bluescreek Loc: N.C. Sandhills

Hank, Sr., George Jones, and Waylon are way up there when it comes to Country!

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

A lot happened in the 60's I graduated high school, college, got married, bought our first house, had my son. "The times they were a changin". Great music. Doo-Op, jazz. Rock, folk. I can't listen to the music my grand kids listen to, Sounds like noise, very loud noise.

bcheary Loc: Jacksonville, FL

salmander

I have a question that some of you may have some insight on. The music of the late 60s - at least the stuff I enjoyed - had a lot of instrumentation. There were long periods of just instrument playing, without lyrics at the same time. So beautiful. Some of the lyrics were relevant, but, to me, most of them seemed more like "filler" or "padding." The instrumentation was the thing. Today's hip hop (rap) seems to emphasize the words. The musicality has improved much since then, but perhaps you may remember when it began, there was almost no variety or originality to the musicality. It's still light years away from the musicality of the late 60s, though. It began as an African-American music - my impression it was a form of social protest - but now seems to be enjoyed by all young people. Have they become so disappointed by the words they always hear in their lives, presumably by people in authority, that they feel some sort of deep need for validation in their music, via the lyrics? The young people today seem to be completely naive about the music we loved. You read about their amazement when they get to hear it. But still, is this a sign of some kind of social breakdown or simplification, or are we on the cusp of the future of mankind (gasp)? I am looking for a possible explanation of what's happening. We all have our opinions and reactions to hip hop, and the degradation of popular music today, but I'm hoping for more.

Also, are any of you familiar with Cream, Savoy Brown, Ten Years After, or The Illinois Speed Press? I'm too lazy to look up specific tunes on YouTube, but most of their music is very enjoyable.

salmander

salmander

Please ignore the repeated reply, there seems to be no way to delete an erroneous reply.

fourlocks Loc: Londonderry, NH

Hey Salamander - I agree that the Millenials and Gen. X'ers completely lack the high value we baby boomers placed on our music. I think it's because for our generation, music was the commonality that defined us and tied us together (opposing "the establishment"). For us, it was our Internet...it was our medium of communication and our parents couldn't understand it and didn't want to hear it. And it was the Jam Bands...Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead, Cream, Pink Floyd, Phish, etc. that played those great rambling, jams that don't exist anymore. I think it's again a generational thing. Today's generation has an attention span measured in minutes or less...they would never have invested the time to "get into" a long instrumental presentation sandwiched between verses. My daughter once remarked she couldn't stand Pink Floyd because their song introductions were too long. She liked the Dead, though, and went to several Dark Star Orchestra concerts but only after listing to my Dead bootlegs. PS - Speaking of great instrument jams, my wife heard Alvin Lee (Ten Years After) perform live and swears he can still outplay anyone out there. One thing I did find interesting, is that John Mayer was chosen to play lead for the the Grateful Dead reunion last year. He did an amazing job filling in for the deceased Jerry Garcia so I guess there are still a few young performers who can spend a little time working a song.

laf Loc: Nordland

Was stationed in Monterey Ca at DLI [language school] 4-68-4-69. Spent nearly every weekend at Filmore or Avilone ballroom in SF. For New Years at Filmore there were only 3 bands; Big Brother, Jeff Airplane and the Dead. Left at 4am Dead still playing. Entry was $3.75 at the door. The good old days.

bcheary Loc: Jacksonville, FL

Here are some to refresh your mind!
The Illinois Speed Press - The Illinois Speed Press 1969 (FULL ALBUM) [Hard Rock | Heavy Blues]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFJ6bDy9GA4

Woodstock - Ten Years After - I'm Going Home(Live)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW5M5xljdCI

Cream - Wheels Of Fire (Full Album) 1968
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPIXJ7B2I7E

Savoy Brown - Looking in (Full album), Widescreen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-QamdfAAHc

bcheary Loc: Jacksonville, FL

I lived in Salinas from 1973 to 1977.

Texcaster Loc: Queensland

Don't forget the other Lee, Albert. Music Man makes a stunning Albert Lee successor to the Strat.

