Rock & Roll II, Early Sixties: The British Invasion

Years: 1960-1966

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With the beginning of the 1960s, our little Rock had to flee their home country and cross the Atlantic to survive. The role of their main idols changed: they stopped being individual figures and became bands of at least four members.

 

But let's take it step by step. Why did they try to kill off this young genre that was just taking its first steps in the United States? Who would commit such an atrocity?

 

In 1960, some of the rock figures of the previous decade still existed in the United States, like The Everly Brothers and Roy Orbison, but the other representatives of the early era had quickly faded, not for lack of talent, but because of the industry's own blockade. Rock was being replaced by new stars or vocal pop groups. No one remembers most of these guys because, to begin with, they didn't even write their own songs. Does anyone remember Bobby Dee, Fabian Forte, Rick Nelson, and Bobby Rydell? No one? I knew it! Their momentary success was based on a more or less decent voice, a supposedly manufactured charisma, and, above all, their pretty faces. Although some melodies survived thanks to the talent of the writers, the reality is that these artists didn't transcend. However, in the late 1970s and early 1970s, the authors of some of these songs began to showcase their talent and achieve some success as performers, such as Paul Anka, Pat Boone, and Carole King. 

 

 

Between 1960 and 1963, in the United States, there were basically four genres focused on young people:

 

1. East Coast doo-woop, which were vocal groups, both boys and girls, formed in the developed cities of the East. These groups didn't last long. Unfortunately, they were the seeds of the boy and girl bands that plague us today.

 

2.- The Soul scene, which had notable performers but unfortunately lacked widespread recognition due to racial prejudice. At that time, the fight for Black rights was just beginning, and tensions were already high, so many considered buying Black records degrading. Poor souls! At the end of the decade, when the civil rights movement triumphed and many Britons recognized the influence of these musicians, the American public rediscovered these unjustly forgotten performers.

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3. The Motown Sound. Detroit's Motown label was instrumental in creating a new sound, originally aimed at Black people, but many whites couldn't resist the temptation and succumbed to the talent of many of the artists. Berry Goody Jr., the label's owner and producer, launched numerous artists to stardom with a distinctive and unique sound, a pop far more sophisticated than that of white artists. He also served as an image consultant, dictating the rules for wardrobe, makeup, choreography, and everything necessary for his artists to achieve a unique personality. This was the origin of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, and Smokey Robinson.

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4. Finally, there was the California Sound, composed of instrumental surf artists such as the Surfaris, Dick Dale, and the Crossfires, who helped perfect guitar solos and further explore the use of pedal effects. On the other hand, around '62, bands like the Beach Boys and Jan & Dale began adding vocal harmonies to surf structures. Of these four survivors, the California sound was the one that most revived the rockabilly sound of the 1950s, but it completely lacked the menacing tone of seminal rock & roll.

 

 

But why did this happen? Who was trying to kill rock? Well, none other than... drum roll... suspense... more drum roll... The puritanism of American society!!! Taaaaaaaan!!!! (sound of fanfares) Seriously, this puritanism was represented by three distinct forces. The first was Senator Joseph McCarthy, with his witch hunt against anything morally wrong—that is, anything he didn't like, which he accused of being communism and jailed or erased from the map. The second was the religious force, since rock & roll had obvious sexual connotations, and god-forbid that our-pure-and-holy-children should listen to such perversions. And the third was the racism we already mentioned. Rock & roll was a black invention (accidentally born by a white person), and at that time, everyone was obsessed with racial segregation. They wouldn't be disgusted by hearing that music...

 

The truly interesting thing was happening on the other side of the Atlantic… We already mentioned the impact that artists like Elvis and Chuck Berry had on British teenagers, who immediately began forming bands. In 1958, Cliff Richard and his group, The Shadows, became the British equivalent of Elvis. Many young people realized they could make it big with rock & roll, and bands were popping up everywhere. Around that time, "Skiffle" became popular in the north of England. This music was produced using artifacts like pots, bottles, washing-up bars, etc., and was popular among young people who wanted to join this strong musical movement but couldn't afford real instruments. The Quarrymen, for example, a seminal band for the Beatles, started out as a "Skiffle" band in which only the young Lennon had a guitar. When rock & roll was repressed in the United States, none of the three forces leading this attack were truly strong in England. In fact, England never had that racism problem, and good Black musicians had the status of living legends; this is perhaps the factor that led to the United Kingdom producing the best bands in history and experiencing a much more rapid and transcendent musical development. London was the center of "trad" or traditional jazz performed by Black musicians, which allowed new generations of white musicians to masterfully interpret Black music, such as Alexis Korner, whose band would become the breeding ground for several of the advance groups of the British Invasion, who absorbed all this musical wisdom and applied it to rock music. After being exiled from America, little Rock took refuge in these bands that were forming throughout England, but they lacked experience and a real opportunity to showcase their talent.

