1960
Elvis Presley is released from the Army.
Berry Gordy forms Tamla (which will become Motown).
Jerry Wexler and Ahmet Ertegun continue producing black and white singers and groups for Atlantic records. Atlantic Records begins distributing Stax soul artists.
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller continue their 1950s work with elaborate production and funky, emotional music. They begin working with Phil Spector.
At New York City’s Brill Building Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Bobby Darin, Neil Diamond, Howard Greenfield, Neil Sadaka, and others are writing hits for Aldon Music, owned by Al Nevins and Don Kirshner.
The Girl Group Sound: The Shirelles.
The intense and creative Doo-Wop music of the 1950s becomes the soul music of the 1960s.
Bye Bye Birdie, the first rock musical, opens on Broadway.
Beatles are
playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg.
MARCH
Jackie
Wilson: “Night”/”Doggin’
Around”
APRIL
Elvis
Presley: “Stuck On You”
MAY
Everly
Brothers: “Cathy’s Clown”
Connie
Francis: “Everybody’s
Somebody’s Fool”
James
Brown and the Famous Flames: “Think”
JUNE
Brenda
Lee: “I’m Sorry”
JULY
Roy
Orbison: “Only the Lonely”
Ray
Peterson: “Tell Laura I Love
Her”
The
Hollywood Argyles: “Alley Oop”
AUGUST
Bobby
Vee: “Devil Or Angel”
Chubby
Checker: “The Twist”
The
Ventures: “Walk, Don’t Run”
SEPTEMBER
Sam
Cooke: “Chain Gang”
Ike
and Tina Turner: “A Fool In
Love”
The
Drifters: “Save the Last Dance
For Me”
OCTOBER
The
Shirelles: “Tonight’s the
Night”
NOVEMBER
Elvis
Presley: “Are You Lonesome
Tonight?”
DECEMBER
The
Shirelles: “Will You Love Me
Tomorrow?”
Bobby
Vee: “Rubber Ball”
Etta
James: “All I Could Do Was Cry”
Brenda
Lee: “Rockin’ Around the
Christmas Tree”
John
Lee Hooker: “No Shoes”
Lightnin’
Hopkins: “Mojo Hand”
1961
Tamla becomes Motown
In MARCH the Beatles appear at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. The beginning.
Bob Dylan moves to NYC in JANUARY. In APRIL he makes his debut concert appearance: Gerdes’ Folk City in Greenwich Village. He opens for blues great John Lee Hooker. John Hammond hears about the show and signs Dylan to Columbia. In NOVEMBER, Dylan records his first album.
Phil Spector starts Philles Records.
JANUARY
Connie
Francis: “Where the Boys Are”
FEBRUARY
Elvis
Presley: “Surrender”
MARCH
Del
Shannon: “Runaway”
APRIL
Ricky
Nelson: “Travelling
Man”/“Hello Mary Lou”
MAY
Gladys
Knight and the Pips: “Every Beat
of My Heart”
Ben
E. King: “Stand By Me”
Del
Shannon: “Hats Off to Larry”
JUNE
Sam
Cooke: “Cupid”
Roy
Orbison: “Running Scared”
JULY
Ike
and Tina Turner: “It’s Gonna
Work Out Fine”
AUGUST
Bobby
Vee: “Take Good Care of My
Baby”
Ray
Charles: “Hit the Road, Jack”
The
Marvelettes: “Please, Mr.
Postman”
OCTOBER
Dion:
“Runaround Sue”
NOVEMBER
Patsy
Cline: “Crazy”
The
Tokens: “The Lion Sleeps
Tonight”
Joey
Dee and the Starlites: “Peppermint
Twist”
Gene
Pitney: “Town Without Pity”
DECEMBER
Dion:
“The Wanderer”
Bobby
“Blue” Bland: “Turn on Your
Love Light”
Buddy
Guy: “Stone Crazy”
Solomon
Burke: “Just Out of Reach”
Dick
Dale and the Del-Tones: “Let’s
Go Trippin’”
1962
JANUARY: The Beatles sign with Brian Epstein as manager.
Bob Dylan’s first album is released in MARCH.
Phil Spector (with his Wall of Sound) moves back to New York City and begins recording The Crystals [“There’s No Other (Like My Baby)”]. His Philles record label makes him a millionaire at 21.
In AUGUST Ringo Starr replaces Pete Best as The Beatles’ drummer.
