A CUBAN missile crisis, the assassination of President Kennedy,
Vietnam, the " modernisation " of
Britain into a land of motorways and
trading stamps, all these were aspects of the new decade. There way
fear, progress, and materialism.
Popular music for the first time became a conscious reflection and
commentary on the times.
In the past, music hall songs and gimmicky hits had traced bits of history. Now
young performers were beginning to question established principles and overthrow
old ideas, as they put beliefs into song.
During the Sixties, the twin streams of pop,
the simple process of making hits, were united
with rock'n'roll the cause, and became
ROCK, the lifestyle.
Rock was a forum, an open house for the
singers, writers, poets, instrumentalists and
bizarre personalities. While performers struggled for liberty, permissiveness, freedom of
expression, the industry struggled to control
the rearing horse, and rode a wild ride to
riches.
to America, roar wows
become an even greater
entertainment force than the
movies. Britain would produce a super-abundance of
talent to take on the world.
The years of American
dominance were finally, incredibly broken, and there
began a succession of
" British Invasions."
What none of our musical
stars, film actors, dance
hand leaders and jazzmen
had achieved to any great
extent in the three preceding decades, the untutored,
long-haired rock musicians
managed to demonstrate
with dramatic ease. They
conquered America.
The two most powerful
influences of the decade
were Bob Dylan and the
Beatles. But there was a
multitude of influences at
work on them and they
gave birth to whole new
schools of musical thought.
But before the Beatles
made their impact, pop was
still a vilbrant going concern.
While the pre-Beatles
Sixties have often been
dismissed as of no consequence, there were several good groups and artists
who did their own pioneering in England, like Johnny
Kidd & The Pirates, who, hit
with one of the finest-ever
rock records, "Shakin' All
Over," in 1960, and the
Shadows, who made many
memorable recordings like
"Apache" that same year.
Helen Shapiro was a
promising girl singer with a
remarkably mature voice
who hit with "Walking
Back To Happiness," and
other British idols were
John Leyton who was noted
more for his good looks
than the quality of his
vocals.
America was enjoying the
first golden era of male
teenage idols with Fabian,
Bobby Vee, Bobby Rydell,
Bobby Darin and Ricky
Nelson. Duane Eddy kept
the sound of rock alive
with his twangy bass guitar
notes, and Brenda Lee
brought a touch of R&B
earthiness to hits like
"Jump The Broomstick."
On the West Coast there
were the surfing music
idols, Jan & Dean and the
Beach Boys.
The nation's black population thrilled to the sound
of The Genius, Ray Charles,
a jazz pianist and gospel
singer, who brought a new
hipness to popular music.
Rock had lost some of
it's greatest exponents in
the tragic 1959 'plane crash
that killed Buddy Holly, the
Big Bopper and Richie
Valens.
A year later, in 1960
Eddie Cochran, was killed in
a car crash in England just
at his peak of fame when
he'd been performing his
classics "Something Else,"
"Summertime Blues," "Cut
Across Shorty," and
"Twenty Flight Rock."
Buddy Holly, the bespectacled singer and guitarist
had brought a surprising
degree of emotion and
feeling to rock with his
songs like "Peggy Sue,"
and "I Guess It Doesn't
Matter Any More."
The Evenly Brothers survived the first rock boom to
produce "Bye Bye Love,"
"Wake Up Little Suzie,"
"Bird Dog," "All I Have To
Do Is Dream," "Cathy's
Clown," and "Lucille."
do Britain the trod boom
degenerated into what was
contemptuously referred to
as "traddypop,' and there was something even worse
called "rockatrad."
B UT there were rumblings
from those British
youngsters who found trad
both corny and redolent of
half pints of bitter and
leather-patched elbows.
An interest in R&B and
soul, as well as fond
memories of the original
rockk and rollers, fired the
enthusiasm of young musicians all over Britain, especially in the seaport of
Liverpool.
Here the Beatles began. At
first they were the Quarrymen, a skiffle group, and
then the Silver Beatles.
They went through personnel changes, and at one
time were a five-piece 'with
Stu Sutcliffe on guitar.
But eventually the line
up consisted of John Lennon (guitar, vocals), George Harrison (lead guitar, vocals),
Paul McCartney (bass
guitar, vocals) and Ringo
Starr (drums, vocals).
Their first number one
was "Please Please Me,"
released in January 1963. It
started an incredible round
of touring and hit records
which lasted until 1966
when the group quit touring and concentrated on
recording revolutionary new
music, typified by performances like "Strawberry
Fields Forever," and the
entire "Sergeant Pepper"
album of 1967.
The band broke up in an
atmosphere oaf recrimination
in 1970, with a last album
called "Let It Be."
For nearly nine years the
Beatles were rarely out of
the world's headlines. They
caused controversies and
upset everybody from the
Ku Klux Klan to the
Church, but were feted and
loved as few entertainers
have ever been.
More importantly they
opened up opportunities for
thousands of young artists,
paving the way for the
supergroup boom of the
late Sixties, and also
created same of the best.
most lasting and original
pop songs of the century.
If the Beatles were influenced by a mix of soul
and rock and roll in the
North of England, then in
the south the Rolling
Stones were under the spell
of the big city electric
bluesmen.
It is to the credit of the
Stones and Beatles that
they did not remain
copyists for long. In the
Beatles' case, they had been
ardent songwriters from the
beginning, having stock-piled many of the songs
that were to become later
hits, and their versions of
classics like "Twist And
Shout" helped open the
ears of the British public to
" a whole world of soul
material they barely knew
existed.
For several years, Jogger,
Lennon and McCartney 'had
only to announce their
interest in a particular
artist they 'had had discovered, by trips to America or assiduous record
collection, to ensure British
appreciation for their work.
Thus the two supergroups
brought attention to Bob
Dylan, James Brown,
Smokey Robinson, the Isley
Brothers, Martha and the
Vandellas, Chuck Berry and
Bo Diddley.
WHILE today " soul-freaks" abound and
clamour fanatically about
" their" music, it should be
remembered that when a
Tamla Motown soul package came to Britian in the
mid Sixties with such stars
as the Miracles and the
Supremes, theatre managers
had to give away tickets to
ensure an audience, and
even the late addition of
Georgic Fame to the bill
did not help the box office.
It was musicians who
first appreciated the new
wave of Black talent.
Meanwhile a vast group
infrastructure developed,
that was to bring revenue
and prestige to Britain to a
greater degree than most of
its heavy industries.
There had been what was
known as the "big beat
boom," immediately in the
wake of the Beatles. This
was concurrent with the
R&B boom in which instrumentalists mixed influences
from jazz, soul and the
blues.
Thus were born the
remarkable British groups
of the mid-Sixties: the
Graham Bond Organisation,
the Animals with Eric
Burdon, the Yardbirds with
their succession of guitarists (Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck
and Jimmy Page), Manfred
Mann, Brian Auger's Trinity, Steam Packet, the T.
Bones, Mark Leeman Five,
the Artwoods, Georgie
Fame & The Blue Flames,
Chris Farlowe and the
Thunderbirds and Zoot
Money & His Big Roll Band.
America reeled under the
onslaught of young British
talent, the Beatles, Stones,
Dave Clark, Herman's
Hermits and dubbed it the
"Redcoat invasion," a reference to uniformed troops of
colonial days.
As bguitar and drum
techniques grew out of the
primitive stage, so hands
like Cream emerged. Starring Jack Bruce, (bass
guitar), Eric Clayton (lead)
and Ginger Baker (drums),
Cream which formed in
1966, quickly gained a
devoted following at home
and "were the first group
since the Beatles to cause a
real sensation in America
where they toured throughout most of 1966-67.
Their brand of flashy
instrumental rock and blues
set the scene for the
"heavy" groups: the hugely
successful Led Zeppelin, the
Jimi Hendrix Experience
and, later, Black Sabbath.
Other groups became
more sophisticated and pioneered the use of theatrical
effects as the 35 minute
grasp spot became a full
two-hour show. The Who
were among the first, followed by Jethro Tull, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Yes,
Genesis, Pink Floyd, Zeppelin.
From. 1966 onwards, British rock groups toured
Aimerica and earned themselves fortunes, although
most had known struggle
and hard work to achieve
their success.
As the space of the rock
life quickened, it took its
toll of health, sanity and
eventually lives. The excitement of quick riches,
the spread of the drug
culture, and the hedonistic
lifestyle encouraged by the
false images of stardom
wreaked havoc.
Several died before they
reached their late twenties:
Brian Jones, Otis Redding,
Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison,
Janis Joplin and Brian
Epstein.
There were others:
Graham Bond, lesser-known
but gifted musicians like
bassist Cliff Barton, saxist
Glenn. Hughes, who died
before they had a chance to
achieve artistic fulfillment,
or even in some cases
proper recognition.
For all the tragedies
there was success and
excitement on a massive
scale.
IN America, the entireyouth culture of the
hippie movement was born
on the West Coast around
1966, and quickly spread to
Europe, reaching a peak in
the golden summer of 1967.
The hippies believed in
the freedom to pursue
hedonistic pleasures, gain
enlightenment and awareness, with the aid of drugs
like LSD if necessary, and
simply to lead a life that
was based on love and
simplicity rather than hate
and materialism.
But the increasing ferocity and violence of America's involvement in Vietnam made a mockery of the
love-in and flower power.
But the underground culture, expressed in painting,
fashion and music, had a
profound effect on rock
music.
The concept of the love-in, or be-in, where people
gathered in friendship and
brotherhood developed into
the pop festival, one of the
greatest phenomenons of a
decade littered with phenomena.
The explosion of talent in
Britain on America's West
Coast was united at the
historic Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. Supposedly
inspired by hippie idealism,
there was much money to
be made, In the event the
festival introduced to the
world such stars as Jimi
Hendrix, ' the Who,
Jefferson Airplane and Otis
Redding.
Festivals had already
been pioneered in Britain as
far back as 1961, when the
,homely and cosy National
Jazz Federation had been
holding a largely jazz flavoured event at Richmond
Athletic Ground.
As the years rolled by
(and the festival is still
held annually) it shifted
location between Richmond,
Windsor, Kernipton Park and
Reading where it finally
settled.
It also shifted its musical
focus, and by 1963 the
festival was to, be dominated by the blues and R&B
bands like the Rolling
Stones and Yardbirds.
While the NJF festivals
ploughed ahead, the first
rival event came with the
Isle of Wight Festival of
1968. Attended by a few
thousand it ran all night
until a downpour of freezing rain. Among those
playing were Jefferson Airplane, the Crazy World Of
Arthur Brown, Fairport
Convention and Tyrannosaurus Rex.
The following year saw
Bob Dylan and The Band
playing at a vastly enlarged
festival, with a whole
gamut of British talent from
the Who to the Bonzo Dog
Doodah Band.
In America, the Woodstock Festival of 1969 was
such an event (three days
of peace and music) that it
lent its name to the
Woodstock Generation, even
the Woodstock Nation, and
was filmed in a highly
successful documentary.
But 1969 was also to see
a dark shadow cast across
the whole love and peace
trip, when the Rolling
Stones played a free festival at the Altamont race
track.
California Hells Angels
were hired for "security."
When the Stones eventually
got on stage and began
playing "Sympathy For The
Devil," a young Black
member of the audience
was attacked, stabbed and
kicked to death by a gang
of Hells' Angels.
The disaster at Altamont
seemed to send a cold blast
of reality through rock and
marked the end of the
Hippie Dream. But rock
itself recovered from the
horror, or tried to pretend
it didn't happen. The bands
played on, and the festivals
got bigger.
APART from the Beatles
and the 'Stones , the
other great sixties idol was
Bob Dylan. He was inspired
by Woody Guthrie.
He was discovered by
John Hammond of CBS who
produced his first album in
1962 which contained such
items as "in My Time Of
Dyin' " "Man Of Constant
Sorrow," "Song To Woody"
and "House Of The Rising
Sun."
From then on, he recorded mainly his own com-positions, and on the 1963
album "The Freewheelin'
,Bob Dylan," forged a revolution in 'Pop lyrics al-
though that was doubtless
not his intention.
Dylan became identified
with protest, civil rights
and the anti-war lobby, but
upset his folk supporters
when he switched to electric rock and roll with the
release of "Bringing It All
Back Home" in 1965.
In 1966 Dylan released
one of rock's first double
albums " Blonde On
Blonde" and the same year,
in late July, he suffered a
motor cycle accident and
was forced to cancel his
concerts.
Two years went by
before returning to record
the country-flavoured "John
Wesley Harding."
While Dylan, like most
artists, resented being put
in a category, he undoubtedly inspired the so-
called folk rock movement,
and the plethora of singer-songwriters and poets who
could work within the loose
framework of rock.
The Sixties were a period
of artistic turmoil when
new ideas prevailed and the
scope for adventure seemed
limitless.
Britain was surrounded
by a ring of floating pirate
radio ships that beamed
continuous pop music stations like Radios Caro-
line, London, Atlanta,
Britain and England.
Eventually, the Marine
Offences Act was passed
and the pirates were sunk,
to be replaced by the BBC's
own pop station, Radio
One, a Government sop to
protest.
The pirate ships played
an important part in helping the burgeoning British
underground rock scene,
Caroline in
pacticular playing Procol Harum's "A
Whiter Shade Of Pale" non-stop all night.
Deejay John Peel with
his Perfumed Garden show
virtually had the monopoly
of underground music and
his name became synonymous with Tyrannosaurus
Rex, Captain Beefheart,
Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd,
Jefferson Airplane, Frank
Zappa and the Mothers of
Invention.
