In recent days we brought you Paste Magazine's ranking of the 100 greatest songs of the '70s. Today we return to those digital frequencies to bring you a similar Top 100, this time devoted to the previous decade, the Sixties. "Our picks for the 100 greatest songs of the 1960s aren't meant to replicate those of other publications," the magazine explains in its introduction. "This list represents the viewpoint of our five staff members and several contributors on what we consider the creative peak of what is probably the most extraordinary decade in music history. Some songs were unavoidable, but from the start we chose to follow our own personal tastes rather than stick to the usual conventions of 'greatest of all time' lists. Of course Beach Boys, Beatles and Bob Dylan are here, but we chose the songs of theirs that mean the most to us as individual writers, rather than the ones enshrined by history. There is one important rule to clarify before diving into the list: we included only one song per artist, otherwise this list would have been 40% Beatles. Also, this is not meant to represent a ranking of the best artists of the Sixties, but purely of the best songs released between 1960 and 1969."
Here, then, is the ranking of the 100 greatest songs of the 1960s according to Paste's staff (full feature here). On OndaRock, meanwhile, you can find our Ranking of the best albums of the Sixties.
100. Wayne Shorter – “Infant Eyes”
99. Pink Floyd – “Bike”
98. The Miracles – “I Second That Emotion”
97. Laura Nyro – “Stoned Soul Picnic”
96. King Crimson – “21st Century Schizoid Man”
95. Eric Dolphy – “Hat and Beard”
94. Blind Faith – “Had to Cry Today”
93. Ike & Tina Turner – “River Deep – Mountain High”
92. Donovan – “Epistle to Dippy”
91. Scott Walker – “The Seventh Seal”
90. Patsy Cline – “She’s Got You”
89. The Four Tops – “Reach Out, I’ll Be There”
88. Buffalo Springfield – “Broken Arrow”
87. The Angels – “My Boyfriend’s Back”
86. Bill Evans & Jim Hall – “Darn That Dream”
85. The Zombies – “Care of Cell 44”
84. James Brown – “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag”
83. Serge Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot – “Bonnie and Clyde”
82. Merle Haggard – “Mama Tried”
81. The Tammys – “Egyptian Shumba”
80. Love – “The Red Telephone”
79. Archie Bell & The Drells – “Tighten Up”
78. The Byrds – “What’s Happening?”
77. Buffy Sainte-Marie – “Adam”
76. Roy Orbison – “In Dreams”
75. Led Zeppelin – “What Is and What Should Never Be”
74. Johnny Cash – “Ring of Fire”
73. Charles Mingus – “Track B-Duet Solo Dancers”
72. Os Mutantes – “A Minha Menina”
71. Albert Ayler – “Ghosts”
70. Tommy James & The Shondells – “Crimson and Clover”
69. Jacques Brel – “J’Arrive”
68. Etta James – “At Last”
67. Joni Mitchell – “Cactus Tree”
66. Herbie Hancock – “Cantaloupe Island”
65. Vanilla Fudge – “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”
64. Midnight Movers – “Medicated Goo”
63. Loretta Lynn – “Don’t Come Home a Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind)”
62. The Temptations – “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg”
61. Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band – “Moonlight on Vermont”
60. The Chiffons – “One Fine Day”
59. Elvis Presley – “Suspicious Minds”
58. The Cannonball Adderley Quintet – “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy”
57. Marvin Gaye – “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”
56. Harry Nilsson – “Everybody’s Talkin'”
55. Ketty Lester – “Love Letters”
54. The Sonics – “Strychnine”
53. Jorge Ben – “Mas, que nada!”
52. The Who – “Anyway Anyhow Anywhere”
51. Stan Getz & João Gilberto – “The Girl From Ipanema”
50. The Shirelles – “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”
49. Ray Charles – “I Can’t Stop Loving You”
48. Procol Harum – “A Whiter Shade of Pale”
47. Doris Troy – “Just One Look”
46. The Meters – “Cissy Strut”
45. The Cleftones – “Heart and Soul”
44. Leonard Cohen – “So Long, Marianne”
43. Jackie Wilson – “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher”
42. Nico – “Frozen Warnings”
41. Otis Redding – “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay”
40. David Axelrod – “The Human Abstract”
39. The Doors – “When the Music’s Over”
38. Tammy Wynette – “Stand By Your Man”
37. Grateful Dead – “Dark Star”
36. The Crystals – “He’s a Rebel”
35. The Monks – “Monk Time”
34. Jackie Shane – “Any Other Way”
33. The Band – “The Weight”
32. Isaac Hayes – “Walk On By”
31. Sam Cooke – “Bring It On Home to Me”
30. Neil Young and Crazy Horse – “Down by the River”
29. Gal Costa – “Baby”
28. The Stooges – “I Wanna Be Your Dog”
27. Van Morrison – “Sweet Thing”
26. Aretha Franklin – “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man”
25. Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Born on the Bayou”
24. Mickey Newbury – “San Francisco Mable Joy”
23. The Rolling Stones – “She’s a Rainbow”
22. Dusty Springfield – “Son of a Preacher Man”
21. Toots and the Maytals – “Pressure Drop”
20. Bob Dylan – “Visions of Johanna”
19. Martha Reeves & The Vandellas – “(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave”
18. John Coltrane – “A Love Supreme Pt. 1”
17. Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood – “Some Velvet Morning”
16. Pharoah Sanders – “The Creator Has a Master Plan”
15. Townes Van Zandt – “Fare Thee Well, Miss Carousel”
14. The Kinks – “Waterloo Sunset”
13. Judy Garland – “Over the Rainbow (Live at Carnegie Hall)”
12. The Velvet Underground – “Pale Blue Eyes”
11. The Supremes – “You Can’t Hurry Love”
10. Glen Campbell – “Wichita Lineman”
9. The Shangri-Las – “Out in the Streets”
8. The Jimi Hendrix Experience – “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)”
7. The Beatles – “Eleanor Rigby”
6. Lorraine Ellison – “Stay With Me”
5. The Beach Boys – “I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times”
4. Miles Davis – “Shhh/Peaceful”
3. Nina Simone – “Lilac Wine”
2. Simon & Garfunkel – “America”
1. The Ronettes – “Be My Baby”
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This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Claudio Fabretti, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.