In OCTOBER James Brown records one of the great live albums: Live at the Apollo.
OCTOBER 5: the Beatles release their first single in England: “Love Me Do.”
Island Records is founded by Chris Blackwell (eventually recording Jamaican Reggae).
The Rolling Stones form and play London R&B clubs.
Surf Music: The Beach Boys.
Folk Music: The Kingston Trio; Peter, Paul, and Mary; Bob Dylan.
Soul Music:
Sam Cooke; Otis Redding; Sam and Dave; Wilson Pickett.
JANUARY
Gene
Chandler: “Duke of Earl”
FEBRUARY
The
Kingston Trio: “Where Have All
the Flowers Gone?”
Sam
Cooke: “Twistin’ the Night
Away”
MARCH
Shelley
Fabres: “Johnny Angel”
Bob Dylan: “Song
to Woody”; “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean”; “House of the Risin’
Sun”; “Baby Let Me Follow You Down”
APRIL
The
Shirelles: “Soldier Boy”
MAY
Ray
Charles: “I Can’t Stop Loving
You”
JUNE
Bobby
Vinton: “Roses Are Red”
Muddy
Waters: “You Shook Me”
The
Isley Brothers: “Twist and
Shout”
JULY
Ray
Stevens: “Ahab the Arab”
Little
Eva: “The Loco-Motion”
Neil
Sedaka: “Breaking Up Is Hard To
Do”
AUGUST
Tommy
Roe: “Sheila”
SEPTEMBER
Booker
T and the M.G.s: “Green Onions”
Peter,
Paul, and Mary: “If I Had a
Hammer”
The
Four Seasons: “Sherry”
The
Beach Boys: “Surfin’ Safari”
OCTOBER
The
Four Seasons: “Big Girls Don’t
Cry”
The
Crystals: “He’s a Rebel”
Elvis
Presley: “Return To Sender”
Esther
Phillips: “Release Me”
NOVEMBER
The
Tornadoes: “Telstar”
The
Miracles: “You Really Got a Hold
On Me”
DECEMBER
The
Drifters: “Up On the Roof”
Cliff
Richard: “The Young Ones”
John
Lee Hooker: “Boom Boom”
Solomon
Burke: “Cry to Me”
Bo
Diddley: “I Can Tell”
T-Bone
Walker: “I’m In Love”
John
Lee Hooker: “The Right Time”
1963
The first rock dance club opens in Los Angeles: Whiskey-A-Go-Go.
JANUARY: The Beatles release their second single in England: “Please Please Me” – it goes to #1 in England in FEBRUARY and will become their first USA single in 1964.
MARCH 22: The Beatles release their first album.
In APRIL, after hearing them play at the Crawdaddy Club, Andrew Loog Oldham signs The Rolling Stones as their manager. He encourages their “bad-boys” image to play off the Beatles’ “good-guys” image that Brian Epstein was creating for them..
MAY 27: Dylan releases his second album: The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.
The Ed Sullivan Show cancels Dylan’s appearance because he wants to sing “Talkin’ John Birch Society Blues.”
AUGUST 28: At the March on Washington, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Peter Paul, and Mary, and Mahalia Jackson perform, including Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind.”
AUGUST 23: The Beatles release “She Loves You” in England.
OCTOBER 16: 15,000,000 people watch The Beatles on Val Parnell’s popular Sunday Night at the Palladium television show.
NOVEMBER 11 headline in The Daily Mirror: BEATLEMANIA!
NOVEMBER 22: The Beatles release their second album. [Coincidentally, this is the day President John Kennedy is assassinated in the USA.]
The Rolling Stones’ debut single is a Chuck Berry song “Come On” and a 1955 Muddy Waters song “I Want To Be Loved.” In NOVEMBER they release Lennon & McCartney’s “I Wanna Be Your Man.”
Car Songs:
The Beach Boys; Jan and Dean.
JANUARY
Paul
and Paula: “Hey Paula”
Sonny
Boy Williamson: “Help Me”
FEBRUARY
The
Four Seasons: “Walk Like a Man”
Buddy
Guy: “My Love is Real”
Elmore
James: “Dust My Broom”
MARCH
The
Chiffons: “He’s So Fine”
Little
Peggy March: “I Will Follow
Him”
Peter,
Paul, and Mary: “Puff the Magic
Dragon”
The
Beach Boys: “Surfin’ USA”
APRIL
Dick
and DeeDee: “Young and In Love”
MAY
The
Crystals: “Da Doo Ron Ron”
Lesley
Gore: “It’s My Party”
Bob
Dylan: “Blowin’ in the Wind”;
“A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”; “Masters of War.”
