History of Technology of Music - everything here is designed to pique your curiosity about music, musical instruments and history. So delve, delight, explore and enjoy!

Please note: This website is in its early phases and will be continually updated and improved and therefore should be regarded as always "under construction".

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This file updated 5 August 2008

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1960

Top albums of the 1960s include: Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited, Revolver, Beatles, Velvet Underground with The Velvet Underground and Nico, Rolling Stones with Let It Bleed and Beach Boys with Pet Sounds.

1960: Roy Orbison issues unforgettable hit single, Only the Lonely.

1960: Death of Hungarian composer Erno Dohnanyi, composer for piano, especially Variation on a Nursery Theme.

1960: Death of Hungarian composer Erno Dohnanyi, composer for piano, especially Variation on a Nursery Theme.

In review: Ted Goia, West Coast Jazz 1945-1960: Modern Jazz in California. 1992.

In review: Leonard Feather, Encyclopedia of Jazz in the 1960s. 1986.

1960s: Top albums of the 1960s include: Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited, The Beatles, Revolver, Velvet Underground with The Velvet Underground and Nico, Rolling Stones with Let It Bleed and The Beach Boys with Pet Sounds.

1960: Death of Hungarian Erno Dohnanyi, composer of much piano music, notably Variation on a Nursery Theme.

August 1960: Drummer Pete Best for what turns out to be a short stint joins John Lennon's band, The Beatles.

1960: Ray Charles hits charts with future-classic song, Georgia On My Mind.

1960: Roy Orbison issues unforgettable hit single, Only the Lonely.

1961

1961 is birth year of Jon Farriss, rocker later with band INXS.

1961: And earlier: Interest grows in UK in electronic music and related instruments.

22 June 1961: Beatles as visiting rockers in Hamburg record My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean (Beatles' first-ever appearance on a commercial disc), Ain't She Sweet and Cry For A Shadow (instrumental by George and John). Follows period when group had backed English singer-songwriter Tony Sheridan of whom little is ever heard since. Beatles return to Liverpool in August 1961.

9 November 1961: Brian Epstein, manager of a Liverpool record store, walks in nightclub The Cavern and “discovers” The Beatles. He is recommended to see them by a customer. George Harrison, 18, sticks out his hand and says, “Hello there, what brings Mr. Epstein here”.

1961: From Minnesota, a young folksinger in the Woody Guthrie tradition arrives in Manhattan/Greenwich Village, New York - named Robert Zimmerman, who adopts the name Bob Dylan. His first success is at Gerde's Folk City in the Village (making maybe $90 per week.) First important concert date is Town Hall in New York on 12 April 1963. He becomes managed by Albert Grossman.

Late 1961: The Beach Boys are selling well with single, Surfin'.

Late 1961: Chubby Checker is promoting dance craze, The Twist.

1961: Irish singer Enya is born in 1961.

1962

1 January 1962: The Beatles as audition-situation record: Searchin', Three Cool Cats, The Sheik of Araby, Like Dreamers Do and Hello Little Girl at Decca Studios, London. They record 15 tracks to mono tape for their audition for Decca, an audition they fail.

The music business is not for amateurs, as Pink Floyd once told us (Wish You Were Here)

6 June 1962: Beatles as a semi-audition for George Martin record Besame Mucho (influence from The Coasters) and Lennon/McCartney song Love Me Do at EMI Studios, London. Producer is George Martin (rep with Parlophone Records), engineer is Norman Smith. Oddly, Love Me Do is recorded three times in 1962, each time with a different drummer.

August 1962: Drummer Ringo Starr from Liverpool replaces Pete Best with The Beatles.

4 September 1962: Beatles record How Do You Do It? Decision is it will be A-side of their first single, with Love Me Do as B-side. Later, How Do You Do It becomes a #1 for Liverpool band Gerry And The Pacemakers. Beatles now decide they will release only their own compositions. As it turns out, a crucial decision for their future.

11 September 1962: Beatles record Please Please Me. Also about now, PS, I Love You.

1962: Mick Jagger becomes part of line-up for a band to be named The Rolling Stones. Keith Richards joins in 1962, Brian Jones in 1962 (died 1969), Charlie Watts in 1963, Ron Wood in 1975, Daryl Jones in 1994. (Other names are Mick Taylor (1969-1974) and Dick Taylor (1963) Rolling Stones by 2003 have 26 gold records and 9 silver records.

