Rock Evolution – The History of Rock & Roll - 1985 - (page 203)

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

Another top notch write up Rob but you've missed the most important event of 1965...

So a great year musically to be born and the Number 1 song on my birth day was a real banger. Some (UK) statistics on it...
Ladies and gentlemen I give you.....

Tears (For Souvenirs) - Ken Dodd

Also known as a song I've never heard prior to today. ;-)

That's right, the only person to give the Fab Four a run for their commercial money in the entire decade, at least when it came to singles, was everyone's favourite tax evading, diddyman bothering, loveable Scouse comedian. Listen and weep.

Meanwhile over in the US, "Yesterday" was #1, so at least know that there was good music being (over)played somewhere. ;-) Just noting that song for reference only, as I see it has already been nominated.

It's hard to believe the Beatles put out 2 albums in a few months time to the tune of Help! and Rubber Soul that year. That's an amazing amount of music in such a short time as compared to the frequency of album releases these days.

 

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

From a UK blues perspective I would offer 'For your Love' The Yardbirds...

#21 on the charts in the US for 1965 singles, so it was a loved classic here too.

Those bongos that come back into the song courtesy of Denny Piercy at 1:24 still gives me chills.

 

[Saddleworth2]

So one of my favourite albums from this year and one that I still listen to frequently is Nina Simone's Pastel Blues. I had fleetingly considered putting this up on the album thread its so good. It It blends jazz, blues, soul, and gospel influences and her voice and classically trained piano were never bettered in my opinion.
There are a number of standout tracks - Sinner Man, Trouble in Mind but there are no bad tracks. For the playlist I would like to nominate 'Strange Fruit' covered by many artists most notably Billie Holiday but this I think is the most evocative. The vocal performance is stunning, the disgust, sadness and anger dripping from every word.

Strange Fruit - Nina Simone

 

[The Lightbowne Cowboy]

Interestingly “Heartful of Soul” recorded in April 65 by the Yardbirds originally featured a sitar. But was changed to a sitarlike guitar for some reason.
So pretty close to Kinks timeframe.
SMFs was also recorded in April.

But actually the first record to feature Indian influences was Peter Sellers 'Oh Goodness Gracious Me' it predates SMFs and interestingly was produced by George Martin.

You're right, I was going to mention the Yardbirds had one on a minor track of theirs and I believe another group(possibly the Animals)dabbled. Good knowledge on George Martin with Goodness Gracious Me Bill. Imagine them even trying to release that today. That Sophia Loren was a right sort wasn't she.

 

[mancity111]

Another top notch write up Rob but you've missed the most important event of 1965...

Wythenshawe hospital opened its shiny new maternity wing and (according to Spires family lore which may or may not be reliable) the first baby born there was yours truly. The opportunity for me to become a media star was spurned by my mum who was more interested in whether I was fit and healthy than sharing my delightful visage with the rest of the world.

So a great year musically to be born and the Number 1 song on my birth day was a real banger. Some (UK) statistics on it...

- Best selling single of 1965
- 3rd best selling single of the 1960s
- Only song in the top 5 sellers of the 1960s to not be a Beatles song

Ladies and gentlemen I give you.....









Tears (For Souvenirs) - Ken Dodd

That's right, the only person to give the Fab Four a run for their commercial money in the entire decade, at least when it came to singles, was everyone's favourite tax evading, diddyman bothering, loveable Scouse comedian. Listen and weep.

Always knew I had at least 5 years on you TS ( apologies if you have avowed this to mooners previously) and then some.

Musically you well and truly confute this age gap in spades ).

 

[Resurrection Joe...]

After a brief hiatus, couple of years I think...the King came back with....

'Crying in the Chapel'. Elvis Presley.

 

[mancity111]

So one of my favourite albums from this year and one that I still listen to frequently is Nina Simone's Pastel Blues. I had fleetingly considered putting this up on the album thread its so good. It It blends jazz, blues, soul, and gospel influences and her voice and classically trained piano were never bettered in my opinion.
There are a number of standout tracks - Sinner Man, Trouble in Mind but there are no bad tracks. For the playlist I would like to nominate 'Strange Fruit' covered by many artists most notably Billie Holiday but this I think is the most evocative. The vocal performance is stunning, the disgust, sadness and anger dripping from every word.

Strange Fruit - Nina Simone

Struth beat me to it again although I was leaning towards Sinner Man and it's evocative contrast to the version released by our very own The Seekers you would hardly know they are one and the same lyrically at least.

I play Strange Fruit as often as I can which is often these days and none did it better than Nina.

This now reminds me of the track I will put forward which I know for certain no one else will even think of putting forward in fact some may never have heard of it before but written by someone well known to UK's lady of soul before it was termed soul.

