Chapter Outline

Chapter 5: American Responses (1964-1966)

• American audience reaction to the Beatles was very positive
• Musicians' response was one of inspired attempts to imitate and innovate
1. Established artists continued with what they were already doing prior to 1964
2. They continued to enjoy commercial success
• Phil Spector
• The Beach Boys
• The Four Seasons
• Motown artists
• There was a music industry movement away from New York to Los Angeles after 1964
1. The television industry in Hollywood began producing pop music variety shows
• Paul Revere and the Raiders hosted one such show
• They wore Revolutionary War costumes
2. A television sitcom was developed around the Beatles film A Hard Day's Night
• The Monkees (also with a misspelled band name) was a fictitious rock band
• Even one member of the cast was British
• David Jones was seen on the February 9, 1964, Ed Sullivan Show that debuted the Beatles
3. Folk groups and artists moved to Los Angeles but nearly all were eventually signed to New York labels
4. Ironically the New York labels ignored them when they were in New York
• By 1965 new American pop styles began to appear
1. Former styles were being fused with Beatles-oriented "beat" music
2. The most obvious example is folk rock
• Folk music is simple
• It is easily accessible to amateur musicians
• Lyrics dominated that style
• Electric instruments began to be used instead of acoustic instruments
3. The earliest artists to employ these sounds were folk artists first
• Bob Dylan
• The Byrds
• Both added electric guitars, electric bass, drums, and occasionally keyboards
4. The folk revival was based on guitar chords accompanying vocals
5. The Beatles were originally a guitar-based ensemble
• The transition from acoustic to electric is easy
• Would-be musicians bought electric guitars and began practicing in garages
6. The combination of imitation and adaptation of preexisting styles is best seen in folk rock
• Folk rock begins with Bob Dylan
• Bob Dylan in 1964
1. Well known in the folk music community
2. Relatively unknown to the commercial pop mainstream audience
• Folk artists weren't part of the "singles" end of the music industry
• They were known for their albums of folk songs
3. At this time the folk music that had high exposure was by the pop-oriented folk artists
• Peter, Paul, and Mary
• The Kingston Trio
4. Dylan's recording success was based on album sales
5. His album sales were fueled by touring
• Extensive performances on college campuses
• Folk clubs
6. Built his style around that of Woody Guthrie
• Added new lyrics to familiar public domain folk songs
• The new lyrics were about social injustice
• The heroes of Guthrie songs were real people, not folklore
7. Early Dylan songs dealt with social issues
• "Blowin' in the Wind" addressed civil rights issues
• "Masters of War" was about the newly erupting Vietnam
8. Eventually Dylan began addressing more personal ideas
• He put his talent for crafting lyrics into these relationship-driven topics
• These lyrics were far more poetic than Brill Building songs
9. His second, third, and fourth albums were commercial successes in America and England
• The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (p22 uk16, 1963) had his original version of "Blowin' in the Wind"
• The Times They Are a-Changin' (p20 uk20, 1964)
• Another Side of Bob Dylan (p43 uk8, 1964)
• Dylan after 1964
1. He'd been interested in using electric instruments but wasn't satisfied with early attempts
2. The Byrds released an electric version of his "Mr. Tambourine Man" in 1965
• The Byrds used a Rickenbacker electric 12-string guitar for the hook and accompaniment
• George Harrison is seen playing one in A Hard Day's Night
• Dylan liked what he heard
• Decided to try electric instruments again
3. Bringin' It All Back Home (p6 uk1, 1965) was half electric and half acoustic
4. He next released a single that became a hit: "Subterranean Homesick Blues" (p39 uk9, 1965)
• Electric Dylan and the Newport folk festival controversy
1. Dylan appeared at Newport in July of 1965 using electric instruments on some songs
2. Folk purists accused him of selling out to the pop mainstream
3. Dylan's next single was "Like a Rolling Stone" (p2 uk4, 1965) and also used electric instruments
4. The next album was Highway 61 Revisited (p3 uk4, 1965)
5. The next single was "Positively 4th Street" (p7 uk8, 1965)
• An angry song
• What he called a "finger pointing" song
• He used this metaphor in his songs about social injustice and pointed out the perpetrators
• In this song he was accusing the folk music establishment of unfair criticism
• He's obviously angry and takes up twelve verses to express it.