1962: Year regarded as a landmark for black music in USA as father-of-soul, James Brown, makes his Live at The Apollo album. One view is that Brown "changed the whole cultural paradigm of black America". In the late 1960s, Look magazine put Brown on its cover and asked if he was "the most important black man in America". Yet one of Brown's musicians by 2004, trombonist Fred Wesley, has spoken of Brown as a control freak and manipulator whose relations with both men and women has been marked by threats of violence - or actual violence. (In March 2004 a new DVD doco on Brown is available, titled Soul Survivor: The James Brown Story. (Universal)

1963

5 March 1963: Beatles record One after 909 at end of session for recording From Me To You and Thank You Girl (A and B sides of their third single).

7 June 1963, Rolling Stones release first single, Come On.

1963: Summer: Sick in bed, Beatle George Harrison writes song, Don't Bother Me. He wrote it as an exercise to see if he could write a song.

29 September 1963: Rolling Stones take first English tour with Everley Bros and Bo Diddley.

13 October 1963: Beatles record I'll Get You at London Palladium to be B-side to their hit single, She Loves You (which is released as single at end of August, sold out, and re-released and by December #1). In October The Beatles visit Sweden and on 24 October in Stockholm record I Saw Her Standing There, From Me To You, Money (That's What I Want), You Really Got A Hold On Me and Chuck Berry's 1956 number, Roll Over Beethoven.

4 November: Beatles record She Loves You, Till There Was You and Twist and Shout re appearance at Royal Variety Show/Royal Command Performance. The Beatles by now are England's The Fab Four. (T&S a number from 1962 by The Isley Bros.)

2 December 1963: Beatles record This Boy, I Want To Hold Your Hand (Single No. 5), Moonlight Bay.

1963: Liverpool group managed by Brian Epstein, The Fourmost, record Lennon/McCartney song Hello Little Girl.

1963: Bob Dylan issues album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.

1963: Novelty songwriter Ray Stevens issues his best of album.

1963: Novelty songwriter Ray Stevens issues his "best of" album.

1964

29 January 1964: Beatles in Paris record Can't Buy Me Love, to be heard in Beatles' movie, A Hard Day's Night. Song is A-side of their sixth single.

7 February, 1964: Beatles touch down at La Guardia airport, New York to “invade” the US music industry.

9 February 1964: Beatles record All My Lovin'. Song heard on Beatles' appearance in US on Ed Sullivan Show, as seen by about 23,240,000 US viewers - and so began a new set of records for history of TV-viewerships in US. Maybe 73 million people had tuned in on The Beatles. Now, The Beatles could never be removed from US cultural history. In US, George Harrison buys a 12-string guitar.

25 February 1964: Beatles record You Can't Do That (John Lennon "doing" Wilson Pickett) and And I Love Her. The group has just returned from America and will soon start with shooting for movie A Hard Day's Night.

16 April 1964: Beatles record song A Hard Day's Night late in the day for the film's shooting schedule. On 19 April the group records I Wanna Be Your Man (vocal by Ringo), Long Tall Sally (from Little Richard in 1956), Boys (a 1960 song for The Shirelles) and Shout.

1964: Writer Derek Taylor leaves journalism to work for Brian Epstein and The Beatles. See his later-written book: Derek Taylor, As Time Goes By. London, Abacus, 1973. (Chronicles of lives/times in pop music). From 1966, Taylor also did PR work for The Beach Boys. Even later he did PR for The Doors. Taylor also worked for the Beatles' company, Apple.

1 June 1964: Beatles record I'll Be Back. On 3 June they record You Know What To Do (by George and remaining non-issued) and No Reply (as a demo).

14 August 1964: Beatles record Mr Moonlight (from 1962 by Dr Feelgood and the Interns) and Leave My Kitten Alone (a little-known 1959 R&B hit for Little Willie John, not issued by The Beatles for more than 30 years).

1964: Birmingham band The Applejacks record Lennon/McCartney song Like Dreamers Do.

You can maybe find an excellent music-and-recording history timeline at [Last found here as 500 can't connect: http://history.acusd.edu/gen/recording/notes.html

1964: Electronic music: At Utrecht, at the Institute of Sonology, new work is based on work by Iannis Xenakis, who had used FORTRAN IV to create what he called "stochastic music". The Institute of Sonology worked with computer composer Gottfried Michael Koenig, who in 1964 developed PROJECT1, and in 1969, PROJECT2.

