The
Animals, lead by singer, Eric Burdon, were part of the British invasion of the Sixties.
The Animals were among the finest of the blues-based rock bands to emerge from Britain in the Sixties.
Burdon,
organist Alan Price and drummer John Steel started out in a Newcastle band called the Kansas City Five.
In 1962, with the additions of guitarist Hilton Valentine and bassist Chas
Chandler, the band eventually became known as the Animals.
The band landed a regular gig at the Crawdaddy Club in London. Record producer Mickie Most got them
signed to EMI on the strength of their live performances, and the label
released their first singles, “Baby Let Me Take You Home” and “House of the
Rising Sun,” in 1964. The latter song would become a huge hit and transform the
band into one of the leading acts of the British Invasion.
The
Animals continued recording a slew of hits throughout the Sixties with, “Don’t
Let Me Be Misunderstood,” “We Got to Get Out Of This Place,” “When I Was Young,”
“Monterrey,” and Sky Pilot.”
After
recording several excellent albums, starting with their fine debut release, “The
Animals” (1964) the band broke-up in 1969.
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Them was perhaps the best of the British
blues-rock bands that emerged during the Sixties. The band covered much of the
same blues/R&B terrain as bands such as the Rolling Stones and Yardbirds,
yet they possessed the best white blues shouter of the era, Van Morrison.
Them was formed in Belfast, Ireland, in
1964, and the band quickly gained a reputation for its hard drinking and
brawling as well as music.
The band’s first album, “Here Comes the Night” (1965), was a brilliant debut which combined inspired covers of blues standards
and original material. The title track, “Here Comes the Night,” would become a
hit. “Mystic Eyes” and “Gloria” are also standout tracks. The band’s sophomore album,
“Them Again” (1966), continued in the same rave-up R&B vein with
outstanding covers of “Turn On Your Love Light,” “I Put a Spell on You,” and “I
Got a Woman.”
Van Morrison left the group after Them
Again to pursue a solo career and the band continued without him. Despite the
loss of Morrison, Them produced two more solid albums featuring a new
psychedelic sound, “Now and Them” (1968) and “Time Out! Time in for Them”
(1968). Complete Them (1964-1967)
is a fine compilation of the band’s work
The Beatles are almost universally regarded
as the greatest act in the history of post-war popular music, and that claim is
hard to deny when one considers their status as the biggest selling musical act
in history, their universal critical acclaim, and the never duplicated hysteria
that surrounded the band during the height of “Beatlemania” in the Sixties. The
cult of the Beatles is alive and well around the world more than 40 years after
the band’s demise.
The group got its start in Liverpool, in the Fifties, as a John Lennon-led skiffle
band called the “Quarryman.” Lennon was a rebellious Liverpool youth who had
been introduced to rock and roll music from the recordings brought across the
Atlantic and into Liverpool by English
merchant sailors. It was from these recordings that Lennon and his generation
in England
were first introduced to the likes of Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Little
Richard, Fats Domino, and other early fathers of the music. Eager to emulate
his new heroes and make a name for himself, Lennon recruited some schoolmates
to join him in his new band. Members would come and go until the band settled
with a lineup of Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe, and
Pete Best, a drummer.
The band changed their name to the Silver
Beetles for a time and then finally settled on “The Beatles.” The band acquired
an avid local following in Liverpool and
became a fixture at the Cavern Club, where they performed inspired sets on a
regular basis. While the band was playing clubs in Hamburg, Germany, Sutcliffe
fell in love with a German girl and decided to stay behind, leaving the Beatles
a four man outfit. Sutcliffe would die of a brain hemorrhage at age 21 in 1962.
