A friend who knows I’m a music nerd sent me this book review.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/book-review-1965-the-most-revolutionary-year-in-music/2015/02/05/817efdf2-9a61-11e4-bcfb-059ec7a93ddc_story.html
(One quote from the review amused me: in 1965, “movies almost always had happy endings, unless they were foreign.” I bet it was bloody gloomy Scandos!)
“No year was more revolutionary in popular music than 1965.” Andrew Grant Jackson
Discuss.
Max 1000 words. Write on one side of the paper only in ink. Plagiarism, factual errors and spelling mistakes will be penalised.
Agreed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7WAoepiuCg
P.S. Just bought the book – curse you, KFD!
My pleasure. All part of the service!
It was a good year for me, I left school, had my first pint in a pub, got my first wage and made plans to leave home (took 5 years to accomplish) and by the end of 1965 my LP collection reached 50, singles double that. Those were the important points, there were others. As someone pointed out on here recently people of my age were born lucky.
Oh most revolutionary year in music, I can`t go into detail, I`m at work, but wasn`t it 1966?
Heaven knows how you calculate these things, Baron. !967 gets a lot of attention but it was probably because it was a year when a lot of movements which had started earlier achieved fruition.
I could give a list of loads of great albums that were released in 1966 Kfd but I think it was the acceptance that rock music was here to stay, a maturity in the performers and the music, growing confidence all around. This was not just in the `stars` but in `us` the youth. When I looked at my dad he looked like his dad, who looked like his dad. Man I had no intention of looking like anybody but me! It was the best of times.
It was a pretty revolutionary year for me. I began primary school.
If 1965 had given us nothing of note except John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme”, would still have been a remarkable year.
In musical terms, I’d say ’65 was less revolutionary than ’63 (guitar bands playing their own music) ’64 (perfect pop year) ’66 (revolution in studio techniques) ’67 (acid / the power trio)… I’ll stop there.
Political revolution? Well insurrection was around in songs long before ’65 and peaked shortly after, ’68 being the usual reference point for the meeting of pop culture and activism.
In Beatles terms, It’s Help, a continuation of their previous template, versus the stylistic leaps of Revolver and Sgt Pepper.
I think I’m leaning towards ‘no’.
1996. Take That split up. I quote wikipedia: “Following the band’s announcement, millions of their fans were distraught around the world and in the UK alone, teenage girls threatened suicide and were seen lining streets in tears, to the point that telephone hotlines were set up by the government to deal with counselling them.”
Luckily for the Afterword, they reformed of course. But then Zayn Malik left them or something and it all started again.
Thanks Gary, for giving us a sense of perspective. How does John Coaltrain compare to this, eh?
I bet there weren’t emergency hotlines for teenagers when his band split up.
Good job I wasn’t manning those phones: “They’re a bloody pop group. Get over it and go and do your homework.”
From the “1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die” tome, amongst the listed albums for 1965 are:
Jerry Lee Lewis “Live At the Star Club, Hamburg”. Probably the wildest live Rock n Roll album ever, backed by Liverpool’s Nashville Teens, who he’d just finished touring Britain with.
The Sonics “Here Are the Sonics”. Pre-punk ferocity, recorded live in the studio.
Bob Dylan “Bringing It All Back Home”. Side one was electric and included “Subterranean Homesick Blues”, “She Belongs To Me” and “Love Minus Zero/No Limit”. Side two was solo acoustic stuff including “Mr Tambourine Man” and “Gates Of Eden”.
Otis Redding “Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul”. His breakthrough album recorded at Stax with a team including Booker T & the MGs. “Respect”, “Down In the Valley”, “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long, “My Girl” are all on here.
The Beach Boys “The Beach Boys Today” is when they started to mature, with “When I Grow Up”, but it starts off exuberantly with “Do You Wanna Dance” and also has the prototype version of “Help Me Ronda”, one of their finest singles.
John Coltrane “A Love Supreme”. Probably the most significant jazz album ever.
B.B. King “Live At the Regal”. B.B. is in total command with “Every Day I Have The Blues”, “How Blue Can You Get?” and “It’s My Own Fault”. Stunning.
The Beatles “Rubber Soul” is where the Fabs branch out from quality goodtime pop into more interesting creative stuff. Fuzz bass and a Sitar make an appearance.
Bert Jansch “Bert Jansch”. Recorded in producer Bill Leader’s flat using a borrowed guitar and sold outright (no royalties) to Transatlantic’s Nat Joseph for £100. Exemplary playing and fine songs, plus a fine version of Davy Graham’s showcase piece “Angie”. A deeply influential album.
The Byrds “Mr Tambourine Man”. The title song gave Bob Dylan his first international No.1 hit, inspiring him to go electric. Three more Dylan songs are present, including “All I Really Want To Do” and “Chimes Of Freedom”. Gene Clark contributed “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better” and wrote or co-wrote a further four.
Bob Dylan “Highway 61 Revisited” was released just one month after his notorious plugging-in at that July’s Newport Folk Festival. The pop music rulebook was rewritten.
The Who “My Generation”. High energy pop such as “My Generation” and “The Kids Are Alright”. The forerunner to an amazing run of classic singles.
From a British perspective 1956 saw ‘Rock Island Line’ chart, and the first records by Elvis, Gene Vincent and Little Richard.
I’d go for that year above all others for huge changes in pop music.
That said, I’ve spent most of 2015 in 1965 and find myself focusing on the slightly less-heralded stuff.
Bowie’s 45s, The Pretty Things’ and The Kinks’ 2 (that’s ‘two’) LPs, ‘Out Of Our Heads’ (my favourite Stones’ LP) , The Action, and right now I’m listening to The Birds’ compilation on repeat.
Surely there’s been a mistake. That Mr Hepworth assured me it was 1971.
Now I like 1971, but I also like 1965. Which is the best, only one answer, FIGHT.
Can fellow members of the Massive please stop recommending books like this? It’s draining my bank account…
Indeed so.
I just went to order at my lovely local bookshop. One of the owners said “hmm, that was the year Hendrix came over to England and I saw him play”. I wasn’t sure, thinking it as ’67 when he came over. I went on my way with his wife telling him off for showing off. I’ve just got back and he’s e-mailed to say I was right but that didn’t stop him from adding that he saw him in ’66 playing with The Fugs. Isn’t that nice ?
Anyway, thanks KFD for the heads up on this.
Dodger’s bookseller was right. Hendrix arrived in London in late September of 66 and within a fortnight had formed the Experience and wiped the floor with Clapton when jamming with Cream. He made his first tv appearance in December on Ready Steady Go in December.
65 for the 7 inch vinyl single and 71 for the vinyl LP isn’t it? I think Hepworth would go with that as regards best years, for each format, which is different to most revolutionary of course. I don’t see 71 as most revolutionary. The sixties must be the era. 69 onwards seems like a development of the possibilites revealed say 64 to 68. Later revolutionary years? 74 with Kraftwerk, 79 for hiphop emerging?
It has one of my favourite songs of theirs on it, but The Afghan Whigs did make better albums.
I’d have the ’65 albums by The Beatles, The Who, The Stones, The Kinks, Dylan, The Beach Boys etc. over anything those groups, or the former members of those groups, released in 1971. They all ‘looked’ a lot better too.