What was the first TRUE concept album in rock history?

I disagree. I think it's counterintuitive to have a definition of "concept album" that excludes albums which have an overall thematic concept (like Sinatra's) simply because they lack a narrative. If an album has a unifying concept, it seems to me it should be considered a concept album, regardless of narrative or lack thereof. If one wants to make a distinction, it's easy enough to define a sub-category of "narrative concept album."

Even with the distinction it will go around in circles, because the presence of a narrative can be vague or unclear. Dave is arguing Pet Sounds has a narrative, though the writers did not intend it to. Or how about something like the Kinks' Arthur? The songs themselves don't tell a coherent, followable story, but they were written to accompany a narrative film. So does it count? How explicit does the narrative need to be?

Anyway, in the realm of "narrative concept album" an argument could be made for Jan and Dean Meet Batman which does have a narrative all the way through and predated Days of Future Passed by almost two years.

 

So we're just going to pretend that Zodiac album composed by Mort Garson I mentioned didn't exist? Ok then.

 

And yet Little Deuce Coupe, which has already been dismissed here, meets all the criteria.

Maybe we should all just pick our favorite album.

 

Upon further reflection, I guess probably Elvis' Christmas Album. I know it could be argued that it's not 100% Christmas songs, and it's not 100% rock 'n' roll, but I'm willing to overlook those things.

For narrative concept album, I guess it would be Jan and Dean Meet Batman.

 

No, not at all...but how much can you actually say in a song about a car? It just doesn't fit my particular idea of a concept album. To me a concept album is more than just having a bunch of different songs about the same thing. Maybe my idea of a concept album is too artsy - that's certainly possible.

 

Yeah, I'd say that the concept of a concept album doesn't have to be intellectually deep or profound. There just needs to be some overall unifying concept, but it can be a silly one or even an idiotic one. Would you argue that Jan and Dean Meet Batman is not a concept album, simply because its topic is trivial and its humor is sophomoric?

 

I'm laughing at all the responses we've managed to gather. Just pick your own favorite album criteria folks.

I still say Days Of The Future Passed is the first concept rock album, meeting the purest of all conceptual standards (like a good cut of grade A beef). Top that. w00t

 

its Tommy....Tommy.....Tommy....
Can You Her Me?
Tommy? Tommy? Tommy?

 

Your choices aren't engendering too many votes, not compared to mine anyway. See ya and raise ya my man.

 

"Kind of Blue" by Miles Davis is kind of a concept album. It's a particular mood, very poetic. It's 1959. Jazz...

 

100% in agreement. I once thought it was, but I gave it too much credit in that department, though it may be my favourite album. It's just too much of a stretch to call it conceptual. That couldn't be what Brian was thinking when he put it together, IMO.

 

It was the first Beach Boys album to stand entirely on the strength of vocal songs. All of their previous albums had instrumentals. Thus, it stands or falls based upon the quality of the lyrics. It was a big step forward in this respect in harvesting talent and developing writing talent within the band.

The album also demonstrated early on how the band had the ability to use great lyricists to further a common theme. Wild Honey is probably the only other example of a Beach Boys concept album. The Beach Boys have generally been more of a band that relies upon different concepts like outdoors, exotic locations and travel, sun, the beach, summer, islands, surfing, and love songs on albums to provide variety rather than focus on one concept. Though some of their albums, like All Summer Long and Summer Days, come close to making the title represent a concept album.

 

Well, I get the impression some folks on this thread are invested in narrowing down the definition of "concept album" so that it specifically fits an album that's one of their favorites and excludes anything that came before. IE, people really want an album that they love to be declared the first concept album. But as I've said before, if you go with the commonly-accepted definition of concept album rather than an idiosyncratic and nonstandard definition that favors an album you like, then there's no way to argue that DOFP is the first concept album.

 

Now this might not be the rock era, but I'm putting this out there as the earliest true concept album ever...

Ballads of Sacco and Vanzetti by Woody Guthrie. Released in 1960, but recorded in...wait for it...1946-47 !!!

Folkways owner Moses Asch commissioned it. From start to finish its a concept album on the arrest, trial and execution of the two named people in the title, in 1927.

It's an absolute gem that was brought to my attention about ten years ago on a radio program about the history of the Folkways label. Since getting this release, I've thought it to be the earliest concept album.

 

Certainly not the first released (although it was released before Tommy... just), but worthy of a mention as it is always overlooked outside of Australia and the writing dates back to 1966... The La De Das - The Happy Prince.



Warning, here comes the story.

While preparing their second album Find Us A Way in early 1967, bass guitarist Trevor Wilson came up with a project that he felt would put The La De Das way ahead of their contemporaries and on the map internationally. He hit on the idea of creating what would later be called “rock opera”. For the basis of the piece he chose to adapt Oscar Wilde’s classic tale The Happy Prince. At this point keyboardist Bruce Howard was his only ally, and together they started arranging the piece. It would take several years to come to fruition, and would also be the seed for later divisions within the band.

Seeing The Twilights perform a note-perfect live rendition of the entire Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album, some weeks before it was released in Australia, gave Howard and Wilson’s plan to realise The Happy Prince project even more impetus, although they knew it was something they probably wouldn’t be able to achieve in Australia.