The group made its first recording as the
backing band for singer Tony Sheridan on the single, “My Bonnie,” which
received airplay in Liverpool area. The
popularity of this record inspired Liverpool
record shop owner Brian Epstein to attend one of the Beatles’ Cavern shows, and
when Epstein witnessed the wild reaction of the audience, he convinced the
group to take him on as their manager. Epstein convinced the band to drop
drummer Pete Best from the group in favor of Ringo Starr from a rival Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. The final
roster of the Beatles was set with Lennon and Harrison on guitar, Paul
McCartney on bass, and Ringo Starr on drums. The group would record the
moderately successful single, “Love Me Do,” before the end of 1962.
Epstein then began to search for a record
label to sign his band. After numerous rejections, the band was finally signed
by the Parlophone label. The Beatles recorded their first album for the label,
“Please Please Me,” in 1963. The album was recorded in a single day, apparently
to capture as close as possible the immediacy of their live shows. Although
Epstein had trouble finding a U.S.
label to sign the band, he managed to get the Beatles booked on the Ed Sullivan
TV Show in April, 1964. New York disc jockey, Murray the K, hyped the
Beatles upcoming TV appearance, setting the stage for the birth of Beatlemania.
The Beatles appearance on the Sullivan show was a sensation seen by millions of
Americans, and the Beatles become international superstars overnight.
The Beatles thus began an exhausting two
years of near constant recording and touring. The early Beatles records were
released separately in the U.S.
and U.K.,
sometimes with different titles. For example, “Please, Please Me,” the band’s
first U.K. album was
released in the U.S.
as “Meet the Beatles.” The names of the albums don’t matter much as everything
this band recorded is essential, and any collection of Beatles music is
guaranteed to be of high quality. Titles to look for from the 1964 albums are:”
With the Beatles,” “Twist and Shout,” “A Hard Days Night,” “Beatles for Sale,” and “Beatles 65.”
The Beatles’ music would soon change from light poppy love songs to darker and
more introspective fare as the group attempted to expand its musical horizons.
With the release of the album, “Help” (1965),
the Beatles began the process of reinventing themselves. The title track, “Help,”
“Yesterday,” and the very Dylanesque,
“You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” saw the group moving into previously
uncharted territory. Their songs were still just as catchy, the harmonies still
as sweet, but the material had become darker and more intriguing.
This artistic growth continued on the next
album, “Rubber Soul” (1965), and for the next five albums. This string of
albums represents the Beatles’ best work and some of the best albums of popular
music ever recorded. On Rubber Soul, the band begins to experiment musically
with the inclusion of sitar on “Norwegian Wood,” and several songs such as
“Michelle,” “If I Needed Someone,” and “In My Life” which could easily be
classified as “folk rock.”
The Beatles’ following studio release,
“Revolver” (1966), sees the Beatles at the peak of their powers. Revolver is an
astonishing collection of songs representing a myriad of styles from the art
rock of “Eleanor Rigby” and “Good Day Sunshine” to the hard rock of “Taxman”
and full blown psychedelic experimentation in “Tomorrow Never Knows.”
The release of Revolver coincided with the
band’s retirement from live performances. Freed of life on the road, the
Beatles would dedicate themselves to experimentation in the recording studio.
With the able support of their producer, George Martin, the group would again
reach new heights of creativity in the studio with “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts
Club Band” (1967). This album’s overt experimentation was an attempt by John
Lennon and Paul McCartney to outdo the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson who had raised
the studio bar with his work on the Beach Boys’ classic recording, “Pet Sounds,”
during the previous year. “Sgt. Pepper,” which is often cited as the Beatles’
magnum opus, is every bit as thrilling as Revolver with epic songs such as “Lovely
Rita,” “For the Benefit of Mr. Kite,” “She’s Leaving Home,” and ‘A Day in the
Life.”
