1966 in Music

[algernon]

Re: It was 40 Years Ago Today...

Granted, I'm no fan of Spector, with the exception of "All Things Must Pass", but "River Deep" is just a major train wreck. IMHO. Not even a decent song...and Lord knows Spector needs to begin there.

 

[Spike]

Re: It was 40 Years Ago Today...

It's interesting to speculate what made this year so wonderful. Two years before, the industry had been turned on it's ear by the success of the Beatles. Suits must've been getting fired right and left at every record company(THINK: Capital's dismissal of the Fab Four..etc). The doors were wide open. They closed soon enough...and it doesn't take a genius to see the malaise that exists to this day. It's Bobby Rydell and "How Much Is That Doggie In The Window" all over again...with a different beat.

I remember a line from Ken Burn's "Jazz" where someone describes the 20s and says something like "you could hold a horn up in the air and beautiful music would come out." And something similar was in the air in 1966. And I think the suits knew there was money to be made if they just stayed out of the way. Unfortunately, this magic time was, IMHO, all but gone by the early 70s.

Spike

 

[algernon]

Re: It was 40 Years Ago Today...

I remember a line from Ken Burn's "Jazz" where someone describes the 20s and says something like "you could hold a horn up in the air and beautiful music would come out." And something similar was in the air in 1966. And I think the suits knew there was money to be made if they just stayed out of the way. Unfortunately, this magic time was, IMHO, all but gone by the early 70s.

Spike

I agree. Interesting correlation, too. I would bet all the great music periods coincided with guys losing their jobs....guys who were suppose to have their ears to the ground. I was a student in Nashville in the early seventies (and an aspiring songwriter)and it was just amazing how WIDE OPEN the doors were if you were a young guy with a guitar. I mean, first the Beatles, then James Taylor knocks these guys on their asses( they could count the record sales)...then Kris Kristofferson does an end run from being Johnny Cash's janitor to a POET.. it was the wild west. You could BE HEARD back then...you could walk off the street with your guitar and get a serious listen. Because they JUST DIDN'T KNOW.

 

[Reverend Rock]

Re: It was 40 Years Ago Today...

Unfortunately, this magic time was, IMHO, all but gone by the early 70s...

I have a slightly different take on this. I agree that 1966 was a true watershed year in popular music. I think the magic of that year was so strong that it actually lasted a number of years. The magic was still there in the early 70s, but where it was being heard was not on AM top 40 radio. By then, it was being heard on the newer FM rock stations. But I will agree that the magic wouldn't last. It was certainly gone by the time disco hit around '75. And it has never really returned, except with some individual artists along the way, most of whom are limited to cult followings rather than major label success.

Still, there's always great music around if you're willing to do a little digging to find it.

 

[Jack D.]

Re: It was 40 Years Ago Today...

1. I think Sounds of Silence was released in 1965, or it would definitely be on the list.
Spike

True Sounds of Silence was released in late 1965 but it hit no. 1 the end of January of 1966 according to my sources.

 

[Reverend Rock]

Re: It was 40 Years Ago Today...

"Sounds Of Silence" really made it's mark on the music of 1966. I think in a way it was the "opening volley" that set the stage for more experimental and lyrically mature records to get major airplay that year, much like "Strawberry Fields Forever" was to do a year later.

 

[Spike]

Re: It was 40 Years Ago Today...

I have a slightly different take on this. I agree that 1966 was a true watershed year in popular music. I think the magic of that year was so strong that it actually lasted a number of years. The magic was still there in the early 70s, but where it was being heard was not on AM top 40 radio. By then, it was being heard on the newer FM rock stations. But I will agree that the magic wouldn't last. It was certainly gone by the time disco hit around '75.

I don't our takes are that different. I think most folks would agree that the era began on February 9, 1964 when the Beatles first appeared on Ed Sullivan. While I would argue that '66 was the peak, it would be equally plausible to make a case for '65 or '67 or even '68 using slightly different criteria.

When it ended is much harder to pinpoint. Some say December 6, 1969 with the tragedy of Altamont. I've never bought that line of thinking, too many good things come later. And it sure didn't end at the stroke of midnight on December 31, 1969 -- the night Hendrix recorded Band of Gypsies, BTW. But, as you say, it was certainly over by the time disco hit around '75. Personally -- because I've always been so political -- I would put the stake in the ground at November 7, 1972, when Richard Nixon was reelected by a landslide with 60 percent of the vote. To me, that's when the zeitgeist of the '60s came to a crashing halt. While I had never been a true believer, at that point it was clear that there wasn't going to be an Age of Aquarius.

Spike

 

[algernon]

Re: It was 40 Years Ago Today...

zeitgeist[/I] of the '60s came to a crashing halt. While I had never been a true believer, at that point it was clear that there wasn't going to be an Age of Aquarius.

Spike

"Nixon's come he's come to stay
He's taken all my sins away
Heard it on the news today,it set my ears to ringing
Cause the last time I saw P.F.Sloan
He was summer-burned, he was winter-blown
He turned the corner all alone,but he continued singing."
--"P.F. SLOAN" by Jimmy Webb

 

[Spike]

Re: It was 40 Years Ago Today...

"Sounds Of Silence" really made it's mark on the music of 1966. I think in a way it was the "opening volley" that set the stage for more experimental and lyrically mature records to get major airplay that year, much like "Strawberry Fields Forever" was to do a year later.

As I recall, "Sounds of Silence" was originally released in 1964. The original version was acoustic and went nowhere on the charts. Simon and Garfunkel then split up and -- unbeknowst to them -- their producer, Tom Wilson, overdubbed electric instruments on the track and rereleased it in fall 1965. But I agree that it made its mark in '66. It became #1 on 1/1/66. (But I very arbitrarily sort my spreadsheets where I keep track of such things by date of release. )

While it was surely a milestone, I might quibble that it was an "opening volley." The Byrd's "Mr. Tambourine Man" had topped the charts in June '65. That track was surely an example of folk rock with an experimental lyric. And Dylan's own "Like a Rolling Stone" from August '65 had totally redefined what could be talked about in a pop song. And then a folk group -- We Five -- had a big folk rock hit with "You Were on My Mind," also in August '65. And it was against the backdrop of this emerging folk rock sound that Tom Wilson added the electric instruments to "Sounds of Silence" and it became a huge -- and very influential -- hit.

Spike

 

[Reverend Rock]

Re: It was 40 Years Ago Today...

Yes, Spike, you're right on all that you're saying. What I'm saying is that "Sounds Of Silence" brought to a popular "tipping point" the innovations that had already occured the previous year (and there were indeed many, as you have correctly noted).

In the same way (as I noted above), "Strawberry Fields Forever" took the sonic innovations of 1966 and brought them together in one record early in 1967 and blew the lid off of things all over again, opening up whole new definitions of what a pop record could do and still be a pop record.

After 1967, there really weren't any lids left to blow as far as AM radio was concerned. I think that's why the future after 1967 belonged to the FM rock format--for a while.