Editor’s Note: We asked Bob Spitz, the author of Barefoot in Babylon: The Creation of the Woodstock Music Festival, 1969, to create the perfect playlist for that era. And did he ever. As an added bonus, check out the Spotify playlist to accompany the post, below.

Foxey Lady
Every 1960s playlist has to begin with Jimi Hendrix. His acid-tinged riffs define a generation’s sound and, frankly, there has never been another guitar player as identifiable or inventive.

Light My Fire
The argument has always been that the Doors don’t swing, and to a large extent that is true. But whatever they lacked in swing they made up for in self-styled spookiness. Jim Morrison took listeners into the stony stratosphere and this song flies higher into the ether. Goofy – but worth it.

Sunshine of Your Love
Well, of course, there’s that riff. It sets the groove from the opening bars and just gets groovier and groovier right up until Ginger Baker’s drums collapse in exhaustion. Plus Clapton’s leads – on guitar and vocals – are unbeatable.

Suite: Judy Blue Eyes
When Crosby Stills & Nash introduced this “suitie” at Woodstock, it shifted the sound of rock from the East Coast to the West and, with it, a new way of singing. All those gorgeous harmonies – whew, exhausting. The form of it works on so many levels, leading to the joyous scat that gets you off at the end. (I guarantee you they weren’t scared shitless when they sang it.)

Big Yellow Taxi
A Joni Mitchell song should always follow CSN; their lives and careers were so intertwined. Too difficult to pick just one, though – she wrote so many gorgeous songs. But who can argue with the line “they paved paradise and put up a parking lot?” Wish I had come up with that.

Like a Rolling Stone
Just because it’s the greatest rock song ever written! The anger, the irony, the poetry, that voice, all wrapped around the funkiest, but most unique and groundbreaking, instrumental arrangement. It’s instructive every time I hear it, all these years later. “How does it feel?” Exactly.

I Can’t Help Myself
While everyone was getting stoned and groovy, the Tops were singin’ it like it is. Sure Otis and the Temps and the Godfather and Wicked Pickett were spreading the gospel, but the Tops were my preferred cup of soul. “Sugar-pie honeybunch …” I defy you not to get up and dance.

In-A Gadda-Da-Vida
Okay, okay, I know it’s one-hundred-percent cheese, but everybody needs to take a bathroom break.

You Didn’t Have to Be So Nice
What would a Sixties playlist be without the Lovin’ Spoonful on it? Nothing says peace and love like John Sebastian’s voice, and the melody gives it a lovely lift. Anyway, name another band that put an autoharp on a rock track.

Somebody to Love
It’s the San Francisco sound in a nutshell, literally. The Airplane always seemed like they were in constant turmoil, from the personality rifts to the erratic live performances. But there were a few prize jewels in the chaos and this is one of them. It’s anthemic and just soars.

Do You Know What I Mean?
A true Lee Michaels classic. Lee who? Ah, you need to dig through the stacks and discover Lee Michaels. He was a staple of shows all through the Sixties and could ignite a crowd better than TNT. The guy was practically a one-man band: He played the fiercest organ I ever heard, plus piano, and bass (with pedals) all at the same time. Start with “Heighty-Hi” and work all the way through his stuff. You’ll know what I mean.

The Beatles
No, that’s not a misprint. It’s the real title of the White Album, and everything on it deserves a sequential listen. First off, the Beatles were the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band of all time (we all agree on that, right?), and with this album they were moving into new, more exploratory territory. Caution: listening requires good headphones and stimulants.

California Dreamin’
Those voices! Did anyone ever harmonize better? Okay, I said the same thing about Crosby, Stills & Nash, but … really! Cass Elliot was one of the most underrated singers of her generation, and the others were no slouches either. This song puts you right there on the beach or anywhere else the sun warms your soul. Considering they only recorded for about six months or so, they left a considerable impact.

Good Lovin’
Did any group’s name define their sound better than the Rascals? This song is friskiness in a bottle. Hard to believe it wasn’t recorded in a garage. The kind of song Gene Vincent might have made if he’d hung around for the 1960s sideshow.

(I Wanna Take You) Higher
Let’s give the guy his due: Sly Stone invented funk. And that band of his cooked like no one else. When it came to grooves, no one was groovier, and this song is a frantic get-up-and-dancer. It’s one of music’s true tragedies that he couldn’t get his stuff together. Boom-chukka-chukka-chukka.

Wouldn’t It Be Nice
You didn’t think I was going to forget the Beach Boys, did you? They kind of faded during the Summer of Love years, but their songs sure continued to hit all the peaks. Did anyone ever harmonize better? (Sorry.) This is one of Brian’s masterpieces, every word rings true. It’s absolutely exuberant.