"Camelot, located no where in particular, can be anywhere"
A
nation "giddy with prosperity, infatuated with youth and
glamour, and aiming increasingly for the easy life” welcomed the
age of Camelot with open arms. By the narrowest of margins, John F.
Kennedy had turned back Sleazy Dick Nixon's attempt at commandeering
the American dream. “We stand today on the edge of a New Frontier”
Although, not where radio program directors were concerned. Popular
music had grown every bit as dull and drab as it had ever been before
the rock & roll era. One need only glance at the U.S. popular
music charts for the years 1960-61 to realize that rock & roll
wasn't much of a factor on the American music scene.
The
vapid period following “the day the music died” was truly rock &
roll's dark age. A sad parade of prefabricated teen idols rang up
sales while hammering out their sad little songs. Novelty tunes and
one hit wonders dominated the airwaves. Instrumental groups were
suddenly in vogue. It seemed that Americans had grown tired of trying
to decipher the innuendo they imagined was implied in every single
rock & roll song and simply given up on vocals altogether.
America which had just elected into office the youngest and hippest
president ever had suddenly elected to go lame as well.
The
1960s folk revival actually got its start in 1958 when the Kingston
Trio stormed the charts with “Tom Dooley” a morbid murder ballad
that sold over three million copies as a single. By the following
year legions of folk singers were gravitating towards New York City.
Folk singers displaced the beatniks as America's go to hep cats.
Sing-alongs and hootenannies became a part of the American musical
lexicon. The year after that Robert Zimmerman, who was done
matriculating at Dinkytown, changed his name to Bob Dylan and made a
pilgrimage to Greystone Park seeking consul with Woody Guthrie.
Folk
music which had run concurrently with rock & roll in the mid-50s
before being forced underground during the McCarthy era, was coming
back in a big way. It's clean cut, white washed appeal struck a
nerve with Americans anxious over the cold war and a threat of
nuclear annihilation. But it wasn't all toothy smiles and harmonies,
folk was split into two competing camps, traditionalists who sought
to present the music in its original context without added commentary
and singer/songwriters who saw it as the perfect vehicle for enacting
change and political protest. Once Bob Dylan hit his lyrical stride,
it was no contest.
Hitsville
U.S.A.
It's
hard to imagine that less than a decade prior, Alan Freed had caught
grief for playing “race music” on a white radio station. By 1960
one quarter of the spots on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles
were filled by black artists. Various
factors contributed to the rise, but it was Berry Gordy's Motown that
rang the bell louder and more often than the rest. Motown's first hit
was Barrett Stong's Money (That's What I Want) in 1959, while Shop
Around by The Miracles (actually released on Tamla, the brand used
outside the U.S.) became its first million selling record in 1960.
Audaciously calling itself “The sound of young America” Motown
would make history as well as hit records.
Between
1960 and 1969, Motown would place 79 records in the American top ten,
while countless others finished in the Top 40. One byproduct of the
payola scandal of 1960 was that radio stations were forced to tighten
up their formats, forcing disc jockeys to work from a script while
following a specific playlist. The contents of which were determined
by the each station's program director. Top 40 radio which came to
be known as contemporary hit radio became the money format for radio.
Top 40 was the brainchild of broadcaster Todd Storz, further defined
by Gordon McLendon (KLIF) and then refined to a science by Bill Drake
and Gene Chenault in the mid-1960s (Boss Radio)
Presentation
was everything and nothing was left to chance. Every minute was
scripted, dead air was taboo, every lead-in carefully timed to segue
directly into the music. The Storz system factored in record shop
sales and jukebox plays to determine which songs were the most
popular and thus most likely to receive radio play. It worked as a
real time indicator of what the people wanted to hear. In the
mid-1950s much to the chagrin of many, what the people wanted to
hear was rock & roll. Just the same, by 1960 the listening and
record buying public favored overwrought ballads, instrumentals and
the slick soul of Motown. The music charts reflected those
preferences.
Everybody's
doing it
If
not for a private audition requested by American Bandstand host Dick
Clark. Ernest Evans, a nondescript former chicken plucker from South
Philly would have missed his calling. That audition led to Evans
recording “The Class” a novelty single on which he sings Mary Had
a Little Lamb while imitating Fats Domino and Elvis before some
cheesy chipmunk voices kick in. Pure corn pone, but it did lead to a
recording contract with Cameo-Parkway records. At some point in
between, Clark's wife asked Evans his name, to which he replied “My
friends call me Chubby” and seeing how he had just finished singing
a Fats Domino tune, Mrs. Clark inquired: “As in Checkers?”
Now
christened Chubby Checkers, he recorded “The Twist” a Hank
Ballard b-side and by the end of 1960 Chubs had a gold record and
America had a new dance craze. “The Twist” went to number one,
Checkers cashed in and that normally would have been the end of it.