JUNE
Lesley
Gore: “Judy’s Turn to Cry”
JULY
Peter,
Paul, and Mary: “Blowin’ in the
Wind”
Little
Stevie Wonder: “Fingertips –
Part 2”
Jan
and Dean: “Surf City”
AUGUST
Bobby
Vinton: “Blue Velvet”
Martha
and the Vandellas: “Heat Wave”
The
Angels: “My Boyfriend’s Back”
The
Beach Boys: “Little Deuce
Coupe”
Howlin’
Woolf: “Built For Comfort”
SEPTEMBER
The
Ronettes: “Be My Baby”
Marvin
Gaye: “Can I Get a Witness”
NOVEMBER
The
Kingsmen: “Louie, Louie”
DECEMBER
Lesley
Gore: “You Don’t Own Me”
Bobby
“Blue” Bland: “That’s the
Way Love Is”; “Call On Me”
Bo
Diddley: “The Greatest Lover in
the World”
1964
In JANUARY Dylan releases his third album, The Times They Are A-Changin” In AUGUST he releases his fourth album, Another Side of Bob Dylan.
JANUARY 20: Meet the Beatles! is released in USA
The Beatles arrive in the United States on Friday FEBRUARY 7. Screaming mobs meet them at JFK Airport in NYC.
More than 70 million people watch their two Ed Sullivan Show appearances FEBRUARY 9 and 16.
60% of all records sold in North America in FEBRUARY are Beatles records.
In MARCH the Beatles hold these positions on the Top 100 Billboard Hits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 16, 44, 49, 69, 78, 84, 88.
FEBRUARY: The Beatles tour the USA and come back in the summer for a second tour (AUGUST 19-SEPTEMBER 20).
JULY 6: The Beatles’ first movie opens: A Hard Day’s Night.
AUGUST 28: Bob Dylan and The Beatles meet in a hotel room. Dylan introduces them to marijuana.
The British Invasion takes over.
BBC starts Top of the Pops. ABC starts Shindig. Both shows have live rock music in prime time.
JANUARY
Bob
Dylan: “The Times They Are A-Changin’”
The
Temptations: “The Way You Do the
Things You Do”
FEBRUARY
Dusty
Springfield: “I Only Want To Be
With You”
The
Beatles: “Please Please Me”;
“All My Loving”
MARCH
The
Beatles: “Can’t Buy Me Love”;
“Twist and Shout”; “She Loves You”
Jan
and Dean: “Dead Man’s Curve”
The
Dave Clark Five: “Glad All
Over”
The
Searchers: “Needles and Pins”
APRIL
Mary
Wells: “My Guy”
Dusty
Springfield: “Stay Awhile”
Sonny
Boy Williamson: “Close to Me”
MAY
The
Dixie Cups: “Chapel of Love”
The
Beatles: “Love Me Do”
BB
King: “Rock Me Baby”
Them:
“Gloria”
Peter
and Gordon: “A World Without
Love”
Paul
Revere and the Raiders: “Kicks”
JUNE
Gerry
and the Pacemakers: “Don’t Let
the Sun Catch You Crying”
The
Beach Boys: “I Get Around”
The
Four Seasons: “Rag Doll”
Dusty
Springfield: “Wishin’ and Hopin’”
Chad
and Jeremy: “Yesterday’s
Gone”
JULY
The
Beatles: “A Hard Day’s
Night”; “I Should Have Known Better”; “And I Love Her”
The
Supremes: “Where Did Our Love
Go?”
