Vanilla Fudge - You Keep Me Hanging On

Vanilla Fudge

Vanilla Fudge is an American rock band. The band's original lineup - vocalist/organist Mark Stein, bassist/vocalist Tim Bogert, lead guitarist/vocalist Vince Martell, and drummer/vocalist Carmine Appice - recorded five albums during the years 1966-69, before disbanding in 1970. The band has reunited in various configurations over the years, and is currently operating with its four original members. The band has been cited as, "one of the few American links between psychedelia and what soon became heavy metal."

Electric Prunes - I Had Too Much to Dream

Eletric Prunes

The Electric Prunes are an American rock band who first achieved international attention as an experimental psychedelic group in the late 1960s. Their song Kyrie Eleison featured on the soundtrack of Easy Rider. After a period in which they had little control over their music, they disappeared for thirty years, reforming as a recording and touring band in 2001.

The group started in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, though during the group's long disbandment, rumors circulated that they were from Seattle. Their first hit was discovered by Seattle disk jockey Pat O'Day at KJR (AM) and was very popular in that city before it broke into the national charts. The founding members, Ken Williams (guitar), James Lowe (lead vocal, autoharp), Michael Weakley and eventually Joe Dooley (drums) and Mark Tulin (bass) called themselves The Sanctions, and later, Jim and the Lords. Soon, Dick Hargrave joined on organ, leaving shortly afterwards to pursue graphic arts. Their lineup changed many times, including one lineup with Kenny Loggins.

Lowe, Tulin, Williams and Weakley were introduced to David Hassinger, then resident engineer at RCA studios, who arranged for them to record some demos at Leon Russell's home recording facility (which he called Sky Hill Studios). Hassinger also suggested they needed a new name. In response, the band produced a long list of suggestions, with The Electric Prunes last as a joke.

A single Ain't It Hard/Little Olive was released from these sessions, and flopped.

Velvet Underground - Venus in Furs

Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited by many critics as one of the most important and influential groups of the 1960s.

Andy Warhol managed the Velvet Underground and it was the house band at his studio, the Factory, and his Exploding Plastic Inevitable events. The provocative lyrics of some of the band's songs gave a nihilistic outlook to some of their music.

Their 1967 debut album, titled The Velvet Underground & Nico (which featured German singer Nico, with whom the band collaborated) was named the 13th Greatest Album of All Time, and the "most prophetic rock album ever made" by Rolling Stone in 2003. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the band #19 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".

13th Floor Elevators - Splash

13th Floor Elevators

The 13th Floor Elevators were an American rock band from Austin, Texas formed by guitarist and vocalist Roky Erickson, electric jug player Tommy Hall, and guitarist Stacy Sutherland, which existed from 1965 to 1969. During their career, the band released four LPs and seven 45s for the International Artists record label.

The 13th Floor Elevators found some commercial and artistic success in 1966-67, before dissolving amid legal troubles and drug use in late 1968. As one of the first psychedelic bands, their contemporary influence has been acknowledged by 1960s musicians such as Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Peter Albin of Big Brother and the Holding Company, and Chris Gerniottis of Zakary Thaks. Their debut 45 "You're Gonna Miss Me", a national Billboard #55 hit in 1966, was featured on the 1972 compilation Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968, which is considered vital in the history of garage rock and the development of punk rock. Seminal punk band Television played their song "Fire Engine" live in the mid-1970s. In the 1980s-90s, the 13th Floor Elevators influenced important bands such as Primal Scream and Spacemen 3, both of whom covered their songs, and 14 Iced Bears who use an electric jug on their single "Beautiful Child". In 2009 the International Artists released a ten CD box set entitled Sign of the 3-Eyed Men, which included the mono and new, alternate stereo mixes of the original albums together with two albums of previously unreleased material and a number of rare live recordings.

Cream - White Room

Cream

Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker. Their sound was characterised by a hybrid of blues rock, hard rock and psychedelic rock, combining the psychedelia-themed lyrics, Eric Clapton's blues guitar playing, Jack Bruce's voice and blues bass playing and Ginger Baker's jazz-influenced drumming. The group's third album, Wheels of Fire, was the world's first platinum-selling double album. Cream is widely regarded as being the world's first notable and successful supergroup. In over two years, they sold over 35 million albums.