The Beatles kept rolling with the double album
simply titled, “The Beatles” (1968). Its unadorned, solid white cover earned it
the nickname, “The White Album,” among fans. The album is amazingly eclectic
and contains nary a bad tune amid its myriad of tracks. Among the album’s
classic tunes are, “Blackbird,” “Mother Nature’s Son,” “Revolution,” “Back in
The USSR,” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”
In 1969, The Beatles would release their
last true studio album, “Abbey
Road.” Group in-fighting that had lasted for
several years was becoming intolerable and Paul McCartney was tiring of holding
things together. McCartney would later signal the demise of the band by
releasing his first solo album in 1970. Abbey Road was another brilliant effort that
contained classic tracks such as “Come Together,” “Here Comes the Sun,” and
most impressively, the medley of short, connected songs that finishes the
album.
“Let It Be,” which was recorded prior to Abbey Road, would
be released in 1970 with the title track, “Let it Be,” and Lennon’s “Across the
Universe” as standout tracks.
Black
Sabbath is a seminal band in the history of rock music. The band played a brand
of hard rock that would tragically spawn much of the regrettable heavy
metal/death metal music of recent years. Black Sabbath’s music in their early
years, however, was majestic hard rock rooted in the blues and played with
skill and precision.
The band,
comprised of singer Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tommy Iommi, bassist Geezer
Butler, and drummer Bill Ward came out of Birmingham,
England, in
1968. The band’s first four albums were outstanding efforts and all remain
classics of the hard rock genre. The band’s eponymous debut, “Black Sabbath”
(1970), was a showcase for the fine guitarist Iommi, and the haunted, intense
vocals of Osbourne. The album is spellbinding from start to finish, especially
on the title track, “Black Sabbath” and “The Wizard.”
The
band’s sophomore release, “Paranoid” (1970), was the equal to the impressive
debut and features some progressive rock influences such as the track,
“Electric Funeral.” The album’s best known track, “Iron Man,” is probably the
weakest track on the album. “Master of Reality” (1971), another classic of the
genre, followed next. It contains the classic marijuana anthem, “Sweet Leaf.”
Sabbath
next released “Volume 4” (1972), an album that is much more experimental and includes
frequent use of synthesizers. The best track here is the ballad, “Changes,”
featuring an unforgettable vocal performance by Osbourne.
Black
Sabbath would release another decent album, “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” (1973),
before their descent to heavy metal mediocrity and the eventual departure of
Ozzy Osbourne.
The Rolling Stones are, save the Beatles,
the most famous rock band of all time. The Stones emerged from London around
the same time that the Beatles were breaking out from their hometown,
Liverpool. While the Beatles have long ago parted, The Rolling Stones are still a
functioning rock band, although with its members now in their seventies, the
band is now only occasionally productive.
The Stones current lineup consists of Mick
Jagger on lead vocals; Keith Richards on guitar; Charlie Watts on drums; and
Ron Wood on guitar. All the current members except Wood have been with the band
from the beginning, and the band has seen limited personnel changes despite its
long run of 50 years.
The Stones started out in the early Sixties
as one of the finest white blues bands of the day, led at that time, by the
late blues guitarist, Brian Jones. In the band’s earliest incarnation, they
were a blues and R&B band, and Jones was the driving force and resident
blues expert. The band’s name came from the Muddy Waters song, “Rollin’ Stone.”
The band played their first gig at London’s Marquee Club before landing a
regular gig at the Crawdaddy Club. Former Beatles publicist, Andrew Loog Oldham
became the Stones manager around this time.
Oldham’s first act was to secure a
lucrative recording deal for his new band. Decca Records, which was still
reeling from their failure to sign the Beatles, offered Oldham a sweet deal for
the Stones. Oldham, then began to publicize the Stones as the anti-Beatles, a
band of louts who were the polar opposite of the clean and decent Beatles. In
spring 1963, Decca released the first Stones’ single, a cover of Chuck Berry’s,
“Come On.”
The Stones recorded their debut album, “The
Rolling Stones,” in 1964. The album only contained one song written by Jagger
and Richards, with the rest of the songs being blues cover songs. Oldham
encouraged Jagger and Richards to work on their songwriting, as he believed
that the band would have limited appeal if it continued to just perform songs
by “middle-aged blacks.” Two more albums relying heavily on covers of R&B
and blues, “The Rolling Stones Number 2” and “The Rolling Stones Now,” were
released in 1965. The songwriting team of Jagger and Richards were beginning to
produce results with their first self-written hit, “Heart of Stone,” appearing
in 1964.