Jan
and Dean: “Little Old Lady From
Pasadena”
The
Four Tops: “Baby I Need Your
Lovin’”
AUGUST
The
Animals: “House of the Risin’
Sun”
Bob
Dylan: “All I Really Want to
Do”; “It Ain’t Me Babe”; “Chimes of Freedom”
The
Ventures: “Walk Don’t Run
‘64”
Dave
Clark Five: “Bits and Pieces”
SEPTEMBER
Martha
and the Vandellas: “Dancin’ in
the Streets”
Manfred
Mann: “Do Wah Diddy Diddy”
Roy
Orbison: “Oh Pretty Woman”
The
Supremes: “Baby Love”
OCTOBER
The
Shangrilas: “Leader of the
Pack”
The
Zombies: “She’s Not There”
The
Kinks: “You Really Got Me”
Jay
and the Americans: “Come a Little
Bit Closer”
NOVEMBER
Gene Pitney: “I’m Gonna Be Strong”
The Rolling Stones: “I Wanna Be Your Man”; “Time Is On My Side”; “Little Red Rooster”; Howling Woolf’s 1961 version of this song
BB
King: “Sweet Little Angel” [Live
at the Regal]
DECEMBER
Marianne
Faithful: “As Tears Go By”
The
Beatles: “I Feel Fine”
The
Searchers: “Love Potion Number
Nine”
Marvin
Gaye: “How Sweet It Is”
Petula
Clark: “Downtown”
The
Temptations: “My Girl”
Otis
Redding: “Mr. Pitiful”
Tom
Paxton: “The Last Thing on My
Mind”
1965
Alan Freed dies.
NBC starts Hullabaloo.
The Yardbirds and the Byrds form.
MAY: Dylan’s fifth album: Bringin’ It All Back Home.
JULY 25: Bob Dylan “goes electric” at the Newport Folk Festival. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band backs him up on numbers such as “Maggie’s Farm.” They are booed by fans who don’t want folk music to become rock.
The Beatles tour the USA a third time. AUGUST 15: They play for 56,000 at New York’s Shea Stadium.
DECEMBER 3: The Beatles’ album Rubber Soul begins their shift away from commercial rock to a more serious kind of music.
DECEMBER 4: The first Ken Kesey Merry Prankster Acid Test is held in San Jose, California. The Warlocks – later The Grateful Dead – play. This begins the idea of rock parties with light shows and rock bands playing in open spaces where people can dance freely and move about and act crazy – and take drugs.
The next day Kesey gives LSD to some of the Rolling Stones.
Jerry Wexler moves his soul artists to Rick Hall’s Fame Studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where Joe Tex, Percy Sledge, Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, and others will record a much funkier kind of soul music than Motown is recording.
But:
Motown outsells all other labels.
JANUARY
The
Kinks: “All Day and All of the
Night”
The
Rolling Stones: “Heart of
Stone”
The
Temptations: “My Girl”
The
Zombies: “Tell Her No”
The
Righteous Brothers: “You’ve
Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’”
Joe
Tex: “Hold What You’ve Got”
The
Animals: “Don’t Let Me Be
Misunderstood”
FEBRUARY
The
Beatles: “Eight Days a Week”
The
Supremes: “Stop! In The Name of
Love”
MARCH
Wayne
Fontana and the Mindbenders: “Game
of Love”
Freddie
and the Dreamers: “I’m Telling
You Now”
Junior
Walker and the All Stars: “Shot
Gun”
APRIL
Herman’s
Hermits: “Mrs. Brown, You’ve
Got a Lovely Daughter”
The
Beatles: “Ticket to Ride”
Sam
the Sham and the Pharaohs: “Wooly
Bully”
Muddy
Waters: “The Same Thing”
Otis
Redding: “I’ve Been Loving You
Too Long”
The
Animals: “Bring It On Home To
Me”
Martha
and the Vandellas: “Nowhere To
Run”
MAY
The
Yardbirds: “For Your Love”
The
Beach Boys: “Help Me Rhonda”
The
Four Tops: “I Can’t Help
Myself”
Bob
Dylan: “Subterranean Homesick
Blues”; “Maggie’s Farm”; “Mr. Tambourine Man”
JUNE
The
Rolling Stones: “(I Can’t Get
No) Satisfaction”
Jackie
De Shannon: “What the World Needs
Now Is Love”
The
Temptations: “Since I Lost My
Baby”
The
Byrds: “Mr. Tambourine Man”
JULY
Sonny
and Cher: “I Got You Babe”
James
Brown: “Papa’s Got a Brand New
Bag”
The
Barbarians: “Are You a Boy or a
Girl?”
Bob
Dylan: “Like a Rolling Stone”
The
Miracles: “Tracks of My Tears”
Otis
Redding: “Respect”
AUGUST
Barry
McGuire: “Eve of Destruction”
The
Yardbirds; “Heart Full of Soul”
The
Beatles: “Help!”