 

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Between 1960 and 1962, while that fire was dying out in the United States, rock was recovering and growing at the Indra and Star Club in Hamburg, where the Beatles played up to eight hours a night, perfecting rock & roll and giving it their own unique flavor. Meanwhile, in London, Alexis Korner Blues Incorporated was beginning to unleash some of its most outstanding students, such as Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, who would later join Brian Jones and Charlie Watts, also from Korner's band. Watts would be replaced by a certain Ginger Baker, and other old acquaintances who were Alexis's students included Rod Stewart, John Paul Jones, John Mayall, Eric Burdon, Nicky Hopkins, Jimmy Page, Zoot Money, Jack Bruce... Phew! British rock of the first half of the 1960s is unthinkable without the influence of Alexis Korner and his band, and history has generally not thanked him enough for the pivotal role he played. If there's anyone who should be called the father of British Rock, it's this man, who, without playing rock in his band, taught the basics of blues and jazz musical precepts to the entire base that would form the movement. At the same time, in the suburbs of London, a band called The Yardbirds became the support group for the legendary harmonica player Cyril Davies, and began to earn the respect of the masters of British blues, also known as R&B. Eric Burdon left Alexis Korner Blues Inc and returned to Newcastle to join the Alan Price Combo as a vocalist, giving rise to The Animals. Van Morrison formed Them in Belfast, Pete Townshend stopped playing banjo for The Confederates to take on the role of lead guitarist with the nascent The Who, and the Davies brothers were developing the idea of ​​starting what would become The Kinks. Impressive, isn't it? While in the United States they had to settle for listening to Bobby Rydell, in England, Rock, snubbed by his homeland, was recovering rapidly, taking strong medications and jazz and blues vitamins, and beginning to regain his robust and cheerful form, while adopting a new accent, drinking tea at 6, and refining his manners.

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When the Beatles returned from Hamburg to settle in their native Liverpool, they left everyone with their mouths open, not only because of their French mop tops sponsored by Astrid Kircherr... The music they played was nothing like the teenage band that had left to try their luck. All-nighters playing to survive had turned them into a band that sounded super professional, mature, with their own character, adding their own style to other people's songs and starting to write some good compositions of their own. Soon they were already owners of The Cavern Club in Liverpool (yes! You guessed it! It partly inspired the name of this blog), and I think we all know how Brian Epstein discovered them. What follows is one of those curiosities that change history without us realizing it. Epstein took the Beatles to audition at Decca to record their first album, and the executives' response, strongly influenced by the prevailing idea in the USA, would forever mark the history of music: "They play well, but Rock & Roll groups are out of fashion." So they sent The Beatles to knock on doors at EMI, where they weren't given much importance, but directed them to the subsidiary Parlophone, where they met the comedy record producer George Martin... Can you imagine what would have happened if DECCA had signed them and they had never made that musical partnership with Martin? The first fundamental decision the producer made was to send Pete Best packing, after which Lennon, McCartney and Harrison brought in Ringo Starr, whom they knew from Rory Storm's band, with whom they had played in Hamburg. In September 1962, they released their first single, "Love Me Do." In November, another single, "Please Please Me," achieved greater success, and soon after, the LP of the same name catapulted them to the top Rock & Roll band in England and the world.