6. Dylan had another hit with "Rainy Day Women Nos. 12 and 35" (p2 uk7, 1966)
7. His last album of 1966 was Blonde on Blonde (p9 uk3, 1966)
• He used a band named the Hawks as his backup musicians
• They subsequently changed their name to the Band
8. Dylan spent several months recovering from a near-fatal motorcycle accident in July of 1966
• His records inspired musicians to follow in his path
• They used electric instruments to accompany lyrics about serious issues
9. Dylan was gone for a while but folk rock was continued by other, more commercial artists
• The Byrds and the jingle jangle of the electric 12-string guitar
• The first international folk rock hit was the Byrds' recording of Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" (p1 uk1, 1965)
1. Byrds were formed in Los Angeles in 1964
• Roger (Jim) McGuinn, electric 12-string guitar and vocals
• Gene Clark, vocals
• David Crosby, guitar and vocals
• Chris Hillman, bass and vocals
• Michael Clarke, drums
2. Manager Jim Dickson taped their rehearsals and had them listen to themselves
• The Rickenbacker electric 12-string guitar and folk rock
1. They saw the Beatles film A Hard Day's Night
• George Harrison is seen playing a Rickenbacker electric 12-string guitar
• It was only the second one ever made
• McGuinn traded in his acoustic for a Rickenbacker 12-string similar to Harrison's
2. Their trademark sound was instantly recognizable
• Rich textured harmonized vocals utilizing full and falsetto voices
• The sparkling electric 12-string
3. They recorded rock versions of folk songs and originals
• Their first album was titled Mr. Tambourine Man (p6 uk7, 1965),
• Total of four covers of Dylan songs
4. They covered a Pete Seeger song, "Turn, Turn, Turn" (p1 uk26, 1966)
5. The next album was also titled Turn, Turn, Turn (p 17 uk 11, 1966)
• Also some covers of Dylan songs
• Also some originals, most written by Gene Clark
• When Dylan began writing folk rock songs the Byrds lost their best source of material
1. This forced the Byrds into writing their own folk rock songs
2. They explored other styles, particularly jazz
• Their next hit was written by McGuinn, Clark, and Crosby: "Eight Miles High" (p14 uk24, 1966)
• Inspiration from John Coltrane's "India" for the guitar solos
3. Radio stations quit playing the song when a trade magazine said the song was about drugs
• The lyrics referred to a cruising altitude for a transatlantic flight
• The word "high" was code for being under the influence of drugs—double meaning was too clear
4. The Byrds' fourth album showed a wide spectrum of stylistic influences
• Younger Than Yesterday (p24 uk37, 967)
• Country
• Jazz
• Avant-garde influences
• Psychedelia
• The Byrds, Dylan, the Beach Boys, and the music business
• "Mr. Tambourine Man" is an interesting convergence of music business aspects
1. The entire band is not playing on the record
• McGuinn plays the electric 12-string
• McGuinn and Crosby sing
• The rest of the track is provided by Phil Spector's "Wrecking Crew" studio musicians
2. The "Wrecking Crew" used the same groove that they used on a Brian Wilson song
• "Don't Worry Baby" was inspired by Spector's production of "Be My Baby" for the Ronettes
• Wilson originally wrote that song for Spector's girl groups—he rejected it
• The idea of using studio musicians is a Brill Building concept
• McGuinn had worked in the Brill Building as a songwriter for teen idol Bobby Darin
3. McGuinn claims to have been inspired by a Bach chorale: "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring"
• He had been learning to play it on the electric 12-string guitar
• The electric 12-string hook is melodically more similar to classical music than to rock, folk, or blues
4. The use of a Beatles trademark sound in 1964 is unmistakable
5. The song has been substantially reduced in length
• It is in contrasting verse-chorus form with uneven numbers of measures in the verses
• Dylan had three verses in his original version
• Only one verse is used in the Byrds' cover
6. The song therefore takes on a "universal" style by embracing many of the current or recent trends
• Folk music was the music of "everyman"