The Stones first album with a significant
amount of original material, “Out of Our Heads,” was released in 1965. This
album contained the Stones first big international hit single, “Satisfaction,” and
the single turned the band into bona-fide pop stars. The album contained
several other excellent tracks such as, “Play with Fire” and “The Last Time.”
The Stones would continue to improve on
their next release, “Aftermath” (1966), an album of mostly original songs that
includes the early classic songs, “Mother’s Little Helper,” “Lady Jane,” and
“Under My Thumb.” The latter track riled feminists and helped to solidify the
band’s “bad boy” image.
In early 1967, the band’s next album,
“Between the Buttons,” was released. This album saw the band moving away from
the blues and R&B they had long focused on, and further into the realm of
rock and the psychedelia that was so pervasive at the time. Later in 1967, the
band would dive headlong into psychedelia with “Their Satanic Majesties Request,”
a full-blown psychedelic freak out which was panned by many critics, but is
still an interesting offering with the excellent tracks, “She’s A Rainbow” and
“2000 Light Years from Home.”
Between 1968 and 1972, the band would enjoy
a golden period that would see the band record an outstanding string of albums
which are all now considered among the very best albums of 20th
century popular music.
The first, “Beggar’s Banquet,” appeared in
1968, and featured some of the best rock and blues tracks ever recorded by a
rock band. “Sympathy for the Devil” is the most famous track on the album,
followed closely by ”Street Fighting Man.” The blues chops of the band,
especially in the case of Brian Jones, are on full display on tracks such as
“No Expectations” which features fine slide blues guitar by Jones. “Prodigal
Son” is a fine country blues cover. Brian Jones would die tragically from
drowning in his swimming pool shortly after the release of the album.
In 1969, “Let it Bleed” appeared, and like
its predecessor, it contained excellent tracks of rock and blues. Several of
the band’s most famous songs are found here such as, “You Can’t Always Get What
You Want,” “Gimme Shelter,” and the title track. The cover of Robert Johnson’s
“Love in Vain” is one of the highlights of the band’s recording career.
After a two-year hiatus from the studio,
during which time the excellent live album, “Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out” (1970)
appeared, another classic album, “Sticky Fingers” (1971), was released. The
album was the hardest rocking Stones album yet, and featured new guitarist,
Mick Taylor, who was brought in to replace the deceased Brian Jones. Taylor’s
presence on the album gave the band a fuller rock sound that was exploited on
the numbers, “Bitch,” “Can’t You Hear Me knocking,” and “Brown Sugar.” A fine
country-rock moment can be heard with “Wild Horses,” a song that Keith Richards
wrote with Gram Parsons of the Flying Burrito Brothers.
In 1972, the comprehensive and outstanding
double album, “Exile on Main Street,” was released, and it is considered by
many as the band’s definitive work. A slew of blues, R&B, and even gospel
tunes populate the album along side rock songs such as the hits, “Happy” and
“Tumbling Dice.”
The Stones’ work started to slide in the mid-Seventies,
with the band recording several albums which were several notches below the
superb work of the past. Keith Richard’s drug use would become an issue,
especially following his arrest at a Toronto hotel. It was not until 1978 that
the band would finally make an album worthy of their reputation. That album was
“Some Girls” (1978), featuring the stellar tracks, “Shattered” and “Beast of
Burdon.”
The band’s work from the Eighties to
present has been spotty, but there have always been fine moments such as the
album releases, “Tattoo You” (1981), “Stripped” (1995), “The Rolling Stones
Rock and Roll Circus” (1996), and “Shine a Light” (2008).
The band is still a touring unit and they
have ventured into new territory, playing concerts in Shanghai, China, in 2009.