 

[Resurrection Joe...]

Struth beat me to it again although I was leaning towards Sinner Man and it's evocative contrast to the version released by our very own The Seekers you would hardly know they are one and the same lyrically at least.

I play Strange Fruit as often as I can which is often these days and none did it better than Nina.

This now reminds me of the track I will put forward which I know for certain no one else will even think of putting forward in fact some may never have heard of it before but written by someone well known to UK's lady of soul before it was termed soul.

Siouxie and The Banshees did a great version, sounded like a funeral march...Billie gets the nod from me as the definitive.

 

[mancity111]

Brilliant and beautifully melancholic song with gorgeous lyrics.

This song above all epitomizes the shift of the Beatles from a doing band to a thinking band if I can put it as simply as that , different from the simplicity of covers and self written pop friendly songs they had released previously.

The first song that really made me explore them with more fervor than I had previously.

 

[threespires]

I'd nominate Ticket to Ride and the most covered pop song of all time.... Yesterday.

Ticket to Ride.
McCartney said the title referred to "a British Railways ticket to the town of Ryde on the Isle of Wight", and Lennon said it described cards indicating a clean bill of health carried by Hamburg prostitutes in the 1960s.

Both songs appeared on the Beatles album Help. In fact maybe that song as well haha.

Certainly you and many others are more qualified than me to explain why Ticket to Ride is such a brilliant song but it really is both for the song itself and their evolution and sound as a band. You've got the slightly weird syncopation; the big north african tinged drum patterns and the droning as a precursor to their world music adventures; the introduction of the iconic Casinos; the double time outro and so much more.

 

[threespires]

I think at this point in procedings @Resurrection Joe... was planning to eulogise about the Otis Blue album? (If not, I'm happy to plug the gap).

 

[Resurrection Joe...]

I think at this point in procedings @Resurrection Joe... was planning to eulogise about the Otis Blue album? (If not, I'm happy to plug the gap).

damn it...I forgot...be my guest mate!...I love that album which I think was recorded in a couple of days studio time, so essentially it is almost a 'live' album.

 

[mancity111]

Tom Springfield put Australia's first "Supergroup" on the world stage writing four songs that turned out to be the 4 most successful recordings sales wise and chart wise of their illustrious and long standing careers both as a group and individually.

A member namely Bruce Woodley who was more than an accomplished songwriter in his own right collaborating with artists of the ilk of Paul Simon and a song writer who once Australia becomes a Republic will have one of his compositions become our new National Anthem.

You could argue if we laid claim to the likes of AC DC , The Bee Gees , The Easy Beats and few others that have wowed massive numbers of audiences over many decades throughout the world stages which is always debatable at best that Australia has pulled above its weight in the pop/rock era.

Although Keith Potger was born in Sri Lanka the only band or multiple number of individuals to ever be awarded Australian of the Year where musical achievement is genuinely shunned but for some token political mileage one cannot argue that this group is Australia's own that was the first we shared beyond our shores.

Upon their return they performed to some 200,000 packed into the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne in 1967 a record which still stands to this day and last time I checked the record audience for the Southern Hemisphere and I was one of them despite already having been introduced to the likes of The Beatles , The Kinks, The Stones , The Who , The Yardbirds , The Beach Boys , The Mamas and the Papas , The Doors and the list goes on that would and should have put this group into the dustbin of delusion.

The Group is The Seekers and my selection is The Carnival is Over adapted from a Russian Folk song from the 19th century.

To think this song kept The Who's My Generation from being no 1 in the UK ranked in 2010 by RSM as the 11th greatest single of all time in the pop/rock era I think alone means its at least worth a listen if you haven't heard it before.

Enjoy.

 

[Saddleworth2]

Tom Springfield put Australia's first "Supergroup" on the world stage writing four songs that turned out to be the 4 most successful recordings sales wise and chart wise of their illustrious and long standing careers both as a group and individually.

A member namely Bruce Woodley who was more than an accomplished songwriter in his own right collaborating with artists of the ilk of Paul Simon and a song writer who once Australia becomes a Republic will have one of his compositions become our new National Anthem.

You could argue if we laid claim to the likes of AC DC , The Bee Gees , The Easy Beats and few others that have wowed massive numbers of audiences over many decades throughout the world stages which is always debatable at best that Australia has pulled above its weight in the pop/rock era.

Although Keith Potger was born in Sri Lanka the only band or multiple number of individuals to ever be awarded Australian of the Year where musical achievement is genuinely shunned but for some token political mileage one cannot argue that this group is Australia's own that was the first we shared beyond our shores.