1964: Beatles manager Brian Epstein produces his memoirs.

1964: Beatles manager Brian Epstein produces his memoirs.

1965

In review: David Rosenthal, Hard Bop: Jazz and Black Music, 1955-1965. 1992.

1965: First commercial availability of Moog Synthesizer, designed by Robert Moog.

1965: January: Bob Dylan in New York at Columbia Records, 799 Seventh Avenue is recording. The album arising is Bringing It All Back Home. At the Newport Folk Festival, summer 1965, Dylan appeared on stage with an electric guitar and shocked his audience, more so as backing musicians appeared also wielding electrified instruments. This was the appearance of "folk rock", and folk music would never be quite the same. Some in the audience booed and jeered since they felt betrayed - "the high priest of folk music" as Kramer writes "had desecrated the purity of folk music" - worse, on the hallowed grounds of Newport.

1965: 16 February: Beatles record Yes It Is (by Lennon, B-side for next single Ticket to Ride) at EMI Studios in London. They are shortly to begin work on film, Help which is so far untitled. They are now recording up to 11 numbers as possibles for the soundtrack to Help.

1965: 18 February: Beatles record You've Got To Hide Your Love Away and If You've Got Trouble (not issued). Day 4 of recording sessions for Help.

1965: 20 February: Beatles record That Means A Lot (unissued, Lennon thought PJ Proby might do it better, which Proby recorded in September 1965).

1965: 14 June: Beatles record I'm Down (by Paul) to be issued as a B-side of single with A-side Help. Also this day, recording of Yesterday, using a string quartet overdubbed on 17 June.

1965: 15 June: Beatles record It's Only Love. As issued on album Help.

Mid-1965: The Byrds now release their highly-measured version of Bob Dylan's song, Hey, Mr Tambourine Man.

1965: 1 August: At ABC Theatre, Blackpool, UK: Beatles record live songs I Feel Fine (#1 at Christmas 1964), Ticket To Ride (#1 by Easter 1965), Yesterday and Help.

1965: 15 August: Beatles record Carl Perkins' track, Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby.

1965: 12 October: Beatles becoming more musically diverse and experimental record Norwegian Wood, with George Harrison playing a sitar (the first western pop muso to ever use this traditional Indian instrument for public consumption). Track recut about nine days later.

1965: 24 October: Beatles record I'm Looking Through You, by McCartney.

1965: December: Release of Beatles sixth LP album, Rubber Soul (Plastic Soul). (In which album they appear far more experimental in musical terms -Ed)

1965: Beatle George Harrison meets famed Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar at home of Mr Anghadi, who in London ran the Asian Music Circle. GH then studies sitar from 1965-1968.

1965: UK pop writer Derek Taylor begins to promote US band, Paul Revere and The Raiders.

1965: Rolling Stones issue unforgettable-sounding guitar riff with #1 Satisfaction.

1965: Rolling Stones issue unforgettable sounding riff with #1 Satisfaction.

1965: A New Look at Olde England, a TV program made by NBC in USA, becomes the first trans-Atlantic transmission in colour. It was transmitted by the US commercial communications satellite, Early Bird.

1966

1966: 6 April: Beatles using four-track technology record Tomorrow Never Knows. It seems that to date, they had worked almost every day for five years, and now having lately issued single Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out, they demand a holiday and take off first three months of 1966. (This website suspects that We Can Work It Out was about a dispute between John and Paul [?]). This 6 April gathering is the end of their holiday and they begin work on their 7th album, Revolver.

1966: 7 April: Beatles record, Got To Get You Into My Life, a song several-times rearranged.

1966: 20 April: Beatles record Lennon's surreal lyric And Your Bird Can Sing, as placed on album Revolver. On 21st they record Harrison's protest song, Taxman.

1966: 28 April: Beatles record Eleanor Rigby. On 29th they record I'm Only Sleeping.

1966: 30 June: Beatles at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo record Chuck Berry's 1957 number Rock and Roll Music and She's A Woman.

1966, 9 August: Birmingham, Alabama USA: Hundreds of Beatles records are to be pulverised in a giant municipal tree-grinding machine here because of Beatle John Lennon's remark on Christianity, a disc jockey reveals. (Lennon had said amongst other things, The Beatles were more popular [at the time] than Jesus.)

