Should that read 1967 perhaps? I’ve always wondered as I trudged through the liner notes of the CD’s while spinning that seminal album ‘Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by arguably the greatest band in the world The Beatles, what were the other great cats doing when these guys were writing and recording what would become one of the greatest albums of all time and create a template for what would become the ‘concept’ album and the progressive rock and psychedelic music movement that came about in the 70’s and continues to this day.
Imagine if you will, the fab four sitting about at the Abbey Road studios with Producer extraordinaire George Martin ( Sir) and engineer Geoff Emerick trying to put all those far out ideas on tape coming on the back of what I think were the seeds of this sound, the album Revolver in 1966. What must’ve been going through their minds when they were coming up with all those ideas? The conversations, the debates and discussions and the vibe of just creating and playing all that stuff!!!
The liner notes say it took about 700 hours over 129 days to record the album and put all those ideas in some coherent form. Since they had decided to give up touring they weren’t faced with the additional burden of trying to capture the sound LIVE in concert and hence were liberated and free to experiment and experiment they did.
While recording began in 1966, three tracks recorded for the album were left out including Its only a Northern Song and Penny Lane and the seminal Strawberry Fields Forever the latter two featuring on the concept release later that year Magical Mystery Tour
Whether it was mic placement across every instrument down to the bells of the brass instruments, the use of tech gear like compressors and limiters and distortion or using all that tape echo and Leslie speaker circuitry with giant oscillators or chopping pieces of tape and sticking them together the wrong way round, using multi track recording on a four track recorder by ingenious recoding and mixing all back in the day.
But it all started with the writing. Musically it explored rock, pop, circus with classical progressions and instrumentation. The idea of developing a persona in a fictional band gave them a license to pretty much go musically to wherever they wanted to and the direction, process and outcome was limited only by their imagination, ability and technique, something they had loads of in any case.
Whether its the rocker Sergeant Pepper peppered as it were with brass and other instrumentation leading to the bouncy With a Little Help from my friends which Joe Cocker and Jimmy Page gave a whole new life too at Woodstock… The very imaginative and visual lyrics of Lucy in the sky with diamonds and its obvious associations powering through the rest of the album each cut a classic and a trendsetter in its own way exploring fusion, instrumentation, themes, stretching musical ideas culminating in a Day in the Life.
One can’t end a discussion on the album without discussing the album cover. A collage of all the people and the Beatles would have liked to have at a concert morphed into what would become one of the most iconic covers of all time.
No discussion on the Beatles is of course complete without a nod to the other band who came along at around the same time The Rolling Stones who’ve enjoyed an incredible career since the early sixties and are still one of the highest grossing LIVE acts today. More power to them. In 1967 they released Between the Buttons which included the hits Ruby Tuesday and Let’s spend the night together. Beggars Banquet in 1968 featured the classic Jumpin Jack Flash, and Sympathy for the devil. They remain master of the blues based three minute song and have no pretensions of being otherwise. With a cult following and an incredible stage show they are one of the most sought after acts even after more than fifty years of the business.
But what were icons Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Pink Floyd and the rest of them up to while the Beatles were churning out one concept album after another. By 1969 they had Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour, The White album and Abbey Road out, each one a classic.
Turns out Pink Floyd were beginning to define this whole new sound that would finally make them one of the biggest bands in the world. Their Piper at the gates of Dawn album followed Sergeant Pepper’s release by a few months in 1967 and the psychedelic magic created by Syd Barret and Richard Wright. Their mix of long improvised tracks and shorter tracks became the mainstay of their albums and sound. While David Gilmour’s entry into the band in 1968 propelled them into the force they would become defining a new guitar tone. Incidentally, the album cover was shot by Vic Singh with a prism lens that his friend Beatle George Harrison gave him. Oh and does’nt the outro of Bike sound like the intro of Time from the album of all time Dark side of the moon for a short bit… They went on to release the acid rock defining genre A Saucerful of Secrets in 1968 (with the line Lucy in the sky featuring in the first cut Let there be more light) and Ummagumma in 1969.
Guitar legend Jimi Hendrix had left The Isley Brothers and Little Richard and moved to England in 1966 forming his legendary trio The Jimi Hendrix Experience and gain the attention of his peers Lennon, McCartney, Jagger, Clapton, Townsend, as the ‘Phenomenon’ Singles Hey Joe, And the Wind Cries Mary were followed by the smashing Are you Experienced. With the monster hit Purple Haze, and tracks like Foxy Lady, and Manic Depression this became one of the strongest debut albums of all time. While Hendrix did pursue the odd psychedlic experience in his lyrics, his blues and rock leanings and his rhythm and lead style of playing using extended chords became the mainstay bread and butter licks and style of all the guitar players that were to come. He released Axis As Bold As Love and Electric Ladyland ( with the Bob Dylan cover All along the watchtower on which according to me he played just about every trick there was to play except perhaps tapping) in 1968. By 1969 Jimi Hendrix was the highest paid artist in the world.
Meanwhile Guitar God Eric Clapton was strutting about playing his thing with Yardbirds and John Mayall and earning himself the reputation of being the most prolific guitar player in the world, joined the power trio Cream with drummer Ginger Baker and Bassist Jack Bruce and released Disraeli Gears featuring the cuts Strange brew, Tales of Brave Ulyssses and Sunshine of your Love in 1967. The album was recorded in five days as opposed to the 129 days The Beatles took that very year. Wheels of Fire in 1968 had the hits Cross roads, Spoonful, Born Under a Bad Sign and White Room which were Cream staples and their final album in 1969 was aptly titled Goodbye. Cream could arguably called the world’s first supergroup as it had three phenomenal talents each unique and equally famous.