Cream's music included songs based on traditional blues such as "Crossroads" and "Spoonful", and modern blues such as "Born Under a Bad Sign", as well as more eccentric songs such as "Strange Brew", "Tales of Brave Ulysses" and "Toad". Cream's biggest hits were "I Feel Free" (UK, #11), "Sunshine of Your Love" (US, #5), "White Room" (US, #6), "Crossroads" (US, #28), and "Badge" (UK, #18).

Cream made a significant impact upon the popular music of the time, and along with Jimi Hendrix, they popularised the use of the wah-wah pedal. They provided a heavy yet technically proficient musical theme that foreshadowed and influenced the emergence of British bands such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and The Jeff Beck Group in the late 1960s. The band's live performances influenced progressive rock acts such as Rush, jam bands such as The Allman Brothers Band, Grateful Dead, Phish and heavy metal bands such as Black Sabbath.

Cream was ranked #16 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock and Rolling Stone named them the sixty-sixth greatest artist of all time. In 2010 VH1 also ranked them #61 on their 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

Nirvana - Dumb

Nirvana

Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987. Nirvana went through a succession of drummers, the longest-lasting being Dave Grohl, who joined the band in 1990.

In the late 1980s Nirvana established itself as part of the Seattle grunge scene, releasing its first album Bleach for the independent record label Sub Pop in 1989. The band eventually came to develop a sound that relied on dynamic contrasts, often between quiet verses and loud, heavy choruses. After signing to major label DGC Records, Nirvana found unexpected success with "Smells Like Teen Spirit", the first single from the band's second album Nevermind (1991). Nirvana's sudden success widely popularized alternative rock as a whole, and as the band's frontman Cobain found himself referred to in the media as the "spokesman of a generation", with Nirvana being considered the "flagship band" of Generation X. Nirvana's third studio album In Utero (1993), challenged the group's audience, featuring an abrasive, less-mainstream sound.

Nirvana's brief run ended following the suicide of Cobain in 1994, but various posthumous releases have been issued since, overseen by Novoselic, Grohl, and Cobain's widow Courtney Love. Since its debut, the band has sold over 25 million albums in the United States alone, and over 50 million worldwide

West Coast Pop Art Exprimental Band - Shifting Sands

WCPAEB


The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band was an American psychedelic rock band of the late 1960s, based in Los Angeles, California.

In about 1960, Bob Markley, the adopted son of an oil tycoon, and a law graduate, moved to Los Angeles with hopes of becoming a star. He was already a local TV personality in Oklahoma, but his initial attempts to develop a Hollywood career, either in movies or as a pop singer, met with little success.

At around the same time, brothers Shaun and Danny Harris, children of composer Roy Harris, also moved to Los Angeles, and by 1963 had both begun playing with a teen surf band, the Snowmen. When they started attending Hollywood Professional School in 1964, they met up with Michael Lloyd, who had been playing in several groups, latterly the Rogues. The Harris brothers and Lloyd decided to form a new band, initially called The Laughing Wind, and they recorded demos for a mutual friend, record producer Kim Fowley. Fowley already knew Markley, and suggested that the band use some of the latter’s lyrics.

In 1965, Fowley arranged a private party in Markley’s house at which the Yardbirds performed, and which the Harris brothers and Lloyd also attended. Markley was impressed by the large number of teenage girls attracted by the band, and the much younger musicians were impressed by Markley’s financial resources and potential ability to fund good quality equipment and a light show. Fowley encouraged them to join forces and, with the addition of drummer John Ware, The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band was formed. The general approach was intended to parallel that being developed on the east coast by Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground. Markley used his legal background to ensure that he held all rights to the band’s name.

The band’s recording debut in 1966, Volume One, featured Michael Lloyd, Shaun Harris, Dennis Lambert (guitar) and Danny Belsky (drums), with Markley on some vocals. It seems that much of the material was completed before the time Markley became involved. The rudimentary album included contemporary hits and original compositions and was recorded in a self-made studio on San Vincente Blvd, just outside Beverly Hills. The album was originally issued on the tiny Fifo label in Hollywood, and probably only 100 or so were made at the time. It was reissued on vinyl in 1994. An original copy of this album, complete with sleeve, sold for more than $15.000 in the early 2000s.

