Music from 50 years ago - has it stood the test of time?

I'm not a great one for listening to music but I was quite shocked to hear that Peter Tork of the Monkees fame died today and that the group was at it's height over 50 years ago.

I used to like some of their stuff - I'm a believer - in particular and thought I play it on YouTube as I'd not heard it in ages but even I could tell it hadn't lasted well over the years.  So I wondered if any song could last that time (I'm not particularly into classical music so I automatically ruled that out - I'm just looking at 'popular' music).

I give you three songs below that I think have stood the test of time - but do you agree?

Please feel free to add others you like to the list.

The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face - Roberta Flack


Ok it didn't become famous until 1972 but it was recorded by Roberta on her album in 1969 - beautiful song I think.

Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond


Well we all know this one has past the test of time (and also links in to the Monkees as well - Diamond writing many of their hits).

Space Oddity - David Bowie


Hard to believe that Bowie was around fifty years ago - God how time flies.


So what do you think?

Simple answer yes of course but then I am 68. The music you listen to as a teenager is always going to have a big impact on you. It would probably be better to ask a teenager what they think of music from 50 years ago.

For me three albums which I still love which were released in 1967 do stand the test of time:

Love - Forever Changes
Byrds - Younger Than Yesterday
Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced

Another classic released in 1967 was Sgt. Pepper but there are many more.

Have to say that Forever Changes had two good tracks on it and the rest were meh. I didn't actually get to see Alvin Lee until '73 TBF but they were shit.

I would say that some of the music from the post-Hendrix/post-Beatles era of the 70s has held up better as 20 somethings these days seem to be a lot more familiar with Bowie, Queen and God forbid Abba - possibly due to deaths and movies. There are also random tunes that still seem to be popular with (middle class?) kids perhaps due to their use in advertising or simply that they were great riffs e.g. You Really Got Me, Satisfaction and I Heard it through the Grapevine. 

I'm just glad they haven't discovered Hi Ho Friggin' Silver Lining which drives me bonkers.

wanderlust wrote:Have to say that Forever Changes had two good tracks on it and the rest were meh. I didn't actually get to see Alvin Lee until '73 TBF but they were shit.

I would say that some of the music from the post-Hendrix/post-Beatles era of the 70s has held up better as 20 somethings these days seem to be a lot more familiar with Bowie, Queen and God forbid Abba - possibly due to deaths and movies. There are also random tunes that still seem to be popular with (middle class?) kids perhaps due to their use in advertising or simply that they were great riffs e.g. You Really Got Me, Satisfaction and I Heard it through the Grapevine. 

I'm just glad they haven't discovered Hi Ho Friggin' Silver Lining which drives me bonkers.

Alvin Lee? I am sure you mean Arthur Lee!

Jeff Beck hates Hi Ho Silver Lining as much as you and me but it is all a matter of personal taste. I can't stand Queen for example.

I was more a folkie, still am, and more Whistle Test than TOTP's, but a lot of music of the day still stands the test of time.
Captain Beefheart, Little Feat, Rory Gallagher, and so many more.
Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, I could go on and on.
The Kinks are a band I've only started to enjoy in recent years, having been indifferent to them in their prime.
James Taylor, Neil Young, Ry Cooder, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Janis Joplin, Bonnie Raitt, John Prine, Iris DeMent, Louden Wainwright......Bloody hell.

xmiles wrote:

wanderlust wrote:Have to say that Forever Changes had two good tracks on it and the rest were meh. I didn't actually get to see Alvin Lee until '73 TBF but they were shit.

I would say that some of the music from the post-Hendrix/post-Beatles era of the 70s has held up better as 20 somethings these days seem to be a lot more familiar with Bowie, Queen and God forbid Abba - possibly due to deaths and movies. There are also random tunes that still seem to be popular with (middle class?) kids perhaps due to their use in advertising or simply that they were great riffs e.g. You Really Got Me, Satisfaction and I Heard it through the Grapevine. 

I'm just glad they haven't discovered Hi Ho Friggin' Silver Lining which drives me bonkers.

Alvin Lee? I am sure you mean Arthur Lee!

Jeff Beck hates Hi Ho Silver Lining as much as you and me but it is all a matter of personal taste. I can't stand Queen for example.

Senior moment. Alvin Lee was one of the Chipmunks.

boltonbonce wrote:I was more a folkie, still am, and more Whistle Test than TOTP's, but a lot of music of the day still stands the test of time.
Captain Beefheart, Little Feat, Rory Gallagher, and so many more.
Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, I could go on and on.
The Kinks are a band I've only started to enjoy in recent years, having been indifferent to them in their prime.
James Taylor, Neil Young, Ry Cooder, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Janis Joplin, Bonnie Raitt, John Prine, Iris DeMent, Louden Wainwright......Bloody hell.

I think most of us from that generation had broad musical tastes although I tend not to listen to my Beefheart albums these days, or much prog rock either - can't be doing with maudling lyrics as much as anything.
But if you think about the big festivals of the 60s you'd get a massive range of genres on the same bill - e..g. Hendrix, Sly  the Family Stone, Joan Baez, Ravi Shankar, Creedence, Arlo Guthrie, Santana and the Dead on the same bill.

Bit before my time but i do listen to lots of music from that era such as Hendrix, Dylan, The Doors, Neil Young, the Stones, the Kinks and many more. If music is good it will stand the test of time.

I'm a big fan of blues as well and a lot of the early stuff is from the 50's and even earlier, sound quality might not be great but it's still fantastic music.

I think we all agree, that music makes memories. 
I listen to 'Gold, London', (you can get it through Alexa or the web, XM) it plays 60's 70's and 80's all the time, and its quite surprising how a song will trigger some distant memory.

gloswhite wrote:I think we all agree, that music makes memories. 
I listen to 'Gold, London', (you can get it through Alexa or the web, XM) it plays 60's 70's and 80's all the time, and its quite surprising how a song will trigger some distant memory.

I will give it a listen glos but the playlist looks a bit too much pop for my taste. Looking at the playlist for the last hour it had Queen, Hot Chocolate and Billy Joel and two of sluffy's favourites - Sweet Caroline and Space Oddity!

Some of the sixties music will still be around in hundreds of years time but nothing I've seen on here will.