Timeline of music in the United States (1950 - 1969)
Encyclopedia
This is a timeline of music in the United States from 1950 to 1969.
1950
- The Fender EsquireFender EsquireThe Fender Esquire is a solid body electric guitar manufactured by Fender, and was the first guitar sold by Fender in 1950. Shortly after its introduction a two-pickup version named the Broadcaster was introduced while the single pickup version retained the Esquire name...
guitar is released; it is the first "mass-produced, solid body electric guitar". - The recent success of "Tennessee Waltz", a "folk" or countryCountry musicCountry music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
song, a number of cover versionCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
s are released, including Jimmy Mitchell's, arranged for jazz band by Erskine HawkinsErskine HawkinsErskine Ramsay Hawkins was an American trumpet player and big band leader from Birmingham, Alabama, dubbed "The 20th Century Gabriel". He is most remembered for composing the jazz standard "Tuxedo Junction" with saxophonist and arranger Bill Johnson...
, and Patti PagePatti PageClara Ann Fowler , known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer, one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music. She was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s, and has sold over 100 million records...
, whose version is "pathbreaking" as Page sings "four-piece harmony with herself, creating a delicate latticework of sound... simultaneously direct and ethereal, plain yet highly ornamented, with an aura of childlike magic". - Ahmet ErtegunAhmet ErtegunAhmet Ertegün was a Turkish American musician and businessman, best known as the founder and president of Atlantic Records. He also wrote classic blues and pop songs and served as Chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and museum...
and Herb AbramsonHerb AbramsonHerbert C. Abramson was an American record company executive and producer.He was born in 1916 in Brooklyn, New York City and initially studied to be a dentist but he landed a job with National Records producing such performers as The Ravens, Billy Eckstine and Joe Turner...
's Atlantic RecordsAtlantic RecordsAtlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
has its first major hit with Ruth BrownRuth BrownRuth Brown was an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, composer and actress, noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as "So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes" and " He Treats Your Daughter Mean".For these...
's "Teardrops From My Eyes". - Pete SeegerPete SeegerPeter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
and The WeaversThe WeaversThe Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City. They sang traditional folk songs from around the world, as well as blues, gospel music, children's songs, labor songs, and American ballads, and selling millions of records at the height of their...
release a cover of LeadbellyLeadbellyHuddie William Ledbetter was an iconic American folk and blues musician, notable for his strong vocals, his virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the songbook of folk standards he introduced....
's "Goodnight Irene", inspiring a brief fad for pop-folk music based around a "bright, homey, simple, folksy melody sort of tune" that tamed the rough sounds of American folk musicAmerican folk musicAmerican folk music is a musical term that encompasses numerous genres, many of which are known as traditional music or roots music. Roots music is a broad category of music including bluegrass, country music, gospel, old time music, jug bands, Appalachian folk, blues, Cajun and Native American...
for mainstream tastes. - North KoreaNorth KoreaThe Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
invades South KoreaSouth KoreaThe Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, instigating the Korean WarKorean WarThe Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
and delaying the U.S. Army's intention to implement a program to train military bands. - SeeburgSeeburg CorporationSeeburg was an American design and manufacturing company of automated musical equipment, such as orchestrions, jukeboxes, and vending equipment.- History :...
introduces the first 45 rpmGramophone recordA gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
jukeboxJukeboxA jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media...
.Early 1950s music trends - Composer John Cage
John CageJohn Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
leads a group of New York musicians in the Project for Music for Magnetic Tape, along with Christian WolffChristian Wolff (composer)Christian G. Wolff is an American composer of experimental classical music.-Biography:Wolff was born in Nice in France to German literary publishers Helen and Kurt Wolff, who had published works by Franz Kafka, Robert Musil, and Walter Benjamin. After relocating to the U.S...
, Earle BrownEarle BrownEarle Brown was an American composer who established his own formal and notational systems...
, Morton FeldmanMorton FeldmanMorton Feldman was an American composer, born in New York City.A major figure in 20th century music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School of composers also including John Cage, Christian Wolff, and Earle Brown...
and David TudorDavid TudorDavid Eugene Tudor was an American pianist and composer of experimental music.- Biography :Tudor was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied piano with Irma Wolpe and composition with Stefan Wolpe and became known as one of the leading performers of avant garde piano music. He gave the...
.- The Modern Jazz Quartet
Modern Jazz QuartetThe Modern Jazz Quartet was established in 1952 by Milt Jackson , John Lewis , Percy Heath , and Kenny Clarke . Connie Kay replaced Clarke in 1955...
, led by John LewisJohn Lewis (pianist)John Aaron Lewis was an American jazz pianist and composer best known as the musical director of the Modern Jazz Quartet.- Early life:...
, begins performing, intending to expand the "audience for modern jazz... (and) provide music that could be listened to attentively in a concert hall".- The rise of anti-Communist hysteria, McCarthyism
McCarthyismMcCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
, leads to a decline in popularity for American folk musicAmerican folk musicAmerican folk music is a musical term that encompasses numerous genres, many of which are known as traditional music or roots music. Roots music is a broad category of music including bluegrass, country music, gospel, old time music, jug bands, Appalachian folk, blues, Cajun and Native American...
, Russian-American balalaikaBalalaikaThe balalaika is a stringed musical instrument popular in Russia, with a characteristic triangular body and three strings.The balalaika family of instruments includes instruments of various sizes, from the highest-pitched to the lowest, the prima balalaika, secunda balalaika, alto balalaika, bass...
orchestras and other fields of music.- Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, TennesseeNashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
becomes the national center for country music, helped in large part by the popular radio show, Grand Ole OpryGrand Ole OpryThe Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
.- D. T. Suzuki, a Japanese author, lectures at Columbia University
Columbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. Among the intendees is John CageJohn CageJohn Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
, whose "musical thought was entirely transformed by this encounter"; Cage's technique becomes central in the development of modern art music, and is in part inspired by Suzuki and Zen Buddhism.- Mambo becomes a major craze in the United States, led by Perez Prado
Perez PradoDámaso Pérez Prado was a Cuban bandleader, musician , and composer. He is often referred to as the 'King of the Mambo'.His orchestra was the most popular in mambo...
, the "most widely acclaimed bandleader" of the era.- Chinese American intellectuals, unable to return to China after the formation of the People's Republic, spur the development of American Peking opera and instrumental theater traditions.
- Greenwich Village
Greenwich VillageGreenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
begins to become a major center for music, especially the folk music revival and bluegrassBluegrass musicBluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
.- B. B. King
B. B. KingRiley B. King , known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter.Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No.3 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. According to Edward M...
and Bobby "Blue" Bland add elements of gospel and jazz to the traditional sound of blues. - Composer John Cage
- Sing Out!Sing Out!Sing Out! is a quarterly journal of folk music and folk songs that has been published since May 1950.-Background:Sing Out! is the primary publication of the tax exempt, not-for-profit, educational corporation of the same name...
, a magazine for folk music aficionados, is first published. - ElektraElektra RecordsElektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
, a record label, opens in New York City; it will eventually become one of the major labels of the folk music revival. - Mahalia JacksonMahalia JacksonMahalia Jackson – January 27, 1972) was an African-American gospel singer. Possessing a powerful contralto voice, she was referred to as "The Queen of Gospel"...
becomes the first to perform gospel musicGospel musicGospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
at Carnegie HallCarnegie HallCarnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
. - The 45rpm single is introduced.
- Irving BerlinIrving BerlinIrving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
's Call Me MadamCall Me MadamCall Me Madam is a musical with a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse and music and lyrics by Irving Berlin.A satire on politics and foreign affairs that spoofs America's penchant for lending billions of dollars to needy countries, it centers on Sally Adams, a well-meaning but ill-informed...
uses a song, "They Like Ike", that inspires Dwight Eisenhower's presidential campaign slogan, "I Like Ike". - A Chicago-based group, including Lennie TristanoLennie TristanoLeonard Joseph Tristano was a jazz pianist, composer and teacher of jazz improvisation. He performed in the cool jazz, bebop, post bop and avant-garde jazz genres. He remains a somewhat overlooked figure in jazz history, but his enormous originality and dazzling work as an improviser have long...
and Lee KonitzLee KonitzLee Konitz is an American jazz composer and alto saxophonist born in Chicago, Illinois.Generally considered one of the driving forces of Cool Jazz, Konitz has also performed successfully in bebop and avant-garde settings...
, make series of groundbreaking records that offer the "most advanced harmonic and contrapuntal sounds employed in jazz to that date". - Douglas Moore's Pulitzer PrizePulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning tragic opera Giants in the Earth is the "effective beginning of realism in American opera". - Joe BosticJoe BosticJoe Earl Bostic, Jr. is a former American football offensive lineman, primarily guard, who played ten seasons in the National Football League for the St. Louis Cardinals...
organizes the first of a series of Negro Gospel and Religious Music Festivals, which will become an overwhelming success and the "first big all-gospel concert in history". - Muddy WatersMuddy WatersMcKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
'Louisiana BluesLouisiana bluesLouisiana blues is a genre of blues music that developed in the period after World War II in the state of Louisiana. It is generally divided into two major sub-genres, with the jazz-influenced New Orleans blues based around the city and the slower tempo swamp blues incorporating influences from...
" is a popular song that brings a new, more intense and exciting form of Chicago bluesChicago bluesThe Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois, by taking the basic acoustic guitar and harmonica-based Delta blues, making the harmonica louder with a microphone and an instrument amplifier, and adding electrically amplified guitar, amplified bass guitar, drums,...
, characterized by the use of the electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
. - Radio Free EuropeRadio Free EuropeRadio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East "where the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed"...
begins broadcasting in CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
. - Sam PhillipsSam PhillipsSamuel Cornelius Phillips , better known as Sam Phillips, was an American businessman, record executive, record producer and DJ who played an important role in the emergence of rock and roll as the major form of popular music in the 1950s...
founds the Memphis Recording Service, the first permanent studio in Memphis. He will record many important R&B, blues and country performers there, including Jackie BrenstonJackie BrenstonJackie Brenston was an African American R&B singer and saxophonist, who recorded, with Ike Turner's band, the first version of the proto-rock and roll song "Rocket 88".-Biography:...
, Howlin' WolfHowlin' WolfChester Arthur Burnett , known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player....
and B. B. KingB. B. KingRiley B. King , known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter.Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No.3 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. According to Edward M...
. - Word RecordsWord RecordsWord Records is a Christian record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a division of Word Entertainment , which, itself is co-owned by Warner Music Group and Curb Records...
is founded. It will soon become the biggest company in the Christian musicChristian musicChristian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely across the world....
and gospelGospel musicGospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
sectors of the industry.
1951
- Rodgers and HammersteinRodgers and HammersteinRichard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
's The King and IThe King and IThe King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...
is a very popular musical, inaugurating one of the "most illustrious decades" in the history of the Broadway musical. - Disc jockey Alan FreedAlan FreedAlbert James "Alan" Freed , also known as Moondog, was an American disc-jockey. He became internationally known for promoting the mix of blues, country and rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll...
learns from ClevelandCleveland, OhioCleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
record store owner Leo Mintz that white youths were becoming interested in African American music, and starts The Moondog Show in response, becoming the first white disc jockey to play rhythm and bluesRhythm and bluesRhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
for mostly white listeners. - Pee Wee KingPee Wee KingJulius Frank Anthony Kuczynski , known professionally as Pee Wee King, was an American country music songwriter and recording artist best known for co-writing "The Tennessee Waltz"....
's "Tennessee Waltz" becomes a national hit for Patti PagePatti PageClara Ann Fowler , known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer, one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music. She was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s, and has sold over 100 million records...
; though the recording is perceived as "country musicCountry musicCountry music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
", it shows "little of the character of traditional country music" and features "Page singing a sweet-sounding overdubbed duet with herself in a voice and diction essentially free of regional traits". - Fender begins producing electric bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
s, the first model being the Fender Precision BassFender Precision BassThe Fender Precision Bass is an electric bass.Designed by Leo Fender as a prototype in 1950 and brought to market in 1951, the Precision was the first electric bass to earn widespread attention and use. A revolutionary instrument for the time, the Precision Bass has made an immeasurable impact on...
. - Todd StorzTodd StorzRobert Todd Storz is credited with being the father of the Top 40 radio format, which Gordon McLendon then went on to perfect with great commercial success during the 1950s and 1960s.-Biography:...
and Bill Stewart begin the Top 40 radio formatRadio formatA radio format or programming format not to be confused with broadcast programming describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. Radio formats are frequently employed as a marketing tool, and constantly evolve...
at KOWH in Omaha, NebraskaOmaha, NebraskaOmaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
, inspired by the jukeboxJukeboxA jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media...
. This development would be seen by some observers and critics as a "recipe for cowardice, bringing to popular music one of the most insidious trends in postwar American society, the deployment of market research to create a placid emporium in which consumers are given the dubious satisfaction of never finding, or fulfilling, a fresh or disturbing desire". The Top 40 format also heralded a change in popular music by reinforcing the "popular taste", leading to the development of melodiesMelodyA melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
into riffRIFFThe Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
s, riffs into jingleJingleA jingle is a short tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. The jingle contains one or more hooks and lyrics that explicitly promote the product being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising slogans. Ad buyers use jingles in radio and television...
s and jingles into hookHook (music)A hook is a musical idea, often a short riff, passage, or phrase, that is used in popular music to make a song appealing and to "catch the ear of the listener". The term generally applies to popular music, especially rock music, hip hop, dance music, and pop. In these genres, the hook is often...
s, "instantly recognizable sound patterns... designed to snare a listener's attention". The Top 40 format also sped up the "circulation of songs (generating) a kind of 'dynamic obsolescence' that bred a restless quest for sheer novelty". - The first wave of the American folk revival falls apart after the publication of Red Channels: Communist Influence on Radio and Television, which prominently mentioned folk band The WeaversThe WeaversThe Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City. They sang traditional folk songs from around the world, as well as blues, gospel music, children's songs, labor songs, and American ballads, and selling millions of records at the height of their...
. - Miriam Rappaport forms the Jewish Folk Lab in New York, an important venue for the revival of interest in tradition Yiddish music.
- Alex NorthAlex NorthAlex North was an American composer who wrote the first jazz-based film score and one of the first modernist scores written in Hollywood ....
's score for A Streetcar Named Desire is an early example of a jazzJazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
-influenced work for film. - Reverend C. L. FranklinC. L. FranklinClarence LaVaughn Franklin , was an American Baptist minister, a civil rights activist, and father of the legendary soul and gospel singer Aretha Franklin.-Background:...
records a series of sermonSermonA sermon is an oration by a prophet or member of the clergy. Sermons address a Biblical, theological, religious, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law or behavior within both past and present contexts...
s for Chess RecordsChess RecordsChess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
that will remain popular into the next century. - Sam CookeSam CookeSamuel Cook, , better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and...
's first single with the Soul Stirrers, his own "Jesus Gave Me Water" is the group's biggest-selling record to date, establishing Cooke's reputation in the gospel world. - Influential gospel label Nashboro Records is founded.
- Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats' "Rocket 88Rocket 88"Rocket 88" is a rhythm and blues song that was first recorded at Sam Phillips' recording studio in Memphis, Tennessee, on 3 March or 5 March 1951...
" and Johnnie RayJohnnie RayJohnnie Ray was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Popular for most of the 1950s, Ray has been cited by critics as a major precursor of what would become rock and roll, for his jazz and blues-influenced music and his animated stage personality.-Early life:John Alvin Ray was born in...
's "CryCry (Churchill Kohlman song)"Cry" is the title of a 1951 popular song written by Churchill Kohlman. The song was first recorded by Ruth Casey on the Cadillac label. The biggest hit version was recorded in New York City by Johnnie Ray and The Four Lads on October 16, 1951....
" are both sometimes considered the first rock and rollRock and rollRock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
songs. - One of the most prominent female and black composers of the era, Julia PerryJulia PerryJulia Amanda Perry was an African-American composer of classical music.Born in Lexington, Kentucky, Perry studied voice, piano and composition at the Westminster Choir College 1943-48 and came to prominence as a result of a scholarship to the Berkshire Music Center where she was a student of Luigi...
, achieves renown with her Stabat MaterStabat MaterStabat Mater is a 13th-century Roman Catholic hymn to Mary. It has been variously attributed to the Franciscan Jacopone da Todi and to Innocent III...
for contralto and string orchestra. - The CloversThe Clovers-History:The group formed in 1946 at Armstrong High School in Washington, D.C., with members Harold Lucas, Billy Shelton, and Thomas Woods. John "Buddy" Bailey was added soon after, and they began calling themselves the "Four Clovers", with Bailey on lead...
' "Don't You Know I Love You" is the first in a string of hits created under the guidance of Jesse StoneJesse StoneJesse Stone was an American rhythm and blues musician and songwriter whose influence spanned a wide range of genres...
, who innovated what became known as the "Atlantic sound" in rhythm and blues. - The first Peking opera club, Chinese Opera Club in America, in the United States is founded in New York City, by Chinese students stranded there.
- Ballet dancer Janet CollinsJanet CollinsJanet Collins was a ballet dancer and choreographer.Janet Collins was one of the few classically trained Black dancers of her generation. In 1951 she won the Donaldson Award for best dancer on Broadway for her work in Cole Porter's Out of This World...
becomes the first African American artist to appear onstage at the Metropolitan OperaMetropolitan OperaThe Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
, in a producing of AidaAidaAida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
. - William WarfieldWilliam WarfieldWilliam Caesar Warfield , was an American concert bass-baritone singer and actor.-Early life and career:Warfield was born in West Helena, Arkansas and grew up in Rochester, New York, where his father was called to serve as pastor of Mt. Vernon Church. He gave his recital debut in New York's Town...
and Muriel RahnMuriel RahnMuriel Rahn was an American vocalist and actress. She co-founded the Rose McClendon Players with her husband, Dick Campbell and was one of the leading black concert singers of the mid-20th Century. She is perhaps best known for her starring role in the original Broadway production of Carmen Jones...
become the first African American concert artists to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show. - Vladimir UssachevskyVladimir UssachevskyVladimir Kirilovitch Ussachevsky was a composer, particularly known for his work in electronic music.-Biography:...
finishes the first compositions by an American of musique concrèteMusique concrèteMusique concrète is a form of electroacoustic music that utilises acousmatic sound as a compositional resource. The compositional material is not restricted to the inclusion of sounds derived from musical instruments or voices, nor to elements traditionally thought of as "musical"...
. - The RCA Electronic Music Synthesizer, created by Herbert Belar and Harry F. OlsonHarry F. OlsonHarry Ferdinand Olson was a prominent engineer at RCA Victor.Harry F. Olson, a pioneer in the field of 20th century acoustical engineering, was born in Mount Pleasant, Iowa to Swedish immigrant parents...
, is created, though it will not be complete until the following year. It is the first musical synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
.
