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The Sixties: The Mid-Sixties 1966-1968

This guide covers the decade 1960 - 1970

Notes

Beginning in 1965, Rock & Roll was changing, creating subgenres: Blues, Psychedelic and Folk Rock. Much of this change was happening on the West Coasti especially in San Francisco which had become a countercultural haven. This led to the Monterey Pop Festival, celebrating these new genres. Two albums transformed Rock & Roll from the good time, danceable, 45-single music for teenagers to the seriously adult listening experience of album Rock: The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds (1966) and The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967). There was still a huge market for a youth-oriented Mainstream Rock & Roll. And another subgenre for young teens appeared called Bubblegum Rock.

Folk Rock

  • California Dreamin', The Mamas & the Papas (1965)
  • Do You Believe in Magic? Lovin' Spoonfu (1965)
  • Like a Rolling Stone, Bob Dylan (1965)
  •  Turn! Turn! Turn! , The Byrds (1965)
  • For What It's Worth, Buffalo Springfield (1966)
  • The Sounds Of Silence,  Simon & Garfunkel (1966)
  • Get Together, The Youngbloods (1967)
  • Fortheringay, Fairport convention
  • It's a Beautiful Day, Moby Grape (1968)
  • Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, Crosby, Stills & Nash (1969)

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Movies

Bubblegum Rock

  1. Simon Says, 1910 Fruitgum Company (1968)
  2. Dizzy, Tommy Roe (1969)
  3. Gimme Gimme Good Lovin', Crazy Elephant (1969)
  4. Yummy Yummy Yummy, The Ohio Express (1968)
  5. Smile a Little Smile for Me, The Flying Machine (1969)
  6. Sugar Sugar, The Archies (1969)
  7. Tracy, The Cuff Links (1969)
  8. Easy Come, Easy Go, Bobby Sherman(1970)
  9. I Think I Love You, The Partridge Family (1970
  10. Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes), Edison Lighthouse (1970)

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Psychedelic Music

Psychedlic rock: a genre of music begun in San Francisco, influenced by the blues, and inspired by the use psychedelic drugs by the counterculture.

  • Light My Fire, The Doors (1967)
  • Incense and Peppermints, Strawberry Alarm Clock (1967)
  • Omaha, Moby Grape (1967)
  • Purple Haze, Jimi Hendrix (1967)
  • San Francisco Nights, Eric Burdon & the Animals (1967)
  • White Rabbit, Jefferson Airplaned (1967)
  • A Whiter Shade of Pale, Procol Harum (1967)
  • Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In), The First Edition  (1968)
  • Magic Carpet Ride, Steppenwolf (1968)
  • White Room, Cream (1968)
  • White Bird, It's a Beautiful Day (1969)

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San Francisco Rocks

Blues Rock

  • Born in Chicago, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band (1965)
  • Ramblin' on My Mind, John Mayall's Blues Breakers (1966)
  • Hey Joe, Jimi Hendrix Experience (1967)
  • Need Your Love So Bad,  Fleetwood Mac (with Peter Green) (1968)
  • Piece of My Heart, Janis Joplin & Big Brother & the Holding Company (1968)
  • Crossroads, Cream (1969)
  • Going Up the Country, Canned Heat (1969)
  • Loan Me a Dime, Boz Scaggs (1969)
  • Be Careful With a Fool, Johnny Winter (1969)
  • Good Times Bad Times, Led Zeppelin (1969)
  • Whipping Post, The Allman Brothers (1969)

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60s Middle Class & Working Class Songs

  • Working for the Man, Roy Orbison (1964)
  • Dangling Conversations, Simon & Garfunkel (1966)
  • Georgy Girl, The Seekers (1966)
  • Mother's Little Helper, The Rolling Stones (1966)
  • The House Song, Peter Paul & Mary (1967)
  • Pleasant Valley Sunday, The Monkees (1967)
  • She's Leaving Home, The Beatles (1967)
  • Dreams of the Everyday Housewife, Glenn Campbell (1968)
  • Mrs. Robinson, Simon & Garfunkel (1968)
  • Fortunate Son, Creedence Clearwater Revival (1969)
  • Working Class Hero, John Lennon (1970)
  • Won't Get Fooled Again, The Who (1971)

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Mainstream Rock & Roll

  • Kind of a Drag, The Buckinghams (1966)
  • These Boots Are Made for Walking, Nancy Sinatra (1966)
  • Daydream Believer, The Monkees (1967)
  • Happy Together, The Turtles (1967)
  • How Can I Be Sure, The Rascals (1967)
  •  Let's Live For Today, Grass Roots (1967)
  • The Letter, The Box Tops (1967)
  • San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear [Some] Flowers in Your Hair), Scott McKenzie (1967)
  • Up Up Up and Away, The 5th Dimension (1967)
  • These Eyes, The Guess Who (1969)

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Albums for Listening

  • Freak Out!, The Mothers of Invention (1966)
  • Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys (1966)
  • Aretha: Lady Soul, Aretha Franklin (1967)
  • Are You Experienced? Jimi Hendrix (1967)
  • Frank Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim, Frank Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim (1967)
  • John Wesley Harding, Bob Dyan (1967)
  • Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, (1967)
  • The Velvet Underground and Nico, The Velvet Underground (1967)
  • Astral Weeks, Van Morrison (1968)
  • Beggar's Banquet, The Rolling Stones (1968)
  • Dusty in Memphis, Dusty Springfield (1968)
  • Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, Johnny Cash (1968)
  • The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, The Kinks (1968)
  • Music From Big Pink, The Band (1968)
  • Odyssey and Oracle, The Zombies (1968)
  • The Sounds of India, Ravi Shankar (1968)
  • Stand!, Sly and the Family Stone (1968)

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Additional References

Crampton, L., & Rees, D. (2003). Rock & roll year by year. Dorling Kindersley.
Covach, J. R., & Flory, A. (2015). What's that sound?: An introduction to rock and its history. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Davies, Hunter, et al. The Beatles Book. Ebury Press, 2019.
McCleary, J. B., & McCleary, J. J. (n.d.). The hippie dictionary: a cultural encyclopedia (and phraseicon) of the 1960s and 1970s. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press.
Stodder, C., & Phillips, M. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Sixties Cool: A Celebration of the Grooviest People, Events, and Artifacts of the 1960s[Kindle]. Retrieved from Amazon. com.
Ward, E. (2019). History of Rock and Roll, Volume 2: 1964-1977: the Beatles, the Stones, and the Rise of Classic Rock. New York: Flatiron Books.