1966: The Beatles give last live concert, at Candlestick Park, San Francisco.

1966: Year when The Beatles turn to their "studio years", supported by musical talents of George Martin at EMI/Abbey Road studios.

1966: Somehow this year is named in light of the bizarre "Paul is dead" hoax/conspiracy theory as the year McCartney died. Uncooperatively, Paul is still alive in 2008.

1966: November: Beatles record demo sections of Strawberry Fields Forever.

1966: 29/30 December: Beatles record Penny Lane.

1966: Beach Boys issue clasic song Good Vibrations.

1966: Beach Boys isssue song Good Vibrations.

1966: The amazingly energetic Tina Turner and Ike (Turner) issue hit single, River Deep Mountain High.

1966: Eric Clapton and band Cream issue album, Fresh Cream.

1966: Beach Boys issue classic album, Pet Sounds.

1966: Beach Boys issue classic album, Pet Sounds.

1966: Eric Clapton and band Cream issue album, Fresh Cream.

1966: The amazingly energetic Tina Turner and Ike issue hit single, River Deep Mountain High.

1966 in hotm: Death of Walt Disney, American film producer, cartoonist and animator.

1966: John Lennon meets Yoko Ono at her art exhibition in London. The show includes her interactive piece named Ceiling Painting, which invited members of her audience to climb a white ladder and use a magnifiying glass to see what is printed on a tiny placard on the ceiling - which carried the word "yes". Lennon was instantly fascinated by Yoko. The rest is love-affair history.

1967

1967: Unforgettably, Jimi Hendrix at Monterey Pop Festival, California, burns his Stratocaster guitar. (Other members of the Jimi Hendrix Experience are Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell)

1967: Aretha Franklin blasts the charts with stupendous track, Respect.

1967: Stones release one "of their worst albums", Their Satanic Majesties Request.

1967: Jimi Hendrix debuts an extraordinary-but-short career with album, Are You Experienced?

1967: Issue of Richard Tauber album, Unforgotten German Tenors.

hotm, 7 February, 1964: Beatles touch down at La Guardia airport, New York to "invade" the US music industry.

1967: Turtles issue cute/likeable hit single, Happy Together.

1967: Australian band The Easybeats issue Friday on my Mind, which becomes popular world-wide as a "working class anthem".

1967: 20 January and 10 February: Beatles record A Day In The Life.

1967: 8 and 16 February: Beatles record Good Morning, Good Morning. On 17-20 February they record Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite.

1967: Feb-April: Beatles record Only a Northern Song.

1967: 1 and 2 March: Beatles record Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.

1967: March-April: Beatles record Within You Without You. (Instrumental)

1967: 1 April: Beatles record Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band.

1967: April-May: Beatles record You Know My Name (Look Up The Number). (Further sections added in 1969.) Issued finally as B-side of last Beatles single, Let It Be as released in March 1970.

1967: The Beatles perform new song All You Need Is Love for a live international telecast, finding a huge audience.

1967: 5 September: Beatles record I Am The Walrus. On 6th they record demo of The Fool On The Hill. More takes on 25 September.

1967: 16 September: Beatles record Your Mother Should Know.

1967: 2 and 19 October: Beatles record Hello, Goodbye.

1967: Appearance of Californian band Iron Butterfly, a hard rock/psychedelic act, famous for thier debut album, Heavy, which helped produce the phrase, heavy metal music. Their original guitarist was Erik Braunn, (died 2003). One of their famous tracks was In-A-Gadda-da-Vida, some 17 minutes long. (Actual title: In A Garden of Eden) Their album of that name sold 30 million copies and charted for three years. Their next album was Ball, which flopped, then came Metamorphosis, an early version of a "concept album". Metamorphosis led the way to so-called progressive rock.

1967: Death of manager of The Beatles, Brian Epstein.

1967: George Harrison works on what later becomes an album called Wonderwall.

1967: Unforgettably, Jimi Hendrix at Monterey Pop Festival, California, burns his Stratocaster guitar. (Other members of the Jimi Hendrix Experience are Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell.)

1967: Australian band The Easybeats issue Friday on my Mind, which becomes popular world-wide as a “working class anthem”.

