Part Two of the Worst best Album series
The Worst “Best” Album of 1964
Subjectively speaking
First, I want to clarify that the Best Album of the year list I’m using — found here — compiles sales figures taken from Cash Box and Billboard magazines, among others, so that this Best List is actually according to sales and not critics.
This isn’t exactly The People’s Choice Awards, but it’s also not The Village Voice’s old Pazz and Jop Poll, either.
And again, this is all in fun, totally arbitrary and subjective, just as if I tried to argue with you that not only is Santana 3 a better record than Santana Abraxas, but that you should think so, too. I’m not sure I think that anyway, because even as I write, I keep reflecting on how incredible the transition from “Black Magic Woman” to “Gypsy Queen” truly is.
In any case, no offense to anyone’s tastes or to the poor beleaguered artists whom I’m about to trample on here.
Actually, 1964 is a difficult one to assess because the music, at least from a pop/rock/soul perspective, took a quantum leap. Still, there are mysteries and oddities, and one wonders what the buying public was thinking. But when we remember that “Peyton Place” was one of the top TV shows that year, well, mystery solved, right?
So, to get to it, the #1 album of 1964 was…
The Beatles’ A Hard Days Night. Solid choice America.
#100 was Jim Reeves’ A Touch of Velvet. Hhhm.
Actually, I kind of love Reeves, and now have to do some hunting to see if I can secure a vinyl copy of this record, and please don’t burst my bubble by telling me that it’s too obscure for words or purchase. I don’t have a vinyl copy of that Beatles’ record either, so much work to do.
The Beatles were all over the 1964 charts, coming in at numbers 3, 9, 21, 22, 50, 51, 93, and 95. So many albums already in their canon, though #95 was that one with Tony Sheridan.
But get this: Jim Reeves had multiple albums on the list, too, coming in also at #73 with Moonlight and Roses.
Other notables include The Kinks at #61 with You Really Got Me, The Temptations at #54 with Meet The Temptations, Otis Redding at #38 with Pain in My Heart, Elvis at #35 with Kissin’ Cousins, The Animals at #26 with The Animals, and The Dave Clark Five at #24 with Glad All Over.
Of course, The Beach Boys also play heavy on that year’s charts, as does John Coltrane. And for even more fun, The Original Cast recording of Hello Dolly! charted at #5, while Louis Armstrong’s Hello Dolly! came in at #7. Barbra Streisand’s People was #11 (just thought I’d throw that one in).
Some of you might have heard of, or even heard The New Christy Minstrels, who seemed to have been on every TV variety show and special that year. On these charts, they had the #60 album, Today. According to Wikipedia:
“The group sold millions of records, was in demand at concerts and on television shows, and helped launch the musical careers of several musicians, including Kenny Rogers, Gene Clark, Kim Carnes, Larry Ramos, and Barry McGuire” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Christy_Minstrels).
Wow.
Gene Clark!
Anyway, I know that whenever they came on TV, I always faded off to sleep. Maybe I shouldn’t have, but I was living for The Beatles and The Kinks back then. So, I at least had heard of this ensemble, which is more than I can say for the group with the WORST BEST ALBUM of 1964:
The Serendipity Singers, charting at #66 with The Serendipity Singers.
Here’s the hit single from that album, “Don’t Let the Rain Come Down (Crooked Little Man):
They were billed by some (Wikipedia again) as being similar to The New Christy Minstrels, and this is where I got bogged down and had to make my arbitrary choice, because for my money, there could be, should be, only ONE New Christy Minstrels.
In case you’re wondering, this record apparently outsold the following during this year:
Gerry and the Pacemakers’ Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying (#81); Dusty Springfield’s Dusty (#82); Johnny Mathis’ Tender Is the Night (#67); and Manfred Mann’s The Manfred Mann Album (#88).
And barely beating it out were:
Johnny Cash’s I Walk the Line (#55); Sinatra’s Softly As I Leave You (#53); and The Rolling Stones’ Five By Five (#47).
As far as I know, The Serendipity’s record is out of print. But that’s what garage sales are for, so get the want ads ready, and very soon, we’ll be tackling 1965 for all that’s strange and obscure.
Thanks for reading, and if you missed the previous year’s worst record, here it is:
Check out these other Riffers if you haven’t already:
David Acaster, Aimée Gramblin, Nicole Brown, Danielle Loewen, Paul Combs, Chris Zappa, Pierce McIntyre, Reuben Salsa, Alexander Briseño, Kevin Alexander, Brandy Niremburk, Jessica Lee McMillan, Jeremy Gaunt, Taylor Moran, Rob Janicke, If Ever You’re Listening, Steven Hale, TheWellSeasonedLibrarian, Kathryn Dillon, Jim Mowat, Alex Markham, Karla Clifton, Hope Silverman, JP Timko, S.W. Lauden, Frank Mastropolo, Gary Chapin, Noah Nelson, Noah Levy, and Michael Hall.