The music business might be a creative one, but it’s a business just the same, meaning that a successful album is typically defined by its number of sales and critical acclaim. Based on that definition alone, one could reasonably label these four albums from the 1960s as flops. Whether from poor sales numbers, unyielding criticism, or an unpleasant mixture of the two, these albums certainly didn’t achieve the results the artists initially hoped for.
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…at first, that is. Like a fine wine or a river slowly carving out the rock it flows over, these 1960s albums needed time to marinate. (Or, perhaps more accurately, the rest of the world needed time to marinate on the albums.) In the end, these records would earn the accolades they deserved upon first release. It would just take many years, even decades, before it happened.
‘Jackson C. Frank’ by Jackson C. Frank
American singer-songwriter Jackson C. Frank came up alongside other 1960s folk legends like Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. But a general aversion to fame and his coinciding mental health issues ultimately led to his departure from the scene. Before he left, he recorded one eponymous album in 1965 with the help of Simon, who served as the producer. Although songs like “Blues Run the Game” and “Milk and Honey” are now considered highly influential folk tracks from that decade, Frank would never live to see the full extent of his musical accolades. He died at 56 in a nursing home in Massachusetts. His work went on to inspire countless folk artists like Nick Drake, Laura Marling, John Mayer, and more.
‘Take a Picture’ by Margo Guyran
Similarly to Jackson C. Frank, Margo Guyran had tremendous potential to be one of the “next big things” in the 1960s folk world. However, Guyran wasn’t willing to succumb to the necessary requirements of fame (i.e., a manager, booking agent, and other representatives that largely dictate what an artist should and should not do). Shortly after releasing her 1968 album Take a Picture on Bell Records, Guyran opted out of touring and was subsequently dropped from her label. A resurgence of Guyran’s music began in the 1990s, eventually leading to a reissue of Take a Picture and subsequent release of a collection of demos, titled 27 Demos, on Burger Records. Although she would release music in her later years, Guyran’s “fame” certainly paled in comparison to her contemporaries like Joni Mitchell or Melanie Safka.
‘The Velvet Underground & Nico’ by The Velvet Underground and Nico
Innovation does not always garner the greatest critical reception. In fact, some of the most inventive works are also the most divisive upon their first release. Such was true for the 1960s art rock album The Velvet Underground & Nico. The American rock band and German singer created a sound that would go on to inspire countless subgenres of rock ‘n’ roll, including shoegaze, punk, and garage rock. But at the time of its release, the eponymous album was, by industry definition, a failure. It wasn’t until the late 1970s that critics started to take note of the clear line between the Velvet Underground and Nico’s album and the broad swath of music they helped inspire in the years and decades that followed.
‘Freak Out!’ by Frank Zappa
If we were to look at chart positions alone, Frank Zappa’s 1967 double album Freak Out! would seem like a poorly received dud. Of course, that assumption would negate the thriving cult following that Zappa and the Mothers of Invention gained throughout the 1960s. But even in the mainstream realm, Freak Out! eventually gained its rightful props when critics started realizing the immense influence this psychedelic, highly satirical album had on other chart-topping successes like the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Three decades after peaking at No. 130 on the Billboard 200, the Mothers of Invention received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award for their experimental and biting critique on American pop culture.
Photo by Ginny Winn/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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