The Radio One network
in the Seventies turned the
clock back towards the
more spurious form of
"glam-rock" and revitalised
the old fashioned pop
single. The steam had gone
out of the Rock Revolution
although it had a few stings
in the tail.
ROCK in the Sixties had
seen an almost lunatic outburst of excess, pirate
radio, drugs, groupies, festivals, free concerts, riots,
deaths, musical experiment
that blended folk, jazz, soul
and even Indian music.
But while the white rock
stars and their followers
grabbed at the headlines,
black American music progressed with greater dignity
and ultimately more staying
power.
By the mid-Seventies,
black music came from the
West Indies in the form of
bluebeat, ska, and finally
reggae, or from the States
as Tamla Motown, soul, the
Stax sound or the Philly
sound.
Parallel with the growth
of Black music came new-hard-won free-dams, an im-proved position in society,
and greater opportunities.
And yet an artist like
Jimi Hendrix, who came to
Britain from New York in
1966, seemed to owe allegiance to no Particular race
and was made more welcome in England than he
was at home.
Hendrix was a great
blues performer, an original
songwriter and lyricist. But
he was presented as a
showman guitarist, and his
stage act included playing
guitar with his teeth and
setting it on fire.
This tended to cloud his
musical contribution during
the time he was touring in
Britain and America, but
his succession of albums
showed the restless, pioneering spirit of his writing
and playing.
His tragic death in a
London flat in September
1970 robbed rock of one of
its most important artists,
and one who could have
contributed much to the
following decade.
Another great black performer who died early was
Otis Redding, killed in a
plane crash in 1967.
With albums like "Otis
Blue" Redding had created
,a link between the blues
and gospel tradition and the
driving urgency of the
modern rock rhythm section.
He was one of the Stax
label's stable of talent,
which included Sam & Dave,
Steve Cropper, Booker T
and the MGs and Carla
Thomas.
There were other great
soul groups and singers
who kept up a consistently
high standard of hits,
beautifully Produced, with
immaculate pace-making
rhythm sections and arrangements Aretha
Franklin, Ike & Tina Turner,
Wilson Pickett, Arthur
Conley, the Impressions,
Smokey Robinson and the
Miracles, Martha Reeves,
the Temptations, Diana
Ross and the Supremes,
Isaac Hayes, Barry White,
Harold Melvin - the talent
flawed endlessly.
Music was churned from
the key cities of Detroit,
Memphis, New York and
Las Angeles in what
seemed like conveyor belt
fashion, and yet the indefinable soulful quality of
the music remained entrenched even in the most
mundane performance.
Britain could do little to
combat this kind of mass
production, but we had our
own pop performers who
could claim a strong black
influence.
Tom Jones, who began
his career influenced by
Otis Redding and Wilson
Pickett, made many million-selling hits in Britain before
canquering American
women with his sexy cabaret act.
Rod Stewart of the Faces
admitted his debt to the
late Sam Cooke as Rod and
the Faces triumphed in
Britain and America, while
Joe Cocker, a lad from
Sheffield employed a gutteral throaty roar that was
generally conceded to have
black antecedents.
But while Mick Jagger,
the Sixties star of drug
busts, flopped movies,
riotous concerts, high camp
and high society, retained
his black-based vocal style,
there was nothing particularly black-influenced about
the highly developed and
complex music of the new
rock supergroups.
Bands like Emerson, Lake
& Palmer, Yes, Genesis and
Jethro Tull worked hard at
arrangements, vocal harmonies, skilful stage manage-
ment, lighting effects and
theatrical hardware.
They made platinum
albums that were dubbed
examples of "progressive
rock."
As Led Zeppelin unveiled
the Seventies with their
monster albums and sell-out
concert tours, it all seemed
a long way from Helen
Shapiro and "Walking Back
To Happiness."
1960
JANUARY: " Rock 'n' Roll is
now respectable," says BBC
executive ABC-TV to replace Boy Meets Girl with a
" family-type " show Porgy
& Bess to be seen on BBC-TV
Lonnie Donegan breaking
pantomime records at Finsbury
Park Empire Guy Mitchell
signs for TV - but no concerts
Anthony Newley to make
variety debut this month, Cliff Richard makes panto debut
at Stock ton Hippodrome, David
Whitfield, Ronnie Hilton, Sheila
Buxton, Alma Cogan, Janie Marden Eve Boswell Dickie Valen-
tine, Toni Dalli, Roy Castle also
starring in Christmas pantomimes Humphrey Lyttelton
pulls out of BBC's Saturday
Club-Royal Albert Hall concert
as a protest against beat "
slant. John Barry Seven to replace him Miles Davis does
the impossible, tops Louis in
trumpet section of Melody Maker Jazz
Poll (World Section).
FEBRUARY: Gene Vincent
quits after being given
the bird at Bradford (Yorks)
Gaumont Tubby Hayes to
represent U.K. at San Remo
Festival Beverley Sisters to
star with Liberate at London
Palladium Cliff Richard a
big hit on opening in US at
Evansville, Indiana Fans
storm box offices for Bobby
Darin tickets Nat Gonella's
new band opens at Liverpool
Cavern National Youth
Jazz orchestra makes public
debut Pete Murray refuses
to play Russ Conway's " Royal
Event on grounds of bad taste
U.S, death disc " Teen
Angel is banned by BBC
Pat Bootle slams pop songs with
religious lyrics Acker Bilk
mobbed on Irish tour Emile
Ford and Checkmates debut in
variety.
MARCH:- Cliff Richard's double top in Melody Maker Poll, Top Male Artist and Top Vocal
Record with " Living Doll "
"I've tossed my jazzy stage uniform into the wardrobe - and
collected an 18-piece band to
supply the music," says Tommy
Steele in Australia Juke
Box Jury now attracts 7,000,000
viewers. Conway Twitty and
Johnny Preston team up for
U.K. tour Dinah Dee All-Girls Band safe after being
" unaccounted for " in Agadir
earthquake Elvis demobbed
after two years' service
Dorita y Pepe are prolific broadcasters ABC-TV to present
new Jack Good teenbeat show
with Marty Wilde and Billy
Fury.
APRIL: Rock rowdies dog
Darin concert tour - Bobby
hits back with: •' I'm a ballad
singer more than a beat singer " Ronnie Scott to open
a modern jazz college Vernon Girl Lyn Cornell goes solo
Elvis Presley's return disc
" Stuck On You"/"Fame And
Fortune " has US advance of
more than 1,000,000 - leaps to
No. 4 here in five days. DJ
payola probe flops in House of
Commons. Record dealers
declare war on cut price pirates. MU bans all members from
taking South African bookings
Eddie Cochran killed in
car crash. The show must go
on, says co-star Gene Vincent
Six-months-a-star Adam
Faith chosen for Royal Variety
with Lonnie Donegan, John
Barry, Nat King Cole, Sammy
Davis, and Liberace.
MAY: Beaulieu Jazz Festival
fixed for August Bank
Holiday, to be covered by
BBC-TV. Vera Lynn signs
three-year contract with MGM
in America. Terry Dene
stages comeback. Girls run
wild during Cliff Richard concert at Odeon, Manchester.
Up-and-coming jazz singer Ernestine Anderson to tour Britain. Nat King Cole " scintillating " at New Victoria concert
Teenage panel to select
Cliff Richard's next single release.
JUNE: ABC-TV decide to kilt
Jack Good's teenbeat programme WHAM! Will be suc-
ceeded by new programme titled
Tin Pan Alley, featuring John
Barry Seven. " I like Joan
Regan and Russ Conway," says
Bing Crosby in an interview
" The most successful
British festival yet," says organrser of Bath Jazzfest.
Lionel Bart writing new show
titled Blitz to star Anthony Newley ,. Tapes of pop music
now on sale but British jazzmen get brush-Off from record
companies. Jazz is dropped
from Leeds Arts Festival.
JULY: Flamingo Club boss and
music publisher Jeff Kruger
fires opening shots in war on
record monopoly ABC-TV
drops jazz from Sunday Break, then seeks a resident jazz
group for the programme
Lionel Bart's Oliver acclaimed
at London's New Theatre
15-year-old girl Brenda Lee described as " the hottest disc
property in America " Andre Previn refused a Ministry of
Labour permit to appear in
Granada TV's Variety Show.
Storm brews over U.S. death
disc " Tell Laura I Love Her "
French students visiting
Hastings give Chris Barber Band
the bird One dead in Newport riot.
AUGUST: Hooligans run riot
at Beaulieu Jazziest and
also damage the cause of jazz,
but " there will be a Beaulieu
next year," says Lord Montague Shirley Bassey signs
for four weeks at the Pigalle, opposite Eartha Kitt at Talk Of
The Town Ken Dodd hits
Top Twenty with debut disc
" Love Is Like A Violin "
Hoagy Carmichael to top BBC-TV's Showtime Oscar Hammerstein II (65) dies - Judy
Garland pays tribute in Melody Maker.
Nationwide tours arranged for
Adam Faith and for Emile Ford
after Blackpool season.
SEPTEMBER: " Mais Oui "
another big hit for the singing King Brothers Judy
Garland (at the Palladium) was
incredible, says Melody Maker . Vic Ash-Harry Klein Five to back
Miles Davis on tour Eve
Boswell plays bagpipes in Glasgow show Eddie Cochran
memorial album issued
Palette and Interdisc labels
claim " Big Brother " squeeze-out of record scene."
I am not , a rock singer," says
Mark Wynter " I have not
deserted jazz," says pianist
Dudley Moore US bassist
Oscar Pettiford (37) dies In Copenhagen.
OCTOBER: Miles Davis to proceed with million-dollar
lawsuit against New York City
for assault battery, false arrest
and malicious prosecution
Peggy Lee signed for Pigalle
Judy Garland to visit
Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester Johnny Dankworth signs new drummer, Ronnie
Stevenson, from Don Smith's
Band of Newcastle Ricky
Valance's " Tell Laura I Love
Her" hits No. 1 Gillespie-Adderley JATP tour off - then
on again with the addition of
Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter, Roy Eldridge, Don Byas.
New Lyttelton Sextet a hit at Perth. Roy Orbison's " Only The Lonely " at
No. 1. Emile Ford, Cliff
Richard and Russ Conway to
headline ATV's Saturday Spectacular.
NOVEMBER: Presley admirers
angry at publication of the
book Operation Elvis. US fans
ban it and ask UK to follow
suit. Treasure trove of un-
released Charlie Parker and
Lester Young tracks uncovered
in Newark (America) offices of
Savoy Records. Papa Sue's
Viking Jazzband makes second
U.K. tour. Kirby Stone
Four here. Tommy Steele a
smash hit in She Stoops To Conquer at London's Old Vic.
Trad jazz sales hit by disc
slump.
DECEMBER: Britain's jazzmen
on warpath against bad
working conditions in clubs - 100 meet behind locked doors. Latest JATP the biggest
package yet - and the best.
But Kilburn concert cancelled
in favour of Berlin date.
" Secret " recording session for
Sheila Southern with Robert
Farnon. Lita Roza signs
18,000-dollar Las Vegas contract
and will appear with Harry
James. " I have never in
my life worked so hard," says
Frankie Vaughan, Filming in
Hollywood Dave King
clinches big Hollywood deal with
20th Century Fox , Elvis
Presley's "It's Now Or Never"
sells a million. Monty Sunshine suddenly ends seven-year
stint with Chris Barber.
1961
JANUARY: "Why was I Fred
(from the Chris Barber
Band)?" asks clarinettist Monty
Sunshine Russ Conway
awarded Silver Disc by EMI
for "phenomenal album sales"
Gold Disc for Elvis
Presley for 1,000,000 sales of
"It's Now Or Never" Melody Maker
to present a six-day jazz marathon in Manchester Two
US tours planned for Chris
Barber this year Film star
Betty Hutton Signed for London's Pigalle Cabaret in March
Shirley Bassey 'reunited with former manager Mike
Sullivan Lionel Bart forms
own music publishing company
Petula Clark has a chart
hit with "Sailor".
FEBRUARY: Ministry of
Labour refuse Benny Goodman a permit to play jazz in
Britain Newport (US) City
Council will not authorise 1961
Festival Nat King Cole
walks out of Ed Sullivan TV
show Helen Shapiro makes
disc debut -. Thirteen March
dates set for tour by Ella Fitzgerald and the Oscar Peterson
Trio June Christy and the
Four Freshmen arrive for tour. Cleo Laine to film with
Vivien -Leigh in The Roman
Spring Of Mrs. Stone. Clyde
Valley Stompers move south
permanently Nick La Rocca,
leader of the ODJB, dies at his
New Orleans home.
MARCH: Ella-Oscar package
set to break European
box office records less
Contact and Matt Monro top all-star touring package show
Gerry Mulligan a clear winner
in Canadian Jazz Poll Joe
Loss wins another Carl Allan
Award Music publishers
blast ITV's song contest
"D.Js have too much power,"
says Songwriter's Guild
Robin Hall and Jimmy Macgregor release "The Monster Of
Loch Ness" single Two
Ivor Novello Awards for Lionel
Bart's Oliver The Allisons
come second in Eurovision Song
Contest - booked for two weeks
at London Palladium.
APRIL: Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar
Peterson and Johnny Dankworth Orchestra booked for
hour-long Granada TV show.