1952
- Otto LueningOtto LueningOtto Clarence Luening was a German-American composer and conductor, and an early pioneer of tape music and electronic music....
and Vladimir UssachevskyVladimir UssachevskyVladimir Kirilovitch Ussachevsky was a composer, particularly known for his work in electronic music.-Biography:...
of Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
present the "first American tape-music concert at the Museum of Modern ArtMuseum of Modern ArtThe Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
in New York". - The first North American charangaCharangaCharanga is a term given to traditional ensembles of Cuban dance music. They made Cuban dance music popular in the 1940s and their music consisted of heavily son-influenced material, performed on European instruments such as violin and flute by a Charanga orchestra....
is the Orquesta Gilberto Valdés, in New York. - The Institute of Jazz StudiesInstitute of Jazz StudiesThe Institute of Jazz Studies is the largest and most comprehensive library and archive of jazz and jazz-related materials in the world, located at the Newark campus of Rutgers University.-History:...
at Rutgers UniversityRutgers UniversityRutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
is among the first library of jazz materials, and will soon be the world's most comprehensive. - John CageJohn CageJohn Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
becomes the "first American to complete a tape composition", Imaginary Landscape No. 5, and also publishes Williams Mix, an influential piece of less than five minutes in length, produced by categorizing sounds in a process that bypassed personal preference in their ordering, as well as 4′33″, which consisted entirely of silence with the intention of focusing the audience's attention on ambient sounds. - Kitty WellsKitty WellsEllen Muriel Deason , known professionally as Kitty Wells, is an American country music singer. Her 1952 hit recording, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", made her the first female country singer to top the U.S. country charts, and turned her into the first female country star...
' "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk AngelsIt Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels"It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" is a 1952 country song written by J. D. "Jay" Miller, and originally recorded by Kitty Wells. It was an answer song to the Hank Thompson hit "The Wild Side of Life."...
", an answer songAnswer songAn answer song is, as the name suggests, a song made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. It is also known as a response song. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s through 1950s...
to Hank Thompson's "The Wild Side of LifeThe Wild Side of Life"The Wild Side of Life" is a song made famous by country music singer Hank Thompson. Originally released in 1952, the song became one of the most popular recordings in the genre's history, spending 15 weeks at No...
", is the beginning of the era of female country stars. It "showed that a song from a women's point of view could become a best-seller". - Cleveland-area radio personality Alan FreedAlan FreedAlbert James "Alan" Freed , also known as Moondog, was an American disc-jockey. He became internationally known for promoting the mix of blues, country and rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll...
hosts the Moondog Coronation BallMoondog Coronation BallThe Moondog Coronation Ball was a concert held at the Cleveland Arena in Cleveland, Ohio on March 21, 1952. It is generally accepted as the first major rock and roll concert....
, a rock concert that ended in a riot after running out of room for ticket-holding fans; the crowd was estimated at between 6,000 and 25,000 black teenagers. - Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's "Kansas City", recorded by Little Willie LittlefieldLittle Willie LittlefieldLittle Willie Littlefield is an American R&B pianist and singer.-Career:By 1947, at the age of sixteen, Littlefield was already a local attraction on many of Houston's Dowling Street Clubs and was recording for local record shop proprietor Eddie Henry who ran his own label "Eddies".Influenced by...
is a pioneering melodic pop blues song that later become hits for Wilbert HarrisonWilbert HarrisonWilbert Harrison was an American rhythm and blues singer, pianist, guitarist and harmonica player.Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, Harrison had a Billboard #1 record in 1959 with the song "Kansas City". The song was written in 1952 and was one of the first credited collaborations...
, Little RichardLittle RichardRichard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
and The BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
. The song helped launch the careers of Leiber and Stoller, who would become two of the most prominent songwriters in the field. - Harry Everett SmithHarry Everett SmithHarry Everett Smith was an American archivist, ethnomusicologist, student of anthropology, record collector, experimental filmmaker, artist, bohemian and mystic...
, working for Moses AschMoses AschMoses Asch was the founder of Folkways Records. Asch ran the label from 1948 until his death...
and Folkways RecordsFolkways RecordsFolkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987, and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.-History:...
, releases the Anthology of American Folk MusicAnthology of American Folk MusicThe Anthology of American Folk Music is a six-album compilation released in 1952 by Folkways Records , comprising eighty-four American folk, blues and country music recordings that were originally issued from 1927 to 1932.Experimental filmmaker and notable eccentric Harry Smith compiled the music...
, a pivotal collection in the popularization of American folk music and the development of a roots revivalRoots revivalA roots revival is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. Often, roots revivals include an addition of newly-composed songs with socially and politically aware lyrics, as well as a general modernization of the folk sound.After an...
. It inspires urban Northerners to seek out the music of rural Southerners. - Under the leadership of Frederick FennellFrederick FennellFrederick Fennell was an internationally recognized conductor, and one of the primary figures in promoting the wind ensemble as a performing group. He was also influential as a band pedagogue, and greatly affected the field of music education in the USA and abroad...
, the University of RochesterUniversity of RochesterThe University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...
's Eastman School of Music establishes the first wind ensemble based at an institution of higher education. - Though short-lived, the Orquesta Gilberto Valdés is the first charangaCharangaCharanga is a term given to traditional ensembles of Cuban dance music. They made Cuban dance music popular in the 1940s and their music consisted of heavily son-influenced material, performed on European instruments such as violin and flute by a Charanga orchestra....
, a Cuban band format, in North America. - Irish immigration, which had surged following World War II, increases again after the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which favors immigrants from Ireland. The new Irish community increases the demand for popular Irish-styled music, and spurs the development of the Irish dance and music culture centered in Dudley Street, Boston.
- The Ukrainian Music Institute is founded in New York, to promote traditional Ukrainian musicMusic of UkraineUkraine is a multi-ethnic Eastern European state situated north of the Black Sea, previously part of the Soviet Union. Many of its ethnic groups living within Ukraine have their own unique musical traditions and some have developed specific musical traditions in association with the land in which...
. - The last film studios switch to using 35 mm tape, allowing "music to be recorded more quickly and easily than ever before; music tracks had greater fidelity and less background noise, and could be cut and edited with unprecedented ease and precision".
- The first professional full-time group specializing in early musicEarly musicEarly music is generally understood as comprising all music from the earliest times up to the Renaissance. However, today this term has come to include "any music for which a historically appropriate style of performance must be reconstructed on the basis of surviving scores, treatises,...
performance is the Pro Musica Antiqua, founded by Bernard KrainisBernard KrainisBernard Krainis is a musician and co-founder of New York Pro Musica. He plays recorder and studied with Erich Katz.- References :...
and Noah GreenbergNoah GreenbergNoah Greenberg was an American choral conductor.In 1937, aged 18, Greenberg joined the Socialist Workers Party of Max Schachtman, and worked as a lathe operator and party activist. He lost work-related draft deferment in 1944 and joined the U.S. Merchant Marine till 1949. By this time he had lost...
. The group will later be known as New York Pro MusicaNew York Pro MusicaNew York Pro Musica was a vocal and instrumental ensemble that specialized in Medieval and Renaissance early music. It was co-founded in 1952, under the name Pro Musica Antiqua, by Noah Greenberg, a choral director, and Bernard Krainis, a recorder player who studied with Erich Katz.The ensemble is...
. - Johnny RayJohnny RayJohn Cornelius Ray is a former second baseman in Major League Baseball who had a 10-year career from 1981 to 1990. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League and the California Angels of the American League...
's "Cry" is the first song by a white rhythm and blues singer to top both the pop and R&B charts. - Both the National Catholic Bandmasters Association and American School Band Directors Association are founded.
- The Gibson Les PaulLes PaulLester William Polsfuss —known as Les Paul—was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible. He is credited with many recording innovations...
, a popular and early solid body electric guitar, is introduced. - Vladimir UssachevskyVladimir UssachevskyVladimir Kirilovitch Ussachevsky was a composer, particularly known for his work in electronic music.-Biography:...
and Otto LueningOtto LueningOtto Clarence Luening was a German-American composer and conductor, and an early pioneer of tape music and electronic music....
present the first public concert of electroacoustic musicElectroacoustic musicElectroacoustic music originated in Western art music during its modern era following the incorporation of electric sound production into compositional practice. The initial developments in electroacoustic music composition during the mid-20th century are associated with the activities of composers...
at the Museum of Modern ArtMuseum of Modern ArtThe Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
in New York City. - Elliott Wexler of Philadelphia becomes the first rack jobber of recorded discs, a person who rents retail space to stock product, and replenishes the product as needed. This practice is used in places like gas stations that do not typically stock discs, but may do so in some circumstances.
1953
- Alan FreedAlan FreedAlbert James "Alan" Freed , also known as Moondog, was an American disc-jockey. He became internationally known for promoting the mix of blues, country and rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll...
launches a show called The Biggest Rhythm and Blues Show, a package tour that included Ruth BrownRuth BrownRuth Brown was an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, composer and actress, noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as "So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes" and " He Treats Your Daughter Mean".For these...
and Wynonie HarrisWynonie HarrisWynonie Harris , born in Omaha, Nebraska, was an American blues shouter and rhythm and blues singer of upbeat songs, featuring humorous, often ribald lyrics. With fifteen Top 10 hits between 1946 and 1952, Harris is generally considered one of rock and roll's forerunners, influencing Elvis Presley...
. The show would become the "largest-grossing R&B revue up to that time". - Elvis PresleyElvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
records his first songs, "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin". These records would introduce Presley to Sam PhillipsSam PhillipsSamuel Cornelius Phillips , better known as Sam Phillips, was an American businessman, record executive, record producer and DJ who played an important role in the emergence of rock and roll as the major form of popular music in the 1950s...
, who worked for Sun RecordsSun RecordsSun Records is a record label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, starting operations on March 27, 1952.Founded by Sam Phillips, Sun Records was known for giving notable musicians such as Elvis Presley , Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash...
. - Pete SeegerPete SeegerPeter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
and Harry BelafonteHarry BelafonteHarold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
see a show featuring a performer who goes only by OdettaOdettaOdetta Holmes, known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals...
; the African American singer and guitarist becomes one of the stars of the American folk revival, helped in part by her race, which "bestowed an air of credibility on her music" for some folk audiences, because her style reflected that field's strong inspiration in rural African American music. - The Dixie Hummingbirds' "Let's Go Out to the Programs" becomes a major hit, their signature song and a classic piece of gospel.
- The Music Educators National ConferenceMENC: The National Association for Music EducationMENC: The National Association for Music Education is an organization of American music educators dedicated to advancing and preserving music education and as part of the core curriculum of schools in the United States...
launches a periodical devoted to the study of music education, entitled Journal of Research in Music Education. - Alarmed by the Soviet Union sending cultural figures abroad, the American government creates the United States Information AgencyUnited States Information AgencyThe United States Information Agency , which existed from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to "public diplomacy". In 1999, USIA's broadcasting functions were moved to the newly created Broadcasting Board of Governors, and its exchange and non-broadcasting information functions were...
to coordinate cultural activities internationally. - George Russell becomes well-known within the jazz community with the publication of Lydian Concept of Total Organization, which offers a "complex system of associating chords with scales organized by their degree of consonance or dissonance".
- The SpanielsThe SpanielsThe Spaniels were an American R&B doo-wop group, best known for the hit "Goodnite, Sweetheart, Goodnite".They have been called the first successful Midwestern R&B group...
' "Baby, It's You" popularizes the use of nonsense syllables like doo-doo-doo-wop to "add rhythmic accompaniment to romantic songs", imitating the use of the string bass in other rhythm and blues groups; this technique becomes a central part of black vocal harmony groups. - The first pan-North American Estonian song festival for male choruses is held in Toronto, and will alternate between there and the United States, usually New York; a similar gathering for female choruses begins the following year.
- Benny GoodmanBenny GoodmanBenjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
embarks on a famously disastrous tour with Louis Armstrong's All Stars. Goodman insults Armstrong, an elder statesman of jazz, and Goodman himself is perturbed at the more vaudevilleVaudevilleVaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
an elements of Armstrong's show. Goodman has a nervous breakdown, and retires from popular music. - A score by Alfred NewmanAlfred NewmanAlfred Newman was an American composer, arranger, and conductor of music for films.In a career which spanned over forty years, Newman composed music for over two hundred films. He was one of the most respected film score composers of his time, and is today regarded as one of the greatest...
for the film The RobeThe RobeThe Robe is a 1942 historical novel about the Crucifixion written by Lloyd C. Douglas. The book was one of the best-selling titles of the 1940s. It entered the New York Times Best Seller list in October 1942, and four weeks later rose to No. 1. It held the position for nearly a year...
is the first to be released in true stereo sound. - The PrisonairesThe PrisonairesThe Prisonaires were an African-American blues group whose hit, "Just Walkin' in the Rain", was released on Sun Records in 1953, while the group was incarcerated in the Tennessee State Penitentiary in Nashville. The group was led by Johnny Bragg, who had been a penitentiary inmate since 1943 when,...
, a vocal group based in the Tennessee State Penitentiary, have a hit with "Just Walkin' in the Rain". The song establishes Sun RecordsSun RecordsSun Records is a record label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, starting operations on March 27, 1952.Founded by Sam Phillips, Sun Records was known for giving notable musicians such as Elvis Presley , Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash...
. - Radio Liberty begins broadcasting to Russia.
- The Red Tops, led by Walter OsborneWalter OsborneWalter Frederick Osborne was an Irish impressionist landscape and portrait painter. Most of his paintings featured women, children, and the elderly as well as rural scenes.-Career:...
and based out of Vicksburg, MississippiVicksburg, MississippiVicksburg is a city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the only city in Warren County. It is located northwest of New Orleans on the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, and due west of Jackson, the state capital. In 1900, 14,834 people lived in Vicksburg; in 1910, 20,814; in 1920,...
, begins performing locally, soon becoming one of the most popular blues bands of the mid-South until 1973
1954
- Elvis PresleyElvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
records "That's All Right (Mama)That's All Right (Mama)"That's All Right" is the name of the first single released by Elvis Presley, written and originally performed by blues singer Arthur Crudup. Elvis' version was recorded on 5 July 1954, and released on 19 July 1954 with "Blue Moon of Kentucky" as the B-side...
" and "Blue Moon of KentuckyBlue Moon of Kentucky"Blue Moon of Kentucky" is a waltz written in 1946 by bluegrass musician Bill Monroe and recorded by his band, The Blue Grass Boys. The song has since been recorded by many artists, including Elvis Presley....
", both breakthrough recordings that launched his career and helped bring African American musical techniques to white audiences. - Jazz musician Miles DavisMiles DavisMiles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
discovers an "intensely personal sound that was often heard in tightly muted playing, close to the microphone", a trend exemplified by a recording of the blues number "Walkin'Walkin'-Performers:*Miles Davis - Trumpet*Lucky Thompson - Tenor saxophone *J. J. Johnson - Trombone *David Schildkraut - Alto saxophone *Horace Silver - Piano*Percy Heath - Bass*Kenny Clarke - drums...
with J. J. Johnson, Horace SilverHorace SilverHorace Silver , born Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silva in Norwalk, Connecticut, is an American jazz pianist and composer....
and Kenny ClarkeKenny ClarkeKenny Clarke , born Kenneth Spearman Clarke, nicknamed "Klook" and later known as Liaqat Ali Salaam, was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming...
. - The Fender StratocasterFender StratocasterThe Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top...
, the first electric guitar with three pickupsPickup (music technology)A pickup device is a transducer that captures mechanical vibrations, usually from suitably equipped stringed instruments such as the electric guitar, electric bass guitar, Chapman Stick, or electric violin, and converts them to an electrical signal that is amplified, recorded, or broadcast.-...
, is introduced by the Fender Electric Instrument Company. It will play a major role in the popularization of rock and rollRock and rollRock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
. - The first published bibliographyBibliographyBibliography , as a practice, is the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology...
on a specific genre of popular music is Alan Merriam's A Bibliography of Jazz. - The Newport Jazz FestivalNewport Jazz FestivalThe Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. It was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard, who, together with husband Louis Lorillard, financed the festival for many years. The couple hired jazz impresario George Wein to organize the...
is founded in Newport, Rhode IslandNewport, Rhode IslandNewport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
, reflecting a growing acceptance for jazz as an art. - Fender introduces the Stratocaster model of guitar, the first model that came to be viewed as a fashionFashionFashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
statement in addition to a musical instrument. - The Chords "Sh-BoomSh-Boom"Sh-Boom" is an early doo-wop song. It was written by James Keyes, Claude Feaster, Carl Feaster, Floyd F. McRae, and James Edwards, members of the R&B vocal group The Chords and published in 1954. It was a U.S...
" and a subsequent pop cover by The Crew-CutsThe Crew-CutsThe Crew-Cuts were a Canadian vocal quartet, that made a number of popular records that charted in the United States and worldwide. They named themselves after the then popular crew cut haircut, one of the first connections made between pop music and hairstyle...
help "launch an American fad for amateur black harmony groups" that came to be known as doo wop. By the end of the year, The PenguinsThe PenguinsThe Penguins were an American doo-wop group of the 1950s and early 1960s, best remembered for their only Top 40 hit, "Earth Angel ", which was one of the first rhythm and blues hits to cross over to the pop charts...
' "Earth AngelEarth Angel"Earth Angel " is an American doo-wop song, originally released by The Penguins in 1954 on the Dootone label , as the B-side to "Hey Señorita." The song became a major hit for The Crew-Cuts in 1955, reaching the Billboard charts on January 29, 1955. It peaked at #3 on the Disk Jockey chart, #8 on...
" established the long-term popularity of doo wop. "Sh-Boom" has also been called the first rock and roll recording. - WDIAWDIAWDIA is an AM radio station in Memphis, Tennessee, in the United States of America. Its radio frequency is 1070 kHz. In 1962 it became the first U.S. radio station programmed by African-Americans, though its ownership was white.-History:...
, an influential and well-studied radio station in Memphis drastically boosts its broadcasting area, helping the group Spirit of Memphis. - For the first time, a number of African American performers achieve the Billboard pop charts in the same year: Hank Ballard & the Midnighters' "Work With Me Annie", The CrowsThe CrowsThe Crows were an American R & B singing group who achieved commercial success in the 1950s. The group's first single and only major hit, "Gee", released in June 1953, has been credited with being the first Rock n’ Roll hit by a rock and roll group...
' "Gee", The Chords' "Sh-BoomSh-Boom"Sh-Boom" is an early doo-wop song. It was written by James Keyes, Claude Feaster, Carl Feaster, Floyd F. McRae, and James Edwards, members of the R&B vocal group The Chords and published in 1954. It was a U.S...
" and Clyde McPhatterClyde McPhatterClyde McPhatter was an American R&B singer, perhaps the most widely imitated R&B singer of the 1950s and 1960s, making him a key figure in the shaping of doo-wop and R&B. He is best known for his solo hit "A Lover's Question"...
and The DriftersThe DriftersThe Drifters are a long-lived American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1963, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed to serve as Clyde McPhatter's backing group in 1953...
' "Honey LoveHoney Love (The Drifters song)"Honey Love" is a 1954 song by The Drifters featuring Clyde McPhatter. "Honey Love" was the group's third single release, fourth release on the charts and second number one single on the R&B chart.-See also:...
". "Sh-Boom" also becomes a hit for a cover band, The Crew Cuts. - Bruno NettlBruno NettlBruno Nettl is an active ethnomusicologist and musicologist.Bruno Nettl was born in Czechoslovakia in 1930, moved to United States in 1939, studied at Indiana University and the University of Michigan, and has taught since 1964 at the University of Illinois, where he is Professor Emeritus of...
conducts research showing that the "rise", or the inclusion of new or repetitive melodic material at a higher pitch than the opening, is a distinctive feature of all Native American music of California. - The MoonglowsThe MoonglowsThe Moonglows were an American R&B and doo-wop group based in Cleveland, Ohio.-Early years:Originally formed in their native Louisville, Kentucky as the Crazy Sounds, the group moved to Cleveland, where disc jockey Alan Freed renamed them 'the Moonglows'...
innovate a new technique in the field of black vocal harmony with their single "Sincerely", in which the singers blow nonsense sounds in the microphone to create a vocal effect. - Little RichardLittle RichardRichard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
and his drummer, Charles ConnerCharles ConnerCharles Fremont Conner was an American artist who was one of the most important painters in the Richmond Group in Richmond, Indiana.Conner is considered as one of the most talented early Richmond artists...