Upon their return they performed to some 200,000 packed into the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne in 1967 a record which still stands to this day and last time I checked the record audience for the Southern Hemisphere and I was one of them despite already having been introduced to the likes of The Beatles , The Kinks, The Stones , The Who , The Yardbirds , The Beach Boys , The Mamas and the Papas , The Doors and the list goes on that would and should have put this group into the dustbin of delusion.

The Group is The Seekers and my selection is The Carnival is Over adapted from a Russian Folk song from the 19th century.

To think this song kept The Who's My Generation from being no 1 in the UK ranked in 2010 by RSM as the 11th greatest single of all time in the pop/rock era I think alone means its at least worth a listen if you haven't heard it before.

Enjoy.

I had a crush on Judith Durham. She had a lovely pure voice. They had some very memorable hits.

 

[mrbelfry]

It feels like since 1964 music got pretty serious. Even though much of it is made possible by the evolution of the teenager the music seems very mature and the themes being discussed seems much darker.

Nomination for this year is Iko Iko by Dixie Cups - some sticks, claps and a voice is all you need and without them there is likely no Bananarama or Fun Boy Three. Some fun polyrhythms that allow me to claim without an evidence that this massively influenced Talking Heads and I'm reasonably sure Thom Yorke had this on repeat whilst making King of Limbs. Possibly



Also this is the song most likely to be song to my daughter by old Caribbean women which is always fun for me

 

[mrbelfry]

Not a big fan of the Stones and I think I overplayed the Who when I was younger but this a great playlist so far. I love the way Dylan sounds on LARS and how he throws his voice up at the end of a line.

 

[Out on blue 6]

Nice feature in this month's Mojo entitled 1965 the year pop went weird if anyone is interested in looking it up. Some interesting songs in it

 

[mancity111]

I had a crush on Judith Durham. She had a lovely pure voice. They had some very memorable hits.

Yes , could also sing jazz to the nines as well which was her preference after she went solo and met her husband Ron Edgeworth a fine jazz musician who died from MND at the age of 56 sadly.

it was great they got together again as the original line up after a long hiatus.

The fact that Judith passed away days after the passing of Tom Springfield the 5th Seeker was not lost on many of their admirers.

 

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

If I don't get this one in, I'm going to be very upset with myself...

This song was composed by jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi to accompany the opening of the 1965 television special A Charlie Brown Christmas. It was originally written as an instrumental, but producer Lee Mendelson decided that the song needed lyrics. Mendelson recalled, "When we looked at the show about a month before it was to go on the air, I said, 'That's such a pretty melody; maybe we should try and find some people to put some lyrics to it.'" When he was unable to find someone available, he wrote the lyrics himself:

"So I sat down with an envelope — I'll never forget this — at our kitchen table and wrote 'Christmas Time Is Here' in about ten minutes. It was a poem that just came to me — never changed the words to this day. It was only about a minute long. And Vince got a bunch of little kids together to sing it."

The vocals for the song were provided by the children's choir at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in San Rafael, California.

A classic for me and for many growing up, this song has stood the test of time and is still played each and every Christmas season, coming on 60 years since it was released. The song also charted on the Billboard Holiday 100, reaching number 17 in 2017—over 50 years after its original release.

A Christmas standard if there ever was one.

"Christmas Time Is Here" (vocal) - Vince Guaraldi, Lee Mendelson

 

[RobMCFC]

If I don't get this one in, I'm going to be very upset with myself...

This song was composed by jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi to accompany the opening of the 1965 television special A Charlie Brown Christmas. It was originally written as an instrumental, but producer Lee Mendelson decided that the song needed lyrics. Mendelson recalled, "When we looked at the show about a month before it was to go on the air, I said, 'That's such a pretty melody; maybe we should try and find some people to put some lyrics to it.'" When he was unable to find someone available, he wrote the lyrics himself:

"So I sat down with an envelope — I'll never forget this — at our kitchen table and wrote 'Christmas Time Is Here' in about ten minutes. It was a poem that just came to me — never changed the words to this day. It was only about a minute long. And Vince got a bunch of little kids together to sing it."

The vocals for the song were provided by the children's choir at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in San Rafael, California.

A classic for me and for many growing up, this song has stood the test of time and is still played each and every Christmas season, coming on 60 years since it was released. The song also charted on the Billboard Holiday 100, reaching number 17 in 2017—over 50 years after its original release.

A Christmas standard if there ever was one.

"Christmas Time Is Here" (vocal) - Vince Guaraldi, Lee Mendelson

I'd never heard of this song until @Coatigan nominated it for our Christmas playlist a couple of years ago.
I now associate it with having a rest at our hotel in Disneyland Paris, December 2022, chilling out listening to our playlist.

A great song.