This article includes an overview of the events and trends in
popular music
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...
in the
1960s
File:1960s montage.png, Clockwise from top left: U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War; the Beatles led the British Invasion of the U.S. music market; a half-a-million people participate in the 1969 Woodstock Festival; Neil Armstrong and Buzz ...
.
In
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
and
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
the decade was particularly revolutionary in terms of
popular music
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...
, as it saw the evolution of
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
and the beginnings of the
album era
The album era was a period in English-language popular music from the mid-1960s to the mid-2000s in which the album was the dominant form of recorded music expression and consumption. It was primarily driven by three successive music recording ...
.
At the beginning of the 1960s,
pop and
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
trends of the 1950s continued; nevertheless, the rock and roll of the decade before started to merge into a more international, electric variant. In the early-1960s, rock and roll in its purest form was gradually overtaken by
pop rock
Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...
,
beat
Beat, beats or beating may refer to:
Common uses
* Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area
** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols
** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men
* Battery ( ...
,
psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...
,
blues rock
Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...
, and
folk rock
Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...
, which had grown in popularity. The
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
- and
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Folk Plus or Fol ...
-influenced style associated with the latter half of 1960s rock music spawned a generation of popular
singer-songwriter
A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk-acoustic tradition, although this role has transmuted thr ...
s who wrote and performed their own work. Towards the decade's end, genres such as
Baroque pop
Baroque pop (sometimes called baroque rock) is a fusion genre that combines rock music with particular elements of classical music. It emerged in the mid 1960s as artists pursued a majestic, orchestral sound and is identifiable for its appropria ...
,
sunshine pop
Sunshine pop (originally known as soft pop) is a subgenre of pop music that originated in Southern California in the mid-1960s. Rooted in easy listening and advertising jingles, sunshine pop acts combined nostalgic or anxious moods with "an appre ...
,
bubble gum pop
Bubblegum (also called bubblegum pop) is pop music in a catchy and upbeat style that is considered disposable, contrived, or marketed for children and adolescents. The term also refers to a rock and pop subgenre, originating in the United States ...
, and
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
started to grow popular, with the latter two finding greater success in the following decade. Furthermore, the 1960s saw
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
and
soul music
Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...
rising in popularity;
rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
in general remained popular. The fusion of R&B,
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
, and original rock and roll was a success until the mid-part of the decade. Aside from the popularity of rock and R&B music in the 1960s,
Latin American
Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...
as well as
Jamaican and
Cuban
Cuban may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean
* Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent
** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof
* Cuban citizen, a perso ...
music achieved a degree of popularity throughout the decade, with genres such as
bossa nova
Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovativ ...
, the
cha-cha-cha
Cha cha cha may refer to:
* ''Cha-cha-chá'' (music), a style of Cuban dance music
* Cha-cha-cha (dance), a Latin American dance accompanying the music
Film and television
* ''Cha Cha Cha'' (film), a 2013 Italian crime film
* ''Cha Cha Cha'' ...
,
ska
Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...
, and
calypso being popular. From a
classical point of view, the 1960s were also an important decade as they saw the development of
electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic co ...
,
experimental
An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...
,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
and
contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included seria ...
, notably
minimalism
In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Don ...
and
free improvisation
Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician(s) involved. The term can refer to both a technique (employed by any musician in any genre) and as a recognizable genre in its ...
.
In
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
, various trends marked the popular music of the 1960s. In
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, the decade saw the rise in popularity of several Western popular music groups such as
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
. The success of rock music and bands in Japan started a new genre, known as
Group Sounds
, often abbreviated as GS, is a genre of Japanese rock music which became popular in the mid to late 1960s and initiated the fusion of Japanese ''kayōkyoku'' music and Western rock music. Their music production techniques were regarded as playin ...
, which was popular in the latter half of the decade.
In
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
, genres such as bossa nova,
Nueva canción
Nueva canción (European , ; 'new song') is a left-wing social movement and musical genre in Latin America and the Iberian peninsula, characterized by folk-inspired styles and socially committed lyrics. ''Nueva canción'' is widely recognized to ...
and
Nueva ola started to rise. Rock music began leaving its mark, and achieved success in the 1960s. Additionally,
salsa
Salsa most often refers to:
* Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments
* Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music
* Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music
Salsa or SALSA may also refer to:
A ...
grew popular towards the end of the decade.
In the 1960s
cumbia
Cumbia refers to a number of musical rhythms and folk dance traditions of Latin America, generally involving musical and cultural elements from American Indigenous peoples, enslaved Africans during colonial times, and Europeans. Examples include:
...
entered
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
and left a long-lasting impact on
tropical music
Tropical music ( es, música tropical) is a term in the Latin music, Latin music industry that refers to music genres deriving from or influenced by the Spanish-speaking areas of the Caribbean. It includes the islands of Music of Cuba, Cuba, Music ...
in that country.
United Kingdom
Beat music and the British Invasion
![The Beatles i Hötorgscity 1963](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/The_Beatles_i_H%C3%B6torgscity_1963.jpg)
In the late 1950s, a flourishing culture of groups began to emerge, often out of the declining
skiffle
Skiffle is a genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, country, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a form in the United States ...
scene, in major urban centres in the UK like
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
,
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
,
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
and
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. This was particularly true in Liverpool, where it has been estimated that there were around 350 different bands active, often playing ballrooms, concert halls and clubs.
[Mersey Beat – the founders' story]
Beat bands were heavily influenced by American bands of the era, such as
Buddy Holly and the Crickets
The Crickets were an American rock and roll band from Lubbock, Texas, formed by singer-songwriter Buddy Holly in January 1957. Their first hit record, "That'll Be the Day", released in May 1957, peaked at number three on the ''Billboard'' To ...
(from which group
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
derived their name), as well as earlier British groups such as
the Shadows
The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...
. After the national success of the Beatles in Britain from 1962, a number of Liverpool performers were able to follow them into the charts, including
Cilla Black
Priscilla Maria Veronica White (27 May 1943 – 1 August 2015), better known as Cilla Black, was an English singer, actress and television presenter.
Championed by her friends the Beatles, Black began her career as a singer in 1963. Her ...
,
Gerry and the Pacemakers
Gerry and the Pacemakers were a British beat group prominent in the 1960s Merseybeat scene. In common with the Beatles, they came from Liverpool, were managed by Brian Epstein, and were recorded by George Martin. Their early successes alongsid ...
and
the Searchers
''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American Technicolor VistaVision epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas-Native American wars, and stars John Wa ...
. Among the most successful beat acts from Birmingham were
the Spencer Davis Group
The Spencer Davis Group were a British band formed in Birmingham in 1963 by Spencer Davis (guitar), brothers Steve Winwood (keyboards, guitar) and Muff Winwood (bass guitar), and Pete York (drums). Their best known songs include the UK numbe ...
and
the Moody Blues
The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1964, initially consisting of keyboardist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist Ray Thomas, guitarist Denny Laine, drummer Graeme Edge and bassist Clint Warwick. The group came to ...
. From London, the term ''Tottenham Sound'' was largely based around
the Dave Clark Five
The Dave Clark Five, also known as the DC5, were an English rock and roll band formed in 1958 in Tottenham, London. Drummer Dave Clark served as the group's leader, producer and co-songwriter. In January 1964 they had their first UK top ten sin ...
, but other London bands that benefited from the beat boom of this era included
the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
,
the Yardbirds
The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwell ...
and
the Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...
. The first non-
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, non-
Brian Epstein
Brian Samuel Epstein (; 19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967) was a British music entrepreneur who managed the Beatles from 1962 until his death in 1967.
Epstein was born into a family of successful retailers in Liverpool, who put him i ...
-managed band to break through in the UK were
Freddie and the Dreamers
Freddie and the Dreamers were an English beat band that had a number of hit records between 1963 and 1965. The band's stage act was enlivened by the comic antics of Freddie Garrity, who would bounce around the stage with arms and legs flying.