Lena Borne here for seven
weeks at Talk Of The
Town Humphrey Lyttelton
to play a Royal Festival Hall
concert with Paul Robeson.
Alyn Ainsworth to conduct for
American musical Bye Bye
Birdie starring Marty Wilde.
37 international jazzmen petition U.S. government following
jailing of alto star Art Pepper
on drug charges Victor
Feldman first transatlantic star
booked by Ronnie Scott
Club "t don't know why
I'm a hit," says Adam
Faith Four-track tape
recorder wins Audio Fair
accolade Pete Seeger jailed
for contempt in American
political trial - British tour
cancelled, but is on again
following appeal against sentence.
MAY: Adam Faith will top
Melody Maker Blackpool pop concert
on June 4 Bolton club
blaze sparks probe of jazz
cellars "Hit discs aren't all
that important" says Frankie
Vaughan Legendary Miff
Mole (63) dies in New York.
Peggy Lee asks Victor Feldman
to accompany her at Pigalle.
Television series for Dudley
Moore Trio BBC postpones
Pete Seeger series Helen
Shapiro's "Don't Treat Me Like
A Child" at No. 4 in Melody Maker
chart. Jo Stafford to make
TV spectaculars in Britain
Cliff Richard and Shirley Bassey
top singers, and "Portrait Of
My Love" (Matt Monro) top
vocal disc in Melody Maker poll Cliff
and Shadows to film The Young
Ones. Jerry Lee Lewis plans
comeback.
JUNE: Chris Barber to replace
Count Basle at Belgium's
third International Jazzfest
Eydie Gorme and Steve Lawrence open at the Pigalle
Mark
Wynter a big hit in Australia. Joe Henderson signs
for second ABC-TV series.
Belgian Jazzfest on BBC-TV. Antibes Festival on radio's Jazz
Club. Cleo Laine makes
cabaret debut in West End at
the Jack of Clubs.
JULY: "Trad is being beaten to
J death," say Acker Bilk, Alex
Welsh and Ken Colyer.
Raves for Anthony Newley's
first LP "Tony". Stars from
1961 Beaulieu Jazz Festival to
tour the provinces. BBC
bans Max Bygraves "Nursery
Rhymes For Grown-Ups" record. Bing Crosby here for three
months' filming. Sammy
Davis cancels twelve concerts gives no reason. Helen
Shapiro to debut in variety.
Anita O'Day here for 18-day
tour. French want to ban
rock by law.
AUGUST: End of Beaulieu
Jazz Festivals, beaten by
hooliganism. Bing Crosby,
Peggy Lee and Sammy Cahn on
ABC Television. Karl Denver
Trio rockets into the big-time
with recording of "Marcheta". EMI Records enter
cut-price field with Encore
label. Stop The World,
a hit in London, to move on to
Broadway. Helen Shapiro
and Eden Kane (numbers 1 and
2 in Melody Maker chart) both to tour.
Mecca announce £1,000 trad
contest. Zoot Sims leads
American invasion of Ronnie
Scott Club. A new single
"Walking Back to Happiness"
and an extensive tour of weekend concert dates for Helen
Shapiro, whose "You Don't
Know" has topped 250,000.
John Leyton soars to top of Melody Maker
chart with "Johnny Remember Me."
SEPTEMBER: John Coltrane
plans UK tour with Dizzy
Gillespie Concert series for
Eden Kane Diz Disley to
c o m p e r e radio's Trad
Tavern New orchestra
planned by Warren Covington,
trombone-leader of the Tommy
Dorsey Orchestra Frank
Sinatra's Reprise label makes
British bow Acker Bilk
writes theme for Stranger On
The Shore, BBC-TV children's
serial.
OCTOBER: Trad strikes again,
Acker Bilk, Kenny Ball and
Temperance Seven chosen for
Royal Variety Performance.
Three Gold Discs for Lonnie
Donegan for "Rock Island
Line", "My Old Man's A Dustman" and "Does Your Chewing
Gum Lose Its Flavour Matt
Monro a big hit in US
5,000 attend concerts as Chris
Barber's Band beat German
jazz slump Tony Meehan
quits Shadows and is replaced
by Brian Bennett, formerly
drummer with Marty Wilde.
American producer signs six
British bands and three singers
for new film, It's Trad, Dad, co-starring Helen Shapiro and
Craig Douglas Kay Starr
records first British LP at EMI's
Abbey Road Studios Ronnie
Ross guests with MJQ at
Hammersmith Gaumont concert.
NOVEMBER: "Elvis has agreed
to come to Britain for a
charity show," say Vic Lewis
and his partner, Manchester
club-owner-Billy Benny, on their
return from visiting Elvis and
Col. Parker in Memphis, Tennessee "It's tougher playing trad," says former Johnny
Dankworth trumpet Dickie
Hawdon Mr Kruschev has
received a copy of Kenny Ball's
"Midnight In Moscow" from Pye
Records BBC to spotlight
late-night bands from Hammersmith Palais and the Savoy
Hotel. Dinah Washington
charged with assault in New
York.
DECEMBER: Brubeck lashes
out at his critics in middle
of UK tour 'Frankie
Vaughan caught in the middle
of VAF, Equity and ATV
squabble about Sunday Night at
the London Palladium Commercial radio ship to operate
outside territorial waters in the
Thames Estuary John
Leyton to star in three
films John Coltrane wins
top tenor and soprano awards
in Down Beat Poll Ex-Shadows drummer Tony Mee-
han joins Decca as an A & R
man Ray Ellington discovers and signs new girl
singer Susan Maughan
Acker Bilk to play, sing, dance
and act in Christmas TV musical
The Princess And the Pea
Cyril Stapleton starts £250,000
Mecca contract at the Lyceum
Ballroom, in January The
twist described as "the most
vulgar dance ever invented " " Trad - It's
dying," says Bert Weedon.
1962
JANUARY: John Leyton lashes
writers who describe POP
singers as " the gimmick brigade - a product of studio
sounds" Eden Kane, Lonnie Donegan and newcomer-dancer Peter Gordeno stake
early claim for 1962 chart Honours Cliff Richard's "The
Young Ones" release hits No.
1 with 500,000 advance sales
Dizzy Gillespie robbed at
gunpoint in Chicago Isle
of Man to have its own commercial radio station, Britain's
first Granada television
series for Cleo Laine accompanied by the Johnny Dankworth Orchestra Kenny
Ball's "Midnight In Moscow" in
US charts Helen Shapiro
the biggest box office attraction
since Cliff Richard.
FEBRUARY: Trad-jazz bands
leaning towards swing by
adding pianos. 13 week
Granada TV series for the folk-singing Galliards. Jazz
pianist Eddie Thompson to emigrate to America. U.S.
singers Brenda Lee and Gene
Vincent team up for April tour
of U.K. Carl Allan Awards
for Acker Bilk, Billy Fury and
Joe Loss. Cliff Richard plans
Summer Holiday film. Jazz-played by the Al Fairweather-
Sandy Brown All-Stars - to be
included in this year's Edinburgh Festival. Chris Barber
tops first-ever Trad section of
Melody Maker poll ahead of Kenny Ball
and Alex Welsh.
MARCH: Singer Danny Williams turns down offer of
two weeks at New York's Copacabana. Pianist Dill Jones
(now in U.S.) joins Jimmy McPartland's Band Kenny
Baker to front band for Four
Freshmen tout. Johnny
Dankworth writes a new theme
for radio's long-running Mrs
Dale's Diary. Count Basin
with Lambert, Hendricks and
Ross, records a one-hour TV
show for Granada. Ember
Records boss Jeff Kruger again
lashes the " monopoly of the
big five record companies in
Britain". Joe Loss has big
record hit with TV's "Maigret
Theme ". Shadows' "Wonderful Land " hits No. 1.
APRIL: Anthony Newley and
Leslie Bricusse take Ivor
Novello awards for best stagemusical score (Stop The World.) and for Song of the
Year What Kind Of Fool Am
I " Tony Blackburn, 19-year-old son of a local doctor,
to sing with Jan Ralfini's Band
at the Pavilion, Bournemouth
Jet Harris quits Shadows - Licorice Locking replaces.
MAY: Chubby Checker to
start U.K. tour at the end
of August Lined-up to follow: Bobby Darin, Dion, Del
Shannon Black market in
Frank Sinatra charity concert
tickets Louis Armstrong
presents Kenny Ball with his
Gold Disc for million-selling
" Midnight in Moscow "
Acker Bilk's " Stranger On The
Shore hits No. 1 in US charts - Acker booked for Russia
Melody Maker readers castigate BBC ban
on modern jazz in radio's Jazz
Club.
JUNE: Frank Sinatra swings
into Britain and conquers. " Those Reds were no
squares," says Benny Goodman
of his Moscow trip Helen
Shapiro wins French pop poll
as the most popular foreign
singer,'' beating Petula Clark
and Brenda Lee In male
section, Cliff Richard was third
to Elvis Presley and Ray
Charles Maurice Winnick,
former society bandleader turned impresario, dies aged 59
" I've never had my arrangements played so perfectly
before," says Nelson Riddle of
the augmented Ted Heath Orchestra on the Shirley Bassey-
Hi-Lo's tour.
JULY: TV probes trad jazz
scene in hour-long show.
Ketty Lester definite - to join
Everlys and Frank Ifield in
three-week tour Eleven
bands booked for floating jazzfest from Liverpool to Isle of
Man in August Clyde Valley
Stompers hit union trouble in
Northern Ireland Stan Kenton arranger/trombonist Bill
Russo, in London, wants to form
a workshop orchestra Petula Clark in Munich to cut first
disc in German Should a
trad band have a piano? This
controversial question threatens
to split the booming trad world.
AUGUST: The famous George
Shearing " sound " is to
disappear when George re-forms
his group after British tour.
American television spectaculars clinched for Helen Shapiro
Mrs Mills signs for 28-week BBC television series
Russ Conway to sing as well
as play in new radio series.
Singer Dinah Kaye wins silver
plate at Sopot International
Song Festival Joe Henderson turns-down £5,000 contract
offered by ABC-Television for
third Sing Along With Joe series " The organ is in -
nearly," says keyboard star
Jimmy Smith Acker Bilk's
" Stranger On The Shore " has
sold 40,000 sheet music copies,
and almost 2,000,000 records.
" I want no part of the trad
boom," says New Orleans stylist, Ken Colyer.
SEPTEMBER: Johnny Mathis
signs for tour with Ted
Heath Orchestra Chubby
Checker flies in to London - to
find labels warring over his
record releases Agreement
between Musicians Union and
the Mecca organisation puts
musicians into a revolutionary
£27-per-week class for six afternoons and evenings Melody Maker
books first transatlantic phone
call by satellite Telstar - MU's
Hardie Ratcliffe talks to AFM's
Herman Kenin.
OCTOBER: Drummer Jerry Allison released by U.S. Air
Force to tour U.K. with the
Crickets New Dankworth
Club opens in Oxford Street,
London Brooks Bros fly to
Rome for TV spectacular
Anthony Newley triumphs in
New York with Stop The World
Freddy Cannon a big hit
at Huddersfield opening
Johnny Dankworth and Cleo
Laine chosen for Royal Variety
Performance, along with Rosemary Clooney, Frank Yield,
Cliff Richard and the Shadows
Doncaster opening for
Little Richard a wow Susan
Maughan in Melody Maker charts with
" Bobby's Girl Tornados,
chart-toppers with " Telstar,"
offered 10-day American tour.
NOVEMBER: Helen Shapiro a
hit on Ed Sullivan's US television show - now wanted for
recording in Nashville Ex-Shadows Jet Harris and Tony
Meehan team up to record for
Decca Film offers pouring
in for Billy Fury Louis
Jordan to sing here with the
Chris Barber Band Springfields' Dear Hearts And Gen-
tle People " in American Billboard's Top 100 Tornados
record album in America
Cootie Williams rejoins Duke
Ellington for tour opening at
Finsbury Park Astoria Tim
Field quits Springfields - Mike
Hurst replaces.
DECEMBER: Five-part ATV
series for Tubby Hayes
From Ronnie Scott's Club
Bossa guitarist Charlie Byrd
flies into London for 24-hour
stay. Says Bossa Nova is
Brazilian " Chris Barber
Band mobbed by fans at Essen,
Germany Susan Maughan
records secret follow-up to
" Bobby's Girl" Johnny
Tillotson here for part in Just
For Fun film That Was
The Week That Was makes
scathing attack on Norrie Paramor, recording manager of
many stars. Most critics spring
to his defence Johnny
Mathis mauls British singers on
Juke Box Jury Miles Davis
wins trumpet section and is
elected to the Hall Of Fame in
Down Beat Poll British
pressmen vote Frank Ifield's "I
Remember You top disc of 1962.
????????
parents detest") are at No: 5
with "Not Fade Away" and will
appear on Ed Sullivan's US TV show Salvation Army Joy
Strings, with Capt. Joy Webb,
in British chart with "It's An
Open Secret." EMI's George
Martin acknowledged as the hitmaker behind the beat stars
Applejacks are first Birmingham group to have a
chart hit with "Tell Me When"
The Alberts (musical clowns) will appear in BBC-2's
first programme when the channel opens John Lennon's
book In His Own Write is published Billy J. Kramer tops
the chart with " Little Children " - but for one week only
as the Beatles' new release
(sales approaching two million
here, 1 million in States) goes
straight to No. 1.