• Rock music was for all of the youth
• Simon and Garfunkel and electric folk
• The song "The Sounds of Silence" (p 1, 1965) exemplifies how folk can be turned into rock
1. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel performed as Tom and Jerry in the late 1950s
• Their song "Hey Schoolgirl" was patterned after the Everly Brothers' duo approach
• They appeared on American Bandstand
2. They turned to folk music and recorded the folk album Wednesday Morning, 3 am (1964)
• It didn't do well and the duo split up
• Simon went to England
• Garfunkel went to graduate school
3. Dylan and the Byrds ushered in the folk rock sound in 1965
4. The producer was Tom Wilson
• He'd worked with Dylan on mid 1960s albums
• Dylan's first album in 1962 contained an acoustic version of "House of the Rising Sun"
• By 1966 Wilson was working with the Animals who'd recorded an electric version of it in 1964
5. Wilson decided to add drums and electric instruments to one of the Wednesday Morning, 3 am tracks
• "The Sounds of Silence"
• Simon and Garfunkel knew nothing about it
• The folk rock version of the single went to number one in the fall of 1965
6. The duo reunited and put the song on their new album, The Sounds of Silence (p21 uk 13, 1966)
7. They had more hits through the late 1960s
• "Homeward Bound" (p5 uk9, 1966)
• "I Am a Rock" (p3 uk 17, 1966)
8. The 1967 album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme (p4) moved back to acoustic arrangements
• He'd worked with Dylan on mid 1960s albums
• "Scarborough Fair-Canticle" (p11, 1968) employed delicate counterpoint
• "A Hazy Shade of Winter" (p13, 1966) uses a rock arrangement
9. They finished out the 1960s with two monumentally successful albums (commercially and aesthetically)
• Bookends (p1 uk1, 1968)
• Bridge over Troubled Water (pl uk1, 1970)
• The California side of the folk rock movement
• Folk rock began by setting preexisting folk songs to rock arrangements
• Several artists or groups wrote songs in the new style
1. P. F. Sloan's "Eve of Destruction" was recorded by Barry McGuire
• Like many folk rockers, McGuire started in New York and moved to California
• The Turtles
1. A folk rock group that went pop
2. The Turtles started their career by covering Dylan songs
• "It Ain't Me Babe" (p8, 1965)
• "Let Me Be" (p29, 1965)
3. They moved toward the mainstream pop sound after that with their own material
• "Happy Together" (p1 uk12, 1967)
• "She'd Rather Be with Me" (p3 uk4, 1967)
• "Elenore" (p6 uk7, 1968)
• "You Showed Me" (p6, 1969)
4. Characteristic Turtles sound built upon highly polished dual lead vocalists
• Howard Kaylan
• Mark Volman
• Both vocalists joined Frank Zappa's band for a few years with odd stage names
• Phlorescent Leech and Eddie (Flo and Eddie)
• Mamas and the Papas
1. A quartet of highly skilled singers formed in New York
• Singer/songwriter/arranger John Phillips
• Michelle Phillips
• Denny Doherty
• Cass Elliot
2. Moved to Los Angeles with other folk artists
3. Sophisticated four-part vocal arrangements with a wide spectrum of influences
• Late 1950s-early 1960s close harmony folk singing similar to Peter, Paul, and Mary
• Girl-group doo-wop (they had a hit with a cover of the Shirelles' "Dedicated to the One I Love")
4. Accompanied by a rock rhythm section
• Drums
• Electric
• Bass
• Guitars
• Keyboards
5. They had several hits that blended folk rock with pop mainstream finesse
• "California Dreamin'" (p4 uk23, 1966)
• "Monday Monday" (p1 uk3, 1966)
• "I Saw Her Again" (p5 uk11, 1966)
• "Creeque Alley" (p5, 1967)—a musical tale of their (and friends') climb in the folk rock scene
• American pop on both coasts
• Phil Spector continues onward
1. Achieved his greatest successes in the months after the Beatles arrived
• The Crystals: "Doo Doo Ron Ron" (p3 uk5, 1964) and "Then He Kissed Me" (p6 uk2, 1964)
• The Ronettes' "Be My Baby" (p2 uk4, 1964)
2. Spector and the Righteous Brothers hit with three big singles:
• "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" (p1 uk1, 1965)
• "Unchained Melody" (p4 uk14, 1965)
• "Ebb Tide" (p5 uk48, 1966)
3. He hoped "River Deep, Mountain High" would be his greatest record ever