1967: Aretha Franklin blasts the charts with stupendous track, Respect.

1967, Issue of Richard Tauber album, Unforgotten German Tenors.

1967: Rolling Stones release “one of their worst albums”, Their Satanic Majesties Request, widely regarded as a stinker of a production.

1967: Jimi Hendrix debuts an extraordinary-but-short career with album, Are You Experienced?

1967: The Beach Boys writer-genius, Brian Wilson, decides to shelve an intended group masterpiece titled Smile, intended to follow up on Pet Sounds, and intended first as "a teenage symphony to God". Abandoned, the work became known as Wilson's "Great Lost Album". The work does proceed, but it is not premiered for 37 years, 2004, in London. Smile (Dumb Angel), of 40 minutes duration, was performed live by an 18-piece band and given a five-minute standing ovation. Concluding number was Good Vibrations. Critics spoke of "groundbreaking complexity and sophistication" and "a glorious, tangled symphony of celebration and sadness." (Reported 23 February 2004)

1967: Turtles issue cute/likable hit single, Happy Together.

The Who collector's item at right: The webmaster years ago lost the disc this Who album cover once contained, no one knows how or why. Probably, someone at a party stole it. All that remains is the memory of the tracks (very good, though no one seems to remember), and the album cover itself. The record – hard to believe now - was in mono! -Ed

Recorded November 1966: Issued 1967 - Item from the back cover of The Who album, A Quick One – (This is part of how pop group albums were promoted when the idea of a four or five man “pop group” was still quite new to the music market. Seems a long time ago now. The album was recorded in November 1966 and became a sort of “mini-rock-opera”. - Ed Right, - Sit down- You think you've heard the British Sound behind those British Groups- But as the people say, "You ain't heard nothin' yet". This sound is that of The Who. Be careful. It is all power, guts, and thoughts, and it represents one of the most brilliant groups to yet emerge from Britain. It also represents one of the most amazing and fantastic stage acts to be seen in the world today. On this album you are presented with all but The Who's stage act, the four individual talents of this group are showcased here, and all the songs excepting Heatwave are their own compositions. Writing their own material leaves The Who flying free to experiment and progress. Something they never stopped doing. With these 10 tracks of new Sound Dimension, and new ideas, The Who will keep their title - "THE WORLD'S MOST SENSATIONAL GROUP". Nick Jones, Melody Maker magazine. Keith Moon, 19 years old, is probably the world's most explosive drummer. He has a very appealing "little boy" face which makes him a favourite with girl fans. But once he's on stage behind his sixteen-piece drum-kit he is immediately recognized by all as an incredible, sensational master of his position. Drumsticks have no chance of survival for more than five minutes when they're in Keith's hands. Roger Daltrey, 21, fronts the group as lead singer. He's short; dynamic with a very distinctive style which has been an important factor in the overall image of The Who. Born and raised in the rough Shepherd's Bush area of London, Roger has become a symbol of the London "mods", and he is accepted by thousands of teenagers all over the world as their sort of boy. John Entwistle, Is the 21-year-old bass player who appears to be the quiet one of The Who. Attention is drawn to him on stage because he doesn't move about. Also an accomplished French horn, tuba and cornet player, John has been adding these sounds to The Who's recent recordings. Two of his own songs are also featured on this LP. Pete Townshend, 21, is the lead guitarist who's rated in all circles as one of England's most original musicians. A perfectionist in every sense of the word, he puts his guitars through unmerciless beatings in order to obtain special sound effects. Pete is also one of the most extraordinary songwriters in pop, writing all of The Who's hits; many LP tracks. (This Who album has tracks: Side A: RUN RUN RUN (Townshend), BORIS THE SPIDER (Entwistle), I NEED YOU (Moon), WHISKEY MAN (Entwistle), HEATWAVE (Holland/Dozier/Holand), COBWEBS AND STRANGE (Moon), Side B: DON'T LOOK AWAY (Townshend), SEE MY WAY (Daltrey), SO SAD ABOUT US (Townshend), A QUICK ONE, WHILE HE'S AWAY (Townshend).

1968

1968: The Band issue classic album, Music From Big Pink.

1968: English band Small Faces (Rod Stewart was once with them) issue album, Ogden's Nut Gone Flake.

1968: 3 and 6 February: Beatles record Lady Madonna. Also recorded on 3 Feb. is Across The Universe.

