British Invasion

carpet
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Fri Nov 26, 2010 7:45 pm

I've just been reading about the british invasion. Can anyone tell me who/what was dominating the american charts before the british invasion took place, say from 1960-64?

Thanks


Chasplaya
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Fri Nov 26, 2010 8:27 pm

From the late 50's to early 60' there was the Nashville sound a slick production of country, then came the Bakersfield sound which went into a more country rock feel. Early 60's music also revolved around the various 'causes' of the time opposing certain ideas, influenced by the sexual revolution, feminism, Black Power and environmentalism. Also a lot of the girl groups singing soul music, R&B and then Motown. I guess also Southern Californian surf sound emerged with the beach Boys. Quite a diverse choice in these times.


dieguy
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Sat Nov 27, 2010 2:00 am

I am not speaking from experience as I was not even born yet but I would have to believe that before the Beatles, Elvis was the Biggest Act going. If I am not mistaken I believe Elvis wasn't all to happy about the British Invasion because they stole the spotlight from him.


Bill


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neverfoundthetime
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Sat Nov 27, 2010 5:42 am

I'm sure there's a music historian on TG who knows better (Neil?) but I reckon it was Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Little Richard on the rock 'n' roll side and Johnny Cash on the country side, Ray Charles on the soul side and I think the folk movement was strong too with Joan Baes and Dylan was arriving on the scene with folk and protest songs. However, I know that the Mamas and the Papas had just formed and once they heard the Beatles they knew that folk would go electric and the Beatles sound was the beginning of the future. Dylan plugged in and upset Pete Seger and folk fans at the Newport Jazz festival (1964, I think) and the ball was rolling. Brian Wilson and the The Baach Boys were influenced by and competed with The Beatles who were in turn influenced by them. The Beatles line up of a drummer, a bass player, lead and rhythm guitars became the standard and was copied all over the place.


tom18
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Sat Nov 27, 2010 8:52 am

Carpet,
All these posts are correct. I was a pretty young kid then but I also remember the radio playing a lot of Perry Como, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Paul Anka, Robert Goulet etc. We only had one radio station and it wasn't much, in fact I think they were a little scared of acts like Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and even Elvis. In any case, I didn't relate to what they broadcast and hardly paid attention to it. Then Roy Orbison came along and he GOT my attention. Around the same time my mother came home with a 45 RPM disk of one of the Beatle's earliest hits. I remember being a little skeptical at first but I caught on quick. Damn, I sure wish I still had that 45!
By the time I graduated from highschool we'd moved to a bigger town, the British invasion was a thing of the past and I was listening to Hendrix, Zeppelin and all that delicious psychedelic rock. They also threw a party called Woodstock that summer....
Tom


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jcrocket
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Sat Nov 27, 2010 11:40 am

I was pretty young then, but if you listen to the soundtrack of the movie "American Graffiti", I think that pretty well captures the essence of what was being played around here at least.

I was 7 when the Beatles made the appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show that basically kicked off the British Invasion, and remember them vividly. My sister, however, was 14, and spent the next several years wearing out the grooves on every Beatles record she could get her hands on.

Jeff


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Sun Nov 28, 2010 7:41 am

Yeah I agree it was alot of the Elvis, Chuck Berry.But I also seem to remember the country songs becoming a little more played on the am radio songs like Johnny Cash Ring of Fire, King of the Road (not Cash) and others.Then silly songs like Name Game and things like that. When the invasion began it seemed to consume the air ways, and that point nothing else really mattered to me.
Pete


stratman3
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Sun Nov 28, 2010 8:24 am

I agree with most everyone on this post. I was 12 years old in Feb of 64, a kid growing up in Chicago, when the Beatles played the Ed Sullivan show, I also remember it vividly, it was unbeliveable, they were such a hit in the US it changed everything. If I remember right, they played the Sullivan show again the following Sunday night and yes that started it all, after that came the Dave Clark Five, The Stones. etc.
I have a sister who is four years older then me so she did have a big effect on what I listened to, but we were on the same page when it came to music being played in our house.
My parents were listening to the Rat Pack, Frank Sinatria, Sammy Davis, the crooners, Perry Como, etc. The popular music prior to the British Invasion was artists like Gene Pitney, Roy Oberson, Jerry Lee Lewis and of course Elvis.

Gary B)


carpet
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Sun Nov 28, 2010 2:22 pm

alright cool. thanks guys - i like all that stuff that came before too.


AndyT
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Mon Nov 29, 2010 1:31 am

King of The Road was Roger Miller. I can still hear the old 78 cranking it out....

"Trailers for sale or rent..."


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