The sonic landscape in the late sixties was developing and no band added or influenced future generations of what would become heavy metal musicians than the might Led Zeppelin. The mercurial talents of guitar player Rock God Jimmy Page, the power drumming of John Bonham, John Paul Jones’ running and complimentary bass and keyboard playing and Robert Plant’s soaring vocals all blended into this sound nobody had heard before. Their debut album creatively titled Led Zeppelin was laden with power riffs, had acoustic guitar pieces, blues standards and the head banging power that left you feeling you’d been hit by a sledgehammer. Imagine coming home one day with a new record with an intriguing picture of the Zeppelin space ship on the cover and innocently placing it on the turn table and as you get your coffee or tea or special amber, being jolted out of your seat as the opening bars of Good Times Bad Times grab you and take you down a road you’ve never been before with screaming guitars a furious drummer and a soaring vocal. Even their acoustic songs like Babe I’m gonna leave you and the others that followed in later albums are hard and have balls. The trippy section in Dazed and Confused before the solo is a classic build up and also a nod to the concept albums of the day and we hear it in so many more but none like in Stairway to Heaven which was still years away. They also released their second album Led Zeppelin II that year with cuts like Whole Lotta Love, Heartbreaker, The Lemon Song and Moby Dick influencing generations of music lovers and musicians. You can hear those chops in the work of Van Halen, Steve Vai, Deep Purple and Iron maiden amongst countless more.
They laid the foundation for what would become heavy metal and all the bands that followed and their songs became templates influencing generations of song writers whether it was the ballads with the soft introductions leading to the hard build up and middle eight section and the screaming vocals and guitar solos or the straight up riff based hard hitters, every rock band since then has just followed and improvised along the way. They went on to become of the greatest bands of all time recording nine albums (six of them at number one) over ten odd years selling over 300 million units worldwide.
The Who released their rock opera Tommy in 1969 as well. Tommy was a concept album/movie/theatrical production on a scale never seen in the rock world. The story about a deaf dumb and blind kid took the world by storm…
The other concept and progressive rock album pioneers Jethro Tull were also floating about at the time and released their debut album This Was in 1968 and Stand Up in 1969 as well. Both the albums were predominantly blues based though. Formed in 1967 this power house went through many changes in lineups and musical styles always experimenting, always on the edge but never abandoning their own core style no matter if their albums were pure rock, folk or psychedlic. They had a core sound and Ian Anderson’s superbly crafted songs, flute playing, stage persona and acoustic guitar work were the mainstay of the band.
On the other side of the Atlantic, Creedence Clearwater Revival were making clearwater music as Lennon put it releasing their self titled debut album in 1968 and three albums in 1969 namely Bayou Country, Green River and Willie and The Poorboys.
The prolific Doors released their debut album The Doors in 1967 and unleashed the sounds of four of the trippiest musicians the world had ever seen. Robby Krieger on guitar, John Densmore keeping the backbeat Ray Manzarek playing organ and doubling bass parts on the keys and the ethereal Jim Morrison who would go on to carve out a unique sound and a place in rock n roll history. Keeping the psychedelic theme of the times intact they had Morrison’s sublime poetry to set music too and trip out on with long musical interludes that would be a big part of their concerts. The album featured Break on through, the seven minute Light my fire, and The End.
Their second album Strange Days released later that year. They had another two releases towards the end of the decade Waiting for the sun in 1968 and The Soft Parade in 1969.
Jefferson Airplane, the pioneers of psychedelic rock released Surrealistic Pillow in 1967 with the title track, White rabbit and Somebody to love. After Bathing at Baxter’s released in 1967 as well. Crown of Creation in 1968 with the subliminal Lather. Their music floated into spaces and realms that paved the way for the likes of The Doors and Pink Floyd Rush and all the and others who followed.
Crosby Stills and Nash released their debut album in 1969. The folk sound, acoustic arangements, vocal harmonies and lyrical content was a change from the heavier and psychedelic stuff coming out at the time and earned them a spot in Woodstock that mother of festivals playing alongside giants The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane and CCR.
Oh another debut album came out that year from the band set to become the giants of the heavy rock scene; Deep Purple but that’s another saga.
There were many albums, releases, artists and bands that came along in that era and these are the few I have listed more out personal preference and of course the impact these artists made on musicians and music lovers. 1969 was a landmark year as it closed out the 60’s decade with a wide spectrum of music, sounds, genres, concept albums, themes a reflection of the socio political scene of the times. It was a landmark year for this and a lot more…
See you in 1972…
- All views and musical preferences listed are personal
- Albums featured/mentioned:-
- The Beatles:-Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Revolver, The White Album, Abbey Road
- The Rolling Stones:- Between the Buttons, Beggars Banquet
- Pink Floyd:- Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Saucerful of Secrets, Ummagumma
- Jimi Hendrix:- Are You Experienced, Axis as Bold as Love, Electric Ladyland
- Cream:- Disraeli Gears, Wheels of Fire, Goodbye
- Led Zeppelin:- Led Zeppelin I, Led Zeppelin II
- The Who:- Tommy
- Jethro Tull:- This Was, Stand Up
- CCR:- Bayou Country,Green River, Willie and The Poorboys
- The Doors:- The Doors, Strange Days, waiting for the Sun, Soft Parade
- Jefferson Airplane:- Surrealistic Pillow, After Bathing at Baxters, Crown of Creation
- Crosby Stills and Nash:- CSN
