While the 1950s was a rather fallow period for album listeners – unless you were a jazz fan, of course – the mid-1960s was when albums began to become the preferred listening method for music lovers. However, 1964 was still a bit too early for that to be the case and singles and radio play were still the dominant listening method for most people.
Despite that, 1964 was a tremendous year for music, especially due to the fact that the British Invasion was in full swing by that year – especially after The Beatles performed on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964 to an audience of 73 million people (the entire population of the U.S. at that point was roughly 191 million).
The best albums of 1964, which are celebrating their 60th anniversary this year, showcase a wide breadth of different styles and artists. Read on to explore the 10 best from that year.
The British Invasion was in full swing by 1964
10. Stay Awhile/I Only Want to Be With You – Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield’s debut album sees the British chanteuse deliver a bevy of gutsy performances, including the classic title track, “I Only Want to Be With You,” which is one of the best opening songs from a debut album of all time, as well as hit single “Wishin’ and Hopin’,” which was written by powerhouse songwriting duo Hal David and Burt Bacharach.
The album also features deeper cuts such as “Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa,” “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” and the fun “Mockingbird,” though the definitive version of that song comes via Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels in the film Dumb and Dumber, of course. Springfield’s sound served as the U.K.’s answer to Motown, and though she would deliver more impressive artistic highs later on in the 1960s, this is a strong opening salvo from a gifted singer.
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9. All Summer Long – The Beach Boys
This album features a beautifully designed (and oft-parodied/copied) cover, and it kicks off with one of the Beach Boys’ best early-album tracks, “I Get Around,” which is a tremendous showcase for the burgeoning songwriting and arranging brilliance of group leader and main songwriter Brian Wilson. A gorgeous slice of sun-kissed pop genius, that track serves as an astounding opener for the album.
There are deep cuts on the album well worth your time, though, such as the title track “All Summer Long,” which is beautiful and has a slight tone that laments the fact that it “won’t be long until summertime is through,” as well as the gorgeous, nearly a capella “Hushabye,” which features Mike Love and Brian Wilson trading equally tender and sweet lead vocal lines. As with many early Beach Boys albums, it’s let down by piffle such as the joke song “Our Favorite Recording Sessions” and the heavy-handed pastiche “Do You Remember.”
8. Live at Birdland – John Coltrane
Saxophonist John Coltrane delivered some of the finest jazz of the 1960s. This 1964 album serves as a terrific precursor to his crowning artistic achievement, A Love Supreme, which was released the following year in 1965. Coltrane’s band – McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on double bass, and Elvin Jones on drums – is in fine form throughout this hybrid live/studio album, as each has plenty of moments of brilliance, though Coltrane's transcendent lead sax lines dominate proceedings, and with good reason.
His eminently expressive playing on this album serves as a frenetic precursor to his work on A Love Supreme a year later, though his incendiary solo with no backing from the band on “I Want to Talk About You” is among his best-ever solos on any album.
7. Mary Wells Sings My Guy – Mary Wells
An amazing early Motown album with all of the songcraft and tight backing instrumentation the label was known for during this era. Mary Wells delivers these in-house Motown creations with panache and verve with a supple, sultry voice that is well-suited to the material.
This is especially true on strong tracks such as “Whisper You Love Me Boy” and “He Holds His Own” - which were written by dynamic Motown songwriting team Holland-Dozier-Holland - or opening track “He’s The One I Love” or the track that gives the album its name: “My Guy,” both of which were written by songwriting legend Smokey Robinson. “My Guy” in particular sounds as fresh and fun as it likely was 60 years ago when it debuted, and it certainly deserves its place as the Motown label’s third-ever No. 1 single.
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6. Getz/Gilberto – Stan Getz and João Gilberto
A collaboration album between Brazilian guitarist João Gilberto, American saxophonist Stan Getz, and Brazilian pianist and composer Antonio Carlos Jobim, who wrote much of the material, this gorgeous, low-key jazz affair also launched the career of Astrud Gilberto, who was João’s wife at the time.
A smash hit upon release, this album opened with the evergreen “The Girl from Ipanema,” which starts with João’s soft, wispy voice singing in Portuguese and then switches to Astrud’s smooth, nonchalant voice singing in English – all with Getz’s tasteful sax lines peeking in and out of the arrangement. It’s an intoxicating blend, and this album overall has aged exquisitely well, it sounds just as effortlessly cool as it surely did upon release in 1964.