APRIL: Beatles' Tamla favourites - Little Stevie Wonder, Mary Wells, Martha and the
Vandellas, Miracles, Contours
all due in Britain Peter,
Paul and Mary In London for
TV, and concert Big star
turnout for tribute to the late
Michael Holliday show at the
Prince of Wales Theatre
Beatles hold top five places in
Cashbox 'US chart Stones,
still without a No. 1 hit, are
second only to Beatles in mass
popularity Ella Fitzgerald
records Beatles' "Can't Buy Me
Love" in -London Says
Melody Maker's Rover: "Singer-guitarist
Val Doonican very entertaining"
and " Lulu sounds great on her
debut record ' Shout' "
A massive swing to R & B is the
current topic Four Pennies
hit chart with " Juliet."
MAY: Lawrence Wright,
famous music publisher
and impresario, and founder of
Melody Maker, dies in Blackpool aged 76 U.K. tours
lined-up for Frank Sinatra and
Inez Foxx Rolling Stones'
first LP passes the 170,000 sales
mark Gerry and the Pacemakers given a Beatles-type
build-up in the States
Sonny Stitt jets into London for
month at Ronnie Scott's
Animals and singer Danny
Williams to US - Americans
Dionne Warwick, Diahann Carrolll and Tony- Orlando to UK.
Bob Dylan entrances audience at Royal Festival Hall.
JUNE: Ella Fitzgerald and
Tony- Bennett host New
York party for twentieth birthday of Dave Clark's guitarist
Lenny Davidson - who received 80 birthday cakes
Tamla Motown label becoming
very big America cold-shoulders the Stones but
goes Dave Clark crazy
Ted Heath's Vocalist-compere
Paul Carpenter dies Roy
Orbison at No. 2 with "it's Over" Stones record "It's All Over How" in Chicago.
JULY: Animals leap 18 places
in chart to reach No. 1 with
"House Of The Rising Sun"
Peggy Lee records her
twentieth LP for Capitol
Saxophone star Eric Dolphy
(36) dies in Berlin Gerry
and the Pacemakers making
Ferry Across The Mersey film
Carnegie Hall considering
a ban on all beat groups.
Jack Jones attracts attention
with his "Wives And Lovers"
album Stones streak to top
of Melody Maker chart with Chicago-recorded "It's All Over Now". Inez and Charlie Foxx take
soul into Liverpool Cavern.
Beatles' "A Hard Day's
Right" goes to No. 1 in week
of release with sales topping
600,000 America goes-wild
for Peter & Gordon.
AUGUST: Jim Reeves killed
in plane crash BBC
Jazz Club to end after 17 years. Manfred Mann says: "We
don't want a No. 1 hit"
Stan Getz in chart with " Girl
From Ipanema " 20-year-old Andrew Loog Oldham, man-
ager of the Rolling Stones, announces his retirement from
showbiz as Stones run into a
riot at Blackpool. 200,000 advance sales for Cilia Black's
" It's For You " written by
Lennon/McCartney Dean
Martin's " Everybody -Loves
Somebody " pushes Beatles
from No. 1 slot in US charts
S. Radio Caroline steps up out-put of jazz and r&b.
SEPTEMBER: Ahmad Jamal
Trio to make British debut
at Melody Maker's Jazz Jamboree Rolling Stones start five-week,
sell-out, tour of UK Brian
Epstein's book A Cellar Full Of
Noise a hit Kenny Ball's
reception in Rumania like
Beatlemania Herman's Hermits leaping up the chart with
"I'm Into Something Good".
Rolling Stones pip Beatles as
top. Instrumental & Vocal Group
in British section of Melody Maker Pop
Poll - but Beatles reverse this
in World section Kinks, at
No. 1 with " You Really Got
me," deny aping Stones.
US President Johnson's daughter
Lucy offered a recording contract by Tamla Motown
Dionne Warwick Flies into London and will appear on Ready
Steady Go!
OCTOBER: Supremes fly in for
first British tour Screaming Lord Sutch (Independent) opposes Harold Wilson
at Liverpool Huyton in General
Election. , Gene Pitney records in London under super-
vision of Andrew Oldham,
Big 0 hits No. 1 again - this
time with "Oh Pretty Woman". The late Jim Reeves has
two singles in Melody Maker Top Twenty,
three LPs in Top Ten and three
best-selling EPs. Sandie
Shaw roars in at No. 23 with
"Always Something There To
Remind Me" Beatles offended as Duke of Edinburgh
reported to have said they were
" on the wane." The Duke
cabled that he said they "were
away". Beatles opt out of
Royal Variety Performance so
as not to disapoint 4,000 fans
in Belfast who had bought
tickets to see them.
NOVEMBER: Reach Boys arrive. Marvin Gaye here. Ike and Tina Turner fly in. A Canadian mountain just
outside Toronto is named after
the Beatles. Lulu is 16.
Supremes are only the second
American act in two years to
top the British chart - with
" Baby Love ". Rosemary
Squires leaves to settle in the
US. Beatles claim 750,000
advance for " I Feel Fine " and
Stones claim 500,000 for " Little
Red Rooster," both released this
month."1 wish I had been
born coloured," says Dusty.
DECEMBER: Beatles' "I Feel
Fine" goes straight into
charts at No. 1 Elkie
Brooks rocks the audience at
Chatelet Theatre, Paris. Val
Doonican suddenly has a hit
"Walk Tall" at No. 9.
Rolling Stones and Andrew Oldham in dispute with BBC.
American promoters worried by
signs that fans are cooling on
British artists in the concert
hall but radio stations still
British-dominated Audience at Paris Olympia goes wild
over the Bachelors. Dusty
expelled from South Africa for
refusing to play to segregated
audiences.
1963
JANUARY: Acker Bilks show
at Prince of Wales theatre
is hilarious, despite poor business. Acker's "Stranger On The
Shore" was America's top-selling single in 1962. Duke
Ellington arrives for tour and
TV. - Cliff Richard's Summer
Holiday film an unqualified hit. Beatles to appear on ABC-TV's Thank Your Lucky Stars
show. New wave of jazz
innovators in US -- John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Ornette Cole-man, Charlie Mingus.
FEBRUARY: New team, Jet
Harris, Frank Ifield,
Frankie Vaughan, set for tour
of one-nighters. Tornados'
"Telstar" Gold Disc stolen from
Edmonton Granada. Tony
Meehan and Jet Harris plan
permanent partnership.
Australian singer Patsy Ann
Noble joins Cliff and Shadows
for six-week tour. Frank
lfield's "The Wayward Wind"
storming up the chart.
Chris Barber (trad), Tubby
Hayes (combo) and Johnny
Dankworth (big band) are top
leaders in Melody Maker Jazz Poll - and Tubby is also top vibist,
tenorist and Musician of the
Year. Beatles' "Please,
Please Me" reaches No. 2 in
chart.
MARCH: After 13 hits from
17 singles, Craig Douglas may never sing again
following tonsil operation.
Melody Maker's first Beatle headline as
"Please, Please Me" hits No. 1
slot. Also radio series and tour
with Karl Denver for the Mersey
group., Chet Baker jailed for
a month and recommended for
deportation. at Marlborough
Street Court, London. Phil
Seamen (drums) joins Alexis
Korner. Brian Poole and
the Tremeloes, professional for
only seven months, to tour US
in exchange for Duane Eddy. Brook Benton beaten up in
St, Louis club. Annie Ross
to sing at this year's Edinburgh
Festival. Patsy Cline killed
in Tennessee plane crash.
Ted Heath breaks all records at
Marquee Club.
APRIL: Sammy Davis here and
wants to record with Ted
Heath. Gerry and Pacemakers hit No. 1 with debut
dics "How Do You Do It". Buddy Holly roaring up the
charts - four years after his
death. Kingston Trio here
for tour. Beatles' first LP
"Please, Please Me" is released
as the group's "From Me To
You" single leaps into chart
at No. 19. Hat King Cole
to tour with the augmented Ted
Heath Orchestra. New York
digs Britain's Georgia Brown a hit on Broadway in Oliver. Acker Bilk nominated for
US Grammy award.
MAY: Trumpet star Freddy Randall makes comeback
after a five-year rest. Merseybeat takes over the chart
with Beatles at No. 1, Gerry
and the Pacemakers at No. 2,
with The Big Three, Billy J.
Kramer and the Dakotas also
in the chart. After seven
years at the top, Elvis wants
to abdicate to "lead the life of
a normal human being"
" Just Like Me "/" Hey What's
Wrong With Me" first release by the Hollies hops into
the Top 50. "If You've
Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody " by Freddie and the
Dreamers leaps from 45 to 26
in Melody Maker chart. Big Beat
contest held at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall - Escorts and
Merseybeats among the winners. Swinging Blue Jeans
to join Kenny Ball, Johnny
Dankworth, Alex Welsh and
Ronnie Scott to play for Festival Ball at Belle Vue, Manchester in June.
JUNE: Multi -instrumentalist.
Roland Kirk to appear at
Ronnie Scott's Club for a
month. Liverpool folk
group, the Spinners, sign three-year contract with Fontana.
Manchester and Liverpool battle
for Big Beat title. Rolf
Harris signs for BBC-TV summer series with the Les Reed
Orchestra. R & B group the
Rolling Stones to join the Everly
Bros. for September tour.
Record prices rise to 6/8d for
singles, 10/9d for EPs and 35/- to
37/6d for LPs. Sophie
Tucker at the Talk of the Town
" puts any teenage act to
shame" says Melody Maker. Police
guard for Hawaiian Eye's
Connie Stevens at Palace Theatre, Manchester. Surfing
music born on American
beaches. Segregation reaches
a crisis in southern states of
America.
JULY: Midland groups complain that promoters will
only boil, Liverpool outfits.
Frank Ifield to star in British
film. Top trad bands sign
for BBC-TV series Beat Your
Neighbour Searchers'
"Sweets For My Sweet" in the
chart. Controversial release "Christine" (Keeler?) by
Miss X (Joyce Blair - sister of
dancer Lionel) selling well
Frank Ifield's " Confessin' "
makes it a record four No. 1's
in a row. Jet Harris hurt in
car crash. EMI rush out
Beatles EP which sells 150,000
in rive days.
AUGUST: 32 of the top fifty in Melody Maker chart are British. BBC's Tonight team tomake documentary on the Beatles, whose " She Loves You " isreleased. Billy J. Kramerhits No. 1 with "Bad To Me". Cloda Rogers to fly to US
in November to star with Jim
Reeves in Grand Ole Opry.
First girl to be signed by Brian
Epstein is 20-year-old Cilia
Black. Peter, Paul and Mary
emerge as big names in States.
SEPTEMBER: Swinging Blue
Jeans first Liverpool group
to net own Radio Luxemburg
series. Beatles voted top
vocal group and vocal disc or
the year ("From Me To You")
in Melody Maker poll, with Cliff Richard
top male singer, and Susan
Maughan top female. Gerry
and Pacemakers set for Babes
In The Wood pantomime.
"Acoustic guitars must come
back," says Chet Atkins.
Del Shannon replaces Duane
Eddy on Gerry and Pacemakers-Jet Harris/Tony Meehan tour
which features new Liverpool
singer Cilia Black. Springfields breaking up at peak of
their career. Bruce Welch
quits Shadows due to ill-health.
OCTOBER: Beatles debut on
Sunday Night At The London Palladium. Bachelors to
stick to money-spinning ballads. Ray Nance quits the Duke
Ellington Orchestra. Beatles' ''She Loves You" holds the
No. 1 spot for a month.
"The peak (of the beat boom)
is still to come," says Tremeloes' Brian Poole. Ray
Charles is to make a film in
Britain. Trini Lopez here
in a package which includes
Brook Benton Dion, Lesley
Gore and Timi Yuro. Crystals to tour here with Joe
Brown. Chris Barber's Jazzband first British group to play
Finland. Beatle fever
sweeps Britain. All current concert dates sold out and now
they're given a spot in Royal
Variety Performance.
NOVEMBER: Hopes of tour by
new Woody Herman Herd. Gerry Marsden at No. 1
in chart with " You'll Never
Walk Alone''. Bruce Welch
is staying with the Shadows --
so is Hank Marvin -- but
licorice Locking is leaving. "I
want more time for my religious activities," says the
Jehovah's Witness after 18
months with the Shads.
Dusty Springfield all set for her
solo TV-radio-concert debut.
Rolling Stones' "Come On" at
No. 43 in charts. Michael
Holliday dies at 34
Beatles' " She Loves You " returns to No. 1.
DECEMBER: Beatles dominate
the news as (million-seller) " I Want To Hold Your
Hand" displaces (million-seller)
" She Loves You " at No. 1,
EPs ''Twist And Shout" (No.
11), " Beatles Hits " (17),
" Beatles No. 1" (19), plus two
albums at Nos. 1 & 2 in the LP
chart. Dave Clark Five in
Top Twenty: " We won't turn
pro until we have two discs in
the top five," says Dave.
Shirley Bassey back in action
after birth of a daughter sparks
long queues, police supervision,
1,000 tickets sold in first half-hour at Capitol Theatre, Cardiff. The stage of Liverpool
Cavern on which the Beatles
first performed, being sold in
pieces as souvenirs. American 12-year-old singer-instru-
mentalist Little Stevie Wonder
is to visit London after Christmas. Kenny Ball's "Golden
Hits " LP has been in chart
for 10 months. The Singing
Nun's "Dominique" chart hit
baffles pop experts. Dinah
Washington (39) dies suddenly
in Detroit.
