Well it's pretty obvious if you see what albums were released this year
There wasn't a better year for music then 1967 :]
Jimi Hendrix
Are You Experienced?
The Beatles
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Beach Boys
Smile/Smiley Smile
The Beatles
Magical Mystery Tour
The Who
The Who Sell Out
The Doors
The Doors
Pink Floyd
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
The Kinks
Something Else by The Kinks
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground & Nico
The Rolling Stones
Their Satanic Majesties Request
Cream
Disraeli Gears
Love
Forever Changes
Are we just outright dismissing R&B/Soul music?
R&B/Soul wasn't album-orientated until a little while later - 'Hot Buttered Soul' and 'What's Going On' being pioneering. The first couple of Sly and The Family Stone albums aren't strong either - 'Stand' being the first coherant one.
You must have never heard of Mr. James Brown. Hot Buttered Soul and What's Going On were certainly great albums, but the black community was well aware of albums full of themed music way before then. There's nothing pioneering about What's going on other than how it crossed over into the White Pop mainstream. James Brown and the Famous Flames were selling albums in the 50's that weren't driven by singles. I'm not suggesting they're on the level of Hot Buttered Soul or What's Going On, but the whole discussion we're having is about "best year in music". James Brown was making great songs and great music back in the 50's. Ignoring R&B outright before 1971 because we've never heard the albums the singles were released on is just pedantic. R&B was nearly as important as Rock (and certainly part of it's inception) well into the 70's.
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