The first link Lee demos his namesake. These are high end instruments. One feature, the frets are slotted directly into the neck, no finger board.

https://www.music-man.com/instruments/guitars/albert-lee

The second link shows a sunburst and the subtle contours better. (scroll down to the sunburst vid.)

https://www.music-man.com/instruments/guitars/albert-lee

greg14

The reality is that the 50's was the revolution, the Beatles and Stones have always acknowledged that their music was a derivative of the 50's and the Beach Boys' Surfing' USA was pure Chuck Berry.
The electric guitar and amps were popularized in the era.

Here is a Music Question:
Who would you refer to as the true music icons that changed American Music over the century?
My 5 are:
(1)
Al Jolson, First well known entertainer to bring audiences from barbershop quartets and marching bands.
First person to sell a million records (1920 Sonny Boy) considering there was only approx. less then a million record players in the world, pretty impressive at the time. The Intro of Radio was a big help to him also.
(2)
Tie between Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra
Bing changed the style of singing and Sinatra claimed he imitated Crosby, but Sinatra generally is considered the one.
(3)
Hank Williams
Brought C&W to the entire country. most popular singers at some point have recorded a Hank Williams song.
(4)
Elvis
There are too many examples to give, even the hardest of critics would have to admit his influence on the change to Rock and Roll.
(5)
Madonna
Prior to her, female sings for the most part were statues standing in front of a microphone, Patti Paige, Supremes, Maguire Sisters, madonna changed all that.

Just my opinion, I know there are more, but I stopped at 5,

fourlocks Loc: Londonderry, NH

Interesting choices and they all make sense. When you think of the roots of Rock & Roll...jazz, folk, blues, country-western, etc. you could pick several names from each genre and argue they were major contributors to what became '50's rock 'n roll. Louis Armstrong, Billy Holiday, Muddy Waters, Harry Belfonte, Dave Brubeck...the list goes on and on. So is rock 'n roll the culmination of all these music forms or is there yet another music form that rock will contribute to?

gnawbone Loc: Southern Indiana

I grew up in a town of about 3,500 (grad from H.S. in '67) - muscle cars, 60's music, and High School basketball - I get something in my eye ever time I let myself think about it. Even in a town that small we had a place called the "Teen Hop" that had a dance every Friday and Saturday night - Saturday always was a live band and drew bands from as far away as Chicago (I lived in Bremen - northern Indiana about 90 miles from Chicago and yes, I grew up and still am a DIE HARD Cub fan). I'll never regret for a minute the times I grew up in, I'm 68 now and the reality that I could be gone tomorrow doesn't change that.

My wife and I still go see some of the stars from those days (Herman's Hermits are still touring and still sound great - a really fun show, too) We also went and saw Davey Jones 2 weeks before he died. The Righteous Bros, Stones, Jay Black and a lot of others are still touring - go see them while you can. There is also a 60's band out of Columbus Ohio, Phil Dirt and the Dozers, that are terrific. We try to see them at least once or twice a year - they are very good and sing a wide variety of 60s stuff - Jackie Wilson, Beach Boys, Righteous Bros, Sam Cook, Roy Orbison, Little Anthony, etc.....

Fourlocks is right - it was the music, and still is, that bound us together and I still listen to it every day - I have satellite radio in my truck and my wife's car and have an iTunes library of over 2,200 songs from the late 50s, 60s, and early 70s. Coincidentally, at around the same time the car manufacturers took the compression out of the muscle cars the music was weak, too. Not much I like after the early 70s.

Thanks to all for this thread!

salmander

Thank you for doing the work for me.

There was a lot of good jazz during the 60s as well. In 1968 or 1969, at UMass Amherst, I saw Stan Getz about six or nine months after his Getz a-go-go album. The concert was held in what was called The Cage, a basketball court that doubled for performances. The roof was a glass pyramid. The performance was on a nice sunny day, the kind where the sun has the most wonderful feeling on your face and body. Stan had this sun shining on him. He played essentially the album, and, if you've ever heard it, is the perfect music for being in the sun. He was inspired in a way that I've never seen, and was not able to even imagine that it was even possible. It remains one of the highlights of my live music experiences.

Perhaps you know that YouTube videos can be downloaded with the "Free YouTube Downloader" app. It's good for not only music, but movies that have no copyright on them, and how-to videos. The latter is especially good when the instructions are relatively complicated and occasional repeat viewing at your convenience is preferred.