Mid 60's American Bands

At the height of Beatles popularity in America in 1964 plus the Arrival of the other British Bands and conquered America, most of the U.S Acts became dissaray and instantly went out to the limelight. but in 1966 until the late 60's, many U.S bands was able to survive and make some headway to challenged the U.K Bands, whom for 2 years, has been consistenly dominating the U.S charts. Here are the most popular American Bands in the Mid 60's.

THE BYRDS

The Byrds were an American rock band. Formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964, The Byrds underwent several personnel changes, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973.

Their trademark songs include covers of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "My Back Pages", Pete Seeger’s "Turn! Turn! Turn!" and Carole King's "Goin' Back", as well as the originals "I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better", "Eight Miles High", "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star".

The Byrds were popular and influential during the mid-1960s and into the early 1970s. Initially, the band played folk rock, melding influences such as the British Invasion sound, contemporary folk and pop music. Later they expanded their sound into such sub-genres as space rock, psychedelic rock and, on their 1968 album Sweetheart of the Rodeo,country.

During 1991 they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2004 Rolling Stone Magazine ranked them #45 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

Mamas and the Papas

The Mamas & the Papas (credited as The Mama's and the Papa's on the debut album cover) were an American vocal group of the 1960s. The group recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968 with a short reunion in 1971, releasing five albums and 11 Top 40 hit singles. They have sold nearly 40 million records worldwide.

Their signature sound was based on four-part male/female vocal harmonies arranged by John Phillips, the band's songwriter who managed to "leave the folk music behind"[1] and blend his writing with the new "beat" sound in an unprecedented mode. On the other hand, The Mamas & the Papas were riven by internal frictions almost from the start which inevitably made them short-lived as a working band. This, as well as other heavily discussed issues like "Who sang and who was edited out from what final mix?" has contributed to the group's myth even forty years later.

The Young Rascals

The Rascals (initially known as The Young Rascals) were an American soul and rock rock band initially active during the years 1965–72. The band released numerous top ten singles in North America during the mid- and late-1960s, including the U.S. #1 hits "Good Lovin'" (1966), "Groovin'" (1967), and "People Got to Be Free" (1968). The band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.

Lovin Spoonful

The Lovin' Spoonful is an American pop rock band of the 1960s, named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. When asked about his band, leader John Sebastian said it sounded like a combination of "Mississippi John Hurt and Chuck Berry rock.

The Turtles

The Turtles are a U.S. rock group led by vocalists Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman. The band became notable for several Top 40 hits beginning with its cover version of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" in 1965. The group scored its biggest and best-known hit in 1967 with the song "Happy Together."

The Box Top

The Box Tops were a Memphis rock group of the second half of the 1960s. They are best known for the hits "The Letter," "Neon Rainbow," "Soul Deep," "I Met Her in Church," and "Cry Like A Baby," and are considered a major blue-eyed soul group of the period.

The Classic IV

Classics IV was a pop rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, United States, in 1965. The band and its lead singer Dennis Yost are principally known for the hits "Spooky" and "Stormy", both released in 1968 and both of which have become cover standards.

The Association

The Association is a pop music band from California in the sunshine pop genre. During the 1960s, they had numerous hits at or near the top of the Billboard charts and were the lead-off band at 1967's Monterey Pop Festival. As of 2010[update], they are still performing.

The Buckinghams

The Buckinghams are an American rock band from Chicago, Illinois. They formed in 1966and went on to become one of the top selling acts of 1967. The band dissolved in 1970but reformed in 1980 and still tours as part of "oldies" shows in America.

The Critters

The Critters were a successful American pop group with several hits in the 1960s.
The group formed in New Jersey in 1964 when singer-guitarist Don Ciccone and saxophonist Bob Podstawski joined local group the Vibratones, comprising Jim Ryan (lead guitar), Ken Gorka (bass), Jack Decker (drums), and Chris Darway (keyboards). They named themselves The Critters in emulation of similar band names like The Animals.

The Diva's of the 60's

These are the most succesful female vocalist in the 1960's

DUSTY SPRINGFIELD

Dusty Springfield, was a singer. Of all the female British pop artists of the 1960s, she made one of the biggest impressions on the American market. Owing to her distinctive sensual sound, she was one of the most notable white soul artists.

Born to an Irish Roman Catholic family that loved music, Mary O'Brien learned to sing at home. Springfield began her solo career in 1963 with the upbeat pop hit, "I Only Want To Be With You". Her following hits included "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself", "Wishin' and Hopin'" and "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me".

Petula Clark

Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II. During the 1960s she became known internationally for her popular upbeat hits, including "Downtown," "I Know a Place," "My Love," "Colour My World," "A Sign of the Times," and "Don't Sleep in the Subway". Clark's official website claims that she has sold in excess of 68 million records throughout her career.

Brenda Lee

American performer who sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis.[1] She is best known for her 1960 hit "I'm Sorry", and 1958's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", a US holiday standard for more than 50 years.