...
, who were based in Manchester, as were
Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits are an English beat, rock and pop group formed in 1964 in Manchester, originally called Herman and His Hermits and featuring lead singer Peter Noone. Produced by Mickie Most, the Hermits charted with number ones in the UK a ...
. The beat movement provided most of the groups responsible for the British Invasion of the American pop charts in the period after 1964, and furnished the model for many important developments in pop and rock music.
![The_Rolling_Stones,_Prudential_Center_2012-12-13](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/The_Rolling_Stones%2C_Prudential_Center_2012-12-13.jpg)
By the end of 1962, the British rock scene had started with
beat groups
Beat, beats or beating may refer to:
Common uses
* Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area
** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols
** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men
* Battery ( ...
like
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
drawing on a wide range of American influences including
soul music
Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...
,
rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
and surf music.
[R. Stakes, "Those boys: the rise of Mersey beat", in S. Wade, ed., ''Gladsongs and Gatherings: Poetry and its Social Context in Liverpool Since the 1960s'' (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2001), , pp. 157–66.] Initially, they reinterpreted standard American tunes, playing for dancers doing the
twist
Twist may refer to:
In arts and entertainment Film, television, and stage
* ''Twist'' (2003 film), a 2003 independent film loosely based on Charles Dickens's novel ''Oliver Twist''
* ''Twist'' (2021 film), a 2021 modern rendition of ''Olive ...
, for example. These groups eventually infused their original rock compositions with increasingly complex musical ideas and a distinctive sound. In mid-1962
the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
started as one of a number of groups increasingly showing blues influence, along with bands like
the Animals
The Animals (also billed as Eric Burdon and the Animals) are an English rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s. The band moved to London upon finding fame in 1964. The Animals were known for their gritty, bluesy sound and ...
and
the Yardbirds
The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwell ...
.
[ During 1963, the Beatles and other ]beat groups
Beat, beats or beating may refer to:
Common uses
* Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area
** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols
** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men
* Battery ( ...
, such as the Searchers
''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American Technicolor VistaVision epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas-Native American wars, and stars John Wa ...
and the Hollies
The Hollies are a British pop rock band, formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke (singer), Allan Clarke and Graham ...
, achieved great popularity and commercial success in Britain itself.
British rock broke through to mainstream popularity in the United States in January 1964 with the success of the Beatles. "I Want to Hold Your Hand
"I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and recorded on 17 October 1963, it was the first Beatles record to be made using four-track equipment.
With advance orders ...
" was the band's first No. 1 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, starting the British Invasion of the American music charts.["British Invasion"]
''Encyclopædia Britannica
The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...
'', retrieved 29 January 2010. The song entered the chart on January 18, 1964, at No. 45 before it became the No. 1 single for 7 weeks and went on to last a total of 15 weeks in the chart. Their first appearance on ''The Ed Sullivan Show
''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...
'' February 9 is considered a milestone in American pop culture. The broadcast drew an estimated 73 million viewers, at the time a record for an American television program. The Beatles went on to become the biggest selling rock band of all time and they were followed by numerous British bands.
During the next two years, Chad & Jeremy
Chad & Jeremy were a British musical duo consisting of Chad Stuart and Jeremy Clyde, who began working in 1962 and had their first hit song in the UK with " Yesterday's Gone" (1963). That song became a hit in the United States in the following ...
, Peter and Gordon
Peter and Gordon were a British pop duo, composed of Peter Asher (b. 1944) and Gordon Waller (1945–2009), who achieved international fame in 1964 with their first single, the million-selling single "A World Without Love". The duo had several ...
, the Animals, Manfred Mann
Manfred Mann were an English rock band, formed in London and active between 1962 and 1969. The group were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The band had two differen ...
, Petula Clark
Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades.
Clark's professional career began during the ...
, Freddie and the Dreamers
Freddie and the Dreamers were an English beat band that had a number of hit records between 1963 and 1965. The band's stage act was enlivened by the comic antics of Freddie Garrity, who would bounce around the stage with arms and legs flying.
...
, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders
Wayne may refer to:
People with the given name and surname
* Wayne (given name)
* Wayne (surname)
Geographical
Places with name ''Wayne'' may take their name from a person with that surname; the most famous such person was Gen. "Mad" Anthon ...
, Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits are an English beat, rock and pop group formed in 1964 in Manchester, originally called Herman and His Hermits and featuring lead singer Peter Noone. Produced by Mickie Most, the Hermits charted with number ones in the UK a ...
, the Rolling Stones, the Troggs
The Troggs (originally called the Troglodytes) are an English garage rock band formed in Andover, Hampshire in May 1964. Their most famous songs include the US chart-topper " Wild Thing", "With a Girl Like You" and "Love Is All Around", all o ...
, and Donovan
Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...
would have one or more No. 1 singles.[ Other acts that were part of the invasion included ]the Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...
and the Dave Clark Five
The Dave Clark Five, also known as the DC5, were an English rock and roll band formed in 1958 in Tottenham, London. Drummer Dave Clark served as the group's leader, producer and co-songwriter. In January 1964 they had their first UK top ten sin ...
.[T. Leopold]
"When the Beatles hit America CNN February 10, 2004"
''CNN.com'', retrieved 1 February 2010. British Invasion acts also dominated the music charts at home in the United Kingdom.[ "British Invasion" ''Allmusic'', retrieved 29 January 2010.]
The British Invasion helped internationalize the production of rock and roll, opening the door for subsequent British (and Irish) performers to achieve international success.[ "Britpop" ''Allmusic'', retrieved 11 October 2006.] In America it arguably spelled the end of instrumental surf music
Surf music (or surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is instrumental s ...
, vocal girl groups and (for a time) the teen idol
A teen idol is a celebrity with a large teenage fan base. Teen idols are generally young but are not necessarily teenagers. An idol's popularity may be limited to teens, or may extend to all age groups.
By region Asia
East Asia possess ...
s, that had dominated the American charts in the late 1950s and 1960s. It dented the careers of established R&B acts like Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American pianist, singer and songwriter. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New O ...
and Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American rock and roll singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including The Twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighte ...
and even temporarily derailed the chart success of surviving rock and roll acts, including Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
. The British Invasion also played a major part in the rise of a distinct genre of rock music, and cemented the primacy of the rock group, based on guitars and drums and producing their own material as singer-songwriters.
British blues boom
In parallel with Beat music, in the late 1950s and early 1960s a British blues scene was developing recreating the sounds of American R&B and later particularly the sounds of bluesmen Robert Johnson
Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generati ...
, Howlin' Wolf
Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer and guitarist. He is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time. Over a four-decade care ...
and Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...
. It reached its height of mainstream popularity in the 1960s, when it developed a distinctive and influential style dominated by electric guitar and made international stars of several proponents of the genre including the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
, Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...
, the Yardbirds
The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwell ...
, Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...
and Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
.
A number of these moved through blues rock
Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...
to different forms of rock music and as a result British blues helped to form many of the subgenres of rock, including psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...
and heavy metal music
Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal bands developed a ...
. Since then direct interest in the blues in Britain has declined, but many of the key performers have returned to it in recent years, new acts have emerged and there have been a renewed interest in the genre.
British psychedelia
British psychedelia emerged during the mid-1960s, was influenced by psychedelic
Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...
culture and attempted to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of hallucinogenic drugs
Hallucinogens are a large, diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, mood, and perception as well as other changes. Most hallucinogens can be categorize ...
. The movement drew on non-Western sources such as Indian music's raga
A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradit ...
s and sitar
The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in ...
s as well as studio effects and long instrumental passages and surreal lyrics. Established British artists such as Eric Burdon
Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer. He was previously the lead vocalist of R&B and rock band the Animals and funk band War. He is regarded as one of the British Invasion's most distinctive singers with his deep, powe ...
, the Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
, Cream
Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...
, Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
and the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
produced a number of highly psychedelic tunes during the decade. Many British psychedelia bands of the 1960s never published their music and only appeared in live concerts during that time.
