ARLO GUTHRIE / Alice's Restaurant (1967)

Arlo, son of Woody, carved his own deep niche in the folk pantheon with a blend of poignant observations on life and liberty, anti-establishment anecdotes and a laid back sense of humour. The superb 18+ minute title track tends to overshadow the other songs on his début album, but they all deserve attention. Split into two parts like it is means you get two sides of Arlo's personality, both of which feed and inform each other in their own unique way.

Songs of Note: Alice's Restaurant Massacree; The Motorcycle Song

5 friendlies on the bench out of 5

LEONARD COHEN / Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967)

Leonard sings the things we all want to be able to feel. Folk songs that initially appear to function as snippets of a life mundane are really poems filled with simplistic beauty and a humble longing for truth. His voice leads, the soft guitar reinforces and the melody soars. If you're old enough (even in spirit, if not in years) to appreciate the work, then you'll know that it's one of the finest début albums ever made. It captured everything that he was and would become. His voice is calming but his words are stirring. It's perfection.

Songs of Note: Suzanne; Sisters of Mercy

5 among the garbage and flowers out of 5

PINK FLOYD - The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn [1967]

Pink Floyd's 1967 debut album, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn is a force to be reckoned with.
Nightmarish and simultaneously charming, Piper is a psychedelic classic filled with lyrical allusions to Lewis Carrol and teetering on the brink of madness. Showcasing the undeniable genius of troubled frontman Syd Barrett, this album is a rarity in the psychedelic genre. Instead of the usual positively uplifting lyrics & sound of the psychedelic age, Barrett & the Floyd took a more frightening route and rattled the brain with horrifyingly dizzying sound effects and lonely lyrics about isolation and outcast misfit characters.
Perhaps one of the best debut albums of all time, Piper is an experience that will remain with me and many others for the rest of time.

5 good mice out of 5

Songs Of Note: Interstellar Overdrive; Bike