CLASSIC ROCK
1967
On June 2,1967,the Beatles released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,an adventurous musical statement that was a creative milestone in rock history and ushered in the "Summer of Love" As Sgt. Pepper opened the door to new realms of musical expression,the countercuture that embraced the album like a religious icon was experimenting with new modes of social expression.It was the dawning of the psychedelic age and the era's mecca was San Francisco.Fueled by utopian visions,hippies,artists,bohemians,musicians and disenchanted youth from all over America flocked to the city's Haight-Ashbury district.
On June 2,1967,the Beatles released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,an adventurous musical statement that was a creative milestone in rock history and ushered in the "Summer of Love" As Sgt. Pepper opened the door to new realms of musical expression,the countercuture that embraced the album like a religious icon was experimenting with new modes of social expression.It was the dawning of the psychedelic age and the era's mecca was San Francisco.Fueled by utopian visions,hippies,artists,bohemians,musicians and disenchanted youth from all over America flocked to the city's Haight-Ashbury district.
1967
A local DJ named Tom Donahue (in San Francisco), inaugurated "underground" radio on KMPX,mixing progressive album tracks with laid-back raps. Rolling Stone, a new San Francisco based magizine celebrated rock music and the drug culture,including a free "roach Clip" with its debut issue.The city became the home of love-ins,be-ins,free concerts and hundreds of groups with names as far out as their music.
A local DJ named Tom Donahue (in San Francisco), inaugurated "underground" radio on KMPX,mixing progressive album tracks with laid-back raps. Rolling Stone, a new San Francisco based magizine celebrated rock music and the drug culture,including a free "roach Clip" with its debut issue.The city became the home of love-ins,be-ins,free concerts and hundreds of groups with names as far out as their music.
1967
Jefferson Airplane had already recorded one album in 1966 when lead singer Signe Anderson left and was replaced by Grace Slick,a former model who had sung with another Bay Area Group,the Great Society,Slick not only lent a charismatic presense and icy voice to the band,she brought two songs,Somebody to Love and her own White Rabbit,that would give the Airplane the top 40 air play eluding most psychedelic bands.
Jefferson Airplane had already recorded one album in 1966 when lead singer Signe Anderson left and was replaced by Grace Slick,a former model who had sung with another Bay Area Group,the Great Society,Slick not only lent a charismatic presense and icy voice to the band,she brought two songs,Somebody to Love and her own White Rabbit,that would give the Airplane the top 40 air play eluding most psychedelic bands.
1967
The Love Generation pied piper was Scott Mckenzie,whose mellow San Francisco (Be sure to wear flowers in your hair) was written by John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas.Phillips was an architect of the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, a three-day bash in which incendiary sets by Janis Joplin,Jimi Hendrix and the Who set new standards for theatrical outrageousness in rock.
The Love Generation pied piper was Scott Mckenzie,whose mellow San Francisco (Be sure to wear flowers in your hair) was written by John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas.Phillips was an architect of the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, a three-day bash in which incendiary sets by Janis Joplin,Jimi Hendrix and the Who set new standards for theatrical outrageousness in rock.
1967
The Electric Prunes used a raga-style electric guitar to add a hallucinatory character to I Had too much to Dream last night, a song obviously implying that the singer had done more than just sleep.Typical of the era's "heaviness" were the profound liner notes for the groups debut album in which their producer wrote,"Come forth,Electric Prunes,and move from the shadows and venture forth into the deep."
The Electric Prunes used a raga-style electric guitar to add a hallucinatory character to I Had too much to Dream last night, a song obviously implying that the singer had done more than just sleep.Typical of the era's "heaviness" were the profound liner notes for the groups debut album in which their producer wrote,"Come forth,Electric Prunes,and move from the shadows and venture forth into the deep."
1967
In Los Angeles,the paisley-clad Strawberry Alarm Clock hit No.1 with Incense and Peppermints, whose lyrics were little more than a string of trippy non sequiturs.While recording the song,producer Bill Holmes felt that no one in the group (then called Thee Sixpence) could deliver the song properly,so he enlisted Greg Munford,the vocalist for another Los Angeles band. Thee Sixpence didn't mind because they didn't particularly like the song and thought it would be the B side of their single. Though Munford vanished into the haze of rock history,one member of Strawberry Alarm Clock,Ed King,later achieved some notoriety as guitarist for Lynyrd Skynryd.
In Los Angeles,the paisley-clad Strawberry Alarm Clock hit No.1 with Incense and Peppermints, whose lyrics were little more than a string of trippy non sequiturs.While recording the song,producer Bill Holmes felt that no one in the group (then called Thee Sixpence) could deliver the song properly,so he enlisted Greg Munford,the vocalist for another Los Angeles band. Thee Sixpence didn't mind because they didn't particularly like the song and thought it would be the B side of their single. Though Munford vanished into the haze of rock history,one member of Strawberry Alarm Clock,Ed King,later achieved some notoriety as guitarist for Lynyrd Skynryd.
The most evocative hit of 1967 was A Whiter Shade of Pale by England's Procol Harum (Beyond these Things) This strange fusion of Gothic Classicism,rock and soul was indebted both to Bach's cantata Wachet auf (sleepers Awake) and Percy Sledges When a Man loves a Woman. Organist Mathew Fisher gives the song an atmosphere of cathedral-like solemnity,the bizarre lyrics,true to the group's name,are from a world beyond.
In 1967,the Monkees rebelled against their teenybopper image and the puppet role had been foisted on them by musical director Don Kirshner. On their third album ,Headquarters, they finally picked their own material and played their own instruments.They also topped the charts with Daydream Believer, written by the Kingston Trio's John Stewart.The song debuted on October 9 Monkees Episode,in which the frisky foursome foiled a museum heist.
1967
In Memphis.a desperately intense tone was struck with the Box Tops The letter sung by Alex Chilton,a 16-year-old who managed to sound like a 40-year-old bluesman.The Box Tops recorded at the American Recording studio,which , along with Memphis' Stax Studio and the Fame studio in Muscle Shoals,Alabama,served as a major source of soul hits.It was at Fame that Otis Redding produced his protege Arthur Conley's hit Sweet Soul Music, a tribute to soul singers based heavily on Sam Cook's Oh Yeah.
In Memphis.a desperately intense tone was struck with the Box Tops The letter sung by Alex Chilton,a 16-year-old who managed to sound like a 40-year-old bluesman.The Box Tops recorded at the American Recording studio,which , along with Memphis' Stax Studio and the Fame studio in Muscle Shoals,Alabama,served as a major source of soul hits.It was at Fame that Otis Redding produced his protege Arthur Conley's hit Sweet Soul Music, a tribute to soul singers based heavily on Sam Cook's Oh Yeah.
Last edited by noreply66 on Thu Aug 16, 2007 9:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.