North America
Folk music
The Kingston Trio
The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, and ...
, the Weavers
The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City originally consisting of Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert, and Fred Hellerman. Founded in 1948, the group sang traditional folk songs fro ...
, Pete Seeger
Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...
, Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...
, Odetta
Odetta Holmes (December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008), known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, lyricist, and a civil rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire co ...
, Peter, Paul and Mary
Peter, Paul and Mary was an American folk group formed in New York City in 1961 during the American folk music revival phenomenon. The trio consisted of tenor Peter Yarrow, baritone Paul Stookey, and contralto Mary Travers. The group's repertoir ...
, Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
, The Byrds
The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...
, Judy Collins
Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ec ...
, Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...
, Joni Mitchell
Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...
, Carolyn Hester
Carolyn Sue Hester (born January 28, 1937) is an American folk singer and songwriter. She was a figure in the early 1960s folk music revival.
Biography
Hester's first album was produced by Norman Petty in 1957. She made her second album for Tr ...
, Phil Ochs
Philip David Ochs (; December 19, 1940 – April 9, 1976) was an American songwriter and protest singer (or, as he preferred, a topical singer). Ochs was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, political activism, often alliterative lyrics, and ...
, Tom Paxton
Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter who has had a music career spanning more than fifty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. , Buffy Sainte-Marie
Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous Canadian-American (Piapot Cree Nation) singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. While working in these are ...
, Dave Van Ronk
David Kenneth Ritz Van Ronk (June 30, 1936 – February 10, 2002) was an American folk singer. An important figure in the American folk music revival and New York City's Greenwich Village scene in the 1960s, he was nicknamed the "Mayor of Mac ...
, Tom Rush
Thomas Walker Rush (born February 8, 1941) is an American folk and blues singer, guitarist and songwriter who helped launch the careers of other singer-songwriters in the 1960s and has continued his own singing career for 60 years.
Life and ...
, Fred Neil
Fred Neil (March 16, 1936 – July 7, 2001) was an American folk singer-songwriter active in the 1960s and early 1970s. He did not achieve commercial success as a performer and is mainly known through other people's recordings of his material&n ...
, Gordon Lightfoot
Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (born November 17, 1938) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960 ...
, Ian and Sylvia
Ian & Sylvia were a Canadian folk and country music duo which consisted of Ian and Sylvia Tyson, née Fricker. They began performing together in 1959 (full-time in 1961), married in 1964, and divorced and stopped performing together in 1975.
His ...
, Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Davy Guthrie (born July 10, 1947) is an American folk singer-songwriter. He is known for singing songs of protest against social injustice, and storytelling while performing songs, following the tradition of his father, Woody Guthrie. Gut ...
and several other performers were instrumental in launching the folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s.
Rock
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...
was one of rock's famous artists who wrote ballads of lost love.
In the early part of the decade, Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
continued to score hits. For most of the 60s, Presley mostly released films. Presley decided to get away from films by 1969; his last #1 song on the charts was Suspicious Minds
"Suspicious Minds" is a 1968 song written and first recorded by American songwriter Mark James. After this recording failed commercially, it was cut by Elvis Presley with producer Chips Moman, becoming a No. 1 song in 1969, and one of the most ...
which was released in 1969.
By the 1960s, the scene that had developed out of the American folk music revival
The American folk music revival began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Big Bill Broonzy, Billie Holiday, Richard Dyer-Benn ...
had grown to a major movement, utilizing traditional music and new compositions in a traditional style, usually on acoustic instruments.[G. Mitchell, ''The North American Folk Music Revival: Nation and Identity in the United States and Canada, 1945–1980'' (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007), , p. 95.] In America the genre was pioneered by figures such as Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...
and Pete Seeger
Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...
and often identified with progressive or labour politics.[ In the early sixties figures such as ]Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
and Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...
had come to the fore in this movement as singer-songwriters.[G. Mitchell, ''The North American Folk Music Revival: Nation and Identity in the United States and Canada, 1945–1980'' (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007), , p. 72.] Dylan had begun to reach a mainstream audience with hits including "Blowin' in the Wind
"Blowin' in the Wind" is a song written by Bob Dylan in 1962.
It was released as a single and included on his album ''The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan'' in 1963. It has been described as a protest song and poses a series of rhetorical questions about ...
" (1963) and "Masters of War
"Masters of War" is a song by Bob Dylan, written over the winter of 1962–63 and released on the album ''The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan'' in the spring of 1963. The song's melody was adapted from the traditional songs, traditional "Nottamun Town." ...
" (1963), which brought "protest song
A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre.
Among social mov ...
s" to a wider public, but, although beginning to influence each other, rock and folk music had remained largely separate genres, often with mutually exclusive audiences.
Early attempts to combine elements of folk and rock included the Animals "House of the Rising Sun
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
" (1964), which was the first commercially successful folk song to be recorded with rock and roll instrumentation.Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh (born March 1, 1950) is an American music critic, and radio talk show host. He was an early editor of ''Creem'' magazine, has written for various publications such as ''Newsday'', ''The Village Voice'', and ''Rolling Stone (magazine), ...
''The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made'', NAL, 1989. Entry #91.
/ref> The folk rock movement is usually thought to have taken off with the Byrds
The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...
' recording of Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man
"Mr. Tambourine Man" is a song written by Bob Dylan, released as the first track of the acoustic side of his March 1965 album '' Bringing It All Back Home''. The song's popularity led to Dylan recording it live many times, and it has been includ ...
" which topped the charts in 1965.[ With members who had been part of the cafe-based folk scene in Los Angeles, the Byrds adopted rock instrumentation, including drums and 12-string ]Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker International Corporation is a string instrument manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California. The company is credited as the first known maker of electric guitars – a steel guitar in 1932 – and today produces a range ...
guitars, which became a major element in the sound of the genre.[
By the mid-'60s Bob Dylan took the lead in merging folk and rock, and in July '65, released ]Like a Rolling Stone
"Like a Rolling Stone" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on July 20, 1965, by Columbia Records. Its confrontational lyrics originated in an extended piece of verse Dylan wrote in June 1965, when he returned exhausted fro ...
, with a revolutionary rock sound, steeped in tawdry urban imagery, followed by an electric performance later that month at the Newport Folk Festival. Dylan plugged an entire generation into the milieu of the singer-songwriter, often writing from an urban point of view, with poetry punctuated by rock rhythms and electric power. By the mid to late '60s, bands and singer-songwriters began to proliferate the underground New York art/music scene.
The release of ''The Velvet Underground & Nico
''The Velvet Underground & Nico'' is the debut album by the American rock band the Velvet Underground and German singer Nico, released in March 1967 through Verve Records. It was recorded in 1966 while the band were featured on Andy Warhol's Ex ...
'' in 1967, featuring singer-songwriter Lou Reed
Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...
and German singer and collaborator Nico
Naftiran Intertrade Company Société à responsabilité limitée#In Switzerland, limited (NICO) is a Switzerland, Swiss-based subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). NICO is a general contractor for the oil and gas industry. NIOC bu ...
was described as "most prophetic rock album ever made" by ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' in 2003. Other New York City based singer-songwriters began to emerge, using the urban landscape as their canvass for lyrics in the confessional style of poets like Anne Sexton
Anne Sexton (born Anne Gray Harvey; November 9, 1928 – October 4, 1974) was an American poet known for her highly personal, confessional verse. She won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1967 for her book '' Live or Die''. Her poetry details ...
and Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath (; October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for two of her published collections, ''The ...
. In July, 1969, Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
magazine ran a feature story, "The Girls-Letting Go," describing the groundbreaking music of Joni Mitchell
Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...
, Laura Nyro
Laura Nyro ( ; born Laura Nigro; October 18, 1947 – April 8, 1997) was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums ''Eli and the Thirteenth Confession'' (1968 ...
