Jonathan Richman’s favourite songs of the 1960s
Rock and roll was never meant to be the most profound thing in the world. Even though the biggest acts of the 1960s took the genre to places it had never been, there were just as many people looking to make a quick buck off of the record-buying public instead of creating the next big comment on society. Jonathan Richman was always a student of classic rock and roll, and some of his favourite tracks from the 1960s showed him to be a connoisseur of taste.
For any great rock and roller, it always comes back to the ongoing debate between The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, and given his list of favourites, Richman had an inherent love for the bluesier side of rock and roll. Though no one will dispute ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ as one of the Fab Four’s masterpieces, tracks like ‘Out of Time’ and ‘Connection’ are closer to the pop songs that Richman would be writing himself.
His work with the Modern Lovers might not have been the most commercial, but when you listen to their debut album, you can hear the seeds of Keith Richards’ approach to rock and roll, down to the low-down and dirty guitar riffs that he seemed to pull out of thin air. If there’s one influence that dominated Richman’s record collection, it would be The Velvet Underground.
The British invasion may have sounded closer to pop-rock, but Lou Reed reminded everyone what could be done when you didn’t have any proper musical training. Things may have sounded purposefully scattershot on ‘I Heard Her Call My Name’, but if you removed any of the distortion from the song, everything would fall apart.
The same could be said about their more laid-back material. Even though many have left The Velvets’ music with a few audible scars on themselves, tracks like ‘Candy Says’ are among the most beautiful tracks they had ever made, especially with newcomer Doug Yule adding his own spin to the group’s songs.
Aside from giants, Richman wasn’t immune from listening to the occasional pop song every now and again. Despite having a wealth of songs from his favourite bands, songs like The Lovin’ Spoonful’s ‘Do You Believe in Magic’ and ‘Heatwave’ by Martha and the Vandellas were a lot closer to what he had been trying to do with his own songs, marrying the kind of raucous side of rock and roll with something that actually resembled a pop hook.
If you listen to either the pop or rock sides of his taste, Richman seemed to take every piece of the puzzle and channel it into something that thrived on simplicity. Even if the song only had one chord throughout its entire runtime, it wasn’t about trying to get away with doing the bare minimum. If anything, it was a statement of intent. The progressive rock giants were slowly coming into view, but everything they could do with multiple chords and musical movements, Richman could do with just one lick.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Beatles Newsletter
All the latest stories about The Beatles from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.