Happy New Year! And I mean that in more ways than one as on the very first day of 2014, I'm going to take you all back to 1967!
As usual, If you've just started reading up on this blog, I'd highly recommend reading the very first entry so you get an idea about what I do here. I'd also recommend seeking out an audio source of all the songs I review (making sure it's the original versions, and not a cover or live recording). That way, you can better appreciate my reviews of those songs.
1966 can almost be considered a "Cocoon" year in terms of rock music. So many of the genres and artists who would rise to fame in '67 were starting to experiment and change their sound throughout '66. Many of these new psychedelic sub-genres were underground and unless you lived in areas such as San Francisco or London, you would have no idea what new sounds awaited in the new year.
So if '66 was the year that psychedelia germinated and evolved, then 1967 was when it broke out of its cocoon and became mainstream, in full technicolor glory. Suddenly, the hair was growing longer, the clothes were getting more colorful, and the generation gap was rapidly expanding. With the growing unpopularity of the Vietnam War, and with the younger generation pursuing more progressive ideals, it's a wonder that a war didn't break out between the young and the old!
Musically, 1967 is one of the strongest of all time. It makes me weep to compare what was popular in 1967 with the exploitative viral garbage that hit #1 in 2013. '67 was the final year that AM radio featured ambitious rock alongside standard pop before FM came along in 1968. Of course, many of these more progressive artists were already considered popular at the time. Among the most notable was The Beatles who changed the pop music scene nearly overnight with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band, released on the cusp of the summer of love.
Upon the release of Sgt. Pepper, you had to go psychedelic, or at least change your sound, in order to remain hip. The Rolling Stones, The Hollies, The Troggs, The Beach Boys, and countless other pop/rock-oriented groups all released material with psychedelic leanings during 1967. As a result of this changing tide, earlier genres such as Surf Rock and Girl Groups essentially died out as more topical and forward thinking songs were released. Garage rock managed to still be relevant in '67, although many of these amateur bands now incorporated elements of psychedelia in their music.
On the flipside, you can say that because psychedelia became mainstream by the summer of '67, you had lots of very non-hippie oriented bands jumping on the bandwagon. Phrases like "Blowing my mind" or "Groovy", which were used only selectively in previous years, were now becoming corporate. Just imagine a 50-something business man selling a washing machine on TV telling the viewers, "This groovy machine will blow your mind with its far out spin cycles!" Regardless, the original ideals of the hippies were getting lost in translation.
But what about the more authentic psychedelic bands? Certainly The Beatles and Brian Wilson were on the cutting edge of the scene, both musically and culturally. However, you also had The Grateful Dead, The Jefferson Airplane, and Big Brother And The Holding Company. All three of these artists were influenced by blues, folk, and country. This melting pot of styles gave way to jam music, and suddenly, the idea of a 40 minute song not only was accepted in pop culture, it was inviting.
Over in Britain, you had some of the heaviest psychedelic rock being made. Most prominently with Pink Floyd, with their debut album, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. There was also The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, Traffic, and The Soft Machine, all of whom released some of their trippiest work in 1967. Jimi Hendrix in particular has gone down in history as one of, if not the, greatest guitar players who ever lived. It's a miracle then that he didn't emerge in the early 1960's, a time when his skilled guitar playing would have been shunned by the more conservative music fans.
There was also a darker side to psychedelia. Not every band embraced flower power or the peace & love mantras that we associate psychedelia with. No, bands like The Doors, and The Velvet Underground, rejected that lifestyle. Their music was darker, more dangerous, and of course, absolutely classic. Classic darker songs like "The End" or "Sister Ray" sound miles away from the happier San Francisco scene.
You could also put The Mothers Of Invention into this, "Progressive, but not hippie", category. The biggest difference being that unlike The Doors and The Velvet's, Frank Zappa was highly anti-drug, and would even fire members if they were heavy substance abusers. Frank ended up working on a whopping four music projects during 1967. One of those, We're Only In It For The Money, acted as a critique of the more mainstream aspects of the counterculture.
Yet, not all of the United States had a peaceful summer of love. For Detroit, the summer of '67 was full of deadly riots, violence, and a city in literal flames. Through all of this chaos, and despite the changing times, Motown records still managed to keep their same classic sound intact for one more year. Also, Atlantic and Stax-related R&B peaked in this year, no doubt due to the first successes of Aretha Franklin.
Finally, there were quite a few artists who ignored psychedelic influences in their music, while going back to roots in the process. Most notably, Bob Dylan spent the summer of '67 working with a group of musicians who would soon be known as The Band. Their work during this period is chronicled in The Basement Tapes, and it shows Dylan returning to a simpler and more roots-oriented sound. It wouldn't be until 1968 that other artists started following this "Back to basics" formula.
So how was 1967 in terms of #1 hits? Well, I will say that if you're reading this blog to laugh, as I ridicule bad songs, then this isn't your year. In fact, 1967 just may be the most wholesomely good year for pop music. Let's find out if that's true...
First Up For 1967 - "Kind Of A Drag" by The Buckinghams.
Until Next Time - I'm Dr. Rock, and I think I'm having a flashback -
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