, Lotti Golden
Lotti Golden (born November 27, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, poet and artist. Golden is best known for her 1969 debut album ''Motor-Cycle'', on Atlantic Records.
Winner of the ASCAP Pop Award for songwriting and RIA ...
and Melanie
Melanie is a feminine given name derived from the Greek μελανία (melania), "blackness" and that from μέλας (melas), meaning "dark".New York Tendaberry
''New York Tendaberry'' is the third album by New York City-born singer, songwriter and pianist Laura Nyro. It was released in the autumn of 1969, on Columbia Records, some eighteen months after its predecessor, ''Eli and the Thirteenth Confes ...
'' (1969), to Lotti Golden's East Village diaries on ''Motor-Cycle
A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...
'' her 1969 debut on Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
, has served as inspiration to generations of female singer-songwriters in the rock, folk and jazz traditions.[Saal, Hubert (July 14, 1969). " The Girl's-Letting Go". Newsweek, pp. 68,71.] Dylan's adoptation of electric instruments, much to the outrage
Outrage may refer to:
* Outrage (emotion), an emotion
* Tort of outrage, in law, an alternative term for ''intentional infliction of emotional distress''
Books
* ''Outrage'', a novel by Henry Denker 1982
* ''Outrage'', a play by Itamar Moses 2 ...
of many folk purists, with his "Like a Rolling Stone
"Like a Rolling Stone" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on July 20, 1965, by Columbia Records. Its confrontational lyrics originated in an extended piece of verse Dylan wrote in June 1965, when he returned exhausted fro ...
" succeeded in creating a new genre. Folk rock particularly took off in California, where it led acts like the Mamas & the Papas
The Mamas & the Papas were a folk rock vocal group formed in Los Angeles, California, which recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. The group consisted of Am ...
and Crosby, Stills and Nash
Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) were a folk rock supergroup made up of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and English singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young as a fourth member, ...
to move to electric instrumentation, and in New York, where it spawned singer-songwriters and performers including the Lovin' Spoonful
The Lovin' Spoonful is an American rock band popular during the mid- to late-1960s. Founded in New York City in 1965 by lead singer/songwriter John Sebastian and guitarist Zal Yanovsky, the band is widely known for a number of hits, including " ...
and Simon and Garfunkel
Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits—including the electric remix of " ...
, with the latter's acoustic " The Sounds of Silence" being remixed with rock instruments to be the first of many hits.[
Folk rock reached its peak of commercial popularity in the period 1967–68, before many acts moved off in a variety of directions, including Dylan and the Byrds, who began to develop ]country rock
Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...
. However, the hybridization of folk and rock has been seen as having a major influence on the development of rock music, bringing in elements of psychedelia, and in particular, helping to develop the ideas of the singer-songwriter, the protest song and concepts of "authenticity".[
]
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic music's LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...
-inspired vibe began in the folk scene, with the New York-based Holy Modal Rounders
The Holy Modal Rounders was an American folk music group, originally the duo of Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber, who began performing together on the Lower East Side of New York City in the early 1960s. Their unique blend of folk music revival ...
using the term in their 1964 recording of "Hesitation Blues
"Hesitation Blues" is a popular song adapted from a traditional tune. One version was published by Billy Smythe, Scott Middleton, and Art Gillham. Another was published by W.C. Handy as "Hesitating Blues". Because the tune is traditional, man ...
".[M. Hicks, ''Sixties Rock: Garage, Psychedelic, and Other Satisfactions'' (University of Illinois Press, 2000), , pp. 59–60.] The first group to advertise themselves as psychedelic rock were the 13th Floor Elevators
The 13th Floor Elevators was an American rock band from Austin, Texas, United States, formed by guitarist and vocalist Roky Erickson, electric jug player Tommy Hall, and guitarist Stacy Sutherland. The band was together from 1965 to 1969, a ...
from Texas, at the end of 1965; producing an album that made their direction clear, with ''The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators
''The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators'' is the debut studio album by the 13th Floor Elevators. The album's sound, featuring elements of psychedelia, hard rock, garage rock, folk, and blues, is notable for its use of the electric ju ...
'' the following year.[
Psychedelic rock particularly took off in California's emerging music scene as groups followed the Byrds from folk to folk rock from 1965.] The Los Angeles-based group the Doors
The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...
formed in 1965 after a chance meeting on Venice Beach
Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California.
Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed by ...
. Although its charismatic lead singer Jim Morrison
James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, poet and songwriter who was the lead vocalist of the Rock music, rock band the Doors. Due to his wild personality, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, unpredicta ...
died in 1971, the band's popularity has endured to this day. The psychedelic life style had already developed in San Francisco since about 1964, and particularly prominent products of the scene were the Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...
, Country Joe and the Fish, the Great Society and Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to ac ...
.[ The Byrds rapidly progressed from purely folk rock in 1966 with their single "]Eight Miles High
"Eight Miles High" is a song by the American Rock music, rock Musical ensemble, band the Byrds, written by Gene Clark, Roger McGuinn, Jim McGuinn (a.k.a. Roger McGuinn), and David Crosby. It was first released as a Single (music), single on Ma ...
", widely taken to be a reference to drug use.
Psychedelic rock reached its apogee in the last years of the decade. In America the Summer of Love
The Summer of Love was a social phenomenon that occurred during the summer of 1967, when as many as 100,000 people, mostly young people sporting hippie fashions of dress and behavior, converged in San Francisco's neighborhood of Haight-Ashbury. ...
was prefaced by the Human Be-In
The Human Be-In was an event held in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park Polo Fields on January 14, 1967. It was a prelude to San Francisco's Summer of Love, which made the Haight-Ashbury district a symbol of American counterculture and i ...
event and reached its peak at the Monterey Pop Festival
The Monterey International Pop Festival was a three-day music festival held June 16 to 18, 1967, at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California. The festival is remembered for the first major American appearances by the Jimi Hendrix ...
, the latter helping to make major American stars of Jimi Hendrix and the Who, whose single "I Can See for Miles
"I Can See for Miles" is a song by the English rock band the Who, recorded for the band's 1967 album ''The Who Sell Out''. Written by guitarist Pete Townshend, it was the only song from the album to be released as a single.
Recording
Recorded ...
" delved into psychedelic territory. Key recordings included Jefferson Airplane's '' Surrealistic Pillow'' and the Doors' '' Strange Days''. These trends climaxed in the 1969 Woodstock Festival
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...
, which saw performances by most of the major psychedelic acts, but by the end of the decade psychedelic rock was in retreat. The Jimi Hendrix Experience
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
broke up before the end of the decade and many surviving acts moved away from psychedelia into more back-to-basics "roots rock", the wider experimentation of progressive rock, or riff laden heavy rock.[
]
Surf rock
In the early 1960s, one of the most popular forms of rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
was Surf Rock, which was characterized by being nearly entirely instrumental
An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...
and by heavy use of reverb
Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abso ...
on the guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
s. The spring reverb featured in Fender amplifier
An amplifier, electronic amplifier or (informally) amp is an electronic device that can increase the magnitude of a signal (a time-varying voltage or current). It may increase the power significantly, or its main effect may be to boost the v ...
s of the day, cranked to its maximum volume, produced a guitar tone shimmering with sustain and evoking surf and ocean imagery.
Duane Eddy
Duane Eddy (born April 26, 1938) is an American rock and roll guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had a string of hit records produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including "Rebel- ...
's "Movin' and Groovin" is thought by many to be the main contender for laying the groundwork as the first surf rock record, while others claim the genre was invented by Dick Dale
Richard Anthony Monsour (May 4, 1937 – March 16, 2019), known professionally as Dick Dale, was an American rock guitarist. He was a pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern music scale (music), scales and experimenting with reverb eff ...
on "Let's Go Trippin'
"Let's Go Trippin'" is an instrumental by Dick Dale and The Del-Tones. It is often regarded as the first surf rock instrumental and is credited for launching the surf music craze. First played in public in 1960 at the Rendezvous Ballroom in Bal ...
