10 Vinyl Records Every Folk Rock Fan Should Already Own

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Some albums are so essential, so key to the identity of a particular type of music or era of history, that they likely sit in many, if not most, collections. Think of an album like Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours," which every classic rock fan should already own. Folk rock is no different — it's stuffed with key albums that every fan should have.

When we say that fans "should already own" said albums, this means that we're choosing LPs that represent some of the best, most agreed-upon, most landmark and often-cited albums of the genre. Taken on a whole, these albums summarize what folk rock is all about. OG folk rock had a fairly brief, though not-uninfluential time in the sun, kicking off in 1965 thanks to artists like Bob Dylan and the Byrds fusing rock instrumentation and rhythms with acoustic folk pickings and strumming. Our choices are more or less confined to this period of time, from mid-60s through early '70s, and represent the full range of folk voices and stylings. As tempting as it would be to pick multiple albums from the likes of Dylan, Neil Young, or Joni Mitchell, we've also limited each artist to one appearance in this article. Even so, we had to leave a lot of talent out.

Of course a Bob Dylan record had to be here, and of course it was always going to be 1965's "Highway 61 Revisited," delivered right when he started infusing electrified rock elements into folk. The album is a masterpiece of lyrical and musical composition, containing songs like the 11-minute-plus, nearly perfect "Desolation Row" that ought to be required listening for younger generations. In fact, "Highway 61 Revisited" is arguably the best straight-up folk rock record ever. Then again, if you're a vinyl collector and folk rock fan, you already know this and probably already own it.  

While there's a case to be made that better Byrds albums exist, there's no more iconic and readily identifiable LP in their catalog than 1965's "Mr. Tambourine Man." Helping to popularize folk rock in the mid-60s along with Bob Dylan, each Byrds album is very much a microcosm of its specific moment in time — a different tweak on the folk rock formula. But considering that late-career Byrds (early '70s) took a turn toward worse quality, it's likely that this "Mr. Tambourine Man" is the one album you've got tucked away in your collection.

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's one and only studio album, 1970's "Déjà Vu," is a masterclass in gentle, moving, yet sturdy rock intertwined with folk elements. Before leaving to do his own, highly successful thing, Neil Young played the biggest role in elevating this album to its stratospheric heights of quality. Songs like "Helpless" are painfully vulnerable, portray this album at its finest, and capture the poetic soul of folk rock possibly better than anything.

What are you doing if you don't have Neil Young's 1972 "Harvest" in your folk rock collection? Sure, Young couldn't stand "Heart of Gold" because he thought it was boring (and it thrust him into the limelight), and "On the Beach" from his album of the same name defined rock history in 1974 and showed him at his most poignant. Yet there's no album that's more quintessentially Young than "Harvest." This is folk rock at the direct center of the accessible, authentic, and meaningful Venn diagram.

What can we say about Joni Mitchell that hasn't been said before? Every one of her albums deserves to be in best-of lists of some type, including what is arguably her folk-rock height: 1971's "Blue." A hybrid album that's not as fully instrumentalized as the lesser-cited, superb, jazz-laced "Hejira," "Blue" represents Mitchell stretching her creative muscles away from pure folk. Speaking of those best-of lists, this album was ranked the best Laurel Canyon album ever in a BBC Music Magazine poll. 

George Harrison went on something of a soul-seeking journey after the Beatles called it quits. The break-up was good for him partly because his time with the band left him full of anger, as he considered himself pushed into the background. It was also good because Harrison was able to release albums like 1970's "All Things Must Pass." The LP was part roots rock-influenced, part blues and gospel-tinged, but retained some strictly folk rock outings like "If Not for You" (a song he wrote with Bob Dylan). "All Things Must Pass" belongs in every folk rock lover's collection if it isn't already there.

"The Sounds of Silence," the song, is the most folk rockiest song of all folk rock songs, and as such, its 1966 album belongs in this article and your record collection. But really, "Sounds of Silence" is a magnificent LP on a whole, full of pure musical craftsmanship, no matter that Paul Simon despised the infusion of electric guitar and up-tempo components into the album's eponymous track. But thanks to that creative decision, we've all gotten a chance to glimpse the song's harrowing existentialism and tuck its vinyl onto our shelves. 

Buffalo Springfield might not be the first band to come to mind when thinking of folk rock, as they definitely skew more rock than folk. With that said, their 1967 self-titled album (not 1966 — we'll get to that) belongs on the shelves of every folk rock fan. Plus, Neil Young was in the group. A very guitar-focused album full of atmosphere and vocal harmonies, it got a huge shot in the arm with its 1967 reissue, which included the group's massive, famous single, "For What It's Worth." But even if you have the 1966 version of the LP without this song, it's still excellent.

The Grateful Dead do folk rock and not toke rock? Indeed, this is exactly what happened with 1970's "American Beauty," an album that allowed non-Deadheads to gain access to an otherwise very inaccessible band with about a quadrillion live albums (233, give or take). Highlights include the irrepressible "Truckin'," one of the band's best Grateful Dead songs of the '70s. But far from being a mere novelty album, this is possibly the Grateful Dead's best, most sculpted studio LP. It's a folk rock classic from the first song to the last.

"Astral Weeks"  is a truly weird, avant-garde album that centers on folk rock but mixes jazz, blues, world music, and more into its one-of-a-kind cocktail. Van Morrison's 1968 LP is something folk rock fans definitely ought to own, no matter that "Sweet Thing" is overrated. This work has taken on such a singular status and reputation that in 2008, The Guardian questioned whether it's the greatest album ever made. That's a stretch, but "Astral Weeks'" has more soulful, searching elements combined with fearless songwriting, which makes it likely to be on your shelf.