The 60s: The Music That Didn't Die

I hope it is not pushing the point too much to say that without the radical, revolutionary shift in music that occurred from the mid-50s onward that the 60s may never have happened. In what amounted to the coming together of a number of musical styles and ideas along with a racial diversity that pointed out our American original sin of racism the very essence of the 60s was allowed to grow and lead to the significant shifts unseen since the Civil War. (I'll talk more about that in the next post on Thursday.)

What is most amazing about that musical shift is how pervasive and fundamental it has become to our American culture.

We weren't listening to the music from 1927, why do they listen to music from 1967?

Here are The Top 10 Songs of the 20s (from Acclaimed Music):

1. West End Blues - Louis Armstrong
2. Downhearted Blues - Bessie Smith
3. Blue Yodel (T for Texas) - Jimmie Rodgers
4. Star Dust - Hoagy Carmichael
5. Ain't Misbehavin' - Fats Waller
6. Rhapsody in Blue - George Gershwin
7. Sally Gooden - Eck Robertson
8. Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane - Fiddlin' John Carson
9. Wildwood Flower - The Carter Family
10. Pony Blues - Charley Patton

Here's the Top 10 from 1967- the year we are commemorating this year from Digital Dream Door:

1. Respect - Aretha Franklin
2. Light My Fire - Doors
3. Sunshine Of Your Love - Cream
4. Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix
5. A Day In The Life - Beatles
6. Whiter Shade Of Pale - Procol Harum
7. Somebody To Love - Jefferson Airplane
8. Soul Man - Sam & Dave
9. Strawberry Fields Forever - Beatles
10. Nights In White Satin - Moody Blues

Okay, that sure shows a difference. In 1967 I am sure there were very few stations playing the first list as "Golden Oldies." I am also sure that there are stations playing- on a fairly regular basis the 1967 list even as you read this.

Let's look at it another way. Here's the list of the Billboard #1 Songs for 1948- the year I was born, only 19 years prior to 1967, followed by the list of the #1 Songs for 1967 (from Wikipedia):

"Ballerina" Vaughn Monroe
"I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover" Art Mooney
"Mañana (Is Soon Enough for Me)" Peggy Lee
"Nature Boy" Nat King Cole
"Woody Wood-Pecker" Kay Kyser
"You Call Everybody Darlin'" Al Trace
"Twelfth Street Rag" Pee Wee Hunt
"A Tree in the Meadow" Margaret Whiting
"Buttons and Bows" Dinah Shore

1967.....

"I'm a Believer" The Monkees
"Kind of a Drag" The Buckinghams
"Ruby Tuesday" The Rolling Stones
"Love Is Here and Now You're Gone" The Supremes
"Penny Lane" The Beatles
"Happy Together" The Turtles
"Somethin' Stupid" Nancy Sinatra and Frank Sinatra
"The Happening" The Supremes
"Respect" Aretha Franklin
“Groovin'" The Young Rascals
"Windy" The Association
"Light My Fire" The Doors
"All You Need Is Love" The Beatles
"Ode to Billie Joe" Bobbie Gentry
"The Letter" Box Tops
"To Sir, with Love" Lulu
"Incense and Peppermints" Strawberry Alarm Clock
"Daydream Believer" The Monkees

One thing to note is that there were twice as many #1 songs in 1967 as in 1948. I would also note again that there weren't many stations playing those 1948 songs.

So what happened? The only word I can use really is "revolution." A whole musical genre exploded on the scene in the mid-50s and took over and expanded exponentially by the mid-60s. A generation gap (I hate that term, but it best describes it) opened up in the music. Music became a powerful image of rebellion- spread by more uniquitous media coverage and more instantaneous communication.

Was the music better? No- just different. You can't compare Peggy Lee or Nat King Cole to The Beatles or the Doors. It's apples and pomegranates. (Strawberry Alarm Clock and The Turtles? There were great musicians and so-so musicians making the lists at all times.) And music had often been a generational rebellion issue- jazz or big bands or fads like the Charleston provided that in earlier times.

What happened was that the music became a soundtrack for all that was happening. Music became the unifying force because it was something everyone began to share in common. Not only could we hear them on radio, we could see them on TV. We also could take the radio with us thanks to transistors, and listen at the beach or wherever. As a soundtrack the music became indelibly imprinted in our minds and forever connected to all the events.

And, I believe, changed our musical brain patterns. Somewhere between 1945 and 1967 we learned to respond to the backbeat- counts 2 and 4- instead of beats 1 and 3. Music began to move differently. Music began to produce different brain waves. Music propelled us forward in ways that we had never seen. If you don't see this, just watch a group of older baby boomers and older try to clap in time with music. It will be different than the younger Gen X and Gen Y style.

Because of that shift in musical brain evolution, the music of the 60s is still "relevant." The better songs don't have the "historic" feel that even the better songs of the 20s have because they are musically different from each other- and often more like the music that continues to be popular.

I realize that this is an over-simplification. There are many other cultural and social issues that are involved. But it gives us a place to start our discussion of the 60s and music. The music didn't die on that February Day that Don Maclean sang about. It was barely even born and became the glue for at least an entire generation. My generation will still quote song titles and lyrics to each other the way the current generation quotes movie lines.

The soundtrack keeps playing.