", which became a hit throughout California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. Most early surf bands were formed during this decade in the Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
area. By the mid-1960s the Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...
, who used complex pop harmonies over a basic surf rock rhythm,[ had emerged as the dominant surf group and helped popularize the genre. in hits like ]Surfin' U.S.A.
"Surfin' U.S.A." is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys, credited to Chuck Berry and Brian Wilson. It is a rewritten version of Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen" set to new lyrics penned by Wilson and an uncredited Mike Love. The song w ...
In addition, bands such as the Ventures
The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar across the world during the ...
, the Shadows
The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...
, the Atlantics
The Atlantics are an Australian surf rock band founded in 1961. Initially, the band line-up consisted of drummer Peter Hood, bassist Bosco Bosanac, Theo Penglis on lead and rhythm guitar, and guitarist Eddy Matzenik. Matzenik was replaced by ...
, the Surfaris
The Surfaris are an American surf rock band formed in Glendora, California, United States, in 1962. They are best known for two songs that hit the charts in the Los Angeles area, and nationally by May 1963: "Surfer Joe" and " Wipe Out", which ...
and the Champs
The Champs are an American rock band, most famous for their Latin-tinged rock and roll instrumental "Tequila". The group took their name from that of Gene Autry's horse, Champion, and was formed by studio executives at Autry's Challenge Recor ...
were also among the most popular Surf Rock bands of the decade.
Garage rock
Garage rock was a raw form of rock music, particularly prevalent in North America in the mid-1960s and is called such because of the perception that many of the bands rehearsed in a suburban family garage.[R. Shuker, ''Popular Music: the Key Concepts'' (Abingdon: Routledge, 2nd edn., 2005), , p. 140.] Garage rock songs often revolved around the traumas of high school life, with songs about "lying girls" being particularly common.[ The lyrics and delivery were notably more aggressive than was common at the time, often with growled or shouted vocals that dissolved into incoherent screaming such as the influential Washington based band, The Sonics.][ They ranged from crude one-chord music (like ]the Seeds
The Seeds were an American psychedelic garage rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965, best known for their highest charting single "Pushin' Too Hard". The band's classic line-up featured frontman Sky Saxon, guitarist Jan Savage (b ...
) to near-studio musician quality (including the Knickerbockers
The Knickerbockers were an American garage rock band formed in Bergenfield, New Jersey in 1964. They released the 1965 hit "Lies (The Knickerbockers song), Lies", which was known for its resemblance to the Beatles. The band was formed in 1964 ...
, the Remains, and the Fifth Estate). There were also regional variations in many parts of the country with flourishing scenes particularly in California and Texas.[ The Pacific Northwest states of Washington and Oregon had perhaps the most defined regional sound.
The style had been evolving from regional scenes as early as 1958. "]Louie Louie
"Louie Louie" is a rhythm and blues song written and composed by American musician Richard Berry in 1955, recorded in 1956, and released in 1957. It is best known for the 1963 hit version by the Kingsmen and has become a standard in pop and r ...
" by the Kingsmen
The Kingsmen are a 1960s rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States. They are best known for their 1963 recording of R&B singer Richard Berry's "Louie Louie", which held the No. 2 spot on the ''Billboard'' charts for six weeks and ha ...
(1963) is a mainstream example of the genre in its formative stages. By 1963, garage band singles were creeping into the national charts in greater numbers, including Paul Revere and the Raiders
Paul Revere & the Raiders (also known as Raiders) were an American rock band formed in Boise, Idaho, in 1958. They saw considerable U.S. mainstream success in the second half of the 1960s and early 1970s. The band was known for including Revolu ...
(Boise), the Trashmen
The Trashmen were an American rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, in 1962.
The original line-up of the group featured guitarists Tony Andreason and Dal Winslow, bassist Bob Reed, and drummer Steve Wahrer.
Along with Col ...
(Minneapolis) and the Rivieras
The Rivieras were an American rock band that formed in the early 1960s in South Bend, Indiana. They had a hit with the song "California Sun".
History
The Rivieras were made up of teenagers from South Bend Central High School. (This band should ...
(South Bend, Indiana). In this early period many bands were heavily influenced by surf rock
Surf music (or surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a Music genre, genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is in ...
and there was a cross-pollination between garage rock and frat rock
Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...
, sometimes viewed as merely a subgenre of garage rock.
The British Invasion of 1964–66 greatly influenced garage bands, providing them with a national audience, leading many (often surf or hot rod
Hot rods are typically American cars that might be old, classic, or modern and that have been rebuilt or modified with large engines optimised for speed and acceleration. One definition is: "a car that's been stripped down, souped up and made ...
groups) to adopt a British Invasion lilt, and encouraging many more groups to form.[ Thousands of garage bands were extant in the US and Canada during the era and hundreds produced regional hits.] Despite scores of bands being signed to major or large regional labels, most were commercial failures. It is generally agreed that garage rock peaked both commercially and artistically around 1966.[ By 1968 the style largely disappeared from the national charts and at the local level as amateur musicians faced college, work or the ]draft
Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...
.[ New styles had evolved to replace garage rock (including blues-rock, ]progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
and country rock
Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...
).[ In Detroit garage rock stayed alive until the early '70s, with bands like the ]MC5
MC5, also commonly called The MC5, is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The original line-up consisted of Rob Tyner (vocals) Wayne Kramer (guitar), Fred "Sonic" Smith (guitar), Michael Davis (bass), and Dennis ...
and the Stooges
The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, was an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave ...
, who employed a much more aggressive style. These bands began to be labelled punk rock and are now often seen as proto-punk
Proto-punk (or protopunk) is rock music played mostly by garage bands from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock movement. The phrase is a retrospective label; the musicians involved were generally not originally associated wit ...
or proto-hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
.[G. Thompson, ''American Culture in the 1980s'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007), , p. 134.]
Blues-rock
The American blues-rock had been pioneered in the early 1960s by guitarist Lonnie Mack, but the genre began to take off in the mid-'60s as acts followed developed a sound similar to British blues musicians. Key acts included Paul Butterfield (whose band acted like Mayall's Bluesbreakers in Britain as a starting point for many successful musicians), Canned Heat, the early Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to ac ...
, Janis Joplin, Johnny Winter, the J. Geils Band and Jimi Hendrix with his power trios, the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Band of Gypsys, whose guitar virtuosity and showmanship would be among the most emulated of the decade. Blues-rock bands like Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd and eventually ZZ Top from the southern states, incorporated country elements into their style to produce distinctive Southern rock.
Roots rock
Roots rock is the term now used to describe a move away from the excesses of the psychedelic scene, to a more basic form of rock and roll that incorporated its original influences, particularly country and folk music, leading to the creation of country rock and Southern rock. In 1966, Bob Dylan spearheaded the movement when he went to Nashville to record the album ''Blonde on Blonde''.[ This, and subsequent more clearly country-influenced albums, have been seen as creating the genre of country folk, a route pursued by a number of, largely acoustic, folk musicians.][K. Wolff, O. Duane, ''Country Music: The Rough Guide'' (London: Rough Guides, 2000), , p. 392.] Other acts that followed the back-to-basics trend were the group the Band and the Californian-based Creedence Clearwater Revival, both of which mixed basic rock and roll with folk, country and blues, to be among the most successful and influential bands of the late 1960s. The same movement saw the beginning of the recording careers of Californian solo artists like Ry Cooder, Bonnie Raitt and Lowell George, and influenced the work of established performers such as the Rolling Stones' ''Beggar's Banquet'' (1968) and the Beatles' ''Let It Be (Beatles album), Let It Be'' (1970).
