Rock And Roll Of The 1960 ' S

How did the Beach boys begin? Well, Music had always been a part of the Wilson family. Their father, Murry Wilson was in fact a musician and songwriter himself. “ The Beach Boys’ Odyssey began in 1951 when young Brian Sang a song (“The Old Soldier”) written by his 10-year-old cousin Mike at a family gathering” (The Beach Boys Biography). To start off their career, they used emergency money given to them by their parents when they went on a vacation, to rent instruments. This is important because if they hadn’t taken that risk of renting instruments and soon became the Beach Boys. This is how the Beach Boys began.

Music as a whole blends together. One style leads to another, the music becomes more progressive. It evolves to fit the new generation, leaving the old generation behind. From the spritual songs of the late 1800s to the gospel of the early 1900s. Then it changed into rhythm and blues, and when the 1950s rolled around it became Rock’ n’ Roll. With the invention of new iconic instruments like the Fender Precision Bass and then the Fender Stratocaster, the sound of the music changed. The sound that was soft and low was now crunchy and loud. While it did not sit well with the adults, it was a hit among the new generation. Even the African American roots of the music didn’t deter the youth listening

The Beatles are one of the most innovative rock bands of all time. They have not only changed the way rock and roll is looked at, but also the way that the music is recorded. They have influenced the artists of the 60s and the 70s, and also many generations later and to come. Originating from Liverpool, England, the Beatles, or the Fab Four, consists of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Topping the charts in ’63 with “Love Me Do,” and bringing in the highest rated viewing in history while performing on the Ed Sullivan Show, the Beatles are definitely a band that broke the sound barrier of rock

Teenage Rebellion is a major influence on the popularity of rock and roll in the 60’s. Society as a whole was well reserved and private about their personal and sexual lives. A struggling economy left most families spending the majority of income on basic living needs. Few households had disposable income.

“The warden threw a party in the county jail. The prison band was there and they began to wail. The band was jumpin' and the joint began to swing. You should've heard them knocked-out jailbirds sing.” These lyrics from Elvis Presley’s hit song “Jailhouse Rock” clearly illustrate how teenagers reacted to his new brand of music, Rock ‘n’ Roll in the 1950s. Elvis and his music came in a time when the baby boomers were teenagers and beginning to identify themselves and discover music. The civil rights movement was just about to begin, and the tension between whites and blacks was just beginning to decrease. The two races found companionship when listening to music, and Elvis helped to connect the dots even more. Elvis was a music icon that the

The genre started out as a more instrumental genre, with pioneering bands like Dick Dale and the Del-Tones, usually with leading electric guitars but soon evolved into the more vocal surf pop, commonly associated with the Beach Boys. This then evolved into a genre known as Hot Rod Rock, which is was instrumental surf rock music with lyrics more about cars and girls to appeal to teenaged boys. The influences of the surf music that came out in the 60s can be seen in today’s surf music, with bands such as The Break, Los Fantasticos, and The Sharkskins clearly expressing the likes of 60s surf musician Dick Dale.

would feel left out by the topics that they sung about or the style in

Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Carl Wilson, Mike Love, and Alan Jardine all made up the Beach Boys. The Beach Boys were all born in the 1940s. The Wilson’s and

     From the sounds of Elvis many other important bands of the sixties were inspired, even people a thousand miles away from America. One of these important bands was the Beatles. The Beatles took the rock sound and added more lyrical and musical complexity to the sound. The Beatles were the starters of the “British Invasion” in 1963 when they released “I want to Hold Your Hand” (Kallen, 2012, 31). After their first single they had immense success with other hits such as “She Loves You” and “Woooo!” The Beatles continued to reinvent their music on the various other albums throughout the sixties delving into complex, heavy existential concepts and psychedelic elements, becoming the most relevant influence for modern rock.

One of the most influential groups of the 20th Century—the Beatles revolutionized rock and roll into what we know it as today. Not only were they great musicians, they wrote and composed each of their songs. The band proved to be popular and exciting causing mass hysteria at each of their public performances. The “Fab Four’s” talent was so great that the phenomenon was termed “Beatlemania” in Britain and eventually erupted in the United States being called the British Invasion of the Beatles (Britannica Online, 2005).

The Beatles were more than their music. They influenced the lives of millions of people unlike any musicians before them. They were the first and most popular band in one of the most important music movements in American history, the British Invasion. The year 1964 was the year both the British Invasion and “Beatlemania” came to America and forever changed the landscape of music in the United States by introducing the genre of pop, as it is today. The Beatles changed the rules of music. Many things that are considered normal now were pioneered by the Beatles such as: creating compilation albums, expressing their views on world happenings through the media, musicians in movies, and even mass media advertising. The beatles

In the 1960’s British artists took their modified edition of rock and roll, crossed the Atlantic Ocean and shared it with America. This concept would end up being acknowledged as the British Invasion. The British Invasion is the movement where bands from the United Kingdom became popular in the United States. It involved the virtual control of AM radio and the record industry in the United States by British artists, particularly the groups who had confirmed to be experts at recycling the American rhythm and blues and rockabilly songs of the 1950’s (Burns 2004). This movement is described as one of the most fascinating aspects of rock revolution that stimulated young American audiences by a second-hand version of American music traditions and filtered through British sensibilities (Winkler 1988). Due to The Beatles’ heavy influence on American music culture, it is still debated whether or not they were the greatest band of all time. There are many theories as to why America supported and embraced The Beatles’ success. The focal point shifted from the aftershock of John F. Kennedy’s death towards The Beatles and their rising popularity. This phenomenon changed the idea of rock and roll, as well as other

Known for being pioneers for rock 'n roll music in the 1960s the Beatles weren 't always musical celebrities. Coming from humble beginnings in

Formed in the sixties, The Rolling Stones consisted of Brian Jones, Ian Stewart, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, and Charlie Watts. Referring to themselves as the World’s Greatest Rock and Roll band, the song “Rollin’ Stones” written by Muddy Waters is what stemmed into the band 's name. The Stones recorded and sold what is estimated to be more than a quarter million albums until the early 1980s when Jagger and Richard had a fight over musical direction and the group grew apart from each other and did not record any music for years. Soon after The Rolling Stones were accepted into the Rock and Roll hall of fame in 1989, the band got back together and begin making more music. In 1994 the Rolling Stones won their first Grammy with the song “Voodoo Lounge”. After this success, the Stones embarked on a major tour raising a gross income of almost three million dollars. Throughout the 2000s, the band released albums and performed on tours pleasing the music world still to this day with the oldest member, Charlie Watts being 75 years old.

However, the 1960s was considered at a stand still when it came to popular music. In 1964, when the Beatles arrived to America, everything changed. I think this was the time when Rock-n-Roll was truly reborn as Rock music. “The changing of Rock and Roll terminology is illustative. “Rock and Roll” became simply “Rock”, connoting its new heaviness (seriousness)” (Cary, pg 31) The oncoming decade allowed for new developments within rock music and as a result, soared in popularity. The British invasion, a phrase coined by Walter Cronkite while reporting the arrival of the Beatles in the USA,and American folk singers were the causes of the rapid changes in Rock music. It was British bands that altered how Rock-n-Roll was played, and at the the same time American folk singers were in the process of changing how its audience, particularly the youth, perceived it.