Episode7: Sounds of the 60's

Sounds of the 60's Spotify Playlist

This week is about the quintessential sounds of the 60's

Transcript

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Welcome to Mixtapes of Today, Episode 7. I am your host, Suze Jones. This week we're going to talk about the sounds of the 60s. Iconic 1960s songs defined a decade of cultural upheaval and musical innovation. The decade was marked as turbulent and was defined by intense social, political, and cultural change. It was the peak of the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, and the rise of a youth-driven counterculture. The era saw major shifts in equality, music, social norms, as well as milestones in technology. I personally was not alive in the 1960s, but the music has always been a part of my life, from having parents and older siblings that experienced all of it, and their influence brought a different mindset. Here are 11 tracks that I will always consider to be the quintessential sounds of the 60s. Check out my Spotify playlist link in the description. Track 1, California Dreamin' by the Mamas and the Papas. The song was written in 1963 while John Phillips and Michelle Phillips were living in New York City during a particular cold winter. And they were definitely missing sunny California. John would work on compositions late at night and brought Michelle the first verse one morning. At the time, John and Michelle Phillips were members of the folk group The New Journeyman, which evolved into The Mamas and the Papas. The best known version by The Mamas and the Papas, who released it as a single in December 1965, California Dreamin' became a well-known example of the California sound in the 1960s counterculture era. Simon wrote The Sound of Silence when he was 21 years old, later explaining that the song was written in his bathroom, where he turned off the lights to better concentrate. In 1965, the song began to attract airplay at radio stations in Boston and throughout Florida. The growing airplay led Tom Wilson, the song's producer, to remix the track, overdubbing electric instruments and drums. This remixed version was released as a single in September 1965. Simon and Garfunkel were not informed of the song's remix until after its release. The remix hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending January 1st, 1966.

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People hearing without listening. People writing songs that voices never shared.

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Track three Leaving on a Jet Plane performed by Peter, Paul, and Mary. Leaving on a Jet Plane is a song written and recorded by American singer John Denver in 1966. Originally included on his debut demo recording John Denver Sings. Its original title was Babe I Hate to Go.

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Tell me that.

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He made several copies and gave them out as presents for Christmas of that year. Denver's then producer, Milt Hawkin, convinced him to change the title, it was renamed Leaving On a Jet Plane in 1967. In 1969, folk group Peter Paul and Mary's version hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100, their most successful single. It also reached number one in Canada and number two in the United Kingdom.

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So kiss me and smile for me. Tell me that you wait for me. Hold me like you'll never let me go.

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Joe Cocker's version was a radical rearrangement of the original, inspired by his influences of Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles. Recorded by Denny Cordell and Tony Visconti and mixed by Tony Visconti, it used a slower tempo than the original and deployed different chords and a longer instrumental intro. It was considered a more rock and roll interpretation of the song with his strong, gruff voice and more personalized phrasing. The song was featured as the final track of the Zombies 1968 album Odyssey and Oracle. It was written by keyboardist Rod Argent and recorded at the EMI Abbey Road Studios in September of 1967. Over a year after its original release, the track became a surprise hit in the United States, rising to a number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one in the Cash Box chart. The song made extensive use of call and response vocals from singer Colin Bluntstone, interwoven with fast-paced psychedelic keyboard improvisation by Rod Argent. It has become one of the zombies most popular and recognizable songs, and it's an iconic hit of 1960s psychedelia.

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It's only right to think about the girl you love and hold her tight, so happy together.

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It was written by Gary Bonner and Alan Gordon and recorded by the American rock band The The Turtles. Bonner and Gordon composed the song while members of The Magicians. Its lyrics tell the story about an unrequited love, although it has a joyous melody. The composition was rejected by many artists before being accepted by the Turtles. It was released as a single backed with Like the Seasons in January 1967 and peaked at number one in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band's first and only chart topper there. It also reached the top 20 in various countries, including number two in Canada and number 12 in the UK. It was later included on the Turtles' third studio album, Happy Together, in 1967. Turn, Turn, Turn, also known as or subtitled to Everything There Is a Season, is a song written by Pete Seeger in 1959. The lyrics, except for the title, which is repeated throughout the song, and the final two lines, consist of the first eight verses of the third chapter of the biblical book of Ecclesiastes. The song was originally released in 1962 by the folk group The Limeliders, and then some months later on Seeger's own The Bitter and the Sweet album. The song became an international hit in late 1965 when it was adapted by the American folk group The Birds. And the single entered the U.S. chart at number 80 on October 23rd, 1965, before reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on December 4, 1965. In Canada, it reached number 3 on November 29, 1965, and it also peaked at number 26 on the UK singles chart. If I was to say to you, the song was principally written by the band's guitarist Robbie Krieger. Songwriting was credited to the entire band. Recognized as one of the earliest examples of psychedelic rock. It was recorded in 1966 and released in January of 1967 on their uh eponymous debut album. Due to its erotic lyrics and innovative structure, the track is widely regarded as an anthem of the 1960s psychedelia and counterculture movements. Although the album version was just over seven minutes long, it was widely requested for radio play by DJs and were asked that a shorter version be released as a single. At the reluctance of the band, the producer, Paul Rothschild, issued an edited single on April 24, 1967. The song spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Lennon and McCartney started composing She Loves You in June of that year, after a concert at the Majestic Ballroom during their tour with Roy Orbison and Jerry and the pacemakers, and they eventually completed it while at home in Liverpool. Lennon was inspired by the song All Shook Up, where Elvis Presley's phrasing, Yeah, yeah, yeah, was part of a refrain, as well as the woos that were inspired by the Isley brothers. The single set and surpassed several sales records in the UK, and of course it set a record in the US during the British invasion as one of the five Beatles songs that held the top five positions in the chart simultaneously in April of 64. Originally recorded by American gospel and soul singer Irma Franklin in 1967. The song became a bigger pop hit when recorded by American rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company in 1968 with lead singer Janice Joplin. The song was taken from the group's album Cheap Thrills, recorded in 1968, and released on Columbia Records. The song's instrumentation was arranged by Sam Andrew, who performed three distorted loud guitar solos for a psychedelic touch. This rendition made it to number 12 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Until her death in 1970, Peace of My Heart was Joplin's biggest chart, success, and best-known song. Since then, me and Bobby McGee has grabbed that top spot. The song featured his inventive guitar playing, which uses the signature Hendrix chord and a mix of blues and eastern modalities shaped by novel sound processing techniques. Because of the uncertain definition and the lyrics, listeners often interpret the song as referring to a psychedelic experience, although Hendrix described it as a love song. Many fans and the press interpret the song as referring to a psychedelic experience of drugs, but his producer Chaz Chandler denies that Hendrix was under the influence while composing the guitar riff and lyrics. Chandler heard Hendrix toying around with a new guitar riff and told Hendrix to keep working on that because it sounded like his next single. Chandler claimed that after some more urging, Hendrix wrote the rest of Purple Haze and the dressing room of a London club during the afternoon of December 26, 1966, before a gig. It charted at number 65 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, number 3 in the UK, and hit the charts in several other countries. The song also became popular as one of the songs performed by Hendricks during Woodstock in 1969. This concludes this episode of Mixtapes of Today. Hope you enjoyed the list this week. 11 tracks that represent the sounds of the 60s. Please check out the Spotify playlist link in the description. Thanks for listening to Mixtapes of Today. We will be back next week. Talk to you soon.