1964
JANUARY: Beatles kick off 1974
J by winning the Melody Maker Press
Awards (voted for by Britain's
showbiz writers) for the. 1963
top single "From Me To You,"
and top LP " Please, Please
Me." Beatlemania now taking off
in America. Twenty Beatle
wigs exported to Paris for store
displays. American Billboard rates Cliff Richard world's
top recording artist of 1963
(based on the year's charts)
with Elvis Presley 2nd, Shadows
3rd - Britain holding eight of
the top 15 places. Dave
Clark Five break Beatles' sixweek grip On the No, 1 chart
spot with " Glad All Over,"
Bookings pile up for Dusty
Springfield, whose ''I Only Want
To Be With You " is in Billboard's Hot 100.
FEBRUARY: Stan Kenton says:
"Jazz is finished"
Animals draw three times the
usual Thursday crowd at Jazzshows' first R & B night.
Beatles prepare for U.S. debut
at Washington Coliseum, followed by New York's Carnegie
Hall, with five records in the
chart. Searchers' "Needles
and Pins" No. 1 in Britain.
Tubby Hayes again Musician of
the Year in Melody Maker Jazz Poll with
pianist Brian Auger as fastest-rising star. Matt Monro will
sing Tony Hatch's "I Love The
Little Things You Do " in Eurovision Song Contest. Cry-
stals blast Cilia Black for covering Dionne Warwick's "Anyone
Who Has A Heart," which hits
No. 1 the next week. Tubby
Hayes deps for Paul Gonsalves
as Duke Ellington opens tour
at Royal Festival Hall.
MARCH: Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love" has 600,000 ad-
vance three weeks before release date. The Rolling
Stones (tagged "the ugliest
group in Britain - the group
parents detest") are at No: 5
with "Not Fade Away" and will
appear on Ed Sullivan's US TV show Salvation Army Joy
Strings, with Capt. Joy Webb,
in British chart with "It's An
Open Secret." EMI's George
Martin acknowledged as the hitmaker behind the beat stars
Applejacks are first Birmingham group to have a
chart hit with "Tell Me When"
The Alberts (musical clowns) will appear in BBC-2's
first programme when the channel opens John Lennon's
book In His Own Write is published Billy J. Kramer tops
the chart with " Little Children " - but for one week only
as the Beatles' new release
(sales approaching two million
here, 1 million in States) goes
straight to No. 1.
APRIL: Beatles' Tamla favourites - Little Stevie Wonder, Mary Wells, Martha and the
Vandellas, Miracles, Contours
all due in Britain Peter,
Paul and Mary In London for
TV, and concert Big star
turnout for tribute to the late
Michael Holliday show at the
Prince of Wales Theatre
Beatles hold top five places in
Cashbox 'US chart Stones,
still without a No. 1 hit, are
second only to Beatles in mass
popularity Ella Fitzgerald
records Beatles' "Can't Buy Me
Love" in -London Says
Melody Maker's Rover: "Singer-guitarist
Val Doonican very entertaining"
and " Lulu sounds great on her
debut record ' Shout' "
A massive swing to R & B is the
current topic Four Pennies
hit chart with " Juliet."
MAY: Lawrence Wright,
famous music publisher
and impresario, and founder of
Melody Maker, dies in Blackpool aged 76 U.K. tours
lined-up for Frank Sinatra and
Inez Foxx Rolling Stones'
first LP passes the 170,000 sales
mark Gerry and the Pacemakers given a Beatles-type
build-up in the States
Sonny Stitt jets into London for
month at Ronnie Scott's
Animals and singer Danny
Williams to US - Americans
Dionne Warwick, Diahann Carrolll and Tony- Orlando to UK.
Bob Dylan entrances audience at Royal Festival Hall.
JUNE: Ella Fitzgerald and
Tony- Bennett host New
York party for twentieth birthday of Dave Clark's guitarist
Lenny Davidson - who received 80 birthday cakes
Tamla Motown label becoming
very big America cold-shoulders the Stones but
goes Dave Clark crazy
Ted Heath's Vocalist-compere
Paul Carpenter dies Roy
Orbison at No. 2 with "it's Over" Stones record "It's All Over How" in Chicago.
JULY: Animals leap 18 places
in chart to reach No. 1 with
"House Of The Rising Sun"
Peggy Lee records her
twentieth LP for Capitol
Saxophone star Eric Dolphy
(36) dies in Berlin Gerry
and the Pacemakers making
Ferry Across The Mersey film
Carnegie Hall considering
a ban on all beat groups.
Jack Jones attracts attention
with his "Wives And Lovers"
album Stones streak to top
of Melody Maker chart with Chicago-recorded "It's All Over Now". Inez and Charlie Foxx take
soul into Liverpool Cavern.
Beatles' "A Hard Day's
Right" goes to No. 1 in week
of release with sales topping
600,000 America goes-wild
for Peter & Gordon.
AUGUST: Jim Reeves killed
in plane crash BBC
Jazz Club to end after 17 years. Manfred Mann says: "We
don't want a No. 1 hit"
Stan Getz in chart with " Girl
From Ipanema " 20-year-old Andrew Loog Oldham, man-
ager of the Rolling Stones, announces his retirement from
showbiz as Stones run into a
riot at Blackpool. 200,000 advance sales for Cilia Black's
" It's For You " written by
Lennon/McCartney Dean
Martin's " Everybody -Loves
Somebody " pushes Beatles
from No. 1 slot in US charts
S. Radio Caroline steps up out-put of jazz and r&b.
SEPTEMBER: Ahmad Jamal
Trio to make British debut
at Melody Maker's Jazz Jamboree Rolling Stones start five-week,
sell-out, tour of UK Brian
Epstein's book A Cellar Full Of
Noise a hit Kenny Ball's
reception in Rumania like
Beatlemania Herman's Hermits leaping up the chart with
"I'm Into Something Good".
Rolling Stones pip Beatles as
top. Instrumental & Vocal Group
in British section of Melody Maker Pop
Poll - but Beatles reverse this
in World section Kinks, at
No. 1 with " You Really Got
me," deny aping Stones.
US President Johnson's daughter
Lucy offered a recording contract by Tamla Motown
Dionne Warwick Flies into London and will appear on Ready
Steady Go!
OCTOBER: Supremes fly in for
first British tour Screaming Lord Sutch (Independent) opposes Harold Wilson
at Liverpool Huyton in General
Election. , Gene Pitney records in London under super-
vision of Andrew Oldham,
Big 0 hits No. 1 again - this
time with "Oh Pretty Woman". The late Jim Reeves has
two singles in Melody Maker Top Twenty,
three LPs in Top Ten and three
best-selling EPs. Sandie
Shaw roars in at No. 23 with
"Always Something There To
Remind Me" Beatles offended as Duke of Edinburgh
reported to have said they were
" on the wane." The Duke
cabled that he said they "were
away". Beatles opt out of
Royal Variety Performance so
as not to disapoint 4,000 fans
in Belfast who had bought
tickets to see them.
NOVEMBER: Reach Boys arrive. Marvin Gaye here. Ike and Tina Turner fly in. A Canadian mountain just
outside Toronto is named after
the Beatles. Lulu is 16.
Supremes are only the second
American act in two years to
top the British chart - with
" Baby Love ". Rosemary
Squires leaves to settle in the
US. Beatles claim 750,000
advance for " I Feel Fine " and
Stones claim 500,000 for " Little
Red Rooster," both released this
month."1 wish I had been
born coloured," says Dusty.
DECEMBER: Beatles' "I Feel
Fine" goes straight into
charts at No. 1 Elkie
Brooks rocks the audience at
Chatelet Theatre, Paris. Val
Doonican suddenly has a hit
"Walk Tall" at No. 9.
Rolling Stones and Andrew Oldham in dispute with BBC.
American promoters worried by
signs that fans are cooling on
British artists in the concert
hall but radio stations still
British-dominated Audience at Paris Olympia goes wild
over the Bachelors. Dusty
expelled from South Africa for
refusing to play to segregated
audiences.
1965
JANUARY: Beatles celebrate
the New 'Year with "I
Feel Fine" still at No. 1, for the
filth successive week, challenged by Petula Clark, the
Bachelors, P. J. Proby and
Georgie Fame Sounds
Orchestral's 'Cast Your Fate To
The Wind' is a gas - The
Seekers could easily make it,"
says the Rover Bachelors
announce intention of purchasing Radio Invicta, the Thames
Estuary pirate Mercer
Ellington joins Duke's trumpet
section Georgie Fame's
"Yeah, Yeah" hits No. I
Beatles world champs in Melody Maker
Writers' Poll.
FEBRUARY: P. J. Proby
banned as "obscene" by
Rank and ABC circuits -- for
splitting pants on stage
Legendary Jack Hylton dies
aged 72 Kinks' "Tired Of
Waiting For You" at No. 1
Proby replaced on tour with
Cilia Black by Welsh singer
Tom Jones Pop folk
breakthrough as seekers reach
No. 1 with "I'll Never Find
Another You" Nat King
Cole dies in Hollywood
Spectacular leap from 40 to 18
by Tom Jones with "It's Not
Unusual", then to No. 3, then
No. 1 Ringo marries
Maureen Cox Tubby Hayes
again Musician of the Year in
Melody Maker Jazz Poll Tony Bennett
signs trumpet star Bobby Hackett to join the Ralph Sharon
Trio.
MARCH: Searchers turn down
£50,000 U.S. offer. "Not
enough money," says agent
Tito Burns Tamla stars fly
in, Georgie Fame joins them for
tour Wayne Fontana's
"Game Of Love" is Pick of the
Week in American Cashbox
and Billboard Melody Maker campaigns for Beatles to be
honoured for services to export
drive Ben Webster wants
to settle here Thelonious
Monk here for tour Stones
roll from 17 to No. 1 with "The
Last Time" Eric Clayton
leaves Yard birds. "They're
going too commercial," he says
Walker Brothers arrive
from US Bob Dylan's first
single released Trombonist
Tyree Glenn joins Satchmo.
Bop pioneer Tadd Dameron
dies.
APRIL: Donovan at No, 5, Bo-b
Dylan at 13 Cliff
Richard has his first No. 1 in
two years with Nashville-recorded " The Minute You're
Gone" Beatles and Pet
Clark win American Grammys
Freddie and the Dreamers
and Herman's Hermits battling
it out in U.S. charts - Glen
Campbell deputises for Brian
Wilson in Beach Boys.
MAY: Jackie Trent has first
record hit as "Where Are
You Now" jumps from 24 to 10
Bandleader Spike Jones
dies Ernestine Anderson
replaces Jimmy Witherspoon at
Annie's Room Help! is
finally decided as title of the
Beatles' new film French
singer Francoise Hardy moving
up the chart Louis
Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Roy
Eldridge, Miles Davis, Harry
James, Red Allen, Bobby Hacked, Rex Stewart, Clark Terry
and- Maynard Ferguson in Tribute To The Trumpet at Monterey Jazzfest Alan Price
leaves the Animals DJ
Simon Dee leaves Radio Caroline to freelance Christ-
opher Stone, Britain's first-ever
DJ dies, aged 82.
JUNE: Burt Bacharach flies
into London as his hit
disc "Trains And Boats And
Planes" reaches No. 4. Josh
White arrives for concerts.
A new group being tipped -
the Who, four mods from
Shepherds Bush. Kenny
Lynch wins British Song Festival at Brighton Beatles
awarded MBE, Frankie Vaughan
OBE. John Lennon's second
book Spaniard in The Works is
published.
JULY: Five songs from
Brighton's British Song
Festival in Top 50. Hollies
enjoying first No. 1 hit with
"1'm Alive". Tony Jackson
rejoins Searchers for 200th
edition of Thank Your Lucky
Stars. Doris Troy to stay in
Britain. Count Basic and
Tony Bennett gross 62,000
dollars in one week at Melodyland, Hollywood. On chart
placings, Seekers are the most
popular stars for the first six
months of 1965 Famous
trumpet star Red Nichols dies
Donovan's first single
"Catch The Wind" in US Top 20. Byrds at No. 1 with "Mr.
Tambourine Man''. Animals
at the Marquee - 900 turned
away Beatles' "Help"
straight to No, 1.
AUGUST: Byrds served with
seven writs by British
Birds on arrival at London
Airport. Billy Fury writing
a book on birds - feathered
variety. Beatles show at
55,000-seater Shea Stadium, New
York (already sold out) o be
filmed for Christmas TV.
Radio London signs new DJ --
six-foot bassist Ed Stewart.
Sonny and Cher here as "I Got
You Babe" leaps into Top 50
with Walker Bros' "Make It
Easy on Yourself."
SEPTEMBER: Pop protest is
really here as songs with
a message become a regular
feature of Top 50. Sonny
and Cher have four records in
Top 50 - one each solo, two as
a duo. Raver column
pictures 14-year-old Preachers
guitarist Peter Frampton, then
still at Bromley Grammar
School. Beatles grossed one
million dollars on latest US
tour despite under-capacity
houses at some dates.
Singer Dave Berry knocked
out by "live" mike at Bristol.
OCTOBER: Protest begins to
pall - "Well, the songs
are all getting a bit silly, aren't
they?" says Paul McCartney. Basic here - offers British
saxist Tony Coe a job.
Hollies back from US raving
about Hose Allison. Bluesman T-Bone Walker arrives for
tour. Bob Wallis leaves
Monty Sunshine and re-forms
Storyville Jazzmen. Jazz
Jamboree to be Big Band Bonanza. Four records in Top
50 again for Sonny & Cher.
