# The 18 Greatest Rock Songs of the 1960s

> Fuzz-box riffs, orchestral crescendos and singles that broke every radio rule of their decade. Cast your vote.

*By YPB Team · Published July 30, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-18-greatest-rock-songs-of-the-1960s*

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## Current results (3 votes)

1. **Like a Rolling Stone** — 66.67% (2 votes · score 1000/1000)
   Bob Dylan's six-minute 1965 single that broke the three-minute radio rule and his own folk contract at once.
2. **(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction** — 0% (0 votes · score 771/1000)
   The 1965 Rolling Stones single built on Keith Richards' fuzz-box riff, written half-asleep in a hotel room.
3. **Hey Jude** — 0% (0 votes · score 679/1000)
   The Beatles' 1968 single, seven minutes long with a four-minute singalong coda, and their biggest-selling US hit.
4. **Strawberry Fields Forever** — 33.33% (1 votes · score 647/1000)
   The Beatles' 1967 single, two takes in different keys and tempos spliced into one recording.
5. **Purple Haze** — 0% (0 votes · score 560/1000)
   Jimi Hendrix's 1967 breakthrough single and the sound of the electric guitar being rewired in public.
6. **Gimme Shelter** — 0% (0 votes · score 485/1000)
   The Rolling Stones' 1969 opener to Let It Bleed, with Merry Clayton's vocal cracking on the second chorus.
7. **Fortunate Son** — 0% (0 votes · score 485/1000)
   Creedence Clearwater Revival's 1969 two-minute broadside against inherited privilege.
8. **For What It's Worth** — 0% (0 votes · score 485/1000)
   Buffalo Springfield's 1966 single, two harmonics and a warning that outlived its own decade.
9. **You Really Got Me** — 0% (0 votes · score 397/1000)
   The Kinks' 1964 single, whose slashed speaker cone gave rock its first distorted power chord.
10. **All Along the Watchtower** — 0% (0 votes · score 397/1000)
   Hendrix's 1968 reading of a Dylan song, so definitive that Dylan started playing it Hendrix's way.
11. **A Day in the Life** — 0% (0 votes · score 397/1000)
   The closing track of Sgt. Pepper, two unfinished songs joined by a 40-piece orchestral crescendo.
12. **Sunshine of Your Love** — 0% (0 votes · score 291/1000)
   Cream's 1967 riff, Eric Clapton's answer to hearing Hendrix play live for the first time.
13. **White Rabbit** — 0% (0 votes · score 291/1000)
   Jefferson Airplane's 1967 bolero that turns Alice in Wonderland into a psychedelic manifesto.
14. **Waterloo Sunset** — 0% (0 votes · score 291/1000)
   Ray Davies' 1967 Kinks single, the most English three minutes of the decade.
15. **My Generation** — 0% (0 votes · score 291/1000)
   The Who's 1965 statement of intent, complete with a stutter and John Entwistle's bass solo.
16. **Whole Lotta Love** — 0% (0 votes · score 162/1000)
   Led Zeppelin's 1969 calling card, with a theremin breakdown dropped into the middle of a blues riff.
17. **Light My Fire** — 0% (0 votes · score 162/1000)
   The Doors' 1967 number one, carried by Ray Manzarek's organ and a two-minute instrumental centre.
18. **Good Vibrations** — 0% (0 votes · score 162/1000)
   Brian Wilson's 1966 pocket symphony for the Beach Boys, assembled from sessions at four studios.

Tags: music, rock, 60s, classics