, introduce a new rhythm to the field of black popular music in imitation of a train; the beat will be adopted by many rhythm and blues, rock and roll and doo wop groups. - Fandango begins broadcasting on KNXT in California, the first TV show to target Mexican American audiences with Spanish language musical performances.
- Lionel "Chica" Sesma moves the popular Latin Holidays, a ballroom dance-oriented party, to the Hollywood Palladium, where the dances will become an integral part of the Mexican-Californian music scene.
- Mahalia JacksonMahalia JacksonMahalia Jackson – January 27, 1972) was an African-American gospel singer. Possessing a powerful contralto voice, she was referred to as "The Queen of Gospel"...
becomes the first gospel performer with her own television show, the Mahalia Jackson Show, on CBSCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. - Alex BradfordAlex BradfordProfessor Alex Bradford was a multi-talented gospel composer, singer, arranger and choir director who was a great influence on artists such as Little Richard, Bob Marley and Ray Charles and who helped bring about the modern mass choir movement in gospel.Born in Bessemer, Alabama, he first appeared...
organizes the first all-male gospel choir.
1955
| Mid-1950s music trends |
|---|
|
- Ali Akbar KhanAli Akbar KhanAli Akbar Khan , often referred to as Khansahib or by the title Ustad , was a Hindustani classical musician of the Maihar gharana, known for his virtuosity in playing the sarod...
becomes the first Indian musician to perform on American television, on Alistair CookeAlistair CookeAlfred Alistair Cooke KBE was a British/American journalist, television personality and broadcaster. Outside his journalistic output, which included Letter from America and Alistair Cooke's America, he was well known in the United States as the host of PBS Masterpiece Theater from 1971 to 1992...
's Omnibus. - Teenagers enter the mainstream pop music market in greater numbers, leading to the BillboardBillboard (magazine)Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Top 100 measuring the "preferences of a younger, more specialized segment of the population that it had before". - Bill Haley & His CometsBill Haley & His CometsBill Haley & His Comets was an American rock and roll band that was founded in 1952 and continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band, also known by the names Bill Haley and The Comets and Bill Haley's Comets , was the earliest group of white musicians to bring rock and roll to the attention of...
' "Rock Around the ClockRock Around the Clock"Rock Around the Clock" is a 12-bar-blues-based song written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was recorded by Bill Haley and His Comets in 1954...
" (recorded on April 12, 1954) is a pioneering release that tops both the popular and rhythm and blues music charts. It is rereleased this year (after its initial release the year before) with a controversial film about teenage rebellion and violence called Blackboard JungleBlackboard JungleBlackboard Jungle is a 1955 social commentary film about teachers in an inner-city school. It is based on the novel of the same name by Evan Hunter.-Plot:...
. The song will make Haley into the first major white rock and roll star. The film is the first to link popular music with the generation gapGeneration gapThe generational gap is and was a term popularized in Western countries during the 1960s referring to differences between people of a younger generation and their elders, especially between children and parents....
and adolescent rebellion. - Fats DominoFats DominoAntoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
's "Ain't It a ShameAin't It a Shame"Ain't It a Shame" or "Ain't It a Shame to Go Fishin'" or "Keep You Hands Off Her" is an American folk song. It has been recorded by Lead Belly and Nirvana, among others. Also the name of a song by The B-52s on the Bouncing Off the Satellites LP . Covered by Sinead O'Connor in 2003 on She Who...
", a recording which made him a "prototypical rock and roll star—and well on his way to becoming an iconic figure of American popular music." - Chuck BerryChuck BerryCharles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
records "MaybelleneMaybellene"Maybellene" is a song recorded by Chuck Berry, adapted from the traditional fiddle tune "Ida Red" that tells the story of a hot rod race and a broken romance. It was released in July 1955 as a single on Chess Records of Chicago, Illinois. It was Berry's first single release and his first hit...
" with Jerome Green and Willie DixonWillie DixonWilliam James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
. This song, along with Bo DiddleyBo DiddleyEllas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...
's "Bo DiddleyBo Diddley (song)"Bo Diddley" is a rhythm and blues song first recorded and sung by Bo Diddley at the Universal Recording Studio in Chicago and released on the Chess Records subsidiary, Checker Records in 1955. It became an immediate hit single that stayed on the R&B charts for a total of 18 weeks, 2 of those weeks...
" and "Pretty ThingPretty Thing"Pretty Thing" is a 1955 song written by Chess Records bassist-songwriter Willie Dixon and originally performed by Bo Diddley. The song was Diddley's third single release through Checker Records after "Diddley Daddy"...
", popularize the use of the guitar as the "focal instrument" of rhythm and blues. - Little RichardLittle RichardRichard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
records "Tutti FruttiTutti Frutti (song)"Tutti Frutti" is a 1955 song by Little Richard, which became his first hit record. With its opening cry of "A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bop-bop!" and its hard-driving sound and wild lyrics, it became not only a model for many future Little Richard songs, but also one of the...
". The song becomes a surprise hit that helped inspire such pioneers as Otis ReddingOtis ReddingOtis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
, James BrownJames BrownJames Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
and Paul McCartneyPaul McCartneySir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
. - Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers record "Why Do Fools Fall in LoveWhy Do Fools Fall in Love (song)"Why Do Fools Fall in Love" is a song that was originally a hit for early New York City-based rock and roll group Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers in 1956. It reached No. 1 on the R&B chart, No. 6 on Billboards Pop Singles chart, and number one on the UK Singles Chart...
", a popular doo wop hit. - Elvis PresleyElvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
's "I Forgot to Remember to ForgetI Forgot to Remember to Forget"I Forgot to Remember to Forget" is a country song written by Stan Kesler and Charlie Feathers. It was recorded at Sun Studio on July 11, 1955, by Elvis Presley, Scotty Moore, Bill Black, and Johnny Bernero on drums, and released on August 20, 1955, along with "Mystery Train"...
" is a major hit that establishes Presley as a country star. Presley leaves Sam PhillipsSam PhillipsSamuel Cornelius Phillips , better known as Sam Phillips, was an American businessman, record executive, record producer and DJ who played an important role in the emergence of rock and roll as the major form of popular music in the 1950s...
and goes to RCA RecordsRCA RecordsRCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
, Hill & RangeHill & RangeHill & Range is a music publishing company which was particularly responsible for much of the country music produced in the 1950s and 1960s, and had control over the material recorded by Elvis Presley over that period....
publishers and Colonel Tom ParkerColonel Tom Parker"Colonel" Thomas Andrew "Tom" Parker born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk, was a Dutch-born entertainment impresario known best as the manager of Elvis Presley...
and manager. Phillips convinces Carl PerkinsCarl PerkinsCarl Lee Perkins was an American rockabilly musician who recorded most notably at Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, beginning during 1954...
to move from country and western to a more rhythm and blues-influenced style, resulting in the recording of "Blue Suede ShoesBlue Suede Shoes"Blue Suede Shoes" is a rock and roll standard written and first recorded by Carl Perkins in 1955 and is considered one of the first rockabilly records and incorporated elements of blues, country and pop music of the time...
", which becomes a hit in the following year. - Ozark JubileeOzark JubileeOzark Jubilee is the first U.S. network television program to feature country music's top stars, and was the centerpiece of a strategy for Springfield, Missouri to challenge Nashville, Tennessee as America's country music capital...
begins a five-and-a-half year run on ABC-TV as the first network TV program to showcase country music stars. - Harry BelafonteHarry BelafonteHarold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
begins a brief fad for pop music based on calypso, a style of Trinidadian musicMusic of Trinidad and TobagoCalypso music and steelpan is what Trinidad and Tobago is best known for, including internationally in the 1950s through artists like Lord Kitchener and Mighty Sparrow; the art form was most popularised at that time by Harry Belafonte...
. His biggest hits are "Jamaican Farewell" and "Banana Boat (Day-O)". The success of calypso helps legitimate the popular songs of the American roots revivalRoots revivalA roots revival is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. Often, roots revivals include an addition of newly-composed songs with socially and politically aware lyrics, as well as a general modernization of the folk sound.After an...
. - The WeaversThe WeaversThe Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City. They sang traditional folk songs from around the world, as well as blues, gospel music, children's songs, labor songs, and American ballads, and selling millions of records at the height of their...
return to performing, with a show at Carnegie HallCarnegie HallCarnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, after years of being blacklisted for alleged ties to CommunismCommunismCommunism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
. - Critically beloved operaOperaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
singer Marian AndersonMarian AndersonMarian Anderson was an African-American contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the twentieth century...
becomes the first African American allowed to perform at the Metropolitan OperaMetropolitan OperaThe Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
for the first time. - Leonard Roseman's score for Rebel Without a CauseRebel Without a CauseRebel Without a Cause is a 1955 American drama film about emotionally confused suburban, middle-class teenagers. Directed by Nicholas Ray, it offered both social commentary and an alternative to previous films depicting delinquents in urban slum environments...
and Elmer BernsteinElmer BernsteinElmer Bernstein was an American composer and conductor best known for his many film scores. In a career which spanned fifty years, he composed music for hundreds of film and television productions...
's for The Man With the Golden ArmThe Man with the Golden ArmThe Man with the Golden Arm is a 1955 American drama film, based on the novel of the same name by Nelson Algren, which tells the story of a heroin addict who gets clean while in prison, but struggles to stay that way in the outside world. It stars Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, Kim Novak, Arnold...
are influential jazz-tinged film compositions. - Mahalia JacksonMahalia JacksonMahalia Jackson – January 27, 1972) was an African-American gospel singer. Possessing a powerful contralto voice, she was referred to as "The Queen of Gospel"...
and the Drinkard Singers are the first gospelGospel musicGospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
performers to appear at the Newport Folk FestivalNewport Folk FestivalThe Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival...
. - James HowardJames HowardJames or Jim Howard may refer to:* James Howard, 3rd Earl of Suffolk * James Howard , English dramatist* James Howard MP , British Liberal politician, manufacturer and agriculturalist...
becomes the first scholar to publish extensive research on the pantribal powwowPowWowPowWow is a wireless sensor network mote developed by the Cairn team of IRISA/INRIA. The platform is currently based on IEEE 802.15.4 standard radio transceiver and on an MSP430 microprocessor...
. - Gilbert ChaseGilbert ChaseGilbert Chase was an American music historian, critic and author, and a "seminal figure in the field of musicology and ethnomusicology....
's America's Music, from the Pilgrims to the Present is published; it becomes one of the most acclaimed works of American music history, and was the first major work to evaluate American music on its own terms rather than from a European perspective. - Perez PradoPerez PradoDámaso Pérez Prado was a Cuban bandleader, musician , and composer. He is often referred to as the 'King of the Mambo'.His orchestra was the most popular in mambo...
records "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White", which became the best-selling record worldwide this year, and launches the American chachacha craze. - The CobwebThe Cobweb (film)The Cobweb is a MGM film. It was directed by Vincente Minnelli and based on a novel by William Gibson. It was released on DVD as part of the Warner Archive Collection on January 18, 2011....
, a film scored by Leonard RosenmanLeonard RosenmanLeonard Rosenman was an American film, television and concert composer.-Life and career:Leonard Rosenman was born in Brooklyn, New York. After service in the Pacific with the Army Air Forces in World War II, he earned a bachelor's degree in music from the University of California, Berkeley...
, is the "first Hollywood score to employ 12-tone technique." - Lejaren A. Hiller and Leonard M. Isaacson produce the first "computer-generated (music) composition", the Illiac Suite.
- Marian AndersonMarian AndersonMarian Anderson was an African-American contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the twentieth century...
becomes the first African American singer to perform with the Metropolitan Opera Company, in Giuseppe VerdiGiuseppe VerdiGiuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's Un ballo in maschera. A few weeks later, baritone Robert McFerrinRobert McFerrinRobert McFerrin Sr. was the first African-American male to sing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City...
becomes the first black male to do so. - Norman GranzNorman GranzNorman Granz was an American jazz music impresario and producer.Granz was a fundamental figure in American jazz, especially from about 1947 to 1960...
produces the Jazz at the PhilharmonicJazz at the PhilharmonicJazz at the Philharmonic, or JATP, was the title of a series of jazz concerts, tours and recordings produced by Norman Granz....
project at the Music Hall in Houston, TexasHouston, TexasHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
. This is a controversial show that is a jazz milestone, giving "first-class treatment to jazz musicians for the first time". - Leontyne PriceLeontyne PriceMary Violet Leontyne Price is an American soprano. Born and raised in the Deep South, she rose to international acclaim in the 1950s and 1960s, and was one of the first African Americans to become a leading artist at the Metropolitan Opera.One critic characterized Price's voice as "vibrant",...
becomes the first African American singer to perform in an opera on television, in ToscaToscaTosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
by Puccini. - Horace SilverHorace SilverHorace Silver , born Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silva in Norwalk, Connecticut, is an American jazz pianist and composer....
's The Preacher is an influential early fusion of bopHard bopHard bop is a style of jazz that is an extension of bebop music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz which incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano...
and gospel musicGospel musicGospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
. - Leonard FeatherLeonard FeatherLeonard Geoffrey Feather was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer who was best known for his music journalism and other writing.-Biography:...
's Encyclopedia of Jazz is the first major popular music encyclopedia to be published. - Congress passes a law banning the practice of payolaPayolaPayola, in the American music industry, is the illegal practice of payment or other inducement by record companies for the broadcast of recordings on music radio, in which the song is presented as being part of the normal day's broadcast. Under U.S...
, offering inducements to disc jockeys and executives to promote particular recordings. - Seth Loving invents the humbuckingHumbuckingFor the purposes of this article, "hum" is defined as "an unwanted signal, generally at the frequency of the local A.C. electrical supply" ....
pickup for the electric guitar. This eliminates much of the instrument's noisy interference and reduces its response to high frequencies. - Approximate: Tally Recording Studio is founded in Bakersfield, CaliforniaBakersfield, CaliforniaBakersfield is a city near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County, California. It is roughly equidistant between Fresno and Los Angeles, to the north and south respectively....
, becoming the first major studio of the Bakersfield soundBakersfield soundThe Bakersfield sound was a genre of country music developed in the mid- to late 1950s in and around Bakersfield, California. The many hit singles were largely produced by Capitol Records country music head, Ken Nelson. Bakersfield country was a reaction against the slickly produced, string...
.
1956
- The Wizard of OzThe Wizard of Oz (1939 film)The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
is first shown on television, beginning its transformation into an iconic symbol of American culture. - Elvis PresleyElvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
first performs on network television, on CBS's Stage ShowStage ShowStage Show was a popular music variety series on American television originally hosted on alternate weeks by big band leaders and brothers Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. Produced by Jackie Gleason, the CBS-TV show included the first national television appearances by Elvis Presley.The series began as a...
, making him the "hottest act in show business" at the time. His hit "Heartbreak HotelHeartbreak Hotel"Heartbreak Hotel" is a song recorded by American rock and roll musician Elvis Presley. It was released as a single on January 27, 1956, Presley's first on his new record label RCA Victor. His first number-one pop record, "Heartbreak Hotel" topped Billboards Top 100 chart, became his first...
" becomes "the prototype for a new genre of morbidly self-pitying rock songs". He also appears on The Ed Sullivan ShowThe Ed Sullivan ShowThe Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
, but is taped only from the waist up because his hip movements are seen as too risqué for American audiences. Later in the year, after a performance of "Hound DogHound Dog (song)"Hound Dog" is a twelve-bar blues written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and originally recorded by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton in 1952. Other early versions illustrate the differences among blues, country, and rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The 1956 remake by Elvis Presley is the best-known...
" on The Milton Berle Show in which he grabs his crotch and gyrates his hips in a sexually charged manner, Presley becomes the subject of criticism for what they saw as degenerate moral values. "Hound Dog" would go on to become the biggest selling record of the 1950s, and Presley's performance will play a major role in launching his career. - Columbia HouseColumbia HouseThe Columbia House brand was introduced in the early 1970s by the Columbia Records division of CBS, Inc. as an umbrella for its mail-order music clubs, the primary incarnation of which was the Columbia Record Club, established in 1955. It had a significant market presence in the 1980s and early...
becomes the first record clubRecord ClubRecord Club is a musical project initiated by Beck Hansen in June 2009.The purpose of the project is to cover an entire album by another artist in one day, using an informal and fluid collective of musicians...
in the United States. - Pat BoonePat BooneCharles Eugene "Pat" Boone is an American singer, actor and writer who has been a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He covered black artists' songs and sold more copies than his black counterparts...
, who had released a string of hit cover versionCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
s of African American popular songs that sold better than the original, releases a cover of Little RichardLittle RichardRichard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
's "Long Tall SallyLong Tall Sally"Long Tall Sally" is a rock and roll 12-bar blues song written by Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, Enotris Johnson and Richard Penniman , recorded by Little Richard and released March 1956 on the Specialty Records label....
". Boone's version is outsold by Little Richard, an event that Keir Keightley called a "symbolic (and) economic triumph of original rock'n'roll over its putatively inferior and commercial copy". - Forbidden PlanetForbidden PlanetForbidden Planet is a 1956 science fiction film directed by Fred M. Wilcox, with a screenplay by Cyril Hume. It stars Leslie Nielsen, Walter Pidgeon, and Anne Francis. The characters and its setting have been compared to those in William Shakespeare's The Tempest, and its plot contains certain...
becomes the first movie to have an all-electronic musicElectronic musicElectronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
soundtrackSoundtrackA soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
. This was the first widespread exposure to electronic music for ordinary Americans. The soundtrack's composers were the husband and wife team Bebe and Louis Barron. - My Fair LadyMy Fair LadyMy Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
smashes BroadwayBroadway theatreBroadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
records, and will run for six years and a total of 2,717 performances. - Nat King ColeNat King ColeNathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
becomes the first "African American to headline a TV network variety series", The Nat King Cole Show. - The Clancy Brothers form Tradition, a record labelRecord labelIn the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, originally just to record themselves, however, they would go on to record popular folk musicians like Lightnin' HopkinsLightnin' HopkinsSam John Hopkins better known as Lightnin’ Hopkins, was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist, from Houston, Texas...
and Odetta Hopkins. - The word bluegrassBluegrass musicBluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
is first used in print. - Cover versionCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
s of popular songs by African American artists decline, in large part because the original, African American recording begins to outsell the covers. - Members of the Alabama Citizens' Council assault Nat King ColeNat King ColeNathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
onstage, leading to massive media attention to the Christian anti-rock and roll movement. Later that year, Louisiana passes a law forbidding interracial social functions, entertainment or dancing of any kind. - The Navy School of Music takes over all individual advanced training for military musicians.
- The CoastersThe CoastersThe Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group that had a string of hits in the late 1950s. Beginning with "Searchin'" and "Young Blood", their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing team of Leiber and Stoller...
' "Down in Mexico" is the first in a string of hits by that group, popularizing a style of "teenage-oriented productions,... mainly novelty songs (with) comic lyrics and a playful vocal style accompanied by a rhythm and blues combo". - "Blue Suede ShoesBlue Suede Shoes"Blue Suede Shoes" is a rock and roll standard written and first recorded by Carl Perkins in 1955 and is considered one of the first rockabilly records and incorporated elements of blues, country and pop music of the time...