• Written by Spector, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich
• Sung by Tina Turner
• Failed in charts (p86, 1966) went to number three in the UK
• Spector was crushed by the failure and retired from the music business
4. Later produced some Beatles-related projects that went to number 1
• The Beatles "Let It Be" (1970)
• George Harrison "All Things Must Pass" (1970)
• John Lennon "Imagine" (1971)
• The Beach Boys: Brian Wilson becomes another Phil Spector
1. Beach Boys continued to have hits after the Beatles arrived
• They shifted away from surf music
• "Fun, Fun, Fun" charted at number 5 during the Beatlemania craze
• "I Get Around." was their first U.S. number 1 (number 7 in the UK) in 1964
2. They were in direct competition with the Beatles
• Both groups were on Capitol records
• Capitol was at that time owned by EMI—the Beatles' parent label
3. Brian Wilson decided to stop touring with the Beach Boys in December 1964
• He wanted to devote all of his time to writing and producing the Beach Boys' songs
• The band replaced him on the road with Glen Campbell and then Bruce Johnston
4. Wilson continually developed very sophisticated writing, arranging, and production techniques
• "Help Me Rhonda" (p1 uk7, I965)
• "California Girls" (p3 uk26, 1965)
5. The album Pet Sounds (pl 0 uk2, 1966) upped the standard for record production and arranging
• "Sloop John B" (p3 uk2, 1966) uses Spector' s "Wall of Sound" with Wilson's vocal arrangements
• "Wouldn't It Be Nice" moves beyond surf music concepts
• "God Only Knows," is the best example of how far Wilson's music developed
6. Pet Sounds became one of the most influential albums of the 1960s
• Inspired the Beatles to even greater experimentation in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
7. The next single, "Good Vibrations," became a new model for studio creativity
• The "California Girls" introduction section exemplifies a sophisticated arrangement
1. Blend of symphonic melodic and harmonic concepts with surf music
• Contrasting verse-chorus formal design
• Overall structure has noticeable similarity to Spector's song "Be My Baby"
• Instrumental break after the second chorus and before the chorus fade-out
2. Eight-measure introduction is unique to the song and does not recur
• A brief two-measure figure played quietly at first
• Repeated as new instruments enter
• Chords build in the horns
• Two-measure rhythmic figure leads into the first verse
3. Various musical concepts show Wilson's interest in expanding the sound of rock music
• Drums change rhythmic pattern during the chorus
• Drum accents in the choruses are rhythmic patterns more common to symphonic music
4. The subtleties in this 1965 song foreshadow new experiments in Pet Sounds and "Good Vibrations"
• Sonny and Cher (Sonny Bono and Cherilyn La Piere)
• Sonny had been involved in the Los Angeles music scene since the 1950s
1. Worked at Specialty Records
• Assigned to Little Richard before the singer decided to give up rock for the ministry
2. Handled promotion for Phil Spector's label, Philes Records
• Close to Spector—a trusted employee
• Played percussion on many Spector productions at Gold Star Studios
• Learned Spector's production techniques
• Often brought girlfriend Cher in to sing backup vocals
• Sonny and Cher released three unsuccessful singles in 1963 as Caesar and Cleo
1. Sonny wrote and produced singles that became regional hits in 1964
• "Baby Don't Go" and "Just You" for the first half of 1965
2. They cashed in on the new folk rock trend of covering folk material
• Sonny produced Cher's cover of Dylan's "All I Really Want to Do"
• It went to number 15
• Caused the Byrds' version to stall in the charts at number 40
• "I Got You, Babe" hit number one in both the U.S. and UK charts
3. Earlier songs returned successfully to the charts
• "Baby Don't Go" (p8 uk11) and
• "Just You" (p20)
4. They next had a series of pop hits:
• "But You're Mine" (p15 uk17, 1965)
• "Little Man" (p21 uk4, 1966)
• "The Beat Goes On" (p6 uk29, 1967)
• They developed into cultural icons
1. They were known for their outlandish hippie attire and long hair
