History of 60's Rock Music

This decade forever changed America, and it was the young generation, or Baby Boomers that made it happen. After World War II, there was a dramatic increase in the population. An entire generation of young men had returned to the United States and found that the entire country had been transformed from the economically depressed area they once had left, to an economic goliath. Many of them used their G.I Bills to get an education and the country was flushed with new jobs. Couples were able to settle down and start a family, which they did in astonishing numbers.

In the late 1950s, a flourishing culture of groups began to emerge, often out of the declining skiffle scene, in major urban centres in the UK. Manchester, Birmingham, London and - ahead of all - Liverpool, where it has been estimated that there were around 350 different bands active, often playing ballrooms, concert halls and clubs.

Beat bands were heavily influenced by American bands of the era, such as Buddy Holly and the Crickets (from which group The Beatles derived their name), as well as earlier British groups such as The Shadows. After the national success of the Beatles in Britain in 1962, a number of Liverpool performers were able to follow them into the charts with some famous songs of the 60’s, including Gerry & The Pacemakers, The Searchers, and Cilla Black. Among the most successful beat acts from Birmingham were The Spencer Davis Group and The Moody Blues.

From London, the term Tottenham Sound was largely based around The Dave Clark Five, but other London bands that benefited from the beat boom of this era included the Rolling Stones and The Yardbirds. The first non-Liverpool band to break through in the UK, were Freddie and the Dreamers, who were based in Manchester, as were Herman's Hermits and The Kinks. The beat movement provided most of the bands responsible for the British invasion of the American pop charts in the period after 1964, and furnished the model for many important developments in pop and rock music – creating some of the top songs of rock ever composed.

Psychedelic music's LSD-inspired vibe began in the folk scene, with the New York-based Holy Modal Rounders using the term in their 1964 recording of "Hesitation Blues”. The first group to advertise themselves as psychedelic rock were the 13th Floor Elevators from Texas, at the end of 1965; producing an album that made their direction clear, with The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators the following year.