Customer Reviews

Casey Kasem: Top Ten - 60's the Folk Years

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As usual one could cry about who is not included (Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Baez, Arlo, Fred Neil, to mention a few). But what is included here is an excellent sampling of songs and artists who fit very well together and are representative of the era. A lot of tunes that I don't otherwise have already and probably would not have had in my collection, if it were not for there inclusion here. That in itself is worth the price of admission.

Stuff like Oliver's "Good Morning Starshine". By the way can anybody else here the seeds of John Denver there?

The 1960s were a very good time for great folk music; and this CD entitled Casey Kasem: Top Ten - 60's the Folk Years gives us a good single CD retrospective of just some of the best folk music from the `60s. The fine artwork and the sound quality are both very good.

The Lovin' Spoonful start things off with their "Daydream." "Daydream" sounds like folk all right--but there's just a touch of country in there to enhance the number. The guitars are excellent and the rhythm couldn't be better! The Byrds follow with their classic hit entitled "Mr. Tambourine Man;" this ballad has a lush musical arrangement. The number has an upbeat flavor and the percussion helps the melody along. There's also "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair)" by Scott McKenzie; Scott sings this with great sensitivity and it all works very well.

Donovan's "Mellow Yellow" always makes me smile even though I bet there's something hidden in those lyrics that I'll probably never understand; and there's some pretty awesome harmonizing on "Mellow Yellow." Peter, Paul & Mary turn in a strong number called "I Dig Rock And Roll Music;" the three of them harmonize well and Peter, Paul & Mary never sounded better. The Lemon Pipers do their "Green Tambourine" that is folk mixed with a definite psychedelic flavor. "Green Tambourine" has excellent percussion as you might expect.

The Mamas & The Papas do their "California Dreamin';" this song came out at a time when so many young people moved to California in search of true inner peace and a better quality of life. The Mamas & The Papas sing very well on "California Dreamin'" to make this a solid, classic hit.

Peter And Gordon perform "A World Without Love" using their harmonizing to great advantage; and there's Nilsson's hit "Everybody's Talkin'" that will always be one of my favorite songs from this era. Oliver sings "Good Morning, Starshine" with panache and all their heart and soul; and the CD ends with the solid number "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison. Awesome!

As Amazon notes, the lengthy liner notes come in the form of a booklet. Of course, as the other reviewer notes, we could be disappointed that there's no Bob Dylan or Joan Baez here; but what he do get on this CD is such high quality I can almost let this go.

Overall, this is an excellent single CD retrospective of `60s folk music. I highly recommend this CD for fans of this style of music; and the casual fan will find this single CD to offer them quite a bit, too. Diehard fans who also want some Dylan, Baez and more will do well to look for other CDs or a box set of `60s folk music.

This compilation contains a fairly good, if routine, selection of songs, although I never thought of "Angel of the Morning" or "Everybody's Talking" as folk songs, but I suppose just about any mellow pop song from the '60's COULD be interpreted as, or associated with, folk music, so I guess it's a matter of opinion. Regardless, my main issue with this CD is the sound quality. It's not terrible, but it's definitely noticeable, and not up to par with other labels who reissue countless oldies compilations, such as Universal, Rhino, and Ace. Because of my dissatisfaction with the sound quality I doubt I will buy another CD from the label, Top Sail Productions.

Casey Kasem's album `The Folk Years' is really more folk rock than folk music. There are some of the traditional folk singers represented; Judy Collins and Peter, Paul and Mary, but even their selection is ` I Dig Rock and Roll Music'. So... many of the selections are questionable for lovers of the folk music of this era, but they are still enjoyable to hear.
The sound is clear and the 20 songs well represent some of the musical style heard in the 60's.