Wilson
Pickett: “In the Midnight Hour”
The
Animals: “We Got To Get Out of
This Place”
The
Dave Clark Five: “Catch Us If You
Can”
SEPTEMBER
The
McCoys: “Hang On Sloopy”
The
Beatles: “Yesterday”
The
Lovin’ Spoonful: “Do You
Believe in Magic?”
OCTOBER
The
Rolling Stones: “Get Off of My
Cloud”
Bob
Dylan: “Positively 4th
Street”
John
Mayall and the Bluesbreakers: “I’m
Your Witchdoctor”
The
Kinks: “Well Respected Man”
NOVEMBER
James
Brown: “I Got You (I Feel
Good)”
The
Supremes: “I Hear a Symphony”
The
Dave Clark Five: “Over and
Over”
The
Who: “My Generation”
The
Byrds: “Turn! Turn! Turn!”
The
Brogues: “I Ain’t no Miracle
Worker”
The
Knickerbockers: “Lies”
DECEMBER
Mitch
Ryder and the Detroit Wheels: “Jenny
Take a Ride”
The
Swingin’ Medallions: “Double
Shot of My Baby’s Love”
The
Beatles: “Norwegian Wood”;
“In My Life”
Simon
and Garfunkel: “The Sounds of
Silence”
Phil
Ochs: “I Ain’t Marchin’
Anymore”
The
Blues Project: “No Time Like the
Right Time”
Junior
Wells: “You Don’t Love Me,
Baby”
KoKo
Taylor: “Wang Dang Doodle”
The
Paul Butterfield Band: “Shake
Your Money Maker”
The
Fugs: “I Can’t Get High”
1966
JANUARY 15: Merry Pranksters Trips Festival at San Francisco’s Longshoreman’s Hall. This is a 3-day music festival, which 10,000 people participate in. The Warlocks, now Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions, provide some of the music.
FEBRUARY: Andy Warhol begins giving parties at The Factory (his studio in NYC). He manages the rock group The Velvet Underground which plays clubs such as The Cinematheque.
The Doors form and play grubby clubs, working their way up to The Whiskey-A-Go-Go.
Motown continues to sell more singles than any other company in USA.
In England, this is the height of Swinging London.
John Lennon causes furor when he says that the Beatles are more famous than Jesus Christ. Beatles records are burned by outraged fans. Lennon apologizes. He also meets Yoko Ono this year (NOVEMBER 9).
George Harrison is introduced to the sitar by Ravi Shankar.
The Beatles’ 13th album, Revolver, is their 9th album to be Number 1.
JUNE: Cream forms.
JULY 29: After recording Blonde on Blonde, Bob Dylan is seriously injured in a motorcycle accident. He recuperates for a year in Woodstock, New York.
AUGUST 29: The Beatles play their final concert in San Francisco’s Candlestick Park.
After a break, The Beatles spend months in Abbey Road Studio working with producer George Martin.
OCTOBER: LSD is outlawed.
NOVEMBER: The Grateful Dead, The Jefferson Airplane, and other San Francisco groups play the opening night of The Fillmore Auditorium.
Bill Graham
becomes an important entrepreneur by starting Fillmore West, then Fillmore East.
JANUARY
The
Beach Boys: “Barbara Ann”
Lou
Christie: “Lightnin’ Strikes”
Nancy
Sinatra: “These Boots Are Made
For Walkin’”
The
Beatles: “We Can Work It
Out”/”Day Tripper”
FEBRUARY
SSgt.
Barry Sandler: “The Ballad of the
Green Berets”
The
Mamas and the Papas: “California
Dreamin’”
Simon
and Garfunkel: “Homeward Bound”
The
Rolling Stones: “19th
Nervous Breakdown”
Stevie
Wonder: “Uptight (Everything’s
Alright)”
Tim
Hardin: “Misty Roses”; “How
Can We Hang on to a Dream”
The
Young Rascals: “I Ain’t Gonna
Eat Out My Heart Anymore”
MARCH
The
Beatles: “Nowhere Man”
The
Outsiders: “Time Won’t Let
Me”
The
Righteous Brothers: “(You’re
My) Soul and Inspiration”
The
Lovin’ Spoonful: “Daydream”
The
Yardbirds: “Shapes of Things”
APRIL
The
Byrds: “Eight Miles High”
The
Mamas and the Papas: “Monday,
Monday”
Bob
Dylan: “Rainy Day Women #12 &
35”
Percy
Sledge: “When a Man Loves a
Woman”
The
Young Rascals: “Good Lovin’”
MAY
Sam
and Dave: “Hold On!