In 1968, Gram Parsons recorded ''Safe at Home'' with the International Submarine Band, arguably the first true country rock
Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...
album. Later that year he joined the Byrds for ''Sweetheart of the Rodeo'' (1968), generally considered one of the most influential recordings in the genre.[ The Byrds continued in the same vein, but Parsons left to be joined by another ex-Byrds member Chris Hillman in forming the Flying Burrito Brothers who helped establish the respectability and parameters of the genre, before Parsons departed to pursue a solo career.][ Country rock was particularly popular in the Californian music scene, where it was adopted by bands including Hearts & Flowers, Poco and Riders of the Purple Sage,][ the Beau Brummels][ and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. A number of performers also enjoyed a renaissance by adopting country sounds, including: the Everly Brothers; one-time ]teen idol
A teen idol is a celebrity with a large teenage fan base. Teen idols are generally young but are not necessarily teenagers. An idol's popularity may be limited to teens, or may extend to all age groups.
By region Asia
East Asia possess ...
Ricky Nelson who became the frontman for the Stone Canyon Band; former Monkee Mike Nesmith who formed the First National Band; and Neil Young.[ The Dillards were, unusually, a country act, who moved towards rock music.][ The greatest commercial success for country rock came in the 1970s, with artist including the Doobie Brothers, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles (band), Eagles (made up of members of the Burritos, Poco and Stone Canyon Band), who emerged as one of the most successful rock acts of all time, producing albums that included ''Hotel California (Eagles album), Hotel California'' (1976).][N. E. Tawa, ''Supremely American: Popular Song in the 20th Century: Styles and Singers and What They Said About America'' (Lanham, MA: Scarecrow Press, 2005), , pp. 227–8.]
The founders of Southern rock are usually thought to be the Allman Brothers Band, who developed a distinctive sound, largely derived from blues rock
Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...
, but incorporating elements of boogie, soul and country in the early 1970s. The most successful act to follow them were Lynyrd Skynyrd, who helped establish the "good ol' boy" image of the subgenre and the general shape of 1970s guitar rock.[ Their successors included the fusion/progressive instrumentalists Dixie Dregs, the more country-influenced Outlaws (band), Outlaws, jazz-leaning Wet Willie and (incorporating elements of R&B and gospel) the Ozark Mountain Daredevils.][ After the loss of original members of the Allmans and Lynyrd Skynyrd, the genre began to fade in popularity in the late 1970s, but was sustained the 1980s with acts like .38 Special (band), .38 Special, Molly Hatchet and the Marshall Tucker Band.][
]
Progressive rock
Progressive rock, sometimes used interchangeably with art rock, was an attempt to move beyond established musical formulas by experimenting with different instruments, song types and forms. From the mid-1960s the Left Banke, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys, had pioneered the inclusion of harpsichords, Wind instruments, wind and String orchestra, string sections on their recordings to produce a form of Baroque rock and can be heard in singles like Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale" (1967), with its Johann Sebastian Bach, Bach inspired introduction.[J. S. Harrington, ''Sonic Cool: the Life & Death of Rock 'n' Roll'' (Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Corporation, 2003), , p. 191.] The Moody Blues used a full orchestra on their album ''Days of Future Passed'' (1967) and subsequently created orchestral sounds with synthesisers.[ Classical orchestration, keyboards and synthesisers were a frequent edition to the established rock format of guitars, bass and drums in subsequent progressive rock.
Instrumentals were common, while songs with lyrics were sometimes conceptual, abstract or based in fantasy and science fiction. The Pretty Things' ''SF Sorrow'' (1968) and the Who's ''Tommy (The Who album), Tommy'' (1969) introduced the format of rock operas and opened the door to "concept albums, usually telling an epic story or tackling a grand overarching theme." King Crimson's 1969 début album, ''In the Court of the Crimson King'', which mixed powerful guitar riffs and mellotron, with jazz and symphonic music, is often taken as the key recording in progressive rock, helping the widespread adoption of the genre in the early 1970s among existing blues-rock and psychedelic bands, as well as newly formed acts.][
]
Pop
Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American rock and roll singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including The Twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighte ...
during the early 1960s popularizes the enduring dance craze The Twist (dance), the Twist with his hit record, hit cover version, cover of Hank Ballard & the Midnighters' Rhythm and blues, R&B hit "The Twist (song), The Twist".
The Brill Building at 1619 Broadway in New York City became the centre of the American music industry that dominated the pop charts in the early 1960s, nurturing many prolific songwriting partnerships. Gerry Goffin and Carole King become a very influential duo in pop music, writing numerous number-one hits including the first song to ever reach number-one by a girl group, the Shirelles "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" and the 1962 number-one hit, "The Loco-Motion" which was performed by Little Eva. Other hits included "Take Good Care of My Baby" (Bobby Vee), "Up on the Roof (song), Up on the Roof" (The Drifters), "I'm Into Something Good" (Herman's Hermits), and "One Fine Day (song), One Fine Day" (The Chiffons). Likewise, songwriting couple Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry turned out a stream of charting songs, including "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Be My Baby", "Then He Kissed Me", and "Leader of the Pack"; whilst Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil were behind several major hits of the era, including "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'", the recording of which by the Righteous Brothers became the most played record on air in the 20th century.
"Sugar Sugar" becomes a big hit for The Archies, defining the bubblegum pop genre.
The Monkees were a The Monkees (TV series), made for TV band, inspired by the antics of the Beatles in A Hard Day's Night. Under contractual reasons, the group were not allowed to play their own instruments, which led to many feuds between the bandmates and music supervisor, Don Kirshner.
R&B, Motown and soul music
* The Detroit-based Motown label developed as a pop-influenced answer to soul music. The label began a long run of No. 1 U.S. hit singles in 1961 with "Please Mr. Postman" by the Marvelettes, and had numerous No. 1 ''Billboard'' hits throughout the decade and into the 1990s. The label's success was driven by songwriters who helped define the Motown sound of the 1960s, including Norman Whitfield, Smokey Robinson and Holland-Dozier-Holland, the latter of whom turned out many notable hits for emerging artists, including and especially the Four Tops and the Supremes. These included "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" and "It's the Same Old Song" for the Tops; and "Baby Love", "You Keep Me Hangin' On" and "Stop! In the Name of Love" for the Supremes. In 1966, The Supremes gained big hit "You Can't Hurry Love" with innovative bassist James Jamerson. Other notable Motown acts included the Miracles, the Temptations, Martha and the Vandellas, Marvin Gaye and the Jackson Five, who debuted in 1969.
* Soul music developed popularity throughout the decade, with Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
as the key label and Solomon Burke as a key figure in the emergence of soul music as an established movement. Ben E. King also achieved success in 1961 with "Stand by Me (Ben E. King song), Stand By Me", a song directly based on a gospel hymn. By the mid-1960s, the initial successes of Burke, King, and others had been surpassed by soul singers such as Sam Cooke, James Brown and Otis Redding.
* The most important female soul singer to emerge was Aretha Franklin, originally a gospel singer who began to make secular recordings in 1960 but whose career was later revitalised by her recordings for Atlantic. Her 1967 recordings, such as "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)", "Respect (song), Respect" (originally sung by Otis Redding), and "Do Right Woman-Do Right Man", are considered the apogee of the soul genre, and were among its most commercially successful productions.
* By 1968, while at its peak of popularity, soul began to fragment into disparate subgenres. Artists such as James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone evolved into funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
music, while other singers such as Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield and Al Green developed slicker, more sophisticated - and in some cases more politically conscious - varieties of the genre. However, soul music continued to evolve, informing most subsequent forms of R&B from the 1970s-onward, with pockets of musicians continuing to perform in a traditional soul style.
* In the UK, Dusty Springfield helped popularise soul music - merged with pop - and became one of the most popular female performers on both sides of the Atlantic. One of her defining works was the 1968 album Dusty in Memphis, featuring her signature song "Son of a Preacher Man", an international hit (UK no.9/Us no. 10).
Country music
Triumph and great tragedy marked the 1960s in country music. The genre continued to gain national exposure through network television, with weekly series and awards programs gaining popularity. Sales of records continued to rise as new artists and trends came to the forefront. However, several top stars died under tragic circumstances, including several who were killed in plane crashes.