 

Meanwhile, the rest of the British bands continued to establish themselves, and The Beatles soon became an unprecedented success in the United Kingdom, sparking Beatlemania on the island in 1963, forcing them to embark on a European tour. However, the American market was still reluctant to welcome them, and even their second LP hadn't been successful in the United States. They were still resisting Rock & Roll! Brian Epstein was determined not to embark on an overseas tour until they had some success, and so they recorded the single "I Want To Hold Your Hand," written specifically for the American market. While on tour in Paris in November, they received news that the single had reached #1 on the other side of the ocean, and preparations for the trip began. Days after JFK was assassinated, a long period of mourning began, along with the winter Christmas carol season that turned the music on every US radio station gray. EMI launched an aggressive advertising campaign, generating unprecedented expectations for this group of English boys. “Please Please Me” and “With The Beatles” disappeared from stores…

 

 

Our little Rock got off the plane in New York from London on February 7, 1964, accompanied by the four long-haired men. Rock was returning to his homeland and igniting the flame of Beatlemania, paralyzing the country the night they performed on The Ed Sullivan Show, on February 9, with a record 74 million viewers (a record that still stands), and during which time not a single crime was reported in the country. British newspapers ran the story the next day: “America also surrenders to Beatlemania!” But the Beatles would only be the spearhead...

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While this was happening on the Beatles' first American tour, and five songs were making it into the Top 5, the person who had kicked their ass at DECCA had to keep banging his head day and night. After the Beatles' phenomenal success, DECCA rushed to find the band that was causing the biggest stir after the Liverpool band. This way, the Rolling Stones didn't have to struggle so much to get a contract, and the record label supported and created a rivalry with the Beatles, giving the green light for Jagger and company to make much more daring and wild music. After the Stones' success, everyone saw the business opportunity, and bands were being booked left and right. Rock & Roll had returned, more mature and wild, with better arrangements, with strong R&B influences, with spectacular vocal arrangements... and more dangerous. This time, neither Senator McCarty nor the churches could contain the long-awaited and coldly prepared revenge. And on the other hand, the racism that prevailed in the US was no longer effective, as British bands were made up of white, middle-class boys who often drove young girls crazy. So, record labels gave opportunities to these talented bands that had been gaining a wealth of experience, and overnight, 1964 was imbued with the tremendous power of these groups that turned the British capital into "Swingin' London."

 

The Kinks were among the first to release a powerful single with its own identity, such as "You Really Got Me." The Kinks' style was in some ways closer to that of the Beatles, based on a great vocal melody, riffs, and harmonies leaning more toward rock & roll and pop than blues. The Animals also stood out, with their wild and powerful singer Eric Burdon and a creative keyboardist in Alan Price, with a sound more inclined toward rhythm & blues. The Yardbirds were another band, this one focused entirely on Blues and R&B, that earned the respect of legendary figures in the genre for the virtuosity of its members, particularly on the lead guitar, which at the time was played by Eric Clapton and which would later be played by Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. The Yardbirds were perhaps the best band in terms of instrumentation in this Era of Rock, an honor disputed only by The Who, who would record until 1965 but were already very popular in London clubs for their mod sound and for smashing their instruments on stage. These bands revolutionized the English music scene and made London the world capital between 1964 and 1966. After the success of The Beatles and the Rolling Stones, and the furor that "You Really Got Me" caused in the American charts, the Animals, Yardbirds, and The Who quickly conquered the United States, which watched in amazement as foreign bands arrived with a sound that had been born in that land, but was light years away from local bands. In fact, only The Beach Boys, Four Seasons, The Turtles, the Motown groups, and the burgeoning Folk genre could show any level comparable to that English wave that was sweeping the United States, and most other attempts were forgotten. They couldn't explain how so many good bands had emerged on the other side of the Atlantic overnight, without realizing that, in reality, these bands had been playing and polishing themselves in the underground scene for years, while the Americans had forgotten the genre and were trying to fight back by forming bands haphazardly and without any experience.

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Thus, it wasn't just two or three English groups dominating the charts and radio worldwide anymore; it was scores of others. It was a veritable invasion: in addition to those already mentioned, there were The Troggs, Manfred Mann, Them, The Fortunes, Dave Clark Five, The Hollies, The Zombies, Moody Blues, The Pretty Things, Gerry and the Peacemakers, The Searchers, Flying Machine, The Tremeloes, Donovan, and the Herman Hermits, to name a few. Little Rock had dealt his homeland a blow where it hurt most: England was recovering by leaps and bounds from the economic slump it had fallen into since World War II, and American companies could do little to stop it. Revenge is a dish best served cold… there was nothing and no one who could stop Rock, who by now was a strapping, almost 10-year-old boy laughing his head off at his triumphant return… And he hadn't even finished getting even with the Puritans who had nearly killed him.