With their impressive light show, the band became popular around Los Angeles and were signed by Reprise Records. Their first "proper" album, Volum One, ranged from anthemic pop songs and acoustic ballads to harder-edged psychedelic numbers. It reflected the tensions between the band’s musicians and Markley, who effectively controlled the band’s output but who was regarded by the others as musically untalented. Markley contributed rambling pseudo-psychedelic lyrics and spoken sections, and the album also included inputs from co-producer Jimmy Bowen, songwriters Baker Knight and P.F. Sloan, drummer Hal Blaine and pianist Van Dyke Parks. Disputes between Markley and Michael Lloyd also led to the inclusion of guitarist Ron Morgan who, over time, became a fully fledged member of the band.

Recorded and released in 1967, Volume Two – Breaking Through was a more ambitious and coherent album, with all of the tracks credited either in whole or in part to members of the band. It featured Markley’s anti-war rant "Suppose They Give A War And No One Comes?" – partly based on a speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt and later covered by Punk band T.S.O.L. – and the song "Smell of Incense", featuring Morgan’s guitar work and later covered by Southwest F.O.B. The album also started to demonstrate Markley’s lyrical obsession with young girls.

The next album, Volume 3: A Child's Guide To Good And Evil is generally regarded as the group's high point. However, again the naive peace-and-love message of some of the songs sat uneasily beside the ironic cynicism of tracks like "A Child Of A Few Hours Is Burning To Death", and the songs showed a tension between the Harris brothers’ melodies, Morgan’s strident lead guitar and effects, and Markley’s sometimes bizarre declamations. By this time, the band effectively consisted of Markley, Morgan and Shaun Harris, with Danny Harris having withdrawn through illness.

The two Harris brothers, both disillusioned with Markley and with the group’s lack of commercial success, reunited in 1968 to form a touring band, California Spectrum, apparently also with Michael Lloyd’s involvement. However, this was not a success, and they returned to record a further West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band album, "Where's My Daddy?" This was credited to a line-up of Markley and the Harris brothers, although both Lloyd and Morgan also contributed. In 1970, a further album emerged, "Markley, A Group", which, although presented as a Markley solo album, had the active involvement of the whole band, including both Lloyd and Danny Harris.

After that time, The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band ceased to exist. Michael Lloyd became the Vice President of A&R at MGM, aged 20, in 1969, and went on to win a Grammy Award with Lou Rawls, to produce hits for the Osmonds, Shaun Cassidy and Leif Garrett, and to produce the best-selling soundtrack to Dirty Dancing. Shaun Harris released a solo album in 1973, and worked with Barry Manilow, but eventually retired from the music scene to set up a successful children’s film festival. Danny Harris also released a solo album, in 1980, and has worked as a folk musician and actor. Ron Morgan went on to join Three Dog Night and then a touring version of the Electric Prunes, and later worked as a cab driver and janitor, before his death from hepatitis in 1989. Bob Markley worked as a record producer and later fell into ill health before dying in 2003.

Bob Dylan - Blowin' in the Wind

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman; May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and painter. He has been a major figure in music for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler, and an apparently reluctant figurehead, of social unrest. Though he is well-known for revolutionizing perceptions of the limits of popular music in 1965 with the six-minute single "Like a Rolling Stone," a number of his earlier songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'" became anthems for the US civil rights and anti-war movements.

His early lyrics incorporated a variety of political, social and philosophical, as well as literary influences. They defied existing pop music conventions and appealed hugely to the then burgeoning counterculture. Initially inspired by the songs of Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson, Hank Williams, and the performance styles of Buddy Holly and Little Richard, Dylan has both amplified and personalized musical genres, exploring numerous distinct traditions in American song—from folk, blues and country to gospel, rock and roll, and rockabilly, to English, Scottish, and Irish folk music, embracing even jazz and swing.