" by Carl PerkinsCarl PerkinsCarl Lee Perkins was an American rockabilly musician who recorded most notably at Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, beginning during 1954...
becomes a massive success and is the "first million-selling triple-play crossover (to move) from the top of the country charts, to those of rhythm & blues, and then pop". - Dizzy GillespieDizzy GillespieJohn Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
's jazz orchestra becomes the first such group to be officially recognized by the U.S. government, when it is chosen to tour as a goodwill ambassador for the State Department. - The Carl OrffCarl OrffCarl Orff was a 20th-century German composer, best known for his cantata Carmina Burana . In addition to his career as a composer, Orff developed an influential method of music education for children.-Early life:...
method of music instruction is introduced by Arnold WalterArnold WalterArnold Maria Walter, OC was a Canadian musicologist, educator, composer and writer. He founded the Canadian Opera Company, and was Director of Music at University of Toronto.-Early years:...
at a Music Educators National ConferenceMENC: The National Association for Music EducationMENC: The National Association for Music Education is an organization of American music educators dedicated to advancing and preserving music education and as part of the core curriculum of schools in the United States...
in St. Louis. - The film Rock Around the ClockRock Around the Clock"Rock Around the Clock" is a 12-bar-blues-based song written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was recorded by Bill Haley and His Comets in 1954...
is the first of many to frame a rock performance as a dramatic account of rock culture. Reports of rioting fuel controversy and help perpetuate the notion that rock is linked to juvenile delinquency. Similar films are released later in the year: Rock, Rock, RockRock, Rock, Rock (film)Rock, Rock, Rock is a 1956 black-and-white motion picture featuring performances from a number of early rock 'n' roll stars, such as Chuck Berry, LaVern Baker, Teddy Randazzo, The Moonglows, The Flamingos, and The Teenagers with Frankie Lymon as lead singer. Future West Side Story cast member David...
and The Girl Can't Help ItThe Girl Can't Help ItThe Girl Can't Help It is a 1956 comedy musical film starring Jayne Mansfield, Tom Ewell, and Edmond O'Brien. It was produced and directed by Frank Tashlin, with a screenplay adapted by Tashlin and Herbert Baker from an uncredited novel Do Re Me by Garson Kanin...
.
1957
- Mike SeegerMike SeegerMike Seeger was an American folk musician and folklorist. He was a distinctive singer and an accomplished musician who played autoharp, banjo, fiddle, dulcimer, guitar, mouth harp, mandolin, dobro, jaw harp, and pan pipes. Seeger, a half-brother of Pete Seeger, produced more than 30 documentary...
produces an album called American Banjo Scruggs Style, an anthology of bluegrassBluegrass musicBluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
banjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
that "lent new prestige and permanence" to the genre. - Composer and French horn player Gunther SchullerGunther SchullerGunther Schuller is an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, and jazz musician.- Biography and works :...
coins the term third streamThird streamThird Stream is a term coined in 1957 by composer Gunther Schuller, within a lecture at Brandeis University, to describe a musical genre which is a synthesis of classical music and jazz...
, referring to music "that brought jazz techniques into the classical sphere, or vice-versa". - Pat SuzukiPat SuzukiPat Suzuki is an American popular singer and actress, who is best known for her role in the original Broadway production of the musical Flower Drum Song, and her performance of the song "I Enjoy Being a Girl" in the show.-Career:Suzuki is a Nisei or second-generation Japanese American...
signs to a major label, RCARCARCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
, the first Japanese American to do so. - West Side StoryWest Side StoryWest Side Story is an American musical with a script by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreographed by Jerome Robbins...
by Leonard BernsteinLeonard BernsteinLeonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
with choreography by Jerome RobbinsJerome RobbinsJerome Robbins was an American theater producer, director, and choreographer known primarily for Broadway Theater and Ballet/Dance, but who also occasionally directed films and directed/produced for television. His work has included everything from classical ballet to contemporary musical theater...
, a book by Arthur LaurentsArthur LaurentsArthur Laurents was an American playwright, stage director and screenwriter.After writing scripts for radio shows after college and then training films for the U.S...
and lyrics by Stephen SondheimStephen SondheimStephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
, opens, reflecting Bernstein's view that American musical theater excelled in a form between opera and light entertainment. - Tommy SandsTommy SandsTommy Adrian Sands is an American pop music singer and actor.-Early life:Born into a musical family in Chicago, Illinois, Sands' father was a pianist and his mother a big-band singer. While still young, he moved with his family to Shreveport, Louisiana...
' "Teen-Age Crush" is a surprise hit after being used in the television play Singing Idol, loosely based on Elvis PresleyElvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
. The success of the song inspires Ricky NelsonRicky NelsonEric Hilliard Nelson , better known as Ricky Nelson or Rick Nelson, was an American singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, and actor...
to begin a musical career that led to pop stardom. - The television show American BandstandAmerican BandstandAmerican Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
, which features popular music performers for teen audiences, debuts for national audiences. Within a month, it is reaching "more viewers than any other show on daytime television", and the show's success, along with the popularity of Elvis PresleyElvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
's movie Jailhouse Rock, is taken as evidence that teenage pop listeners are a viable audience for television programs. - American BandstandAmerican BandstandAmerican Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
features Jackie WilsonJackie WilsonJack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson, Jr. was an American singer and performer. Known as "Mr. Excitement", Wilson was important in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. He was known as a master showman, and as one of the most dynamic singers and performers in R&B and rock history...
, one of the show's first African American performers. His "Reet PetiteReet Petite"Reet Petite " is a song made popular by Jackie Wilson...
" is a major hit helps establish both Wilson and producer Berry GordyBerry GordyBerry Gordy, Jr. is an American record producer, and the founder of the Motown record label, as well as its many subsidiaries.-Early years:...
. - Art LaboeArt LaboeArt Laboe is an American pioneering disc jockey, songwriter, record producer, and radio station owner who is generally credited with coining the term "Oldies But Goodies."....
, a disc jockey in Los Angeles, is probably the first to use the term oldie to describe former hit records with nostalgic value. - Israel Young founds New York's Folklore Center, which will become a major part of the American roots revivalRoots revivalA roots revival is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. Often, roots revivals include an addition of newly-composed songs with socially and politically aware lyrics, as well as a general modernization of the folk sound.After an...
. - JazzJazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
performer John ColtraneJohn ColtraneJohn William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
has a spiritual awakening, quits drugs and begins practicing yogaYogaYoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
and studying Eastern religion. He will go on to explore the musics of East and South Asia. - The Staff Band Officer position is created to monitor military musical activities within their areas.
- Leonard BernsteinLeonard BernsteinLeonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
and Stephen SondheimStephen SondheimStephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
's West Side StoryWest Side StoryWest Side Story is an American musical with a script by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreographed by Jerome Robbins...
is an influential musical, in that it focused on lower-class life and used "new and exciting rhythms". - Legendary gospel singer Sam CookeSam CookeSamuel Cook, , better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and...
releases "You Send MeYou Send Me-Background:Cooke made a demo recording of "You Send Me" featuring only his own guitar accompaniment in the winter of 1955. The first recording of the track was made in New Orleans in December 1956 in the same sessions which produced "Lovable", the first release outside the gospel field for Cooke...
", a secular song that marks the beginning of his transition into a pop singer. - George WalkerGeorge Walker (composer)George Theophilus Walker is an African-American composer, the first to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. He received the Pulitzer for his work Lilacs in 1996....
becomes the first African American to earn his D.M.A. at the Eastman School of MusicEastman School of MusicThe Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...
. - Julio Collazo and Francisco Aquabella come to the United States, becoming "catalysts for the development of North American (SanteríaSanteríaSantería is a syncretic religion of West African and Caribbean origin influenced by Roman Catholic Christianity, also known as Regla de Ocha, La Regla Lucumi, or Lukumi. Its liturgical language, a dialect of Yoruba, is also known as Lucumi....
) ceremonial music making". - Martin DennyMartin DennyMartin Denny was an American piano-player and composer best known as the "father of exotica." In a long career that saw him performing well into his 80s, he toured the world popularizing his brand of lounge music which included exotic percussion, imaginative rearrangements of popular songs, and...
's ExoticaExoticaExotica is a musical genre, named after the 1957 Martin Denny album of the same title, popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s, typically with the suburban set who came of age during World War II. The musical colloquialism, exotica, means tropical ersatz: the non-native, pseudo experience of Oceania...
is the beginning of the exoticaExoticaExotica is a musical genre, named after the 1957 Martin Denny album of the same title, popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s, typically with the suburban set who came of age during World War II. The musical colloquialism, exotica, means tropical ersatz: the non-native, pseudo experience of Oceania...
genre, a style of lush music influenced by both Hawaiian and Latin styles. - Miles DavisMiles DavisMiles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
and Gil EvansGil EvansGil Evans was a jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader, active in the United States...
' "Miles AheadMiles AheadMiles Ahead is a jazz album by Miles Davis that was released in 1957 on Columbia CL 1041. This was the first album following Birth of the Cool that Davis recorded with Gil Evans, with whom he would go on to release albums such as Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain...
" marks a "significant development in the use of a large orchestra (twenty players) to expand" the band's sound and style, in the field of cool jazzCool jazzCool is a style of modern jazz music that arose following the Second World War. It is characterized by its relaxed tempos and lighter tone, in contrast to the bebop style that preceded it...
. - Dick Clark's American BandstandAmerican BandstandAmerican Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
is picked up by ABCAmerican Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, making a him a national celebrity and the show a cultural phenomenon that helps shape American popular music. - The Famous Ward Singers are the first gospel group to perform at the Newport Jazz FestivalNewport Jazz FestivalThe Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. It was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard, who, together with husband Louis Lorillard, financed the festival for many years. The couple hired jazz impresario George Wein to organize the...
. - John LewisJohn Lewis (pianist)John Aaron Lewis was an American jazz pianist and composer best known as the musical director of the Modern Jazz Quartet.- Early life:...
, organizer the of the Monterey Festival, opens the "first summer jazz school" in Lenox, MassachusettsLenox, MassachusettsLenox is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. Set in Western Massachusetts, it is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,077 at the 2000 census. Where the town has a border with Stockbridge is the site of Tanglewood, summer...
. - The first computer music studio is created by Max V. Mathews in Murray Hill, New JerseyMurray Hill, New JerseyMurray Hill is an unincorporated area within portions of both Berkeley Heights and New Providence, located in Union County in northern New Jersey, United States....
at the Bell Telephone Laboratories.
1958
| Late 1950s music trends |
|---|
|
- American BandstandAmerican BandstandAmerican Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
introduces a number of "cleaned-up versions of the coolest new black dances", promoted in "conjunction with upbeat new songs, often specially recorded just for this purpose. Two of the earliest were The Bop, from "At the HopAt the Hop"At the Hop" is a hit rock 'n' roll song written by Arthur Singer, John Medora and David White and originally released by Danny & the Juniors. The song was released in the fall of 1957, and reached number one on the US charts on January 6, 1958, thus becoming one of the top-selling singles of 1958...
", and The Stroll, from "The StrollThe StrollThe Stroll was both a slow Rock 'n' Roll dance and a song that was popular in late 1950s. The dance called the Stroll began in black communities to the song "C. C. Rider" by Chuck Willis prior to the song by the same name....
". The success of American Bandstand and host Dick Clark turned Philadelphia, the show's home, into a "mecca for music men". - "Lonely TeardropsLonely Teardrops"Lonely Teardrops" is a song recorded and released as a single in 1958 by R&B singer Jackie Wilson on the Brunswick label. It is a 1999 Grammy Hall of Fame Inductee...
" by Jackie WilsonJackie WilsonJack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson, Jr. was an American singer and performer. Known as "Mr. Excitement", Wilson was important in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. He was known as a master showman, and as one of the most dynamic singers and performers in R&B and rock history...
is a major hit. Producer Berry GordyBerry GordyBerry Gordy, Jr. is an American record producer, and the founder of the Motown record label, as well as its many subsidiaries.-Early years:...
perfected the "formula he would exploit for the next decade, producing an unprecedented series of best-selling records with a variety of different black artists". "Lonely Teardrops"' "upbeat arrangement was designed to exploit one of the latest dance fads... called the cha-lypso, a kind of cha-chaCha-cha-cha (dance)The Cha-cha-cha is the name of a dance of Cuban origin.It is danced to the music of the same name introduced by Cuban composer and violinist Enrique Jorrín in 1953...
done to a modified calypsoCalypso musicCalypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
beat". - The second wave of the American folk revival begins, led by the apolitical group the Kingston Trio", and their hit single, "Tom DooleyTom Dooley (song)"Tom Dooley" is an old North Carolina folk song based on the 1866 murder of a woman named Laura Foster in Wilkes County, North Carolina. It is best known today because of a hit version recorded in 1958 by The Kingston Trio. This version was a multi-format hit, reaching #1 in Billboard, the...
". - La Monte YoungLa Monte YoungLa Monte Thornton Young is an American avant-garde composer, musician, and artist.Young is generally recognized as the first minimalist composer. His works have been included among the most important and radical post-World War II avant-garde, experimental, and contemporary music. Young is...
's Trio for Strings is an early work of experimental West Coast chamber music that began the field of minimalismMinimalismMinimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
. - Gus Palmer Sr. revives the Black Legs Society, or Tonkonga, of the KiowaKiowaThe Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
, a society that features song, dance and music. - The ChantelsThe ChantelsThe Chantels were the second African-American girl group to have nationwide success in the United States, preceded by The Bobbettes. The group was established in the early 1950s and attended St. Anthony of Padua school in The Bronx...
' "Maybe" is the first of many songs from the next few years to cross "over into the mainstream and (establish) the commercial viability of 'girl groups' in the music industry". - Mantle HoodMantle HoodMantle Hood was an American ethnomusicologist. Among other areas, he specialized in studying gamelan music from Indonesia. Hood pioneered, in the 1950s and 1960s, a new approach to the study of music, and the creation at UCLA of the first American university program devoted to ethnomusicology...
founds the first gamelanGamelanA gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included....
education program in the United States, at the University of California, Los AngelesUniversity of California, Los AngelesThe University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
, with Hardja Susila becoming the first Javanese instructor; Hood will also establish the concept of bi-musicality, in which music students are expected to perform the music they study. - Rogers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Dance becomes the first American musical with an Asian American cast.
- Alvin AileyAlvin AileyAlvin Ailey, Jr. was an American choreographer and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York. Ailey is credited with popularizing modern dance and revolutionizing African-American participation in 20th century concert dance...
's Alvin Ailey American Dance TheaterAlvin Ailey American Dance TheaterThe Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is a modern dance company based in New York, New York. It was founded in 1958 by choreographer and dancer Alvin Ailey...
becomes the first African American resident concert dance company to earn a national reputation. - The Country Music AssociationCountry Music AssociationThe Country Music Association was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of only 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre...
is formed to promote country musicCountry musicCountry music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
in the United States; its predecessor was the Country Music Disk Jockeys Association. - Gibson introduces the first twin-necked electric guitar, and the Flying V guitar, the first of many with outlandish shapes.
- StereoSTEREOSTEREO is a solar observation mission. Two nearly identical spacecraft were launched into orbits that cause them to respectively pull farther ahead of and fall gradually behind the Earth...
records are introduced. - The Grammy Awards are first instituted to recognize popular performers, as voted on by the United States National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. They will become the most prestigious award in popular music. The name Grammies is chosen in a contest, with the winning entry coming from Jay Danna of New Orleans, who wins twelve LPs as a reward.
1959
- The Mark II, an advanced electronic synthesizer, is installed in a Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
studio by the Radio Corporation of AmericaRCARCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
. This technological advance greatly simplified electronic music-making and recording. - Bluegrass musicBluegrass musicBluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
gains greatly in audience and acclaim with the release of Mountain Music Bluegrass Style, compiled by Mike SeegerMike SeegerMike Seeger was an American folk musician and folklorist. He was a distinctive singer and an accomplished musician who played autoharp, banjo, fiddle, dulcimer, guitar, mouth harp, mandolin, dobro, jaw harp, and pan pipes. Seeger, a half-brother of Pete Seeger, produced more than 30 documentary...
for FolkwaysFolkways RecordsFolkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987, and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.-History:...
, the Folksong '59Folksong '59Upon his return to New York in 1959 after a nearly a decade spent based in London, UK, Alan Lomax produced a concert, Folksong '59, in New York City's Carnegie Hall, featuring Arkansas singer Jimmy Driftwood; the Selah Jubilee Singers and Drexel Singers ; Muddy Waters and Memphis Slim ; Earl Taylor...
concert in Carnegie HallCarnegie HallCarnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
and an article by Alan LomaxAlan LomaxAlan Lomax was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording thousands of songs in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Italy, and Spain.In his later career, Lomax advanced his theories of...
in EsquireEsquire (magazine)Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
. - Miles DavisMiles DavisMiles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
' "So WhatSo What (composition)"So What" is the first track on the 1959 Miles Davis album Kind of Blue.-History:"So What" is one of the best known examples of modal jazz, set in the Dorian mode and consisting of 16 bars of D Dorian, followed by eight bars of E Dorian and another eight of D Dorian...
" from Kind of BlueKind of BlueKind of Blue is a studio album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released August 17, 1959, on Columbia Records in the United States. Recording sessions for the album took place at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City on March 2 and April 22, 1959...
reflects a major innovation, basing "the thirty-two bar structure... not on a chord pattern but an eight note DorianDorian modeDue to historical confusion, Dorian mode or Doric mode can refer to three very different musical modes or diatonic scales, the Greek, the medieval, and the modern.- Greek Dorian mode :...
, or modal, scale". "Walkin'" was released as a 33-1/3-rpm record, "a format developed for classical music". This is the beginning of modal jazzModal jazzModal jazz is jazz that uses musical modes rather than chord progressions as a harmonic framework. Originating in the late 1950s and 1960s, modal jazz is characterized by Miles Davis's "Milestones" Kind of Blue and John Coltrane's classic quartet from 1960–64. Other important performers include...
. - Berry GordyBerry GordyBerry Gordy, Jr. is an American record producer, and the founder of the Motown record label, as well as its many subsidiaries.-Early years:...
forms Motown RecordsMotown RecordsMotown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
, which will be among the most influential (record labelRecord labelIn the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
s) in American popular music, and the first African American-owned label to reach great success in the American pop market. - Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
opens the first "fully-equipped academic electroacoustic music studio" in the country. - The Lucky Strike Hit Parade, a staple show on both radio and television, is canceled, due to decreased demand for the Hit Parade specialty, "old-fashioned pop singers, who usually lacked the immunity to standards of musical taste essential to carry off a convincing rendition of a typical rock and roll tune".