NOVEMBER: Rolling Stones at
No. 1 here and in US
with "Get Off My Cloud".
Willie "The Lion" Smith roars
in for tour. Alto-leader Earl
Bostic dies. Offers pour in
for American folk singer Julie
Felix after two appearances on
ITV's Eamonn Andrews Show. Jonathan King refused
entry into US. Who deny
split. Seekers topple Stones,
taking over No. 1 spot with
" Carnival Is Over."
DECEMBER: Two 1966 UK
tours planned for Brenda
Lee. Paul and Barry Ryan,
twin sons of Marion, climbing
with "Don't Bring Me Your
Heartaches". Searchers to
leave for six-week, round the
world tour. Dutch Swing
College here for tour
Twenty years since first Ted
Heath Swing Session.
Beatles and Ken Dodd only
artists to sell a million in 1965
Herman tops Beatles as
best-seller of singles in America.
1966
JANUARY: Rolling Stones
sign five year deal with
Decca, which guarantees them
£1 million Pinkerton's
Colours and Grachan Moncur
III hailed as New faces of '66
Roger Daltrey calls Phil
Ochs " The Dagenham Girl
Pipers " in Blind Date John Coltrane's " A Love Supreme " hailed as Melody Maker Album
Of The Year Keep On
Running " by Spencer Davis
Group hits No. 1 and topples
Beatles John Lennon says " No more punch-ups. It all
happened at 18 '' Frank
Sinatra celebrates 25 years in
showbiz Stevie Wonder
hits in US with '' Uptight
(Everything's Alright)" and the
15 year old singer plays at
London's In Place disco.
FEBRUARY: Elvin Jones deps
for Sam Woodyard in the
Duke Ellington drum chair for
European tour Overlanders
top chart with 'Michelle", one
of many Beatle "covers"
Len Barry and Gene Pitney tour
UK Who withdraw new
single "Circles" and replace it
with "Substitute" Chris
Farlowe gets first hit with
"Think" by Jagger-Richard.
Melody Maker contest winners St. Louis
Union hit chart with "Girl". David Bowie releases
"Can't Help Thinking About
Me" Musicians' Union seek
ban on TV miming.
MARCH: Staff Sgt. Barry
Sadler hits with "The
Ballad Of The Green Berets"
Melody Maker's Chris Welch picks
Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and
Steve Winwood to form
''Groups' Group" Current
London club attractions include
Spencer Davis Group, Graham
Bond, Tony Knight's Chessmen,
Mark Leeman 5, Jimmy James
and the Vagabonds, Gary Farr
and the T-Bones, Zoot Money,
and Steam Packet Two
Who records released simultaneously: "Substitute" by Polydor and "It's A Legal Matter
Baby" by Decca Small
Faces' fans riot at Ideal Home
Exhibition James Brown
and the Famous Flames perform on Ready, Steady Go, "I
scream in the right key," says
Brown Paul Butterfield's
Blues Band making waves
Sonny Rollins and Ornette Coleman Trio blowing at Ronnie
Scott's Club I'm strictly
a loner - I don't have any
friends,'' says Scott Walker,
new pop idol.
APRIL: Spencer Davis Group
get second No 1 with
''Somebody Help Me" Mick
Jagger hospitalised after chair
is thrown by rioting French
fans Bonzo Dog Doodah
Band introduced by Melody Maker
Georgic Fame plays Marquee
with Harry South Orchestra
Dusty Springfield hits with
"You Don't Have To Say You
Love Me " Dolly's Club in
place for Brian Jones, Mick
Jagger and Georgic Fame
Bob Dylan arrives for British
tour with The Group Yardbirds "change image."
MAY: Bob Dylan's "Rainy
Day Women Numbers 12
And 35" labelled a "drug song''
by US radio station. Dylan tells
Melody Maker: "I'm a purist folk singer,
no more and no less," and
adds: "All my songs are protest
songs. You name it and I'll
protest about it." Shouts of
"folk phoney" when he plays
Birmingham Odeon Pete
Townshend and Keith Moon
involved in "incident" on stage
at the Ricky Tick Club. Keith
has bruised eye and stitches in
leg. "If it happens again, I'm
leaving. Who needs it?" says
Moon Rolling Stones'
"Paint It Black" tops chart
Indian sitar suddenly
popular with rock bands.
JUNE: Frank Sinatra tops
chart with "Strangers In
The Night" Donovan stages
a "comeback" Bob Dylan
says he won't appear in Britain
again after being booed at
Royal Albert Hall Melody Maker
exclusively reveals formation of
"Groups' Group'' featuring Eric
Clapton, Ginger Baker and
Jack Bruce Roy C tours,
playing "Shotgun Wedding"
Mamas and Papas fly into
Britain for surprise visit
Beatlemania again,, as "Paperback Writer" tops chart
Len Barry blasts Beatles and
Stones: "They don't perform they just stand there"
Manfred Mann "bored" with
rumours of Paul Jones quitting
his group.
JULY: Jimmy Page replaces
Paul Samwell-Smith in
Yardbirds - on bass guitar. Bruce-Clapton-Baker group
to be called Cream and announce debut at Windsor Festival Jon Hiseman replaces
Baker in Graham Bond Group
New Orleans banjoist
Johnny St. Cyr dies in Los
Angeles Paul Jones splits
with Manfred Mann Georgic
Fame No. 1 with "Getaway."
His cohort in the Rik Gunnell
empire, Chris Farlowe, gets first
major hit hit with "Out Of
Time," which was to repeat its
performance in 1975 Lord
Hill claims group's name
"Creation" is "blasphemous."
Says manager Tony Stratton-Smith: I chose the name and
don't think it irreligious. I have
written a religious biography,
The Rebel Nun, which received
favourable reviews from a number of bishops" Spencer
Davis Group start filming The
Ghost Goes Gear Albert
Ayler and John Coltrane quintets eagerly anticipated for Bri-
tish visits. Troggs hit back
with " A Girl Like You "
Charles Lloyd Quartet hit of
Antibes festival Eric Clapton announces he is "absolutely
and completely knocked out"
with Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds,"
hailed as "the most progressive
album ever."
AUGUST: Beatles release
"Eleanor Rigby" and
"Yellow Submarine," double A
side Government plans
tough measures against pirate
radio stations. Stations say "it
will never be passed through
parliament" The Who
smash footlights, kick over
amps, break guitars, demolish
drums and throw buckets of
water over audience at Windsor
Pop Festival Eric Burdon
says he wants to quit the
Animals Beatles fly to
States - to face outcry over
John Lennon's remarks about
Christianity. Anti-Beatles feeling whipped up by Ku Klux
Klan Death of jazz pioneer
pianist Bud Powell Dubliners thrilling the folk world
with their success Georgia
radio station burns all its
Beatles records in protest
against John Lennon's "We're
more popular than Jesus,"
remark Buddy Rich wows
Las Vegas with new big band
Small Faces top chart with
"All Or Nothing." Ronnie
Scott re-opens ''The Old Place,"
a club for the avant garde.
SEPTEMBER: Melody Maker celebrates
annual pop poll awards
with party at GPO Tower.
London. Dusty Springfield
throws a cake at waiter and
fronts the Daily Mirror
Beatles, Tom Jones, Troggs top
Melody Maker poll. Eric Clapton fifth in
guitar section, Hank Marvin top
John Lennon makes solo
film debut in How I Won The
War Georgie Fame breaks
up the Blue Flames after six
years Animals split.
OCTOBER: Who plan "smash-up" show for Ready,
Steady Go Rolling Stones
tour Britain with Ike & Tina
Turner Stan Tracey quits
Ronnie Scott Club as resident
pianist "Psychedelic" is
hailed as new " in " ward. ''It's
trying to create an LSD session
without the use of drugs,"
explains Graham Hash, "who
attended psychedelic pop sessions in the States recently". Melody Maker picks Association, Left
Banke, Love, and Frank Zappa
and the Mothers of Invention,
among new wave - and the
Monkees. Herman says the
Buffalo Springfield are going to
be big, "It's all freak-out
music," he reports from the
West Coast.
NOVEMBER: Scott Walter
reveals to Melody Maker "I want to
go into a monastery".
"British pop is finished," say
Yardbirds, adding "Our music
was the first psychedelic music
to be heard two years ago''
Cream play East Ham
town hall. Admission 6s. 6d.
The Crazy World of Arthur
Brown support the Herd at
Marquee Club. Beach Boys
top chart with "Good Vibrations," toppling the Four Tops'
"Reach Out, I'll Be There"
David Bowie and The Buzz with
the Bowie Showboat entertain
on Sunday sessions at the
Marquee. The Original
Coasters attraction at London's
new Tiles Club Dusty
Springfield slams Buddy Rich
for delaying her club entrance
over two hours. Says: "Mr.
Rich is a little difficult to get
on with." Buddy "announces
first tour of Britain. Ready,
Steady Go dropped by ITV.
London's "in" clubs go psychedelic. Rolling Stones'
business manager Allan Klein
claims he has been approached
to manage "two of the
Beatles."
DECEMBER: Tom Jones tops
chart with "Green Green
Grass Of Home". Fans
force Scott Walker to quit
monastery on Isle of Wight.
Zoot Money ejected from Tower
of London after posing for
pictures on execution block ,
Stones' feature film Only
Lovers Left Alive shelved.
Drummer Louis Bellson tours
Britain. Jimmy Page denies
he and Jeff Beck are to quit
Yardbirds. Riots at German
Dave Dee concerts
Rumours sweep America that
Mick Jagger is dead. Jeff Beck
quits Yardbirds. Jimi Hendrix first signing to Track
Records. First release is "Hey
Joe ". Giant Freak Out Ball
at the Roundhouse features
Who, Move, Pink Floyd "Come
and watch the pretty lights
with Suzie Creamcheese," says
ad, which explains: "participants are freed from national
social slavery."
1967
JANUARY: Melody Maker says " Don't
Knock Pop! " in front page
headline, decrying the threat to
commercial " pirate " radio,
and newspaper campaigns
against pop. Move chop up
car at London's Roundhouse. Jazz saxist Ben Webster
settles in Europe. Beatles
record " Strawberry Fields Forever " , Monkees hit No. 5
with " I'm A Believer ".
Stones release " Let's Spend
The Night Together". Roland Kirk reigns at Ronnie
Scott's Club. Lionel Hampton entertains troops in Vietnam
" We've gone stale," say
Yardbirds. Says Jimi Hendrix " After China takes over
the whole world, then the whole
world will know why America's
trying so hard in Vietnam."
FEBRUARY: Jimi Hendrix
hailed as " the newest name
in pop excitement! " as he
overtakes Rolling Stones in the
chart with his first record " Hey
Joe." Says manager Chas
Chandler: " Everything has
happened as I believed".
Move turn down offer to play
in Birmingham Cathedral after
plan to chop up effigy of the
devil is rejected by Bishop.
Says Stones drummer Charlie
Watts: " I'm not really bored,
I've just got an incredibly boring face". Say the Move:
" You don't think we're going
to spend our lives chopping up
TV sets " Monkees don't
play on their hits," scandal ex-
posed. Ivy League, Peter
and Gordon split up. Ralph
Dollimore fronts Ted Heath
band. Beatles nominated
for eight Grammy awards for
" Eleanor Rigby," " Michelle,"
" Revolver," and the album's
cover. Jazz cornettist Muggsy Spanier dies in California,
clarinettist Ed Hall dies in Massachusetts. Engelbert Humperdinck gets first number one
hit with " Release Me," after
changing name from Gerry Dorsey.
MARCH: Melody Maker exclusively reveals Stevie Winwood's departure from the Spencer Davis
Group. "Strawberry Fields
Forever " / " Penny Lane," No.
1. Cat Stevens follows
" Matthew And Son " with " I'm
Gonna Get Me A Gun".
Mothers Of Invention release
" Freak Out! " album, Love
" Da Cape " Jeff Beck
drops out of tour with Small
Faces and Roy Orbison after
opening night at Finsbury Park
Astoria. His lead singer is Rod
Stewart who says: "We shouldn't have gone on tour without
enough rehearsal". John
Mayall Bluesbreakers release
" A Hard Road," with Peter
Green replacing Eric Clapton
Raver hails new group
John's Children, featuring Marc
Bolan. Melody Maker slashes Pop 50
to Pop 30 chart to beat " chart
fiddling". Teddy Boys riot
at London Fats Domino concert. Jimi Hendrix told to
" clean up " his act on British
tour. Frank and Nancy Sinatra hit with " Something Stupid."
APRIL: Pink Floyd play
Roundhouse all-nighter with
light show. Tickets five shillings. Jimi Hendrix says:
" I can't sing ". Jazz clarinettist Buster Bailey dies.
Cream and Who play Murray
the K show in New York, which
ends with cast swimming
around in flour, eggs and water
in their dressing rooms.
One week's London club attractions include Jimi Hendrix,
John Mayall, the Herd. and
Buck Clayton. 14-Hour Technicolour Dream held at Alex-
andra Palace with 30 top
groups. Spencer Davis
launches new group. Sandie
Shaw hits with " Puppet On A
String ". Buddy Rich holds
first London drum clinic.
Sonny Rollins plays season at
Ronnie Scott's Club.
MAY: Georgic Fame sings
with Count Basic Band at
Royal Albert Hall, London.
Ex-Manfred Mann singer Paul
Jones stars in film Privilege.