At 4 ft 9 inches tall, she received the nickname Little Miss Dynamite in 1957 after recording the song "Dynamite"; and was one of the earliest pop stars to have a major contemporary international following.

Lee's popularity faded in the late 1960s as her voice matured, but she continued a successful recording career by returning to her roots as a country singer with a string of hits through the 1970s and 1980s. She is a member of the Rock and Roll, Country Music and Rockabilly Halls of Fame, and currently lives in Nashville.

Cilla Black

Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous worldwide for her successful singles "Anyone Who Had A Heart", "You're My World", and "Alfie". After a successful recording career and a brief time as a comedy actress, she became the best paid female presenter in British television history. In September 2009, Black's 45 years in showbusiness was celebrated by EMI (the record label which launched her career in 1963) with the release of a new CD/DVD set alongside an album of club remixes (aka Cilla All Mixed Up).

The Girl Groups!

The conventional wisdom is that rock and roll "died" between 1959 and 1964 - roughly the period between Buddy Holly's plane crash in Clear Lake, Iowa and the Beatles' more upbeat arrival at JFK airport. In this scenario, The Day The Music Died is only the beginning, as Elvis enters the Army, Chuck Berry goes to jail, Jerry Lee Lewis is ruined, and Little Richard leaves the stage for the church.

Heavy blows, to be sure. But rock didn't die in that time period, obviously, it just recharged its creative batteries. Consider the Girl Group phenomenon of the early Sixties; it's thought of as a novelty or a time capsule of kitsch today, but these perfect pop symphonies mixed standard pop conventions with rock and roll sass, laying down the groundwork for rock's final acceptance into the mainstream. Where it has been ever since.

Of course, it also served as an important rite of passage for the American female, articulating their romantic angst while proving that rock, despite the 50s, was no boys club. It served other less-celebrated purposes, as well, launching the careers of songwriters like Carole King and producers like Phil Spector, helping fire up the Motown hit machine, and acting as a not-inconsiderable influence on four young lads from Liverpool. Here are the most Popular Girl Groups of the 60's!

THE RONETTES

The Ronettes were a 1960s girl group from New York City, best known for their work with producer Phil Spector. The group consisted of lead singer Veronica Bennett (a.k.a. Ronnie Spector); her sister, Estelle Bennett; and their cousin Nedra Talley. They reached the peak of their success after releasing Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica in 1964. Some of the group's most famous songs include "Be My Baby," "Baby, I Love You," "(The Best Part Of) Breakin' Up", and "(Walking) In the Rain."

The Ronettes - Be My Baby

The Shangri-las

The Shangri-Las were the most broadly appealing of all the '60s girl groups. What they sang about had a lot to do with it. The "hip" look combined with a measure of innocence also helped convince the kids of the sincerity of the Shangri-Las message.


The group consisted of four sisters Mary (lead) and Liz (Betty) Weiss and identical twins Marge and Mary Ann Ganser. All were 15 and 16 when they began singing at Andrew Jackson High School In the Cambria Heights section of Queens, New York Influenced by Little Anthony and the Imperials and the Four Seasons, they began playing school shows, talent shows and teen hops. The girls came to the attention of Artie Ripp, who arranged the groups first record deals with Smash, where they recorded "Simon Says" and with Spokane for "Wishing Well."

"Wishing Well" gave a taste of the future with it's talking intro over a capella harmony.

Shangri-La's- 'Give Him a Great Big Kiss'

The British Blues

British blues, the blues scene to which the Stones were first exposed and formed the band in, was a fairly recent and distinctive development. Players like Alexis Korner and Chris Barber came from jazz and skiffle backgrounds in the 1950s and it was through these influences that they incorporated blues. The blues which they performed at the Marquee and Ealing and other clubs in 1962 when the Stones formed, though it covered Chicago electric blues, nevertheless retained strong influences from the jazz and folk-blues genres. The scene provided the Stones environment in which to flourish, but ultimately did not correspond to the musical identity they formed. Here are the most Popular Blues Bands of the 60's!

The Cream

Cream were a 1960s British blues-rock band and supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer/vocalist Ginger Baker. Their sound was characterised by a hybrid of blues, hard rock and psychedelic rock,combining Eric Clapton's blues guitar playing with the voice and basslines of Jack Bruce and the jazz-influenced drumming of Ginger Baker. Wheels of Fire was the world's first platinum-selling double album. Cream is widely regarded as being the world's first notable and functioning supergroup.

Cream's music included songs based on traditional blues such as "Crossroads" and "Spoonful", and modern blues such as "Born Under a Bad Sign", as well as more eccentric songs such as "Strange Brew", "Tales of Brave Ulysses" and "Toad". Cream's biggest hits were "I Feel Free" (UK, #11),[3] "Sunshine of Your Love" (US, #5), "White Room" (US, #6),[7] "Crossroads" (US, #28),[7] and "Badge" (UK, #18).