But, all through 1961 the song refused to go away. Once celebrities
(Judy Garland, John Wayne, Jackie Kennedy Zsa Zsa Gabor etc.) started
gyrating to it at The Peppermint Lounge in NYC, “The Twist” took
off again, climbing back up to #1. in 1962. The second song on the
U.S. Charts (Bing Crosby's White Christmas being the other) to hit
number one during two separate runs.
Chubby
Checkers and Fabian Forte exemplified the state of pop music in 1960
(both were from South Philadelphia and had attended the same high
school) Both were discovered by opportunistic music impresarios
(Checkers by Dick Clark, Fabian by Bob Marcucci) both were successful
beyond their wildest dreams though neither one possessed an abundance
of musical talent. Forte in fact would testify during the payola
hearings that the vocals on his recordings had been electronically
enhanced. Forte openly admitted that he lip synced most of his live
performances, adding “I felt controlled. I felt like a puppet”
For spilling the beans, Forte was effectively retired from music by
the time he turned 18. Before you spill a tear for dear old Fabian,
keep in mind that by 1959 he had earned almost $300,000.
Surfin'
is the only life the only way for me
While
rock & roll had slipped into a coma, it still had a pulse. The
Fireballs from Raton, N.M. teamed up with Norm Petty in 1958 and
scored three successive Top 40 hits with “Torquay” (1959) Bulldog
(1960) and “Quite a Party” (1961) Early on The Fireballs built
their sound around influential guitarist George Tomsco, then in 1963
Norm Petty matched them with singer Jimmy Gilmer and they recorded
“Sugar Shack” the only #1 hit single ever by a New Mexico based
band. The Fireballs w/Gilmer hit on the formula again in 1967 with
“Bottle of Wine” a top ten hit and A.M. Radio staple. Tomsco and
crew were the precursors to a new sound that was developing on the
West Coast.
Instrumental
groups played a big part as surf music began to evolve. The
Fireballs, though not a surf band by any means, were nonetheless
highly influential. So to were Duane Eddy, Al Casey, The Ventures and
even The Righteous Bros. their song “Koko Joe” became a surfer
favorite. Dick Dale & The Deltones, The Gamblers, The Belairs
The Sentinals and The Centurions began to attract large crowds to
dance concerts that came to be known as surfer stomps. While
it's generally agreed that Dick Dale & Paul Johnson were at the
forefront of this hybrid style, it was the surfers themselves and not
the musicians that came up with the idea of calling it “surf music”
Guitarists
Paul Johnson and Eddie Bertrand were the impetus behind The Belairs, a short lived yet pivotal band. Shortly after the release of their
iconic single “Mr. Moto” in 1960, the band imploded with Bertrand
going off to form Eddie & the Showmen, a highly influential,
often overlooked surf band. The Belairs drummer, Dick Dodd followed
Bertrand to the Showmen, before leaving to join The Standells (that's
Dick singing lead on Dirty Water) Paul Johnson moved on, forming The
Galaxies and then joining Davie Allan & The Arrows in the
mid-1960s. Renowned jazz guitarist Larry Carlton was also once a
member of Eddie & the Showmen.
All
of which goes to point out the many influences that led to the
formation of surf music: jazz, swing, R&B, Folk, Barber Shop
Quartet, Doo Wop, Mexican and courtesy of Dick Dale, pulsating Middle
Eastern musical techniques. In
1959, The Gamblers formed by guitarist-songwriter Derry Weaver,
recorded “Moondawg” which is regarded as the first surf music
hit. Produced by Nick Venet, the song also features surf music
pioneer Bruce Johnston on keys. Dick Dale followed closely with
“Let's Go Tripping” and The Belairs with “Mr. Moto” The
gauntlet was drawn, the mood was set.... American music fans were
about to fall in love with rock & roll all over again.
That
Makes it Tough- Buddy Holly
So
Sad- The Everly Brothers
Lonely-
Eddie Cochran
Nervous
Breakdown- Eddie Cochran
Susie
Q- Dale Hawkins w/James Burton
Money
(That's What I Want)- Barrett Strong
Shout-
The Isley Brothers
Let's
Go Tripping- Dick Dale & The Deltones
Moondawg-
The Gamblers
Mr.
Moto- The Belairs
Louie
Louie- Rocking Robin Roberts & The Fabulous Wailers
Surfin'-
The Beach Boys
Let
There Be Drums- Sandy Nelson w/ Richard Podolor
Comanche-
The Revels
Jungle
Fever- Dick Dale & The Deltones
Jungle
Fever- Charlie Feathers
Route
66- Chuck Berry
Jack
the Ripper- Link Wray
Susie
Darling- Robin Luke
Give
me Love- Bluford Wade & The Originals
Like
Longhair- Paul Revere & The Raiders
Twist
and Shout- The Top Notes
Boys-
The Shirelles
Angel
Baby- Rosie & The Originals
I
Found a Love- The Falcons w/Wilson Pickett
Sheila-
Tommy Roe
True
Love Ways- Buddy Holly
Town
Without Pity- Gene Pitney
When
Will I Be Loved- The Everly Brothers
Shop
Around- The Miracles
Twistin'
the Night Away- Sam Cooke