• The youth culture embraced them for their conviction to nonconformity
• The establishment resented them for it and harshly criticized them for it
• They were among the first to state that people had a right to look the way they wanted to
2. They conveyed an anti-establishment image
3. Eventually hosted their own network TV variety show that was very successful
• By the time that happened, they were considered to be "family entertainment"
• They employed humor that was directed at conservative values as well as each other
• They married and became one of the "America's Sweetheart" celebrity couples
• More Los Angeles artists
• Gary Lewis and the Playboys
1. Leader was comedian Jerry Lewis's son
2. Gary had appeared in his dad's 1957 film Rock-a-Bye Baby
• In 1964 his band was regular entertainment at Disneyland
• Cameo appearance in the film A Swingin' Summer starring Raquel Welch
3. The group's first hit, "This Diamond Ring" (p1, 1965)
• Produced by veteran producer Snuff Garrett
• Arrangements by Wrecking Crew pianist Leon Russell
4. The song was co-written by Al Kooper
• He played organ on Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" and "Positively 4th St."
• Lewis performed it with his father in the film The Family Jewels
5. Eleven more hits in the next few years, including
• "Count Me In" (p2, 1965)
• "Save Your Heart for Me" (p2, 1965)
• "She's Just My Style" (p3, 1965)
• "Green Grass" (p8, 1966)
• Johnny Rivers (John Ramistella)
1. In the music business for several years before getting a hit record on Imperial Records
• His first two hit singles were Chuck Berry covers
• "Memphis" (p2, 1964) and
• "Maybellene" (p12, 1964)
2. "Midnight Special" was a cover of a Weavers hit
• Number twenty hit in February 1965
• Before the Byrds or Dylan introduced folk rock
3. Eleven more Top 40 singles in the 1960s
• "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" (p26, 1965)
• "Poor Side of Town" (p1, 1966)
• "Secret Agent Man" (p3, 1966)—his best known song
• It was a theme for a popular TV show
4. Started his own label in 1966, Soul City
• Signed songwriter Jimmie Webb
• Rivers produced the Fifth Dimension's "Up, Up, and Away" (p7, 1967)
5. Eight Top 40 albums
• Meanwhile back in New York
• The Lovin' Spoonful
1. Formed by songwriter-folk singer John Sebastian
• Zalman Yanovsky, guitar
• Steve Boone, bass
• Joe Butler, drums
2. Kama Sutra Records released "Do You Believe in Magic" (p9, 1965)
• Written by Sebastian, produced by Erik Jacobsen
3. Songs tended to be playful and upbeat
• "Daydream" (p2 uk2, 1966)
• "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind" (p2, 1966)
• "Summer in the City" (pl uk8, 1966)
• "Nashville Cats" (p8 uk26, 1967)
• The Young Rascals
1. Signed to Atlantic Records; allowed them to produce themselves
• Felix Cavaliere on Hammond organ
• Eddie Brigati on vocals
• Gene Cornish on guitar
• Dino Danelli on drums
2. First hit was a rock and roll cover of the Olympics' rhythm and blues hit "Good Lovin" (p1, 1965)
3. Further hits were written in rhythm and blues influenced style by Cavaliere and Brigati
• "I've Been Lonely Too Long" (p 16, 1967)
• "Groovin'" (p1 uk8, 1967)
• "How Can I Be Sure" (p4, 1967)
• "A Beautiful Morning" (p3, 1968)
• "People Got to Be Free" (p 1, 1968)
4. They opened for the Beatles at the Shea Stadium concert in the summer of 1965
• Their manager was Sid Bernstein
• Bernstein was the promoter of the concert who booked the Beatles
• What happened to the Brill Building
1. Don Kirschner (Aldon Music) moved to Los Angeles to run Colpix records
2. Leiber and Stoller returned to Los Angeles and formed Red Bird records
• The Ad Libs' "The Boy from New York City" (p8, 1965)
• Dixie Cups' "Chapel of Love" and the
• Shangri-Las' "Leader of the Pack" (both discussed in Chapter 3)
• Left the Drifters with producer Bert Berns
3. In 1965 Berns formed Bang! Records
• Partners were Ahmet and Neshui Ertegun and Jerry Wexler from Atlantic Records
• Produced a group called the McCoys
• They had a hit with "Hang On Sloopy" (p1, uk5 1965)—patterned after "Louie Louie"
• Two more Top 40 hits: "Fever" (p7 uk44, 1965) and "Come On Let's Go" (p22, 1966)