- Bessie GriffinBessie GriffinBessie Griffin was an African American gospel singer.Born Arlette B. Broil in New Orleans, Louisiana, she was steeped in church music as a child...
becomes the first gospel singer to perform in a cabaretCabaretCabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
, as the lead in Portraits in Broze at New Orleans' Cabaret Concert Theater. - Jazz on a Summer's DayJazz on a Summer's DayJazz on a Summer's Day is a documentary film set at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island, and filmed and directed by noted commercial and fashion photographer Bert Stern and the film director Aram Avakian , who also edited the movie...
is the most influential, and one of the first, full concert documentaryDocumentary filmDocumentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
films. - The payolaPayolaPayola, in the American music industry, is the illegal practice of payment or other inducement by record companies for the broadcast of recordings on music radio, in which the song is presented as being part of the normal day's broadcast. Under U.S...
scandal rocks the American music industry, leading to Congressional inquiry, after the publication of a New York Times article the day after Alan FreedAlan FreedAlbert James "Alan" Freed , also known as Moondog, was an American disc-jockey. He became internationally known for promoting the mix of blues, country and rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll...
is fired from WABCWABC (AM)WABC , known as "NewsTalkRadio 77 WABC" is a radio station in New York City. Owned by the broadcasting division of Cumulus Media, the station broadcasts on a clear channel and is the flagship station of Cumulus Media Networks...
radio "after refusing to sign a statement that he had never taken money or gifts to promote a record". - One of the most acclaimed performers of the American folk revival, Joan BaezJoan BaezJoan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
, begins performing in the Cambridge, MassachusettsCambridge, MassachusettsCambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
coffee house scene. - Englewood Cliffs Studios is founded in Englewood Cliffs, New JerseyEnglewood Cliffs, New JerseyEnglewood Cliffs is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 census, the borough population was 5,281. The borough houses the world headquarters of CNBC and the American headquarters of Unilever, and is home to both Ferrari and Maserati North America.Englewood Cliffs...
by Rudy Van GelderRudy Van GelderRudy Van Gelder is an American recording engineer specializing in jazz.Often regarded as one of the most important recording engineers in music history, Van Gelder has recorded several thousand jazz sessions, including many widely recognized as classics, in a career spanning more than half a century...
. It will be the primary recording studio for much of the soul jazzSoul jazzSoul jazz is a development of jazz incorporating strong influences from blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues in music for small groups, often an organ trio featuring a Hammond organ.- Overview :Soul jazz is often associated with hard bop. Mark C...
and hard bopHard bopHard bop is a style of jazz that is an extension of bebop music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz which incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano...
recordings of the 1950s and 60s. - The New Lost City RamblersNew Lost City RamblersThe New Lost City Ramblers is a contemporary old-time string band that formed in New York City in 1958 during the Folk Revival. The founding members of the Ramblers, or NLCR, are Mike Seeger, John Cohen, and Tom Paley...
record six albums and an EP for Folkways RecordsFolkways RecordsFolkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987, and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.-History:...
, "initiating a new genre within the (American folk revival) called 'old time'". - The DriftersThe DriftersThe Drifters are a long-lived American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1963, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed to serve as Clyde McPhatter's backing group in 1953...
are the first of a number of African American rhythm and blues combos to have hits using the Brazilian baion rhythm (cha cha) with "There Goes My Baby" and "Dance with Me". - Berry GordyBerry GordyBerry Gordy, Jr. is an American record producer, and the founder of the Motown record label, as well as its many subsidiaries.-Early years:...
founds Motown RecordsMotown RecordsMotown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
in Detroit, which will go on to dominate the field of soul musicSoul musicSoul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
. One of the other major labels of soul will be Stax RecordsStax RecordsStax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...
, also founded this year, by Jim StewartJim Stewart (music)Jim Stewart is a former record company executive and producer who co-founded Stax Records.- Biography :Raised on a farm in Middleton, Tennessee, Stewart moved to Memphis in 1948, after graduating from high school. He worked at Sears, at First National Bank, and then was drafted into the United...
in Memphis. - The Cross-Bronx ExpresswayCross-Bronx ExpresswayThe Cross Bronx Expressway is a major expressway in the New York City borough of the Bronx, conceived by Robert Moses and built between 1948 and 1972. It carries traffic on Interstate 95 through the city, and serves as a portion of Interstate 295 toward Long Island; a portion is also designated U.S...
in New York has profound effects on the area's socioeconomic conditions, escalating the "deterioration of buildings nd the displacement of people", an important development that will "profoundly shape the aesthetics and activities" of hip hop culture. - Fidel CastroFidel CastroFidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
comes to power in Cuba, prompting a wave of immigration to Miami and elsewhere, leading to increased prominence for Cuban musicMusic of CubaThe Caribbean island of Cuba has developed a wide range of creolized musical styles, based on its cultural origins in Europe and Africa. Since the 19th century its music has been hugely popular and influential throughout the world...
. - Ritchie ValensRitchie ValensRitchie Valens was a Mexican-American singer, songwriter and guitarist....
, the first Latin rock star who had a hit with an English version of a Mexican huapangoHuapangoHuapango is a corruption of the Nahuatl word huapanco that textually means on top of the wood platform according to the dictionary of the Real Academia Española . Today huapango refers to a musical style that originated in and is played throughout the La Huasteca region in Mexico...
, "La BambaLa Bamba (song)"La Bamba" is a Mexican folk song, originally from the state of Veracruz, best known from a 1958 adaptation by Ritchie Valens, a top 40 hit in the U.S. charts and one of early rock and roll's best-known songs...
", dies in a plane crash with the Big BopperThe Big BopperJiles Perry "J. P." Richardson, Jr. also commonly known as The Big Bopper, was an American disc jockey, singer, and songwriter whose big voice and exuberant personality made him an early rock and roll star...
and Buddy HollyBuddy HollyCharles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...
, also both popular rock stars. It will become known as the Day the Music DiedThe Day the Music DiedOn February 3, 1959, a small-plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, killed three American rock and roll pioneers: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, as well as the pilot, Roger Peterson. The day was later called The Day the Music Died by Don McLean, in his song...
. - The first African Americans initiated into the SanteríaSanteríaSantería is a syncretic religion of West African and Caribbean origin influenced by Roman Catholic Christianity, also known as Regla de Ocha, La Regla Lucumi, or Lukumi. Its liturgical language, a dialect of Yoruba, is also known as Lucumi....
Afro-Cuban religion, of which music is an integral part, travel to Cuba to do so. - Johnny PachecoJohnny PachecoJohnny Pacheco is a Dominican producer, musician, bandleader, and one of the most influential figures in American salsa music.-Early life:...
joins the band of Charlie PalmieriCharlie PalmieriCharlie Palmieri was a renowned Bandleader and musical director of salsa music. He was known as "The Giant of the Keyboards".-Early years:...
, establishing Pacheco's career; he will go on to become one of the most popular bandleaders and performers in the New York salsa scene. - The Association of Ukrainian Choirs of America is formed to promote the burgeoning field of both religious and secular Ukrainian American choral singing.
- Dennis MurphyDennis Murphy (musician)Dennis Murphy was a composer, musician, instrument maker, artist, and playwright.Dennis Murphy was one of the fathers of American gamelan . Lou Harrison credits Murphy as being the first North American to build gamelan instruments...
begins working on the construction of gamelanGamelanA gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included....
instrumentation, possibly becoming the first American to "build gamelan instruments who meant to model Indonesian ensembles directly". - By far the most well-known Filipino folkloric dance company, the Bayanihan Philippine Dance Company, tours the United States for the first time, bringing newfound public awareness of Filipino music throughout the country.
- The jazzJazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
quartet of Ornette ColemanOrnette ColemanOrnette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
, Don CherryDon Cherry (jazz)Donald Eugene Cherry was an innovative African-American jazz cornetist whose career began with a long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. He went on to live in many parts of the world and work with a wide variety of musicians.-Biography:Cherry was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and...
, Billy HigginsBilly HigginsBilly Higgins was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop.Higgins was born in Los Angeles, California. Higgins played on Ornette Coleman's first records, beginning in 1958...
and Charlie HadenCharlie HadenCharles Edward Haden is an American jazz musician. He is a double bassist, probably best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman...
release The Shape of Jazz to ComeThe Shape of Jazz to ComeThe Shape of Jazz to Come is an influential album by Ornette Coleman. It was his debut album for Atlantic Records who released it in late 1959....
and Change of the CenturyChange of the CenturyChange of the Century is an album, recorded in 1959 and originally released in 1960, by jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman . This was Coleman's second Atlantic album and his fourth overall...
, landmark recordings that help establish the field of free jazzFree jazzFree jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
. - One of the first successful white blueswomen, Barbara DaneBarbara DaneBarbara Dane is an American folk, blues, and jazz singer.-Early life:Barbara Dane's parents arrived in Detroit from Arkansas in the 1920s. Out of high school, Dane began to sing regularly at demonstrations for racial equality and economic justice. While still in her teens, she sat in with bands...
, becomes the first white woman featured on the cover of EbonyEbony (magazine)Ebony, a monthly magazine for the African-American market, was founded by John H. Johnson and has published continuously since the autumn of 1945...
magazine.
1960
| Early 1960s music trends |
|---|
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- Elvis PresleyElvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
is discharged from the Army and hosts a television show with Frank SinatraFrank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, revitalizing both men's careers. - Joan BaezJoan BaezJoan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
signs to Vanguard, marking that label as "the mover and shaker on the (folk music revival) scene". - The 3rd United States Infantry Fife and Drum Corps is formed by the Army to play colonial-era instrumentation, primarily for special official occasions. The Corps' Drum Major is the only person in the Army authorized to salute with his left hand.
- Beginning in the spring of this year, "We Shall OvercomeWe Shall Overcome"We Shall Overcome" is a protest song that became a key anthem of the African-American Civil Rights Movement . The title and structure of the song are derived from an early gospel song by African-American composer Charles Albert Tindley...
" becomes an omnipresent part and an unofficial anthem of civil rights demonstrationsCivil rights movementThe civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
. - Stax RecordsStax RecordsStax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...
is founded by Jim StewartJim Stewart (music)Jim Stewart is a former record company executive and producer who co-founded Stax Records.- Biography :Raised on a farm in Middleton, Tennessee, Stewart moved to Memphis in 1948, after graduating from high school. He worked at Sears, at First National Bank, and then was drafted into the United...
and Estelle AxtonEstelle AxtonEstelle Axton was the co-founder, with her brother Jim Stewart, of Stax Records.Born in Middleton, Tennessee, Estelle Stewart grew up on a farm...
, soon becoming the home of Otis ReddingOtis ReddingOtis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
, Rufus ThomasRufus ThomasRufus Thomas, Jr. was an American rhythm and blues, funk and soul singer and comedian fromMemphis, Tennessee, who recorded on Sun Records in the...
, Booker T. & the MG's and Sam & DaveSam & DaveSam & Dave were an American soul and rhythm and blues duo who performed together from 1961 through 1981. The tenor voice was Samuel David Moore , and the baritone/tenor voice was Dave Prater .Sam & Dave are members of...
, making Stax one of the premier soul labels of the decade. - George Robinson Ricks' dissertation "Some Aspects of the Religious Music of the United States Negro: An Ethnomusicological Study with Special Emphasis on the Gospel Tradition" is the first lengthy description of African American gospel musicGospel musicGospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
. - Ornette ColemanOrnette ColemanOrnette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
begins performing, causing a "major aesthetic controversy" due to his "dissonant harmonic style and abandonment of chorus structures and fixed harmonic changes as means of organizing improvisation flow". This is the beginning of free jazzFree jazzFree jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
. - Robert E. BrownRobert E. BrownRobert E . "Bob" Brown was an ethnomusicologist who is credited with coining the term "world music" . He was also well known for his recordings of music from Indonesia...
founds a performance-based world music program at Wesleyan UniversityWesleyan UniversityWesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
, which includes instruction in Indonesian traditions; Brown will go on to found many similar programs, as well as the Center for World Music in San Francisco. - James ClevelandJames ClevelandThe Reverend Dr. James Cleveland was a gospel singer, arranger, composer and, most significantly, the driving force behind the creation of the modern gospel sound, bringing the stylistic daring of hard gospel and jazz and pop music influences to arrangements for mass choirs...
has his first "smash hit" with "The Love of God", which helps establish him as one of the foremost entertainers in American gospel musicGospel musicGospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
. - BluesBluesBlues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
is performed for the first time at the Newport Jazz FestivalNewport Jazz FestivalThe Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. It was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard, who, together with husband Louis Lorillard, financed the festival for many years. The couple hired jazz impresario George Wein to organize the...
. - Elvis PresleyElvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
's "His Hand in MineHis Hand in MineHis Hand in Mine is the twelfth album by Elvis Presley, released on RCA Victor Records in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 2328, in November 1960. It was the first of three gospel music albums that Presley would issue during his lifetime. Recording sessions took place on October 30 and 31, 1960, at RCA...
" is a landmark recording that helps define the field of white gospel.
1961
- A compilation of Robert Johnson recordings entitled King of the Delta Blues SingersKing of the Delta Blues SingersKing of the Delta Blues Singers is a compilation album by American blues musician Robert Johnson, released in 1961 on Columbia Records. It is considered one of the greatest and most influential blues releases ever...
is released, from recordings made in 1936 and 1937. At the time, no photographs of the late blues singer were known, and he was considered a "sort of invisible pop star". The recording turned him into a cultural icon among a "coterie of prominent young musicians", who imitated his style of blues. People like Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
were inspired by Johnson, drawing on his work as a "source of a tacit ethos, silently transmitted, internationally shared, creating a new mythic example of what rock and roll could be." - The police attempt to break up a folk musiciain march and concert in Washington Square ParkWashington Square ParkWashington Square Park is one of the best-known of New York City's 1,900 public parks. At 9.75 acres , it is a landmark in the Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village, as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity...
, leading to a riot. The event is a signal of the return of politics to folk music, having recovered from the blacklistBlacklistA blacklist is a list or register of entities who, for one reason or another, are being denied a particular privilege, service, mobility, access or recognition. As a verb, to blacklist can mean to deny someone work in a particular field, or to ostracize a person from a certain social circle...
ing and McCarthyismMcCarthyismMcCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
of the 1950s. - Alexander Kuchma, Jack RaymondJack RaymondJack Raymond was a British actor and film director. Born in Wimborne, Dorset in 1886, he began acting before the First World War in A Detective for a Day. In 1921 he directed his first film and gradually he wound down his acting to concentrate completely on directing - making more than forty films...
and Mark Selivan form the Balalaika and Domra Society of New York, which helps sustain and inspire the Russian balalaikaBalalaikaThe balalaika is a stringed musical instrument popular in Russia, with a characteristic triangular body and three strings.The balalaika family of instruments includes instruments of various sizes, from the highest-pitched to the lowest, the prima balalaika, secunda balalaika, alto balalaika, bass...
orchestra tradition in the United States. - Composer La Monte YoungLa Monte YoungLa Monte Thornton Young is an American avant-garde composer, musician, and artist.Young is generally recognized as the first minimalist composer. His works have been included among the most important and radical post-World War II avant-garde, experimental, and contemporary music. Young is...
and Richard MaxfieldRichard MaxfieldRichard Maxfield was a composer of instrumental, electro-acoustic, and electronic music.Born in Seattle, he most likely taught the first University-level course in electronic music in America at the New School for Social Research...
create a concert series in the loft of Yoko OnoYoko Onois a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
; these are said to have begun the downtown musicDowntown musicDowntown music is a subdivision of American music, closely related to experimental music. The scene the term describes began in 1960, when Yoko Ono—one of the Fluxus artists, at that time still seven years away from meeting John Lennon—opened her loft at 112 Chambers Street to be used...
tradition of New York City. - Grace BumbryGrace BumbryGrace Bumbry , an American opera singer, is considered one of the leading mezzo-sopranos of her generation, as well as a major soprano for many years...
becomes the first African American to sing at the prestigious Bayreuth FestivalBayreuth FestivalThe Bayreuth Festival is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner are presented...
. - Secretary of Labor Arthur GoldbergArthur GoldbergArthur Joseph Goldberg was an American statesman and jurist who served as the U.S. Secretary of Labor, Supreme Court Justice and Ambassador to the United Nations.-Early life:...
helps settle a strike of performers at the Metropolitan OperaMetropolitan OperaThe Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
, perhaps the "first sign of an official governmental policy on the arts". - Allan and Sandra Jaffe open Preservation HallPreservation HallPreservation Hall is a noted jazz performance hall located at 726 St. Peter Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. It hosts nightly concerts featuring a rotating roster of bands. The bands of Preservation Hall typically perform jazz in the New Orleans style.Despite the fame of the...
in New Orleans, a music venue that helped revitalize the city's jazz scene, and was the only venue in the city at the time to host the traditional black jazz performers. - Hale SmithHale SmithHale Smith was an American composer, pianist, educator, arranger, and editor. He was one of the most notable African American composers of the 20th century....
's Contours for Orchestra is an influential piece, using avant garde, especially the twelve-tone serial technique. - Bill CliftonBill CliftonBill Clifton is an American bluegrass musician and singer who is credited with having organized the very first bluegrass festival in the United States in 1961.-Biography:...
organizes the first bluegrassBluegrass musicBluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
festival on July 4, which is sparsely attended, in Luray, VirginiaLuray, VirginiaLuray is a town in Page County, Virginia, United States, in the Shenandoah Valley of the northern part of the state. It is also the county seat...
. - The death of Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic leads to "political and social upheaval" in that country and many immigrants coming to the United States, bringing with them Dominican musicMusic of the Dominican RepublicThe music of the Dominican Republic is known primarily for merengue, though bachata, salsa and other forms are also popular. Dominican music has always been closely intertwined with that of its neighbor, Haiti .-Merengue:...
. - The first training course in the music education method of Zoltán KodályZoltán KodályZoltán Kodály was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is best known internationally as the creator of the Kodály Method.-Life:Born in Kecskemét, Kodály learned to play the violin as a child....
is held. - Mariachi los CamperosMariachi los CamperosMariachi los Camperos de Nati Cano is a Grammy Award-winning Los Angeles-based mariachi ensemble under the direction of Natividad "Nati" Cano.The ensemble was one of four mariachis that collaborated on Linda Ronstadt’s 1987 milestone album Canciones de Mi Padre. They also appear on Ms...
de Nati Cano is founded, and will become one of the longest-lasting, most well-known and influential of American mariachiMariachiMariachi is a genre of music that originated in the State of Jalisco, in Mexico. It is an integration of stringed instruments highly influenced by the cultural impacts of the historical development of Western Mexico. Throughout the history of mariachi, musicians have experimented with brass, wind,...
groups. - Celia CruzCelia CruzCelia Cruz was a Cuban-American salsa singer, and was one of the most successful Salsa performers of the 20th century, having earned twenty-three gold albums...
leaves Sonora MatanceraSonora MatanceraLa Sonora Matancera is a long-time band. Led by guitarist and vocalist Rogelio Martínez, La Sonora Matancera has been called, by the Guinness Book of World Records, "the group with the longest duration."...
, an influential group who had popularized Cuban dance music throughout the Americas; Cruz will go on to become perhaps the longest lasting institution of American salsa musicSalsa musicSalsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
. - The Famous Ward Singers are the first gospel group to perform in nightclubNightclubA nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
s. - The Modern Jazz QuartetModern Jazz QuartetThe Modern Jazz Quartet was established in 1952 by Milt Jackson , John Lewis , Percy Heath , and Kenny Clarke . Connie Kay replaced Clarke in 1955...
opens up the "concert stage to the jazz ensemble" with an unprecedented performance with the Cincinnati Symphony. - The Clancy Brothers are invited to appear on The Ed Sullivan ShowThe Ed Sullivan ShowThe Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
, launching their career and garnering newfound respectability for the Irish American showband tradition. - The U.S. Navy School of Music is moved to Norfolk, VirginiaNorfolk, VirginiaNorfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
. During the move, two ships bring bands from Washington, D.C. to Norfolk; along the way, they play in honor of George WashingtonGeorge WashingtonGeorge Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
as they pass his grave. - The Valadiers become the first white Motown group with their recording of "Greetings, This Is Uncle Sam".
1962
- A&M RecordsA&M RecordsA&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
, one of the first artist-owned record labels, releases its first hit song, Herb Alpert & His Tijuana Brass' "The Lonely Bull". - The journal Perspectives of New MusicPerspectives of New MusicPerspectives of New Music is a peer-reviewed, academic journal specializing in music theory and analysis. It was founded in 1962 by Arthur Berger and Benjamin Boretz , making it the second-oldest music-theory journal now published in the United States .Perspectives was a Princeton-based journal...