Bob Dylan records again after
road accident. Stevie Winwood launches new group, Traffic. Walker Brothers confirm
split. Tomorrow release
underground hit " My White Bicycle ". Doors' first album
released featuring " Light My
Fire ". Move hit with " I
Can Hear The Grass Grow ". Jimi Hendrix huge success
at London's Saville Theatre, operated by Beatles' manager
Brian Epstein. Pink Floyd
complete first album. " Are
You Experienced? " album released. Crazy World of Arthur Brown emerge. BBC
ban " A Day In The Life " on
Beatles' " Sgt. Pepper's Lonely
Hearts Club Band " album.
Bee Gees hailed as " Five Australians with a bright future."
JUNE: Peter Green quits
Bluesbreakers. Miles
Davis releases " Miles Smiles "
album. Procol Harum hit
number one with " A Whiter
Shade Of Pale ". Monterey
pop, Festival is organised by
Andrew Oldham, Papa John
Phillips, Lou Adler and Paul
Simon. Line-up includes Association, Buffalo Springfield, Grateful Dead, Simon & Garfunkel,
Jimi Hendrix Experience, Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and
the Holding Company and the
Who Bee Gees follow up
" New York Mining Disaster "
with " To Love Somebody "
Pianist and composer Billy
Strayhorn dies London's
hippie homes are UFO, Happening '44 and Electric Garden.
Charles Lloyd Quartet with
Keith Jarrett on piano plays
London concerts Janis Ian
releases " Society's Child " - aged 16.
JULY: Zal Yanovsky quits Lovin' Spoonful Norman
Granz says he will " never
again " present Jazz At The
Philharmonic. " It just wasn't
worth all the grief, aggravation
and problems " Soul singer P. P. Arnold Plays London
clubs backed by new group,
the Nice, with Keith Emerson
on organ Paul McCartney
announces he has taken LSD.
Mick Jagger sentenced to three
months' imprisonment for possession of four pep pills. Melody Maker
front-page a protest and joins
forces with The Times in demanding his freedom Jimi
Hendrix joins Monkees -on American tour Beatles release " All You Need Is Love "
Who release two Stones
songs in tribute to Dagger,
" Under My Thumb " and The
Last Time ". " All You Need
Is Love" goes straight into Melody Maker
chart at No. 3, same week as
Scott McKenzie's "San Francisco " enters at 26 Tenorist John Coltrane dies in New
York, aged 40 Jimi Hendrix dropped from US Monkees
tour after alleged ban
Paul Desmond will quit Dave
Brubeck Quartet after 17 years
Drummer Jon Hiseman
quits Graham Bond Organisation after a year to join Georgic
Fame Band, and marries multi-instrumentalist Barbara Thompson.
AUGUST: Zoot Money's Big
Roll Band splits up and reforms as Dantalion's Chariot.
Over 1,000 attend John Coltrane
funeral in Manhattan, while
Albert Ayler and Ornette Coleman Quartets play at the service. London court of appeal
quashes drugs conviction
against Mick Jagger and Keith
Richard Rawer describes International Love-in at Alexandra
Palace as Boot-In " after local
thugs beat up hippies Eric
Burdon turns on to flower power
Rolling Stones rush-release
" We Love You " British
pirate radio ships scuttled by
new Government law Composer/singer Syd Barrett collapses from exhaustion and
Pink Floyd drop out of 7th National Jazz & Blues Festival at
Windsor The Nice make
sensational debut at the festival Kinks, Small Faces,
Bee Gees, Alan Price, Jeff Beck
among acts at three-day "Festival Of Flower Children " at Woburn Abbey George Harrison tells how Beatles were
spiked with LSD Beatles
manager Brian Epstein dies.
Beatles return from trip to Bangor, North Wales, where they
had met Maharishi Mahesh
Yogi.
SEPTEMBER: Engelbert Humperdinck No. 1 with "The
Last Waltz." Current chart hits
are " Itchycoo Park" (Small
Faces), " 007 " (Desmond Dekker) Let's Go To San Francisco " (Flower Pot Men)
London's Flamingo Club, home
of R&B, goes " hippie " and
features new Eric Burdon band
playing " San Franciscan
Nights " Beatles begin four
day Magical Mystery Tour by
coach in South West England,
which is filmed Georgic
Fame, Tubby Hayes and Harry
South Band play at London's
Saville Theatre London hippies roam streets and clubs in
kaftans and beads. Pot smoking
rife. Flower power and psychedelic reach new heights
Singer P. P. Arnold splits from
the Nice. The band go solo as
drummer Brian Davison joins
Melody Maker features " Magnificent
Seven " guitarists - Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix Pete Townshend, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page,
Stevie Winwood and Peter Green
Cornettist Rex Stewart dies
in Los Angeles BBC answer to pop pirates, Radio One,
launched Mothers Of invention arrive in London for
concert at Royal Albert Hall
with London Philharmonic Orchestra Trumpeter Sidney
de Paris dies in New York.
OCTOBER: Press Council reject complaint made against
Melody Maker feature California Dreamin t at it encouraged drug
taking Jazz violinist Stuff
Smith dies in Munich Herd
get first hit with " From The
Underworld " Keith Emerson described by Arthur Brown
as the Jimi Hendrix of the organ Fairport Convention,
Tomorrow, Incredible String
Band and Pink Floyd play Sunday concert at London's Saville
Theatre Vanilla Fudge tour
Britain with Traffic and Tomor
************ There's a line missing on the Melody Maker page ****************
ed on arrival in Britain, charged with stealing two blankets
and keys from a London hotel
earlier in year. Harold Davison presents " Jazz Expo '67 "
concerts throughout Britain
featuring Dave Brubeck, Max
Roach, Roland Kirk, Charles
Lloyd, Thelonious Monk Orchestra, Miles Davis, Archie Shepp,
Stan Getz and Oscar Peterson. Mamas And Papas' Royal
Albert Hall concert cancelled - Mama Cass says group has split
up Ten Years After drawing "huge crowds " to the
Marquee Who Killed Flower Power," asks Melody Maker as
hippie clubs close.
NOVEMBER: Archie Shepp,
US jazz star, booed at Expo '67 concert at Hammersmith
Odeon Rolling Stones'
Brian Jones sentenced to nine
months' imprisonment for possessing cannabis. He appeals
Who, Herd, Tremeloes,
Traffic tour opens with punch
ups on stage Time magazine says Cream are biggest
musical jolt from England since
the Beatles Marquee Club's
weekly bill includes the Nice,
Herd, Traffic and Ten Years
After Jazz fans walk out
on Charles Lloyd Quartet at
Jazz Expo Rolling Stones
release ' Their Satanic Majesties Request " album -
Foundations hit with " Baby
Now That I've Found You"
Long John Baldry hits
top with " Let The Heartaches Begin ". Jimi Hendrix
the Nice, Move, Amen Corner,
and Pink. Floyd start British tour
at Royal Albert Hall and deafen
reviewers Melody Maker spotlights
new American groups. Sopwith
Camel, Moby Grape, Buffalo
Springfield, Doors Velvet Underground, Country Joe and the
Fish, Grateful Dead and Clear
Light.
DECEMBER: " Flower Power
Is Dead," says Graham
Nosh on Melody Maker front page
Bee Gees plan tour with 60 piece
orchestra BBC TV drays
Juke Box Jury Eric Burdon and Animals release
" Winds Of Change " album.
Electric Prunes play London's
Middle Earth I want to
get out of pop," says Scott
Walker as he goes solo. Soul singer Otis Redding killed
in plane crash Brian Jones'
jail sentence quashed and he
is fined £1,000 London's
Tiles. club closes Dave
Mason quits Traffic " I call
upon every youth to stop the
use of drugs," says Donovan.
1968
JANUARY: Diana Ross and Supremes play London's Talk
Of The Town Captain Beefheart's " Safe As Milk " album
released National TV critics
pan Beatles' Magical Mystery
Tour film shown at Christmas
Mike Bloomfield completes
first Electric Flag album
" Magical Mystery Tour " EP No 4. Manfred Mann releases
" Mighty Quinn " single
Georgic Fame hits top with
" Ballad Of Bonnie And Clyde "
New group Love Affair hit
with " Everlasting Love "
Bob Dylan makes triumphant
comeback concert at New York's
Carnegie Hall in tribute to
Woody Guthrie his first major
appearance since a motorcycle
accident in 1966 Guitarist
Dave Gilmour joins Pink Floyd.
FEBRUARY: Peter Frampton
and Scott Walker hailed as
the Faces of '68 Busker
Don Partridge hits with
" Rosie " Jazzman Ronnie
Scott records with the Beatles
on " Lady Madonna" Georgic Fame breaks up his
band Beach Boys plan tour
with the Maharishi. National
press controversy over " who
played what " on Love Affair
single " Everlasting Love ".
" Our act is disgusting " say
the Move Status Quo hit
with " Pictures " Of Matchstick
Men," and try to find follow up
Julie Driscoll emerges as
" Brightest Hope For '68 ".
Ban on " ghost " recordings
discussed by Musicians Union
Humphrey Lyttelton celebrates 20th anniversary as band
leader.
MARCH: Esther and Abi
Ofarim number one with
" Cinderella Rockefella "
Melody Maker tips the Nice, Family and
Eyes Of Blue to " make it in
'68 " Avant garde jazzman
Ornette Coleman plays first-ever
London concert Big surge
of interest in British blues
bands: John Mayall, Savoy
Brown, Chicken Shack, and
Fleetood Mac. MCA reissue " Rock Around The
Clock " by Bill Haley & The
Comets Musicians Union
ban studio musicians "ghosting on records by pop groups
Beatles' " Sgt. Pepper "
wins Grammy award. New
York Times calls Jimi Hendrix
"The Black Elvis " Amen
Corner drop rock and roll from
their act Beatles, Beach
Boys and Donovan still raving
about the Maharishi, and his
disciples plan "future projects " Louis Armstrong
hits with " Wonderful World."
APRIL: Tom Jones No. 1.
with " Delilah " Drummer Keep Hartley quits John
Mayall Dave Dee and Bee
Gees play bizarre concert at
Royal Albert Half with Grapefruit and Royal Air Force Band
Small Faces release " Lazy
Sunday" to rave reviews. London's Marquee club celebrates tenth anniversary
Georgic Fame tours with Count
Basic orchestra Tim Buckley and Bill Haley tour Britain. Ace Kefford quits the Move.
MAY: Fire guts London's
Speakeasy disco, home of
the stars. Eric Clapton says:
" I'm going back to the blues ". Brian Auger and Julie Driscoll steal show at Montreux
Festival. Rolling Stones release " Jumping Jack Flash ". Ronnie Scott closes " The
Old Place ". 1910 Fruitgum
Co. introduce " bubblegum
pop ". Beach Boys-Maharishi tour flops and the Maharishi
quits America. Only 300 turned
up to one New York concert.
Brian Jones arrested and charged with possessing " dangerous
drugs ". Union Gap hit
with " Young Girl ". Dave
Mason re-joins Traffic.
Aretha Franklin plays London
concerts.
JUNE: Mickey Dolenz announces new look for the
Monkees as their TV series ends. Apple plan " a revolution "
in business. " The Maharishi
never sang like Ray Charles,"
say Eric Burdon. Julie Driscoll hits with " This Wheel's
On Fire ". Pink Floyd and
Tyrannosaurus Rex play free
concerts in London's Hyde Park. BBC 2 start Colour Me Pop
series. Keith Richard says:
" UFOs are landing in my garden ". Mothers Of Invention's " We're Only In It For
The Money " acclaimed as a masterpiece. Deaths of Peter
McGurk, bass player with DudIey Moore Trio, guitarist Wes
Montgomery and singer Gary
Miller. Advert for Small
Faces' LP " Ogden's Nut Gone
Flake " which parodies the
Lord's Prayer causes furore.
Yardbirds rumoured to have
split, with Jimmy Page forming
new group. Jeff Beck jams
in New York with Jimi Hendrix
and Eric Clapton.
JULY: Jimi Hendrix, Tyrannosaurus Rex play at Melody Maker's
Woburn Abbey festival 7,000 attend Hyde Park free concert by Pink Floyd, T. Rex,
Jethro Tull and Roy Harper.
Swing trumpeter Ziggy Eiman
dies. Nice banned for life
from Royal Albert Hall when
Keith Emerson burns US flag
during version of "America"
Cream split. Says Eric
Clapton: "The Cream has lost
direction ". Arthur Brown
ordered to rest as his hit
" Fire " storms the chart.
" If I get a hit, I'm changing
my name to Zinc Alloy," says
Marc Bolan. "The Underground is like a woman endlessly pregnant and never has
a baby. So sad," says John
Peel.
AUGUST: Ronnie Scott forms eight piece band with Ray Warleigh and Kenny Wheeler. Richard Harris hits with
" MacArthur Park". Bubblegum pop sweeps America.
Beatles' " Yellow Submarine "
cartoon dropped by West End
cinemas. Gary Burton and
Larry Coryell split up partnership. Cream release
"Wheels Of Fire " double album, Pink Floyd " A Saucerful
Of Secrets," Beatles seven minute single " Hey Jude," their
first on own label Apple.
Drummer Jon Hiseman quits
John Mayall to form his own
band Colosseum. Raver reports: " Jethro Tull building up
big following ". Saxist
Tubby Hayes arrested and charged with possessing drugs. Bassist Dave Holland joins
Miles Davis group. Jerry
Lee Lewis and Arthur Brown
play at National Jazz and Blues
Festival. Scaffolding baits hurled at the Herd by Teddy Boys,
and Arthur Brown's big entrance is ruined by collapsing
stands. Eric Clapton guests
with Ginger Baker and Phil Seamen.