The predominant musical style during the decade was the Nashville Sound, a style that emphasized string sections, background vocals, crooning lead vocals and production styles seen in country music. The style had first become popular in the late 1950s, in response to the growing encroachment of rock and roll on the country genre, but saw its greatest success in the 1960s. Artists like Jim Reeves, Eddy Arnold, Ray Price (musician), Ray Price, Patsy Cline, Floyd Cramer, Roger Miller and many others achieved great success through songs such as "He'll Have to Go," "Danny Boy," "Make the World Go Away", "King of the Road (song), King of the Road" and "I Fall to Pieces." The country-pop style was also evident on the 1962 album ''Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music'', recorded by rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
and soul music, soul singer Ray Charles. Charles recorded covers of traditional country, folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Folk Plus or Fol ...
and classical music standards in pop, R&B and jazz styles. The album was hailed as a critical and commercial success, and would be vastly influential in later country music styles. Songs from the album that were released for commercial airplay and record sales included "I Can't Stop Loving You," "Born to Lose" and "You Don't Know Me (Eddy Arnold song), You Don't Know Me."
By the end of the decade, the Nashville Sound became more polished and streamlined, and became known as "countrypolitan." Tammy Wynette, Glen Campbell, Dottie West and Charley Pride were among the top artists adopting this style. While George Jones — by the early 1960s one of country music's most consistent hitmakers — also recorded countrypolitan-styled music, his background remained pure honky tonk, singing of heartbreak and loneliness in many of his songs. Also, Marty Robbins proved to be one of the genre's most diverse singers, singing everything from straight-ahead country to western to pop to blues ... and even Hawaiian.
Johnny Cash, who began his career at Sun Records in the 1950s with hits such as "I Walk The Line," ultimately became one of the most influential musicians of the 1960s (and eventually, 20th century), and was labeled "The Man In Black." Although primarily recording country, his songs and sound spanned many other genres including rockabilly, blues, folk and gospel. His music showed great compassion for minorities and others who were shunned by society, including prison inmates. Two of Cash's most successful albums were recorded live in prison: ''At Folsom Prison'' and ''At San Quentin''.
During the latter half of the 1960s, Pride — a native of Sledge, Mississippi — became the first African-American superstar in country music, a genre virtually dominated by white artists. Some of his early hits, sung with a smooth baritone voice and in a style meshing honky-tonk and countrypolitan, included "Just Between You and Me," "The Easy Part's Over," "All I Have to Offer You (Is Me)" and a cover version of Hank Williams' "Kaw-Liga (song), Kaw-Liga." Pride continued to be successful for more than 20 years, amassing an eventual 29 No. 1 hits on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs, Hot Country Singles chart.
A newly emerging style, which had its roots in the 1950s but exploded in the mainstream during the 1960s, was the "Bakersfield sound." Instead of creating a sound similar to mainstream pop music, the Bakersfield sound used honky tonk as its base and added electric instruments and a backbeat, plus stylistic elements borrowed from rock and roll. Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and Wynn Stewart were some of the top artists adopting this sound, and by the late 1960s they were among country music's top selling artists.
Among female acts, the most successful of the lot were Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette and Dolly Parton. Lynn, a native of Butcher Hollow, Kentucky, and indeed, the daughter of a coal miner, would—with the help of her husband, Oliver Lynn, Oliver "Doolittle" Lynn—gain a recording contract with Zero Records in 1960, and while only her first single ("Honky Tonk Girl") of her early 1960s releases charted, her early recordings were the springboard for much bigger and better things to come. By the latter half of the decade, and continuing into the 1970s, she was recording songs that defied the stereotype of the woman who had to put up with men, their hard drinking, philandering and other negative traits—for instance, "Don't Come Home A-Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind) (song), Don't Come Home A-Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)"—as well as songs that pushed the genre's conservative boundaries ("Dear Uncle Sam," a song about the Vietnam War) and her willingness to stand up to other women ("You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man)").
Parton, a native of the Smoky Mountains town of Locust Ridge, Tennessee, gained national exposure on the nationally syndicated program ''The Porter Wagoner Show'', on which she began appearing in 1967. Two years earlier, she had signed a recording contract with Monument Records and was pushed as a bubblegum pop singer, but had only minor success before one of her compositions – "Put It Off Until Tomorrow" – became a big hit for Bill Phillips (a track which Parton provided backing vocals) in 1966. Eventually, her mountain-influenced, biographical brand of country and her down-home personality won many fans, and her star power would only begin to rise. Her first major hits were mainly duets with Wagoner, although she had several solo hits—including her breakthrough, "Dumb Blonde"—as well.
Wynette gained acclaim with unique perspectives on the classic themes of loneliness, divorce, and the difficulties of life and relationships, illustrated by songs such as "I Don't Wanna Play House (song), I Don't Wanna Play House" and "D-I-V-O-R-C-E." However, it was "Stand by Your Man, Stand By Your Man," a song pledging of unyielding faithfulness and standing by men despite their shortcomings, that gave Wynette her career hit. By the late 1960s, she was married to fellow country music singer George Jones.
Among other female newcomers, Connie Smith was among the most successful, as her breakthrough hit, "Once a Day" spent eight weeks at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart in late 1964 and early 1965, the longest-running chart-topper for nearly 50 years. During a career that has spanned 50-plus years, Smith's songs often explored themes of loneliness and vulnerability.
In addition to the television syndication, syndicated ''The Porter Wagoner Show'', several other television programs were produced to allow country music to reach a wider audience, such as ''The Jimmy Dean Show'' in mid-decade. At the end of the decade, ''Hee Haw'' began a 23-year run, first on CBS and later in syndication; ''Hee Haw'', hosted by Owens and Roy Clark was loosely based on the comedy series ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh In'', and incorporated comedy along with performances by the show's cast or guest performers from the country music field. The Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association awards programs were telecast for the first time in the late 1960s.
The 1960s were marred with tragedy. Johnny Horton, who sang in the saga-song style, was killed in a car accident in 1960. A March 5, 1963, plane crash claimed the lives of Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins. Days later, Jack Anglin was killed in a car accident, while Texas Ruby died in a trailer fire in Texas. In July 1964, Jim Reeves lost his life while piloting a plane near Brentwood, Tennessee. Ira Louvin (one half of the Louvin Brothers) was killed in a car accident in 1965. Success overcame several of those tragic deaths, as both Cline and Reeves had many posthumous hits (with previously recorded songs issued after their deaths) and enjoyed strong followings for many years, while Louvin's brother, Charlie Louvin, Charlie, continued as a successful solo performer for more than 40 years. Other pioneering stars who died during the 1960s included A.P. Carter, Gid Tanner, Moon Mullican, Ernest Stoneman, Ernest "Pop" Stoneman, Red Foley, Leon Payne and Spade Cooley.
The 1960s began a trend toward a proliferation of No. 1 hits on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart, thanks to ever-changing data collecting methods. When the 1960s decade opened, there were but four No. 1 songs topping the chart (five, if one counts Marty Robbins' "El Paso (song), El Paso"), but by the mid-1960s, there were always at least a dozen songs topping the chart annually. In 1967, there were more than 20 songs reaching the top spot for the first time ever in a single calendar year ... and that number would only continue to rise during the next 20 years.
Toward the end of the decade, 60s fashion trends began to make its way into country music circles. This was specifically inspired by a song written by singer/songwriter Tom T. Hall about a miniskirt-wearing widowed mother of a teenage girl who was criticized by local school officials for supposedly setting a bad example for her daughter. The song was recorded by a young secretary named Jeannie C. Riley, who developed a Mod (subculture), mod persona in connection with the song by performing onstage in short skirts and go-go boots. Other female country artists began to follow suit in the years that followed, also appearing onstage in miniskirts and minidresses. The song reached both the country and pop charts in 1968; and to this day, "Harper Valley PTA" remains the most requested song in Riley's concerts.