, funded by the Fromm Music Foundation, is first published, aimed at those who link "aesthetic work to complex analytical and compositional systems". - Otis ReddingOtis ReddingOtis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
begins his career recording for Stax/VoltStax RecordsStax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...
in Memphis, soon becoming the label's best-selling artist. - Lester FlattLester FlattLester Raymond Flatt was a bluegrass musician and guitarist and mandolinist, best known for his membership in the Bluegrass duo The Foggy Mountain Boys, also known as "Flatt and Scruggs," with banjo picker Earl Scruggs. Flatt's career spanned multiple decades; besides his work with Scruggs, he...
and Earl ScruggsEarl ScruggsEarl Eugene Scruggs is an American musician noted for perfecting and popularizing a 3-finger banjo-picking style that is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music...
are invited to join the popular sitcom The Beverly HillbilliesThe Beverly HillbilliesThe Beverly Hillbillies is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from 1962 to 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr....
, "one of the great coups of the" American folk revival, signalling a newfound acceptance for folk music and bluegrass among mainstream Americans. - The fanzineFanzineA fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
Broadside is founded to focus on topical folk music, rapidly becoming one of the most important publications in the field. - The New State Ballroom opens in Boston, soon becoming the preeminent Irish American music venue and displacing the Intercolonial Hall.
- Though it has never been made clear that he was officially blacklisted, many folk fans come to believe that Pete SeegerPete SeegerPeter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
has been blacklisted from the popular folk-oriented TV show Hootenanny, leading to a boycott of the show by fans and performers, including the Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul & Mary. Seeger himself, however, though he did believe he had been blacklisted, also encouraged other performers to appear on the show, including Judy CollinsJudy CollinsJudith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...
, Theo Bikel and the New Lost City RamblersNew Lost City RamblersThe New Lost City Ramblers is a contemporary old-time string band that formed in New York City in 1958 during the Folk Revival. The founding members of the Ramblers, or NLCR, are Mike Seeger, John Cohen, and Tom Paley...
. Peter, Paul & Mary become among the first major pop groups to take outspoken positions on controversial issues. - The song "Walk Right InWalk Right InWalk Right In is the title of a country blues song written by musician Gus Cannon and originally recorded by Cannon's Jug Stompers in 1929, released on Victor Records, catalogue 38611. It was reissued on album in 1959 as a track on The Country Blues....
", originally recorded by Gus CannonGus CannonGus Cannon was an American blues musician, who helped to popularize jug bands in the 1920s and 1930s. There is doubt about his birth year; his tombstone gives the date as 1874....
& the Jug Stompers in 1930, becomes a major hit for Erik Darling's Rooftop Singers, and an unusually successful single for the American folk revival, otherwise mostly LP-based at the time. The song also prompts a comeback career by Gus CannonGus CannonGus Cannon was an American blues musician, who helped to popularize jug bands in the 1920s and 1930s. There is doubt about his birth year; his tombstone gives the date as 1874....
, who had retired from music to work as a gardener in Tennessee. - Peter, Paul & Mary begin recording for Warner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
, beginning with Peter, Paul & Mary, leading to their successful career as one of the most popular of the mainstream pop-folk bands, insisting also on complete artistic control over their recordings, a rarity in the era. - John BarryJohn Barry (composer)John Barry Prendergast, OBE was an English conductor and composer of film music. He is best known for composing the soundtracks for 12 of the James Bond films between 1962 and 1987...
's score for Dr. NoDr. No (film)Dr. No is a 1962 spy film, starring Sean Connery; it is the first James Bond film. Based on the 1958 Ian Fleming novel of the same name, it was adapted by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkely Mather and was directed by Terence Young. The film was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R...
is an important film score in that it was an early work to use rock and medieval musicMedieval musicMedieval music is Western music written during the Middle Ages. This era begins with the fall of the Roman Empire and ends sometime in the early fifteenth century...
. - James ClevelandJames ClevelandThe Reverend Dr. James Cleveland was a gospel singer, arranger, composer and, most significantly, the driving force behind the creation of the modern gospel sound, bringing the stylistic daring of hard gospel and jazz and pop music influences to arrangements for mass choirs...
's arrival in California is celebrated by a concert attended by most of the area's gospel elite. - No StringsNo StringsNo Strings is a musical drama with a book by Samuel A. Taylor and words and music by Richard Rodgers, his only Broadway score written without a collaborator. The musical opened on Broadway in 1962 and ran for 580 performances...
, by Richard RodgersRichard RodgersRichard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
, features the first interracial kiss seen on Broadway. - Sanford Allen becomes the first full-time African American violinist with the New York PhilharmonicNew York PhilharmonicThe New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
. - The release of Booker T & the M.G.'s' Green OnionsGreen OnionsGreen Onions is the debut album by Booker T. & the M.G.'s, released on Stax Records in October of 1962. It reached number 33 on the Pop Albums chart in the month of its release...
marks the beginning of Memphis soulMemphis soulMemphis soul, also known as Memphis Sound, is stylish, funky, uptown soul music that is not as hard-edged as Southern soul. It is a shimmering, sultry style produced in the 1960s and 1970s at Stax and Hi Records in Memphis, Tennessee, featuring melodic unison horn lines, organ, bass, and a driving...
. - The British group Blues IncorporatedBlues IncorporatedBlues Incorporated were a British R&B band in the early 1960s, led by Alexis Korner and featuring at various times Jack Bruce, Charlie Watts, Terry Cox, Ginger Baker, Long John Baldry, Ronnie Jones, Danny Thompson, Graham Bond, Cyril Davies, Malcolm Cecil and Dick Heckstall-Smith.-History:Korner ...
is probably the first all-white Chicago-style bluesChicago bluesThe Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois, by taking the basic acoustic guitar and harmonica-based Delta blues, making the harmonica louder with a microphone and an instrument amplifier, and adding electrically amplified guitar, amplified bass guitar, drums,...
band in the world.
1963
- The audio cassette is introduced by PhilipsPhilipsKoninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
at the Berlin Radio Show. - Blue HawaiiBlue HawaiiBlue Hawaii is a 1961 musical film set in the state of Hawaii and starring Elvis Presley. The screenplay by Hal Kanter was nominated by the Writers Guild of America in 1962 in the category of Best Written American Musical. The movie opened at no...
, an Elvis PresleyElvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
movie, inspires a wave of interest in the music of HawaiiMusic of HawaiiThe music of Hawaii includes an array of traditional and popular styles, ranging from native Hawaiian folk music to modern rock and hip hop. Hawaii's musical contributions to the music of the United States are out of proportion to the state's small size. Styles like slack-key guitar are well-known...
. - Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
begins his career with The Times They Are a-Changin'The Times They Are a-Changin'The Times They Are a-Changin opens with the title track, one of Dylan's most famous songs. Dylan's friend, Tony Glover, recalls visiting Dylan's apartment in September 1963, where he saw a number of song manuscripts and poems lying on a table. "The Times They Are a-Changin'" had yet to be recorded,...
, an "anthem to the generation gap that threw down the gauntlet to older Americans" and helped inspire the musical and social changes of the 1960s. - A LPLP albumThe LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
recording of James BrownJames BrownJames Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
and his band at the Apollo TheaterApollo TheaterThe Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers...
(Live at the ApolloLive at the Apollo (James Brown album)Live at the Apollo is a live album by James Brown and The Famous Flames, recorded at the Apollo Theater in Harlem and released in 1963. In 2003, the album was ranked number 24 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time...
) in Harlem sells more than a million copies, "an astounding figure for a black performer in a market built on singleSingle (music)In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
s". - The Newport Folk FestivalNewport Folk FestivalThe Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival...
becomes a defining event in the American roots revivalRoots revivalA roots revival is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. Often, roots revivals include an addition of newly-composed songs with socially and politically aware lyrics, as well as a general modernization of the folk sound.After an...
of the 1960s and 70s; the festival "quietly and forcefully brought together the ideas that had defined the folk revival up until the summer of 1963". - Peter, Paul & Mary's follow-up to "Puff, the Magic DragonPuff, the Magic Dragon"Puff, the Magic Dragon" is a song written by Leonard Lipton and Peter Yarrow, and made popular by Yarrow's group Peter, Paul and Mary in a 1963 recording. The song achieved great popularity and has entered American and British pop culture.-Lyrics:...
", a version of Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's "Blowin' in the WindBlowin' in the Wind"Blowin' in the Wind" is a song written by Bob Dylan and released on his album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan in 1963. Although it has been described as a protest song, it poses a series of questions about peace, war and freedom...
" "perfectly capture(s) the mood of the" generation, and becomes an anthem for the Civil Rights MovementCivil rights movementThe civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
and the anti-warAnti-warAn anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts. Many...
movement. - Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's second album, The Freewheelin' Bob DylanThe Freewheelin' Bob DylanThe Freewheelin' Bob Dylan is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released in May 1963 by Columbia Records. Whereas his debut album Bob Dylan had contained only two original songs, Freewheelin initiated the process of writing contemporary words to traditional melodies....
establishes him as one of the most important acts of the American folk revival and helps fulfill the "promise of an artistic (style of) folk music". It marks him as a bridge "between beat bohemianism and the radical counter cultureCounter CultureCounter Culture is a 2005 compilation double album by English folk/rock singer-songwriter Roy Harper featuring 25 classic Roy Harper songs, cherry picked according to his mood in April 2005. This collection spans 35 years of song writing and is intended as an introduction for anyone who's not sure...
". - Folk-oriented performers like Peter LaFarge ("Ballad of Ira Hayes") and Canadian Buffy Sainte-MarieBuffy Sainte-MarieBuffy Sainte-Marie, OC is a Canadian Cree singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. Throughout her career in all of these areas, her work has focused on issues of Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Her singing and writing repertoire includes...
("Universal SoldierUniversal Soldier (song)"Universal Soldier" is a song written and recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie. The song was originally released on Sainte-Marie's debut album It's My Way! in 1964. "Universal Soldier" was not a popular hit at the time of its release, but it did garner attention within the...
") give "powerful support" to the "emerging Native American movement". - Jim Kweskin & His Jug Band become one of the stars of a nascent jug bandJug bandA Jug band is a band employing a jug player and a mix of traditional and home-made instruments. These home-made instruments are ordinary objects adapted to or modified for making of sound, like the washtub bass, washboard, spoons, stovepipe and comb & tissue paper...
revival with the release of Unblushing Brassiness. - Harold CourlanderHarold CourlanderHarold Courlander was an American novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist, an expert in the study of Haitian life. The author of 35 books and plays and numerous scholarly articles, Courlander specialized in the study of African, Caribbean, Afro-American , and American Indian cultures...
publishes one of the first scholarly descriptions of African American field hollers, cries and calls, based on information obtained by performers from Alabama. - The first Merry Monarch Festival is held in Hawaii, in commemoration of the last Hawaiian king, KalakauaKalakauaKalākaua, born David Laamea Kamanakapuu Mahinulani Nalaiaehuokalani Lumialani Kalākaua and sometimes called The Merrie Monarch , was the last reigning king of the Kingdom of Hawaii...
, "who resurrected the hulaHulaHula is a dance form accompanied by chant or song . It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Polynesians who originally settled there. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of the oli or mele in a visual dance form....
from the underground". - James ClevelandJames ClevelandThe Reverend Dr. James Cleveland was a gospel singer, arranger, composer and, most significantly, the driving force behind the creation of the modern gospel sound, bringing the stylistic daring of hard gospel and jazz and pop music influences to arrangements for mass choirs...
and the First Baptist Church Choir of Nutley, New JerseyNutley, New Jersey2010 Census Data:*TOTAL: 28,370 or 100%*White: 23,405 *African American: 628 *Asian: 2,824 *American Indian and Alaska Native: 36 *Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander: 4...
release a "landmark" live album, Peace Be Still, which will sell more than a million copies. - Amiri BarakaAmiri BarakaAmiri Baraka , formerly known as LeRoi Jones, is an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays, and music criticism...
's Blues People: Negro Music in White America is an influential publication, beginning of scholarly study of the views as a symbol of African American culture and the African American experience in the United States. It is the first major book of American music history by an African American author - A Washington, D.C. disc jockey named Al BellAl BellAl Bell is an American record producer, songwriter, and record executive. Bell is best known as one of the key figures behind and a co-owner of Memphis, Tennessee-based Stax Records during the latter half of the label's nineteen-year existence...
begins broadcasting Memphis soulMemphis soulMemphis soul, also known as Memphis Sound, is stylish, funky, uptown soul music that is not as hard-edged as Southern soul. It is a shimmering, sultry style produced in the 1960s and 1970s at Stax and Hi Records in Memphis, Tennessee, featuring melodic unison horn lines, organ, bass, and a driving...
records, the first exposure for that style outside of the black South. - Fiddler on the RoofFiddler on the RoofFiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...
marks an important change in the music of Eastern European Jewish Americans, who had previously avoided referencing their homelands in songs, but thereafter, would include nostalgic reminiscing of Eastern Europe. - Blue HawaiiBlue HawaiiBlue Hawaii is a 1961 musical film set in the state of Hawaii and starring Elvis Presley. The screenplay by Hal Kanter was nominated by the Writers Guild of America in 1962 in the category of Best Written American Musical. The movie opened at no...
, a movie starring Elvis PresleyElvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, is credited with causing a resurgence of interest in the music of HawaiiMusic of HawaiiThe music of Hawaii includes an array of traditional and popular styles, ranging from native Hawaiian folk music to modern rock and hip hop. Hawaii's musical contributions to the music of the United States are out of proportion to the state's small size. Styles like slack-key guitar are well-known...
. - The LDS Church opens a Polynesian Cultural CenterPolynesian Cultural CenterThe Polynesian Cultural Center is a Polynesian-themed theme park or living museum located in Laie, on the northern shore of Oahu, Hawaii. Dedicated on October 12, 1963, the PCC occupies owned by nearby Brigham Young University–Hawaii....
theme park in OahuOahuOahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...
, the most important part of the origin of the pan-Polynesian revuew, a tradition designed for tourists and drawing on music and dance from throughout Polynesia. - Oscar Anderson Hall, the first African American to earn a Ph.D in music, has his widely performed oratorioOratorioAn oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
Deliverance, debuted. - The Famous Ward Singers become the first gospel group to perform at Radio City Music HallRadio City Music HallRadio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
, while Clara WardClara WardClara Ward was an American gospel artist who achieved great success, both artistic and commercial, in the 1940s and 1950s as leader of The Famous Ward Singers....
becomes one of the first gospel to stars to appear in films, in a leading role in Tambourines to GloryTambourines to GloryTambourines to Glory is a 1956 black gospel musical play by Langston Hughes. It tells the story of two female street preachers who open a store front church in Harlem...
. - Howard BeckerHoward S. BeckerHoward Saul Becker is an American sociologist who made major contributions to the sociology of deviance, sociology of art, and sociology of music. Becker also wrote extensively on sociological writing styles and methodologies. In addition, Becker's book The Outsiders provided the foundations for...
's book Outsiders is an influential work, examining the perceived social deviance of popular musicians. Becker notes that musicians may act within the law, but still have their behavior labeled as sufficiently bizarre to qualify the performers as deviants; he specifically studies jazzJazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musicians, concluding that they often separate themselves (the "hip") from those who respect societal taboos (the "squares").
1964
- A performance on the Ed Sullivan Show by the Beatles leads to the beginning of BeatlemaniaBeatlemaniaBeatlemania is a term that originated during the 1960s to describe the intense fan frenzy directed toward The Beatles during the early years of their success...
in the United States. "I Want to Hold Your HandI Want to Hold Your Hand"I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and recorded in October 1963, it was the first Beatles record to be made using four-track equipment....
" becomes a #1 single, along with eight other Beatles recordings this year. The movie A Hard Day's NightA Hard Day's Night (film)A Hard Day's Night is a 1964 British black-and-white comedy film directed by Richard Lester and starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—during the height of Beatlemania. It was written by Alun Owen and originally released by United Artists...
is also released to great acclaim. - Folk rockFolk rockFolk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
musician Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
and British pop-rock band The BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
meet for the first time. Dylan introduces The Beatles to marijuana, an event that changed the direction of The Beatles' career and the development of American rock, from a "music of revelry, a medium for lifting people up and helping them dance their blues away" to a "music of introspective self-absorption, a medium fit for communicating autobiographical intimacies, political discontents, spiritual elation, inviting an audience, not to dance, but to listen—quietly, attentively, thoughtfully." - The American folk revival begins its decline, sparked in part by the release of an electric cover of "House of the Rising Sun" by The AnimalsThe AnimalsThe Animals were an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne during the early part of the decade, and later relocated to London...
and the politics-free Another Side of Bob DylanAnother Side of Bob DylanAnother Side of Bob Dylan is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was released August 8, 1964 by Columbia Records....
, by Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, and the breakups of The HighwaymenThe Highwaymen (folk band)The Highwaymen were a circa 1960 "collegiate folk" group, which originated at Wesleyan University and had a Billboard number-one hit in 1961 with "Michael" and another Top 20 hit in 1962 with "Cottonfields"...
, The TarriersThe TarriersThe Tarriers were an American vocal group, specializing in folk music and folk-flavored popular music. Named after the folk song "Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill", and founded in 1956 by Erik Darling, Alan Arkin, and Bob Carey, the group had two hit songs during 1956-57: "Cindy, Oh Cindy" and "The...
and The Journeymen. - The first scholarly study of bluegrass musicBluegrass musicBluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
is a dissertation by L. Mayne Smith, and is published in the Journal of American FolkloreJournal of American FolkloreThe Journal of American Folklore is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Folklore Society. Since 2003 this has been done on its behalf by the University of Illinois Press. The journal has been published since the society's founding in 1888. It publishes on a quarterly schedule...
. - Terry RileyTerry RileyTerrence Mitchell Riley, is an American composer intrinsically associated with the minimalist school of Western classical music and was a pioneer of the movement...
's minimalistMinimalismMinimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
In CIn CIn C is a semi-aleatoric musical piece composed by Terry Riley in 1964 for any number of people, although he suggests "a group of about 35 is desired if possible but smaller or larger groups will work"...
becomes an acclaim and famous piece. - The jazzJazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
-based score for The Pink PantherThe Pink PantherThe Pink Panther is a series of comedy films featuring the bungling French police detective Jacques Clouseau that began in 1963 with the release of the film of the same name. The role was originated by, and is most closely associated with, Peter Sellers...
, by Henry ManciniHenry ManciniHenry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards , plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995...
, paves the "way for a new generation of film composers". - Claude V. PaliscaClaude V. PaliscaClaude Victor Palisca was an internationally recognized authority on early music, especially opera of the renaissance and baroque periods, and was Henry L. and Lucy G. Moses Professor Emeritus of Music at Yale University...
of Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
organizes a conference and report that criticizes the current methods of music education, leading to federal funding for research in the subject. - Robert AshleyRobert AshleyRobert Ashley , is a contemporary American composer, best known for his operas and other theatrical works, many of which incorporate electronics and extended techniques. Along with Gordon Mumma, Ashley was also a major pioneer of audio synthesis.Ashley was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan...
's Wolfman is a "shocking piece that uses extreme amplification and feedback to change both live speaking and tape". - Tony ScottTony ScottAnthony D. L. "Tony" Scott is an English film director. His films include Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, The Last Boy Scout, True Romance, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Man on Fire, Déjà Vu, The Taking of Pelham 123, and Unstoppable...