4. Bang! signed Neil Diamond and his hits started in 1966
• "Cherry, Cherry" (p6, 1966)
• Diamond wrote "I'm a Believer" and it became a hit for the Monkees
• The Four Seasons
1. Highly successful vocal group—an East coast answer to the Beach Boys' vocal arrangements
• Lead singer Frankie Valli used high falsetto
• Overall vocal sound was tight and powerful
2. Signed to Vee Jay records
• In 1963 Beatles producer George Martin had licensed the first Beatles LP to Vee Jay
• Capitol had refused to release the first Beatles album and four singles
• Vee Jay put out a double album called Beatles vs. the Four Seasons
3. Four Seasons had a long string of hits through the first half of the 1960s
• "Sherry" (p1, 1962)
• "Big Girls Don't Cry," (p1, 1962)
• "Walk Like a Man" (p1, 1963)
• "Rag Doll" (p1, 1964)
• "Let's Hang On" (p4, 1965)
• "Workin' My Way Back to You" (p9 uk50, 1966)
• Top 40 Radio
• Radio in the first half of the twentieth century changed from its original concept into something entirely different
1. Broadcasting was originally built around specific types of programming
• Similar to the way television is now
• Some portion of each day was reserved for national shows
• Dramas, soap operas, mysteries, comedies, news, music, or variety shows
2. Television drew audiences away from radio
3. Television featured viewable versions of what radio had provided
• The transistor radio was introduced in the 1950s
1. The audience that embraced this technology was younger and more active
2. This audience was more interested in music than previous generations had been
• The actual origin of the Top 40 radio format is not known
1. The first all-music radio station was KOWH in Omaha, Nebraska
2. KOWH owner-operator Todd Storz abandoned network programming and just played music all day
• It was cheaper
• Surveys indicated that listeners preferred music to any other type of programming
• The idea caught on quickly and spread across the nation
3. The Top 40 format is a simple concept:
• The host of the show was a disk-jockey—or DJ as they came to be known
• The DJ had to develop an "on air" personality that would hold the listeners' attention
• The DJ played records, occasionally inserting news and advertising between songs
• The songs the DJ played came from a prescribed list provided by the station programmer
• This list would be based on the weekly Billboard singles chart
• That chart indicated the most popular songs in the nation for that week
4. The Billboard chart was based on several factors
• Number of records sold
• Jukebox selections
• Call-in requests to radio stations
5. Not all songs played were from the Billboard chart
• They could be songs selected by the station programmer
• They could be selected by the DJ
6. Songs could become hits if a DJ played one and the audience liked it and began requesting it
• DJs played songs based on educated guesses about a new song's potential to become a hit
• If the audience liked a song, the DJ would play it more often
• This generated more sales, jukebox selections and call-in requests
• These factors would affect the song's position on the Billboard chart
7. This cyclical concept is the reason songs exploded into hits
• It happened with songs that had distinctive qualities
• New styles
• Novelty songs
• Top 40 radio played an important role in the integration of music styles
1. The bottom line for stations was advertiser income
2. Listeners are potential consumers of the advertisers' products
3. Stations had to play a wide variety of music hits to have a broad listener audience
4. Songs by artists from different racial or ethnic groups had positive potential for the station
• If the audience liked it, it would get more airplay
• This meant more income for the station because it increased the listening audience
• The personality of the DJ played an increasingly important role in radio
1. Often the DJ would be the deciding factor in whether people tuned in
2. Some DJs became national stars
3. They played an important role in the hit-making process
• Wolfman Jack
• Cousin Brucie
• Murray the K
4. Many of these celebrity DJs made a point of informing their listeners of new styles or artists
