Seven effervescent and engaging pop albums from 1969

5. Boz Scaggs – Boz Scaggs

This is a strong debut album, discounting his 1966 Sweden-only release Boz, that delivers numerous stylistic shifts into disparate genres (even on consecutive tracks) such as gospel-inflected soul (“Another Day, Another Letter”), country (“Now You're Gone”) and baroque pop (“Finding Her”).

Notably, four straight tracks on the album (numbers five through eight) feature the inimitable talents of Skydog, aka Duane Allman, on slide guitar. Not unexpectedly, those tracks are all highlights, especially the over 12-minute-long "Loan Me A Dime", which is full of fiery slide guitar wails courtesy of Allman. This album is a sumptuous blend of soul, blues, country, bluegrass, and pop, and it has aged extremely well considering it’s 55 years old this year.

4. Odessa – Bee Gees

Regarded as the Bee Gee’s best 1960s album, Odessa is notably quite proggy and psychedelic-sounding, though some of the sumptuous harmonies the group would become known for are present on tracks such as the impressive "Lamplight" as well as stunning album highlight "Melody Fair.”

This album serves as a notable step forward in terms of artistic merit for the group, as they delivered a cohesive, semi-concept album instead of simply a collection of catchy pop hits – which is what the group had been known for before this release.