's Music for Zen MeditationMusic for Zen MeditationMusic for Zen Meditation is a 1964 album by jazz clarinetist Tony Scott The album is considered to be the first New Age record. Music for Zen Meditation is mostly improvised by Scott, Shinichi Yuize and Hōzan Yamamoto ....
is generally credited as the first New Age musicNew Age musicNew Age music is music of various styles intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often...
to be commercially recorded. - The word soul has become a common musical term in African American households, but is still not used by most media. It will spread widely in the next few years, however.
- Thee MidnitersThee MidnitersThee Midniters were an American group, amongst the first Chicano rock bands to have a major hit in the United States. Also they were and one of the best known acts to come out of East Los Angeles in the 1960s, with a cover of "Land of a Thousand Dances", and the instrumental track, "Whittier...
begin recording, having their first hit with "Land of a Thousand DancesLand of a Thousand Dances"Land of a Thousand Dances" is a song written and first recorded by Chris Kenner in 1962. The song is famous for its "na na na na na" hook, which was added by Cannibal & the Headhunters in their version of the song in 1965, whose version peaked at number thirty...
", and becoming the first significant Latin rock band in the country. - The group Los Fabulosos Cuatro is formed, becoming the first band to perform in a style now known as grupo, in which synthesizers replace more traditional Tejano musicTejano musicTejano music or Tex-Mex music is the name given to various forms of folk and popular music originating among the Mexican-American populations of Central and Southern Texas...
al instruments. - Fania RecordsFania RecordsFania Records was a New York based record label founded by Dominican-born composer and bandleader Johnny Pacheco and Italian-American lawyer Jerry Masucci in 1964. The label took its name from an old Cuban song by the singer Reinaldo Bolaño. Fania is known for its promotion of what has become...
, which will go on to become the dominant record label on the early salsa musicSalsa musicSalsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
scene, is founded in New York by Jerry MasucciJerry MasucciJerry Masucci was a co-founder of Fania Records.-Early life:Masucci was born October 7, 1934, in Brooklyn, to parents Urbano and Elvira Masucci. He had a brother named Alex Masucci...
and Johnny PachecoJohnny PachecoJohnny Pacheco is a Dominican producer, musician, bandleader, and one of the most influential figures in American salsa music.-Early life:...
. - John ColtraneJohn ColtraneJohn William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
's first "large-scale composition", A Love SupremeA Love SupremeA Love Supreme is a studio album recorded by John Coltrane's quartet in December 1964 and released by Impulse! Records in February 1965...
, is a landmark jazz album that marks his emergence "not only as a technical innovator but also a spiritual leader". - The British InvasionBritish InvasionThe British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
begins with the "first tours of important English rock groups, namely The BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
and the Rolling Stones. - Frank BarsalonaFrank BarsalonaFrank Barsalona is an American talent agent, founder of Premier Talent in 1964, the first booking agency to focus on rock performers. He set up the first American concerts by many bands of the British Invasion, including The Yardbirds, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, and also worked with Mitch...
founds Premier Talent, the first agency in the country to specialize in rock acts.
1965
| Mid-1960s music trends |
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- The 82nd Airborne Division Band is part of the forces which occupy the Dominican RepublicDominican RepublicThe Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
. Later in the year, in order to boost morale and support from the locals for the Americans, the Band participates in a parade. Bandsmen carry rifles on their backs during the parade to remind the populace of the strength and power of the American military. - The federal government begins funding composers through the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities, later the National Endowment for the ArtsNational Endowment for the ArtsThe National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
, which is "roughly modeled on the British Arts Council". - The BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)"Norwegian Wood " is a song by The Beatles, first released on the 1965 album Rubber Soul....
", the first popular recording to include a sitarSitarThe 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
, which is played more like a Western instrument than an Indian one. Many bands of the British InvasionBritish InvasionThe British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
and American psychedelic rockPsychedelic rockPsychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
groups begin using a sitar elements of Indian musicMusic of IndiaThe music of India includes multiple varieties of folk, popular, pop, classical music and R&B. India's classical music tradition, including Carnatic and Hindustani music, has a history spanning millennia and developed over several eras. It remains fundamental to the lives of Indians today as...
, to add a touch of exoticism to their recordings, creating a field sometimes called raga rockRaga rockRaga rock is a term used to describe rock or pop music with a heavy Indian influence, either in its construction, its timbre, or its use of instrumentation, such as the sitar and tabla...
. - Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's performance with a rock and rollRock and rollRock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
band at the Newport Folk FestivalNewport Folk FestivalThe Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival...
is a controversial landmark event in the American roots revivalRoots revivalA roots revival is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. Often, roots revivals include an addition of newly-composed songs with socially and politically aware lyrics, as well as a general modernization of the folk sound.After an...
and the development of folk-rock, with many commentators pointing to it as a landmark in the decline of the American folk revival. The show carries Dylan into the "openly commercial arena of the popular sphere, where a family of idioms soon to be known as 'rock' musicRock musicRock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
was developing out of rock and roll. This year also saw the departure of folk band The ByrdsThe ByrdsThe Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
for a more rock-oriented style. - Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling StoneLike a Rolling Stone"Like a Rolling Stone" is a 1965 song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Its confrontational lyrics originate in an extended piece of verse Dylan wrote in June 1965, when he returned exhausted from a grueling tour of England...
" is a breakthrough single, notable for its length of over six minutes, in contrast to the standard pop single of no more than about three minutes. - James BrownJames BrownJames Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
's "Papa's Got a Brand New BagPapa's Got a Brand New Bag"Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" is a song written and recorded by James Brown. It was released as a two-part single in 1965, and is considered seminal in the musical genre of funk.-The hit single:...
" is a breakthrough recording that showcases Brown's move from "conventional song structures and toward a new emphasis on movement and dance", paving the way for the development of funkFunkFunk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
". - Jam bandJam band-Ambiguity:By the late 1990s use of the term jam band also became ambiguous. An editorial at jamband.com suggested that any band of which a primary band such as Phish has done a cover of be included as jam band. The example was including New York post-punk band Talking Heads after Phish performed...
the Grateful DeadGrateful DeadThe Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
begin their career, as The Warlocks, performing at an acid testAcid TestsThe Acid Tests were a series of parties held by Ken Kesey in the San Francisco Bay Area during the mid 1960s, centered entirely around the use of, experimentation with, and advocacy of, the psychedelic drug LSD, also known as "acid."...
in San Francisco. - Drawing on Judy HenskeJudy HenskeJudy Henske is an American singer and songwriter, once known as "the Queen of the Beatniks".-Life and recording career:...
's High Flying Bird the previous year, Judy RoderickJudy RoderickJudith Allen Roderick was an American blues singer and songwriter. She was born in Wyandotte, Michigan to Howard and Emily Roderick.-Music biography:...
and Fred NeilFred NeilFred Neil was an American folk singer-songwriter in the 1960s and early 1970s. He did not achieve commercial success as a performer, and is mainly known through other people's recordings of his material – particularly "Everybody's Talkin'", which became a hit for Harry Nilsson after being...
release their respective breakthrough albums, Woman Blue and Bleecker and MacDougal, heralding a new form of folk music that drew on more diverse influences, while Bob GibsonBob Gibson (musician)Samuel Robert Gibson was a folk singer who led a folk music revival in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He was known for playing both the banjo and the 12-string guitar. He introduced a then largely unknown Joan Baez at the Newport Folk Festival of 1959. He produced a number of LPs in the decade...
's Where I'm Bound and Bob CampBob CampBob Camp is a cartoonist, comic book artist, director, and producer. Camp has been nominated for two Emmys, a CableACE Award, and an Annie Award for his work on The Ren & Stimpy Show.-Career:...
's Paths of Victory used "unusual chords... that opened up melodic riches unknown in the three-chord world of folk". - The FugsThe FugsThe Fugs are a band formed in New York in late 1964 by poets Ed Sanders and Tuli Kupferberg, with Ken Weaver on drums. Soon afterward, they were joined by Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber of the Holy Modal Rounders...
release The Fugs First AlbumThe Fugs First AlbumThe Fugs First Album is the 1965 debut album by The Fugs, described in their All Music profile as "arguably the first underground rock group of all time". In 1966, the album charted #142 on Billboard's "Top Pop Albums" chart...
, combining folk, rock and country with other unusual influences. Their work was unique at the time, and has led the band to be referred to as a "prototype punk band". - John ColtraneJohn ColtraneJohn William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
records OmOm (John Coltrane album)Om is a 1968 album by John Coltrane.In October, 1965, Coltrane recorded Om, referring to the sacred syllable in Hindu religion, which symbolizes the infinite or the entire Universe. Coltrane described Om as the "first syllable, the primal word, the word of power". The 29-minute recording contains...
, a pioneering album that incorporated African and Asian musical techniques and instruments into his work. - The first bluegrassBluegrass musicBluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
festival is held. - Muhal Richard AbramsMuhal Richard AbramsMuhal Richard Abrams is an American educator, administrator, composer, arranger, clarinetist, cellist, and jazz pianist in the Free jazz medium. Abrams compresses both contemporary and traditional ideas into lean, elegant pieces.- Biography :Abrams attended DuSable High School in Chicago...
creates the Association for the Advancement of Creative MusiciansAssociation for the Advancement of Creative MusiciansThe Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians is a non-profit organization, founded in Chicago, Illinois, United States, by pianist/composer Muhal Richard Abrams, pianist Jodie Christian, drummer Steve McCall, and composer Phil Cohran....
, an organization that helped Chicago regain prominence as a center for innovative jazz. The organization will eventually produce such luminaries as Ed Wilkerson, Anthony BraxtonAnthony BraxtonAnthony Braxton is an American composer, saxophonist, clarinettist, flautist, pianist, and philosopher. Braxton has released well over 100 albums since the 1960s...
, Roscoe MitchellRoscoe MitchellRoscoe Mitchell is an African American composer, jazz instrumentalist and educator, mostly known for being "a technically superb—if idiosyncratic—saxophonist." He has been called "one of the key figures" in avant-garde jazz who has been "at the forefront of modern music" for the past...
and Henry ThreadgillHenry ThreadgillHenry Threadgill is an American composer, saxophonist and flautist. Threadgill came to prominence in the 1970s leading ensembles with unusual instrumentation and often incorporating a range of non-jazz genres....
. - A disastrous performance of Milton BabbittMilton BabbittMilton Byron Babbitt was an American composer, music theorist, and teacher. He is particularly noted for his serial and electronic music.-Biography:...
's Relata I is the "most famous example of the problems musicians" face in playing his music. - Barry McGuireBarry McGuireBarry McGuire is an American singer-songwriter best known for the hit song "Eve of Destruction", and later as a pioneering singer and songwriter of Contemporary Christian Music.-Early life:...
's "Eve of Destruction" becomes a "hugely popular" protest songProtest songA protest song is a song which is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of topical songs . It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre...
. - Country Joe & the Fish release "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die-Rag", the "most memorable anti-war song of the decade".
- Steve Halpern begins studying the "healing effects of music"; he will go on to pioneer New Age musicNew Age musicNew Age music is music of various styles intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often...
. - The Left Bank Jazz SocietyLeft Bank Jazz SocietyThe Left Bank Jazz Society is a Baltimore, Maryland-based organization that promotes jazz in Baltimore. It formed in 1964, hosting a series of concerts featuring nationally acclaimed performers like John Coltrane and Duke Ellington. Tapes from these recordings were tied up in legal disputes and not...
begins holding weekly concerts featuring major jazz musicians; the tapes will become a "treasure trove" for jazz aficionados, but do not begin to be officially released until 2000. - The 1965 Immigration Act eliminates quotas based on national origin for immigrants, leading to a surge in immigration from Taiwan and Hong Kong, further diversifying the Chinese American musical community; similarly, more diversity in immigration from India, Pakistan and the Middle East results in fractured and more specialized music scenes among immigrants from those areas.
- Duke EllingtonDuke EllingtonEdward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
presents the first jazz concert in a major church, Grace Cathedral Church of San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. This concert, and several subsequent ones, contribute "largely to the growing movement for making the music of the worship service more relevant to the times". - Charles Radcliff, in the UK periodical Anarchy, is the first person to denounce the phenomenon of the white blues performer.
- Good NewsGood newsGood News may refer to:*Good news , the message of Jesus*Good News , by Edward Abbey*Good News, a 1945 non-fiction work by Cyril Alington...
becomes the first Christian folk musical. - The Federal Communications CommissionFederal Communications CommissionThe Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
rules that owners of both the AM and FM stations in an area must offer different programming on each, leading to the ruse of underground album rock radio. - Nortronics introduces the eight-track head and an endless-loop cartridge machine.
1966
- The BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
give their last live performance, in Shea StadiumShea StadiumWilliam A. Shea Municipal Stadium, usually shortened to Shea Stadium or just Shea , was a stadium in the New York City borough of Queens, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. It was the home baseball park of Major League Baseball's New York Mets from 1964 to 2008...
in New York, marking a "basic shift in the life of the group", which would go on to focus on studio innovation and experimentation with "new textures and forms, with a breadth of view that came to include avant-garde techniques from the classical sphere and even the music of IndiaMusic of IndiaThe music of India includes multiple varieties of folk, popular, pop, classical music and R&B. India's classical music tradition, including Carnatic and Hindustani music, has a history spanning millennia and developed over several eras. It remains fundamental to the lives of Indians today as...
". - Artist Andy WarholAndy WarholAndrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
, founder of The FactoryThe FactoryThe Factory was Andy Warhol's original New York City studio from 1962 to 1968, although his later studios were known as The Factory as well. The Factory was located on the fifth floor at 231 East 47th Street, in Midtown Manhattan. The rent was "only about one hundred dollars a year"...
in New York, branches out with a musical event that would turn him into the "most consequential rock SvengaliSvengaliSvengali is a fictional character of George du Maurier's 1894 novel Trilby. Svengali "would either fawn or bully and could be grossly impertinent. He had a kind of cynical humour that was more offensive than amusing and always laughed at the wrong thing, at the wrong time, in the wrong place...
since Brian EpsteinBrian EpsteinBrian Samuel Epstein , was an English music entrepreneur, and is best known for being the manager of The Beatles up until his death. He also managed several other musical artists such as Gerry & the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Cilla Black, The Remo Four & The Cyrkle...
and Andrew Loog OldhamAndrew Loog OldhamAndrew Loog Oldham is an English producer, talent manager, impresario and author. He was manager and producer of The Rolling Stones from 1963, and was noted for his flamboyant style.-Biography:...
." The show was the premier of a band called the Velvet Underground, who would become legends of the modern rock scene, inspiring thousands of rock acts, "aiming to challenge and provoke" to "emulate the Velvet Underground's dark style and minimalist sound". - Reverend David A. NoebelDavid A. NoebelDavid A. Noebel is an American religious leader and writer. He is the current director of Summit Ministries, in Manitou Springs, Colorado in the United States...
publishes Rhythm, Riots, and Revolution, which inflames debate about the presence of CommunismCommunismCommunism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
in music, especially folk and folk-rock. - Charles Keil's Urban Blues is a landmark of American urban ethnomusicologyEthnomusicologyEthnomusicology is defined as "the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts."Coined by the musician Jaap Kunst from the Greek words ἔθνος ethnos and μουσική mousike , it is often considered the anthropology or ethnography of music...
, focusing on the music of African Americans who had relocated from rural Southern states to Northern cities. - Barry SadlerBarry SadlerBarry Sadler was an American soldier, author and musician. Sadler served as a Green Beret medic with the rank of Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War...
's "Ballad of the Green Berets" is the most successful of the pro-Vietnam War songs. - The BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' RevolverRevolver (album)Revolver is the seventh studio album by the English rock group The Beatles, released on 5 August 1966 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin. Many of the tracks on Revolver are marked by an electric guitar-rock sound, in contrast with their previous LP, the folk rock inspired Rubber...
becomes the first major American-derived popular music to be influenced by Asian techniques and instrumentation. - Charley PrideCharley PrideCharley Frank Pride is an American country music singer. His smooth baritone voice was featured on thirty-nine number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His greatest success came in the early- to mid-1970s, when he became the best-selling performer for RCA Records since Elvis...
becomes the first African American to perform on the Grand Ole OpryGrand Ole OpryThe Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
. - Edward V. Bonnemere's Missa Hodierno is the "first jazz Mass to be performed in a Roman Catholic church as part of a traditional service".
- Arthur MitchellArthur Mitchell (dancer)Arthur Mitchell is an African-American dancer and choreographer who created a training school and the first African-American classical ballet company, Dance Theatre of Harlem...
forms the first African American classical balletBalletBallet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
company in New York. - Paul WilliamsPaul Williams (Crawdaddy! creator)Paul Williams is an American music journalist and writer. Williams created the first national US magazine of rock music criticism :Crawdaddy! in January 1966 on the campus of Swarthmore College with the help of some of his fellow science fiction fans...
' Crawdaddy!Crawdaddy!Crawdaddy! was the first U.S. magazine of rock and roll music criticism. Created in 1966 by college student Paul Williams in response to the increasing sophistication and cultural influence of popular music, Crawdaddy! was self-described as "the first magazine to take rock and roll...
is the first rock fanzineFanzineA fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
, and may be considered the first rock magazineMagazineMagazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
of any kind. - Zoltán KodályZoltán KodályZoltán Kodály was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is best known internationally as the creator of the Kodály Method.-Life:Born in Kecskemét, Kodály learned to play the violin as a child....
appears at a Music Educators National ConferenceMENC: The National Association for Music EducationMENC: The National Association for Music Education is an organization of American music educators dedicated to advancing and preserving music education and as part of the core curriculum of schools in the United States...
in Ann Arbor, MichiganAnn Arbor, MichiganAnn Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
, inspiring American teachers to use European techniques in elementary school music education. - EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
and PhilipsPhilipsKoninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
are the first major record companies to issue cassettesCompact CassetteThe Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
in addition to LPs. - Ford Motors begins supplying its cars with a Stereo 8, an eight-track player, built into the dashboard.
- The first rock concept albumConcept albumIn music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
s are released by The Mothers of InventionThe Mothers of InventionThe Mothers of Invention were an American band active from 1964 to 1969, and again from 1970 to 1975.They mainly performed works by, and were the original recording group of, US composer and guitarist Frank Zappa , although other members have had the occasional writing credit...
(Freak Out!Freak Out!Freak Out! is the debut album by American band The Mothers of Invention, released June 27, 1966 on Verve Records. Often cited as one of rock music's first concept albums, the album is a satirical expression of frontman Frank Zappa's perception of American pop culture...
) and The Beach BoysThe Beach BoysThe Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
(Pet SoundsPet SoundsPet Sounds is the eleventh studio album by the American rock band The Beach Boys, released May 16, 1966, on Capitol Records. It has since been recognized as one of the most influential records in the history of popular music and one of the best albums of the 1960s, including songs such as "Wouldn't...
).
1967
- Rolling StoneRolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine is founded, one of several created in the late 1960s, celebrating the countercultural spirit of the times. - The BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club BandSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club BandSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band The Beatles, released on 1 June 1967 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin...
is released; it has been called the "first 'art rockArt rockArt rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, with influences from art, avant-garde, and classical music. The first usage of the term, according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, was in 1968. Influenced by the work of The Beatles, most notably their Sgt...
' album". - A number of San Francisco-based rock bands gain national attention, including Quicksilver Messenger ServiceQuicksilver Messenger ServiceQuicksilver Messenger Service is an American psychedelic rock band, formed in 1965 in San Francisco.-Introduction:Quicksilver Messenger Service gained wide popularity in the Bay Area and, through their recordings, with psychedelic rock enthusiasts around the globe and several of their albums ranked...