• This helped to promote songs that crossed the color line
• It brought about greater stylistic diversity
• It accelerated the changes that occurred in all styles of popular music
• Garage Bands: No professional experience necessary
• Amateur musicians bought guitars, basses, and drums and occasionally keyboards
1. They formed bands and they practiced in garages or basements
2. These "Garage Bands" can be seen as a direct reaction to the British Invasion
3. British Invasion bands, particularly the Beatles, were idolized by American male teens
• Often the goal was to merely play gigs locally at parties or school dances
• They usually used inexpensive equipment and sounded amateurish
4. Most of these bands had a few hits and then disappeared
• Were unable to rise to the challenge of staying in business
• Record labels released their first recording for the novelty appeal more than anything else
• Some continued to improve their musicianship to be able to remain in the business
• Doing that worked against them, as they lost the quaint amateurish sound that had worked for them
• The Kingsmen and "Louie Louie"
1. Garage that succeeded with their $50 recording of a 1956 calypso-influenced rhythm and blues song
• The band is from Portland, Oregon
• Recording was also made in that area
2. Rose to number two in 1963
3. Poor quality of the production caused controversy
• Nearly unintelligible vocals were suspected of being obscene
• In 1964 governor of Indiana declared the song profane and ordered an FCC investigation
• FCC couldn't decipher the lyrics either
• Decision was made that the song was harmless
4. The Kingsmen had two more hits before disappearing from view
• "Money" (p 16, 1964)
• "The Jolly Green Giant" (p4, 1965)
• Paul Revere and the Raiders was another Portland band that also recorded "Louie Louie"
1. Their version lost in the charts to the Kingsmen's version
2. Their gimmick was Revolutionary War costumes
3. They moved to Hollywood and succeeded in the music business through TV exposure
4. The were picked to host a network TV show on CBS: Where the Action Is (See XIV.A)
5. They worked with Byrds producer Terry Melcher to release several hit records in the 1960s
• "Just like Me" (p 11, 1966)
• "Kicks" (p4, 1966)
• "Hungry" (p6, 1966)
• "Good Thing" (p4, 1967)
• "The Great Airplane Strike" (p20, 1966) written by the band's vocalist Mark Lindsay and Melcher
• "Indian Reservation" reached number one in 1971
6. This success qualifies this band as the most successful garage band of the 1960s
• All the others
1. There was a definite pattern of "one-hit wonders" who didn't last beyond one or two hits
• Cannibal and the Headhunters: "Land of 1000 Dances" (p30, 1965)
• Count Five: "Psychotic Reaction" (p5, 1966)
• ? and the Mysterians: "96 Tears" (p1, 1966)
• Seeds: "Pushin' Too Hard" (p36, 1966)
• Shadows of Knight: "Gloria" (p10, 1966)
• Standells: "Dirty Water" (p11, 1966)
• Syndicate of Sound: "Little Girl" (p8, 1967)
2. Tommy James and the Shondells had fourteen Top 40 hits including
• "Hanky Panky" (p1, 1966)
• Recorded in 1963 and released in 1966 after a Pittsburgh DJ started playing it
• "Mony Mony" (p3, 1968)
• "Crimson and Clover" (p 1, 1968)
• "Crystal Blue Persuasion" (p2, 1969)
3. Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs had six national hits up through 1967
• "Wooly Bully" (p2, 1965) was their first of five more including
• "Little Red Riding Hood" (p2, 1966)
• 1960s rock and roll television: American Bandstand meets A Hard Day's Night
• Several television shows appeared modeled after Dick Clark's highly successful show American Bandstand
1. Clark produced the CBS show Where the Action Is featuring Paul Revere and the Raiders
2. Other similar formatted shows:
• Shindig debuted on ABC a few months before Clark's show
• NBC followed with its show Hullabaloo
• These three network shows (and many local shows) featured British Invasion and American acts
• The Monkees television show debuted in September 1966
1. A show inspired by director Richard Lester's Beatles films
2. Television sitcom supported by records
