.

For example, time has made it apparent to me that a lot of the other ‘Invasion’ bands made albums that don’t hold up as well – The Yardbirds, The Animals, The Kinks and The Hollies all made some great music, but early records were inconsistent, proving that these bands needed a while to establish their own identities. The Rolling Stones and Beatles suffered no such problem, and that is why I believe their early records retain their greatness. Our list of the 500 Best Albums of the Top 40 1964-Present may be redundant in the early years but, to my taste, the music is still great.

Featured tracks include;

1) Everybody Has Somebody to Love

2) Down Home Girl

3) You Can’t Catch Me

4) Heart of Stone

5) What a Shame

6) Mona (I Need You Baby)

7) Down the Road Apiece

8) Off the Hook

9) Pain in My Heart

10) Oh Baby (We Got a Good Thing Goin’)

11) Little Red Rooster

12) Surprise, Surprise

13) I Can’t Be Satisfied

14) Everybody Needs Somebody to Love (long version)

February 1965 - Billboard Charted #5