, Country Joe and the FishCountry Joe and the FishCountry Joe and the Fish was a rock band most widely known for musical protests against the Vietnam War, from 1966 to 1971, and also regarded as a seminal influence to psychedelic rock.-History:...
, Grateful DeadGrateful DeadThe Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
, Big Brother and the Holding CompanyBig Brother and the Holding CompanyBig Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Jefferson Airplane. They are best known as the band that featured Janis Joplin as their...
, Moby GrapeMoby GrapeMoby Grape is an American rock group from the 1960s, known for having all five members contribute to singing and songwriting and that collectively merged elements of folk music, blues, country, and jazz together with rock and psychedelic music...
and Jefferson AirplaneJefferson AirplaneJefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
. - The Monterey Pop FestivalMonterey Pop FestivalThe Monterey International Pop Music Festival was a three-day concert event held June 16 to June 18, 1967 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California...
is held in Monterey, CaliforniaMonterey, CaliforniaThe City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...
, introducing a number of soon-to-be popular bands, including the Grateful DeadGrateful DeadThe Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
, The ByrdsThe ByrdsThe Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
, Otis ReddingOtis ReddingOtis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
, Ravi ShankarRavi ShankarRavi Shankar , often referred to by the title Pandit, is an Indian musician and composer who plays the plucked string instrument sitar. He has been described as the best known contemporary Indian musician by Hans Neuhoff in Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart.Shankar was born in Varanasi and spent...
, The WhoThe WhoThe Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
and Jimi HendrixJimi HendrixJames Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, and helping shape the countercultureCountercultureCounterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...
. Shankar becomes the first to popularize the music of IndiaMusic of IndiaThe music of India includes multiple varieties of folk, popular, pop, classical music and R&B. India's classical music tradition, including Carnatic and Hindustani music, has a history spanning millennia and developed over several eras. It remains fundamental to the lives of Indians today as...
in the United States. The Festival attracts more than 50,000 people, and inspires the music industry to organize even more grandiose concerts. - The first "Human Be-InHuman Be-InThe Human Be-In was a happening in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, the afternoon and evening of January 14, 1967. It was a prelude to San Francisco's Summer of Love, which made the Haight-Ashbury district a symbol as the center of an American counterculture and introduced the word 'psychedelic'...
" is staged in Golden Gate ParkGolden Gate ParkGolden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. Configured as a rectangle, it is similar in shape but 20% larger than Central Park in New York, to which it is often compared. It is over three miles long east to west, and about half a...
in San Francisco. The event was a gathering of hippieHippieThe hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
s and other countercultural types, featuring the band Grateful Dead and an outdoor acid testAcid TestsThe Acid Tests were a series of parties held by Ken Kesey in the San Francisco Bay Area during the mid 1960s, centered entirely around the use of, experimentation with, and advocacy of, the psychedelic drug LSD, also known as "acid."...
, the Be-In resulted in media exposure for the counterculture. - Chet HelmsChet HelmsChester Leo "Chet" Helms , often called the father of San Francisco's "1967 Summer of Love," was a music promoter and a cultural figure in San Francisco during its hippie period in the late Sixties....
introduces San Francisco's acid rock scene to the "hipsters of swinging London". - The DoorsThe DoorsThe Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
' The DoorsThe Doors (album)The Doors is the debut album by the American rock band The Doors, recorded in August 1966 and released in January 1967. It was originally released in significantly different stereo and mono mixes...
is released, establishing the band's reputation for an innovative form of dark psychedelic rockPsychedelic rockPsychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
, led by frontman Jim MorrisonJim MorrisonJames Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
. - The Congress on Research in DanceCongress on Research in DanceCongress on Research in Dance is an international non-profit interdisciplinary society for dance researchers, artists, performers and choreographers. CORD publishes the Dance Research Journal, and sponsors annual conferences which distribute annual awards...
(CORD) is formed to encourage "research in all aspects of dance"; it has been "instrumental in building a body of literature on dance scholarship". - The Tanglewood Summit, sponsored by the Music Educators National ConferenceMENC: The National Association for Music EducationMENC: The National Association for Music Education is an organization of American music educators dedicated to advancing and preserving music education and as part of the core curriculum of schools in the United States...
, suggests broadening the music taught in schools to include pop, folk and avant-garde music. - The Division of Performing Arts is created by the Smithsonian InstitutionSmithsonian InstitutionThe Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
. - Approximate: The word groupieGroupieA groupie is a person who seeks emotional and sexual intimacy with a musician or other celebrity. "Groupie" is derived from group in reference to a musical group, but the word is also used in a more general sense, especially in casual conversation....
is first used to describe devoted female followers of a particular band, often carrying sexual connotations. - James BrownJames BrownJames Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
's "There Was a Time" and "Cold Sweat (Part 1)" are the first to use a polyrhythmic style featuring a "syncopated bass line, a strong heavy backbeat from the drummer, a counter choppy line from the guitar or keyboard, and someone singing on top of that in a gospel style". This is the basis for funkFunkFunk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
. - The foundation of two schools in California, the Ali Akbar School of Music and the Kinnara School, leads to increased national prominence for Indian classical musicIndian classical musicThe origins of Indian classical music can be found in the Vedas, which are the oldest scriptures in the Hindu tradition. Indian classical music has also been significantly influenced by, or syncretised with, Indian folk music and Persian music. The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music...
in the United States. - Monterey Pop FestivalMonterey Pop FestivalThe Monterey International Pop Music Festival was a three-day concert event held June 16 to June 18, 1967 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California...
is the first rock concert documentaryDocumentary filmDocumentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
. - Clarence Rivers composes Brother of Man, one of the first successful jazz MassMassMass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
es, which is debuted at the Newport Jazz FestivalNewport Jazz FestivalThe Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. It was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard, who, together with husband Louis Lorillard, financed the festival for many years. The couple hired jazz impresario George Wein to organize the...
this year. - It is revealed that the Central Intelligence AgencyCentral Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
is the primary force behind both Radio Free EuropeRadio Free EuropeRadio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East "where the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed"...
and Radio Liberty. - A Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
double album, Great White WonderGreat White WonderGreat White Wonder, or GWW, is the first notable rock bootleg album, released in July of 1969 and containing unofficially released recordings by Bob Dylan. It is also the first release of the famous bootleg record label Trademark of Quality...
, is the first unauthorized rock recording, and the beginning of the modern era of bootlegBootleg recordingA bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
s. - The Vulcan Gas CompanyVulcan Gas CompanyThe Vulcan Gas Company was the first successful psychedelic music venue in Austin, Texas. The Vulcan opened its doors at 316 Congress Avenue in the fall of 1967, and closed in the summer of 1970. Houston White, Gary Maxwell, Don Hyde, and Sandy Lockett started the Vulcan...
is opened in Austin, TexasAustin, TexasAustin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
. It will help establish the city as a center for Texas rock.
1968
| Late 1960s music trends |
|---|
|
- Asian MusicAsian musicAsian music encompasses numerous different musical styles originating from a large number of Asian countries.Musical traditions in Asia* Music of Central Asia** Music of Afghanistan** Music of Kazakhstan** Music of Mongolia** Music of Uzbekistan...
begins circulation; it is the first magazine to focus on scholarly research on Asian music. - Jerry GoldsmithJerry GoldsmithJerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
's score for Planet of the ApesPlanet of the Apes (1968 film)Planet of the Apes is a 1968 American science fiction film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, based on the 1963 French novel La Planète des singes by Pierre Boulle. The film stars Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, James Whitmore, James Daly and Linda Harrison...
helps "revitalize the symphonic score, using existing practices and vocabularies". - Richard M. Graham becomes the first African American on the faculty at the University of GeorgiaUniversity of GeorgiaThe University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
after he is made an assistant professor of music. - Robert MoogRobert MoogRobert Arthur Moog , commonly called Bob Moog was an American pioneer of electronic music, best known as the inventor of the Moog synthesizer.-Life:...
's Switched-On BachSwitched-On Bach-Details:The album consists of pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed on a Moog synthesizer, a modular synthesizer system, one of which can be seen at the back of the room on the album cover. "Switched-On Bach," or "S-OB" as Carlos referred to it, was recorded on a custom-built 8 track recorder...
, conceived and performed by Wendy CarlosWendy CarlosWendy Carlos is an American composer and electronic musician. Carlos first came to notice in the late 1960s with recordings made on the Moog synthesizer, then a relatively new and unknown instrument; most notable were LPs of synthesized Bach and the soundtrack for Stanley Kubrick's film A...
, becomes a hit and brings "to the fore fascinating issues of electronic 'orchestration'". - When riots threaten Detroit, DJ Martha Jean SteinbergMartha Jean SteinbergMartha Jean “The Queen” Steinberg was an influential African-American radio broadcaster and later was also the pastor of her own church....
is credited for calming her listeners by playing gospel musicGospel musicGospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
. - The first books on rock are published: J. Marks' Rock and Other Four Letter Words and John Gabree's The World of Rock.
- Olly WilsonOlly WilsonOlly Woodrow Wilson, Jr. is a prominent American composer of contemporary classical music, pianist, double bassist, and musicologist. He is one of the preeminent living composers of African American descent.-Life:...
wins Dartmouth CollegeDartmouth CollegeDartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
's first prize for electronic musicElectronic musicElectronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
, for his composition CetusCetusCetus is a constellation. Its name refers to Cetus, a sea monster in Greek mythology, although it is often called 'the whale' today. Cetus is located in the region of the sky that contains other water-related constellations such as Aquarius, Pisces, and Eridanus.-Ecliptic:Although Cetus is not...
for electronic tape. - The National Black Theater in Harlem begins producing works using African and Caribbean-derived dance, music and ritual elements.
- HairHair (musical)Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
is a "revolutionary" rock musical, by Galt McDermot, James Rado and Gerome RagniGerome RagniGerome Bernard Ragni was an American actor, singer and songwriter, best known as the co-author of the groundbreaking 1960s Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical.-Early life:...
. It opens the "way for other rock musicals". - Aretha FranklinAretha FranklinAretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
is featured on the cover of TimeTime (magazine)Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine, along with a lengthy article entitled "Lady Soul Singing It Like It Is"; a year later, BillboardBillboard (magazine)Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine will begin using the term soul in place of "rhythm and blues". These two events constitute the beginning of the media's acceptance of the term soul. - DuvalierFrançois DuvalierFrançois Duvalier was the President of Haiti from 1957 until his death in 1971. Duvalier first won acclaim in fighting diseases, earning him the nickname "Papa Doc" . He opposed a military coup d'état in 1950, and was elected President in 1957 on a populist and black nationalist platform...
begins suppressing student activism in Haiti, leading to a wave of emigration to the United States; many of these activists organize groups in major North American cities, most famously including Atis Endepandan, Tanbou Libete, Haïti Culturelle and Soley Leve. This movement is known as kilti libete (freedom culture). - The International Polka AssociationInternational Polka AssociationThe International Polka Association, IPA is located in Chicago, Illinois and dedicated to the study and preservation of polka music and the cultural heritage of Polish Americans who have made this music tradition part of their heritage. The IPA hosts an annual festival and convention as well as its...
is founded, focusing in large part on promoting Polish American polka. - The Black Artists GroupBlack Artists GroupThe Black Artists Group was a multidisciplinary arts collective that existed in St. Louis, Missouri from 1968 to 1972.Members included saxophonists Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake, J. D...
is formed in St. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, featuring Charles "Bobo" Shaw, Julius HemphillJulius HemphillJulius Arthur Hemphill was a jazz composer and saxophone player. He performed mainly on alto saxophone; less often soprano and tenor saxophones and flute.-Biography:...
, Hamiet BluiettHamiet BluiettHamiet Bluiett is an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. His primary instrument is the baritone saxophone, and he is considered one of the finest living players of this instrument...
and Oliver LakeOliver LakeOliver Lake is an American jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer and poet. He is known mainly on alto saxophone but also performs on soprano saxophone and flute....
, leading to that city's rise in prominence in the field of jazz. - Marcus ThompsonMarcus ThompsonMarcus Thompson is a violist and viola d'amore player known for his work as a recitalist, orchestral soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and educator....
becomes the first African American with a "notable career" as a violistViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
. - Bill C. Malone's Country Music U.S.A. is the first major history of country musicCountry musicCountry music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
. - A festival is held in New Orleans, as part of the city's 250th celebration. The festival will be held every year, eventually becoming the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage FestivalNew Orleans Jazz & Heritage FestivalThe New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, often known as Jazz Fest, is an annual celebration of the music and culture of New Orleans and Louisiana...
, one of the premier jazz festivals in the country.
1969
- The American blues roots revivalRoots revivalA roots revival is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. Often, roots revivals include an addition of newly-composed songs with socially and politically aware lyrics, as well as a general modernization of the folk sound.After an...
peaks. - The funeral of gospel singer Roberta MartinRoberta MartinRoberta Martin was an American gospel composer, singer, pianist, arranger and choral organizer, helped launch the careers of many other gospel artists through her group, The Roberta Martin Singers.-Early years:...
is attended by fifty-thousand people in Chicago, without any national media coverage; this event comes to be seen as a "symbol of black gospel music's place in American life: a blend of acceptance and obscurity". - The Stonewall riotsStonewall riotsThe Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City...
forces mainstream Americans to recognize the existence of homosexuality, and gay men begin making a musical "impact felt beyond their immediate communities", especially in the field of discoDiscoDisco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
. - Edwin HawkinsEdwin HawkinsEdwin Hawkins is a Grammy Award-winning American gospel and R&B musician, pianist, choir master, composer and arranger. He is one of the originators of the urban contemporary gospel sound. He are best known for his arrangement of "Oh Happy Day" , which was included on the Songs of the Century list...
' "Oh Happy DayOh Happy Day"Oh Happy Day" is a 1967 gospel music arrangement of an 18th century hymn. Recorded by the Edwin Hawkins Singers, it became an international hit in 1969, reaching US #4 and UK #2 on the pop charts...
" is a surprise crossover gospel hit, a "jolt of energy that cut through the static and the airwaves in the spring of 1969". It "ushered in the contemporary gospel era", and was innovative in its use of horns, bongoes and the Fender bass. The song is the first true hybrid of rhythm and blues and gospel. - OvationOvationThe ovation was a lower form of the Roman triumph. Ovations were granted, when war was not declared between enemies on the level of states, when an enemy was considered basely inferior or when the general conflict was resolved with little to no bloodshed or danger to the army itself.The general...
creates a pioneering electric-acoustic hybrid guitar by adding amplification to a plastic-backed acoustic guitar. - Jim MorrisonJim MorrisonJames Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
of The DoorsThe DoorsThe Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
is arrested for public indecencyPublic indecencyPublic indecency refers to conduct undertaken in a non-private or publicly-viewable location, which are deemed indecent in nature, such as indecent exposure and sexual intercourse or masturbation in public view. Such activity is often illegal...
after controversially flashing his genitalia onstage in Miami. - The first explicitly lesbianLesbianLesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
-oriented popular song is released, "Angry Athis" by Maxine Feldman. - Influential gospel label Malaca Records is founded.
- The first Christian rock album is Larry NormanLarry NormanLarry David Norman was an American Christian musician, singer, songwriter, record label owner, and record producer, who worked with Christian rock music...
's Upon This Rock. - Phyl Garland's The Sound of Soul is an influential publication, focusing on the social context behind the emergence and acceptance of African American soul musicSoul musicSoul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
in the United States. - The Gospel Music AssociationGospel Music AssociationThe Gospel Music Association was founded in 1964 for the purpose of supporting and promoting the development of all forms of Gospel music. There are currently about 4,000 members worldwide...
begins issuing the Dove Awards, to reward gospelGospel musicGospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
artists. - The Institute for Jazz Research begins publishing Jazzforschung/Jazz Research, a German and English periodical and one of the earliest popular music journals.
- The James Cleveland Gospel Music Workshop of America is founded, the largest gospel convention of the time, with more than 20,000 annual attendees.
- After performing at the Newport Jazz FestivalNewport Jazz FestivalThe Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. It was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard, who, together with husband Louis Lorillard, financed the festival for many years. The couple hired jazz impresario George Wein to organize the...
with several rock bands, Miles DavisMiles DavisMiles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
records Bitches BrewBitches BrewBitches Brew is a studio double album by jazz musician Miles Davis, released in April 1970 on Columbia Records. The album continued his experimentation with electric instruments previously featured on his critically acclaimed In a Silent Way album...
,an influential recording that fuses jazz and rock. - Phyl Garland's The Sound of Soul is an influential study of African American that shapes the future of academic research on soul musicSoul musicSoul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
. - Recordings by Sly & the Family StoneSly & the Family StoneSly and the Family Stone were an American rock, funk, and soul band from San Francisco, California. Active from 1966 to 1983, the band was pivotal in the development of soul, funk, and psychedelic music...
are an innovative step in the development of funk, which used elements of rock, such as the fuzz box, wah-wah pedalWah-wah pedalA wah-wah pedal is a type of guitar effects pedal that alters the tone of the signal to create a distinctive effect, mimicking the human voice...
, vocal distortionDistortionA distortion is the alteration of the original shape of an object, image, sound, waveform or other form of information or representation. Distortion is usually unwanted, and often many methods are employed to minimize it in practice...
and the echo chamberEcho chamberthumb|right|Echo chamber of the Dresden University of Technologythumb|right|Hamilton Mausoleum has a spectacularly long lasting unplanned echoAn echo chamber is a hollow enclosure used to produce echoing sounds, usually for recording purposes...
, in soul-based music. In hits like "Hot Fun in the SummertimeHot Fun in the Summertime"Hot Fun in the Summertime" is a 1969 song recorded by Sly & the Family Stone. The single was released in the wake of the band's high-profile performance at Woodstock, which greatly expanded their fanbase. The song peaked at number 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart and number 3 on...
", "Stand!Stand!Stand! is the fourth studio album by soul/funk band Sly and the Family Stone, released May 3, 1969 on Epic Records. Written and produced by lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Sly Stone, Stand! was the band's breakout album. It went on to sell over three million copies and become one of the most...
" and "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again)", bassist Larry GrahamLarry GrahamLarry Graham, Jr. is an African American bass guitar player, both with the popular and influential psychedelic soul/funk band Sly & the Family Stone, and as the founder and frontman of Graham Central Station...
created a unique style on the bass guitar, using "pulling, plucking, thumping and slapping" to "produce a distinctive percussive style". - The Songwriters Hall of FameSongwriters Hall of FameThe Songwriters Hall of Fame is an arm of the National Academy of Popular Music. It was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and music publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The goal is to create a museum but as of April, 2008, the means do not yet exist and so instead it is an online...
is founded. - The first Tamburitza Extravaganza is held by the Tamburitza Association of America.
- A fan is stabbed to death by one of the Hells AngelsHells AngelsThe Hells Angels Motorcycle Club is a worldwide one-percenter motorcycle gang and organized crime syndicate whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation. Their primary motto...
, who had been hired by the Rolling Stones to provide security for a concert at Altamont. - The Woodstock Music and Arts Fair is held in New York. It is considered a defining event for the era which helped shape the hippieHippieThe hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
movement and the countercultureCountercultureCounterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...
. - The Wally Heider Recording Studio is founded by Wally HeiderWally HeiderWally Heider was an American recording engineer and recording studio owner - History :After a distinguished career as an engineer in the 1940s and 1950s, he was instrumental in recording the San Francisco Sound in the late 60s and early 70s...
, quickly becoming the standard recording facility for San Francisco's psychedelic rockPsychedelic rockPsychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
scene.