 

By 1965, bands were no longer just covering early rock & roll or blues, but had enough experience and confidence to release entire albums of original songs, with increasingly daring and pop-leaning sounds. Furthermore, the rock movement had transcended the musical sphere. In August 1964, US President Lyndon B. Johnson had responded to the Gulf of Tonkin incident in Vietnam by sending 17,000 troops to the Asian country to defend it from communist threats from the Viet Cong, beginning the militarization of the region without a formal declaration of war. Almost at the same time, The Beatles met Bob Dylan, who until then had been the United States' greatest musical response, championing the folk and protest movements. The Beatles had been addicted to amphetamines since their Hamburg days to cope with the grueling pace of touring, but they hadn't tried other drugs. Thus, it was Dylan who offered them their first marijuana joint on August 28th at the Dolmenico Hotel in New York, arguing that it was something more organic and harmless. The Beatles laughed all afternoon, influenced by the drug, but at the same time, they were deeply impressed by Dylan's personality and ideology, whose songs were fierce and powerfully poetic. The Beatles would later say, "That day we thought for the first time." The impression was mutual, and after meeting the quartet, Bob would begin a transition toward a more electric sound and more complex harmonies. However, the profound impact of this meeting at the Dolmenico wouldn't be fully realized until 1965. That year, the band showed greater musical maturity, working more on harmonies, experimenting with acoustic themes, and new instrumentation. The Queen awarded them the MBE (Members of the British Empire) for the number of pounds their records brought back from the United States, which had helped with the economic recovery. The Stones released "Satisfaction," which marked them as the leader of a generation dissatisfied with the establishment. The Byrds emerged in the US, revisiting Dylan-ish lyrics but with an electric sound, helping to further popularize folk and meaningful songs.

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Racial activism was on the rise, and American students began veiled protests against Vietnam. The miniskirt, created by designer Mary Quant, was becoming all the rage on the streets of London, and soon American girls were wearing them too, in clear defiance of the Puritans and as a spearhead of the sexual revolution. The theme began to permeate songs more widely. In The Beatles' Rubber Soul, released in December, Lennon openly recounted an affair in the song "Norwegian Woods," in which Harrison played the sitar for the first time, an Indian instrument that would become a hallmark of psychedelia and which numerous bands would begin to use from then on. The Who released their debut with the anthem "My Generation" and a rawer, fiercer sound. In San Francisco, the gay sexual liberation movement was beginning to take shape, and American students were increasingly dissatisfied with mandatory conscription for a war they didn't consider theirs. Marijuana use was spreading at lightning speed after Dylan and the Beatles acknowledged its use. The explosion was germinating, and you could hear, as Dylan said, "Times They're A-Changing." The Beatles were the ones who rescued Rock and allowed it to survive and return with such power and an English accent. After the ruinous Asian tour in early 1966, in which they barely escaped alive after unleashing the wrath of Japanese purists by performing at the Budokan in Tokyo, after being kicked out of the Philippines by Imelda Marcos, wife of the president they had innocently snubbed, and also receiving death threats on the American leg of the tour after Lennon's statements that they were more famous than Jesus Christ, we can say that they themselves were the ones who brought this Era to a close. A relatively innocent era, but with anthology-grade music, fun and fresh, that would allow for the transition to today's rock. Rock & Roll's second wind, with the British invasion and its rhythm and blues, lasted from 1960 to 1965; but for practical purposes, we can consider it officially closed on the night of August 29, 1966, when the Beatles gave their last concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Ironically, it was the first stadium in the US where they performed in 1963, and even more ironically, San Francisco would be the epicenter of the hippie movement, which the British themselves would perfect. Rock, which was entering adolescence, not content with slapping those who had expelled it from the country, was stealthily preparing a massive attack with the Counterculture and the Hippie explosion of psychedelic sounds of Flower Power that would shake and stagger the powerful system at times... The Summer of Love would last from 1966 to 1968 and corresponds to The Great Golden Age of Rock... But unfortunately, that is already the next Era.

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By Corvan

Jul/17/2009

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