I’m Comin’”
The
Temptations: “Ain’t Too Proud
to Beg”
Simon
and Garfunkel: “I Am A Rock”
The
Rolling Stones: “Paint It
Black”
The
Cyrkle: “Red Rubber Ball”
Dusty
Springfield: “You Don’t Have to
Say You Love Me”
John
Lee Hooker: “One Bourbon, One
Scotch, One Beer”
Bob
Dylan: live versions of
“Desolation Row” and “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat” [“Royal Albert Hall
concert”; May 17, 1966; accompanied by The Hawks (AKA The Band)]
JUNE
Tommy
James and the Shondells: “Hanky
Panky”
James
Brown: “It’s a Man’s, Man’s
World”
The
Beatles: “Paperback Writer”
The
Association: “Along Comes Mary”
JULY
The
Lovin’ Spoonful: “Summer in the
City”
The
Troggs: “Wild Thing”
The
Velvet Underground: “Heroin”
The
Rolling Stones: “Mother’s
Little Helper”
Jr.
Walker and the All Stars: “How
Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)”
AUGUST
The
Hollies: “Bus Stop”
The
Seeds: “Pushin’ Too Hard”
Donovan:
“Sunshine Superman”
The
Beatles: “Yellow Submarine”;
“Eleanor Rigby”
The
Supremes: “You Can’t Hurry
Love”
The
Temptations: “Beauty is Only Skin
Deep”
Love:
“7 and 7 Is”
SEPTEMBER
The
Association: “Cherish”
Bob
Dylan: “Just Like a Woman”
The
Monkees: “Last Train to
Clarksville”
?
and the Mysterians: “96 Tears”
The
Count Five: “Psychotic
Reaction”
The
Four Tops: “Reach Out, I’ll Be
There”
The
Music Machine: “Talk Talk”
OCTOBER
Mitch
Ryder and the Detroit Wheels: “Devil
With the Blue Dress On & Good Golly Miss Molly”
The
Rolling Stones: “Have You Seen
Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?”
Johnny
Rivers: “Poor Side of Town”
Blues
Magoos: (We Ain’t Got) Nothin’
Yet”
NOVEMBER
The
Beach Boys: “Good Vibrations”
Donovan:
“Mellow Yellow”
Wilson
Pickett: “Mustang Sally”
The
Supremes: “You Keep Me Hangin’
On”
DECEMBER
The
Electric Prunes: “I Had Too Much
to Dream (Last Night)”
The
Monkees: “I’m a Believer”
The
Four Tops: “Standing in the
Shadows of Love”
Frank
Zappa and The Mothers of Invention: “Hungry
Freaks Daddy”; “It Can’t Happen Here”; “Who Are the Brain Police?”
Small
Faces: “All or Nothing”
Esther
Phillips: “When a Woman Loves a
Man”
Ike
and Tina Turner: “River Deep –
Mountain High”
The
Fugs: “Kill For Peace”
1967
JANUARY 14: The world’s first “Human Be-In” is held in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Newsweek reports it as “a love feast, a psychedelic picnic, a hippie happening.”
FEBRUARY 12: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are busted for drugs. The charges are later dropped.
Underground radio begins: KMPX in San Francisco. The term “progressive rock” begins.
During the Spring, Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Edie Floyd, Arthur Conley, The Mar-Keys, and Booker T. and the M.G.s tour Europe with the Stax/Volt Revue.
In JUNE, the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band begins the concept album. Artist Peter Blake designs the cover.
JUNE 16-18: The Monterey International Pop Festival in California introduces Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding, Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company, and others to a wider American audience. And rock concerts become a big business.
Motown grosses over $30 million; about 70% from white audiences.
It is The Summer of Love in San Francisco, so be sure to wear a flower in your hair.
AUGUST: Jimi Hendrix is dropped from The Monkee’s tour for being “too erotic.”
The Who and Pink Floyd tour the USA.
OCTOBER: Some members of The Grateful Dead are busted in their San Francisco home at 710 Ashbury.
OCTOBER 6: The Death of Hippie Ceremony in San Francisco.
OCTOBER 16: Joan Baez is arrested in an anti-war demonstration.
NOVEMBER 9: Rolling Stone magazine begins publishing.
