The Best Songs of 1963 - Nos. 19 to 16

19. Blowin’ In The Wind – Bob Dylan (The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan)

Blowin’ in the Wind was a magnificent piece of philosophical poetry and marks Bob Dylan’s first appearance on my list. This song inspired a great many artists to break away from the standard love song and to write about more substantive subject matter. It also inspired countless cover versions from artists as disparate as Stevie Wonder and Dolly Parton. Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song at number fourteen on their list of the greatest songs of all time.

18. It Won’t Be Long – The Beatles (With The Beatles)

And so The Beatles make their first appearance on the list. With a fantastic lead vocal from John Lennon and a great guitar riff, our favorite Liverpudlians opened up their second album with this track. It tells the story of a fellow whose girl temporarily left him, but now she’s coming back. Personally, I really love that high note that closes the song out. This was great stuff.

17. Pipeline – The Chantays (Pipeline)
Pipeline


A surf rock classic and the only hit The Chantays ever had. This song had great guitar and keyboard parts, but the whole track had an ethereal quality due to that lead guitar and keyboard being slightly muted in the mix while the bass and rhythm guitar are at the forefront. The song has been covered by artists such as Dick Dale and The Ventures and has become a surf music standard.

16. I Wanna Be Your Man – The Rolling Stones (I Wanna Be Your Man)

The Rolling Stones make their first appearance on my list playing a Lennon-McCartney song. The Beatles recorded this song for their With The Beatles album, but I prefer the version by The Stones. It may be a bit clichéd to say it, but The Stones were just dirtier. I don’t mean that in the sense of naughtiness, but rather they were grittier and had a bit more of hard bluesy edge to them. It certainly worked for this song, but I think the best thing about their version was Brian Jones’ incredible slide guitar.


Comments and opinions are encouraged and appreciated.