SEPTEMBER: American radio
stations ban Rolling Stones'
" Street Fighting Man," album
track "for fear of violence ". Skip Bifferty road manager
drives their truckload of equipment into the Thames. Doors and Jefferson Airplane
play historic concerts at
London's Roundhouse and Airplane play first Isle Of Wight
Festival. Mary Hopkin gets
Apple hit with "Those Were
The Days ". Sly and the
Family Stone dropped from
BBC TV's Top Of The Pops
when group are charged with
drug offence on visiting London. Joe Cocker releases,
"With A Little Help From My
Friends."
OCTOBER: Spencer Davis
Group (second version)
splits up. " Uproar" at
Small Faces-Canned Heat concert at Colston Hall, Bristol.
Faces accused of using "foul
language ". Guitarist David
O'List quits the Nice, Bruce
Welch quits the Shadows.
Buddy Rich invites audience to
watch a movie at half-filled
Croydon Fairfield Hall. The
Fugs play the Roundhouse
Jimmy Page forms the New
Yardbirds with Robert Plant,
John Bonham and John Paul
Jones. Ed Sanders of the
Fugs says the Underground is
a fake. Ringo Starr signed
for a part in The Magic Christian with Peter Sellers.
Yardbirds change their name to
Led Zeppelin. Jon Hiseman's
Colosseum make their debut in
Scarborough. Stan Tracey,
Muddy Waters, Gerry Mulligan,
Count Basle, Gary Burton in
Jazz Expo '68. Talks to
keep Cream together break
down. "says manager Robert
Stigwood.
NOVEMBER: Bob Dylan's film
Don't Look Back at last
shown in Britain, at London
Film Festival. 32,000 attend
Jazz Expo. Cream farewell
concerts held at Royal Albert
Hall. Mothers of Invention
slated as " boring " at Royal
Festival Hall. Johnny Cash
hits with " Folsom Prison "
album. Jimi Hendrix's
" Electric Ladyland " album
cover banned in some British
shops because of nude ladies on
the cover. Mm reports on
recording session with the Who
for a" pop opera " to be
called "TOMMY ". Says
Bob Dylan: "From my own
experience drugs have nothing
positive to offer". Curtain
dropped on Who at Walthamstow Granada " because of the
violence `of their ad "
Jimi Hendrix announces the
Experience are to split up. David Bowie changes name
of mime group from Turquoise
to Feathers. Graham Nash
goes solo and quits Hollies.
£1 million advance orders for
new Beatles double album.
Pianist Herbie Hancock quits
Miles Davis quintet. Tony
Palmer says Beatles are best
songwriters since Schubert.
Diana Ross arrives in London
and says: " I's black and I'm
proud."
DECEMBER: Traffic split.
Stevie Winwood might be
free to work with Eric Clapton. John Lennon fined
£150 for possessing cannabis.
Yoko Ono cleared of similar
charge. " Has Apple gone
rotten? " asks Melody Maker as directors
quit. Syd Lawrence heads
Glenn Miller revival. Scaffofd hit with " Lily The Pink ". Rolling Stones throw
custard pies at press at reception for " Beggar's Banquet ". Eric Burden splits from
the Animals - again. Peter
Tork quits the Monkees.
Guitarist Mick Abrahams quits
Jethro Tull. Marmalade hit
with " Ob-La-Di."
1969
JANUARY: Jimi Hendrix guests
on BBC TV's Lulu show and
stops in the middle of a song
to play " Sunshine Of Your
Love," by Cream, whose Farewell film is on BBC 1. San
Francisco hailed as a" Mecca"
for British and American musicians. Small Faces and Who
wreck Track Records office at
Christmas party, reports the
Raver. Walls and guests coated
with sausage and pastry. Rumours abound that Small Faces
will break up. Clarinettist
George Lewis dies in New Orleans. Jimi Hendrix says
that the Experience will stay
together Promoters say
" 1969 is going to be the year of
Elton John," after he releases
"Lady Samantha" single.
Melody Maker predictions for 1969 tip Led
Zeppelin, Billy Cobham, John
McLaughlin, Al Stewart, Colosseum and Yes for " future star-
dom ". The Shadows break
up after ten years. Judy
Garland sits in with Stan Getz
at Ronnie Scott's and sings
" Get Happy ". Peter Frampton quits Herd to form own
group. Caught in the Act
calls Rod Stewart at Marquee:
" A most underrated singer."
FEBRUARY Move hit with
" Blackberry Way " and
Trevor Burton quits. Melody Maker
sponsors British Blues Scene
tour with John Lee Hooker, as
blues boom bites. Who release " Pinball Wizard " single. Fleetwood Mac number one
with " Albatross " , Rolling
Stones' business manager Allen
Klein takes over the business
affairs of Apple, the Beatles'
company, John Lennon says that
unless Apple stops losing money
it will go bust. Ginger
Baker may join new Clapton-Winwood group. Skinheads
emerge in London. Clarinettist Pee Wee Russell dies in Virginia. Free release " Tons
Of Sobs."
MARCH: Marvin Gaye hits
with " I Heard It Through
The Grapevine," Simon & Garfunkel with " Mrs. Robinson "
EP. Peter Green denies
Fleetwood Mac have " sold out "
. Rave reviews for " Blood
Sweat and Tears " album
" Boom Bang A Bang "
British entry for Eurovision
Song Contest. Stevie Wonder tours Britain, and says new
sound from Tamla is " funkadelic ". John Mayall signs
for Newport Jazz Festival.
Robin Gibb quits Bee Gees.
Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan record together. Roland Kirk,
Eric Clapton, Steven Stills, MJQ,
Led Zeppelin, Colosseum, Buddy
Miles in giant jam session in
Staines for documentary film
Super Session. Led Zeppelin's first album released. Rave
review: " Jimmy Page triumphs! " as Zeppelin play the
Marquee.
APRIL: Scandinavian tour by
Clapton, Baker Winwood
announced, plus free concert in
London's Hyde Park planned.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono
plan " Life With The Lions "
album on " Zapple " label.
Jim Morrison's US stage act
hailed as indecent. John
and Yoko hold seven-day " Bed-In " at Amsterdam Hilton in
anti-war protest. Current
" in " phrase is " heavy music," and Melody Maker spotlights the
Who, Free, Led Zeppelin,
Spooky Tooth and Nice. Melody Maker
describes Taste with Rory Gallagher as " mediocre group who
inspire a frenzy ". Janis
Joplin arrives in London for
gigs. Jim Morrison of Doors
released on bail after arrest by
FBI for lewd behaviour on stage. John McLaughlin, British
guitarist, records with Miles
Davis. Steve Marriott and
Peter Frampton form Humble
Pie. Jazz-rock, new rage, is
billed at Newport Jazz Festival, Duke Ellington has dinner
with President Nixon in the
White House on seventieth birthday.
MAY: Japanese refuse Miles
Davis a work permit.
Kinks' " Plastic Man " banned
from Top Of The Pops for use
of word " bum " Jimi
Hendrix arrested in Canada and
charged with possessing heroin.
Released on 10,000 dollars bail
." Blind Faith " is name of
new Baker, Clapton, Winwood
supergroup. The Who unveil rock opera " Tommy " at
press reception at London's
Ronnie Scott Club. Fairport Convention drummer Mar-
tin Lambie killed when
group's van overturns on M1.
Rest of group injured. John
Mayall drops guitar and drums
from line-up. Mick Jagger
signed for role in film Ned
Kelly., Tenor sax giant Coleman Hawkins dies. Who
charged with assault on police
at Fillmore East. Mrs. Mary
Whitehouse threatens BBC for
showing Tony Palmer film All
My Loving. Diana Ross and
Supremes break up. Tyrannosaurus Rex go "heavy" and
electric. Rod Stewart signs
solo recording contract
Mick Jagger and Marianne
Faithfull arrested in Chelsea
and accused of possessing cannabis.
JUNE: EMI lau^nch " underground " label, Harvest.
Midnight Court at London's
Lyceum replaces defunct Middle
Earth as hippies' venue.
Former John Mayall guitarist
Mick Taylor replaces Brian
Jones in Rolling Stones. Jones
split due to " differences over
musical policy ". Top British jazz' saxist John Surman
quits Britain for America.
Donovan, Richie Havens join
Blind Faith at Free Concert.
Lennon and Yoko form Plastic
Ono Band and release " Give
Peace A Chance," recorded in
Toronto hotel suite. Organist Vincent Crane and drummer
Carl Palmer quit Crazy World
Of Arthur Brown to form new
group Atomic Rooster. Rod
Stewart sits in with the Faces.
JULY: Excitement mounts at
planned Rolling Stones free
concert in Hyde Park: " Bring
a drum or a tambourine to bang
or something," urges Jagger. Noel Redding quits Jimi
Hendrix Experience, Mitch
Mitchell's plans unknown. Jimi
plans larger group. Pop
Proms concerts start at Royal
Albert Hall with Led Zeppelin,
who also play Bath Festival
with Roy Harper, Nice. Mac, Liverpool Scene,
Colosseum Chicken Shack.
Brian Jones found dead in
swimming pool at his home, just
a week before the Stones' free
concert, which goes ahead. Jagger reads Shelley in tribute to
Brian. 3,000 butterflies are released in the park. Royal
Albert Hall ban rock concerts
following last night of Pop
Proms featuring Chuck Berry
and the Who. " It's not the artists we object to, but the hood-
lums they attract," says a
spokesman.
AUGUST: Led Zeppelin receive
gold disc for first album. Altoist / organist Graham
Bond returns from West Indies
to Britain. Julie Driscoll
quits Brian Auger Trinity.
BBC say they haven't banned
Jane Birkin's " Je T'Aime," but
don't play it. Thunderclap
Newman split. Yes steal the
show at Plumpton festival.
Bob Dylan's arrival in Britain
and departure of fans for Isle
Of Wight called " second Dunkirk." Dylan says: " We may
6e on stage for a full three
hours ". Melody Maker investigates
" idiot dancing ". Humble
Pie make debut at Belgian pop
festival. Melody Maker's verdict on
Dylan at Isle Of Wight: " A success. What did they want -
blood? "
SEPTEMBER: Blues singer Josh
White dies. Drummer
Colin Petersen sacked from Bee
Gees. Spencer Davis quits
Spencer Davis Group. John
and Yoko play rock 'n' roll
show in Toronto and deny being booed off. Creedence
Clearwater Revival number one
with " Bad Moon Rising ".
Deep Purple play concert with
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at
Albert Hall. Graham Bond
arrested at London club on
bankruptcy charges. Isle Of
Wight ratepayers try to stop
plans for another festival.
OCTOBER: Amen Corner, Don
Rendell-lan Carr Quintet
split. Steve Took and Marc
Bolan part company. Rumours of Blind Faith split. Eric
Clapton says: " We were pushed to the front without being
ready". Eric Clapton announces plans to tour with
American group Delaney &
Bonnie. First King Crimson
album release is " In The Court
Of Crimson King". Marc
Bolan announces new plans for
T, Rex. Advertises in Melody Maker for
new partner, " a gentle guy ". Graham Bond plays concert to half-empty Albert Hall. Delaney & Bonnie " best
band in the world," says Eric
Clapton. Ads for " reggae
music " appear in Melody Maker back
pages. The Mothers Of Invention split. The Faces
sign with Warner Brothers
Nice play with symphony orchestra at Fairfield Hall, Croydon.
NOVEMBER: Jeff Beck seriously injured in hot rod
crash. New work " Earthrise " by Mike Westbrook, top
British jazz composer, commissioned by Sir Bernard Miles for
his Mermaid Theatre. Eric
Clapton records with George
Harrison for alleged solo albums. John and Yoko issue
" Wedding" album. Arlo
Guthrie stars in movie Alice's
Restaurant. Buddy Rich
tours Britain playing " West
Side Story " medley. Who
tour with "Tommy ".
Fairport Convention split.
" Bloody stupid," says Paul McCartney as " death " rumour
hits States. Bandleader and
trombonist Ted Heath dies.
Ginger Baker announces plans
for his new group, Airforce,
while Blind Faith is held " in
abeyance."
DECEMBER: Rolling Stones'
American tour breaks all
previous box office records.
Mystery of British single by Led
Zeppelin " Whole Lotta Love,"
issued and then withdrawn
Rod Stewart revealed as new
vocalist with Small Faces (now
the Faces). Jonathan King
says he is-giving up pop writing
and pontificating because he is
too old for pop at 25. Fairport Convention's " Liege &
Lief " album hailed as " the
first British folk rock LP ever". John Lennonn says: " Taking the MBE was a sell-out for
me ". Pink Floyd to write
film music for Antonioni's Zabriskie Point. Line-up for
Airforce includes Phil Seamen,
Graham Bond, Stevie Winwood,
Harold McNair and Denny
Laine. Bandleader Jack
Payne dies. New band,
Judas Jump, formed from members of Herd, Amen Corner and
Mindbenders. Jimi Hendrix
acquitted on drugs charge in
Toronto. Parliamentary Secretary to Board of Trade presents Gold and Platinum discs
to Led Zeppelin at London ceremony for their export efforts. George Harrison, Eric Clapton, John & Yoko play UNICEF
concert in London's Lyceum.
|