5. Beatles for Sale – The Beatles
If you’re ever looking to learn how to sing harmony vocals, this is the album for you. The Beatles’ second album from 1964 is a bit of a let-down after the first – more on that later – but it’s still littered with classic tracks, such as the urgent opener “No Reply,” the Bob Dylanesque “I’m A Loser,” and the sunny, pastoral classic “I’ll Follow The Sun.”
Of course, No. 1 hit “Eight Days A Week” is among the most well-known songs the group produced, and the chiming guitar riff that introduces itself through an unusual fade-in at the beginning still sounds striking and original 60 years after it was released.
4. Ain’t That Good News – Sam Cooke
This was the final album released during Sam Cooke's lifetime, and what a swan song it is. Cooke wrote or co-wrote half of the songs on this collection, including the catchy “Another Saturday Night” as well as the evergreen “A Change Is Gonna Come,” which still stands as one of the most powerful soul songs ever recorded and is universally regarded as Cooke’s crowning achievement.
Beyond those cuts, the album is littered with other highlights such as “Falling in Love,” “Good Times,” and “The Riddle Song,” during the recording of which Cooke apparently broke down due to the recent loss of his infant son, Vincent. This album showcases the depth of Cooke's supreme talents, and it is tragic that the man was never able to record a follow-up to one of the best albums of 1964.
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3. St. Louis to Liverpool – Chuck Berry
Released after Chuck Berry got out of prison in order to cash in on the myriad British Invasion groups, plus the Beach Boys, being heavily influenced by (and sometimes straight-up covering) his music. This 1964 album proves that one of rock ‘n’ roll’s pioneers still had plenty of writing and performing chops. “No Particular Place to Go” easily stands out as one of the best songs of all time, but the album is far more than just that rock standard, as it is packed with earworms from start to finish.
Minor classics such as “You Never Can Tell,” “Little Marie,” and “Promised Land” stand shoulder-to-shoulder with deeper cuts such as the powerful blues ballad “The Things I Used to Do,” the suave “You Two” – and even a Christmas song in the form of Berry's soulful reading of “Merry Christmas Baby.” A stone-cold classic and essential listening for any fan of rock music.
2. Where Did Our Love Go – The Supremes
An incredibly polished and near-perfect pop album from the hitmakers at Hitsville U.S.A. (Motown’s first headquarters), this album spawned a staggering three number-one singles and quickly vaulted Motown into the stratosphere in terms of popularity and cultural significance. And with good reason. This album is just as rewarding and inviting today as it was 60 years ago when it was first released.
Featuring the three No. 1s (“Where Did Our Love Go,” “Baby Love,” “Come See About Me”) as well as a plethora of top-tier album cuts, such as the intensely urgent “Run, Run, Run,” the twisting, intoxicating melody of “Standing at The Crossroads of Love,” the Florence Ballard-led “Long Gone Lover” and the dramatic, show-stopping closing song “Ask Any Girl,” Where Did Our Love Go would easily be the top album of 1964 were it not for the Fab Four.
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1. A Hard Day’s Night – The Beatles
The first Beatles album that featured no cover songs, this is the album in which the Lennon/McCartney songwriting partnership began to hit its stride after the duo authored one of the best opening songs on a debut album from the 1960s. Featuring several notable singles, such as the engaging and legendary title track as well as the brisk, entertaining “Can’t Buy Me Love,” the songs on the first half of this album were also featured on the Liverpudlians’ first feature film of the same name.
What’s surprising about that is that the second half of the album might arguably have a higher overall level of quality thanks to the powerhouse Lennon composition “Any Time At All,” the pensive and thoughtful “Things We Said Today” from McCartney as well as two masterful songs to close the album: “You Can’t Do That,” with its chiming, driving guitar part and the wistful, pained closer “I’ll Be Back.”
The Beatles would certainly delve into far deeper lyrical material as well as more sonically adventurous work on later albums, but this serves as the group’s finest early-career album, and it features all the hallmarks of the band.
Heavenly harmonies can be found throughout the album, though they’re at their best on the flawless love song “If I Fell.” “I’m Happy Just to Dance with You” is a showcase for George Harrison’s vocal talents, but also features an interesting, twangy guitar riff. “And I Love Her,” is a striking, moody love song delivered sweetly by the cherubic McCartney with a gorgeous nylon-string guitar solo from George. A flawless album from 1964.