1968: 22 July: Beatles record A Beginning.

1968: May: Beatles record Happiness Is A Warm Gun. Also, Mean Mr Mustard, Polythene Pam, Glass Onion, Junk (written by Paul in India in spring 1968), Piggies, Honey Pie.

1968: 5 and 6 June: Beatles record Don't Pass Me By. (First solo composition by Ringo.)

1968: 11 June: Beatles record Blackbird.

1968: 3-4-5 July: Beatles record Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.

1968: 16 July: Beatles record Cry Baby Cry.

1968: 18 July: Beatles record Helter Skelter. On 19th, record Sexy Sadie.

1968: 28 June and 22 July: Beatles record Good Night.

1968: 25 July: Beatles record While My Guitar Gently Weeps. (By George Harrison). Track master not completed till 6 September.

1968: 29 July: Beatles record Hey Jude.

1968: 8-12 August: Beatles record Not Guilty. (Which did not appear till 1979 when Harrison put it on his album George Harrison.

1968: 9 August: Beatles record Mother Nature's Son.

1968: 14 August: Beatles record What's The New Mary Jane. (Not issued on White Album)

1968: 15 August: Beatles record Rocky Racoon.

1968: 16 September: Beatles record Step Inside Love and Los Paranoias. Also, I Will.

1968: 26 September: Beatles finish recording Glass Onion.

1968: 8 October: Beatles record I'm So Tired. On 9th October, record Why Don't We Do It In The Road.

1968: 13 October: Beatles record Julia.

1968: Release of Switched on Bach, a trailblazer album for history of electronic music, as Walter Carlos treats music by J. S. Bach. Early use of an early Moog synthesizer.

1968: US satire and pop-song writer Randy Newman begins his output with first album, Randy Newman. Nine albums follow to 2004. He wins an Oscar in 2002 for music to movie Monsters Inc. He also writes music for movie Toy Story. Alan Price recorded Newman's Simon Smith And His Amazing Dancing Bear, Joe Cocker sings his You Can Leave Your Hat On. In 1972, Newman released a satire on US foreign policy, called Political Science which seems to have come true. ("No one likes us, I don't know why"...) Newman has three uncles who were successful composers for Hollywood!

1968: Appearance of a fusion of jazz and rock, called fusion that is popularised during the 1970s and still around by 2004.

1968: The Band issue classic album, Music From Big Pink.

1968: English band Small Faces (Rod Stewart was once with them) issue album, Ogden's Nut Gone Flake.

1968: Marvin Gaye issues hit, Heard It Through The Grapevine. (Not forgetting the version of this song by Creedence Clearwater Revival).

1968: Van Morrison issues his classic album, Astral Weeks.

1968: Van Morrison issues his classic album, Astral Weeks.

1968: Jimi Hendrix Experience releases album, Electric Ladyland.

1968: Jimi Hendrix Experience releases album, Electric Ladyland.

1968: The Moody Blues in Britain issue the first-ever LP using a full symphony orchestra in a wholly pop context.

1969

1969: Tragic Irish white soul singer Dusty Springfield issues album, Dusty in Memphis.

1969: Led Zeppelin issues album Whole Lotta Love.

1969: 3 January: Beatles (George Harrison) record I Me Mine.

1969: 22 January: Beatles record She Came In Through The Bathroom Window and Dig A Pony, plus I've Got A Feeling on 23rd.

1969: 24 January: Beatles record Two Of Us. They record For You Blue on 25th as well as Let It Be.

1969: 24 and 28 January: Beatles record Teddy Boy.

1969: 26 January: Beatles record Rip It Up, Shake, Rattle and Roll, Blue Suede Shoes and The Long And Winding Road.

1969: 27 January: Beatles record Oh Darling. In January 1969 The Beatles began their "Get Back sessions".

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1969: 29 January: Beatles record Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues as something of a tribute to Buddy Holly.

1969: 30 January: Beatles record Get Back. The day The Beatles surprised London by playing live on the roof of Apple headquarters in Savile Row, amazing people in nearby Piccadilly and Mayfair and inducing police to intervene. The Beatles' last song at their last performance.

1969: 25 February: George Harrison records a demo of All Things Must Pass - which is not issued till he releases his solo triple-album at the end of 1970. Old Brown Shoe also recorded on 25th. On 25th he also records Something.