Cream, together with The Jimi Hendrix Experience, made a significant impact upon the popular music of the time, and along with Jimi Hendrix popularised the use of the wah-wah pedal. They provided a heavy yet technically proficient musical theme that foreshadowed and influenced the emergence of English bands such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and The Jeff Beck Group in the late 1960s. The band's live performances influenced progressive rock acts such as Rush,[9] jam bands such as The Allman Brothers Band, Grateful Dead, Phish and heavy metal bands such as Black Sabbath.

Cream was ranked #16 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock and Rolling Stone Magazine named them the sixty-sixth greatest artist of all time.

Cream- Sunshine of Your Love

CREAM WHITE ROOM LIVE

The British Invasion 1964-66 part 1

The enormous success of The Beatles paved the way and opened the door for other groups and singers (during the British Invasion of 1964-1966), some of them also managed by Brian Epstein.
The British Invasion was, quite simply, one of the watershed developments in American popular music history. The phenomenon involved the virtual domination of AM radio and the record industry in the United States by British artists, particularly the beat groups who had proved adept at recycling the American rhythm and blues and rockabilly songs of the 1950s. Here are the most U.K Bands that make big in America.

GERRY & THE PACEMAKERS

Gerry & the Pacemakers were a British rock and roll group prominent during the 1960s. In common with The Beatles, they came from Liverpool and were managed by Brian Epstein.[1] They are most remembered for being the first act to reach number one in the UK Singles Chart with their first three single releases. It was a record that was not equalled for 20 years,[2] until the mid-80s success of fellow Liverpool band Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Gerry & the Pacemakers are the second most successful group from Liverpool to hit the US pop charts behind the Beatles.

Gerry & The Pacemakers - Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying

Gerry & The Pacemakers - How Do You Do

THE SEARCHERS

The Searchers are an English rock band who emerged as part of the 1960s Merseybeat scene along with The Beatles, The Swinging Blue Jeans, and Gerry & The Pacemakers.

The band's hits included a remake of the Drifters' 1961 hit, "Sweets for My Sweet"; remakes of Jackie DeShannon's "Needles and Pins" and "When You Walk In The Room"; an original song written for them, "Sugar and Spice"; The Orlons' "Don't Throw Your Love Away"; and a remake of The Clovers' "Love Potion No. 9". They were the second group from Liverpool, after the Beatles, to have a hit in the United States when "Needles and Pins" charted during the first week of March 1964.

The Searchers - Needles And Pins

The Searchers - Sweets For My Sweet

The 60's American Acts (Early 60's)

THE FOUR SEASONS

The Four Seasons is an American pop and rock group, with a sound somewhat reminiscent of doo-wop, although they were not thought of as actually being a doo-wop group. By the mid 1960s, they had become an internationally famous rock-and-roll act (the Vocal Group Hall of Fame has stated that it was the most popular rock band before The Beatles).[1] Since 1967, they have been known off and on as Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, though not identified as such on any of their records.

In 1960, the group known as The Four Lovers evolved into The Four Seasons, with Frankie Valli as the lead singer, Bob Gaudio (formerly of The Royal Teens) on keyboards and tenor vocals, Tommy DeVito on lead guitar and baritone vocals, and Nick Massi on bass guitar and bass vocals (Massi was replaced in 1965 by Charles Calello, who was in turn replaced later in 1965 by Joe Long on bass guitar and bass vocals).

The legal name of the organization is the Four Seasons Partnership, formed by Gaudio and Valli after a failed audition in 1961. While singers, producers, and musicians have come and gone, Gaudio and Valli remain the group's constant (with each owning fifty percent of the act and its assets, including virtually all of its recording catalog).[2][3] Gaudio no longer plays live, leaving Valli the only member of the group from its inception that is currently touring.

The Four Seasons (group members 1960–1965) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990,[5] and it joined the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.[1] It is one of the best-selling musical groups of all time, having sold 175 million records worldwide.

Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons - Big Girls Don't Cry

The 4 Seasons - "Let's Hang On" - The Ed Sullivan Show

THE BEACH BOYS

The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961, who gained popularity for their close vocal harmonies and lyrics reflecting a Southern California youth culture of cars, surfing, and romance. Brian Wilson's growing creative ambitions later transformed them into a more artistically innovative group that earned critical praise and influenced many later musicians.

The group was initially composed of singer-musician-composer Brian Wilson, his brothers, Carl and Dennis, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. This core quintet was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 1988.

The Beach Boys have often been called "America's Band",and Allmusic has stated that "the band's unerring ability... made them America's first, best rock band."[1] The group has had thirty-six U.S. Top 40 hits (the most of any U.S. rock band) and fifty-six Hot 100 hits, including four number-one singles.[1] Rolling Stone magazine listed The Beach Boys as number 12 in the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. According to Billboard, in terms of singles and album sales, The Beach Boys are the No.-1-selling American band of all time.

The Beach Boys - Surfer girl

The Beach Boys - Fun, fun, fun