December 10:
Otis Redding is killed in an airplane crash.
JANUARY
Sonny
and Cher: “The Beat Goes On”
The
Buckinghams: “Kind of a Drag”
The
Spencer Davis Group: “Gimme Some
Lovin’”
The
Doors: “Break On Through (To the
Other Side)”; “Light My Fire;” “The End”
Aretha
Franklin: “I Never Loved a Man
(the Way that I Love You)”; “Do Right Woman—Do Right Man”
Sam
and Dave: “When Something Is
Wrong With My Baby”
Cream:
“I Feel Free”
The
Jimi Hendrix Experience: “Hey
Joe”
FEBRUARY
The
Buffalo Springfield: “For What
It’s Worth”; “Mr. Soul”
The
Turtles: “Happy Together”
The
Rolling Stones: “Ruby Tuesday”;
“Let’s Spend the Night Together”
Frank
Zappa: “Flower Punk”
Martha
and the Vandellas: “Jimmy Mack”
The
Four Tops: “Bernadette”
Joe
Tex: “Show Me”
Arthur
Conley: “Sweet Soul Music”
MARCH
The
Beatles: “Penny Lane”;
“Strawberry Fields Forever”
APRIL
The
Young Rascals: “Groovin’”
The
Music Explosion: “Little Bit
O’Soul”
Aretha
Franklin: “Respect”
Tim
Hardin: “If I Were a Carpenter”
Captain
Beefheart and His Magic Band: “Safe
as Milk”
MAY
The
Grass Roots: “Let’s Live for
Today”
The
Grateful Dead: “Viola Lee
Blues”
JUNE
The
Doors: “Light My Fire”
(shortened version for the radio)
Scott
McKenzie: “San Francisco (Be Sure
To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair)”
Jefferson
Airplane: “Somebody to Love”; “White Rabbit”
The
Association: “Windy”
The
Beatles: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band: “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”; “Lucy in the
Sky With Diamonds”; “She’s Leaving Home”; “A Day in the Life”
JULY
Procol
Harum: “A Whiter Shade of Pale”
Tim
Buckley: “Morning Glory” [Live
in London, July 10, 1967]
Buddy
Guy: “I Suffer With the Blues”
The
Four Tops: “7-Rooms of Gloom”
Moby
Grape: “Omaha”
AUGUST
Van
Morrison: “Brown Eyed Girl”
Velvet
Underground: “White Light/White
Heat”
The
Jimi Hendrix Experience: “Purple
Haze”; ”Foxy Lady”
The
Box Tops: “The Letter”
Ray
Charles: “In the Heat of the
Night”
The
Beatles: “All You Need Is
Love”; “Baby You’re a Rich Man”
Bobbie
Gentry: “Ode to Billie Joe”
Pink
Floyd: “See Emily Play”
SEPTEMBER
The
Doors: “People Are Strange”
Sam
and Dave: “Soul Man”
James
Brown: “Cold Sweat Part 1”
OCTOBER
Gladys
Knight and the Pips: “I Heard it
Through the Grapevine”
The
Strawberry Alarm Clock: “Incense
and Peppermints”
Aretha
Franklin: “A Natural Woman”
The
Cowsills: “The Rain, the Park,
and Other Things”
Etta
James: “Tell Mama”
Lulu:
“To Sir With Love”
NOVEMBER
The
Monkees: “Daydream Believer”
Smokey
Robinson and the Miracles: “I
Second That Emotion”
The
Doors: “Love Me Two Times”
DECEMBER
Aretha
Franklin: “Chain of Fools”
The
Beatles: “I Am the Walrus”; “Hello Goodbye”
Albert
King: “Cold Feet”
The
Small Faces: “Itchycoo Park”
Janis
Ian: “Society’s Child”
Leonard
Cohen: “Suzanne”
Arlo
Guthrie: “Alice’s Restaurant”
Pink
Floyd: “Lucifer Sam”
KoKo
Taylor and Willie Dixon: “Insane
Asylum”
Quicksilver
Messenger Service: “The Fool”
The
Who: “I Can See For Miles”
Judy
Collins: “Both Sides Now”
Country
Joe and the Fish: “Super Bird”
The
Paul Butterfield Blues Band: “Pity
the Fool”
Frank
Zappa and The Mothers of Invention: “Plastic
People”
The
Grateful Dead: “The Golden Road
(To Unlimited Devotion)”
1968
MARCH 8: Bill Graham opens Fillmore East. Tim Buckley and Albert King open for Big Brother and the Holding Company.