1969: 26 April: Beatle's record Octopus's Garden.

1969: 9 July: Beatles record Maxwell's Silver Hammer.

1969: 21 July: Beatles record Come Together.

1969: 24 July: Beatles record Come and Get It and Ain't She Sweet.

1969: 1 and 4 August: Beatles record Because. And between 23 July and 18 August 1969, they record a Lennon/McCartney number, The End.

1969: Guitarist Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones dies in mysterious circumstances in his swimming pool just weeks after being fired by Mick Jagger.

1969: Woodstock Festival - Music and Art Fair, near Bethel, New York. An inspiring watershed for the counter-culture movement world-wide.
See Elliott Landy, Woodstock 1969: The First Festival. Squarebooks, nd?

1969: Woodstock Festival - The arrangement played by Jimi Hendrix of Star Spangled Banner seemed even at the time and later on film to be an entirely new way to regard guitar solos - and political comment. This Hendrix arrangement is still today (2004) regarded as a watershed in various kinds of modern music history.

17 November 1969: Issue of stripped-back version of Let It Be, the Beatles' album which had earlier been reworked by Phil Spector of "wall-of-sound" recording industry fame. Let It Be reissued yet again in November 2003.

1969: A group of executives at radio station 2TM in Tamworth act on ideas to market Tamworth as an Australian centre of country music (CM) after recent success of their nightly CM radio show, Hoedown. Tamworth from now on will be referred to as "Country Music Capital" in the station's promotional activities.
(Milestone in history/development of Tamworth, the Country Music Capital of Australia)

1969: Don Buchla, who had begun designing a music synthesizer about the same time as Robert Moog, releases a commercial modular synthesizer, The Buchla Electronic Music System. Soon, in the 1970s, other synthesizers are released by Oberheim, Sequential Circuits, and E-mu Systems.

1969: Led Zeppelin issues album Whole Lotta Love.

1969 - French actress/singer Jane Birkin, who became "France's favourite Engishwoman", issues a scandalous hit, Je T'Aime, Moi Non Plus, along with Serge Gainsbourg, a near-simulation of a sex act (with orgasm) for the pop charts, and after issue, banned by the BBC. In September 2004 she is made a Knight of the [French] National Order of Merit.

1969: Wonderfully-talented but finally tragic Irish white-soul singer, Dusty Springfield, issues album, Dusty in Memphis.

1970

1970: March: John Lennon and George Harrison of Beatles bring in Phil "Wall of Sound" Spector to work on album Let It Be. Spector's work meant that the album actually had three producers, the other two being George Martin as assisted by Glyn Johns.

1970: 10 April: Beatle Paul McCartney announces his "declaration of independence" from the band and the world press decides that this is the end of The Beatles. Six months later Paul sues the other three members of the band.

1970: The break-up of The Beatles: After the release of the John Lennon album, Plastic Ono Band, John Lennon instigated the break-up of The Beatles. "Well, that's it, lads, let's end it." As revealed in a new book (2000) written jointly by the other three Beatles. The revelation may re-ignite resentment of Yoko Ono, whose presence loomed larger as the Fab Four split. (Reported in world press, 4 April 2000) (By 1 February 2000, Yoko Ono was fearing for her family's safety as authorities were considering releasing Mark Chapman, assassin of John Lennon.)

1970: 17 April: Paul McCartney issues his first solo album, McCartney.

1970: Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones has film debut in Performance.

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At right: Echolette machine, probably an early 1960s model, as much beloved of guitarists.

The Klemt Echolette, and an extremely expensive sound pioneered by Scotty Moore and Chet Atkins as far as rock 'n' roll went, popularised further by The Shadows and then swept into oblivion when The Beatles came out.  By the late Sixties, echolettes were used for psychedelic music productions (including use as a non-echoing overdrive). Recommended is a glance at the book Play Like Elvis, also known as "Seventeen Watts" one of the few rock 'n' roll books with a useful section on echo. (Graphic and comment provided by Ed Matzenik)

For useful lists of songs songs songs by year. etc – and very impressive – see compilations at [last found here as forbidden error 403]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Songs_by_year

15 August 1965: Crowd of 55,600 attend Beatles concert at Shea Stadium New York, making world records for a concert attendance and revenue for a pop concert.

View these domain stats begun 18 December 2005