3. Main characters were a rock band
• General fun and witty humor
• Songs would be featured in the show and released as records
4. Actors cast for the parts were only involved in singing on the supporting records
• Guitarist and songwriter Michael Nesmith
• Peter Tork had been active in Greenwich Village folk music
• Singer Davy Jones had performed on Broadway in Oliver
• He performed with that cast on the night the Beatles debuted on the Ed Sullivan Show
• Mickey Dolenz had starred in the Circus Boy TV series
5. All focus was directed at the acting in the show, not the records that would be released
• Songs were needed and were provided and produced in the Brill Building tradition
• Professional songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart were hired to create the music
• Also from the Brill Building: Gerry Goffin and Carole King
• The first Monkees hit, "Last Train to Clarksville" (p1, 1966) coincided with the show's debut
• Neil Diamond wrote the next hit "I'm a Believer" (p1 uk1, 1966)
• Backing tracks were produced by Boyce and Hart using studio musicians
6. Hollywood had total control of the show and the music
• This concept closely paralleled the Brill Building approach to pre-Beatles era 1960s song production
• It was also a successful approach for the Byrds' "Mr. Tambourine Man"
• Brian Wilson used this approach for the later Beach Boys material, particularly Pet Sounds
7. The success of the music was unexpected
• "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone" (p20, 1967) was the B-side to "I'm a Believer"
• "A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You" (p2 uk3, 1967)/"The Girl 1 Knew Somewhere" (p39, 1967)
• "Pleasant Valley Sunday" (p3 uk11, 1967)/ "Words" (p11, 1967)
• "Valleri" (p3 uk12, 1968)/"Tapioca Tundra" (p34, 1968)
• The first four albums were all number one in the U.S. and within the top 5 in the UK
• The first two albums combined to hold a number one position for thirty-one weeks from 1966 to 1967
8. The band members all improved their musicianship enough to play on their own records
• Nesmith had played on the records all along
• They wanted to take control of the writing and production as well
• Production executives resisted but the band won, just as the Beatles had done
• Eventually other artists would insist on control of their songs
9. When they gained full control, their popularity diminished
• A look at "Last Train to Clarksville"
1. Form: simple verse—five verses
2. Verse 5 is a return of verse 1
3. The verses are in a 16-measure pattern, though the first and third verses are only 14 measures
• The last 2 measures of those verses are truncated
• There are two interludes added in for the sake of formal enhancement
• The first employs a wordless vocalized syllable ("doo")
• The second is derived from the first with high background vocals and guitar arpeggios
• Like Beatles songs of this same time period, the subtle changes in form make the song interesting
• The bands who never were and the hits they had
• Hollywood went one step further than the Monkees concept: fictitious bands
1. This could be seen as the Brill Building concept taken to the logical extreme
• Songwriter/producers proved that the actual singers were expendable
• Why not have cartoon characters as the "artist"
• In 1969 Don Kirschner promoted a cartoon band that had a TV show: the Archies
• Their hit was "Sugar Sugar," topping both U.S. and UK charts
2. There were several successful imaginary bands that appealed to 1960s teens
• The Banana Splits wore fuzzy costumes
• Lancelot Link and the Evolution Revolution were chimpanzees
• Pop music was laid under chase scenes in Scooby Doo Where Are You?
3. The Partridge Family sitcom was about a musical family who were also a "working" band
• All of the songs belonging to pretend bands were in a style that appealed to young teens
1. Their older siblings were interested in songs with more substance
• Lyrically as with folk rock
• Musically as with the Beatles (who were embracing folk rock ideals and lyrics by the mid 1960s)
2. This young teen pop style was named for a substance present in nearly all young teen mouths: bubblegum