By mid-1968, The La De Das were a hit on the live circuit, but they hadn’t released any records in over a year, steadfastly refusing to record anything other than their cherished The Happy Prince project. The chance finally came when the newly formed independent Sweet Peach label offered to record and release the project.

The band began intensive rehearsals in preparation for recording at Bill Armstrong’s Melbourne studio. But as the year wore on, Sweet Peach repeatedly arranged sessions and then postponed them, and by November the label had pulled out and the deal collapsed. This was a major disappointment for the band, who had worked for several months to arrange and rehearse the piece, and the failure of the deal was a massive letdown for Trevor Wilson.

It was at this point that Melbourne poet, writer, ‘cultural commentator’ and hip identity Adrian Rawlins came to their rescue. He had attended many of the rehearsals and was profoundly impressed with the piece (even going so far as to compare the music to Dvořák). On his way to Townsville in December, he stopped off in Sydney to catch a La De Das gig at the Here Disco in North Sydney; he exhorted the band not to give up on the project and his enthusiasm convinced Trevor Wilson to give it one more try. Gathering support from Cordon Bleu, Essex Music and EMI Australia, Rawlins managed to stitch together a deal to record the album.

Overseen by up-and-coming young producer David Woodley-Page, The Happy Prince was recorded over four weeks in early 1969, and whatever its supposed artistic limitations, it was certainly a major technical achievement. Australia lagged behind the UK and USA in access to new recording equipment, so while 8-track was in common use overseas, it wouldn’t be available in Australia until 1970. 4-track recorders, which were the standard in Australia at that time, had definite sonic limitations, as The Beatles had learnt when they began creating more complex music in the mid-60s. The process of “bouncing down”—dubbing a completed 4-track recording onto one track of another tape—demanded skill, care and the best equipment, otherwise the buildup of noise on the master tape would become unacceptable. However, by a neat technical trick, The Happy Prince effectively became Australia’s first 8-track recording, a feat Woodley-Page achieved by recording onto two Scully half-inch, 4-track recorders that were electronically synchronised. This de facto 8-track method provided much greater scope for multitracking and overdubbing and a considerable improvement in overall sound quality.

The band released its magnum opus in April 1969. Hailed as the first Australian concept album, the ambitious album was a suite of songs co-written by Howard and Wilson. Lead vocals were, for the sake of dramatic consistency, entirely by Phil Key. He gives a great performance, especially on the standout tracks “Winter Song” and “Ruby For The Lady”. The album was lauded by the likes of David Elfick, Molly Meldrum and Brain Cadd, but rave reviews from the critics did not transfer into sales. In fact, the album died a death commercially, and the band came close to splitting after its release. The production was excellent and a breakthrough for the time, although the material was criticised as being patchy, rather overblown in parts, and with campy narrated links read by Adrian Rawlins.

With The Happy Prince finally realised, The La De Das decided that the time was right to try their luck in England. After a quick visit home to NZ and a whirlwind tour of Australian capital cities, they boarded a plane for London on 1 June 1969…

 

Well speaking for myself, I'm not. I already explained how I came to my conclusion, just like you did yours in turn.

And as explained before likewise, I'm going with the superior definition (like Columbus did on his voyage of discovery).

 

True by Spandau Ballet.

 

Interesting account. I never even heard of them though, which I guess isn't all that surprising being a scion of the west coast. How big were they in your part of the world?

 

They were a popular live band, but they weren't as big in the sixties as they would become in the early seventies. In late 1973 they released Rock And Roll Sandwich, an album that Aussie rock historian Glenn A Baker claimed as "one of Australia's finest rock albums, a fiery, cohesive work dominated by the superbly talented Kevin Borich and carried off by the reliable gutsiness of Peel and Barber". Kevin Borich was widely regarded as Australia's pre-eminent guitar hero at this time.

The Happy Prince album is now a local collectors item.

 

Since there is no absolute definition of course the term 'concept album' becomes anything anybody decides it is. And of course we're talking strictly popular music here, since many classical compositions, and most operas, would be classified as 'concept albums'. There are loads of popular music albums where the material is loosely connected either lyrically or musically, one of my favorites being The Yes Album. But Tommy was composed as a rock opera, it has both a narrative as well as recurring musical motifs. The Who Sell Out has a concept, for sure, even though some of the songs don't express it. Everything in my opinion became a concept album when the idea that albums were more than a collection of singles became the norm in rock music.

 

So true; objectively defining "filler" is probably even harder to define than "concept album"...

I'm going to check it out...sounds interesting...

 

A definition of "concept album" that excludes a great many albums on which all the songs fit into an overall concept seems counter-intuitive rather than superior to me. But as you said we'll just have to agree to disagree on that.

 

I never actually listened to it (I have been digging through other Mort Garson projects though) Still I think it deserves mention here.

 

In your description above (and in context of what was explained per the superior definition) overall concept = theme. It's that simple, and now hopefully not counter-intuitive. Phew, I'm glad that's finally behind us.

 

Did anyone mention the Holy Modal Rounders' "Indian War Whoop"? It has a narrative that runs all the way through the album, between each of the songs. ("Jimmy and Crash Survey the Universe") 1967, not sure which month. On the other hand, the songs themselves are rather random. Indian War Whoop - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia »