Some comments since votings about done:
Beatles have about double the votes of the Stones. I'm surprised by this. I thought in the Beatles vs. the Stones, "Obners" were a pretty evenly divided camp. I guess the Stones crew is just more vocal and/or I'm projecting my own preferences in part. I think Let It Bleed is at least as highly respected within the Stones catalog as Abbey Road is within the Beatles, so its probably a good barometer I'd think of each bands' relative popularity
I don't blame SK too much for including Led Zeppelin. Its clearly one of 15 or so albums from this year that one could say is deserving based on general Obner popularity. That said, I hate Zeppelin and I'm getting tired of seeing them on the list so often when bands/artists I love and also think are deserving (eg Flying Burrito Brothers, Nick Drake, Isaac Hayes) are not included.
I guess Sly and the Family Stone are "indie-approved" funk. I like 'em but not nearly as much as you all seem too and that's even counting myself as a huge funk fan.
After mulling it over, I voted other which I will say is for Flying Burrito Brothers. I could just as easily say its for Eddie Gale or Isaac Hayes if I were in a different mood though.
And here's a few summary blurbs for some of my lesser known 1969 favorites in case anyone's interested in checking more stuff from this year out.
Eddie Gale "Black Rhythmn Happening"
AMG Wrote:
Love it or hate it, trumpeter Eddie Gale's second Blue Note outing as a leader is one of the most adventurous recordings to come out of the 1960s. Black Rhythm Happening picks up where Ghetto Music left off, in that it takes the soul and free jazz elements of his debut and adds to them the sound of the church in all its guises — from joyous call and response celebration on the title track (and album opener), to the mournful funeral sounds of "Song of Will," to the determined Afro-Latin-style chanting on "Mexico Thing" that brings the pre-Tommy Dorsey gospel to the revolutionary song style prevalent in Zapata's Mexico — all thanks to the Eddie Gale Singers. Elsewhere, wild smatterings of hard and post-bop ("Ghetto Love Night") and angular modal music ("Ghetto Summertime," featuring Elvin Jones on drums and Joann Stevens-Gale on guitar), turn the jazz paradigm of the era inside out, simultaneously admitting everything in a coherent, wonderfully ambitious whole. There is no doubt that Archie Shepp listened to both Ghetto Music and Black Rhythm Happening before setting out to assemble his Attica Blues project. The album closes with "Look at Teyonda," a sprawling exercise in the deep melding of African and Latin folk musics with the folk-blues, flamenco, and jazz rhythms. Funky horns (courtesy of Gale, Russell Lyle, and Roland Alexander) moan toward Fulumi Prince's startlingly beautiful vocal. Stevens-Gale's guitar whispers the tune into the field before the saxophones and brass come to get it, and when they do, long open lines are offered slowly and deliberately, as Jones' shimmering ride cymbals triple-time the beat into something wholly Other. Black Rhythm Happening is a timeless, breathtaking recording, one that sounds as forward-thinking and militant in the 21st century as it did in 1969.
Bobby Hutcherson "Now!"AMG Wrote:
Now! is one of Bobby Hutcherson's most adventurous recordings. Cut with the Harold Land Quintet in 1969, Hutcherson augments the lineup with vocalist the Right Reverend Eugene McDaniels (then Gene McDaniels) and a chorus at the height of Black Power consciousness. While this band may not appeal to straight hard and post-bop listeners who prefer their music instrumentally, it is a compelling and even stunning record if accepted on its own terms. The compositions reflect the tightrope Hutcherson and Land walked on their earlier outings together between post-bop and vanguard jazz The interplay between Hutcherson and Stanley Cowell's 's piano in the instrumental passages in "Slow Change" is so intuitive and symbiotic it may slip by the listener who is not paying attention. Land's solo too, comes out for the post-Coltrane ethos and fills the vocal lines powerfully and convincingly. Elsewhere, on "Hello to the Wind," written by drummer Joe Chambers and McDaniels, the influence of Terry Callier is evident in the tune's dynamic and melody line that is led by Wally Richardson's guitar. With fine piano work by Kenny Barron and a fluid, modal bassline by Herbie Lewis. McDaniels' voice is in fine form here, his husky baritone effortlessly coloring the mix. The title cut is a short lullaby written by Hutcherson and McDaniels, tender, simple and haunting as Land's saxophone winds through the shouts of female voices with restraint and elegance. The utter creative vision of Herbie Lewis' "The Creators" showcases the band at the height of its powers with Cowell holding the piano chair with killer Latin rhythms, psychedelic electric guitar and a provocative engagement between Land, Hutcherson and the chorus. The original set ends with "Black Heroes" by Land. A scatted, syncopated piece of counterculture beat jazz, it offers a better portrait of the band than it does of McDaniels or the choral group. A hard bop piece with a striated and knotty vocal intro and finish, it is a fitting and exciting final track
Food "Forever is a Dream"Dusty Groove Wrote:
beautifully baroque bit of psychedelia from the late 60s -- the only album recorded by the group Food, a sad and somber batch of tunes that really stands out from the pack! The core quintet is augmented on the set by some larger arrangements that mix in strings and horns -- really opening up the sound into territory that's somewhere in the neighborhood of groups like Gandalf and The Left Banke. The set was recorded in Chicago at the mostly-soul Ter Mar Studios, done with a wonderful juxtaposition of styles that we never would have expected -- and which gives the record a depth that's kept it pretty darn fresh over the years! Titles include "Naive Prayers", "No", "Lady Miss Ann", "Leaves", "Marbled Wings", "Inside The Mirror", and "Forever Is A Dream".
usty 
halk