It was attention to detail in songs like "Harper Valley PTA" that made Hall one of the genre's most renowned songwriters, starting in mid-1960s, and earned him the nickname "The Storyteller." His first hits were as a songwriter, with "Hello Vietnam," recorded by Johnnie Wright (husband of Kitty Wells), becoming Hall's first songwriting No. 1 single in 1965. By the late 1960s, Hall began having hits of his own, with songs like "Ballad of Forty Dollars, The Ballad Of Forty Dollars" and "Homecoming" both becoming top-10 hits and showcasing his storytelling talents, and that success continued into the 1970s and 1980s.
Other trends and musical events
*Late in the decade, the Monterey Pop Festival
The Monterey International Pop Festival was a three-day music festival held June 16 to 18, 1967, at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California. The festival is remembered for the first major American appearances by the Jimi Hendrix ...
and Woodstock Music Festival would epitomize the Counterculture of the 1960s, American counterculture.
*Current events become a major influence on popular music. Many songs are written in protest to the Vietnam War. The song "Ohio (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young song), Ohio" was written about the Kent State Massacre, and became a hit for Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
*World music sees a huge rise in popularity as many seek interest in other cultures. Ravi Shankar performs at the Monterey and Woodstock festivals. Latin Rock artist Carlos Santana sees popularity throughout the decade. George Harrison develops an interest in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Hare Krishna culture, adding Indian influence to the Beatles' music including the use of a sitar
The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in ...
. Reggae begins to popularize at this time.
*In 1969, the Rolling Stones organized the ill-fated Altamont Free Concert.
*Songs like "Summertime Blues" and "Eve of Destruction (song), Eve of Destruction" address the issue of the voting age, which at the time was 21. The issue was that soldiers were drafted at 18, but could not vote. The voting age was eventually lowered to eighteen.
*A few songs such as Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind
"Blowin' in the Wind" is a song written by Bob Dylan in 1962.
It was released as a single and included on his album ''The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan'' in 1963. It has been described as a protest song and poses a series of rhetorical questions about ...
" address the Civil Rights Movement.
Latin America, Spain and Brazil
Bossa Nova
This Brazilian musical style, which means "New Trend", had its origins in the upscale neighbourhoods of Rio de Janeiro. Immensely popular in the early 1960s, it was a fusion of samba and cool jazz. Antonio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto, and Vinicius de Moraes became some of the best known artists of the Bossa Nova movement. The latter's The Girl From Ipanema, released in 1964, became the first Bossa Nova song to achieve international acclaim. In 1965, it won a Grammy Award for Grammy Awards of 1965, Best Record of the Year.
Another prominent Latin pop group was Sergio Mendes and Brazil '66. Their songs included Mas Que Nada, The Joker, and Agua de Beber. In 1966 the group was nominated for a Grammy award for Best Performance by a Duo or Musical Group. They eventually became Sergio Mendes and Brazil '77, and continued playing their brand of Latin pop into that decade.
Nueva ola
It was during the 60s that rock music began to gain acclaim in Latin America. In Spanish speaking South America musicians who adopted US and British inspired rock, mainly rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
, twist
Twist may refer to:
In arts and entertainment Film, television, and stage
* ''Twist'' (2003 film), a 2003 independent film loosely based on Charles Dickens's novel ''Oliver Twist''
* ''Twist'' (2021 film), a 2021 modern rendition of ''Olive ...
and British Invasion music, were collectively labelled as Nueva ola (Spanish for "New Wave"). Argentina, having his own Rock and Roll and British Invasion inspired bands and artist, Sandro de América, , , Los Gatos Salvajes, Los Beatniks, Los Buhos, among others. suffered the Uruguayan Invasion, a series of British Invasion inspired rock bands from Montevideo that moved to Buenos Aires and soon became popular in Argentina Los Shakers, Los Mockers, Los Iracundos. Rock music was during the 60s still largely sung in English, but some bands like Los Mac's and others mentioned above used Spanish for their songs as well. During the 1960s, most of the music produced in Mexico consisted on Spanish-language versions of English-language rock-and-roll hits. Singers and musical groups like Angelica Maria, César Costa, Enrique Guzmán performed cover versions of songs by Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
, Nancy Sinatra, Paul Anka and others.
Nueva canción
During the 1960s Nueva Canción emerges and starts to expand its influence. This development is pioneered by the Chileans Violeta Parra and Victor Jara who base many of their songs in folklore, specially cueca. Nueva Canción spreads quickly all over Latin America and becomes closely related to the New Left and the Liberation theology movements. In Francisco Franco's Spain Joan Manuel Serrat reaches widespread notability as an exponent of Nueva Canción and of the political opposition.
Salsa
Even though salsa music began to take form in a New York City, New York scene dominated by Cubans and other Latin American communities, Salsa would not become popular all across Latin America until the late 1980s and is now here today.
Tango
Astor Piazzolla won the First Ibero American Music Festival in 1966 with the song "Balada para un loco", that launched him worldwide introducing his New Tango style Nuevo Tango
Música cebolla
Música cebolla, a style of music loaded with sentimentality, had its heyday in Chile despite being derided or ignored by mass media.
Australia and New Zealand
The 1960s saw increasing interest in how electronic music could solve both compositional and more practical problems. Composers were also absorbing ideas from overseas, such as indeterminacy and electro-acoustic music, and interpreting them in an Australian context to mixed responses from local audiences.
Early in the decade, Bruce Clarke began toying with the new Moog synthesizer. A musicians' strike led him to create a completely electronic soundtrack for a cigarette commercial in 1963. Innovative film makers, like Arthur Cantrill and Dušan Marek, employed tape manipulation, turntables and extended instrument techniques to create soundtracks for their short films. Avowed amateur and Melbourne physician, Val Stephen, became the first Australian to have electronic music released internationally.
After working among the musical avant-garde in Paris, Keith Humble's return to Australia helped to encourage educational institutions to take electronic music seriously. Humble's most notably experimental work was his Nunique series. These vast multimedia events featured simultaneous performances by rock bands, string quartets and theatre ensembles, all according to precise flowcharts.
Humble initiated the Melbourne-based Society for the Private Performance of New Music in 1966, providing a supportive performance space for young innovators both in and outside the academy. Among these were the McKimm/Rooney/Clayton trio, who, since the 1964, had been incorporating graphic scores and aspects of serialism into jazz improvisation. Jazz was radicalizing at the fringes: John Sangster explored free jazz concepts and Charlie Munro incorporated Eastern musical elements. Syd Clayton would leave jazz behind in pursuit of a new form of experimental music theatre that incorporated chance operations along with sports and games as musical structures.
Young composers, like David Ahern, emerged, initially inspired by ideas of the European Avant-garde music, avant-garde, and applying them to Australian icons, such as Captain Cook and Ned Kelly. Ahern would travel to Europe later in the 1960s, where he encountered Stockhausen and Cornelius Cardew, Cardew, before returning home with further more radical ideas that questioned the very premises of composer and music itself.
Legacy
It's difficult to gauge the lasting impact of 1960s music in popular culture. A 2010 European survey conducted by the digital broadcaster Music Choice, interviewing over 11,000 participants, rated the decade rather low, with only 19% declaring it the best tune decade in the last 50 years, while participants of an American land line survey rated the 1960s a bit higher, with 26% declaring it as best decade in music.
The song Vivo cantando was joint winner of ... with the United Kingdom's "Boom Bang-a-Bang" performed by Lulu (singer), Lulu, "De troubadour" by Lenny Kuhr representing the Netherlands, and "Un jour, un enfant" sung for France by Frida Boccara. It was Spain's second winning entry in the contest and the last to date.
See also
*Timeline of musical events
*List of 1960s musical artists
*1970s in music
*1950s in music
References
Sources
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{{Authority control
1960s in music,
20th century in music
1960s decade overviews