The 1960s’!

Teenage pop In reaction to the rebellious image of Rock ‘n’ roll a cleaner less dangerous music developed in the form of commercial pop music. Groups like THE BEACH BOYS, and the EVERLEY BROTHERS had huge success with songs to do with having fun and falling in love. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDIBMaCTwFw – Boys - I Get Around http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTYe9eDqxe8 – Brothers - All I have to do is dream + Cathy's Clown

In many respects the 1960’s became a golden age for songwriters and record producers. For example the partnership between Buddy Holly and Norman Petty, Elvis Presley and Steve Sholes. Songwriters who thrived during the early 60’s include Felice Bryant (who wrote for the Everley Brothers) and Jerry Lieber & Mike Stoller (who wrote many of Elvis’s songs as well as hits for the Coasters, later working as producers for the Drifters. The perfect pop record was generally a combination of the following elements: Perfect pace (even the slowest songs had a sense of movement) Vocal harmonies (providing a pleasing texture and harmonic colour Hooks: A simple instrumental figure such as a guitar riff or drum roll and a simple yet distinctive phrase that carry’s the song’s title Examples of such songs include: Crying in the rain, Claudette, and Up on the roof

British beat / Mersey beat Up until the 1960’s America had dominated the popular music scene. With the arrival of bands such as the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, British bands took their music to America. This is often referred to as ‘The British invasion’. The Rolling stones were known for their R ‘n’ B influences, whereas the Beatles could be broadly termed, 60’s rock. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27ouOE4RvUc – Stones - The Last Time (1965) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xf5TVPJA0zk – Beatles - Help

The Beatles John, Paul and George were playing as a group from 1958 with Ringo joining in 1962 (replacing previous drummer Pete Best). Initially John, Paul and George played regularly in the nightclubs of Hamburg, playing long hours seven nights a week with skiffle influenced pop. However this intensive schedule dramatically improved their playing and helped to give the group an identity on which their success was built a few years later. Their first album was please please me released in 1963. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine comments, "Decades after its release, the album still sounds fresh, precisely because of its intense origins.“ Lennon said little thought went into composition at the time; he and McCartney were "just writing songs à la Everly Brothers, à la Buddy Holly, pop songs with no more thought of them than that – to create a sound. And the words were almost irrelevant." Released in March 1963, the album initiated a run during which eleven of their twelve studio albums released in the United Kingdom through 1970 reached number one. The Beatles last recording sessions, resulting in the album Abbey Road (1969) swung the emphasis back to the carefully produced side of their work. Side 2 is a unified sequence of ten short song-sections, rising towards a final climax. Former Rolling Stone associate editor Robert Greenfield compared the Beatles to Picasso, as "artists who broke through the constraints of their time period to come up with something that was unique and original ... in the form of popular music, no one will ever be more revolutionary, more creative and more distinctive ..." They not only sparked the British Invasion of the US, they became a globally influential phenomenon as well.

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones were in the vanguard of the British Invasion of bands that became popular in the US in 1964–65. At first noted for their longish hair as much as their music, the band are identified with the youthful and rebellious counterculture of the 1960s. They were instrumental in making blues a major part of rock and roll, and of changing the international focus of blues culture to the less sophisticated blues typified by Chess Records artists such as Muddy Waters, writer of "Rollin' Stone", the song after which the band is named. After a short period of musical experimentation that culminated with the poorly received and largely psychedelic album Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967), the group returned to their bluesy roots with Beggars' Banquet (1968) which – along with its follow-ups, Let It Bleed (1969), Sticky Fingers (1971) and Exile on Main St. (1972) – is generally considered to be the band's best work, and are considered the Rolling Stones' "Golden Age". Musicologist Robert Palmer attributed the "remarkable endurance" of the Rolling Stones to being "rooted in traditional verities, in rhythm-and-blues and soul music" while "more ephemeral pop fashions have come and gone". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_stones

MOTOWN and the PHIL SPECTOR sound

60’s Soul In 1960, BERRY GOURDY JUNIOR set up the record label Motown Records. Its aim was to make black music commercial with pop oriented R ‘n’ B. It had huge success with artist such as the SUPREMES, MARVIN GAYE and THE FOUR TOPS. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxny2KMd0TI – Keep Me Hangin' On - The Supremes

Phil Spector and the wall of sound PHIL SPECTOR is one of the most influential producers ever. In addition to writing songs, PHIL SPECTOR worked on the ‘sound’ created in the recording studio. He is well known for his distinctive ‘wall of sound’ effect, created through lots of reverb and big arrangements including strings and brass. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRmRBrnQq8o Two great performances with reminiscences from Larry Levine and Stan Ross, Jeff Barry who co-wrote both songs, and also from Nino Tempo.