APRIL 29: The rock musical Hair opens.
From The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin forms.
Deep Purple forms.
The Beatles start Apple Records.
Bubblegum Music: The Archies.
NOVEMBER: Cream dissolves; Blind Faith forms.
On DECEMBER 3 an
Elvis Presley special airs on NBC, and it’s a big comeback for Elvis.
JANUARY
The
Temptations: “I Wish It Would
Rain”
The
Jimi Hendrix Experience: “Little
Wing”; “If 6 Was 9”
The
Four Tops: “Walk Away Renee”
Moody
Blues: “Nights in White Satin”
Traffic:
“Dear Mr. Fantasy”
FEBRUARY
Sly
and the Family Stone: “Dance to
the Music”
Otis
Redding: “(Sittin’ On) the Dock
of the Bay”
Cream:
“Sunshine of Your Love”
MARCH
The
Box Tops: “Cry Like a Baby”
APRIL
Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell: “Ain’t
Nothing Like the Real Thing”
Aretha
Franklin: “Ain‘t No Way”
The
Rascals: “A Beautiful Morning”
Tommy
James and the Shondells: “Mony
Mony”
Simon
and Garfunkel: “Mrs. Robinson”
Archie
Bell and the Drells: “Tighten
Up”
MAY
Aretha
Franklin: “Think”
JUNE
Jefferson
Airplane: “The Ballad of You and
Me and Pooneil Corner”
Johnny
Cash: “Folsom Prison Blues” (a
live remake)
The
Rationals: “I Need You”
The
Rolling Stones: “Jumpin’ Jack
Flash”
The
5th Dimension: “Stoned
Soul Picnic”
Albert
King: “Blues Power”
The
Soul Clan: “That’s How It
Feels”
JULY
Steppenwolf:
“Born to Be Wild”
Tammy
Wynette: “D-I-V-O-R-C-E”
Big
Brother and the Holding Company: “Ball
and Chain”
The
Doors: “Hello, I Love You”
Amboy
Dukes: “Journey to the Center of
Your Mind”
The
Rascals: “People Got to Be
Free”
Vanilla
Fudge: “(You Keep Me) Hangin’
On”
AUGUST
Deep
Purple: “Hush”
The
Who: “Magic Bus”
Moody
Blues: “Tuesday Afternoon
(Forever Afternoon)”
Fleetwood
Mac: “Black Magic Woman”
SEPTEMBER
The
Jimi Hendrix Experience: “All
Along the Watchtower;” “VooDoo Chile”
Big
Brother and the Holding Company: “Down
On Me”
The
Crazy World of Arthur Brown: “Fire”
The
Beatles: “Hey Jude”;
“Revolution”
The
Band: “The Weight”
The
Bee Gees: “I’ve Gotta Get a
Message to You”
Creedence
Clearwater Revival: “Suzie Q”
The
Chambers Brothers: “Time Has Come
Today”
Jeanne
C. Riley: “Harper Valley PTA”
Mary
Hopkin: “Those Were The Days”
Mama
Cass: “Dream a Little Dream of
Me”
OCTOBER
Dion:
“Abraham, Martin, and John”
Clarence
Carter: “Slip Away”
Iron
Butterfly: “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”
Steppenwolf:
“Magic Carpet Ride”
The
Jefferson Airplane: “Plastic
Fantastic Lover” [recorded live at Fillmore West]
Diana
Ross and The Supremes: “Love
Child”
Cream:
“White Room”
Johnnie
Taylor: “Who’s Making Love”
James
Brown: “Say It Loud – I’m
Black and I’m Proud”
NOVEMBER
The
Rolling Stones: “Street Fighting Man”; “Sympathy for the Devil”
Stevie
Wonder: “For Once In My Life”
Marvin
Gaye: “I Heard It Through the
Grapevine”
Van
Morrison: Astral Weeks
Traffic:
“Feelin’ Alright”
DECEMBER
Tommy
James and the Shondells: “Crimson
and Clover”
Sly
and the Family Stone: “Everyday
People”
Dusty
Springfield: “Son of a Preacher
Man”
Tammy
Wynette: “Stand By Your Man”
The
Beatles: “While My Guitar Gently
Weeps”; “Back in the USSR”