for those who never gave up their turntables
60s ROCK & ROLL includes articles about the music that was released on 45s and LPs from that decade. This is the era in which good ol’ rock & roll morphed into just rock music by expanding it musical and lyrical boundaries.
Most of the articles focus on what I call Rock-with-a-Capitol-R, including folk-rock, psychedelia, and the then-novel concept of the concept album. Discographies and price guides are included in some articles.
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DAVID BOWIE’S “SPACE ODDITY” was originally released during the second half of 1969. Several original pressings are rather rare and valuable records. In some countries, the record included a picture sleeve, many of which are even rarer and more valuable. This article offers a nutshell history of the record with a gallery of Space Odditys. [Continue reading]
“STREET FIGHTING MAN” by the Rolling Stones—the US issue on London Records—is the most valuable picture sleeve in the world! At least, that’s what I wrote nine years ago. At the time, I was unaware of any real contender for the title. Then I learned about the Japanese “Space Oddity” by David Bowie. [Continue reading]
A FEW YEARS AGO, I wrote about Del Shannon and offered a brief introduction to his music. I mentioned I Go To Pieces as a song he wrote and arranged as a nod to the British Invasion of 1964. After that, Shannon kept searching for a place to stay in the world of pop music. [Continue reading]
“A FINE LITTLE GIRL, SHE WAITS FOR ME” is the first line of the first verse of one of the most famous records of the past hundred years. But the record doesn’t open with the verse, it opens with the chorus: “Louie Louie, me gotta go.” [Continue reading]
“BACK THROUGH THE OPERA GLASS” is the title of three lengthy articles that review most of the Beach Boys album covers released on major labels in the US. It is subtitled “The Stories Behind the Album Covers” and was written by Malcolm Searles. This massive project covers every important album from 1962 through the present. [Continue reading]
WHILE RESEARCHING THE ARTICLE that I just published, I amassed almost 5,000 words of information and more than three dozen images. I deleted almost one-third of those words and images and titled the completed article “Is It The Sounds Of Silence or The Sound Of Silence?” What was left behind—the flotsam and jetsam—is what you will find below: an addendum to the original article! [Continue reading]
IN THE FINAL WEEKS OF 1965, Top 40 stations around the country started playing a new record by a not-so-new duo with the oddly intriguing name of Simon & Garfunkel. (At least it was odd if you weren’t Jewish or didn’t live on the East Coast.) The record was The Sounds Of Silence. [Continue reading]
DOES JACKIE DeSHANNON belong in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame? Making an argument for her or any artist is not easy for two reasons. First, the Hall does not have any set of criteria by which fans can assess potential candidates. Each year each vote appears to be a reflection of the mood of the nominators and voters of that year. [Continue reading]
JACKIE DeSHANNON entered 1963 as a 21-year-old singer with fifteen singles under her belt, not one of them a hit! Hundreds of artists who had been more successful—they’d heard thunder boom with at least one hit record!—had come and gone during that time, yet Liberty Records showed great faith in her and kept with her through the rest of the decade. [Continue reading]