Dylan performs with guitar, keyboards, and harmonica. Backed by a changing line-up of musicians, he has toured steadily since the late 1980s on what has been dubbed the Never Ending Tour. His accomplishments as a recording artist and performer have been central to his career, but his greatest contribution is generally considered to be his songwriting^.

Since 1994, Dylan has published three books of drawings and paintings, and his work has been exhibited in major art galleries. As a songwriter and musician, Dylan has received numerous awards over the years including Grammy, Golden Globe, and Academy Awards; he has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2008, a road called the Bob Dylan Pathway was opened in the singer's honor in his birthplace of Duluth, Minnesota. The Pulitzer Prize jury in 2008 awarded him a special citation for "his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power."


Happy 70th birthday Bob! 

The Band - the Weight

The Band

The Band were an acclaimed and influential rock group. The original group consisted of Canadians Rick Danko (bass guitar, double bass, fiddle, trombone, vocals), Garth Hudson (keyboard instruments, saxophones, trumpet), Richard Manuel (piano, drums, baritone saxophone, vocals), Robbie Robertson (guitar, vocals), and American Levon Helm (drums, mandolin, guitar, vocals). All five members were notable musicians in their own right.

The members of the Band first came together as they joined rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins' backing group, The Hawks, one by one between 1958 and 1963. Upon leaving Hawkins in 1964, they were briefly known as The Levon Helm Sextet with sax player Jerry Penfound being the sixth member, then Levon and the Hawks after Penfound's departure. In 1965, they released a single on Ware Records under the name Canadian Squires, but returned as Levon and the Hawks for a recording session for Atco later in 1965. At about the same time, Bob Dylan recruited Helm and Robertson for two concerts, then the entire group for his U.S. tour in 1965 and world tour in 1966. They also joined him on the informal recordings that later became The Basement Tapes.

Because they were always "the band" to various frontmen, Helm said the name "The Band" worked well when the group came into its own and left Saugerties, New York, to begin recording their own material. They recorded two of the most acclaimed albums of the late 1960s: their 1968 debut Music from Big Pink (featuring the single "The Weight") and 1969's The Band. In 2004, "The Weight" was ranked the 41st best song of all time in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.

The Band broke up in 1976, but reformed in 1983 without founding guitarist Robbie Robertson. Although the Band was always more popular with music journalists and fellow musicians than with the general public, they have remained an admired and influential group. The group was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked them #50 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and in 2008, they received the Grammy's Lifetime Achievement Award.

King Crimson - In the Wake of Poseidon

King Crimson

King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history (including jazz and folk music, classical and experimental music, psychedelic rock, hard rock and heavy metal, new wave, gamelan, electronica and drum and bass). The band have been influential on many contemporary musical artists, and have gained a large cult following despite garnering little radio or music video airplay.

Though originating in England, the band have had a mixture of English and American personnel since 1981. The band's lineup (centered on guitarist Robert Fripp) has persistently altered throughout their existence, with eighteen musicians and two lyricists passing through the ranks; though a greater degree of stability was achieved later in their history, with Adrian Belew having been a consistent member since 1981 (excluding ProjeKcts).

The debut lineup of the band was influential, but short-lived, lasting for just over one year. Between 1970 and 1971, King Crimson were an unstable band, with many personnel changes and disjunctions between studio and live sound as the band explored elements of jazz, funk and classical chamber music. By 1972 the band had a more stable lineup and developed an improvisational sound mingling hard rock, contemporary classical music, free jazz and jazz-fusion before breaking up in 1974. The band re-formed with a new line-up in 1981 for three years (this time influenced by New Wave and gamelan music) before breaking up again for around a decade. Since reforming for the second time (in 1994), King Crimson have blended aspects of their 1980s and 1970s sound with influences from more recent musical genres such as industrial rock and grunge. The band’s efforts to blend additional elements into their music have continued into the 21st century, with more recent developments including drum and bass-styled rhythm loops and extensive use of MIDI and guitar synthesis.

King Crimson's existence has been characterised by regular periods of hiatus initiated by Robert Fripp. The current status of the band is ambiguous. Despite online diary posts from Fripp suggesting that he is not interested in working within the King Crimson context, "Jakszyk, Fripp and Collins" has been identified as a King Crimson ProjeKct.

Jefferson Airplane - Somebody to Love

Jefferson Airplane

Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success.

The band performed at all three of the most famous American rock festivals of the 1960s—Monterey (1967), Woodstock (1969) and Altamont (1969)^[1]—as well as headlining the first Isle of Wight Festival. Their recordings were internationally successful, and they scored two US Top 10 hit singles and a string of Top 20 albums. Their 1967 record Surrealistic Pillow is regarded as one of the key recordings of the so-called Summer of Love and brought the group international recognition. Two chart hits from the album, "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit", are listed in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Successor bands to Jefferson Airplane include Jefferson Starship and Starship; spinoffs include Hot Tuna and KBC Band. Jefferson Airplane was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

Janis Joplin - Piece of My Heart

Janis Joplin

Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer, songwriter and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist. Rolling Stone magazine ranked Joplin number 46 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time in 2004, and number 28 on its 2008 list of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Grateful Dead - Truckin'

Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead were an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock and for live performances of long musical improvisation. "Their music," writes Lenny Kaye, "touches on ground that most other groups don't even know exists."^[5] These various influences were distilled into a diverse and psychedelic whole that made the Grateful Dead "the pioneering Godfathers of the jam band world." They were ranked 55th in the issue The Greatest Artists of all Time by Rolling Stone magazine.^[7]

The fans of the Grateful Dead, some of whom followed the band from concert to concert for years, are known as "Deadheads" and are known for their dedication to the band's music. Many referred to the band simply as "the Dead."

The Kinks - Waterloo Sunset

The Kinks

The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorized in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognized as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a wide range of genres, including rhythm and blues, British music hall, folk, and country. Ray Davies (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and Dave Davies (lead guitar, vocals) remained members throughout the group's 32-year run. Original members Pete Quaife (bass guitar, vocals) and Mick Avory (drums and percussion) were replaced by John Dalton in 1969 and Bob Henrit in 1984, respectively. Dalton was in turn replaced by Jim Rodford in 1978. Keyboardist Nicky Hopkins accompanied the band during studio sessions in the mid-1960s. Later, various keyboardists, including John Gosling and Ian Gibbons, were full-time members.

The Kinks first came to prominence in 1964 with their third single, "You Really Got Me", written by Ray Davies. It became an international hit, topping the charts in the United Kingdom and reaching the Top 10 in the United States. Between the mid-1960s and early 1970s, the group released a string of commercially and critically successful singles and LPs, and gained a reputation for songs and concept albums reflecting English culture and lifestyle, fuelled by Ray Davies' observational writing style. Albums such as Face to Face, Something Else, The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur, Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, and Muswell Hillbillies, along with their accompanying singles, are considered among the most influential recordings of the period. The Kinks' subsequent theatrical concept albums met with less success, but the band experienced a revival during the late 1970s and early 1980s—groups such as Van Halen, The Jam, The Knack, and The Pretenders covered their songs, helping to boost The Kinks' record sales. In the 1990s, Britpop acts such as Blur and Oasis cited the band as a major influence^. The Kinks broke up in 1996, a result of the commercial failures of their last few albums and creative tension between the Davies brothers.

The Kinks had five Top 10 singles on the US Billboard chart. Nine of their albums charted in the Top 40. In the UK, the group had seventeen Top 20 singles and five Top 10 albums. Four of their albums have been certified gold by the RIAA. Among numerous honours, they received the Ivor Novello Award for "Outstanding Service to British Music". In 1990, their first year of eligibility, the original four members of The Kinks were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, as well as the UK Music Hall of Fame in November 2005.

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Have You Ever Seen the Rain

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater Revival (often abbreviated CCR) was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums.

The group consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty, his brother and rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty, bassist Stu Cook, and drummer Doug Clifford. Their musical style encompassed country rock and swamp rock genres. Despite their San Francisco Bay Area origins, they positioned themselves as Southern rock stylists, singing often about bayous, the Mississippi River, catfish, and other popular elements of Southern iconography.

CCR's music is still a staple of American and worldwide radio airplay and often figures in various media. The band has sold 26 million albums in the United States alone. CCR was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.